690 POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§ 879 . 
shortest fatal case on record is one communicated to Dr Taylor by 
Mr Welch ; in this instance the man died from an unknown quantity 
within half an hour. 
In the very act of swallowing, a strong metallic taste and a painful 
sensation of constriction in the throat are experienced. There is a burn¬ 
ing heat in the throat extending downwards to the stomach. All the 
mucous membranes with which the solution comes in contact are 
attacked, shrivelled, and whitened ; so that, on looking into the mouth, 
the appearance has been described as similar to that produced by the 
recent aj^plication of silver nitrate. The local changes may be so intense 
as to cause oedema of the glottis, and death through asphyxia. In a 
few minutes violent pain is felt in the stomach—so much so, that the 
sufferer is drawn together, and is in a fainting condition ; but there are 
rare cases in which pain has been absent. There are nausea and vomiting, 
the ejected matters being often streaked with blood ; after the vomiting 
there is purging ; here also the motions are frequently bloody. 1 The 
temperature of the body sinks, the respiration is difficult, and the pulse 
small, frequent, and irregular. The urine is generally scanty, and some¬ 
times completely suppressed. 2 Sometimes there is profuse haemorrhage 
from the bowel, stomach, or other mucous membrane, and such cases are 
accompanied by a considerable diminution of temperature. In a case 
recorded by Loewy, 3 after a loss of blood by vomiting and diarrhoea, the 
temperature sank to 33-4°. The patient dies in a state of collapse, or 
insensibility, and death is often preceded by convulsions. 
§ 879. Two remarkable cases of death from the external use of corro¬ 
sive sublimate are recorded by Anderseck. An ointment, containing 
corrosive sublimate, was rubbed into the skin of two girls, servants, in 
order to cure the itch. The one, during the inunction, complained of 
a burning of the skin ; the other also, a little while after, suffered in the 
same way. During the night the skin of each swelled, reddened, and 
became acutely painful. There were thirst and vomiting, but no diarrhoea. 
On the following day there was an eruption of blebs or little blisters. 
On the third day they had diarrhoea,tenesmus, fever, and diminution of 
the renal secretion ; on the fourth day, foetid breath, stomatitis, hyper- 
sesthesia of the body, and a feeling of “ pins and needles ” in the hands 
and feet were noted. The first girl died in the middle of the fifth day, 
fully conscious ; the other died on the sixth. So also Taylor 4 gives the 
case of a girl, aged 9, who died from the effects of an alcoholic solution 
1 The mixture of blood with the evacuations is more constantly observed in 
poisoning by corrosive sublimate than in poisoning by arsenic, copper, or lead. 
2 In a case recorded by Dr Wegeler (Casper’s Wochenschrift, January 10, 1846, 
p. 30), a youth, aged 17, swallowed 11-6 grms. (3 drachms) of the poison. No pain 
was experienced on pressure of the abdomen ; he died on the sixth day, and during 
the last three days of life no urine was secreted. 
3 Vierteljahrsschr. fur ger. Med., 1864, vol. i. p. 187. 
4 Op. cit 
