POISONOUS EFFECTS 
OF 
CYANIDE OF POTASSIUM 
BY JOSEPH JONES, M. D. 
Professor of Chemistry and Clinical Medicine, Medical 
Department, University of Louisiana, 
Visiting Physician of Charity Hospital, Mew Orleans. 
From "The New Orleans Medical and Surgical Journal," May, 1877. POISONOUS EFFECTS OF CYANIDE OF POTASSIUM. 
BY JOSEPH JONES, M.D., 
Professor of Chemistry and Clinical Medicine, Medical Department, University 
of Louisiana, Visiting Physician of Charity Hospital, New Orleans. 
Cyanide of potassium is one of the most formidable poisons 
known to the chemist; and the extensive use of this salt in cer- 
tain arts, and especially in photography, has given rise to many 
accidents, and also afforded facilities for its easy procurement 
for suicide and poisoning. 
Chemical and Physical Properties. 
This salt may be produced by the combination of cyanogen 
and potassium. The metal absorbs cyanogen slowly at ordinary 
temperature, but when heated, it quickly takes up a volume of 
the gas equal to the volume of hydrogen which the same quan- 
tity of potassium would eliminate from water. It may also be 
formed by fusing azotized organic matters with carbonate of 
potassium, by igniting nitrates or nitrites with organic sub- 
stances, and by passing air over an ignited mixture of charcoal 
and carbonate of potassium. 
Potassic cyanide may be prepared in large quantities, by heat- 
ing to dull redness, in a covered iron crucible, a mixture of 8 
parts of anhydrous potassic ferrocyanide, and*3 of dried potassic 
carbonate, until the fused mass has lost its yellow color, and 
ceases to give off bubbles of gas. The iron is separated in the 
form of a metallic powder, and subsides to the bottom of the 
crucible; the fused cyanide can then be poured off, and solidifies 
on cooling. The cyanide thus obtained is, however, always 
mixed with a portion of cyanate. If the presence of the potassic 
cyanate be injurious, it may be removed by adding to the mix- 
ture of the carbonate and ferrocyanide, before fusion, one-eighth 
of its weight of charcoal, which at a red heat reduces the potassic 
cyanate to the form of cyanide. The fused salt, when decanted Jones-Poisonous Effects of Cyanide of Potassium. 
775 
1877] 
from the iron, presents a black aspect, owing to the presence of 
unconsumed charcoal. If it is to be used in solution immediately, 
it may be dissolved in water and filtered; but if required in the 
solid form, it may be purified by treatment with boiling alcohol, 
from which after filtration, it crystallizes in colorless cubes. 
Cyanide of potassium crystallizes in transparent colorless 
cubes or forms derived therefrom. It is inodorous when dry, 
but when exposed to the air in the moist state, it is decomposed 
by the carbonic acid of the air, and exhales the odor of prussic 
acid. 
Its taste is acrid and caustic, somewhat like that of bitter 
almonds. It is. very fusible, melting at a dull red heat to a 
transparent liquid, which on cooling solidifies to a dull opaque 
mass, having the aspect of porcelain. At a white heat it appears 
to volatilize without; decomposition. It has an alkaline reaction, 
is easily soluble in water and very deliquescent; it likewise dis- 
solves readily in hydrated alcohol, but is insoluble in absolute 
alcohol. 
Potassic cyanide is of great value to the experimental chemist 
both for its reducing and its solvent powers. As a reducing 
agent, it is nearly equal in power to potassium itself, and is 
especially useful in blow-pipe analysis. The oxides of a large 
number of metals, including those of lead, copper, and iron, 
when thrown into the melted salt, are immediately reduced to 
the metallic state, while potassic cyanate is formed. It may also 
be used in the laboratory as a reducing agent instead of black 
flux, in testing for arsenicum. In solution it dissolves metallic 
iron, zinc, nickel, and copper, with evolution of hydrogen, while 
potash is produced. Silver and gold are also dissolved by the 
solution of potassic cyanide, if air be allowed free access, and 
soluble cyanides of potassium with these metals are formed. 
Cupric sulphide is soluble in an excess of potassic cyanide, and 
may be thus easily separated from cadmic sulphide, which is in- 
soluble in this reagent. 
As a solvent, it is much used in analysis for separating metals 
one from the other, as cobalt from nickel, copper from bismuth, 
cadmium, etc., also in various processes of volumetric analysis, 
as the estimation of copper. It is used in medicine for the pre- 
paration of prussic acid. By photographers it is employed for 
fixing proofs on moist collodion, and for removing stains of nitrate 
of silver from the hands, which it does by forming a soluble double 776 
Original Comm unications. 
[May. 
cyanide of silver and potassinin. This mode of employing it is, 
however, very dangerous, as if it comes in contact with a cut or 
scratched surface, it is apt to produce painful and troublesome 
sores, and may even give rise to dangerous symptoms of poison- 
ing. The removal of silver stains may be effected by means of 
a solution of iodine in iodide of potassium. 
Cyanide of potassium is extensively used in galvanic gilding 
and silvering; indeed the chief consumption of it is for this pur- 
pose. 
It is evident, therefore, from the preceding well-known facts, 
that this intensely poisonous salt may be readily obtained, and 
especially in this country, in which no effective laws exist for 
the protection of the community from the unrestrained sale of 
poisons. 
It is important to note the fact that, cyanogen was first ob- 
tained in the free state by Gay Lussac in 1815, and afforded the 
first instance of the isolation of a compound radicle. Many of 
its compounds had been known long before, prussian blue, having 
been discovered by Diesbach and Dippel in 1704, ferrcyanide of 
potassium by Macquer about the middle of the eighteenth cen- 
tury, and prussic acid by Scheele in 1782. 
