252

ELEMENTS OF MATERIA MEDICA.

becoming converted into an acid which acts as a corrosive, like the othermineral acids, lienee, therefore, etherial and oleaginous solutions aremore active poisons, inasmuch as the oxidation of the phosphorus iseffected more rapidly. Comparatively small doses have in some casesproved fatal. In Dr. Christison ’s Treatise on Poisons are references toseveral cases : in one 1* grains, in another instance 3 grains, caused death.Cases, however, are reported, in which (i, 10, and even 12 grains havebeen swallowed without any hurtful effects; hut doubts have been enter-tained as to the correctness of the statements. Thus the authors of theDictionnaire de Matiere Medicate think that the phosphorus employed inthese cases must have undergone some chemical change. I once admi-nistered 16 grains of phosphorus to a man without any injurious effect;and, judging from its physical characters, I should say the phosphoruswas that usually met with in commerce. The man here alluded to wasChabert, some years ago renowned in London under the name of thel ‘Fire King'' I carefully weighed out 16 grains,placed them in a spoon,and put them in his mouth ; and he washed them down with a tumbler-ful of water. He offered to take this dose daily. How he counteractedllie ill effects, I know not; but I suspect he excited vomiting, for withinten minutes after swallowing the phosphorus, he left the room for about aquarter of an hour.

Uses. —In this country, phosphorus is rarely employed, and, therefore,it will be unnecessary to enter minutely into its uses. It has beenstrongly recommended in those cases attended with great prostration ofthe vital powers, as in the latter stages of typhus fever, dropsies, &c.; insome chronic diseases of the nervous system, as epilepsy, paralysis,melancholy, mania, amaurosis, &c., when these occur in debilitated sub-jects. In some of the exanthemata, as measles, it has been administeredto promote the re-appearance of the eruption when this, from somecause, had receded from the skin ; in impotentia virilis of old and debili-tated subjects ; in cholera, &c. Paillard recommends phosphorus as acaustic, in the place of moxa, than which, he says, it is more convenientand safer. {Med. Gaz. vol. ii. p. 254).

Administration. —Phosphorus cannot be given with safety in thesolid form. It may be administered dissolved in ether, and formulae forthe preparation of an ethereal solution ( tinctura etherea cum phosphoro,Fr. Cod.) will be found in Magendie’s Formulaire, and in the French Codex . But some objections have been raised to its use. It is saic thatupon the evaporation of the ether the phosphorus will be set free, andmay inflame the stomach. A solution of phosphorus in fixed oil ( Oleumphosphoratum, Pli. Boruss.) is, therefore, more commonly empbyed.

, Magendie’s formula for this is the following:—Digest, during ffteendays, in a dark place, one part by weight of phosphorus, cut in verysmall pieces, in sixteen parts of olive or almond oil, in a stopoeredbottle. To communicate an aromatic flavour, a few drops of the essenceof bergamot may be added to the decanted liquid. The solution istermed aromatic phosphorized oil ( huile phosphor ee aromatisee). O: thisoil from -25 to 30 drops may be given in 24 hours: it may be adminis-tered in some mucilaginous liquid, or in an emulsion.

Antidotes. —In poisoning by phosphorus, our objects are to preventor stop the oxidation of the phosphorus, and to neutralize the resulting