SUPPLEMENT: ARSENICUM ALBUM.
►
Emaciation, [295], [301],
etc. ► Extreme emaciation, [263],
[374]. ► Sank with
typhoid symptoms, [277]. ►
The woman sank in a typhoid state four days and twenty hours after taking the poison, [256]. ► When seen at the
end of three months she was in bed, looking pale and haggard, [302].
► Found ill at 3 P.M., but she would not at first speak
or take anything. Afterwards she took what was offered. There was great pain in stomach,
frequent severe vomitings; occasional hiccough. She continued about thirty-eight hours in
this state; was then seized with occasional slight convulsive attacks, and died in a
convulsion, upwards of forty hours after she was first seen by the neighbors, [311]. [3410.] ► In about an hour she was brought in in a state of exhaustion;
pulse scarcely perceptible; skin cold; pupils fixed; in capable of answering when spoken to;
pressure in epigastric region gave excessive pain, under which she would writhe and utter
some imperfect sound; tongue dry; appeared to wish for drink constantly. The washings of the
stomach returned tinged with blood; died, [246]. ► Found in bed yawning and retching a little, and complaining
of headache, sickness, and pain in the bowels. Thirst, a sense of coldness, and a little
vomiting. Four hours later she suddenly became blue in the face, made one or two
inspirations, and expired without a struggle, [243]. ► Arsenical poisoning, which begins with conjunctivitis,
sparkling eyes, and anasarca, simulating increased fat; ending with a hidebound skeleton
slowly sinking to the tomb, [313]. ► They all appeared suffering from the same complaint, nor
could they well explain how they felt. At night they were worse than in the daytime, and
always very restless, the muscles of the face being marked by a kind of twitching, [319]. ► In one case
(Flecker), if he intermits it for fourteen days, he feels stiff in the feet, with general
lassitude and craving for another dose. If he takes a full dose he brings a great deal of
wind off his stomach, [329]. ►
After spending some time in her room, she would come out thoroughly exhausted; was very
“logy,” became bloated, and was generally running down. For some time she had had
an ulcer on the face, which had not yielded to medical treatment, [379]. ► His case was similar to
that of the lady first mentioned, was marked, however, by more violent febrile
manifestations and delirium, and he was for some time in danger of his life. One eye was
lost by the sequelæ of conjunctivitis, and the other permanently injured. He was for a long
time unable to sleep, [381]. ►
Found lying on stairs apparently in great agony, and complaining of a burning pain in the
stomach, with violent retching, headache, and great thirst (first night). In the morning
much better, her face flushed and swollen, and she complained of burning pain in the
stomach, headache, and dizziness (second day), [231]. ► Great pain and burning heat in the stomach, headache,
immediate thirst, vomiting and purging, with olive-green alvine discharges, tension of the
abdomen, the face swollen, cold chills, alternating with flushes of heat; light painful to
eyes; bearing pains more or less constant in the loins (first day). Unable to endure a
strong light; pulse 130; this rapid circulation was accompanied with constant sensations of
fainting; bearing pains, with the pain in the loins somewhat abated (second day). Pain in
loins constant, with occasional bearing down of the womb, the thirst rather less urgent, the
pulse 110, headache vertigo, great intolerance to light, the tongue white and moist, the
skin hot, frequent palpitations of the heart, and a constant sensation of fainting; a
numbness extending from the right side down to the foot; the burning sensation of the
stomach was excited and increased by the motion of the child in
utero; the face was flushed and swollen, and the tongue and lips sore, which
extended along the course of the œsophagus (third day). Violent headache, and to the light
she had still great objection, as it immediately on accession increased the headache; at
times the heart palpitated strongly, the thirst was considerable, the pulse 100, the tongue
less charged and moist, the child in utero moved with
vigor, and whenever this occured the pain in the stomach was increased, with nausea (fourth
day). Pulse continued at or about 100 for a fornight afterward. She went her full time, and
a very fine girl was born, after a safe but lingering labor, [233].
► Urgent thirst somewhat allayed by frequently washing
mouth with cold water (first day). All passed a restless night; the vomiting in each had
greatly abated, the pain in the stomach still violent, which they all compared to a furnace,
or hot irons; alvine discharges changing to a proper color, but intermixed with streaks of
green, and highly offensive; skin hot and dry; the pulse quick, varying in each case from
100 to 130, great thirst, and violent headache; tongue white and moist (second day). Face
swollen, with a fixed redness, more or less under the eyes and on the cheek-bones; vomited
two or three times in the course of the night, by drinking too copious draught of the
diluents, and each complained of the tongue and lips being sore and swollen. In the evening
the febrile symptoms had a little abated, the pain in the stomach was intense, occasionally
remitting, and again returning with increased violence, with nausea and vomiting, much pain
in the head, considerable thirst, and bowels open (third day). Febrile symptoms subsided.
