Arum maculatum

Volume I — Main text

Amm m Ami latum. L Pro^ttgs, — i, HxBlNC. (No Inform atlon about

but stated {Gutding Symptoms^ sub voce) to have been made on three prnrcT^. good observers.'') Blood from gums when kiising, immediately. D ^luti-

tion as though the soil palate came *down/ Very monosyllabic, slec; mncr,

so that he closes his eyes, OppreSMon in abdomen as in great anxiety iind tm, without palpitation of heart ; rises up afterwards into che«t, so that (with hot mpi tion%) he feels an oppression all over chest; it then rises into throat, just like a prev^i tfom without inwards, in palate behind over larynx, provoking deglutition, but rcnde/in| it difficult; altcrwards it feels too narrow. Violent paintul pre^i^urv on a spot abdomen favtwixt navel and top of hip, especially when standing, when lying on tide back, most when he makes the chest very full or stretched the abdominal mi external pressure is painful also. Pressure in throat which provokes swatlowr it feels too narrow, renders swallowing difficult as if something were swollen o side above the larynx. Slight pressure in 1. temple. Pressure under ears behiQ( When he presides with the hnger on 1. side of throat near the trachea b«Iow the it is painful. In m. after a meal, emptiness of abdomen as from vomiting, Drow: nesSf scarcely repressible, especially i h. after dinner^ falls asleep with rtd General great exhaustion. Urine watery, clear, smells of burnt bom \ after standi a cloud in the middle, {^Archi*v^ xiij^ i, 169.)

II. Foisoningt, — 1« a^ A. maculatum contains numerous raphidian cells. A chewing a young stalk for a few seconds, a y^ry intense pricking stinging paia felt upon the tongue and mucous membrane of the lips and throat, accompanied with a flow of saliva which seemed to relieve the pain a little : the pains were 1^^ if 1^ little needles had been run into the tongue and lips. A friend» who fo! example, had, in addition to these symptoms, constriction and burning in th his ton^e was swollen, and its papillae tnjeaed and raised. The mucous nicmbi^; of the hps and throat appeared indamed ; the pains on tongue and tips were incrrasi by pressure with the teeth.

b. In 1 or 3 cases the leaves have been eaten by children, and have produced y\ distressing effects. In one instance 3 children partook of them ; their tongues bccii swollen, so as to render swallowing difficult, and convulsions followed \ i died in 1 and another in 16 d.; the third recovered, {British Pomnms Plattts^ by C. and Johnson, p. 46,)

». Edward V — , «t. 43, labouring man, suffering from tapeworm, to cure him«el picked a leaf of A. maculatum and chewed up the stalk and swallowed it, immediately experienced burning hot pricking sensation in tongue, throar, and oes* phagus, and intense pain at epigastrium. Tongue became immensely swollen, ij saliva ran out of his mouth *' like water," About a m. after he vomited and broug up stalk again, Felt somewhat easier after this, but burning-hot pricking sensation and swollen state of tongue continued for a d. or so. Appetite did not retum T some little time. Patient recovered without medical assistance, but says he wUi 1 try to ** doctor ** himself again. (Steele, Lancet^ 187a, ii, 530.)