Am.  Jour.  Pharm. ) 
March,  1914.  j 
Sale  of  Bichloride  Tablets. 
123 
least  suggest  the  fact  that  there  is  probably  little  or  no  cause  for 
undue  excitement  in  regard  to  the  possible  number  of  deaths  from 
the  internal  use  of  corrosive  mercuric  chloride  and  that,  granting 
that  conditions  in  England  and  this  country  are  much  the  same, 
corrosive  mercuric  chloride  plays  but  a  minor  part  in  the  number  of 
deaths  due  to  ingested  poison.  This  fact  is  further  emphasized  when 
we  realize  the  very  widespread  use  and,  incidentally  at  least,  abuse, 
of  tablets  of  corrosive  mercuric  chloride  and  the  comparatively  few 
fatalities  on  record  resulting  from  its  internal  administration.  Even 
a  careful  search  of  the  literature  since  the  report  of  the  case  at 
Macon,  Ga.,  shows  that  possibly  15,  certainly  not  over  20,  deaths 
have  been  reported  from  the  ingestion  of  corrosive  mercuric  chloride 
since  that  time.    When  we  remember  that  in  the  registration  area 
Suicides  and  accidental  deaths  from  scheduled  poisons  reported  by  the 
registrar-general  of  births,  deaths,  and  marriages  for  England 
and  Wales  for  the  year  1911. 
Poison. 
Suicides. 
Accidental  deaths. 
Total 
deaths. 
Male. 
Fe- 
male. 
Total. 
Male. 
Fe- 
male. 
Total. 
Aconite  and  belladonna  liniment 
I 
I 
2 
Antimony  (?)  
I 
I 
I 
Arsenic  
4 
5 
I 
2 
3 
8 
Atropine  
2 
2 
2 
Belladonna  
1 
I 
3 
4 
5 
Belladonna  liniment  
1 
1 
1 
Cantharides  
I 
Carbolic  acid  
32 
57 
'89 
6 
4 
10 
99 
1 
1 
2 
2 
3 
Chlorodyne  
1 
I 
2 
1 
3 
4 
6 
Chloroform  
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
Cocaine  and  aconite  
1 
1 
1 
Cresolene  
2 
2 
2 
Hydrocyanic  acid  
22 
2 
24 
3 
3 
27 
Lysol  
2 
3  ^ 
3 
Mercuric  chloride;  
3 
2 
5 
2 
2 
7 
Narcotic  (kind  not  stated) .... 
1 
1 
4 
2 
6 
7 
7 
I 
8 
8 
Opium  (laudanum  and  morphine) 
37 
II 
48 
41 
17 
'58 
106 
42 
33 
75 
5 
10 
15 
90 
Paregoric  
1 
1 
Potassium  cyanide  
33 
3 
36 
5 
5 
41 
Strychnine  
7 
6 
13 
1 
3 
4 
17 
Sulphonal  
2 
2 
2 
1 
2 
2 
1 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
1 
I 
Total  
198 
125 
323 
75 
49 
124 
447 