The following experiments were performed by the writer at 
various times during the past twenty years, illustrating the 
action of cyanide of potassium upon plants and animals. 
Action of Cyanide of Potassium on Plants. 
In the experiments with this salt, as well as in those with 
hydrocyanic (prussic acid), rice was the plant selected, and the 
surrounding conditions of temperature were the same. 
Both in closed and unclosed vessels, solutions of cyanide of 
potassium arrested completely the process of germination. The 
word arrested is here used, because it is difficult in such experi- 
ments to affirm that not a single change took place in the or- 
ganic elements before the complete arrest of the process: it is 
certain, however, that if any of the numerous changes of germi- 
nation took place, they did not proceed far. 
When the seeds thus acted upon by cyanide of potassium were 
transferred to pure water, in no instance did germination take 
place; they simply underwent slow decay. This experiment was 
repeated with similar results upon more than one hundred rice 1877] 
J ones-Poisonous Effects of Cyanide of Potassium. 
777 
seeds. Corresponding experiments were carried on at the same 
time with pare water. 
Solutions of cyanide of potassium in every instance arrested 
the growth and caused the death of the germs of rice; and the 
rapidity of the action corresponded with the amount of the poison 
added. These experiments were in like manner repeated upon 
more than one hundred stalks of growing rice. 
The following conclusions may be drawn from the preceding 
experiments. 
1. Plants as well as animals may be destroyed by certain 
mineral and vegetable substances denominated poisons. 
2. As the vegetable kingdom is without nerves, muscles, or 
any special circulatory apparatus, similar to the automatic 
apparatus of animals, it is evident that cyanide of potassium 
must act upon the individual living cells composing the vege- 
tables subjected to their action. 
3. As the living component cells of the vegetable kingdom are 
capable of elaborating distinct products from the surrounding 
nutritive materials, and as this power is destroyed by poisons, 
we must conclude that the functions of secretion, growth and 
nutrition, may be influenced directly by poisons, without the in- 
tervention of the nervous system. 
4. As, therefore, poisons may act directly upon the individual 
living cells of vegetables, arresting the process of germination 
in the soil, and of the acts of secretion, nutrition and growth in 
the fully formed cells, it is reasonable to infer that poisons may 
act upon the individual living cells of animals. 
Thus poisons may act directly upon the muscular fibre, or 
upon the ganglionic cells of the sympathetic and cerebro- 
spinal system, or upon the secreting and excreting cells of the 
liver and kidney, or upon the colored and colorless corpuscles of 
the blood. 
The preceding conclusions were verified by about two hun- 
dred other exper iments with poisons upon vegetables, 
Effects of Cyanide of Potassium on Living Animals. 
Experiment: Effects of Solution of Cyanide of Potassium on action 
of Heart of Young Opossum (Didelphis Virginiana), Montevideo, 
Georgia. April, 1861. 
The young opossum was taken out of the pouch of its mother, 778 
Original Communications. 
[May. 
and at the time of its removal it was sucking vigorously at the 
teat of its mother. The thorax was opened, and the heart cut 
out and dropped into a solution of cyanide of potassium, of 
the strength of ten grains dissolved in one fluid ouuce of water. 
After falling into the solution the heart beat rapidly, for a few 
moments, and then ceased in one minute after its first introduc- 
tion, and could not be excited to any farther action. 
Experiment:-Effects of Solution of Cyanide of Potassium on action 
of Heart of Pided Viper (Heterodon Platirhinos). 
Heart of living reptile cut out and thrown into solution of 
cyanide ot potassium, 10 grains to fluid ounce ot water. 
Action of heart after being cut out, and before being thrown 
into the solution of cyanide of potassium, 48 per minute. After 
its immersion in the solution of cyanide of potassium, in one 
quarter of a minute its beat had fallen to 40 per minute, and in 
half a minute the ventricle and auricles contracted spasmodically, 
and the ventricle was corrugated as if portions of the muscular 
fibres were more contracted than others. In three minutes all 
action of the heart had ceased entirely, and it could not be 
excited to contraction even by mechanical stimuli. 
Experiment: Effects of Solution of Cyanide of Potassium on action 
of Heart of female Emys Serrata. 
April, 1861. Sternum of large emys serrata removed, and 
heart exposed; action of heart before being cut out, 70 per 
minute; after it was severed and removed from the body, 64 per 
minute. Immediately after throwing the heart into the solution 
of cyanide of potassium (10 grains to fluid ounce of water), the 
action was slightly increased from 64 to 70 per minute. In half 
a minute, however, its action began to decline in frequency, and 
in three minutes, it beat 40 times per minute. The effect of 
the poison was very marked in destroying the symmetry of the 
actions of the heart. 
The heart in its natural state in chelonians beats thus: the 
auricles contract, and then the ventricle in regular order. The 
cyanide of potassium destroyed this relation of the action of the 
auricles and common ventricle; under its poisonous influence 
the two auricles could be seen contracting separately, the 
auricles and ventricles simultaneously, and one auricle and the 
common ventricle simultaneously. After this irregular action 1877] 
Jones-Poisonous Effects of Cyanide of Potassium. 
779 
had been established for a few moments, the muscular bundles 
of the ventricle then became corrugated, and irregularly con- 
tracted. Nine minutes after placing the heart in the solution of 
cyanide of potassium, it beats 36 times per minute, the ventricle 
spasmodically, with contortion of the muscular fibres, whilst the 
auricles give but little indication of any action whatever; 15 
minutes after immersion in solution of cyanide of potassium, 
action of heart 21, spasmodic and wholly unlike the natural 
action; in 20 minutes all signs of action had ceased, the ven- 
tricles still presenting a corrugated contorted outline, with very 
slight spasmodic twitchingin a few of the fibres; a few moments 
after this all signs of motion ceased. 
