of compound poisoning I have met with, the most remarkable is an
instance which occurred in Edinburgh Castle, a few years ago, of
poisoning with laudanum and corrosive sublimate. In this case, the
individual, a young soldier, swallowed about the same time two drachms
of the latter and half an ounce of the former. He had at first no
violent symptoms whatever, indicating the operation of corrosive
sublimate; which is an extremely rare occurrence. Afterwards he had
frequent purging and tenesmus, with bloody stools and all the usual
phenomena of violent dysentery, but no pain of belly, no tenderness even
on firm pressure, no vomiting except under the use of emetics. On the
fourth day a violent salivation set in; and under this and the
dysenteric affection he became quickly exhausted, yet not so much, but
that on the day of his death, the ninth after he took the poison, he was
able to walk a little in his room without assistance. He died on the
close-stool rather unexpectedly. I have unfortunately lost the original
notes I had of this case, and have forgotten whether any narcotic
symptoms were present at first; but my impression is that they were
present, though in a slight degree only. Most of the previous
particulars were communicated to me by the late Dr. Mackintosh. The
stomach, duodenum, ileum, colon, and rectum were found after death
enormously inflamed, ulcerated, and here and there almost gangrenous.—In
this instance some of the corrosive sublimate must have been decomposed
by the laudanum, and an insoluble meconate of mercury formed. But the
quantity thus decomposed could have been but a small proportion of the
whole,—as was indeed proved by the extensive ravages actually committed
in the whole alimentary canal. I conceive, therefore, that there is no
other way of accounting for the slight apparent effects of the corrosive
sublimate, at the commencement particularly, than by supposing that the
narcotic operation of the opium veiled or actually retarded the irritant
action of the corrosive sublimate.