PROPERTIES OF NITROBENZOLE AND ANILINE. 
133 
tients in the London Hospital affected with chorea. The doses ranged from a quarter of a 
grain to seven grains. They were frequently administered, so that large quantities of 
the salt were taken in a very short time. In one case as much as 40G grains were 
given in the course of a few days. No very remarkable effects followed beyond this, 
that after a few doses had been taken, and the system had become, as it were, satu¬ 
rated with the salt, the face became of a leaden-blue colour, the lips and gums looked 
as if the patients had been eating black currants, and the nails also acquired a purple 
hue. The colour faded a little before the time came for the administration of an¬ 
other dose, but soon after taking it it appeared again ; and this was the subject of 
constant observation. Dr. Fraser and Dr. Davies have recorded the results of their ex¬ 
perience in five cases,* from which it would seem that although the free alkali is a 
powerful poison, the sulphate of it has hut little action upon the animal body. 
The general conclusions which appear to me to be warranted by these investigations 
are:— 
1st. That nitrobenzole and aniline in its free state are powerful narcotic poisons. 
2nd. That they exert but little action, as local irritants, on the stomach and bowels. 
fird. That although the effects may be quick, and the fatal termination of them rapid, 
yet nitrobenzole may remain in the system for a long time without manifesting its 
action. 
4th. That the salts of aniline are not nearly so poisonous as the free alkali. 
5th. That in rapid cases of fatal poisoning, both the poisons are readily discovered in 
the dead body. 
(3th. That in slow r cases the poisons maybe entirely changed or eliminated, and there¬ 
fore not recognizable. 
7th. That both of the poisons appear to be changed in the body by processes of oxi¬ 
dation and reduction, nitrobenzole being changed into aniline, and aniline and its salts 
into mauve or magenta. 
In an appendixf are given notes of the two cases of fatal poisoning by nitrobenzole 
referred to in the paper, and a detailed account of twelve experiments on animals with 
nitrobenzole, and three with aniline ; also the process employed for the recognition of 
aniline and nitrobenzole in the dead body, as follows :— 
1st. The matters to be analysed were bruised in a mortar with a little water, and 
very slightly acidulated with dilute sulphuric acid. 
2nd. They were then submitted to distillation in a glass retort,—the distilled products 
being saved in three or four separate portions by changing the receiver at different 
stages of the process. In this way the presence of nitrobenzole was discovered. 
fird. The residue in the retort, when reduced to a pulpy mass by the distillation, was 
treated with strong spirit of wine and filtered. 
4th. The filtered alcohol solution which contained the aniline was treated with a 
slight excess of subacetate of lead, and again filtered. In this way gum, dextrine, etc., 
were removed. 
5th. The filtered solution was treated with a slight excess of a saturated solution of 
sulphate of soda in water. In this manner the excess of lead was precipitated as a 
sulphate. 
6th. The clear solution was then made very alkaline with caustic potash, and distilled 
to dryness from an oil-bath. The aniline, together with ammonia from the animal mat¬ 
ters, was found in the clear, colourless, distilled spirit. 
7th. This was neutralized, or rather made acid, with a slight excess of dilute sul¬ 
phuric acid, and evaporated nearly to dryness in a white porcelain dish. If necessary, 
the spirit was saved by distillation. 
8th. The residue was of a pinkish colour if aniline was present, and occasionally there 
were little streaks of blue around the edges of the white porcelain dish. If the quan¬ 
tity of the saline residue was not more than a grain or so, it was at once tested by dis¬ 
solving it in a few drops, or even in a single drop, of dilute sulphuric acid (1 to 1). A 
small portion of it was then placed upon a strip of bright platinum; and the platinum 
having been connected with the positive pole of a single cell of a Grove’s battery, the 
liquid was touched with the negative pole: in a few seconds, if aniline was present, 
* ‘ Medical Times and Gazette,’ March 8, 1862, p. 339. 
1 Preserved in the Archives. 
