Colchicinum

Alkaloid from Colchicum autumnal ; Formula, C17H19N05.

Preparation, Triturations.

Authorities. 1, Sohroff's provings, 02st. Zeit. f. Pract. Heilk., 1856, 22-24, Heinrich took .01 of a gramme, and after a week took .02 gramme; 2, the only case of poisoning known, Ber. Rudolph-Stift, 227, 1867, a woman, aged twenty, took a solution of 45 milligramme (Huseinann's Pflanzenstoffe, 498).

Eyes

Pupils widely dilated

Eyes

Tearing pains in the face

Mouth

Increased secretion of saliva

Stomach

Eructation. Eructations, nausea, and great desire to vomit

Nausea and Vomiting. Slight nausea, and an uncomfortable sensation, which distracted the attention of the prover from the lecture to which he was listening

On rising from bed, at night, nausea suddenly increased, and was followed by vomiting of undigested food, and afterwards of a bitter greenish fluid ; the vomiting was repeated early in the morning

Vomiting of greenish substances, frequently repeated

Vomiting of blood for nine or ten days

Stomach. Pains in epigastric region (after four hours)

Excessive sensitiveness of epigastric region

Abdomen

Distension and sensitiveness in the abdomen

Frequent rumbling in the bowels

Rectum and Anus

Urging to stool, causing him to leave his bed, followed by copious pasty evacuation, with excessive tenesmus ; this was repeated three times within a short period

Stool

Two stools on the second day, one on the third day, three on the fourth day, all accompanied by tenesmus, and consisting of a thin fluid with numerous flakes, looking like the cooked white of an egg, in pieces from two to lour lines long

Stools thin, yellowish-green, and slimy, accompanied by pain (second day)

Liquid stools

Urinary Organs

Urine turbid, depositing a copious white sediment

Heart and Pulse

Pulse 96,2.

Pulse during the first two hours gradually sank about eleven beats

Superior Extremities

- Convulsivejerkings of right hand

Generalities

Very great exhaustion on the second day after taking Colchicin, increased to a feverish excitement, lasting for two days, so that he was obliged to keep his bed on the second day

Sleep and Dreams

Slight somnolency amLcol lapse

Awakened from sleep soon after midnight by uneasy dreams

Fever

The fever appeared as a chill about noon on the first day, followed by violent heat, lasting several hours, with increased thirst, very rapid pulse, confusion of the head, uneasiness, and sleeplessness