Salicylicum Acidum

(OH).CO.OH

Artificially prepared from Phenol.

Found in nature in spiræa blossoms, Wintergreen (Gaultheria), etc.

Preparations , Triturations.

Authorities.

1 , Dr. Lewi, N. Z. f. H. Kl., 20, 106, 1875, proving with 1st trit., dissolved in water, a dose in the evening; 2 , J. A. Erskine Stuart, Practitioner, June, 1877, p. 425, effects of 9 grains at one dose; 3 , general effects of the drug, from administration of doses of 4 to 12 grams, in patients, collected from numerous authorities, T. F. A.

MIND

• Delirium; the patient's mind became very stupid, it was difficult for him to collect his ideas, then he laughed without cause, talked incessantly and disconnectedly, frequently looked about him, with apparent hallucinations; this condition lasted twenty-four hours (after 11 grams), 3.
• Transient delirium, 3.
• Very excited mood, 3.

HEAD

• Vertigo, 3.
• Dulness of the head, 3.
• Rush of blood to the head, 3.
• Headache, 3.

EYE

• Diminished acuteness of vision, 3.

EAR

• Diminished hearing, 3. [10.]
• Roaring in the ears, lasting six hours (after two hours), 3.
• Roaring in the ears, with difficult hearing, 3.

NOSE

• Sneezing, 3.

MOUTH

• Burning in the mouth and epigastric region, 3.
• Dryness and burning in the mucous membrane of the mouth and pharynx, 3.
• Burning and scraping in the mouth and throat, 3.
• Solutions stronger than 1 to 1000 are corrosive to the mucous membranes, and for the time being turn them white, 3.
• Extremely disgusting taste, 3.

THROAT

• Scraping in the throat causing cough, 3.
• Burning in the throat, 3. [20.]
• Hæmorrhagic pharyngitis, with difficulty of swallowing, 3.
• Great dryness of the pharynx, 3.
• Slight difficulty in swallowing (after three hours); violent efforts to swallow, with difficulty in swallowing, woke him from sleep (first night); the pain and difficulty in swallowing became confined to the right side of the throat, with sticking pain extending along the Eustachian tube to within the ear; swelling of the right tonsil, so that it was noticed externally below the angle of the jaw, with sensitiveness when touched, and with increased temperature in the vicinity; examination revealed redness and swelling of the mucous membrane of the throat and posterior fauces, with ulcers of the size of the head of a pin; after a time a small lump of cheesy matter of a strong odor was expectorated, with some bluish-red blood; this was followed by a gradual return of the throat to its normal condition, 1.

STOMACH

• Vomiting, 3.
• Very frequent vomiting, 3.
• Erosions and ulcers in the stomach and bowels, 3.
• (In a case of acute miliary tuberculosis, who died after taking 12 grams of the acid dissolved in alcohol, there were found in the stomach half a dozen deep ulcers as large as peas, apparently caused by hæmorrhagic erosions due to the irritating action of the drug), 3.
• (Ecchymoses and ulcerations in the mucous membrane of the stomach), 3.
• Burning in the epigastric region, 3.

URINARY ORGANS

• Three hours afterwards the urine which I passed was of a green tinge, and small crystalline bodies in bodies in great numbers could be seen in it on holding the bottle which contained it against the bright light. On leaving the bottle for a few hours standing at rest, a copious precipitate of a white feathery consistence was seen occupying the bottom of the bottle to the extent of about half an inch; this precipitate is Salicyluric acid. On microscopic examination it is found to consist of crystals of one form, but presenting a different appearance as seen from various points of view; they are six-sided bodies, oblong in shape, of a fine silvery-white color, and showing none of the reactions which uric acid gives with the various chemical tests. If the crystals are filtered off the urine at once becomes putrid, but if left alone will remain fresh for above a week, 2.

GENERALITIES. [30.]

• Immediately after the first powder, he began to sweat profusely. The perspiration increased and his strength diminished so visibly, that his wife was unwilling to give him the fourth powder. He insisted, however, and after taking it, vomiting and an agonizing headache set in, which continued all night. In the morning he seemed unconscious, and simply groaned loudly. Only for a moment did his mind seem clear, when he cried out, "My head, my head!" to the physicians who were present. All treatment was futile, and he died in forty hours after taking the first powder. No post-mortem examination was permitted. The course of the case was too rapid to be explained on the theory of a complicating cerebral inflammation; all the symptoms seem to point to poisoning (10-grain doses), 3.

FEVER

• Increased warmth of the skin, 3.
• Profuse sweat, 3.
• Sweat, at times more, at times less profuse, 3.
• Sweat, 3.

SUPPLEMENT: SALICYLIC ACID. Authorities.

4 , Dr. Balz, Archiv. der Heilk, I, 1877 (Med. Record, vol. xiii, 1877, p. 72), general effects on patients; 5 , Dr. H. L. Chase, New Eng. Med. Gaz., vol. xii, 1877, p. 564, effects of the crude and 3d dec.; 6 , Dr. Squire, Brit. Med. Journ., April, 1877, p. 428, general effects; 7 , Dr. Wheeler, quotes a case, Hom. Times, vol. vi, p. 27 (Organon, vol. i, 1878, p. 302), Dr. Allshorn, took 10-grain doses of the acid, every four hours, for acute rheumatism; 8 , Goullon, A. H. Z., 97, p. 68, a strong healthy man, suffering from gout, took Salicylic acid in large dose, which relieved the gout, but produced a series of interesting symptoms.

• The unpleasant nervous symptoms, such as tinnitus aurium, deafness, delirium, and mania, which sometimes supervene during its employment, usually disappear spontaneously, and are not dangerous, 4.
• First, he was taken with confusion of the head, a reeling sensation like vertigo. The patient expressed it as a sensation one might experience on rising suddenly after lying a long time. This soon became associated with acoustic symptoms. The patient thought he heard music; the sensation repeatedly woke him from sleep. Soon he compared these illusions to a swarm of bees or the buzzing of lies. At this time he broke into a copious perspiration, with red urine depositing a copious sediment. After three or four days, he complained of violent constant pressure in the abdomen, with a feeling of incarcerated flatus. The seat of this distressing pressure at one time was at the side of the navel, in the hypochondrium, at another rather lower down, in the lower abdomen. Associate with it was constipation, for several days. After taking the remedy he had no natural stool. Not the least important was a firmly seated pressure at the side of the sternum, as large as the hand, with a feeling as if the bone were sore. Another symptom was a bitter bilious taste, which he could not get rid of, 8.
• Buzzing sensation in the interior of brain, as if blood were forced violently through a contracted vessel, 7.
• Slight burning in throat, as from pepper, after each dose, 7.
• It has a slight tendency to produce constipation, 6. [40.]
• It is readily found in the urine after its administration in rheumatic fever, 6.
• From doses of 5 grains of the crude drug he got no marked symptoms; but from doses of the 3d decimal attenuation he experienced soreness and pain in right deltoid and right gastrocnemius, changing on the next day to the left wrist and forearm. There was some soreness to touch, and great soreness on moving the limb. No heat. The succeeding day the same pain upon the palmar surface of the left forefinger; when the pain appeared in one part it disappeared in the part previously painful, 5.