Mercury.--Armstrong mentions recovery after ingestion of 1 1/2
drams of corrosive sublimate, and Lodge speaks of recovery after
a dose containing 100 grains of the salt. It is said that a man
swallowed 80 grains of mercuric chlorid in whiskey and water, and
vomited violently about ten minutes afterward. A mixture of
albumin and milk was given to him, and in about twenty-five
minutes a bolus of gold-leaf and reduced iron; in eight days he
perfectly recovered. Severe and even fatal poisoning may result
from the external application of mercury. Meeres mentions a case
in which a solution (two grains to the fluid-ounce) applied to
the head of a child of nine for the relief of tinea tonsurans
caused diarrhea, profuse salivation, marked prostration, and
finally death. Washing out the vagina with a solution of
corrosive sublimate, 1:2000, has caused severe and even fatal
poisoning. Bonet mentions death after the inunction of a
mercurial ointment, and instances of distressing salivation from
such medication are quite common. There are various dermal
affections which sometimes follow the exhibition of mercury and
assume an erythematous type. The susceptibility of some persons
to calomel, the slightest dose causing profuse salivation and
painful oral symptoms, is so common that few physicians
administer mercury to their patients without some knowledge of
their susceptibility to this drug.
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