They complained of a variety of singular nervous affections, tingling and burning sensations
in the hands and feet (fourth day), [232], [233], [234], [235]. [3420.] ► Burning sensation in the stomach, vomiting, inordinate
thirst, headache, face swollen, tension of the abdomen; purgative symptom moderate;
countenance flushed, particularly on the upper part of the cheeks (first day). Pulse 90,
skin temperate, tongue moist and cleaner; the vomiting had subsided, but the stomach was in
great pain; he complained of extreme lassitude; face flushed (second day). Pain in stomach
occasionally troublesome, appetite returning, face less swollen, but flushed and red under
the eyes and on the cheek-bones, extending towards the ears (third day), [234]. ► She was found in bed
early in the evening suffering much from sickness, vomiting, and purging. Continued to get
worse all night. Next morning the symptoms were much like those of cholera, except that the
vomited matter was like thin coffee-grounds. She was extremely sullen and silent, would not
answer any question, and would rather suffer thirst than ask for drink. Pulse feeble, tongue
white, epigastrium tender. Next day symptoms much aggravated. Countenance had assumed a
sunken aspect and dark leaden hue. Everything taken into the stomach was immediately
rejected, and the purging was also frequent, with pain and straining. This state continued
with little variation till next morning, when she died convulsed, sixty hours after the
first symptoms were noticed, [310]. ► Some restlessness during the night, with watch-fulness and
slight pain in stomach. In morning she became sick and complained of great thirst; the pain
in stomach had become much more intense. During the day sickness increased, and she was
repeatedly purged; countenance looked pinched and extremities cold. From this state she soon
rallied, and next night (Wednesday) she became cheerful and slept comfortably, though she
was distressed once or twice by the thirst, which still affected her. Thursday morning she
was worse, being cold and drowsy; she was evidently dying; face pale and anxious;
extremities cold and bedewed with clammy sweat; pulse hardly perceptible; and she lay in a
state of incipient coma. From this time (9 o’clock) she became more and more comatose, and
gradually sank at 12, [281]. ►
Eyes a little suffused, with slight lividity of the inner portion of the under lids; skin
moist, pulse accelerated, small and feeble; vomited several times freely, and in the
meantime had a copious natural dejection; at first formed, and afterwards liquid, without
blood; while at stool vomited upon the floor about two ounces of porridge-like matter,
tinged yellow with bile, [252]. ►
Vomiting and purging; vomiting at first very violent and frequent; occasional purging,
sometimes of blood; soreness of the mouth, and pain of the throat, stomach, and bowels;
hoarseness and oppressed breathing (up to fifth day); pulse 120, full, soft, and regular;
skin hot and dry; tongue parched and excoriated; throat spotted inwardly with little white
ulcers; voice hoarse and feeble; breathing hurried and laborious; swallowing painful and
difficult; the belly round, swollen, and painful, but not tender to the touch; very
exhausted, and complained of general soreness (fifth day); pulse 120, and throbbing;
breathing difficult; tongue red and parched; gums tender and shining, without salivation;
soreness in the throat, descending along the gullet into the chest, and there was an
excoriation on each side of the uvula, a white ulcer on the left tonsil, and redness and
tenderness of the rest of the throat and back of the palate; she swallowed with such
difficulty that a small quantity of any liquid caused violent gasping, hurried cough, and
much pain; she complained further of sickness and dull pain, and tenderness in the stomach
and bowels, and likewise of pain in the feet and legs. The vomiting continued to recur
throughout the day. In the evening the fever had increased; the pains in the feet and legs
were more severe; and she complained of soreness and tenderness of the labia prudendi;
though in neither situation could any unnatural appearance be discovered (sixth day); some
delirium in the evening (seventh day); fever lessened in the morning and increased at night
(seventh and eighth days); about midnight taken with labor pain, and in three hours brought
forth a stillborn fœtus, weighing nineteen ounces, and apparently between the fifth and
sixth month. The delivery was difficult and distressing; and although there was no flooding,
she was so feeble she was not expected to live (eight day); fever continued with morning
remissions and evening exacerbations (ninth to twelfth day); pain in hands like those in
feet (eleventh day); want of power in the feet and hands, and so severe pain in them that
she could not sleep without opium (twelfth day) headache, restlessness, fever, loss of
appetite (twenty-seventh day); her sufferings went on increasing steadily, her strength
decayed, and she died on the forty-fifth day, with symptoms of low fever, [244]. ► The Arsenic is taken pure
in some warm liquid, as coffee, fasting, beginning with a bit the size of a pin’s head, and
increasing to that of a pea. The complexion and general appearance are much improved, and
the parties using it seldom look so old as they really are. The first dose is always
followed by slight symptoms of poisoning, such as burning pain in the stomach and sickness,
but not very severe. Once begun it can only be left off by very gradually diminishing the
daily dose, as a sudden cessation causes sickness, burning pains in the stomach, and other
symptoms of poisoning, very speedily followed by death. As a rule Arsenic-eaters are very
long-lived, and are peculiarly exempt from infectious diseases, fevers etc.; but unless they
gradually give up the practice invariably die suddenly at last. In some Arsenic works near
Salzburg, the only men who can stand the work for any time, are those who swallow daily
doses of Arsenic; the fumes, etc., soon killing the others, [320].