In the preceding experiment, the cyanide of potassium appeared 
to act upon the sympathetic ganglia of the heart, as well as upon 
the muscular fibres, dis-associating their mutual rythmical im- 
pulses; and the rapidity of its action appeared to be inversely 
proportioned to the amount of the muscular fibre and number of 
ganglia. 
Comparative experiments were instituted by throwing the 
hearts of living cold-blooded animals into pure water, and this 
organ continued to beat slowly and regularly for more than 100 
minutes. 
Experiment: Action of Cyanide of Potassium on Congo Snake 
(Amphiuma Means), June, 1862. 
This reptile was immersed in a solution of cyanide of potas- 
sium, 6 grains to | pint of water; no special effects were observed 
for three hours; at the end of this time, the muscular system 
was thrown into violent spasms, and the muscles of the throat 
appeared to be permanently tetanized. At the end of six hours, 
all signs of life were extinct. When the heart was exposed, it 
was found to be perfectly motionless, and could not be aroused 
either by mechanical or electrical stimuli. The voluntary muscles, 
on the other hand, responded vigorously aud readily to the inter- 
rupted magneto-electrical current, thus showing that although the 
powers of the heart were destroyed still the voluntary muscles 
retained their power of responding to stimuli. 
The intestinal canal was congested with blood, and the abdo- 
minal canal contained effused blood, which coagulated upon 
exposure to the atmosphere. 
Under the microscope, the blood corpuscles from the blood of 780 
Original Communications. 
[May. 
the heart presented in many cases perfect forms, whilst in some 
cases they presented an elongated, spindle-shaped appearance, 
instead of the usual oval form. 
Experiment: Illustrating the Action of the Cyanide of Potassium 
on Warm-Blooded Animal. 
April, 1860. Fine, large cur dog, fat, fierce and powerful. 
Temperature of rectum 103.59°. The attempt was first made 
to pass a strong interrupted magneto-electric current through 
the muscles of the thigh; during the cutting through the skin 
for positions for the terminals of the electrical apparatus, the 
dog struggled violently, and during these struggles there was a 
slight rise in the thermometer, which indicated 104°. In a 
few minutes, however, it fell to 103.79~. After the applica- 
tion of the electricity for a few seconds, his struggles were so 
violent, and his strength so great (the muzzle was torn oft, and 
the dog bit the four young men who were assisting me in the 
experiment), that it was found to be impossible to continue the 
application of electricity, and a strong solution of cyanide of 
potassium was injected by means of a syringe into the mouth. 
In one minute the struggles of the dog became violent (he 
barked and gnashed his teeth, and struggled in the most violent 
manner to break loose), and the dog died in six minutes after 
the solution of cyanide of potassium had been introduced into 
the mouth. Before death the tongue and lips became of a brilliant 
scarlet color, and the tongue appeared to be swollen. 
About three minutes before death the dog became convulsed, 
the breathing became spasmodic, and at the moment of death 
the muscles were violently convulsed, and the body and extremi- 
ties were stretched backwards. The force of the death spasm 
was so great, that the shaft of the glass thermometer with its 
porcelain scale, in the rectum of the dog, was broken into small 
fragments. During the violent spasms preceding death, the 
temperature rose 1.01°., and after remaining stationary for 20 
minutes after death slowly descended. 
Post Mortem Examination, 20 hours after death.-When the 
skull-cap was removed, the blood-vessels of the membranes and 
of the substance of the cerebrum and cerebellum were distended 
with dark blood, which assumed a bright arterial hue upon ex- 
posure to the atmosphere. Blood-vessels of membranes and 45J 
PLEASE EXCHANGE. 1877J 
Jones-Poisonous Effects of Cyanide of Potassium. 
781 
structures of medulla oblongata and spinal cord greatly con- 
gested with blood. The spinal cord was examined throughout 
its entire length. Heart distended with dark blood; lungs, liver, 
stomach and intestines congested with dark blood. 
Upon exposure to the atmosphere, the blood from the centres 
of the heart and from all the organs assumed a brilliant hue. 
Experiment: Illustr ating the Effects of Cyanide of Potassium on 
Warm-Blooded Animal. 
January, 1861. Thirty grains of cyanide of potassium were 
dissolved in two fluid ounces of water, and half a fluid drachm 
was injected subcutaneously beneath the skin of the left fore- 
leg of a large cur dog. 
The poison excited violent struggles, loud and piercing cries; 
fulness of respiration, disturbance in the action of the heart, fol- 
lowed by slowness of respiration, and slow and spasmodic action 
of the heart. The beats fell in 10 minutes to 40 beats per min- 
ute. Then followed a long piercing cry; tetanic spasms, long 
drawn and loud breathing, coma, and Anally death in 20 minutes 
after the injection of the poison. The animal in this experiment, 
unlike the one in the preceding experiment, died without a 
struggle. 
Post Mortem Examination, 21 hours ajter death.-Veins of brain 
distended with dark blood, which exhaled the odor of prussic 
acid. Braiu normal in color and structure. Blood-vessels of 
brain less congested with blood than in the previous case of 
poisoning with cyanide of potassium. Spinal cord normal in 
appearance. 
