were under twenty, and among these were several painter-boys not above fifteen years old; 113 were between nineteen and thirty; 66 between twenty-nine and forty; 38 between thirty-nine and fifty; 28 between forty-nine and sixty; and 10 older than sixty. These proportions correspond pretty nearly with the relative number of workmen of similar ages.—Among the 279 cases fifteen died, or 5·4 per cent.
There seems to have lately been little or no diminution in the frequency of the disease in Paris. In 1833-4-5-6, there were treated in the hospitals 1541 cases, or 385 annually; of whom one in 39-1/2 died. And in 1839-40-41 there were 761 cases, or 252 annually; of whom one in 24-1/2 died. Of 302 cases in 1841 no fewer then 266 were from white-lead manufactories.[1]
Section III.—Of the Morbid Appearances caused by Lead.
The morbid appearances caused by poisoning with lead are in some respects peculiar.
In acute poisoning, from the irritant action of its soluble salts, as in the case of the drummer poisoned by Goulard's extract, the lower end of the gullet, the whole stomach and duodenum, part of the jejunum, and the ascending and transverse colon, have been found much inflamed, and the villous coat of the stomach as if macerated. In Mr. Taylor's two cases Dr. Bird found the villous coat of the stomach gray, but otherwise natural; and the intestines were much contracted.
The stomach in the first of these cases contained a reddish-brown, sweetish, styptic fluid, in which lead was detected by chemical analysis,[2]—an important medico-legal fact, since the man survived nearly three days. Some valuable observations have been made by Professor Orfila as to the presence of lead in the textures of the stomach in such instances. When small doses of acetate or nitrate of lead were administered to dogs and allowed to act for two hours only, the villous coat presented numerous streaks of white points, which contained lead, as hydrosulphuric acid blackened them. These points, though less distinct, were still visible, when the animals were allowed to live four days after the excess of salt had been removed; and even after seventeen days, although no such appearance remained, lead could still be detected in the tissues of the stomach.[3]
The blood in animals is sometimes altered. Dr. Campbell found it fluid. In a dog poisoned with litharge, the experimentalists of the Veterinary School at Lyons found it of a vermilion colour in the veins, and brighter than usual in the arteries.[4] Mitscherlich also found it unusually red and firmly coagulated.[5]
The appearances in the bodies of those who have died of the various forms of lead colic are different, and wholly unconnected with inflammation.
