Text-book of forensic medicine and toxicology

by R. J. M. Buchanan

Table giving the Characteristic Reactions
of Antimonial and Arsenical Deposits
on Copper.

	Antimony.	Arsenic.
The colour of the	Lustrous, with a violet hue.	Dark steel-grey colour,
deposit on copper		and lustrous.
by Reinsch‘s
process is—
The coated copper	No effect, or only a	Well-marked sublimate
heated in the end	trifling white sublimate,	of octahedral crystals;
of a small tube.	non-crystalline,	is readily volatile.
	non-volatile. If the
	sublimate be dissolved
	in solution of tartaric
	acid and sulphuretted
	hydrogen passed
	through the solution,
	the orange antimonious
	sulphide is thrown down.

It may be noted that mercury likewise yields a deposit on copper with Reinsch‘s process; but the coating is in this case either of a grey colour or white, and silvery on the application of friction. When the coated copper is heated in a glass tube, there is a sublimate of metallic mercury readily aggregating into globules on being rubbed with a glass rod. If the deposit is trifling in quantity, a magnifying-glass should be used to identify the metallic globules. This test at once distinguishes a deposit on copper due to mercury from that produced under similar conditions by arsenic or antimony.

Quantitative Analysis.—Take a measured quantity of the suspected liquid and precipitate thoroughly with sulphuretted hydrogen. Wash, dry, and weigh precipitate. One hundred parts equal 202.78 parts of crystallised tartar emetic.

Recapitulation of the Leading Facts
with regard to Poisoning
with Antimony.

ACUTE POISONING.—SYMPTOMS, ETC.
Action on alimentary canal.	Intense irritation of the stomach and
	bowels, constant vomiting, and
	frequently purging. Eliminated by the
	stomach when absorbed by the skin, or as
	antimoniuretted hydrogen by the lungs.
	Presence, in some cases absence, of
	signs of inflammation in intestinal canal.
Circulation	The cardiac contractions are lessened in
	frequency and force, the heart being
	finally arrested in diastole.
Brain and nervous system.	Sometimes delirium, paralysis of sensation
	and motion, and diminution of reflex action.
Urinary organs	Secretion of the kidneys, as a rule, not
	arrested; sometimes increased.
Fatal dose	Two grains.
Average period of	A very short time after the poison is
commencement	taken. Almost immediately.
of symptoms.
Average period before death.	Various. Ten to twenty hours.
CHRONIC POISONING.—SYMPTOMS, ETC.
Mouth	Aphthous spots on mouth, metallic taste.
The stomach and bowels	Constant irritation, nausea, sinking at
	the stomach, symptoms of enteritis or
	cholera, purging, tenesmus, etc.
Nervous system	Malaise, low spirits, giddiness, delirium.
Cutaneous surface	Pustular eruption like smallpox, sweating,
	decrease in temperature.
Means of diagnosis in	Same as for arsenic.
suspected cases.
The probable post-mortem	Much the same as in arsenic poisoning.
if death is due to this poison.
Organs most important to	Liver, stomach, and kidneys.
secure for analysis.

MERCURY

Metallic mercury possesses no toxicological interest, as it appears to be almost inert, even in very large doses. If applied to the skin in a finely-divided state, as in mercurial ointment, or internally, as blue pill, its toxic effects may be produced. The vapour given off from the metal is highly poisonous, producing salivation, emaciation, and death. A singular accident of poisoning by mercurial vapour occurred on board H.M.S. Triumph in 1810, owing to the bursting of bladders containing large quantities of the metal; in three weeks 200 men were affected with salivation, etc., nearly all the cattle on board died, as well as the mice, a dog, and a canary-bird.

Fig. 34.—Photo-micrograph of crystals of corrosive sublimate, × 50.
(R. J. M. Buchanan.)