§ 878. Effects on Man.—Perchloride of iron in the form of tincture has been popularly used in England, from its supposed abortive property, and is sold under the name of “steel drops.” It has been frequently taken by mistake for other dark liquids; and there is at least one case on record in which it was proved to have been used for the purpose of murder. The latter case[957] is peculiarly interesting from its great rarity; it occurred in Martinique in 1874-1876, no less than four persons being poisoned at different dates. All four were presumed to have had immoral relations with a certain widow X——, and to have been poisoned by her son. In three of the four cases, viz., Char——, Duf——, and Lab——, the cause of death seems pretty clear; but the fourth, Ab——, a case of strong suspicion, was not sufficiently investigated. All three took the fatal dose in the evening, between eight and nine o’clock—Lab—— the 27th of December 1874, Duf—— the 22nd of February 1876, and Char—— on the 14th of May 1876. They had all passed the day in tippling, and they all had eaten nothing from mid-day, so that the stomach would, in none of the three, contain any solid matters. The chloride was given to them in a glass of “punch,” and there was strong evidence to show that the son of the widow X—— administered it. Char—— died after about thirteen hours’ illness, Duf—— and Lab—— after sixty-five hours’ illness; Ab—— lived from three to four days. With Char—— the symptoms were very pronounced in an hour, and consisted essentially of violent colicky pain in the abdomen and diarrhœa, but there was no vomiting; Duf—— had also great pain in the abdomen and suppression of the urine. Lab—— had most violent abdominal pains; he was constipated, and the urinary secretion was arrested; there was besides painful tenesmus. According to the experiments of Bérenger-Féraud and Porte,[958] the perchloride in the above cases was taken under conditions peculiarly favourable for the development of its toxic action, viz., on an empty stomach and mixed with alcohol.
[957] Fully reported in Bérenger-Féraud’s paper, loc. cit.
[958] Dub. Med. Press, February 21, 1849.
There have been several cases of recovery from large doses of the tincture, e.g., that of an old man, aged 72, who had swallowed 85 c.c. (3 ozs.) of the tincture; the tongue swelled, there were croupy respiration and feeble pulse, but he made a good recovery. In other cases,[959] 28·3 c.c. (an ounce) and more have caused vomiting and irritation of the urinary organs. The perchloride is not unfrequently used to arrest hæmorrhage as a topical application to the uterine cavity—a practice not free from danger, for it has before now induced violent inflammation and death from peritonitis.
[959] Provincial Journal, April 7 and 21, 1847, p. 180; see also Taylor’s Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence, vol. i. p. 320, 2nd Edition.