Vessels of stomach distended with dark fluid blood. Hepatic 
mesenteric and intestinal veins distended with dark fluid blood, 
as was the case also with the vena cava. Arteries empty. Liver 
of a dark purplish, greatly congested appearance. Kidneys of a 
dark, purplish slate color, and greatly congested with blood. 
Spleen dark colored and congested with blood. 
Lungs somewhat congested; veins of stomach distended with 
blood; mucous surface much corrugated and of a deep pink and 
purplish color, and covered with thick mucous. 
Veins of small intestines much congested with blood; mucous 
surface pale, and not congested except in the duodenum, near its 
junction with the stomach. The congestion ot the mucous mem- 782 
Original Communications. 
[May. 
brane of the stomach appeared to have been due to the local 
action of the poison. Under the microscope, the colored blood 
corpuscles in some cases appeared to be smaller than normal, 
and in others presented a stellate appearance. When abstracted 
from the body, the blood coagulated imperfectly. 
I repeated the preceding experiments upon some forty living 
animals with similar results. 
General Conclusions from the Preceding Experiments, 
as to the Nature of the Effects of Cyanide of Po- 
tassium and Hydrocyanic Acid. 
1. After the introduction of cyanide of potassium and prussic 
acid into the subcutaneous tissue, or after their application to 
the tongue and mucous membrane, a certain period of time elapses 
before the manifestation of symptoms of poisoning; and during 
this period the poison is absorbed, mingles with the blood, and 
is distributed to the various organs and tissues, and is thus 
brought into contact with the ganglionic cells of the cerebro- 
spinal system. 
Various statements have been made as to the rapidity of the 
effects of prussic acid and cyanide of potassium in producing 
poisonous symptoms and destroying life, which have not been 
sustained by my experiments. 
In the most suddenly fatal cases, the action has been referred 
by some physiologists to nervous action, transmitted from the 
points at which the poison touched the extremities of the nerves. 
The incorrectness of this view has been shown by experiments 
similar to the following by Blake. The portal vessels of an ani- 
mal being tied, seven fluid drachms of Scheele's Acid were intro- 
duced into the stomach on the '■'■sentient extremities11 of the nerves 
on which the poison is said to act. Ten minutes elapsed with- 
out the slightest effect; the ligature was removed, and one minute 
afterwards the effects of the poison manifested themselves. 
It is evident that those who give this explanation of the 
sudden effects of prussic acid, leave entirely out of view the 
fact that hydrocyanic acid is highly volatile, and that if a drop 
of the pure acid be approached towards the tongue of a 
living animal, the acid evaporates and reaches the lungs 
by inhalation, and is immediately diffused over an immense 
absorbent surface, before the drop of acid actually reaches the 1877] 
Jones-Poisonous Effects of Cyanide of Potassium. 
783 
mucous membrane of the mouth. It is well known that prussic 
acid is most rapidly fatal in the form of vapor. I have been, 
upon more than one occasion, most seriously affected by the 
vapors of the acid during my experiments and post mortem 
examinations. The time of the action of this poison should be 
reckoned from the moment that its vapor reaches the capillaries 
of the lungs; and the place of action should be considered the 
extensive absorbent surface of the bronchial tubes and air cells. 
Now it is well established that the poison may reach the heart 
and cerebro spinal and sympathetic systems in an almost incon- 
ceivable short space of time from the lungs. That a sufficient 
interval elapses between the application of the acid, and the 
moment when its first effects are produced, to allow of its being 
brought into contact with the central ganglionic masses, will 
be evident from the consideration of the following facts. 
Haller and Sauvages were the first to ascertain by experiment, 
with what velocity the blood is carried through the vascular 
system; their calculations, however, were erroneous, as they 
were founded on the supposition that the movements of the 
blood depended exclusively upon the action of the heart. Haller's 
conclusions respecting the velocity of the circulation in frogs 
and small fish, are more correct, as they were confirmed by 
autopsies, but his observations were confined to cold-blooded 
animals, and it is scarcely necessary to mention how hazardous 
it would be to infer from them the velocity of the blood in 
warm-blooded animals. 
The same remark applies to the experiments of Spallanzani 
and Dollinger. 
In more recent works on the subject, the comparison of the 
quantity of blood contained in the ventricles of the heart, with 
the whole mass of the blood, and with the number of pulsations 
in a certain time, was considered sufficient to determine the 
relative velocity of the blood; a method the uncertainty ot 
which appears from the circumstances, that the quantity of 
blood cannot be made out with precision, and that the number 
of pulsations and the capacity of the ventricles differ very con- 
siderably in different individuals. Mr. Herring, of Stutgart, 
found the capacity of the left ventricle in horses differing from 
3 to 11 ounces, and that of the right ventricle from 4 to 38 
ounces. 
M. Herring tried another method which seems to lead to more 784 
Original Communications. 
[May. 
accurate results. He mixed a solution of the" cyanide of potas- 
sium with the blood; he then took, at certain intervals, small 
quantities of blood from various parts of the body; and from 
the chemical examination of these different portions of blood, 
and from the comparison of the time which the substance 
required to arrive from one vessel into another, endeavored to 
ascertain the relative velocity of the blood. 
The experiments were performed upon horses, and the follow- 
ing conclusions were established. 
a. The time within which the cyanide of potassium after hav- 
ing been mixed with the blood passes from one of the jugular 
veins into the opposite, is from twenty to thirty seconds; into 
the saphena magna, twenty seconds; into the arteria mesen- 
terica, fifteen to thirty seconds; into the arteria maxilla externa 
of the opposite side, from ten to twenty-five seconds; and into 
the arteria metatarsi, from twenty to forty seconds. 
b. The cyanide of potassium, within a very short time after its 
introduction into the blood, is excreted by the serous membranes, 
but in small quantity. The time varies from two to eight 
minutes. 
c. In the kidneys the excretion appears to take place with the 
greatest rapidity; in all experiments, within one minute after 
the introduction into the blood, the cyanide of potassium was 
found in the cortical, sometimes also in the tubular substance, 
and in a few instances in the pelvis of the kidneys. 
d. Only one minute is required to bring the substance from 
the jugular vein into the thoracic duct. 
