empyreumatic oils of tobacco and other narcotic vegetables are active poisons; and that the emanations from candle snuffings and imperfectly consumed tallow probably owe their injurious properties to a peculiar oil. Many empyreumatic oils are known, and some are used in medicine, which act powerfully on the animal system as stimulants and antispasmodics. Among these may be enumerated naphtha, oil of galbanum, oil of guiaiac, oil of amber, oil of wax, and Dippel's oil. The last in particular, which is the rectified empyreumatic oil of hartshorn, but is prepared also from blood and various animal matters,[1] has been a good deal used of late on the continent for medical purposes, and has even been resorted to as a poison for the purpose of self-destruction.
The only one of these substances whose physiological properties have been examined with particular care, is the empyreumatic oil procured by the destructive distillation of lard. When freed of adhering acid by rectification from quicklime, this oil is limpid and very volatile, has an insupportable smell, and when diffused in the air, irritates the eyes and nostrils, and even excites giddiness. Buchner found it to possess simple narcotic properties. When a mouse was confined under a jar, into which a little of its vapour was introduced, it suddenly tried to escape, immediately fell down exhausted, and, although soon afterwards removed into the open air, expired in about fifteen minutes, without convulsions. It is much less powerful when introduced into the stomach, yet is still a dangerous poison through that channel; for five drops projected into the throat of a chaffinch very nearly proved fatal; and the only symptoms were excessive exhaustion, slow respiration, and insensibility.[2]
Similar effects have been occasionally observed in man. The late Professor Chaussier has related a case of poisoning in the human subject from the oil of Dippel, or rectified empyreumatic oil of hartshorn. It is merely mentioned, however, that the individual, on taking a spoonful by mistake, died immediately; and that no morbid appearance could be discovered in the dead body.[3] Another case has been more recently related, where the poison was the impure oil of commerce, from which the oil of Dippel is prepared by rectification. The subject was a woman, who took it intentionally in the dose of an ounce and a half. The symptoms induced could not be ascertained; but it appeared, that she had been attacked with vomiting, and, finding the action of the poison either less speedy, or less supportable than she expected, had thrown herself into a well and been drowned. The appearances in the body clearly showed that in this instance the poison had not acted as a pure narcotic. The whole body exhaled the peculiar fetid odour of the oil. The palate, tongue, throat, and gullet, were white and shrivelled. The stomach had outwardly a diffuse rose tint, crossed by gorged black veins, which here and there had burst and formed patches of extravasation. The contents of the stomach consisted of remains of food, a good
