POISONING BY NITRO-BENZOL.
Composition. Source. Uses. Characters. Toxic qualities. Convulsions: paralysis: cyanosis; weak pulse; bitter almond odor; dark red urine; sopor, giddiness; reduced size of red blood globules; congested brain, stomach, intestines. Treatment: emesis, purgation, stimulants, electricity, derivatives, bleeding, normal salt solution.
Nitro-benzol (Nitro-benzine, C6H5NO2) is a coal tar product, formed in large quantities in the manufacture of aniline dyes and extensively used as a flavoring agent for soaps, sweet meats, etc. It is formed by the addition of strong nitric acid to benzine, and appears as a yellow fluid with an odor resembling, yet somewhat different from, that of prussic acid or oil of bitter almonds. It may prove deadly to man or dog in a dose of fifteen drops, though most commonly it enters the system by inhalation. In animals the prominent symptoms are convulsions and paralysis, supervening on a period of weak circulation and pulse, and blueness of the visible mucous membranes. The characteristic odor resembling the oil of bitter almonds exhales from the lungs and skin. In man there are dilatation of the pupils, blueness of the lips and nails, pallor of the face, weak pulse, slow breathing (often in the end Cheyne-Stokes respiration), a dark maroon or port wine color of the urine, and amblyopia. In the chronic cases the skin is yellowish, and there are weariness, a dragging walk, headache, morning anorexia, drowsiness, giddiness, numbness of the hands or other parts and emaciation. The blood is chocolate color with red globules reduced in size, in number and in hæmoglobin, but containing an excess of carbon dioxide. The brain is often congested and the gastro-intestinal mucosa like the skin may be yellow (from alleged formation of picric acid). In chronic cases disseminated sclerosis may be seen.
In treatment emesis, purgation, stimulants (ammonia, camphor), galvanism, sinapisms to the chest, and phlebotomy, with injection of normal salt solution, may be resorted to, as in aniline poisoning.
POISONING BY CARBON DISULPHIDE.
Used to kill insects in grain, etc., in barns. Locally anæsthetic, and irritant. Inhaled, toxic, causing excitement, anæsthesia, collapse. Large doses, excitement, reckless movements, incoördination, giddiness, sleep, stertor, paraplegia. Small doses, weakness, emaciation, tremors, paraplegia, polyuria, mellituria; convulsions, death. Distortion and varicosity of axis cylinder, and unequal staining of cytoplasm. Treatment: pure air, good diet; massage, electricity, tonics, phosphorous.
This agent is largely used in vulcanizing and other factories where the employes are liable to suffer, and also in granaries, barns, etc., for the destruction of insects in grain and other objects and where animals are liable to suffer.
Locally it acts like chloroform, when confined to the surface, as under a glass or covering, producing very active irritation with anæsthesia.
Inhaled it produces intoxication, excitement, general anæsthesia and finally collapse. In rabbits it causes intense excitement, giddiness, swaying from side to side, and reckless leaps forward, followed by profound sleep with deep stertor, and paraplegia for half an hour after the return of consciousness (Oliver). When taken for a long time in smaller quantity it caused weakness, emaciation, tremors, paraplegia, and death in convulsions. There was polyuria, with excess of sugar but neither urea nor albumin. The large cells in the motor areas of the brain, when stained by Golgi’s method, showed the axis cylinder distorted and varicose, and the cytoplasm stained unequally. The action on dogs was essentially the same, and in neither animal were changes in the blood globules observed (Oliver).
In man slow poisoning caused headache and exhilarate intoxication, followed by depression, mental apathy, dullness, loss of memory, impaired vision, hearing, sexual desire and muscular power. Cramps are common (Delpech, Curtis).