[367] Beiträge zur Tox. des Anilins. Inaug.-Diss., Dorpat, 1888.
The symptoms are giddiness, weakness, cyanosis, blueness of the skin, sinking of the temperature, and dilatation of the pupil. The pulse is small and frequent, the skin moist and cold. The patient smells of aniline. Towards the end coma and convulsions set in. The urine may be brown to brown-black, and may contain hyaline cylinders. The blood shows the spectrum of methæmoglobin, and has the peculiarities already mentioned. Should the patient recover, jaundice often follows. The outward application of aniline produces eczema.
Chronic poisoning by aniline is occasionally seen among workers in the manufacture of aniline. Headache, loss of muscular power, diminished sensibility of the skin, vomiting, loss of appetite, pallor, eruptions on the skin, and general malaise are the chief symptoms. The perspiration has been noticed to have a reddish colour.
Cases of aniline poisoning are not common; Dr. Fred. J. Smith has recorded one in the Lancet of January 13, 1894.[368] The patient, a woman, 42 years of age, of alcoholic tendencies, swallowed, 13th December 1893, at 1.40 P.M., about 3 ounces of marking ink, the greatest part of which consisted of aniline; in a very little while she became unconscious, and remained so until death. At 3 P.M. her lips were of a dark purple, the general surface of the skin was deadly white, with a slight bluish tinge; the pupils were small and sluggish, the breathing stertorous, and the pulse full and slow—60 per minute. The stomach was washed out, ether injected, and oxygen administered, but the patient died comatose almost exactly twelve hours after the poison had been taken.
[368] See also a case reported by K. Dehio, in which a person drank 10 grms. and recovered, Ber. klinis. Wochen., 1888, Nr. 1.
The post-mortem examination showed slight congestion of the lungs; the heart was relaxed in all its chambers, and empty of blood; it had a peculiar green-blue appearance. All the organs were healthy. The blood was not spectroscopically examined.