If the patient has taken an _alkaline_ poison, he should immediately be given diluted vinegar, or water into which the juice of lemons or oranges has been squeezed; such harmless acids neutralize poisonous alkaloids just as harmless alkalies antidote poisonous acids.
_Arsenic poisoning_ usually results from the accidental swallowing of rat-poison or some insecticide, as Paris green, or else some sort of green dye, many of which contain salts of arsenic in some form. An emetic should be at once given, to be followed by the whites of several eggs dissolved in a small amount of water; sweet milk may also be administered with benefit.
Accidental poisoning by _phosphorus_, results usually from children eating the heads of matches, and it is rarely the case that enough of the substance is taken to produce serious results. The poison, however, is a deadly one if taken in sufficient quantity, and where it is found that substances containing it have been swallowed the most energetic measures should at once be resorted to. Warm water containing mustard or some other emetic should at once be given, and this should be followed by whites of eggs and sweet milk. It is well also to try to get rid of any of the phosphorus that might remain in the stomach by giving the patient some saline purgative like Epsom salts.
Where _carbolic acid_ has been taken, the fact can be readily determined by noting the characteristic smell of this substance on the patient's breath, and by observing that the mouth and throat present a more or less whitish appearance. The treatment to be of any avail, should be of the most energetic character. The patient should at once drink largely of water, and vomiting should be induced as quickly as possible. Either milk or the white of an egg should then be given. Ordinary quick-lime, or even plaster from the walls of the house, may be stirred up in water and administered to the sufferer, as both have a distinct value in antidoting the effects of this poison. Burns of the skin with carbolic acid are rarely followed by serious consequences. As soon as the accident occurs the part should be thoroughly washed with water, and if at hand a little alcohol may be rubbed over the part; the affected tissues return to a normal condition in the course of a short time in the vast majority of cases.