804 
Benzine  Poisoning. 
f  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
*-    December,  1919. 
of  the  right  hand,  hyperactive  knee  reflexes,  and  active  tremor  of 
the  tongue,  eyelids,  and  hand.  The  blood  was  normal  except  for 
the  presence  of  free  pigment.  The  second  man  was  a  worker  in 
the  vulcanizing  room.  A  few  weeks  after  beginning  work  he  lost 
his  appetite,  he  began  to  suffer  from  constipation,  later  from  diar- 
rhea, and  finally  from  vomiting.  He  complained  of  headache  and 
insomnia  and  had  to  stop  work  on  account  of  colicky  pains.  He 
also  had  drawing  pains  in  both  arms  and  a  sense  of  a  leaden  weight 
in  the  right  arm  with  a  feeling  of  coldness  and  formication.  Exam- 
ination showed  the  knee  reflexes  to  be  much  increased  and  there 
was  an  after-tremor  of  the  knee  tendon.  Striking  the  patella  tendon 
evoked  a  contraction  of  the  epigastric  muscles  and  diaphragm. 
There  was  also  tremor  of  the  hands  and  tongue.  Free  pigment  was 
found  in  the  blood  plasma,  as  in  the  first  case.  Dorendorf  states 
that  two  other  men  were  found  in  the  same  factory  presenting  simi- 
lar symptoms.  He  allowed  guinea-pigs  to  breathe  the  fumes  of 
benzine  daily  and  found  that  they  developed  paresis  and  died  in 
convulsions  in  fifteen  days. 
The  following  case  has  been  observed  by  us  at  The  Johns  Hop- 
kins Hospital : 
J.  H.  N.,  a  white  man,  age  forty-two,  by  occupation  a  cleaner  in 
a  lithographing  factory,  was  admitted  to  the  hospital  October  4, 
191 5,  complaining  of  weakness  and  dizziness. 
Family  History:  His  father  and  four  brothers  died  of  pulmonary 
tuberculosis,  but  the  patient  has  not  been  associated  with  his  family 
for  twenty-five  years. 
Previous  Personal  History:  The  general  health  has  been  good 
up  to  two  years  ago.  He  had  pneumonia  at  twenty-eight  and  malaria 
twice  yearly  for  ten  years.  He  has  not  had  an  attack  of  malaria 
for  the  past  eight  years.  During  the  past  four  years  he  has  had  at 
times  severe  night  sweats  with  cough  lasting  for  three  to  four  weeks. 
The  last  attack  occurred  two  weeks  before  admission.  He  has  never 
been  jaundiced  until  his  present  illness.  He  had  dysentery  with 
blood  and  mucus  in  the  stolls  in  Cuba  in  1897.  Three  years  ago  his 
appendix  was  removed  and  his  right  kidney  suspended.  For  eleven 
years  previous  to  this  operation  he  had  had  attacks  of  adominal 
pain  with  a  sensation  of  a  sliding  mass  in  the  abdomen. 
Present  Illness:  The  patient  states  that  he  has  not  been  strong 
since  the  operation,  but  in  July,  191 4,  he  felt  fairly  well  except  for 
some  weakness.    Two  months  after  beginning  his  present  work  he 
