OF POISONING WITH LIME.
Lime, the last poison of the present group, is a substance of little
interest to the toxicologist, as its activity is not great.
Its physical and chemical properties need not be minutely described. It
is soluble, though sparingly, in water; and the solution turns the
vegetable blues green, restores the purple of reddened litmus, gives a
white precipitate with a stream of carbonic acid gas, and with oxalic
acid a very insoluble precipitate, which is not redissolved by an excess
of the test.
Its action is purely irritant. Orfila has found that a drachm and a half
of unslaked lime, given to a little dog, caused vomiting and slight
suffering for a day only, but that three drachms killed the same animal
in five days, vomiting, languor, and whining being the only symptoms,
and redness of the throat, gullet, and stomach, the only morbid
appearances.[465]
Though a feeble poison, it has nevertheless proved fatal in the human
subject. Gmelin takes notice of the case of a boy who swallowed some
lime in an apple-pie, and died in nine days, affected with thirst,
burning in the mouth, burning pain in the belly, and obstinate
constipation.[466] A short account of a case of this kind of poisoning
is also given by Balthazar Timæus. A young woman, afflicted with pica or
depraved appetite, took to the eating of quicklime; and in consequence
she was attacked with pain and gnawing in the belly, sore throat,
dryness of the mouth, insatiable thirst, difficult breathing and cough;
but she recovered.[467] It is well known that quicklime also inflames
the skin or even destroys its texture, apparently by withdrawing the
water which forms a component part of all soft animal tissues. When
thrown into the eyes it causes acute and obstinate ophthalmia, which may
end in loss of sight. On this account it will belong, I presume, to the
poisons included in the Scottish act against disfiguring or maiming with
corrosives.