diately_
after the poison has been taken, and may be produced by merely _smelling_
it. The patient becomes perfectly insensible, and falls down in
convulsions--his eyes are fixed and staring, the pupils being bigger
than natural, the skin is cold and clammy, the pulse scarcely perceptible,
and the breathing slow and gasping.--_Treatment_. Very little can be done
in these cases, as death takes place so quickly after the poison has
been swallowed, when it takes place at all. The best treatment--which
should always be adopted in all cases, even though the patient appears
quite dead-is to dash quantities of cold water on the back, from the top
of the neck downwards. Placing the patient under a pump, and pumping on
him, is the best way of doing this. Smelling-salts are also to be applied
to the nose, and the chest well rubbed with a camphor liniment.

2654. ALKALIS: _Potash, Soda_, and _Ammonia_, or common
_Smelling-Salts_, with their principal preparations--_Pearlash, Soap
Lees, Liquor Potassae, Nitre, Sal Prunella, Hartshorn_, and
_Sal--Volatile._--Alkalis are seldom taken or given with the view of
destroying life. They may, however, be swallowed by mistake.--_Symptoms
produced in those who have swallowed them_. There is at first a burning,
acrid taste in, and a sensation of tightness round, the throat, like
that of strangling; the skin touched is destroyed; retching mostly
followed by actual vomiting, then sets in; the vomited matters often
containing blood of a dark brown colour, with little shreds of flesh
here and there, and always changing vegetable blue colours green. There
is now great tenderness over the whole of the belly. After a little
while, great weakness, with cold, clammy sweats, a quick weak pulse, and
purging of bloody matters, takes place. The brain, too, mostly becomes
affected.--_Treatment_. Give two tablespoonfuls of vinegar or
lemon-juice in a glassful of water every few minutes until the burning
sensation is relieved. Any kind of oil or milk may also be given, and
will form soap when mixed with the poison in the stomach. Barley-water,
gruel, arrowroot, linseed-tea, &c., are also very useful, and should be
taken constantly, and in large quantities. If inflammation should take
place, it is to be treated by applying leeches and warm poppy
fomentations to the part where the pain is most felt, and giving two
tablespoonfuls of the fever mixture every four hours. The diet in all
these cases should only cons