- nistration of a draught by the prisoner, the gentleman was attacked
with convulsions, and not long afterwards his physician found him quite insensible, unable to swallow, bathed in a cold sweat, with a small pulse, a burning skin, the jaws locked, the neck rigid, the belly tense, and the limbs affected with spasmodic convulsions. In this state he seems to have continued till his death. The only appearances found in the dead body, which bore any relation to the poison suspected, were congestion of blood and serous effusion in the vessels of the cerebral membranes. If morphia was the cause of death, it is highly probable that, besides what was administered thirty-six hours before he died, several doses were given subsequently; otherwise, from what is known of the action of opium, the narcotism could scarcely have lasted uninterruptedly for so long a period.[1]
For the following extraordinary case I am indebted to one of my pupils, Mr. Clark of Montrose: A woman took one morning by mistake ten grains of pure muriate of morphia, which had been prepared not long before by Mr. Clark in my laboratory, and was freed of codeïa. The mistake having been discovered almost immediately, means were taken to prevent any ill effects from the accident, and within half an hour after the poison was swallowed, the stomach was completely cleared by the stomach-pump. At this time she was quite sensible. But stupor quickly came on after the poison was evacuated, and deep imperturbable coma gradually formed, so that nothing could rouse her in the slightest degree except cold affusion of the head and chest, which caused faint signs of returning consciousness. Before night she expired, though all the usual remedies were resorted to. An inspection of the body was not obtained, which is much to be regretted, since without it the case is quite obscure. I do not know a single instance of fatal coma from opium where the proper remedies were resorted to before the stupor commenced; and death in such circumstances is so inconceivable, that we must ascribe the result in this case to apoplexy, either incidentally concurring, or brought on by the operation of the poison.
Morphia, like opium, may occasion serous effects when too freely applied to a blistered surface. In a case related by M. Dupont, four-tenths of a grain of acetate of morphia, applied to a blister on the side, caused in twenty minutes dimness of vision, vomiting, and delirium; and though it was then removed, the patient had afterwards continued vomiting, dilated pupils, and great feebleness of the pulse. Recovery took place, but the patient was not quite free of incoherence next day.[2] The dose here was so small, and the symptoms were so unlike the usual effects of morphia, that doubts arise whether the case was really one of poisoning.
The effects of narcotine have been examined experimentally by Magendie and Orfila; but their results do not coincide. According to Orfila it is not easy to poison dogs with it, as it excites vomiting and is discharged. But when the gullet is tied, the animal dies in
