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

DEATH BY ACONITE.

In an essay written by Dr. Headland, and pule'
lished in the Lancet, of March 26, 1856, shortly
after the accidental poisoning at Dingwall from the
root of monkshood eaten by mistake for horseradish.
a number of such cases of poisoning were passed
is
review, and the symptoms produced by aconite
summed up as follows ;—" First, tingling of the
tongue; then, tingling followed by numbness of the
face, and of the arias about the same time. Then a
feeling as it' the face were large, and sensation of
tightness in the throat (both, probably, 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
coy syncope or stoppage of the heart. There tnaY
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 of the wretched
man Hunt answers to this description. We are
only partially informed of his sensations, and whets
the police were first admitted to his house it Was
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. Puckle then found him sitting in is
chair, retching violently. The countenance was
pale, and " the eyes had a remarkable expression:
the pupils being very much dilated.," This bears
out the statement made by Dr. Headland, which
has been much questioned, as being opposed to that
of Dr. Perira, and others, whose dicti'm that the
pupils are contracted under the influence
of aconite has been generally accepted hY
toxicologists. Dr. Packle tells us that his
pulse was scarcely perceptible, the action .of the
heart extremely feeble, and the breathing q:lite"
After the second emetic had been forced down, a. 'd
all the contents of the stomach seemingly ejected,'
Hunt exclaimed, " Oh, my heart !" He could licit
walk straight, but fell against the wall, apparentlY
without the use of his arms. He was, how©
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 " b°
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 left empty.
There was no other notable morbid ernptoni. Dr..
Puckle conjectured the presence of aconite in the
contents of the stomach and the vomit by the appli-
cation of the only known test—the p.hysiological
one. Two drops found in bas bottle produced the
characteristic tingling, followed. by numbness, of the
tongue. As it is easy to conceive of a case of poi'
is
swould be justified iu relying on Ili;
account of the small dose taken, or other circa:V.
Boning in whiacsh
wellthis tteostcomnasyidbere iiinoawp pflai
t
of such symptoms as those recorded (3*
rc inapplicable, lThes:oo
t
cal
ent ne
in" Yeie
Bunt. Prussic acid, digitalis, bellado" es
produce death by synecirn
with a tendencya t
o Lion.icot nle
h(eorrtpoibdaictcyo2o,l vomiting, all
its a
and great prostra:-
ction, and convulsions, if
the patient live long enough, distinguish the first of
these agents. Tobacco contracts the pupil. 13°114:
donna, like aconite, dilates the pupil and cause° -
difficulty of deglutition; but belladonna confut3es
the mind and causes delirium. Foxglove may bc)„
inure easily mistaken for aconite, if we suppose tb;
numbing action of the latter to be concealed berth
patient. It may cause deatii'cry syncope,
dilated pupils, without brain sy mptoins. Judoe' %
of the case of Hunt by his symptoms only, e
could positively affirm that he died of ac°11.13,,
though it would seem very probable ; for Nvel,rlla
distinguishes aconite from all oaten. poisons,
i,
alone stamps it with a complete individual"
tifi
is the production of anaesthesia without
unb:
consciousness. There is tingling, followed bY lint ;no
ness, fir©t of the tongue, next of the tace,ll22;t t. tee
arms, and lastly of tne rest of the surface aDu° told
lower extremities. Hunt may have felt all thist,..iog
expected before-hand to feel it ; but he said not
about it, for until he felt himself dying h(lbed
recall he did not wish it to be known that be ..01.
taken poison. Dr. Headland recommends
charcoal (to be mixed with water, and givel'o
b ' quantities, followed by a zinc emetic) as `, 4a,,
only a known antidote to the poison Of aconite' .ed.
has found that " aeonitina is quickly taken uP
a lee"
roost obstinately retained by this agent.