§ 843. Two remarkable cases of death from the external use of corrosive sublimate are recorded by Anderseck. An ointment, containing corrosive sublimate, was rubbed into the skin of two girls, servants, in order to cure the itch. The one, during the inunction, complained of a burning of the skin; the other also, a little while after, suffered in the same way. During the night the skin of each swelled, reddened, and became acutely painful. There were thirst and vomiting, but no diarrhœa, On the following day there was an eruption of blebs or little blisters. On the third day they had diarrhœa, tenesmus, fever, and diminution of the renal secretion; on the fourth day, fœtid breath, stomatitis, hyperæsthesia of the body, and a feeling of “pins and needles” in the hands and feet were noted. The first girl died in the middle of the fifth day, fully conscious; the other died on the sixth. So also Taylor[924] gives the case of a girl, aged 9, who died from the effects of an alcoholic solution of corrosive sublimate (strength, 80 grains to the oz.) applied to the scalp as a remedy for ringworm. The same author[925] further quotes the case of two brothers who died—the one on the fifth, the other on the eleventh day—from the effects of absorbing corrosive sublimate through the unbroken skin.
[924] Op. cit.
[925] Poisons, 1848, p. 394.
§ 844. The Nitrates of Mercury are poisons, but little (if at all) inferior in corrosive action to mercuric chloride. Death has resulted from both the external and internal use. Application of the nitrate as an escharotic to the os uteri, in one case,[926] produced all the symptoms of mercurial poisoning, but the woman recovered; in another case,[927] its use as a liniment caused death.
[926] Med. Gazette, vol. 45, p. 1025.
[927] Edin. Monthly Journal, 1864, p. 167.