Zinc Silver Bismuth And Chromium![]() The salts of zinc requiring notice are the sulphate and chloride. =Sulphate of Zinc= has been taken in mistake for Epsom salts. In large doses it causes dryness of throat, thirst, vomiting, purging, and abdominal pain. Post-Mortem Appearances.--Those of inflammation of digestive tract. Treatment.--Tea, decoction of oak-bark, carbonate of potassium or sodium as antidote. =Chloride of Zinc.=--A solution containing this substance (230 grains to the ounce) constitutes 'Burnett's disinfecting fluid.' It is a corrosive poison. The symptoms are burning sensation in the mouth, throat, stomach, and abdomen, followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, with tenesmus and distension of the abdomen. The vomited matter contains shreds of mucous membrane with blood. There is profound collapse, cold surface, clammy sweats, weak pulse, with great prostration. The treatment is to wash out the stomach with large and weak solutions of carbonate of sodium. Mucilaginous drinks may be given, and hypodermic injections of morphine are useful to allay the pain. Method of Extraction from the Stomach.--Dry and incinerate the tissues in a porcelain crucible, digest ash in water, apply tests. Tests.--Ammonia, a white precipitate soluble in excess, reprecipitated by sulphuretted hydrogen; ferrocyanide of potassium, a white precipitate; sulphuretted hydrogen, a white precipitate in pure and neutral solutions. Nitrate of baryta will show the presence of sulphuric acid, and nitrate of silver of hydrochloric acid. =Silver.=--Nitrate of silver is a powerful irritant. Tests.--Black precipitate with sulphuretted hydrogen; white with hydrochloric acid. Treatment.--Common salt. Chronic nitrate of silver poisoning is characterized by argyria. The gums show a blue line, which is darker than that produced by lead, and the skin presents a greyish hue, which is permanent. =Bismuth.=--The bismuth salts are not poisonous, but may contain arsenic as an impurity, although this is far less common than it was some years ago. =Chromic Acid, Chromate, Bichromate of Potassium.=--These act as corrosives when solid or in concentrated liquid forms. In dilute solutions they act as irritants. Used as dyes; have proved fatal more than once. Those engaged in their manufacture suffer from unhealthy ulcers on the nasal septum and hands. The former may to some extent be prevented by taking snuff. Lead chromate (chrome yellow) is a powerful irritant poison. Two drachms of the bichromate caused death in four hours. Tests.--Yellow precipitate with salts of lead, deep red with those of silver. Treatment.--Emetics, magnesia, and diluents. Washing out of the stomach with weak solution of nitrate of silver. Wounds Of Various Parts Of The Body Abortifacients ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Feedback |