Cases Illustrating the Benefit of Belladonna in Opium-Poisoning

in the morning, and began to be uneasy and to fall into a drowsy state since 10 A. M. The patient had no fever previously, and no sort of constitutional disturbance whatever. It was a female child, about a year and a half old. On my visit I found my little patient recumbent on her mother's lap, dozing and perspiring a little ; skin cold, both the pupils much contracted, pulse weak and frequent, breathing a little stertorous, eyes half-closed, waking on being called aloud, again falling asleep. On asking the friends of the patient whether they would suspect the child to have taken opium anyhow, they replied that at about 1\ or 8 A. M. the child was found playing with an opium box which contained opium (the grandfather of the child being a habitual opium-eater.) The box was immediately snatched away from the child, and no more heed was taken of the child for some" time. However, the quantity of opium in the box was found to be smaller after the accident thaii what the box originally contained. From all this I was convinced of it's having taken opium accidentally. Although nearly -1 or 5 hours had elapsed since the accident, I gave my patient two 8-gr. doses of sulphate of zinc with tepid water at an interval of ten minutes. The vomited matters had the smell of opium, but no actual solid opium was found therein. I injected subcutaneously on the outer aspect of the patient's right arm two mi-