^se^tlmT'}         Action  of  CarhoUc  Acid,  etc,  399 
observed  only  from  few  poisons  (picrotoxin,  codeia)  ;  they  continue 
often  for  several  hours,  if  the  quantity  of  the  poison  was  not  excessive, 
and  turn  into  palsy,  which  is  followed  by  death.  The  symptoms  of 
creasote  poisoning  are  different ;  in  the  beginning,  considerable  un- 
easiness sets  in,  then  remarkable  symptoms  of  difficulty  of  breathing, 
in  a  short  time  followed  by  great  prostration  and  paralysis,  which 
often  lasts  for  several  hours  before  death  ensues,  but  always  without 
any  signs  of  spasms.  This  difference  in  the  toxical  effects  is  so  con- 
siderable that  it  alone  is  sufficient  to  remove  all  doubt  about  the  non- 
identity  of  carbolic  acid  and  creasote. 
5.  The  post-mortem  examination  reveals  two  symptoms,  which,  in 
like  manner,  prove  the  distinction  of  the  two  substances. 
The  blood  of  animals  poisoned  by  carbolic  acid  is  always  liquid, 
even  if  dissection  has  taken  place  a  considerable  time  after  death  ; 
this  is  one  of  the  signs  of  death  by  suffocation,  and  in  the  case  of  car- 
bolic acid,  of  poisoning  produced  by  insufficient  respiration,  caused 
by  the  peculiar  effects  upon  all  the  muscles.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
blood  of  animals  poisoned  by  creasote,  is  invariably  characterized  by 
an  increase  of  its  coagulability,  so  that,  even  if  the  dissection  was 
undertaken  immediately  after  death,  the  blood  coagulated  at  once ; 
tough  and  hard  blood  congelations  were  often  observed  in  the  heart 
and  the  larger  veins,  but  never  after  death  by  carbolic  acid. 
Another  peculiarity  of  creasote  poisoning,  not  observed  after  car- 
bolic acid,  is  found  in  the  lungs  where  hardened  circumscribed  spots 
of  larger  or  smaller  dimensions  are  observed,  while  after  carbolic 
acid  poisoning  usually  shrinking  and  paleness  of  the  lungs  are  seen, 
but  nowhere  signs  of  inflammation. 
"[Indisputable  cases  of  poisoning  of  men  by  creasote  are  so  rare, 
and  mostly  so  imperfectly  described,  that  it  is  difficult  to  decide  whether 
the  symptoms  and  effects  harmonize  with  the  observations  on  mam- 
mals, and  whether  the  same  characteristic  distinctions  from  acute 
poisoning  by  carbolic  acid  may  be  observed.  The  case  of  creasote 
poisoning  described  by  Miiller,*  showed  these  effects. 
There  are  cases  on  record  where  inflammation  of  the  lungs  was 
observed  after  death  by  carbolic  acid.  In  the  one  related  by  Taylor,t 
the  caustic  effects  and  inflammation  were  doubtless  caused  by  direct 
*  Wurttemb.  Corresp.  Bl.,  1869,  No.  42. 
t  Guy's  Hosp.  Rep.,  3  Ser.,  xiii,  233. 
