Introduction - Uppsala Monitoring Centre

1841 Sir Astley Cooper gave the effects of mercury as ‘Brassy or smoky
taste in the mouth–the gums white and swollen–the teeth unusually
sensible to cold air and water-gums ulcerated about the roots of the
teeth–the cheeks ulcerated opposite the dentes sapientiæ–the teeth
loose and often painful–increased quantity of saliva secretedbleedings
from the gums and cheeks–and exfoliations of the lower
jaws. Chilliness–sensation of cold water running down the back–
pulse quickened–increased secretion of urine–loss of appetite–
restlessness–sweating–purging often–tenesmus, vomiting, irritation
in the skin–pains in the joints.’ (Cooper, 1841).
1842 Ether was used for the first time as an anaesthetic by Crawford Long
in the US.
1843 The first description of leucocytes by Gabriel Andral (Andral, 1843;
Hajdu, 2003)
1845 ‘A Treatise on Poisons’, by Robert Christison, 4th edition,
Black Hellebore: ‘Vomiting, delirium, convulsions, burning pain in
stomach and throat, cramps of the hands and cold sweat’.
White Hellebore: ‘Pain in belly, swelling of the tongue, soreness of
the mouth, giddiness, dyspnoea, weakness, stiffness of hands,
blindness, dilatation of the pupil, faintness, convulsive breathing and
a small pulse’.
1846 The inunction of 1ʒ of mercurial ointment produced severe
symptoms of mercury poisoning in a patient with Bright’s 159 disease
and the recognition that poor renal function resulted in increased
blood levels of renally excreted drugs (Harrison, 1846).
1847 First use of chloroform by James Simpson in Edinburgh and first
death due to chloroform (Simpson, 1847; Thomas, 1974).
1848 The first American national law, The Drug Importation Act, came in
1848 during the Mexican War. It banned the importation of
adulterated drugs because the United States had become a dumping
ground for counterfeit, contaminated, diluted, and decomposed drug
materials. American troops in Mexico had suffered from spurious
medication for malaria. To demonstrate to Congress what exactly the
problem was, the Select Committee catalogued a long list of
common adulterations in imported drugs:
1. The ‘blue mass pill’, for example, which contained 33½ percent
mercury when pure, was imported and sold with only 7½ percent
159 Bright’s disease = acute glomerulonephritis