► About an hour after taking my first dose (I took the
same quantity, 3 grains, daily for three months), there followed slight perspiration, with
griping pains in the bowels, and after three or four hours a loose evacuation; this was
followed by a keen appetite, and a feeling of excitement. With the exception of the pain,
the same symptoms follow every increase of the dose. I subjoin as a caution, that it is not
advisable to begin Arsenic-eating before the age of twelve or after thirty years. Evil
consequences only ensue from a long-continuing interruption. From circumstances I am often
obliged to leave it off for two or three days, and I feel only slight languor and loss of
appetite, and I resume taking Arsenic in somewhat smaller doses. Once on the third day of
the second week, after leaving off the dose, I was attacked with faintness, depression of
spirits, mental weakness, and a total loss of the little appetite I still had; sleep also
entirely deserted me. On the fourth day I had violent palpitation of the heart, accompanied
by profuse perspiration. Inflammation of the lungs followed, and I was laid up for nine
weeks, the same as on the first occasion of leaving off Arsenic. Had I not been bled I
should most likely have died of apoplexy. As a restorative I resumed the Arsenic-eating in
smaller doses, [321]. ►
First appeared irritation of the mucous membrane, causing diarrhœa and vomiting, with
various other symptoms of severe gastric derangement, resulting in permanent indigestion;
also incessant severe cold in the head, which in one instance, lasted for several years
without being touched by any remedy; ulcerated throats, with acute inflammation, resembling
diphtheria and quinsy; severe spasmodic cough, spasmodic asthma, bronchitis, and congestion
of the lungs; soreness of the mouth, lips, and tongue, which appeared as if scalded in
patches; inflammation of the eyes and eyelids (the conjunctiva invariably being bright red),
in one case threatening absolute loss of sight; congestion and torpidity of the liver, with
the various symptoms resulting therefrom, and severe bilious and feverish attacks. There
was, in short, irritation of every organ. In many cases, if not in all, the action of the
heart was weakened, and in some palpitation frequently occurred. There were pains in various
parts of the body, especially across the shoulders, down the spine and limbs, also in the
joints, which were often stiff and swollen; scaling of the skin and irritating eruptions,
which no remedy ever relieved except Turkish baths. The effects upon the nervous system were
most remarkable, producing a thoroughly shattered constitution; great irritability,
depression, and tendency to tears. These latter symptoms were especially marked in the
children, and also in servants who had come to the house in ordinarily good health, and who
each became affected by degrees as above described. The list also includes giddiness,
headache, acute earache, and neuralgia; bleeding at the nose; frightful dreams; faintness;
cramps, rigor and numbness of the limbs; rigid spasms and convulsions. The last symptoms
developed in the worst cases were loss of memory, and threatenings of paralysis; also
spasms, with twitching of the body and limbs, [340]. ► After about twelve hours, when on the stool, he suddenly felt
great difficulty in breathing, with cramp in the chest, hands, and arms; immediately
afterwards the cramp attacked both calves, and he became very cold all over and stiff, so
that he became completely helpless, and had to be entirely lifted into bed. Violent vomiting
very soon set in, and the cramp became more severe in the calves, though it did not again
affect the chest and arms. The breathing, however, continued to be much oppressed for two
hours. He was by this time in a state of great prostration; countenance strangely anxious,
and very restless; skin cold and clammy; pulse very feeble and frequent; eyes deeply sunken
and surrounded with a well-marked dark border; lips and tongue parched, with great thirst;
breathing slow and much oppressed; sometimes sighing; burning pain in stomach, increased on
pressure, and inclination to vomit; extremities icy cold in spite of hot applications; had
had severe vomiting, with griping pain in bowels, and purging; also cramps, first in chest
and arms, and afterwards in calves. After a few minutes most violent cramps came on in both
calves, causing intense suffering, and rendering the muscles hard and knotty. The cramp came
on almost every fifteen minutes, lasting a few minutes each time; the slightest movement,
such as turning in bed, seemed at once to excite the spasm. Violent vomiting of a
greenish-yellow fluid also occurred at intervals. Brandy and all warm drinks were almost
immediately rejected, but a little cold water was retained. Mustard plasters applied to the
spine, chest, and calves, were scarcely felt by him, [338].
