[838] See a paper by Professor Tuson, Veterinarian, vol. xxxviii., 1861.
[839] Ib.; also Taylor, Op. cit.
§ 781. Effects of Lead Compounds on Man—Acute Poisoning.—Acute poisoning by preparations of lead is not common, and, when it does occur, is seldom fatal. With regard to the common acetate, it would seem that a large single dose is less likely to destroy life than smaller quantities given in divided doses for a considerable period. The symptoms produced by a considerable dose of sugar of lead usually commence within a few minutes; there is immediately a metallic taste, with burning, and a sensation of great dryness in the mouth and throat; vomiting, which occurs usually within fifteen minutes, is in very rare cases delayed from one to two hours. The retching and vomiting are very obstinate, and continue for a long time; the matters thrown up are sometimes streaked with blood; there is pain in the abdomen of a colicky character—a pain relieved by pressure. The bowels are, as a rule, constipated, but occasionally relaxed. The stools at a later date are black from the presence of lead sulphide. The urine, as a rule, is diminished. The breath has a foul odour, and the tongue is coated; the skin is dry, and the pulse small and frequent. The full development of the toxic action is completed by the appearance of various nervous phenomena—headache, shooting pains in the limbs, cramps in the legs, and local numbness. All the symptoms enumerated are not present in each case; the most constant are the vomiting and the colic. If the sufferer is to die, death occurs about the second or third day. If the patient recovers, convalescence may be much retarded, as shown in the case of two girls,[840] who had each swallowed an ounce of lead acetate by mistake, and who suffered even after the lapse of a year from pain and tenderness in the stomach and sickness.
[840] Prov. Med. Journal, 1846.
There are “mass-poisonings” by acetate of lead on record, which afford considerable insight into the varying action of this salt on different individuals. A case (e.g.) occurred at Stourbridge in 1840,[841] in which no less than 500 people were poisoned by thirty pounds of lead acetate being accidentally mixed with eighty sacks of flour at a miller’s. The symptoms commenced after a few days; constriction of the throat, cramping and twisting pains round the umbilicus, rigidity of the abdominal muscles, dragging pains at the loins, cramps and paralysis of the lower extremities. There was obstinate constipation; the urine was scanty and of a deep red colour, and the secretions were generally arrested; the pulse was slow and feeble; the countenance depressed, often livid; and the gums showed the usual blue line. The temperature of the skin was low. In only a few cases was there sickness, and in these it soon ceased. It is curious that not one of the 500 cases proved fatal, although some of the victims were extremely ill, and their condition alarming. It was specially observed that, after apparent convalescence, the symptoms, without any obvious cause, suddenly returned, and this even in a more aggravated form. Remittance of this kind is of medico-legal import; it might, for example, be wrongly inferred that a fresh dose had been taken. In the 500 cases there were no inflammatory symptoms; complete recovery took some time. On examining the bread the poison was found so unequally distributed that no idea could be formed as to the actual amount taken.
[841] Recorded by Mr. Bancks, Lancet, May 5, 1849, p. 478.