NICOTINE POISONING

Seventh-day Adventist Missionary Society · Oakland, California · Jun 23, 1881

NICOTINE POISONING.

A rather unusual case of poisoning by nicotine has occurred lately in a Paris suburb. 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 subsequently, 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 the ordinary remedies proved ineffectual. The sick man, questioned as to the manner in which he cut himself, explained the use to which his pocket knife had been applied, adding that he had omitted to wipe it after cleaning the pipe. The case was now understood, and the patient's state becoming alarming he was conveyed to the hospital. There the doctors decided amputation of the arm to be the only hope of saving the patient's life, and this was immediately done.