(6) Catarrhal affection of the conjunctiva, the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract, and the nose.
(7) Formation of insoluble baryta salts in the blood-vessels, according to Onsum. This has not been observed in man, and the fact is disputed (see ante).
In Dr. Tidy’s case,[986] in which a man, suffering from rheumatism, but otherwise healthy, took a mixture of barium nitrate, flowers of sulphur, and potassic chlorate, instead of sulphur, the symptoms were blisters on the tongue, a burning pain in the gullet and stomach, with vomiting, diarrhœa, convulsions, aphonia, and coldness of the extremities. A case, copiously detailed by Seidel,[987] in which a pregnant woman, twenty-eight years old, took carbonate of baryta for the purpose of self-destruction, is interesting. She probably took the poison some little time before six in the evening; she vomited and had great pain in the stomach, but slept during the night without further sickness. The next morning, after drinking some coffee, the sickness was renewed; nevertheless, at 7 A.M., she repaired to her employment, which was distant an hour’s walk; she probably suffered much on the way, for she did not arrive until 9 A.M. The vomiting, accompanied by diarrhœa, continuing, she was sent to bed at 2 P.M. She was very cold, and complained of great weakness; the vomiting now ceased. At 8 P.M. she shivered violently, could scarcely swallow, and the respiration was oppressed. At 11 she seemed a little improved; but at 3 A.M. she was found much worse, breathing rapidly, but fully conscious; at 4 A.M. she was again seen, but found dead; she thus lived about thirty-four hours after taking the fatal dose.
[986] Pharm. Journ., June 1868.
[987] Eulenberg’s Vierteljahrsschrift f. ger. Med., Bd. 27, § 213.
§ 909. Distribution of Barium in the Body.—Neumann has shown that, after repeated injection of insoluble barium sulphate into the veins of rabbits, barium is to be found in the liver, kidneys, spleen, and spinal cord, but not in the muscles, thymus, or brain. G. Linossier[988] has made a similar series of experiments, but with the more soluble carbonate, and this salt was injected into animals for a period of thirty days. All the organs contained some barium; lungs, muscles, and the heart only contained traces, the liver rather more, the kidneys, brain, and spinal cord still more, and, lastly, the bones a considerable quantity, as much as 0·056 per cent.
[988] Compt. rend. Soc. Biol. (8), iv. 122-123.