§ 283. Sequelæ.—In several cases in which the patients have recovered from phosphorus poisoning, there have been observed paralytic affections.[286] O. Bollinger has recorded a case in which paralysis of the foot followed;[287] in another, published by Bettelheim,[288] there were peculiar cerebral and spinal symptoms. Most of these cases are to be explained as disturbance or loss of function from small hæmorrhages in the nervous substance.
[286] See Gallavardin, Les Paralyses Phosphoriques, Paris, 1865.
[287] Deutsches Archiv f. klin. Med., Bd. 6, Hft. 1, S. 94, 1869.
[288] Wiener Med. Presse, 1868, No. 41.
§ 284. Period at which the first Symptoms commence.—The time when the symptoms commence is occasionally of importance from a forensic point of view. I find that out of 28 cases in which the commencement of evident symptoms—i.e., pain, or vomiting, or illness—is precisely recorded, in 8 the symptoms were described as either immediate or within a few minutes after swallowing the poison; in 6 the symptoms commenced within the hour; in 3 within two hours; in other 3 within four hours; and in 1 within six hours. One was delayed until the lapse of twelve hours, 1 from sixteen to eighteen hours, 1 two, and another five days. We may, therefore, expect that in half the cases which may occur, the symptoms will commence within the hour, and more than 80 per cent. within six hours.
§ 285. Period of Death.—In 129 cases death took place as follows:—In 17 within twenty-four hours, in 30 within two days, in 103 within seven days. Three patients lived eight days, 6 nine days, 13 ten days, 1 eleven days, 1 sixteen days, 1 seventeen days, and 1 survived eight months. It hence follows that 79·8 per cent. of the fatal cases die within the week.
§ 286. Phosphorus Vapour.—There are one or two cases on record of acute poisoning by phosphorus in the form of vapour. The symptoms are somewhat different from the effects produced by the finely-divided solid, and in general terms it may be said that phosphorus vapour is more apt to produce the rarer “nervous” form of poisoning than the solid phosphorus.
Bouchardat[289] mentions the case of a druggist who, while preparing a large quantity of rat-poison in a close room, inhaled phosphorus vapour. He fainted repeatedly, fell into a complete state of prostration, and died within a week.