A letter to the Right Hon. Sir G.C. Lewis, Bart., M.P. ... / from three of the medical witnesses for the defence, in the case of Thomas Smethurst.

  • Richardson, Sir Benjamin Ward, (1828-1897)
Date:
1859
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A letter to the Right Hon. Sir G.C. Lewis, Bart., M.P. ... / from three of the medical witnesses for the defence, in the case of Thomas Smethurst. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    arsenic in small and long-continued doses has not been preceded by a train of other symptoms, specific in their nature, but absent altogether in the case before us. The symptoms thus absent are, moreover, not obscure in character; they are symptoms which must have attracted notice; they are symptoms as peculiar to the effects of arsenic as a poison, as the scarlet rash to scarlet-fever, or the pustular eruption to small- pox. These absent symptoms are:— 1. Irritation and inflammation of the conjunctivae of the eyes. [This symptom is common to men and animals, and is considered by Mr Hunt, a practitioner who has had very large experience in the administration of arsenic, as the true criterion of the system being under the influence of that metal.] 2. Irritation, inflammation, and ulceration of the lining membrane of the nostrils. 3. Irritation, inflammation, and ulceration, or ex- coriation of the lining membrane of the lips. 4. Excoriation of the anus, and of the vagina in the female. 5. Hacking cough and spitting of blood. 6. A cutaneous eruption, called “ eczema arsen- icale.” 7. A train of peculiar afiections of the nervous system, viz., tremors of the limbs, tingling of the fingers and toes, spasms of the muscles of the limbs, con- vulsions, paralysis, delirium, and coma.