§§ 4°3 _ 4°5*] STRYCHNINE. 34 1 
increased ; the action of the heart in frogs is slowed, but in the warm¬ 
blooded animals quickened. 
§ 403. Post-mortem Appearances. —There is but little characteristic 
in the post-mortem appearances from strychnine poisoning. The body 
becomes very stiff a short time after death, and this rigidity remains 
generally a long time. In the notorious Palmer case, the body was rigid 
two months after death; but, on the other hand, the rigor mortis has 
been known to disappear within twenty-four hours. If the convulsions 
have been violent, there may be minute haemorrhages in the brain and 
other parts. The senior author has seen considerable haemorrhage in 
the trachea from this cause. When death occurs from asphyxia, the 
ordinary signs of asphyxia will be found in the lungs, etc. The heart 
mostly has its right side gorged with blood, but in a few cases it is 
empty and contracted. 
In a case which Schauenstein has recorded, 1 he found strychnine still 
undissolved, coating the stomach as a white powder; but this is very 
unusual, and probably unique. The bladder often contains urine, which, 
it need scarcely be said, should be preserved for chemical investigation, 
§ 404. Treatment. —From the cases detailed, and from the experi¬ 
ments on animals, the direction which treatment should take is very 
clear. As a matter of course, if there is the slightest probability of any 
strychnine remaining in the stomach, the poison should be removed. It 
is doubtful, save under chloroform, whether the stomach-pump can be 
ever applied with benefit in strychnine poisoning—the introduction of 
the tube is likely to aggravate the tetanus,—but apomorphine can be 
injected subcutaneously. A solution of tannin and sodic bicarbonate 
should, if practicable, be given. Large and frequent doses of chloral 
should be administered in order to lessen the frequency of convulsions, or 
prevent their occurrence; and it may be necessary in a few cases, 
where death threatens by suffocation, to perform tracheotomy, and 
to use artificial respiration. Where chloral or chloroform is not at hand, 
and in cases of emergency, where this may easily happen, the medical 
man must administer in full doses the nearest narcotic at hand. 2 
§ 405. Separation of Strychnine from Organic Matters. — The 
separation of strychnine from organic matters, etc., is undertaken strictly 
on the general principles already detailed. It may happen, however, 
that in cases of poisoning there is the strongest evidence from symptoms 
in the person or animal that strychnine alone is to be sought for. In an 
instance of the kind, if a complex organic liquid (such as the contents of 
1 Op. cit. 
2 It is certain that lutidine would be a valuable antidote for strychnine. C. G. 
Williams found that lutidine injected into frogs already under the influence of 
strychnine, arrested the convulsions, or if given first, and then followed by a fatal 
dose of strychnine, it prevented the appearance of the tetanus. (See ante, p. 282, 
footnote.) 
