2 14 POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§ 268 . 
the ground in convulsions similar to those of epilepsy. The convulsions 
* 
are either general, or attacking only certain groups of muscles ; there is 
often true trismus, and the jaws are so firmly closed that nothing will 
part them. The respiration is peculiar—the inspiration is short, the 
expiration prolonged, 1 and between the two there is a long interval, ever 
becoming more protracted as death is imminent. The skin is pale, or 
blue, or greyish-blue ; the eyes are glassy and staring, with dilated 
pupils ; the mouth is covered with foam, and the breath smells of the 
poison ; the pulse, at first quick and small, sinks in a little while in 
frequency, and at length cannot be felt. Involuntary evacuation of 
fseces, urine, and semen is often observed, and occasionally there has 
been vomiting, and a portion of the vomit has been aspirated into the 
air-passages. Finally, the convulsions pass into paralysis, abolition of 
reflex sensibility, and gradual ceasing of the respiration. With large 
doses these different stages may occur, but the course is so rapid that 
they are merged the one into the other, and are indistinguishable. The 
shortest time between the taking of the acid and the commencement of 
the symptoms may be put at about ten seconds. If, however, a large 
amount of the vapour is inhaled at once, this period may be rather 
lessened. The interval of time is so short that any witnesses generally 
unintentionally exaggerate, and aver that the effects were witnessed 
before the swallowing of the liquid—“ As the cup was at his lips ”— 
“ He had hardly drunk it,” etc. There is probably a short interval of 
consciousness, then come giddiness, and, it may be, a cry for assistance ; 
and lastly, there is a falling down in convulsions, and a speedy death. 
Convulsions are not always present, the victim occasionally appears to 
sink lifeless at once. Thus, in a case related by Hufeland, a man was 
seen to swallow a quantity of acid equivalent to 40 grains of the pure 
acid—that is, about forty times more than sufficient to kill him. He 
staggered a few paces, and then fell dead, without sound or convulsion. 
§ 268. The very short interval that may thus intervene between the 
taking of a dose of prussic acid and loss of consciousness, may be utilised 
by the sufferer in doing various acts, and thus this interval becomes of 
immense medico-legal importance. The question is simply this :—What 
can be done by a person in full possession of his faculties in ten seconds ? 
We have found from experiment that, after drinking a liquid from a 
bottle, the bottle may be corked, the individual can get into bed, and 
arrange the bedclothes in a suitable manner ; he may also throw the 
bottle away, or out of the window ; and, indeed, with practice, in that 
short time a number of rapid and complicated acts may be performed. 
1 In a case quoted by Seidel (Maschka’s Handbuch, p. 321), a man, 36 years of 
age, four or five minutes after swallowing 150 mgrms. anhydrous HON in spirits, lay 
apparently lifeless, without pulse or breathing. After a few minutes was noticed an 
extraordinary deep expiration, by which the ribs were drawn in almost to the spine, 
and the chest made quite hollow. 
