Amygdalæ Amaræ Oleum

Authorities. 24, Dr. Van Praag, Red’s Journ., vol. i, p. 588, a woman applied to her hair ^ oz. of an oil containing the oil of bitter almonds; 25, Mr. Howard Hopley, Pharm. Journ., vol. xvi, 1856-7, p. 291, a man, JBt. forty-five years, swallowed about j oz. of the oil of bitter almond^, and died after an hour; 26, Fred. Hetley, Lancet, 1845 (2), p. 612, Harriet L., set. twenty-one years, swallowed two penny’s worth of the oil; 27, C. G. Mitscherlich, Pharm. Journ., vol. ix, 1849, p. 233, effects of large doses of the volatile oil ; 28, Dr. Barclay, Lancet, 1866 (1), p. 255, a man, set. fifty-seven years, swallowed two drachms of the oil, death ; 29, W. B. Shorts, Brit. Med. Journ., 1868 (2), p. 167, poisoning of a child, set. three years, by the oil ; 30, Dr. Hunt, Med. Times and Gaz. (New Eug. Med. Gaz., vol. xiii, 1878, p. 135), a boy, set. three years, ate an unknown number of bitter almonds; 31, S. Wright, M.D., Am. Prac., vol. xviii, 1878, p. 219, a man took about two drachms of the oil.

[140.] Insensible; eye sallow; pupil contracted; face puffy and flushed ; pulse scarcely perceptible; groaning; breathing stertorously,'^\ — Before she lost consciousness she experienced sudden violent internal coldness, radiating from the head and back over the whole body ; this coldness became more and more severe, and was at last associated with ringing and beating in the ears, followed by complete deafness, swimming before the eyes, paralysis of the arms and legs ; as these last symptoms appeared she endeavored to rise, but became completely blind, and called for help, and knew no more. This was followed by general collapse and paralysis, extremely slow superficial respiration, and the beating of the heart was scarcely audible,''*^—Fell senseless on the pavement, immediately after swallowing it. Some time later, on being found and questioned as to her feelings, she slowly answered, “ Indeed, I do feel dreadfully ill ;” and passing her hand over a very exsanguine countenance, she leisurely fell b;ick in her chair, and became perfectly insensible. The respirations were noticed to be slow and regular, but the pulse small, thready, and at least 130-140, and the pupils contracted to an aperture of the size of a pin’s head. She continued in this state for about three minutes, when the conn- tenaace assumed a pale livid hue, similar to that of au individual with advanced cardiac disease. During the use of the stomach-pump, the bladder and rectum acted involuntarily. On visiting her later she appeared like a person in deep sleep, and on feeling the pulse, Ivhich still remained 1-10, she suddenly roused and looking wildly about her, with a maniacal expression, inquired where she was. She now complained of excessive burning heat in the region of the larynx and pharynx, was hoarse, and talking, she said, distressed her ; some pain and sensation of heat in the epigastrium, but no tenderness on pressure. She expressed a feeling of general numbness in arms and legs, without pain in them ; but on pinching them she cried out. The arms and hands were mottled with a livid hue and cold. Great disposition to sleep,'''^ — Diarrhoea; increased secretion of urine; excited the vascular system and the respiratory organs,''’.—In t<)rty minutes he was speechless. The smell of the oil was very perceptible in his breath ; no pulse could be felt at his wrist; the breathing was hurried; the pupils were dilated ; the extremities cold and clammy, and there was a general purple hue on the face and other parts of the body ; the tongue was furred ; the fauces and uvula congested and oedematous,’®.—Pupils dilated and fixed; foaming at the mouth; difficulty of breathing; pulse scarcely perceptible; surface of body very cold ; general condition inanimate,”’.— Lying apparently unconscious in his mother’s arms, slightly cyanotic, and markedly pale, with eyelids closed. On raising the eyelids the pupils were seen to be moderately dilated. The arms were stiffened through tonic spasm of the muscles. The breathing was very low, with no catch in the act of respiration. The pulse could not be felt at the wrist. Slight improvement after vomiting (from emetics and tickling the th roat), with speedy relapses towards the comatose state, so that it was not for nearly an hour and a half that all dangerous symptoms had subsided,®®.—Almost pulseless, extremities cold, lips black, with face intensely cyanosed, looking like a corpse that had lain for hours in the sun. He gasped for breath like a fish out of water, and his speech was unintelli ble. The subjective symptom was intense pain in the head. As he recovered he kept exclaiming in a jerking, hesitating way, “ What’s—the mat— matter with me?”®’.