144 POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§§ 158 - 160 . 
§ 158. Effects of the Administration of Turpentine. —L. W. Liersch 1 exposed 
animals to the vapour of turpentine, and found that a cat and a rabbit died within- 
half an hour. There were observed uneasiness, reeling, want of power in the limbs 
(more especially in the hinder extremities), convulsions, partial or general, difficulty 
of respiration ; and the heart’s action was quickened. Death took place, in part, 
from asphyxia, and in part was attributable to a direct action on the nervous centres. 
The autopsy showed congestion of the lungs, ecchymoses of the kidney, and much 
blood in the liver and spleen. Small doses of turpentine vapour cause (according to 
Sir B. W. Richardson 2 ) giddiness, deficient appetite, and anaemia. From half an 
ounce to an ounce is frequently prescribed in the country as a remedy for tapeworm ; 
in smaller quantities it is found to be a useful medicine in a great variety of ailments. 
The larger doses produce a kind of intoxication with giddiness, followed often by 
purging and strangury ; not infrequently blood or albumen (or both) is found in the 
urine. When in medical practice the senior author has given the oil, and seen it given 
by others, in large doses for tapeworm to adults, in perhaps 40 cases, but in no one 
instance were the symptoms severe ; the slight intoxication subsided quickly, and in a 
few hours the patients recovered completely. Nevertheless, it has been known to 
destroy the lives of children, and cause most serious symptoms in adults. Two fatal 
cases are mentioned by Taylor : one was that of a child who died fifteen hours after 
taking half an ounce of the oil; in another an infant, 5 months old, died rapidly from 
a teaspoonful. The symptoms in these fatal cases were profound coma and slight 
convulsions ; the pupils were contracted, and there was slow and irregular breathing. 
Turpentine is eliminated in a changed form by the kidneys, and imparts an odour of 
violet to the urine ; but the nature of the odoriferous principle has not yet been 
investigated. 
II.—Camphor. 
§ 159. A great many essential oils deposit, after exposure to air, camphors pro¬ 
duced by oxidation of their terpenes. Ordinary camphor is imported in the rough 
state from China and Japan, and is prepared by distilling with water the wood of 
Cinnamomum camphora ; it is resublimed in England. The formula of camphor is 
C 10 H 16 O; it has a density of -986 to -996 ; melts at 175°, and boils at 205°. It is 
readily sublimed, especially in a vacuum, and is indeed so volatile at all tempera¬ 
tures, that a lump of camphor exposed to the air wastes away. It is slightly soluble 
in water (about 1 part in 1000), but this is enough to impart a distinct taste to the 
water ; it is also soluble in ether, and in olive oil. It has a fragrant odour and a 
burning taste. A 10 per cent, solution in alcohol turns a ray of polarised light to 
the right +42-8°. By distillation with zinc chloride, cymene and other products are 
produced. By prolonged treatment with nitric acid, camphor is oxidised to cam¬ 
phoric acid (C 10 H 16 O 4 ). Camphor unites with bromine to form a crystalline, unstable 
dibromide, which splits up on distillation into hydrobromio acid and monobrom- 
camphor (C 10 H 15 BrO). The latter is used in medicine ; it crystallises in prisms fusible 
at 70°, and is readily soluble in alcohol. 
§ 160. Pharmaceutical Preparations. —The preparations official in the British 
Pharmacopoeia are :— 
Camphor water — water saturated with camphor, containing about 1 part per 1000. 
Camphor liniment — a solution of 20 parts of camphor in 80 parts of olive oil. 
Ammoniated liniment of camphor — composed of camphor, oil of lavender, 
strong solution of ammonia, and alcohol; strength in camphor, 12-5 grins, in 100 c.c. 
Spirit of camphor—a, solution of camphor in spirit; strength, 10 per cent. 
Sp. gr., 0-845 to 0-850; optical rotation at 15-5°, not less than +4°. 
Camphor is also a constituent of the compound tincture of camphor ; but in this 
1 Clarus in Schmidt’s Jahrbiicher, Bd. cxvii., i., 1863 ; and Vierteljahrsschr. fur 
ger. Med., xxii., Oct. 1862. 
2 Brit, and For. Med.-Chir. Review, April 1863. 
