CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  TOXICOLOGY. 
321 
CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  TOXICOLOGY. 
[Translated  From  Archiv.  d.  Pharm.  and  Buchaer's  N.  Repertoriurn.] 
By  John  M.  Maisck. 
Poisoning  by  Farina  Amygdalae  Amarce.    By  X.  Landerer. 
A  lady  suffering  from  a  herpetic  eruption  on  several  parts  of 
the  body,  was  ordered  by  her  physician  to  use  bran  baths,  which 
she,  however,  changed  for  almond  bran  baths.  After  being  a 
few  minutes  in  the  warm  bath,  she  was  seized  with  dizziness  and 
anxiety,  vomiting,  weakness  and  convulsions  of  the  extremities, 
so  that  she  had  to  be  lifted  out  of  the  bath.  After  giving  her 
cooling  drinks,  the  symptoms  gradually  disappeared  after  several 
hours,  with  the  exception  of  a  great  weakness  that  lasted  several 
days.  The  bran  consisted  of  the  residue  (after  expression  of 
the  oil)  of  sweet  and  bitter  almonds. 
Crusta  lactea  is  one  of  the  most  common  diseases  of  the  skin 
among  the  children  in  Greece,  where  at  least  40  to  50  per  cent, 
suffer  with  it.  In  such  a  case  a  mid-wife  recommended  bathing 
of  the  parts  with  bitter  almonds,  which  had  the  effect  of  drying 
up  the  eruption  and  clearing  face  and  head  ;  but  at  the  same 
time  the  child  began  to  cough,  exhibiting  symptoms  of  bron- 
chitis and  laryngitis,  causing  death  in  a  few  days.  These  symp- 
toms may  have  been  caused  by  a  toxication  by  hydrocyanic  acid, 
or  more  probably  by  the  rapid  healing  of  the  eruption  stopping 
the  secretion.  Very  often  in  the  Orient,  children  die  of  hydro- 
cephalus, following  a  quick  cure  of  crusta  lactea. — (Buchner's 
Weues  Repert.  iv.,  453.) 
Action  of  White  Lead  on  Birds.  By  Prof.  Falck,  of  Marburg, 
From  his  numerous  physiological  experiments,  the  author  ar- 
rives at  the  following  conclusions  : 
1.  White  lead  acts  poisonous  on  the  domestic  birds. 
2.  In  relatively  large  doses  mixed  with  the  food,  it  decreases 
or  destroys  the  appetite. 
3.  This  decrease  of  appetite  is  not  the  consequence  of  an  in- 
cipient inflammation  of  the  first  passages,  but  of  a  dyspepsia. 
4.  The  saturnine  dyspepsia,  analogous  to  that  of  man,  seems 
to  be  caused  by  a  precipitation  of  the  ferments  of  the  stomachic 
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