MERCURY. 
§§ 886 , 887 .] 
was salivated ; still no pain. On March 4, on the evening of the sixth day, he 
expired ; he was drowsy during the last day, and passed watery evacuations. 
Prep. 14a, Ser. ix., shows the pharynx, oesophagus, and tongue ; there is ulcera¬ 
tion of the tonsils, and fibrinous exudation on the gullet. The stomach (436, 199) 
shows a large dark slough, three inches from the cardiac extremity; the margin sur¬ 
rounding the slough is thickened, ulcerated, and irregular in shape, the submucous 
tissue, to some extent, being also thickened ; there is fibrine in the ileum, pharynx, 
and part of the larynx. The action extended to the whole intestine ; the rectum in 
prep. 145a, 36, is seen to be thickened, and has numerous patches of effused fibrine. 
It is a curious fact that the external application of corrosive sublimate 
causes inflammatory changes in the alimentary canal of nearly the same 
intensity as if the poison had been swallowed. Thus, in the case of the 
two girls mentioned ante (§ 879), there was found an intense inflamma¬ 
tion of the stomach and intestines, the mucous tissues being scarlet- 
red, swollen, and with numerous extravasations. 
§ 886. The effects of the nitrate of mercury are similar to the pre¬ 
ceding ; in the few cases which have been recorded, there have been 
intense redness and inflammation of the stomach and intestines, with 
patches of ecchymosis. White precipitate, cyanide of mercury, mercuric 
iodide, and turpeth mineral have all caused inflammation, more or less 
intense, of the intestinal tract. 
§ 887. Elimination of Mercury. —The question of the channels by 
which mercury is eliminated is of the first importance. It would 
appear certain that it can exist in the body for some time in an inactive 
state, and then, from some change, be carried into the circulation and 
show its effects. 1 Voit considers that mercury combines with the 
albuminous bodies, separating upon their oxidation, and then becoming 
free and active. 2 
Ullmann 3 found mercury as follows :—Kidneys, liver, spleen, a 
small quantity in the stomach, no mercury in the small intestine, but 
some in the large intestine ; small weigh able quantities in the heart and 
skeletal muscles, also in the lungs ; but no mercury, when the dose 
was small, in brain, the salivary glands, abdominal glands, thyroid 
glands, the bile, or the bones. 
The main channel by which absorbed mercury passes out of the 
body is the kidneys, whilst mercurial compounds of small solubility are 
in great part excreted by the bowel. A. Bynssen, 4 after experimenting 
with mercuric chloride (giving -015 to *15 grm., with a little morphine 
hydrochloride), came to the conclusion that it could be detected in the 
urine about two hours, and in the saliva about four hours, after its 
1 Tuson gave a mare, first, 4 grains, and afterwards 5 grains of corrosive sub¬ 
limate twice a day ; at the end of fourteen days, in a pint of urine no mercury was 
detected, but at the end of three weeks it was found. 
2 Voit, Physiol, chem. Unters., Augsburg, 1857. 
n Chem. Centr., 1892, ii. 941. 
4 Journal de VAnat. et de Physiol., 1872, No. 5, p. 500. On the separation of 
mercury by the urine, see also Salkowsky in Virchow’s Archiv, 1866. 
