576 poisons : their effects and detection. [§ 754. 
this heading are classed the rare cases in which, in place of the ordinary 
symptoms, affections of the nervous system predominate. Narcotism, 
paresis, deepening into paralysis, delirium, and even acute mania, as well 
as epileptiform convulsions, have all been recorded. In short, the 
symptoms show so much variety, that an idea of the malady produced 
in this very rare form can only be obtained by studying the clinical 
history of cases which have presented this aspect. In a case recorded 
by Guilbert, 1 a man, 35 years of age, had swallowed a solution of 
arsenic, half of which was immediately rejected by vomiting. A 
little while afterwards his respiration became laborious ; the eyes were 
bathed with tears, which were so acrid as to inflame the eyelids and the 
cheeks ; the muscles of the face were from time to time convulsed ; he 
perspired much, and the perspiration had a foetid odour ; there was some 
diarrhoea, the urine was suppressed, and from time to time he was 
delirious. Afterwards the convulsions became general, and the symptoms 
continued with more or less severity for five days. On the sixth a 
copious miliary eruption broke out, and the symptoms became less 
severe. The eruption during fifteen days every now and again re¬ 
appeared, and at the end of that time the patient was convalescent, 
but weak, liable to ophthalmia, and had a universal trembling of 
the limbs. 
In one of Brodie’s 2 experiments on rabbits, 7 grains of arsenious 
acid were inserted in a wound in the back, the effect of which was to 
paralyse the hind legs. In other experiments on animals, paralysis of 
the hind legs has been frequently noticed, but paralysis certainly is 
rare in man ; in the case, however, recorded by Barrier, 3 of the five 
men who took by mistake a solution of arsenious acid, one of them 
was found stretched on the ground with the inferior extremities 
paralysed. 
In a case of “ mass ” poisoning reported by Dr Coqueret, 4 three 
persons ate by mistake an unknown quantity of arsenious acid—two of 
them only suffered slightly, but the third severely, vomiting occurring 
almost immediately, and continuing with frequency until the end of the 
fourth day. Two hours after swallowing the poison, the patient took 
the hydrated oxide of iron as an antidote. On the sixth day there was 
stupor and a semi-delirious state, with an eruption of a pustular 
character compared to that of the small-pox. These symptoms con¬ 
tinued more or less until the fifteenth day, when they diminished, and 
ultimately the patient recovered. In a case related by Tardieu, 5 in 
which a person died on the eleventh day from the effects of the poison, 
1 Journal de Van der Monde, 1756, iv. 353 ; Tardieu, op. cit., Obs. xiii. p. 430. 
2 “ The Action of Poisons,” Phil. Trans., 1812. 
Journ. de Medecine, 1783, p. 353 ; Tardieu, op. cit., Obs. xiv. p. 431. 
Journ. de Connaiss. Med.-Chirurg., 1839, p. 155 ; Tardieu, op. cit., Obs. xv. p. 482. 
5 Op. cit., Obs. xvii. p. 434. 
