The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-24 00:00:00

DEATH BY ACONITE.

•
In an essay written by Dr. Headland, and pub'
lished in the Lancet, of March 26, 1856, shortly
after the accidental poisoning at Dingwall from the
root of monkshood eaten by mistake for horaeradish,
a number of such cases of poisoning were passed in
review, and the symptoms produced by aconite
summed up as follows :—" First, tingling of till
tongue; then, tingling followed by numbness of the
face, and of the arms about the same time. Then o
teeling as if the face were large, and sensation of
tightness in the throat (both, protably, caused by
paralysis of the sensory with more or less affection
of the motor nerves). Next comes vomiting ; next
loss of power in the lower extremities. The pulse
is feeble ; the breathing laborious. Death ensues
oy syncope or stoppage of the heart. Thera maY,,
be brain symptom ; but they are not constant,
The pupils, according to Dr. Headland, are dilated.
It is interesting and instructive to notice how far
the account given us of the sufferings 3f the wretched
man Hunt answers to this description. We are
only partially informed of his sensations, and when
the police were first admitted to his house it WO
his object to conceal them as much as possible,
lest the administration of an antidote should
be insisted upon. It seems that he retained his
senses to the last, and was able to use his hand
in writing just before his death. He was found
vomiting, and continued to vomit. He was either
unable or unwilling to swallow the emetics that
were given to him. (A characteristic symptom of
aconite poisoning is the palsy of the throat). Hunt
was able to dress himself when the police insisted
upon it. Dr. Buckle then found him sitting in a
chair, retching violently. The countenance was
pale, and " the eyes had a r smarkable expression,
the pupils being very much kiilated," This bears
out the statement made by D. Headland, which
has been much questioned, as beiJig opposed to that
of Dr. Perira, and others, whose dictum that the
pupils are contracted under the influence
of aconite has been generally accepted by
toxicologists. Dr. Buckle tells M that his
pulse was scarcely perceptible, the txtion of the
heart extremely feeble, and the breathing quite.
After the second emetic had been forced down, and
all the contents of the stomach seemingly ejected'
Hunt exclaimed, " Oh, my heart !" He eoulai not
walk straight, but fell against the wall, apparet:tlY
without the use of his arms. He was, however'
able with some difficulty to write a short note to his
employer within a quarter of an hour of his death.
He had admitted to his medical attendant that " be
might have taken aconite." The inflamed state of
the stomach observed after death may have been
due to the sulphate of zinc emetic. The right
side of '.the heart was distended, the lel`t eraPtY•
Dr.
There was no other notable morbid sympto.m:
Buckle conjectured the presence of aconite .in the
contents of the stomach and the vomit by
the appli-
cation of the only known test—the physiologalal
one. Two drops found in a bottle produced Una
characteristic tingling, followed by numbness, of the
case of poi-
soningaapplicable, on
account of the small dose taken, or other circuen"
tongue.
his
teat
t conceivew may
yhs oi
inapplicable,
stances, it is as well to consider how far a med''
cal witness would be justified in relying on the
testimony of such symptoms as those recorded of
the man Hunt. Prussic acid, digitalis, belladonna'
nicotine (or tobacco), all produce death by syncePe?
with a tendency to vomiting, and great prosts'a-
tion. The rapidity of its action, and convulsions, if
the patient live long enough, distinguish the first of
these agents. Tobacco contracts the pupil. Belle-
donna, like aconite, dilates the pupil and canoes e
difficulty of deglutition; but belladonna confuso
the mind and causes degrium. Foxglove maY b°
more easily mistaken for aconite, if we suppose tbe
oumbing action of the latter to be concealed by tb
patient. It may cause detail by syncope, with
dilated pupils, without brain . YalptoUlB. Judgll3%
of the case of Hunt by his sym psonis only, no ?be
could positively affirm that he died ofhe
ac t
though it would seem very pro be ble ; for Nv_...A
distinguishes aconite from all other poisons,
almui stamps it with a complete individualivlL
is the production of arzesthesio without
consciousness. There is tingling, followed by au tba
ness, first of the tongue, next of the lace, 13,ext 01,„0
arms, and lastly of the rest of the surface sins and
lower extremities. Hunt may have felt all MO,.
expected before-hand to feel it; but he said no7a
about it, for until he felt himself dying ber,,,sa
recall he did not wish it to be known that hen:"__.al
taken poison. Dr. Headland recommends atube";ll.
charcoal (to be mixed with wate,-, and . gIV s
..3
large quantities, followed by a.zinc emetic)
ea 1.50
only known antidote to the poison of aconit •
has found that " ocouitina is quickly taken 1.1,!'..acuet,
most obstinately retained by this agent.
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—Lance