338 POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§ 400. 
Barker, the symptoms commenced in three minutes from a dose of ‘37 
grm. ? (5-7 grains). 1 Here the poison was not administered subcutaneously. 
Such short periods, to a witness whose mind was occupied during the 
time, might seem immediate. On the other hand, when nux vomica 
powder has been taken, and when strychnine has been given in the 
form of pill, no such rapid course has been observed, or is likely to occur, 
the usual course being for the symptoms to commence within half an hour. 
It is, however, also possible for them to be delayed from one to two hours, 
and under certain circumstances (as in the case related by Macredy) for 
eight hours. In a few cases, there is first a feeling of uneasiness and 
heightened sensibility to external stimuli, a strange feeling in the 
muscles of the jaw, and a catching of the respiration ; but generally 
the onset of the symptoms is as sudden as epilepsy, and previous to 
their appearance the person may be pursuing his ordinary vocation, 
when, without preliminary warning, there is a shuddering of the whole 
frame, and a convulsive seizure. The convulsions take the form of 
violent general tetanus ; the limbs are stretched out involuntarily, the 
hands are clenched, the soles of the feet incurved, and, in the height 
of the paroxysm, the back may be arched and rigid as a board, the 
sufferer resting on head and heels, and the abdomen tense. In the 
grasp of the thoracic muscles the walls of the chest are set immovable, 
and from the impending suffocation the face becomes congested, the 
eyes prominent and staring. The muscles of the lower jaw—in “ disease 
1 A non-fatal dose may show its effects rapidly; e.g. there is a curious case of 
symptoms of poisoning caused by the last dose of a mixture which is recorded in Pharm. 
Journ ., 1893, p. 799. A medical practitioner prescribed the following mixture :— 
R Tr. strophanthi . . . . . . • 3 b 
Liq. strychni hydrochlorici ..... 3bss. 
Sol. bismuthi et pepsin (Richardson’s) . . . §iss. 
Sp. ammon. aromat. 
Sp. chloroformi 
Aquam ad . . . . . . . §vi. 
ft. mist. 
Shake the bottle. 
Two teaspoonfuls when the attack threatens, and repeat in an hour if necessary. 
Richardson’s liquor bismuth contains 2 V grain of strychnine in each drachm. 
The mixture was alkaline ; it contained 1-7 grain of strychnine and 38-25 minims of 
chloroform. 
The patient, a woman, 54 years of age, had taken the previous doses with con¬ 
siderable relief ; but ten minutes after the last dose, which she described as far more 
bitter than those she had taken previously, she was seized with the usual symptoms 
of strychnine poisoning, but recovered after five hours. 
The explanation is pretty obvious ; the mixture was alkaline, so that the strych¬ 
nine was not in the form of a salt, but in the free state, and was therefore dissolved 
by the chloroform ; the amount of strychnine taken in each dose wholly depended 
on whether or not the mixture was shaken violently and poured out into the tea¬ 
spoon immediately after shaking ; if allowed to repose, the globules of chloroform 
saturated with strychnine would settle at the bottom, and there form a stratum rich 
in strychnine ; so that the last dose would certainly contain an excess. 
I aa. § iss. 
