INEBRIANTS.
NEUROTICS ACTING ON THE BRAIN AND PRODUCING INTOXICATION.
ALCOHOL--NITRO-BENZOLE--COCCULUS INDICUS--FUNGI, ETC.
ALCOHOL.--Spiritous liquors, when taken in large quantities, not
unfrequently produce fatal effects.
Two wineglassfuls of brandy proved fatal to a boy, seven years old, in
thirty hours. Dr. Taylor mentions the case of a man who drank two
bottles of port wine (containing eleven ounces of alcohol) in less than
two hours. He speedily became intoxicated and utterly helpless, never
rallied, and died from congestion of the brain and lungs. Another man
who swallowed a bottle of gin for a wager died in half an hour, although
much of the spirit was removed by the stomach-pump. A common cause of
acute alcohol poisoning is "sucking the monkey," as practised in the
docks by laborers having access to spirit casks.
The _symptoms_ generally come on rapidly, the individual appearing
confused, and unable to walk steadily. This degree of intoxication soon
passes into the stage of complete stupor and coma, and unless there is
vomiting collapse soon sets in. In some cases a remission of the
symptoms has occurred, death being postponed for a day or longer.
As the alcohol is eliminated by the lungs, stupor from drink may be
detected by the odor of the breath. The countenance is usually flushed,
and the pupils are dilated, but in cases of acute poisoning the patient
may be deadly pale. The pupils are not contracted, as in poisoning by
opium; moreover, the individual may generally be roused for a few
moments by a loud noise, &c.; a circumstance which may prevent
intoxication being mistaken for concussion of the brain.
Diluted spirits produce a state of excitement, terminating in stupor. It
must be remembered that alcoholic liquids have been frequently made the
vehicles of more virulent poisons.
As regards _treatment_, it is only necessary to say that the poison is
to be removed as quickly as possible by the stomach-pump. Cold affusion
should be employed, and the diluted liquor ammoniae, or carbonate of
ammonia, administered. Subsequently warmth must be promoted.
NITRO-BENZOLE AND ANILINE.--A compound, made from the rectified products
of coal tar and nitric acid, and known as _nitro-benzole_, is sometimes
used as a substitute for essential oil of almonds. It is sold to
perfumers under the name of "essence of mirbane." A lad employed in some
chemical works in the early part of 1862, finding a syphon did not act,
sucked through it some of the fluid, which happened to be nitro-benzole.
No immediate effect resulted, but in a few hours he felt as if he were
drunk. Stupor came on, and ended in death twelve hours after swallowing
the poison. Another product of the destructive distillation of coal in
gas-making is _aniline_ (into which nitro-benzole is converted in the
human body) a colorless, limpid, acrid, and poisonous liquid. It has
given rise to very alarming symptoms when swallowed, as well as when
inhaled in vapor. It produces a remarkable blue or purple discoloration
of the body, particularly the lips and nails.
COCCULUS INDICUS.--The kernel of the berry of the Menispermum cocculus,
or Levant nut, imported from the East Indies, contains from one to two
per cent. of a poisonous principle named _picrotoxine_. Thieves
sometimes mix a decoction or extract of the berries with spirits or
beer, to give these drinks an intoxicating property (hocussing).
Dishonest publicans, too, first reduce their beer by means of salt and
water, and afterwards give it intoxicating properties by adding cocculus
extract. The same substance is used by poachers to destroy fish. The
symptoms produced appear to be a peculiar stupor, a complete loss of
voluntary power, with a consciousness of passing events.
DARNEL SEEDS (_Lolium temulentum_).--The seeds of this plant, which is
often found growing with corn crops, when accidentally mixed in
considerable quantity with wheat or rye, and ground into flour, have
caused gastric pain, severe giddiness, vomiting, and other symtoms of
intoxication. The sufferers complained that everything seemed of a green
color. A wet season is said to encourage the growth of darnel with the
varieties of corn.
CAMPHOR.--This substance is very variable in its action. It has given
rise to alarming symptoms on some occasions, and once it has destroyed
life. In scruple and half-drachm doses, it seems to have produced
giddiness, difficulty in walking, dimness of sight, difficulty of
breathing, delirium, and insensibility.
The stomach-pump or emetics must be employed. If the effects are not
very severe they will generally cease spontaneously after a time. The
odor would lead to the detection of the poison.
FUNGI.--According to Berkeley there are now upwards of 2380 recognised
species of British fungi, a considerable proportion of which are
doubtless poisonous. But the type of the class may be taken as the
Amanita muscaria. This is an autumn fungus of an orange-red color, and
is used among the Siberian tribes, especially the Koraks, as an
intoxicating agent, and produces symptoms somewhat similar to those of
alcohol.
The Agaricus campestris and esculentus are those most frequently used as
articles of food, on account of their savory properties; but even these
are indigestible. They occasionally produce diarrhoea, with a
pruriginous or exanthematous rash in dyspeptics; and should only be
eaten in great moderation.
_Ketchup_, the juice of the mushroom flavored with salt and spices, has
produced faintness, nausea and colic, lasting for some hours.
There are some positive characters by which the wholesome fungi can be
distinguished from the unwholesome. Moreover those which may be eaten
with impunity by some individuals prove destructive to others. Thus, a
French officer and his wife died from breakfasting off mushrooms which
others in the house ate without inconvenience. As a general rule highly
colored mushrooms, with an astringent styptic taste, a forbidding
pungent odor, and which grow in dark and shady places, should be
avoided.
The symptoms produced by poisonous fungi are not unfrequently those
indicative of gastro-intestinal irritation, with a disordered condition
of the nervous system, and considerable depression; but, again, they may
act much more like pure narcotics. In treating these case, the stomach
and intestines must be thoroughly emptied, and then the prominent
symptoms are to be relieved according to their urgency.