► One man got a sore mouth; another had every symptom of
a cold, and felt a general stiffness of the limbs; a woman was in the room for half an hour,
and her throat became rough and remained so for some days. A paperhanger in the same
neighborhood remarked that his mouth was always sore when he put on green paper, and his men
often spoke of their eyes becoming inflamed and their hands ulcerated, [384]. [3430.] ► The symptoms commenced within a half to three-quarters of an
hour after eating dinner. They had faintness, nausea, and incessant vomiting, with a burning
pain in the epigastrium, increased on pressure, and gradually extending over the whole
abdomen, followed by headache and severe diarrhœa, with a sense of constriction and heat in
the fauces and throat, great thirst, and in some painful respiration. Pulse quick and very
feeble, from 100 to 180; cold, clammy skin, with very severe cramps in the legs in those who
had diarrhœa. Some of the men had tumefaction of the penis. The above symptoms were found
in all the men. Some were collapsed. A great many had severe cramps in their legs until 11
o’clock at night, and some little pains in the abdomen for several days. Ten of the men had
slight gastritis. One man had and still has paralysis of the left arm and leg, and the
sensibility of the skin is impaired; he complains of coldness in his limbs, [387]. ► Three or four years after
occupying the room, or perhaps a little earlier, she began to have a feeling of general
malaise. The first thing she recalls is a sensation of exhaustion. It was especially
difficult for her to rise in the morning, although awake at a very early hour. The debility
increased as the illness went on. She would feel quite well and strong for a time, and would
at once experience the sense of prostration on making any attempt at movement, and at times,
on any unusual mental exertion, making the duties of a housekeeper particularly onerous. She
speedily increased considerably in weight, from about one hundred and twenty-five to one
hundred and sixty pounds. This condition lasted for some months, and then gave place to
emaciation. At certain intervals afterwards the various symptoms of the digestive, nervous,
and circulatory systems, which I shall mention, appeared and increased in severity up to the
time I saw her. The precise date of the access of each symptom is unknown, but each had
shown itself, either continuously or at intervals, for a number of years before. I found her
in bed, perfectly prostrated, hardly able to move hand or foot; with skin very dry and
rough; hands and feet cold or cool to myself and to the patient. Emaciation was marked; a
countenance naturally rosy had become sallow; tongue inflamed, dry, cracked, with a brownish
coat in centre; gums also dry and angry. The sensation of dryness was apparent to herself,
with a feeling as if the mouth were lined with flannel. No sensation of dryness or pain in
the throat or œsophagus. Nausea often about 10 P.M., and nearly always when she awakened,
but not during the night, unless she happened to be up and about for any purpose. At times
pressure in the stomach; frequent thirst in the evening, seldom during the day; capricious
appetite. During her early years she had often had diarrhœa, but she had been free from it
for some years. Two or three years ago it came on at intervals; of late it had been more
marked, the discharges watery and painful. Her eyes had for some time shown signs of
weakness and congestion. They had previously been very strong. At last she could not open
the lids at night without lifting them with her fingers. At the time I saw her there was
marked conjunctivitis, as if from some external irritation. No headache, but an “aching
tired sensation” in base of brain. At times, during the past few years and never
before, a tenderness in the neighborhood of the liver, which would pass away after slight
diarrhœa. A carbuncle or perhaps a large boil on the back was reported as having occurred
three or four years before. The sleep was more easily disturbed than when in health, and she
had often wakened chilly or feverish. The feet and legs, to the knees, were frequently
cramped, and had been relieved by warm applications and frictions. The symptoms detailed had
always been, to a certain extent, relieved during absence from home; but in about ten days
after her return the exhaustion and other evidences of disease would recur, and soon be as
bad as ever, [177]. ►
Involuntary twitching of muscles, [248]. ► Constant jactitation, [289].
► Trembling, [327],
[334]. ► Nervous
twitchings, [327]. ►
Universal tremors, [248], [326]. ► Tremblings and spasms of
extremities, [336]. ►
Convulsive spasms, [356]. ►
Convulsions, [327], [364].
[3440.] ► General
convulsions, [357]. ►
Convulsions with loss of consciousness, followed by colic, [365].
► Three spasms within an hour, the first one very severe,
the second and third consecutively lighter (after six hours); slight spasm, confined to the
muscles of the thighs and legs (after seven hours), [330].
► Violent spasms, and what she termed cramps in the legs,
[332]. ► One was
seized with convulsions, and died in about five hours in a strong convulsive fit, [230]. ► Convulsive
tremors, “so that the bed shook under him,” accompanied by sensations of cold and
extreme faintness, [256]. ►
Fits resembling epilepsy, except in the absence of frothing at mouth, [282]. ► The little boy had been
in convulsions, and was then in a semicomatose state. The child had felt chilly, and had
been sick. In the evening the symptoms seemed somewhat relieved by the remedies
administered, but during the night he became worse; and his sister was also seized with
convulsions, followed by dysenteric discharge from the bowels, [322]. ► Convulsion followed
convulsion in rapid succession, and so stiff and rigid was the entire muscular system that
no sort of external muscular force could have succeeded in producing the least amount of
flexion of either arm, leg, or other joint of the body, without producing lesion. So
clenched were the teeth as scarcely to admit of the escape of the forth and contents of the
mouth and stomach, [346]. ►
Found prone on the floor, body arched in a curve. As I took him by the hand and called him
by name he instantly became so convulsed that three men could with difficulty restrain him.
The paroxysm lasted thirty or forty seconds. The convulsive paroxysms were attended with
wild, staring, bloodshot eyes, with imprecations and fearful ravings, and with maniacal
fury. When the convulsions ceased he invariably sank into a temporary prostration. His pulse
during the intervals was irregular, uneven, intermittent, and accelerated, [300]. [3450.] ► In twelve hours he began to feel a stiffness of neck, with
slight difficulty in swallowing; the cuticle of scrotum peeled off entirely, leaving the cutis vera exposed, inflamed, and bleeding; both testes were
enlarged, and could not be touched; great thirst and headache; the most distressing symptom
was an indescribable sensation as if the hair was standing on end, and being pulled up by
the roots. Stomach was irritable with vomiting, and epigastrium was painful on pressure. He
had been purged twice freely, and said he felt as if his bowels were on fire, [288]. ► He appeared to be nearly in articulo mortis; his face, which had been swollen, having
assumed the appearance of the true facies hippocratica.
