714 POISONS : THEIR EFFECTS AND DETECTION. [§§ 918 , 919 . 
§ 918. Post-mortem Appearances. —In the experiments on animals 
already referred to, the general changes noted were dryness, pallor, and 
parchment-like appearance of the cavity of the mouth, the mucous mem¬ 
brane being blackened by the contact of the liquid. The gullet was pale 
and dry, not infrequently covered with a blackish layer. The mucous 
membrane of the stomach was generally healthy throughout, but, if the 
dose was large and very concentrated, there might be one or more 
hypersemic spots ; otherwise, this did not occur. The internal surface 
of the intestines, similarly, showed no inflammation, but was covered 
with a brownish coating which darkened on exposure to the air. The 
liver, in all the experiments, was large and gorged with black and fluid 
blood ; there were ecchymoses in the lungs, and venous congestion. The 
kidneys were usually hypersemic, and contained little haemorrhages. 
There was also general encephalic engorgement, and in one experiment 
intense congestion of the meninges was observed. Few opportunities 
have presented themselves for pathological observations relative to the 
effects produced by ferric chloride on man. In a case related by Christi- 
son, in which a man swallowed 42*4 c.c. (1J oz.) of the tincture, and 
died in five weeks, there was found thickening and inflammation of the 
pyloric end of the stomach. 
The case of Char-, already alluded to, is that in which the most 
complete details of the autopsy are recorded, and they coincide very fairly 
with those observed in animals ; the tongue was covered with a greenish 
fur, bordered at the edges with a black substance, described as being like 
“ mud ” ; the lining membrane of the gullet was pale, but also covered 
with this dark “ mud.” The stomach contained a greenish-black liquid ; 
the liver was large and congested ; the kidneys were swollen, congested, 
and ecchymosed ; the cerebral membranes were gorged with blood, and 
the whole brain hypersemic. 
§ 919. Ferrous Sulphate, Copperas, or Green Vitriol, FeS0 4 7H 2 0 
= 152 + 126; specific gravity, anhydrous, 3-138; crystals, 1-857 ; com¬ 
position in 100 parts, FeO, 25-92 ; S0 3 , 28-77 ; H 2 0, 45-32.—The salt 
is in beautiful, transparent, bluish-green, rliomboidal prisms. The 
crystals have an astringent, styptic taste, are insoluble in alcohol, but 
dissolve in about 1-5 times their weight of water ; the commercial 
article, containing a little persalt, nearly always responds to the tests, 
both for ferrous and ferric salts. The medicinal dose of this salt is 
usually given as from -0648 to -324 grm. (1 to 5 grains), but it has been 
prescribed in cases requiring it in gramme (15-4 grains) doses with¬ 
out injury. Sulphate of iron has many technical applications, is em¬ 
ployed by all shoemakers, and is in common use as a disinfectant. The 
salt has been employed for criminal purposes in France, and in this 
country it is a popular abortive. In recorded cases the symptoms, as 
well as the pathological appearances, have a striking resemblance to 