2. Cyanide of potassium and prussic acid produce no abso- 
lutely uniform alterations in the circulation of the cerebro spinal 
system recognizable after death; and the cerebral and reflex 
symptoms are not due to the engorgement of the vessels. In 
some cases, the brain was not at all congested; in others the 
veins were distended with blood; and the blood after 15 hours 
showed a great tendency to transude through the coats of the 
vessels, from its disorganization, and thus inducing a much 
greater appearance of congestion and irritation than actually 
existed at the moment of death. 
The symptoms of cerebral disturbance-delirium, coma, ex- 
pansion of the pupil-were as strongly marked in the cases in 
which the brain was not specially congested, as in the cases in 
which it was most congested. Independent of these facts, it is 1877] 
Jones-Poisonous Effects of Cyanide of Potassium. 
785 
evident that the mere state of engorgement of the blood vessels 
could not produce death in so short a time. In some cases the 
spinal cord was not specially congested; in others the veins 
were distended with blood, and in others still, both the veins 
and arteries were filled with blood. Violent spasms, opistho- 
tonis and all the phenomena of aberrated spinal action, were as 
well marked in one condition of the spinal cord as in the other. 
We are compelled from these facts to conclude, that cyanide of 
potassium and hydrocyanic acid, produce no absolute uniform 
alterations in the circulation of the spinal cord recognizable 
after death; and that the aberrated muscular actions are not 
due to the engorgement of the blood vessels of the spinal cord 
and its membranes. Independently of the fact stated above, it 
is evident the mere state of engorgement of the vessels of the 
spine could not produce death in so short a time. Careful 
microscopical examinations did not reveal any uniform altera- 
tions in the nervous elements. 
3. The peculiar phenomena manifested by the cerebro spinal 
nervous system, in poisoning by cyanide of potassium and 
hydrocyanic acid, are due to the action of the poison on the 
nervous elements, conveyed to them by the blood; to the action 
of the altered blood on the nervous elements, and sudden arrest 
of the capillary circulation of the cerebro spinal nerves, in con. 
sequence of the action of the poison on the sympathetic system, 
and muscles and ganglia of the heart; to the reflex action of the 
sympathetic system, and to the complicated actions aud reactions 
of the poison in the individual structures. 
4. In poisoning by cyanide of potassium and prussic acid, the 
disturbances of the sympathetic nervous system are not less 
marked than those of the cerebro spinal nervous system. The 
slow, full respiration, the slow action of the heart in some cases, 
and its feeble, rapid action in others; the feeble pulse, the dimi- 
nution of temperature in the extremities, the rise of temperature 
in the trunk before death during the first stages of the action of 
the poison; the subsequent fall in the temperature of the trunk 
before death in some cases; the accumulation of the blood in 
the large veius of all the organs and tissues, in most cases of 
poisoning by hydrocyanic acid; the engorgement of the veins of 
the stomach, small intestines, spleen, liver and kidneys; the 
suppression of urine in some cases-all point to aberrated ner- 
vous action of the sympathetic system. 786 
Original Communications. 
[May. 
The mere congestion of the blood-vessels of the sympathetic 
nervous system could not account for any one of these pheno- 
mena-in fact, if the sympathetic nervous system presides more 
especially over the circulation, the stagnation of the blood in the 
vessels ot the sympathetic, and in fact, in the blood vessels of 
the cerebro spinal nervous system, and of all the organs and 
tissues, is evidently the effect, rather than the cause, of the 
aberrated sympathetic nervous phenomena. 
From these facts, it appears to be proper to conclude, that 
the aberrated nervous phenomena of the sympathetic system 
are due to the direct action of the poison, conveyed in the blood, 
on the ganglionic cells of the sympathetic; to the action of the 
altered blood on the same elements, to the congestion of the 
blood-vessels of the sympathetic, and to the reflex action of the 
cerebro-spinal system. 
If the disturbances in the action of the sympathetic nervous 
system do not precede, they are certainly coeval with those ot 
the cerebro-spinal system; and are in both systems manifested 
precisely at the moment when the blood containing the poison 
reaches the nervous elements. 
The arrest of the action of the heart, and of the peristaltic 
motions of the intestines, must be referred to the direct action 
bf the poison on the sympathetic ganglia, and to the action of 
the poison on the unstriped muscular fibre, 
5. Cyanide of potassium and prussic acid act on both the 
voluntary and involuntary muscles, and decrease or arrest 
entirely their property of contractility; and after death from 
these poisons, in many cases it is impossible to excite contrac- 
tion of the muscular fibres of the heart by mechanical or elec- 
trical stimuli. 
6. The blood is altered; its color is changed, as if prussic acid 
had entered into combination with the coloring matter; in most 
cases it coagulates imperfectly, and in some not at all. 
7. Cyanide of potassium and hydrocyanic acid produce effects 
on all the organs and tissues with which it is brought in con- 
tact; hence we cannot affirm that its action is confined exclu- 
sively to the nervous system; and more especially would it be 
impossible to affirm that its action is confined either to the 
cerebro-spinal or sympathetic nervous system, or that its pri 
mary action is on one or the other. Cyanide of potassium and 
prussic acid induce alterations in the constitution of the blood, 1877] 
Jones-Poisonous Effects of Cyanide oj Potassium. 
