CANTHARIDES. 
503 
§ 660.] 
hours after the ingestion the face was red, the skin hot, the pulse twenty- 
beats beyond the normal pulsation, the tongue was denuded to two- 
thirds of its extent of its epithelium, and the lips and mucous membrane 
were red and swollen ; there was great pain in the stomach, intestines, and 
in the neighbourhood of the kidneys, continuous desire to micturate, 
burning of the urethra, and swelling of the glands. There was no 
sexual excitement whatever ; the urine was ammoniacal, and contained 
blood and pus ; the symptoms gradually subsided, but recovery was not 
complete for fourteen days. 
§ 660. The foregoing is a fair picture of what may be expected in 
cantharides poisoning. It is remarkable that the popular idea as to the 
influence of cantharidin in exciting the sexual passion holds good only 
as to the entire cantharides, and not with cantharidin. It is very 
possible that cantharidin is not the only poisonous principle in the insect. 
The symptoms in other cases, fatal or not, have been as follows :—Imme¬ 
diate burning in the mouth and throat, extending to the stomach and 
alimentary canal, and increasing in intensity until there is considerable 
pain. Then follow salivation, difficulty in swallowing, and vomiting ; 
and generally diarrhoea, pain in the kidneys, irritation of the bladder, 
priapism, and strangury are all present. The pulse is accelerated, the 
breathing disturbed, there are pains in the head, and often mydriasis, 
giddiness, insensibility, delirium, and convulsions ; trismus has been 
noticed. The desire to micturate frequently is urgent; the urine is 
generally bloody, and contains pus. Pregnant women have been known 
to abort. In a few of the cases in which a different course has been 
run, the nervous symptoms have predominated over those of gastro¬ 
intestinal irritation, and the patient has sunk in a kind of collapse. 
In a case of chronic poisoning by cantharides, extending over three 
months, and recorded by Tarchioni Bonfanti, 1 after the first dose 
appeared tetanic convulsions, which subsided in twenty-four hours; 
there was later cystitis, and from time to time the tetanic convulsions 
returned ; gastro-enteritis followed, with frequent vomiting, when, can¬ 
tharides being found in the matters ejected, the otherwise obscure 
nature of the illness was shown. 
In a case recorded by Sedgwick, 2 following the gastro-enteric 
symptoms, there were epileptic convulsions ; in this instance also was 
noticed an unpleasant smell, recalling the notion formerly held that 
cantharides imparted a peculiar odour to the breath and urine. In 
a case of chronic poisoning related by Tardieu, six students, during 
several months, used what they thought was pepper with their food, 
but the substance proved to be really powdered cantharides. The 
quantity taken each day was probably small, but they suffered from 
1 Gaz. Med. Ital. Lomb., 1863. 
2 Med. Times, 1864. 
