The daily morning journal and courier., 1903-08-13
POISONING BY ACOHITE
DANGEROUS PRACTICE OF USING
 POWERFUL
Medical Remsd,s. w,,hou. prois..,op.

Medical Remedies Without Profession.
 e at Advice.
 A popular French actress, Mime Calve recently had a narrow escape from fatal
 poisoning with aconite. It is well. in
 the public interest, that attention has
 in this connection been forcibly called
 to the very dangeous practice of using powerful medical remedies otherwise
 than as directed by skilled pro- sfessional adviser. It also calls the at
 tention of the medical world to the specific properties of one of the most powerful Of all known poisons. Mime
 Calve had suddenly developed some laryngeal hoarseness, which is necessar-
 fly serious accident to a. member of
 her profession, even when occurring in
 the mildest form or from most trivial cause. She had great fear of an in-
 fiuenza and procured a supply of a, licuid preparation of aconite from her
 medical adviser. He explained to her, the potency of this remedy in. checking the onset of acute infiammatory attack.
 Pressed by her professional vacations, day by day, she had special reasons for |despairing a rapid cure; and, according ly followed the notion of the average member of even the educated public that a large dose must be productive of | g proportionateiy effective and rapid result-7she swallowed a tea spoonful in- stead of a few drops, although she had been specially forewarned of the danger lof an overdose! The inevitable result, of course, followed. The numbing in fiuence on the sensory nerves, and the alarming weakness of the hearts action which are special characteristics of aco- l nite poisoning, quickly developed. As symptoms progressed, the heart almost
 ceased to beat; and a deathlike coldness
 of the cutaneous surface proceeded from the extremities toward the trunk. For 1tunately the best medical advice was
 within easy reach, and the formidable
 symptoms subsided under treatment. The conduct of such case requires, of lcourse. the most extreme caution: as, l on account of the characteristic depres-
 sion of cardiac action, any sudden exer- I tion, such as an attempt at sitting in bed, is invariably followed by fatal sym l cope--if the amount taken has been lsufficiently large.
 Poisoning by aconite presents many I features of the greatest interest, as well I to the general public. any member of which may be, at some period of life, l Iexposed to it's action, as to the scientific I physician, to whom 1t offers some of the
 most interesting clinical symptoms, and 8l may at any time afford special opppor- tunities for the use of his best judg- Iment and skill; to the chemist, for the Istudy of the physical properties of its
 deadly active principle, the alkaloid f aconitin; to the physiologist for the issuNestigation of it's specific influence on the nervous and circulatory systems Irespectively; and to the botanist, fol J the remarkable life history and theyery I fpeculiar floral conformation of the plant itself. To the latter the Aconitun I napellus Is also known as monkshood
 from the characteristic. arrangement oi l its towering leaves; and wolfsbane from the historic fact that in bygons lages, it was looked on as peculiarly ia. ltal to wolves and dogs. Also from the
 fact that It's root which contains the l largest proportion of the deadly constit- l uent. has been mistaken for that ot lhorse-radish; and, accordingly. served up to unsuspecting gourmands with
 the very worst result. A historic case e. this kind occurred some three cen. 1 turies ago. at a large banquet in Ant. d werp; an occasion on which most of ths . guests present were fatally poisoned through the mistake referred to. The
 advance of scientific chemistry during the past century included among its < results the isolation of the poisonous
 active principle' of the aconite plant : Iarystaiine compound, possessing the special type of molecular structure known 10 chemists as "alkaloid." IL
 the chemic experimentalist this alkaloid
 to subtle and potent powers of whicf
 the deadly properties of monkshood art
 due, offers the special attraction of pos
 Esessing the unique peculiarfty of being sl the most difficult of all the deadly X poisons known to science to trace in thu 2 body of it's victim after death. WI T have recently referred in these pages t very interesting experience of tht . great British toxicologist, Sir Rober 5l Christfson, in connection with this fact
 However, the various departments Q
 | medical science have progressed yer.
 { rapidly since Christison's time; ant livery conspicuous in the general advance
 lhas been that of experimental physio
 llogy A melancholy item of proof o S this sact is that Dr, Lamson, who wal ' .a pupil of Prof. Christison when the lat
 ter used to teach at his lectures tn 8 hopelessness of the search for aconitil ! lin the body after death was himsel executed for the poisoning of his owl l. nephew by aconirin-the employment 0
 which he had been taught to believ
 was "sase" as well as being so pecu .slliarly effective. The aconitin in thi l case was identified by it's physiological
 effects, which had become thoroughf [ familiar to experimentalists during tn | lyears that had elapsed since the un ' happy Lamson had completed his cur , riculum.-Ameriean Medicine.
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