134 POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§§ I32-I36. 
weakness, cold sweats, painful cramps in single muscles (especially in the calves of 
the legs); and, later, convulsions, aphonia, quick collapse, and death. 
In the case of a pregnant woman, a handful of “ nitre ” taken in mistake for 
Glauber s salts produced abortion after half an hour. The woman recovered. Sodic 
nitrate subcutaneously applied to frogs kills them, in doses of -026 grm. (-4 grain), 
in about two hours ; there are fibrillar twitchings of single groups of muscles and 
narcosis. The heart dies last, but after ceasing to beat may, by a stimulus, be made 
again to contract. Rabbits, poisoned similarly by sodic nitrate, exhibit also narcotic 
symptoms ; they lose consciousness, lie upon their side, and respond only to the 
sharpest stimuli. The breathing, as well as the heart, is “ slowed,” and death 
follows after a few spasmodic inspirations. 
Sodic nitrite was found by Barth to be a more powerful poison, less than 6 
mgrms. (-1 grain) being sufficient to kill a rabbit of 455-5 grms. (7028 grains) weight, 
when subcutaneously injected. The symptoms were very similar to those produced 
by the nitrate. 
§ 132. The post-mortem appearances from potassic nitrate are as follows :—An 
inflamed condition of the stomach, with the mucous membrane dark in colour, and 
readily tearing ; the contents of the stomach are often mixed with blood. In a case 
related by Orfila, there was even a small perforation by a large dose of potassic 
nitrate, and a remarkable preservation of the body was noted. 
It is believed that the action of the nitrates is to be partly explained by a reduc¬ 
tion to nitrites, circulating in the blood as such. To detect nitrites in the blood, the 
best method is to place the blood in a dialyser, the outer liquid being alcohol. The 
alcoholic solution may be evaporated to dryness, extracted with water, and then 
tested by metaphenylene-diamine. 
§ 133. Potassic Chlorate (KCIO a). —Potassic chlorate is in the form of colour¬ 
less, tabular crystals with four or six sides. About 6 parts of the salt are dissolved 
by 100 of water at 15°, the solubility increasing with the temperature, so that at 100° 
nearly 60 parts dissolve ; if strong sulphuric acid be dropped on the crystals, peroxide 
of chlorine is evolved ; when rubbed with sulphur in a mortar, potassic chlorate 
detonates. When the salt is heated strongly, it first melts, and then decomposes, 
yielding oxygen gas, and is transformed into the perchlorate. If the heat is con¬ 
tinued, this also is decomposed, and the final result is potassic chloride. 
§ 134. Uses. —Potassic chlorate is largely used as an oxidiser in calico printing, 
and in dyeing, especially in the preparation of aniline black. A considerable 
quantity is consumed in the manufacture of lucifer matches and fireworks ; it is also 
a convenient source of oxygen. Detonators for exploding dynamite are mixtures of 
fulminate of mercury and potassic chlorate. It is employed as a medicine both as an 
application to inflamed mucous membranes and for internal administration. About 
2000 tons of the salt for these various purposes are manufactured yearly in the United 
Kingdom. 
§ 135. Poisonous Properties. —The facility with which potassic chlorate parts 
with its oxygen by the aid of heat, led to its very extensive employment in medicines. 
No drug, indeed, has been given more recklessly, or on a less scientific basis. Wherever 
there were sloughing wounds, low fevers, and malignant sore throats, especially 
those of a diphtheritic character, the practitioner administered potassic chlorate in 
colossal doses. If the patient died, it was ascribed to the malignity of the disease—if 
he recovered, to the oxygen of the salt; and it is possible, from the light which of 
recent years has been thrown on the action of potassic chlorate, that its too reckless 
use has led to many unrecorded accidents. 
§ 136. Experiments on Animals.— F. Marchand 1 has studied the effects of 
potassic chlorate on animals, and on blood. If either potassic chlorate or sodic chlorate 
is mixed with fresh blood, it shows after a little while peculiar changes ; the clear 
red colour at first produced passes, within a few hours, into a dark red-brown, which 
gradually becomes pure brown. This change is produced by a 1 per cent, solution 
in from fifteen to sixteen hours ; and a 4 per cent, solution at 15° destroys every trace 
1 Virchow’s Archiv f. path. Anal., Bd. lxxvii. Hft. 3, S. 455, 1879. 
