I  io  Treatment  of  Morphine  Poisoning,  {^ebrua^s™' 
was  necessary  to  save  life.  The  patient  had  taken  five  capsules, 
one  grain  each,  of  what  was  supposed  to  be  quinine,  but  was  actu- 
ally morphine  sulphate.  It  may  be  stated  that  the  young  lady  had 
filled  the  capsules  herself  from  a  bottle  properly  labelled,  but  through 
carelessness  had  not  observed  that  it  was  not  quinine.  When 
the  mistake  was  discovered,  a  messenger  was  sent  to  my  laboratory 
asking  for  an  antidote  and  for  my  assistance.  A  physician,  Dr.  F.  D. 
Morse,  was  telephoned  for,  and  an  aqueous  solution  of  permanganate 
of  potassium  was  dispensed  with  proper  directions;  this  was  imme- 
diately administered.  It  was  then  I  p.  m.  The  poisonous  effect  of 
morphine  at  the  time  of  the  administration  of  the  antidote  was  very 
apparent,  it  having  been  four  hours  since  the  full  quantity  of  the 
morphine  had  been  taken.  At  about  1.30  p.m.  the  physician  arrived 
and  administered  hypodermically  atropine  T^  grain ;  then  a  con- 
centrated infusion  of  coffee  was  administered  at  short  intervals.  An 
emetic  of  mustard  soon  produced  an  evacuation  of  the  stomach. 
After  emesis  had  been  established  by  the  mustard,  the  coffee  infusion 
could  not  be  retained  for  any  length  of  time  upon  the  stomach.  A 
hypodermic  injection  of  strychnine  sulphate  grain  was  given 
in  the  course  of  a  half  hour,  followed  in  an  hour  by  gL-  grain  of  the 
same  salt.  By  six  o'clock  in  the  evening  the  patient  was  allowed 
to  have  a  short  nap,  from  which  she  was  easily  aroused  in  twenty 
minutes.  The  pupils  of  the  eye  began  to  dilate,  and  at  9  p.  m.  she 
was  considered  entirely  out  of  danger,  and  was  able  to  enjoy  the 
rest  of  the  evening  at  a  game  of  cards. 
A  still  more  remarkable  case  of  morphine  poisoning  happened 
here  on  the  6th  of  January.  A  drachm  bottle  of  morphine  had 
been  purchased  and  about  thirty  grains  of  this  had  been  taken  ; 
first  dose  at  2.20  p.  m.  When  Dr.  Morse  arrived,  at  4  p.  m., 
the  patient  was  fully  under  the  influence  of  the  morphine.  A  5- 
grain  tablet  of  potassium  permanganate  was  dissolved  in  water,  and 
the  patient  was  required  to  take  as  much  of  this  as  possible  at  once  ; 
this  was  followed  by  a  hypodermic  injection  of  apomorphine  ^ 
grain  ;  this  was  administered  at  4.15  p.  m.  The  permanganate  solu- 
tion as  it  was  expelled  from  the  stomach  (emesis  soon  being  expe- 
rienced) was  wholly  decomposed ;  grain  of  atropine  sulphate 
was  now  administered  hypodermically,  and  more  permanganate 
solution  given.  This  was  retained  but  a  short  time,  and  was  not 
decolorized  when  expelled  from  the  stomach.  Twenty  minutes  after- 
