Laburnum

Authorities. 28, Dr. Fisher, Zeit. Pract. Heilk., 1867, p. 408, two boys ate the twigs; 29, Bull, from the Swedish (S. J., 176, 221), a boy was poisoned by the green twigs; 30, Dr. Pale, Berlin Khu. Woch., April, 1877, two children, aged three and four years, ate the green pods; 31, Brit. Med. Journ., 1877 (2), p. 403, poisoning of fifty-eight boys by the root of an old tree.

Seized with vomiting, pain in the stomach, and collapse. There was no diarrhoea, but tenesmus and erections. After a few hours he passed 300 grams of clear grass-green urine, after which he felt better. The urine soon after passing assumed a natural color,—After half an hour the youngest child staggered, rolled his head from side to side, closed his eyes. The face was very pale, the lips blue, face and extremities cold. The mother gave the child coffee, after which he vomited and fell asleep. The elder fell sick after half an hour, complained of pain in the head and abdomen, weariness, was unable to walk. After going home he vomited four times, and then fell asleep. After some hours the children were very pale, with very cold skin ; small, scarcely perceptible pulse. The next morning they had several movements of the bowels, and felt weak, but otherwise were well,"®.—[150.] Suddenly attacked with pains in the abdomen and vomiting. They lay with the head sunken upon the chest, with half-closed lids, extremities hanging down relaxed, without any trace of muscular contraction. Skin of the face cold and livid; lips open, mucous membrane dryer than usual; pupils decidedly dilated ; mind very much stupefied, especially in the younger, who could scarcely be aroused for a moment by shaking or calling. Pulse of the elder 52, of the younger 55, very small and irregular. Temperature below the normal, in the elder 36.8°, in the younger 36.6°, in the axilla. Respiration superficial. Hands and extremities bluish, like the face, and remarkably cool. Sensibility of the skin diminished. The younger vomited spontaneously several times the remains of the dinner, and afterwards mucus colored with bile, with slightly acid reaction; the elder had only ineffectual retching, and complained incessantly of pains in the epigastric region. After a dose of 1 gram of Ipecac, profuse vomiting occurred. Large doses of port wine were given at intervals of five minutes; the extremities were wrapped in warm cloths and the head in cold compresses, and sleep prevented by shaking and calling, and also by smelling salts ; in consequence of this exciting treatment, the younger soon became better; the sopor diminished gradually, the pulse became fuller and more rapid, and the other symptoms disappeared after a quiet sleep, accompanied by copious perspiration. The elder’s recovery was not quite so satisfactory ; after vomiting, the symptoms of collapse decidedly increased ; she complained of more pain than before, and only after an hour did the pulse become perceptible, and remained slow for many hours,'*®.—In a very short time they were affected with symptoms of narcotic poisoning, varying in severity from simple sleepiness to complete stupor. Two boys were much worse than the rest; they, after freely vomiting, were insensible, and showed very strange waving motions of the arms to and fro; whilst now and then the legs, first one, then the other, were convulsively drawn up; there was also in one of the two, slight frothing of the mouth, and the pupils of each were unequally dilated^^.