384 Dr. Sangbusch on Fish Poison. 



as well as salt or half putrid fish. Death in these cases seems easy 

 and painless, without signs of any previous excitement, and occurs 

 along with sudden sinking of all the powers, slight wandering of the 

 head, or feeling of intoxication, with which ringing in the ears, 

 numbness of the limbs, difficulty of swallowing, Epistaxis and at times 

 petechial eruptions are associated. The intensity of the operation 

 of the fish poison naturally depends much on the susceptibility of 

 the patient at the time when he is attacked, and is of course greater 

 in some cases than in others ; in a few instances people escape entirely, 

 but those who have once suffered from such an attack, suffer a 

 second time very much less. Animals also suffer from this poison : 

 thus flies, fowls, ants, cats, dogs and pigs are killed by the poison of 

 some fish. The resemblance between fish poison and that of muscels 

 is very striking. 



As to the circumstances under which this poison is developed in 

 salted fish, the author refers to the following : — 1 . Imperfect salting — 

 2. Delaying to salt it while the fish is quite fresh — 3. Salting it after 

 the signs of putrefaction have already set in — 4. Want of care in 

 preserving the salted fish against the changes of a Russian climate. 

 It is remarkable that no fresh fish which has been boiled has ever 

 proved poisonous, which would seem to indicate that boiling destroys 

 the poison. As to the causes of fresh fish becoming poisonous, 

 the author thinks, the chief to be their being kept in foul tanks to be 

 ready for market, and their being eaten at the time when they are 

 spawning, when their flesh is less firm. None of the foregoing 

 remarks allude to actual putridity, in which state the Greenlanders 

 eat their flesh, and the Chinese make soup of stinking fish. 



As to treatment, of course the first indication is to get rid of the 

 poisonous substance by emetics, followed by purgatives ; the second 

 to neutralise the poison already absorbed, for which purpose "West 

 Indian doctors give strong solutions of table salt or the juice of the 

 sugar-cane in its first stage of fermentation. Strong coffee, alcalis and 

 liver of sulphur have been strongly recommended in poisoning from 

 sausages ; of course when the greatest danger is over the extreme 

 depression is to be counteracted by stimulants, &c. — Abridged from 

 the Russian Medical Times and Allgemeines Repertorium. 