On examining the contents of the utensils in which he had vomited, a fluid was perceived of
a yellowish and greenish color, and in two of them stercoraceous matter; the pulse was gone,
his voice faint and tremulous; and he pointed to the abdomen in great agony. On examination
I discovered a very remarkable irregularity of surface, occasioned by the spasmodic
contractions of the muscles of the abdomen, and even of the viscera; this unevenness
extended from the epigastric region to the pubis, and to the right and left hypochondrium.
He complained of extreme faintness, and dreadful sickness. He had been violently purged; the
alvine secretions were all of a bright homogeneous green color, like paint. Each effort of
vomiting and purging was preceded and followed by these painful gripings and spasmodic
contractions of the abdominal muscles. He also complained of great heat in the stomach,
which he compared to a furnace, or red-hot irons, which sensation commenced at the tongue,
and was felt throughout the course of the œsophagus to the cardia, or upper orifice of the
stomach; insatiable thirst, violent headache, the eyes impatient of light, but the pupils
sensible, and the extremities cold. The patient attempted in this dreadful state to get out
of bed, to walk to the night table; he was directly seized with vertigo, dimness of sight,
and palpitation of the heart; he fell down, and went off into an epileptic fit; he was
assisted on the bed, and in a few minutes recovered from the fit (first day). In the early
part of the morning he had another attack of epilepsy; the symptomatic fever ran high, the
pulse 120; he complained of spasmodic twitchings about the chest and abdomen, palpitation of
the heart, great languor, accompanied with a constant sensation of fainting, tongue white
but not dry, occasional chills, followed by an increase of heat, headache, and vertigo
(second day). Skin moist and more temperate, tongue less coated, not dry, but sore and
swollen, the burning heat in the stomach rather less violent, and he expressed a degree of
hunger; the pulse 98, spasmodic twitches in the arms and legs, with a cold sensation in the
latter (third day). Tingling and burning sensations, beginning at the extremity of the
fingers and gradually creeping to the shoulders, sometimes one foot, and at others both
affected with a burning feel, commencing at the toes and gradually rising above the
ankle-joint; palpitation of the heart, great depression of the spirits, with a perpetual
sensation of swooning, and frequent twitchings of the muscles of the chest and abdomen, and
of the upper and lower extremities (fourth day). Owing to eating a free portion of animal
food he suffered a slight relapse of the fever and much pain in the stomach, also passed a
restless night, with much thirst, and was again attacked with spasmodic twitchings in the
chest and upper and lower extremities (fifth day). He complained of a very singular
affection in the upper and lower extremities; the arms were several times in the course of
the day seized with a numbness and prickly feeling, accompanied with a sense of great
weight, like what is commonly called being asleep; and this symptom continued daily, more or
less frequently, for six weeks, but upon raising the arms in an upright position, it
immediately subsided. The same feeling almost as constantly attacked the legs, but
occasionally with and sometimes without the corresponding affection of the arms; the legs
were some minutes longer affected, by reason of his not being able, as he himself observed,
to place them in the same position as the arms (ninth day), [232].
► Burning heat in the stomach, much nausea, with vomiting
and severe gripings, with purging, extreme faintness, palpitation of the heart, headache,
trembling of the right arm, and right lower extremity (first day). Four epileptic fits in
the course of the night, preceded by violent palpitation of the heart, accompanied with a
peculiar tremulous action of the right arm and lower extremity; a considerable degree of
symptomatic fever insatiable thirst, a white but moist tongue, the face flushed, the
respiration hurried. Pulse 126, irregular and contracted, frequent gripings in the bowels,
and spasmodic twitchings in the muscles of the chest and abdomen (second day). Much fever,
respiration hurried and great thirst, violent and incessant palpitation of the heart; the
fits had recurred twice in the night; he had had no sound sleep; if he went into a doze, he
woke suddenly and much agitated; the pulse 120; spasmodic twitches, with tremor in the right
arm and lower extremity, violent headache, and the eyes painfully affected by light;
constant vertigo, which was increased if he attempted to sit up in bed, or upon the
slightest exertion (third day). Only one attack of the epileptic fit in the night, and had
slept three or four hours towards the morning; pulse 100, breathing less hurried and more
natural (fourth day). A relapse of the fit in the night, preceded by palpitation of the
heart and tremulous agitation of the right arm and lower extremity; the fit lasted nearly
two hours (fifth day). On the eighth day an epileptic fit at 8 P.M., and it returned daily
and periodically about the same hour every evening for a fortnight afterwards; the fit
generally lasted nearly two hours, and he required, from the violence of his struggles, the
assistance of several persons to hold him whilst the epilepsy continued. On recovering he
looked wild, forgot where he was, and talked incoherently, and as he gradually emerged from
this state, complained of extreme languor, with great prostration of strength. Towards the
latter end of the second week, the fit became shorter and less severe, and he sooner
recovered when out of it; and at the expiration of a fortnight from the first effects of the
poison, he enjoyed and interval of seven or eight days without a relapse; hopes were then
entertained that he would recover, “the fits becoming every day shorter, and recovery
from each more rapid and complete.” But they again returned with the same or even
greater degree of violence, and he has been afflicted with fits up to the present time; he
appears to have outgrown his strength, possesses very delicate stamina, and serious
apprehensions are still entertained of the result, [235].
