IRON. 
713 
§ 917 -] 
frequently taken by mistake for other dark liquids ; and there is at 
least one case on record in which it was proved to have been used for 
the purpose of murder. The latter case 1 is peculiarly interesting from 
its great rarity ; it occurred in Martinique in 1874-1876, no less than 
four persons being poisoned at different dates. All four were presumed 
to have had immoral relations with a certain widow X-, and to have 
been poisoned by her son. In three of the four cases, viz. Char-, 
Duf-, and Lab-, the cause of death seems pretty clear ; but the 
fourth, Ab-, a case of strong suspicion, was not sufficiently in¬ 
vestigated. All three took the fatal dose in the evening, between eight 
and nine o’clock—Lab- the 27th of December 1874, Duf-- the 
22nd of February 1876, and Char - - on the 14th of May 1876. They 
had all passed the day in tippling, and they all had eaten nothing 
from midday, so that the stomach would not, in any of the three, con¬ 
tain any solid matters. The chloride was given to them in a glass of 
“ punch,” and there was strong evidence to show .that the son of the 
widow X- administered it. Char- died after about thirteen 
hours’ illness, Duf- and Lab- after sixty-five hours’ illness ; 
Ab-lived from three to four days. With Char-the symptoms 
were very pronounced in an hour, and consisted essentially of violent 
colicky pain in the abdomen, and diarrhoea ; but there was no vomiting. 
Duf-- had also great pain in the abdomen and suppression of the 
urine. Lab-had most violent abdominal pains ; he was constipated, 
and the urinary secretion was arrested ; there was, besides, painful 
tenesmus. According to the experiments of Berenger-Ferraud and 
Porte, 2 the perchloride in the above cases was taken under conditions 
peculiarly favourable for the development of its toxic action, viz. on an 
empty stomach and mixed with alcohol. 
There have been several cases of recovery from large doses of the 
tincture, e.g. that of an old man, aged 72, who had swallowed 85 c.c. 
(3 ozs.) of the tincture ; the tongue swelled, there were croupy respira¬ 
tion and feeble pulse, but he made a good recovery. In other cases, 3 
28*3 c.c. (an ounce) and more have caused vomiting and irritation of 
the urinary organs. The perchloride is not infrequently used to arrest 
haemorrhage, as a topical application to the uterine cavity—a practice 
not free from danger, for it has before now induced violent inflammation 
and death from peritonitis. 
§ 917. Elimination of Iron Chloride. —Most of the iron is excreted 
in the form of sulphide by the fseces, and colours them of a black hue ; 
a smaller portion is excreted by the urine. 
1 Fully reported in Berenger-Ferraud’s paper, loc. cit. 
2 Dub. Med. Press, February 21, 1849. 
3 Provincial Journal, April 7 and 21, 1847, p. 180; see also Taylor’s Principles 
and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence, vol. i. p. 320, 2nd edition. 
