p. 621 | Health and Temperance

International Tract and Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Oct 6, 1887

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 13, No. 39.

Health and Temperance.

POISONED BY TOBACCO.

A CASE of poisoning by nicotine occurred lately in Paris. The victim, a man in the prime of life, had been cleaning his pipe with a clasp-knife; with this he accidentally cut one of his fingers, but as the wound was of a trivial nature he paid no heed to it. Five or six hours later, however, the cut finger grew painful, and became much swollen; the inflammation rapidly spread to the arm and shoulder, the patient suffering such intense pain that he was obliged to betake himself to bed. Medical assistance was called, and ordinary remedies proved ineffectual. The sick man, questioned as to the manner in which he cut himself, explained the use to which the pocket-knife had been applied, adding that he had omitted to wipe it after cleaning the pipe. The case was understood, and the doctors decided amputation of the arm to be the only hope of saving the patient's life, and this was immediately done. His life was barely saved. No wonder smokers so often have sore and poisoned mouths, cancer of the lips, and like troubles.—Selected.