MERCURY. 
§§ 880 - 884 .] 
of corrosive sublimate (strength, 80 grains to the oz.) applied to the 
scalp as a remedy for ringworm. The same author 1 further quotes the 
case of two brothers who died—the one on the fifth, the other on the 
eleventh day—from the effects of absorbing corrosive sublimate through 
the unbroken skin. 
§ 880. The Nitrates of Mercury are poisons but little (if at all) 
inferior in corrosive action to mercuric chloride. Death has resulted 
from both the external and internal use. Application of the nitrate as 
an escharotic to the os uteri, in one case, 2 produced all the symptoms of 
mercurial poisoning, but the woman recovered ; another case, 3 its use 
as a liniment caused death. 
§ 881. When taken internally, the symptoms are scarcely different 
from those produced by corrosive sublimate. It seems an unlikely 
vehicle for criminal poisoning, yet, in the case of Reg. v. E. Smith 
(Leicester Summer Assizes, 1857), a girl was proved to have put a 
solution of nitrate of mercury in some chamomile tea, which had been 
prescribed for the prosecutrix. The nauseous taste prevented a fatal 
dose being taken ; but the symptoms were serious. 
§ 882. Mercuric Cyanide acts in a manner very similar to that of 
corrosive sublimate, 1*3 grm. (about 20 grains) in one case, 4 and in 
another 5 half the quantity, having destroyed life. 
§ 883. White Precipitate (ammoniated mercury), as a poison, is weak. 
Out of fourteen cases collected by Taylor, two only proved fatal; one of 
these formed the subject of a trial for murder, Reg. v. Moore (Lewes 
Lent Assizes, 1860). The effects produced are vomiting, purging, etc., 
as in corrosive sublimate. 6 Other preparations of mercury, such as the 
red iodide, the persulphide, and even calomel, 7 have all a more or 
less intense poisonous action, and have caused serious symptoms 
and death. 
§ 884. Treatment of Acute and Chronic Poisoning. — In acute 
poisoning, vomiting usually throws off some of the poison, if it has been 
swallowed ; and the best treatment seems to be, to give copious albu¬ 
minous drinks, such, for example, as the whites of eggs in water, milk, 
and the like. The vomiting may be encouraged by subcutaneous 
injections of apomorphine. The after-treatment should be directed to 
eliminating the poison, which is most safely effected by very copious 
drinks of distilled water. 
The treatment of slow poisoning is mainly symptomatic ; medicinal 
1 Poisons, 1848, p. 394. 
2 Med. Gazette, vol. xlv. p. 1025. 3 Edin. Med. Journal, 1864, p. 167. 
4 Orfila, i. 735. 5 Christison, p. 427. 
6 See Dr Th. Stevenson, “ Poisoning by White Precipitate,” Guy's Hospital 
Reports, xix. 415. 
7 Seidel quotes a case from Hasselt, in which a father, for the purpose of obtaining 
insurance money, killed his child by calomel. 
