Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1916-02-17
The DeGdLg
BjchLOr5de
ny WOODS HUTCHINSON, M. d.

A certain amount Of risk Is inseparabie
from even the most prudent conduct OF
life. The great game involves the taking
OF fairly frequent chances, which We
can meet in a cheerful sportsmanlike
spirit; indeed, take sort OF hardy Joy
and cxhilaration In living dangerously.
but there Ia one class OF risks in which
thore Is neither exhllaratlon nor profit
nor sense In running. and that IL the
danger OF taking polsons by mistake.
Too often the public mind is shocked
and pained by the serious endangerinE
Of valuable human lives through the in
nocent looking but deadly bichloride of
mercury tablet,
This Is peculiarly dangerous and
treacherous poison, because II IL color
less. odorless, and unless held in the
mouth for severals seconds before swal
lowing, practically tatfeless; even n die
solved taste. scarcely stronger than
might be caused by water from an un-
used metal pipe
In fact, when made up into It's usual
tablets for making antiseptic solutions,
there Is absolutely nothing to dstin-
g,ilsh these either by sight, smell touch
or the amount OF taste that would be
got from them In swallowing them
whole or washing them down with a
drink OF water from tablets Of soda or
soda mint or digestive tablets contain
ing pepsin or pancreatin. or the ordinary
five or ten-graln tablets In which great
many of our drugs, such as the salicy-
lates. aspirin. phenacetin, formin. etc"
are now commonly administered.
Worse yet. when the fatal mistake has
happened II Is slow In warning the vic
tim OF his danger, partly because the
compact tablet Is slow In dissolving ana
partly on account OF its trick Of CO.
agulating or CLOTHING albumins ana
other animal substances.
So that II the stomach happens to con-
tain even a moderate amount OF food
this will soak up and temporarily neu-
tralize the poison az II dissolves. 30 that
II will be half an hour or more before
Il actually reaches and attacks the walls
OF tho stomach itself.
This may dilute and weaken the poison
and IN the smaller tablets make itH ac-
ton on this stomach lining so gradual
that serious damage has been done be-
fore sufficient pain is caused TO make
the victim uneasy,
Even surprising that the victim mas
been alarmed In time and the stomach
emptIed elthor by emetio or stomach
pump before sufficient amount OF the
poison has been absorbed into the blood
to produce Immediately fatal results, the
danger Is not yet over.
The poison may have passed into the
blood in such amounts that, to put II
very roughly, the system is quite able
10 resist IL no long as It is diluted by
nnd spread out through the whole mass
of the fluids of the body. But when the
polson comes TO be excreted from the
body, as II Is chiefly by the Kidneys.
then n new danger Develops and that Is
that II may be strained out Of the blood
and accumulated IN the kidneys IN suf-
ficient amounts TO become poisonous 10
their tissues,
Indeed, II ia just Mt this point that the.
greatest danger from most cases Of cor
rosive sublimate poisoning occurs. and
unless sufficiently large amounts have
been taken or the emptying Of the aton-,
ach delayed 30 long that death occurs
from the immediate effects Of the poison
whiting eighteen 10 thirty-six hours. the
chief risk which the patient has 10 run
Ia that OF fatal inflammation--indee
almost literal corroson-of the kidneys
as Il is being filtered out OF the blood
from four to six days after Il Il swal-
lowed
To put II very roughly. II a patient
who has swallowed bichlorids Of mercury
livs~ day. he will probably live
--~ek: II he lives two weeks. ne is prae-
tieally safe.