787 
and through this medium affects all the organs and tissues. We 
have established also that these and other poisons act on vege- 
tables, which are destitute of nerves, and hence we may conclude 
that it is capable of acting on all the individual cells of the living 
animal. 
Poisonous Effects of Cyanide of Potassium on Man. 
Hydrocyanic acid is as fatal to animal life, when combined 
with alkaline bases, as when it is free, and hence ammonia can- 
not be regarded as a chemical antidote in cases of poisoning by 
prussic acid: it acts merely as a stimulant to the cerebro spinal 
and sympathetic systems. It is one of the most formidable 
poisons known to chemists, and has led to the destruction of life 
in many instances within the last few years, chiefly owing to its 
having been administered by mistake for other medicinal prepa- 
rations, or by those who were ignorant of its intensely poisonous 
properties. 
Fifteen grains of "Kali hydrocyanicum," in a dose, were pre- 
scribed by a physician for his patient; he intended to order the 
ferrocyanide of potassium, but instead of this salt cyanide of 
potassium was sent. The patient took the poisonous draught, 
and was quickly destroyed. On inspection, there was no par- 
ticular odor, but the poison was detected in the contents of the 
large intestines. 
A similar accident occurred in Germany, by which the patient 
was killed, and the physician had a narrow escape of his life. 
Two drachms of ''Kali hydrocyanicum" were ordered in a pre- 
scription, with two fluid drachms of sugar dissolved in two 
ounces of camomile water, a desert-spoonful to be taken every 
quarter of an hour. Cyanide of potassium was dispensed instead 
of the ferrocyanide-the salt intended! The patient, an adult, 
took a dose (about 100 drops), and the operation of the poison 
was manifested during the act of swallowing. There was a ten- 
dency to vomit, and an immediate loss of consciousness; death 
took place in an hour. The quantity of cyanide here taken was 
not less than from thirteen to fifteen grains, equivalent to more 
than five grains of anhydrous, or 100 drops of Scheele's prussic 
acid! 
The physician who prescribed the medicine was sent for while 
the patient was still suffering from its effects; and in order to 
show that he had prescribed an innocent mixture, he put about 788 
Original Communications. 
[May. 
a teaspoonful of it into his mouth and swallowed three-fourths. 
The remainder he spat out. as it gave him an astringent or con- 
stricting sensation in his throat, like that caused by alum or 
green vitriol. He immediately felt severe pain in the back of the 
head; there was inability to stand, indistinct vision, nausea, a 
rushing sound in the ears, loss of consciousness, and without 
complaining of any well-defined pain, he felt that he had lost 
the power to make a deep inspiration. The loss of sense was as 
rapid as in ordinary syncope. When an efiort was made to 
swallow some milk, there was a strong feeling of choking followed 
by copious vomiting. For more than half an hour he could not 
stand upright. Giddiness, weight in the head, and constriction 
in the throat, continued for many hours. He passed a restless 
night; but the next day, with the exception of suffering from a 
general relaxation and weakness, he had recovered, and was 
euabled to assist at the examination of the body of his unfortu- 
nate patient. Some years since it occasioned the death of a per- 
son at St. Malo, under the following circumstances. A physi- 
cian prescribed for the deceased rather more than one drachm 
of the cyanide in two ounces and a half of orange-flower water 
and syrup, and of this mixture three spoonfuls were to be taken 
daily. It seems that a tablespoonfnl was taken for the first 
dose, and the patient died in three-quarters of an hour. None of 
the poison was found in the stomach, but a portion of the mix- 
ture from which the first dose had been taken was examined, 
and found to contain the cyanide in solution. A criminal pro- 
cedure was instituted against the physician, and he was fined 
and imprisoned. MM. Malaguti, Sarzeau, and Guyot, who gave 
evidence on the occasion, stated that they found no trace of the 
poison in the body,-that the cyanide was pure and only one 
tablespoonful was missing from the bottle. They further stated 
that a dog was killed in a few minutes, after taking less than 
three grains of the cyanide in solution, and that the largest 
medicinal dose to a human being, was five-sixths of a grain. The 
mixture in this case contained about three grains of the cyanide 
in one drachm: therefore had teaspoonfuls been taken by the 
deceased, the quantity would have beeu quite sufficient to 
destroy life. The medicine had evidently been prescribed by a 
person totally ignorant of its poisonous properties. {Lancet, 
Jan., 1843, Ann. d'Hyg. 1843, i. 413; Casper's Wochenschrift, 
Oct., 1845, p. 657; Taylor on Poisons, 627.) 1877] 
Jones-Poisonous Effects of Cyanide of Potassium. 
789 
The formidable nature of this poison may still further be 
illustrated by the fact, that a dose of five grains has proved 
fatal in three instances, and in one case the person died in two 
hours. 
The symptoms which the cyanide produces are similar to those 
occasioned by prussic acid-insensibility, spasmodic respira- 
tion, convulsions, with tetanic stiffness of the jaws and body. 
These appear in a few seconds or minutes, and run through their 
course with great rapidity. 
The rapidly fatal effects of cyanide of potassium were illus- 
trated on the 24th of March, 1877, in the case of Severino De la 
Barrera, the Spanish Consul of New Orleans. 
The following facts with reference to the death of the Spanish 
Consul were published in the papers of the 25th. 