► Vomiting in the course of half an hour; soon
afterwards, several dejections. Vomiting and purging, at short intervals, continued through
the day. Evacuations consisting mostly of a serous fluid and bile. Quantity vomited during
the day amounted to six or eight quarts by estimation. In the afternoon, on attempting to
walk from one bed to another, he fell down senseless, was convulsed, had cramp in
extremities, and was cold. At 7 in the evening, seventeen hours after taking the medicine,
found him as follows: Extremities cold, bathed in perspiration; skin blue and corrugated,
feeling as if parboiled; no pulse perceptible at wrist; pulsations of carotids rapid and
fluttering; eyeballs retracted in orbits; countenance livid; voice husky and guttural;
extreme thirst; distress at epigastrium; frequent vomiting; mind clear; whole appearance
like that of a person affected with malignant cholera. Cramps and coldness of extremities
increased, vision failed, voice faltered, throat became dry, tongue swollen, annoyed by
hiccoughs, delirium, and at last death, [249]. ► Arsenical ointment was applied (to cure chronic inflammation)
to the breast of a woman, aged thirty-nine, the cuticle having been removed. The first
application was May, 21st, and was immediately followed by severe violent burning in the
breast. Violent headache, thirst, sickness, and occasional retching, numbness in arms and
legs, sleeplessness, and loss of appetite supervened in a short time. The application was
repeated daily till 25 th. On this day the pain in the breast became intolerable; there was
faintness and palpitation. Inflammatory action extended from the breast to the shoulder and
arm. On the evening of the 26th she had severe pain in belly. On the 27th the points of the
sore not sloughing were smeared with ointment. About 2 P.M., she was seized with a kind of
fit, with lividity of the face, foaming at the mouth, and moaning. She continued unconscious
for several minutes, and on regaining consciousness, said she had been in a queer place,
that she felt as it were a dart go through her, that she then became insensible, and had no
further recollection of what happened to her during the fit. In the afternoon she felt more
comfortable. Between 9 and 10 P.M., she suddenly said, “There it is again,” was
off in a fit, and died immediately, [337]. ► Cramp attacked his legs and stomach; the muscles of the
former were spasmodically contracted, and the abdomen was also rigid and tender. In the
intervals of the paroxysm of the pain he lay with his eyes half closed; tongue covered with
a creamy fur. The breathing soon became more rapid and rather difficult, and accompanied by
an increasing lividity of face. The spasms continued, but never attained to anything like
general convulsions, [292]. ►
Great muscular activity and aptitude for walking, [317].
► Agitation, [354].
► Restlessness, [354],
[372], etc. ►
Restless and anxious, [264]. [3460.]
► Great restlessness, [270],
[341], etc. ►
Tossing about the bed in a sort of anguish, [330]. ► General restlessness, worse at night, [324]. ► Uneasiness over the whole
body, especially in arms and legs, [239]. ► The patient experienced an unusual immobility of the eye and
extremities, while the muscles of the head and face seemed normal, [374]. ► Two had partial paralysis
(in one, of sensation in fingers, and in the other, of motion of the lower extremities), [278]. ► In about five
minutes a peculiar tingling sensation commenced in left arm, lasting about forty-five
minutes. Fifth day, numbness of thighs and calves. Eleventh day, anæsthesia of fingers, and
partial paralysis of flexors of forearm; a similar condition shortly afterwards attended the
lower extremities, and was accompanied in both by pain persisting for a few days. In five
weeks from the commencement of the illness, skin of entire body had desquamated; most
remarkably so on hands. In six weeks the paralysis of flexors of both extremities was
unabated, and accompanied with soreness on pressure. In two months and a half he was still
unable to stand without support. In eight months the paralysis of sensation and motion and
the soreness on pressure still continued, though less. In twenty-three months nearly well, [269]. ► Feebleness, [356]. ► Weakness, [374]. ► Extreme
weakness, [345]. [3470.]
► Gradually diminishing strength, [366]. ► Felt weary, could not sit
up, [376]. ►
Malaise, [342]. ►
Lassitude (soon), [259]. ►
Great languor, [301]. ►
Debility, [295]. ►
General debility, [285]. ►
Great exhaustion (second day), [373]. ► Loss of muscular power, which assumed the form rather of
great general debility than that of a partial or paralytic affection; and existed in such a
degree that she professed inability to walk, [241]. ► Extreme exhaustion, feeble whispering voice, pulse scarcely
perceptible, [248]. [3480.]
► Prostration, [356],
[359], etc. ►
Internal irritation, after three weeks I became completely prostrated, almost losing the use
of my left side, [297]. ►
Extreme prostration, [348], [351], etc. ► Faintness, [239], [273], etc. ► Affections of the tactile sensation, [336]. ► Complained of a
disagreeable numbness and tingling, [312]. ► Cramps, [269]. ► Cramps general, [331]. ► Constant cramps, [350].
