Am.  Jour.  Pharm.l 
October,  1898.  / 
Editorial. 
529 
Definition  enger,  in  dem  man  nur  dann  eine  Substanz  Gift  nennt,  wenn  sie  schon  in  kleiner 
Menge  wirksam  ist  und  wenn  die  von  ihr  hervorgebrachte  Veranderung  den  Bestand  des 
Organismus  gefahrdet.  Da  jedoch  diese  Einschrankungen  nicht  streng  begrenzt  sind,  so 
sind  sie  entbehrlich,  zumal  da,  wie  sogleieh  gezeicht  werden  wird,  der  Umfang  des  toxi- 
cologischen  Materials  sich  durch  andere  Riicksichten  bestimmt,  als  durch  die  Definition  des 
Wortes  '  Gift,'  welche  nur  in  juristicher  Hinsicht  bedeutsam  ist." 
Dunglison  says  the  term  poison  is  a  "generic  name  for  all  substances  which,  when  intro- 
duced into  the  animal  economy,  either  by  cutaneous  absorption,  respiration,  or  the  digestive 
canal,  acts  in  a  noxious  manner  on  the  vital  properties  or  texture  of  an  organ.  Hence  we 
speak  of  fever  poison,  cholera  poison,  etc.  Poisons  exist  in  the  three  kingdoms  of  nature  ; 
poisons  from  animals  are  called  venoms,  as  the  venom  of  the  viper,  etc.,  whilst  those  that  are 
the  product  of  disease  have  the  name  virus.  In  common  parlance,  therefore,  the  word 
poison  is  restricted  to  deleterious  articles  furnished  by  the  mineral,  and  vegetable  king- 
doms." 
Thomas  uses  the  term  poison  to  include  "an  animal,  vegetable  or  mineral  substance, 
which,  when  applied  externally,  or  taken  into  the  stomach,  or  the  circulatory  system  operates 
such  a  change  in  the  animal  economy  as  to  produce  disease  or  death."  A  similar  definition  is 
given  in  Lippincott's  Medical  Dictionary. 
Gould  defines  a  poison  as  "a  substance  that  destroys  the  life  of  an  organism  or  impairs 
the  functions  of  one  or  more  organs." 
It  is  apparent  from  these  numerous  citations  of  medical  authorities  that  we 
have  in  the  term  poison  an  indefinite  something.  Wharton  and  Stille,  Herman 
and  Kobert  give  us  the  basis  for  an  ideal  definition.  We  find  that  the 
term  poison  may  be  applied  to  those  substances  which,  when  introduced  into 
the  animal  organism,  cause  functional  disturbances.  It  matters  not  how  intro- 
duced, or  what  the  action,  or  what  the  origin,  dose  or  even  the  motive  may  be. 
Von  Hofmann  and  Kobert,  however,  warn  us  further  that  it  has  not  been  possi- 
ble as  yet  to  exactly  or  successfully  define  the  word  poison  in  any  land. 
We  admit  the  desirability  of  having  a  definition  for  poisons  which  shall  pro- 
tect all  mankind  to  the  fullest  extent,  but  there  are  so  many  factors  which 
influence  this  subject,  and  not  the  least  those  of  disease  and  the  peculiari- 
ties of  the  individual,  that  it  must  be  apparent  that  it  is  by  no  means  a  promis- 
ing task  for  the  Committee  on  the  Revision  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  to  undertake 
at  present.  A  book  of  the  size  of  the  Pharmacopoeia  itself  might  be  written 
and  the  task  not  completed. 
This  subject  ought  to  be  carefully  considered  as  it  really  is  the  point  of  depart- 
ure in  considering  the  question  of  the  introduction  of  dosage  in  the  U.S. P.  To 
sum  up  we  would  say  that  an  ideal  definition  for  the  word  poison  would  leave 
the  subject  just  as  we  understand  it  to-day,  subject  to  numerous  conditions  and 
circumstances,  depending  upon  the  intelligence  and  competency  of  those  hav- 
ing the  sale  thereof ;  and  any  other  definition  would  be  impracticable.  There- 
fore, we  believe  that,  for  the  present,  the  Pharmacopoeia  cannot  undertake  to 
define  what  is  a  poison. 
REFERENCES. 
John  J.  Reese.  Text-Book  of  Medical  furisprudence  and  Toxicology,  5th  edition,  revised 
by  Henry  Leffmann,  Chap,  xvi,  p.  3S6. 
Becks.  Elements  of  Medical  Jurisprudence,  12th  edition,  revised  by  C.  R.  Gilman,  1863, 
Vol.  II,  p.  407. 
Dunglison.    A  Dictionary  of  Medical  Science,  21st  edition,  1S93,  p.  887. 
Gould.    An  Illustrated  Dictionary  of  Medicine,  Biology  and  Allied  Scietices,  1S94,  p.  1134. 
Lippincott's  Medical  Dictionary,  by  Greene,  Ashhurst,  Piersol  and  Remington,  1897, 
p.  SoS. 
Guy.    Medical  Jurisprudence,  London  edition,  p.  393. 
A.  S.  Taylor.  A  Manual  of  Medical  Jurisprudence,  12th  American  edition,  by  Clark  Bell, 
i897,  P-  73- 