"It becomes our painful task to record the demise of Severino 
De la Barrera, the Spanish Consul in our city, which occurred at 
twenty minutes to 1 o'clock yesterday afternoon. * * 
"Yesterday morning at half past 11 o'clock, after his breakfast, 
at the restaurant, he returned to his residence on Dauphine 
street, and retired to his bed-room with one of his friends, 
J. A. Bousquet. After a few moments conversation he remarked 
to Mr. Bousquet, that he had taken poison. Hardly had he 
uttered the words when he fell senseless. Mr. Bousquet, Signor 
Rafart, Vice Consul, and Mr. Samuel Rusch, the clerk at the 
consulate, used every effort in their power to revive him, but 
failed. 
"In the meantime Drs. LeMonnier and Formento were sum- 
moned, but the shadow of death was already upon him, and ten 
minutes later he laid lifeless surrounded by his terror-stricken 
fiiends. 
"A post mortem examination and inquest was held by Dr. 
Schumacher, City Physician, and Coroner Rance, and the jury, 
after the examination, rendered the verdict that death had been 
caused by prussic acid administered by his own hands." 
It is not my intention to examine the question whether this 
was really a case of suicide; for it is to be hoped that justice to 
the dead as well as to the living, and the highest interest of this 
community, will force a thorough examination of all the facts. 
Through the courtesy of Mr. H. C. Turpin, to whom the bottle 
from which the fatal dose had been taken, as well as the brain, 790 
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[May. 
stomach and liver ot the deceased, had been delivered by the 
Coroner, I was enabled to make a careful dissection of the brain 
and chemical examination of the blood from the various organs, 
also a quantitative analysis of the contents of the bottle contain- 
ing the poison. The following general results were obtained 
from this examination, conducted by Mr. Turpin and myself in 
my laboratory. 
The brain was greatly congested, but was healthy through all 
its textures. The brain exhaled prussic acid. The blood of the 
brain upon analysis yielded prussic acid and cyanide of potas- 
sium. 
The liver was greatly congested with blood, exhaled prussic 
acid, and upon analysis yielded prussic acid. Both the outer 
and inner surfaces of the stomach were congested with blood. 
The mucous membrane presented a deep scarlet ecchymosed 
appearance, and was softened and eroded, apparently by the 
action (post mortem) of the gastric juice. 
The stomach contained about ten ounces of partially-digested 
matters, which exhaled a powerful and sickening odor of prussic 
acid. Chemical analysis revealed the presence of the cyanide 
and of prussic acid in the contents of the stomach. 
The blood from all the organs examined gave out prussic acid 
and yielded it upon analysis; and although dark-colored when 
first exposed, changed rapidly to the arterial hue. The coagu- 
lating power of the blood was entirely destroyed. 
The bottle, labelled Simmons' Regulator, from which the 
deceased is said to have taken the fatal dose, contained eight 
and a half fluid ounces of a dark red liquid, which upon analysis 
contained 904.4 grains of cyanide of potassium. Each fluid 
drachm contained 13.3 grains of the cyanide of potassium. 
The entire capacity of the bottle was ten fluid ounces; there- 
fore one and a half fluid ounces were missing. It is not probable 
that the deceased took the entire amount, as he is said to have 
been in the habit of taking 1 or 2 tablespoonfuls of the "Simmons 
Liver Regulator" a short time after each meal. It is probable 
that be took about two tablespoonfuls of the poisonous mixture, 
which would yield 100.4 (one hundred and six grains and four 
tenths) of the cyanide of potassium-a quantity sufficient to 
have destroyed at least 21 (twenty-one) men. The entire amount 
of cyanide of potassium originally introduced into the bottle was 1877] 
Jones-Poisonows Effects of Cyanide of Potassium. 
791 
about 1110 (one thousand one hundred and ten) grains, a quan- 
tity sufficient to have destroyed 221 men, if the fatal dose be 
placed at 5 grains. 
1 administered 20 minims of the liquid from the bottle, which 
had caused the death of the Spanish Consul, to a dog, and symp- 
toms of poisoning commenced in 20 seconds; in 30 seconds, vio- 
lent spasms with a long piercing cry were emitted by the dog; 
coma, preceded by a prolonged spasm of muscles of the back, 
was established in 60 seconds after the administration of the 
poison, and death occurred in 100 seconds. The body of the dog 
was perfectly relaxed and flaccid, for 30 seconds before the ex- 
tinction of the pulsations of the heart and the cessation of the 
spasmodic respiration. 
The post mortem examination revealed congestion of the brain 
and internal organs, and distension of the cavities of the heart 
by black blood. 
A strong odor of prussic acid was exhaled from the breath of 
the dog during life, and from the blood and from all the organs 
and tissues after death. 
Treatment of Poisoning by Cyanide of Potassium. 
The symptoms occur with such violence and proceed with such 
rapidity to the fatal issue, that there is scarcely time to institute 
treatment. If possible the stomach pump should be used, and 
the stomach washed out with a weak solution of green sulphate 
of iron, which will decompose the poison. A weak solution of 
chlorine wall also prove beneficial. This gas when inhaled is 
one of the most potent antidotes to the effects of prussic acid. 
It must, however, be used with caution properly diluted, from 
its irritant effects upon the lungs. I have by a long series of 
experiments demonstrated the stimulant effects of chlorine upon 
the heart, and its power of overcoming the action of prussic 
acid.* Ice to the head and spine, cold effusion, artificial respi- 
ration, and electricity should not be neglected amongst the other 
measures, if sufficient time is afforded for their employment. 
Ammonia is a valuable stimulant, but it should be remembered 
that it is not a chemical antidote, but merely a stimulant to the 
nervous system. 
* Medical and Surgical Memoirs, vol. i., 1876, pp. 297, 298, 303, 304, 327, 792 
Original Communications. 
