434 poisons : their effects and detection. [§§ 527 , 528 . 
eight would contain 37 mgrms. (f grain). Dr Budd considered that the 
whole of the pills, which were of a stony hardness, remained in the bowels 
for some time undigested, so that the ultimate result was the same as if 
the whole had been taken in one dose. 
§ 527. The general symptoms produced by colchicum are—more or 
less burning pain in the whole intestinal tract, vomiting, diarrhoea, with 
not infrequently bloody stools ; but sometimes diarrhoea is absent. In 
single cases tenesmus, dysuria, and, in one case, hsematuria have been 
noted. The respiration is usually troubled, the heart’s action slowed, 
the pulse small and weak, and the temperature sinks. In a few cases 
there have been pains in the limbs ; cerebral disturbance is rare ; but in 
two cases (one described ante) there was stupor. Muscular weakness 
has been observed generally. In a few cases there have been cramps in 
the calves and in the foot, with early collapse and death. 
Post-mortem Appearances. —Schroff found in rabbits poisoned with 
from 0*1 to 1-0 grm. of colchicine, tolerably constantly enteritis and 
gastritis, and always a thick, pitch-like blood in the heart and veins. 
Casper has carefully recorded the post-mortem appearances in four 
labourers, ages ranging from 15 to 40 years, who, finding a bottle of 
colchicum wine, and supposing it to be some kind of brandy, each 
drank a wine-glassful. They all died from its effects. In all four there 
was great hypersemia of the brain membranes and of the kidneys. The 
large veins were filled with thick, dark, cherry-red blood, very similar to 
that seen in sulphuric acid poisoning. There was an acid reaction of 
the contents of- the stomach. The lungs were moderately congested. 
The mucous membrane of the stomach of the one who died first was 
swollen and scarlet with congestion ; with the second there was some 
filling of the vessels at the small curvature ; while the stomachs of the 
third and fourth were quite normal. In five cases described by Roux 
there was also hyperaemia of the brain and kidneys, but no gastritis or 
enteritis. It is, therefore, evident that there are in man no constant 
pathological changes from colchicine poisoning. 
§ 528. Separation of Colchicine from Organic Matters. — W. 
Obolonski 1 has recommended the following process :—The finely 
divided viscera are triturated with powdered glass and digested for 
twelve hours with alcohol. The liquid is squeezed out and the dry 
residue washed with alcohol. The extract is concentrated at a tempera¬ 
ture not exceeding 80°, and the cooled residue made up to the original 
volume with alcohol. The filtered liquid is evaporated as before, and this 
operation repeated until no more clots separate on addition of water. The 
residue is then dissolved in water, the solution purified by shaking with 
light petroleum, and the colchicine finally extracted with chloroform. 
In cases of poisoning by colchicum at Berlin, Wittstock used the 
1 Zeit. anal. Chem., xxix. 493. 
