[876] Münch. med. Wochenschrift, 1891, Nr. 35 u. 36.
Lehmann has also made experiments upon himself and his pupils on the effect of the sulphate and the acetate when taken for a long time:—
| One of the experimenters took | for 50 | days | 10 | mgrms. | daily Cu as sulphate. | |||||
| One„of the expe„menters t„ | then for 30 | „ | 20 | „ | „ | |||||
| Another took | for | 3 | days | 5 | mgrms. | as acetate. | sulphate | |||
| „ | then | for | 10 | days | 10 | „ | „ | |||
| „ | „ | 1 | day | 15 | „ | „ | ||||
| „ | „ | 19 | days | 20 | „ | „ | ||||
| „ | „ | 18 | days | 30 | „ | „ | ||||
None of these daily doses had the least effect.
Five farther experiments showed that 75 to 127 mgrms. of copper in peas and beans, divided in two meals, could be taken daily without effect; but if 127 mgrms. were taken at one meal in 200 grms. of peas, then, after a few hours, there might be vomiting; and Lehmann concludes that doses of copper in food of about 100 mgrms. may produce some transient derangement in health, such as sickness, a nasty taste in the mouth, and a general feeling of discomfort, but nothing more; some slight colicky pains and one or two loose motions are also possible, but were not observed in Lehmann’s experiments.
§ 804. Toxic Dose of Copper Salts.—This is a difficult question, because copper salts generally act as an emetic, and therefore very large doses have been taken without any great injury. In fact, it may be laid down that a medium dose taken daily for a considerable time is far more likely to injure health, or to destroy life, than a big dose taken at once. In Tschirch’s[877] careful experiments on animals, he found 10 mgrm. doses of CuO given daily to rabbits, the weight of which varied from 1200 to 1650 grms., caused injury to health, that is, about 3·5 mgrms. per kilo. If man is susceptible in the same proportion, then daily doses of 227·5 mgrms. (or about 31⁄2 grains) would cause serious poisonous symptoms; although double or treble that quantity might in a single dose be swallowed and, if thrown up speedily, no great harm result. 120 grms. of sulphate of copper have been swallowed, and yet the patient recovered after an illness of two weeks.[878] Lewin[879] mentions the case of an adult who recovered after ten days’ illness, although the dose was 15 grms.; there is also on record the case of a child, four and a half years old, who recovered after a dose of 16·5 grms. (a little over half an ounce). On the other hand, 7·7 grms. have been with difficulty recovered from.[880] A woman died in seventy-two hours after taking 27 grms. (7 drms.) of copper sulphate mixed with 11·6 grms. (3 drms.) of iron sulphide; 56·6 grms. (2 ozs.) of copper acetate have caused death in three days; 14·2 grms. (0·5 oz.) in sixty hours.[881]
[877] Das Kupfer, Stuttgart, 1893.