Poisons may be mineral, animal, or vegetable.

1343. Procedure.

i. Always send immediately for a Medical Man.

ii. Save all fluids vomited, and articles of food, cups, gla.s.ses, &c., used by the patient before being taken ill, and lock them up.

iii. Examine the cups to guide you in your treatment; that is, smell them, and look at them.

1344. Give and Apply.

As a rule give emetics after poisons that cause sleepiness and raving;--chalk, milk, eggs, b.u.t.ter, and warm water, or oil, after poisons that cause vomiting and pain in the stomach and bowels, with purging; and when there is no inflammation about the throat, tickle it with a feather to excite vomiting.

1345. a.r.s.enic.

(_White a.r.s.enic; orpiment, or yellow a.r.s.enic; realgar, red a.r.s.enic; Scheele's green, or a.r.s.enite of copper; King's yellow; ague drops_; and _a.r.s.enical paste_.)

E. Little or no taste. Within an hour, heat and pain in the stomach, followed by vomiting of green, yellow, and b.l.o.o.d.y matter, burning, and violent thirst; purging, and twisting about the navel; pulse small, quick, and irregular, breathing laboured, voice hoa.r.s.e, speaking painful; skin cold and clammy. Sometimes there are cramps and convulsions, followed by death.

T. Give plenty of warm water, _new milk_ in large quant.i.ties, lime water, white of egg, mixed with gruel or honey, gruel, linseed tea; apply leeches to the bowels, foment, and give starch or gruel enemas. Sc.r.a.pe the iron rust off anything you can get at, mix it with plenty of water, and give in large draughts frequently, and give an emetic of mustard or ipecacuanha. The chief dependence, however, must be placed on the use of the stomach-pump.

_Caution_.--Never give large draughts of fluid until those given before have been vomited, because the stomach will not contract properly if filled with fluid, and the object is to get rid of the poison as speedily as possible.

1346. Copper.

(_Blue vitriol_, or _bluestone; verdigris; verditer; verdigris crystals_.)

E. An acid, rough, disagreeable taste in the mouth; a dry, parched tongue, with sense of strangling in the throat; coppery eructations; frequent spitting; nausea; frequent desire and effort to vomit, or copious vomiting; severe darting pains in the stomach; griping; frequent purging; belly swollen and painful; skin hot, and violent burning thirst; breathing difficult; intense headache and giddiness, followed by cold sweats, cramps in the legs, convulsions, and death.

A. White of eggs mixed with water (twelve to one pint), to be given in winegla.s.sfuls every two minutes; iron filings mixed with water, or very strong coffee, accompanied by small and repeated doses of castor oil.

D.A. Vinegar, bark, alkalies, gall nuts.

T. If there is much pain in the belly or stomach, apply leeches.

Give large draughts of milk and water, to encourage vomiting.

1347. Mercury.

(_Corrosive sublimate; calomel; red precipitate; vermilion; turbeth mineral; prussiate of mercury_.)

E. Acid metallic taste; tightness and burning in the throat; pain in the back part of the mouth, stomach, and bowels; anxiety of countenance; nausea; and vomiting of b.l.o.o.d.y and bilious fluids; profuse purging, and difficulty of making water; pulse small, hard, and quick; skin clammy, icy coldness of the hands and feet; and death in 24 or 36 hours.

A. White of eggs mixed with water, given as above; milk; flour and water, mixed pretty thick; linseed tea; and barley water.

T. Give large draughts of warm water, if you cannot get anything else; strong emetic of ipecacuanha, the stomach-pump, a dose of castor oil and laudanum. Apply poppy-head fomentations to bowels, and leeches if the belly is very tender.

1348. Antimony.

(_Tartar emetic; b.u.t.ter of; Kermes' mineral_.)

E. A rough metallic taste in the mouth, nausea, copious vomitings, sudden hiccough, purging, pains resembling those caused by colic, frequent and violent cramps, sense of choking, severe heartburn, pain at the pit of the stomach, difficult breathing, wildness of speech, cramp in the legs, and death.

A. Decoction or tincture of galls; strong tea; decoction or powder of Peruvian bark.

D.A. White vitriol, ipecacuanha, as emetics.

T. Give large draughts of water, or sugar and water, to promote vomiting; apply leeches to the throat and stomach if painful; and give one grain of extract of opium dissolved in a winegla.s.sful of sugar and water, as soon as the vomiting ceases, and repeat three times at intervals of a quarter of an hour; and finally, one grain, in a little castor oil emulsion, every six hours.

1349. Tin.

(_b.u.t.ter of tin; putty powder_.)

E. Colic and purging.

A. Milk.

T. Give warm or cold water to promote vomiting, or tickle the throat with a feather.

1350. Zinc.

(_White vitriol; flowers of; chloride of_.)

E. An astringent taste, sensation of choking, nausea, vomiting, purging, pain and burning in the throat and stomach, difficult breathing, pallor and coldness of the surface, pinched face, cramps of the extremities, but, with the exception of the chloride, seldom death.

A. For the two first give copious draughts of milk, and white of eggs and water, mucilage, and olive oil; for the third, carbonate of soda, and warm water in frequent draughts, with the same as for the other compounds.

T. Relieve urgent symptoms by leeching and fomentations, and after the vomiting give castor oil. For the chloride, use friction and warmth.

[BREATH MAY BLOW OUT A CANDLE, AN EXTINGUISHER PREVENT FIRE.]

1351. Silver, Gold and Bis.m.u.th.

Silver: (_Lunar caustic; flowers of silver_);

Gold (_Chloride of_);

and Bis.m.u.th (_Nitrate; flowers of; pearl white_),

are not frequently met with as poisons.