^94 POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§ 888. 
administration ; he considered that the elimination was finished in 
twenty-four hours. 
From the body of a hound that, in the course of thirty-one days, 
took 2*789 grins, of calomel (2*368 Hg) in eighty-seven doses, about 94 
per cent, of the substance was recovered on analysis :—- 
» 
Mercurous Sulphide. 
Grms. 
In the faeces ........ 2*1175 
,, urine ........ 0*0550 
,, brain, heart, lungs, spleen, pancreas, kidneys, 
scrotum, and penis ..... 0*0090 
,, liver ........ 0*0140 
,, muscles ........ 0*0114 
2*2069 
This equals 1*9 of metallic mercury. 1 Thus, of the whole 2*2 grms. 
of mercuric sulphide separated, over 95 per cent, was obtained from 
the faeces. 
This case is of considerable interest, for there are recorded in toxico¬ 
logical treatises a few cases of undoubted mercurial poisoning in which 
no poison had been detected, although there was ample evidence that it 
had been administered by the mouth. In such cases, it is probable 
that the whole length of the intestinal canal had not been examined, 
and the analysis failed from this cause. When (as not infrequently 
happens) the mercurial poison has entered by the skin, it is evident 
that the most likely localities are the urine, the liver, and the kidneys. 2 
In the case related by Vidal, 3 the Liquor Bellostii (or solution of 
mercuric nitrate) was ordered by mistake instead of a liniment. Al¬ 
though externally applied, it caused salivation, profuse diarrhoea, and 
death in nine days. The whole of the intestinal tract was found inflamed 
with extravasations, and mercury detected in the liver. 
In any case of external application, if death ensues directly from the 
poison, evidence of its presence will probably be found ; but too much 
stress must not be laid upon the detection of mercury, for, as Dr Taylor 
says, “ Nothing is more common than to discover traces of mercury in 
the stomach, bowels, liver, kidneys, or other organs of a dead body.” 4 
§ 888. Tests for Mercury. —Mercury, in combination and in the 
solid form, is most readily detected by mixing the substance intimately 
with dry anhydrous sodic carbonate, transferring the mixture to a glass 
1 Riederer, in Buchner’s Neues Repert. f. Pharm., Bd. xvii. 3, 257. 1868. 
2 A woman died from the effects of a corrosive sublimate lotion applied by a 
quack to a wound in her leg. The senior author found no poison in the stomach, but 
separated a milligramme of metallic mercury from the liver ; the urine and intestines 
were not sent. 
3 Gaz. des Hop., juillet 1864. 
4 Taylor, Medical Jurisprudence, i. 288. 