[May. 
Appendix to Case of Spanish Consul of New Orleans, 
Destroyed by Cyanide of Potassium, March 24th, '77. 
The following letter from Prof. Y. R. LeMonnier, M.D., the 
efficient Secretary of the Board of Health, presents many points 
of interest. 
New Orleans, March 31st, 1877. 
Joseph Jones, M.D., Professor of Chemistry and Clinical Medicine, 
Medical Department, University of Louisiana: 
Dear Doctor-In answer to your inquiries about the tragic 
death of the Spanish Consul I will state that, on Saturday, the 
24th inst.. at or about 12 m., a messenger out of breath entered 
my office, asking "tor a physician for the Spanish Consul, who 
was very ill.'' In haste we hurried to the Consulship, two squares 
distant, where I was told he had taken poison. I sent tor some 
ipecac immediately, and proceeded to examine the patient. I 
found him in his bed, lying on his back; respiration deep, diffi- 
cult and slow, with fluttering of the lips, loam at the mouth 
during respiration, the tongue once in a while protruding be- 
tween the lips. The face was pale, the pupils normal; the tem- 
perature below the normal standard, with a cold clammy skin; 
pulse at the wrist slow. The muscles were in a state of com- 
plete relaxation. Total absence of consciousness. Whatever 
substance bad been taken had penetrated the nervous system. 
We tried in vain to rouse him. On his forehead were two bruises, 
caused by striking against his chair in falling. I was then told 
that he had taken a dose of "Simmons' Liver Regulator"-a 
table spoonful or two-and a few minutes after, had dropped. I 
smelt and tasted the contents of the bottle; the smell and taste, 
though familiar to me, I could not then recall. In again examin- 
ing the patient, I detected a strong smell of prussic acid in his 
breath. My diagnosis was nowypositwe. 
Cyanide of potassium in great quantity was in the bottle. 
In the meantime Dr. Formento had entered the room. I called 
his attention to this fact, and he verified the diagnosis. 
The ipecac arrived (30 grains), which I put in a tumbler of 
luke-warm water, and by teaspoonful administered it to the 
patient. By pouring the draught into his mouth, and placing 
the hand over it, he would swallow. The act of deglutition was 
not under control of the will, as the patient was unconscious and 1877] 
Jones-Poisonous Effects of Cyanide of Potassium. 
793 
life fast ebbing away. No effect from the ipecac. Prognosis- 
fatal result. I expressed my opinion to this effect to the sur- 
rounding friends, and to satisfy them (for there was no hope of 
saving the patient), sent for my stomach pump and the antidote 
for cyanide of potassium. I expressed the opinion that the man 
would be dead before their arrival. The pulse soon disappeared 
at the wrist, and the man died without a struggle or moan before 
the arrival of the stomach pump. 
I then examined closely the bottle of "Simmons' Liver Regu- 
lator," supposed to contain the fatal draught, sealed it in person, 
in presence of Dr. Formento and the attaches of the consulship 
(left the seal in charge of the vice consul), and in propria 
pen-some, delivered the bottle into the hands of Dr. Henry Bezou, 
Deputy Coroner. I inquired whether the Consul was in the 
habit of taking the liver regulator, and being answered in the 
affirmative, 1 asked if there was in the house an empty bottle of 
this drug. One was brought containing about one drachm. I 
carefully examined this, which differed both in taste and smell 
from the bottle I had just sealed. The color was the same. 
It is evident that the cyanide had been placed in the liver 
regulator since the purchase of the bottle; in fact, within the 
last 24 or 30 hours, as about one-quarter of the contents of the 
bottle had been taken by the Consul, by tablespoonfuls every 
morning, as reported by his body servant, an intelligent negro. 
Resume.-Reached the bed-side of the patient at about 12.10 m. 
At 20 minutes of 1 p. m. he was dead, from having taken, at 
about 12 m., a tablespoonful or two of a bottle of "Simmons' 
Liver Regulator," containing an unknown but large quantity of 
cyanide of potassium. When 1 reached his bed-side he was 
already unconscious. 
Y. R. LeMonniek, 
159 St Louis street, near Rampart. 
The following extract from the testimony of Mr. Jas. D. Bouis- 
quet, at the coroner's office, on the 31st. of March, throws 
additional light upon the symptoms of Mr. De la Barrera, 
immediately after the administration of the poison. 
The Jury then adjourned to the coroner's office, at the corner 
of Dumaine and Royal streets, and the inquest continued. Mr. 
Jas. D. Bouisquet was the first witness called up. He stated 
that he had arrived in New Orleans on the 13th of March, and 794 
Origin a I Com m un ica Hons. 
[May. 
had come hero to wait for his brother, who was coining, and to 
speak to Mr. De la Barrera on business ot importance. He said 
that on the morning of Mr. De la Barrera's death, he called on 
Mr. De la Barrera, and both went out to a bank where Mr. De 
la Barrera collected some money. They then went to Moreau's 
restaurant where they spoke about matters personal to witness. 
After leaving Moreau's they went to the consulate. Mr. de la 
Barrera, after going to his oilice, went to his desk and examined 
some papers. Witness sat at the desk and commenced writing. 
Mr. De la Barrera went to his room, then returned and said to 
witness several words, one of which was poison; he returned to 
the room staggering, his eyes were glazed and his mouth foam- 
ing. Witness ran to the room where the Vice Consul and clerk 
were sitting. All returned to Mr. De la Barrera's room, and 
found him lying on the floor, face downward. Mr De la Barrera 
was picked up and placed in bis bed. The Vice Consul and 
clerk went out for a doctor.