► Much pain throughout the whole system, [346].
SKIN. ►
Objective. [3490.] ►
Skin dry, [369]. ►
The skin seemed anæmic and without lustre, was hard parchment like, and could be raised up
in thin folds from the underlying tissues, especially as all the fat had disappeared, [374]. ► General
scurfiness of the face and body, [367]. ► After forty-eight hours there was desquamation of the rash,
and all the symptoms disappeared, [369]. ► General desquamation of cuticle, [283]. ► Desquamation of the
cuticle of the face, [277]. ►
Three had desquamation of cuticle (some of hands, others of neck and nostrils), [278]. ► The body became
covered with red spots, [368]. ►
Severe hepatic (?herpetic, E. W. B.) eruption, [336]. ► Lips covered
with black spots, [357]. [3500.] ► Arms more livid than
natural, [245]. ►
Cyanotic spots on the anterior portions of the thighs, not removed by pressure, [341]. ► Miliary
eruption, [366]. ►
Eruption like intense scarlet rash, covering nearly the whole body, except the face; it
began on the anterior surface of the body, and spread rapidly, without disappearing from its
primary seat. The skin was intensely red, much swollen, covered with numberless fine
blisters. The eruption was associated with the most violent itching and burning, disturbing
the sleep, reaching its height in five or six days, and then fading; followed by
desquamation; the desquamation was very slow, in large and small scales, [345]. ► The whole body became
covered with an eruption of small pimples, like miliary rash, [369].
► General miliary eruption over the whole body, on the
sixth day, immediately followed by amelioration of all the symptoms, and re-establishment of
the urinary discharge; this eruption lasted five days, after which the body was covered with
fine mealy scales, [357]. ►
Severe eruptions, violent constitutional symptoms, and even death, [299]. ► Eruptions chiefly on
hands, forearms, scrotum, and thighs, and the suffering proves intense should they have
chapped hands at the time, [298]. ► Numerous petechial spots over the skin of the trunk and
thighs, [372]. ►
Miliary eruption confined to the forehead, wrists, and feet (third day), [271]. [3510.] ► Pimples or vesicles round mouth (fifth day), [270]. ► Towards the close small
spots of purpura on neck, [277]. ►
Pimples on the hands, chest, and forehead, [367]. ► Redness of the hand, with red points extending half way up
the forearm, [374]. ►
Arsenic causes shingles, [335]. ►
A vesicular eruption over the greater part of right ear, and also of nose; several vesicles
have coalesced, forming large patches; they are all surrounded by an inflamed base, [256]. ► Vesicular
inflammation of the whole face, with acute itching (third day), [361]. ► Vesicles about the mouth
(one case), [278]. ►
Small white blisters on the inner side of both thumbs, containing a clear watery liquid, [374]. ► Blistering of
the feet, [254]. [3520.]
► General erysipelas, with sensation of a devouring fire,
[370]. ► Cutaneous
affections of a mixed pustular and scaly character, attacking especially the scrotum, the
depression between lower lip and chin, the angles of nose and face, the line along which the
hat fits the forehead, in short, every crevice and fold where the Arsenic can accumulate, [294]. ► Various
eruptions on the parts most exposed, chiefly arms and legs; sometimes the eruptions resemble
eczema, but more frequently they are pustular, and large boils are not uncommon, [299]. ► Obstinate
pustular eruptions, [295]. ►
Eruption of pustules resembling the itching, followed by desquamation, [358]. ► In some of the persons
pustules appeared on the forehead, [274]. ► Face covered with pustules, [367].
► On the sixth day eruption of white pustules on the face
and upper part of the body, resembling in appearance and progress those of varioloid, [359]. ► Eruption of
pustules about, angles of mouth, [264]. ► His hands were contracted and he was frequently sick during
the three months he was at work. At last the Arsenic entered the hand the skin being broken;
his left hand and forearm were swollen; also the left axillary glands; the hand was
inflamed; purple patches gradually covered his arm and side. He died, [357]. [3530.] ► Eruption of boils which refused to heal, [342]. ► In a case of chorea the
Arsenical solution produced a copious crop of boils, [304].
► The workmen are subject to irritations which produce
itching, blotches, rawness, and perhaps boils. In one factory where one hundred women are
employed in marking artificial flowers, hardly any of them escaped skin diseases. The hands,
face, neck, roots of hair, flexure of arms, axilla, and in a most distressing degree the
genitals, were affected; the pudendal eruptions being often so severe that they could not
bear to sit down, [327]. ►
Several small superficial ulcers extending along the inner surface of each lip, varying in
size from mere specks, the largest being 1/12th inch in diameter. The smarting and annoyance
were intolerable, and much increased in the evening [when he inhaled much of the poison],
when the lips swelled and became so painful that eating or even speaking could scarcely be
indulged in. He got better, but returned worse than ever; all the old ulcers had reopened,
several new ones formed, lips much swollen, with profuse ptyalism, [323]. ► The lips became
incrusted, and the skin cracked and peeled, [247]. ► Inflammation of the skin of the lower part of the abdomen,
penis, scrotum, and upper part of thighs; in some places the inflammatory action had gone on
to ulceration. The pain was severe and burning. There were signs of considerable
constitutional derangement. The evening of the same day on which he washed the sheep he had
smarting and pain in the affected region; this increased, and the next morning the parts
were red and inflamed. It was more than a fortnight before he was able to resume his work, [306]. ► Subjective.
