They diffuse more widely in the fetus. In the adult
the liver is the chief accumulatory organ. Arsenic, which in the
mother elects to accumulate in the liver, is in the fetus stored
up in the skin; copper accumulates in the fetal liver, central
nervous system, and sometimes in the skin; lead which is found
specially in the maternal liver, but also in the skin, has been
observed in the skin, liver, nervous centers, and elsewhere in
the fetus. The frequent presence of poisons in the fetal skin
demonstrates its physiologic importance. It has probably not a
very marked influence on its health. On the contrary,
accumulation in the placenta and nerve centers explains the
pathogenesis of abortion and the birth of dead fetuses
("mortinatatite") Copper and lead did not cause abortion, but
mercury did so in two out of six cases. Arsenic is a powerful
abortive agent in the guinea-pig, probably on account of
placental hemorrhages. An important deduction is that whilst the
placenta is frequently and seriously affected in syphilis, it is
also the special seat for the accumulation of mercury. May this
not explain its therapeutic action in this disease? The marked
accumulation of lead in the central nervous system of the fetus
explains the frequency and serious character of saturnine
encephalopathic lesions.
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