On the natural history, physiological actions, and therapeutic uses of colchicum autumnale : chiefly with reference to the growth of the plant, and the chemical changes it produces on the blood and urine / by J. M'Grigor Maclagan.

Date:
1852
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the natural history, physiological actions, and therapeutic uses of colchicum autumnale : chiefly with reference to the growth of the plant, and the chemical changes it produces on the blood and urine / by J. M'Grigor Maclagan. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

    23/62 page 19
    times death is preceded by headache, delirium, stupor, and insensi- bility, denoting an action upon the nervous system (Christison.) POISONOUS ACTION ON ANIMALS. Orfila1 states, that he has frequently given two or three bulbs to dogs in June, without producing any sensible effects; this induced him to believe that climate and the season of the year have great influence on their deleterious properties. This, however, is the season of the year when the bulbs are supposed to possess their greatest activity. Mr Want states, that cattle are affected by it only at the spring of the year, when the seed-vessel is fully mature. It happens that the seed, if swallowed, adheres to the coat of the stomach, producing at the several points of its adhesion spots of inflammation, which occasion the death of the beast. It is a curious fact, that they are affected by the recent plant only; for when dried and made into hay it loses its deleterious pro- perty, and is then eaten by them with impunity. 2 Sir Everard Home3 injected 160 drops of the vinous infusion of Colchicum into the jugular vein of a dog. The animal imme- diately lost all power of voluntary motion ; the breathing became extremely slow, and the pulse was hardly to be felt. In ten minutes the pulse was 84; inspirations natural (40 in a minute). In twenty minutes the pulse was 60 ; inspirations 30; and a tremulous motion had taken place in the hind legs. In an hour the pulse was 115, and irregular. The animal was cap- able of sitting up, but was in a state of violent tremor; the inspira- tions could not be counted. In one and a half hours, the tremor had gone off; pulse the same; the animal made ineffectual attempts to vomit, and continued to do so for ten minutes, with great lan- gour; inspirations, 54. In two hours the pulse was 150, and very weak; the animal had voided an ounce and a half of urine ; had vomited twice, each time bringing up a quantity of mucus, tinged with bile, and had two liquid stools. In three hours had vomited again, and had another stool; pulse too weak to be counted. _ In four hours continued extremely languid ; and in five hours vomited some bloody mucus, and expired. Autopsy.—The stomach contained mucus tinged with blood, and its internal surface was inflamed. The duodenum had its internal surface universally inflamed. The same appearance was met with 1 Orfila—Toxicologic, vol. ii. 2 Want—London Med. and Phys. Joum., vol. xxxii.; Annals of Philo- sophy, vol. iv. 3 Philosophical Transactions, vol. xvi., part 2. C
    digitised image 1
    digitised image 2
    digitised image 3