ARSENIC (Ann:mous Am), Properties of, as a Drug.—A. has long been used as a medicine. When taken into the stomach, it is soon absorbed into the blood, and circu lates with that fluid, exhibiting great power over certain diseases, especially skin dis eases, as psoriasis, lepra, eczema (q.v.), etc. It is also classed among the tonic minerals, and given for nervous disorders, especially those that are periodic. Of late it has been much recommended for rheumatism; and Dr. Begbie, of. Edinburgh, considered that among the remedies for chorea (St. Vitus' dance) it holds the foremost place. In ague, also, and remittent fever, as well as in other disorders originating from the same source, A. and quinine are our chief remedies. They are considered to act as alteratives of the blood. The usual method of administering A. is in small doses (from 3 to 5 drops) of the liquor arsenicalis, largely diluted with water, twice or thrice in the day. Arsenic is sometimes given combined with iodine and mercury (Donovan's solution).
When given in the doses above mentioned, for 8 or 10 days, symptoms of poisoning begin to appear; the skin becomes hot, the pulse quick, the eyelids hot and itchy; the tongue has a silveiy appearance; the throat is dry and sore, the gums swollen and tender; and if the treatment is persisted in, salivation ensues, and then come nausea, vomit ing, diarrhoea, nervous depression, and faintness (Begbie). The quantity necessary to destroy life, of course, varies. Dr. Christison records the case of a man who died in six days, after taking 30 grains of the powdered white A.; but a much smaller dose Will prove fatal; a girl was killed with 2-1 grains of A. contained in 2 ozs. of fly-water. According to Dr. Shaine Taylor, a medical witness is justified in stating, that under circumstances favorable for its operation the fatal dose for an adult is from two to three grains. Death from a poisonous dose of A. may occur in a few hours, or after the lapse of days. A woman, aged 50, used a solution of A. in water to cure the itch; she experi
enced severe suffering, and died after two years, having had symptoms of arsenical poisoning all that time.
A. has been used frequently as a slow poison, the symptoms being attributed to inflammation of the bowels from natural causes. Fortunately, in Most cases its detec tion is easy. Orfila found A. in the soil of cemeteries, a fact which has created some dis cussion among toxicologists. Adis used by anatomists as an antiseptic, but is dangerous, as it is apt to get into cuts on the hands, and under the finger-nails, and cause disagree able symptoms. It is stated that in some countries, especially in Styria, A. is taken by the young female peasants to increase their personal attractions; a statement which probably amounts to this, that experience of its tonic and other qualities induces some individuals to prescribe for themselves a medicine which ought only to be administered by a skillful and cautious hand. That A. can be taken habitually for any length of time, would seem a physiological impossibility; and yet such statements arc made on what appears to be unquestionable authority. See Chambers's Journal, vol. v. p. 90, and vi. p. 46; also Johnston's Chemistry of Common Life.
No effective chemical antidote for A. has yet been discovered. In case of an over dose, or of intentional poisoning, the following treatment is recommended; Evacuate the stomach by the stomach-pump, using lime-water; administer large draughts of tepid sugar and water, chalk and water, or lime-water; avoid the use of alkalies, but adminis ter charcoal and hydrated sesquioxide of iron; bleed freely; take a tepid bath, and use narcotics. If the fatal symptoms be averted, let the patient for a long time subsist wholy ou farinaceous food, milk, and demulcents.