► One woman said she had been tormented for the last two
days and nights with irritation of skin, which she compared to being in a bagful of fleas
(eighth day), [344]. ►
Prickling sensation over the whole skin, [367]. ► Itching over the whole body, [374].
► Constant itching of eyebrows and forehead, [266]. [3540.] ► Violent itching of the extremities, [363].
SLEEP. ►
Drowsiness, [327], [372].
► Drowsy, but easily roused (after six hours), [262]. ► Sleepiness, [356]. ► Sleepy shortly
before death, [280]. ►
Somnolence (thirteenth day), [359]. ► Somnolence just before death, [353].
► Occasional light sleep, with muttering delirium, [307]. ► Sleeplessness, [282], [355].
FEVER. ►
Chilliness. ► Chilliness, [351], [354]. [3550.] ► General chilliness, [362]. ► Chilliness, with
cold extremities, [236]. ►
Shivering and coldness of surface, [266]. ► Shivering, [345], [354]. ► Shivering,
recurring when he drank, [279]. ►
General sense of coldness, [230]. ► Distressing sensation of cold during the whole night, [229]. ► Cold skin, [258], [262], etc. ► Skin cold and clammy, [309],
[375]. ► Skin cold
and slightly livid (in five hours and a half), [292]. [3560.] ► Skin cool and moist,
[328]. ► Trunk and
extremities cold, [361]. ►
Sensation of cold over whole body (after five hours); increased (after six hours), [293]. ► Tip of the nose
cold, pinched, [341]. ►
Sensation as if cold water were poured down back, [282].
► Cold extremities, [245],
[273]. ►
Extremities cold, with most violent pain in the abdomen, [349].
► Coldness of the hands and feet, [345], [350]. ► Feet a little cold (after five hours), [293]. ► Heat. ► Fever, [248], [327], [359]. [3570.] ► General fever, with
coldness of the feet, [372]. ►
Very violent fever, [372]. ►
She had three attacks of intermittent fever; the first in November, 1875, lasting three
days; the second in December, 1875, lasting seven days, and the third from 14th to 16th of
January, 1876. The symptoms of the attacks were as follows; Between 8.30 and 9 A.M., after
getting out of bed, chilly, with chattering of teeth, nails and lips blue, sometimes
sickness on waking, bad taste in mouth, desire for much cold drink, pulse feeble, wants to
lie down and to be quiet, and wrapped up, breath offensive, tongue brown; this lasts till 1
P.M., then fever comes on. During the fever there is full pulse, frontal pain, not much
thirst, especially hot to touch on abdomen, with pain there, feet and hands cold
objectively, not subjectively, cannot bear the least draught, breath offensive, tongue
brown; this lasts till 4 or 5 P.M.; she then seems well for one or two hours. Then about 6
P.M. she is slightly chilly till about 8 P.M., then there is heat again, cannot sleep, bad
dreams, cannot sleep after 3 A.M. She is losing flesh very, fast, and getting very weak. The
second attack was the most severe, and the third (which occurred after she had been removed
to another room) was the slightest, [375]. ► In this way can be produced in healthy persons attacks of
remittent fever, though not such rigors as those of true fever, but only flushing heats,
disappearing and returning, and chiefly felt in præcordial region and forehead. Such
accessions terminate sometimes in partial or general sweats, and at other times merely in a
moist state of skin. This Arsenical fever never acquires
any regular type. It is rare for the excitation, to be carried this degree, and there is
more usually an increase, more or less considerable, of the heat of the body, which seems to
have its source in the stomach and præcordial region, whence it passes to the rest of the
body, but is especially felt in forehead and eyebrows. To produce these effects a rather
strong dose is required, [317]. ►
Heat over the whole body, except the hands, [355]. ► Violent heat internally and externally, [369]. ► Temperature increased (in
the rectum 38.6°), [362]. ►
The feeling of heat within did not leave him for a week,
[239]. ► Heat of
skin, [239], [269],
[325]. ► Heat and
dryness of skin, [271]. [3580.]
► Alternations of heat and chilliness, [363]. ► Sweat. ► Profuse sweating on the least exertion, [295]. ► Skin moist and
temperature good (after five hours); moist and cool (after six hours), [293]. ► Cold clammy sweat, [282]. ► Skin covered
with cold clammy sweat, [307]. ►
Clammy perspiration, [245]. ►
Cold sweat, [363]. ►
Whole body, and particularly hands and feet, covered with cold sweat, [245]. ► Cold sweats broke out
profusely over surface of body, [334]. ► Fetid perspiration on the whole body, [357]. [3590.] ► Abundant perspiration (after eight days), [359].® 2000
Article