History.
—Mrs. E. E., aged 33, was admitted to private ward of the Jewish Hospital, Oct. 16, 1907, suffering from ulcerative colitis, and was treated for eighteen days by high rectal irrigations of silver nitrate 1 to 1,000 solution. By mistake, on October 27, at 8 a. m., two ounces of formalin solution to a pint of water (about 12.5 per cent. strength) was used for a rectal irrigation. After receiving this solution the patient cried out that it felt as though a red hot iron had been put in the rectum and that she was dying.
Symptoms.
—The pain in the rectum and abdomen was excruciating. There was marked pallor and coolness of the skin and mucus membranes, the face was expressionless. The eyes were dull and staring; the pupils were widely dilated and reacted very little. The heart action was delayed, irregular and feeble, the pulse being hardly