72 VETEEINAEY TOXICOLOGY 



are harmless. For the horse and ox, 8 to 32 grains ; pig, 

 2*5 to 6 grains ; dog, 0*7 to 1'5 grains ; fowl, 03 grain. 



Absorption and Elimination. — Dissolved or finely 

 divided phosphorus is absorbed as such, absorption being 

 facilitated by the emulsifying action of the alkaline bile. 

 Phosphorus is in part oxidised in the alimentary tract, to 

 ■which is ascribed its irritant effect. In the blood stream it 

 is carried to the tissues, and is eventually oxidised to phos- 

 phoric acid. No positive evidence of the formation of the 

 lower phosphorous acid in the blood has been obtained. 

 It is excreted as phosphates in the urine. The free phos- 

 phorus in the blood is also in part given off in the lungs, 

 and causes the exhaled air to smell of phosphorus and to 

 glow in the dark. 



Symptoms. — Phosphorus acts as a local irritant on the 

 mucous membranes, but is only slowly absorbed, the onset 

 of symptoms being delayed some hours, and in exceptional 

 cases days, after taking. Uneasiness, nausea, vomiting, and 

 eructation ensue ; the vomit, faecal and urinary excretions 

 may be luminous in the dark, as also may be the breath. 

 There is fever, thirst, and abdominal pain. In the 

 second phase jaundice and nervous effects, delirium, con- 

 vulsions and coma, precede death, which may not occur 

 until after the lapse of several days. Jaundice is an 

 almost invariable concomitant, being attributable to the 

 enlargement of the liver cells preventing the flow in the 

 bile-ducts. 



Slow phosphorus poisoning in the dog might be com- 

 pared with canine typhus (Stuttgart dog disease ; infective 

 gastro-enteritis). 



In birds, which are frequent victims of phosphorus 

 poisoning, there is great stupor, the patient being huddled 

 up, beak open, comb blanched ; thirst, diarrhoea, convul- 

 sions, and coma precede death. 



The chronic phosphorism, with its well-known necrosis 

 of the jaw, observed in workers in phosphorus is rare 

 among animals. 



Post-MoFtem Appearances. — Besides inflammation and 



