Abstract
In the veterinary circles carbon disulphide (CS2) has long been known as an anthelminticum, chiefly used in the treatment of stomach disorders in the horse caused by the larvae of Gastrophilus equi, and of late it is highly recommended by many authors to employ this medicament as a specific for this parasitary disease.
In spite of having an effective anthelmintic property. the toxic action of CS2 has not yet thoroughly been studied and in connection with this only a few experiments have hitherto been made.
In the books of toxicology by Kobert, Kunkel, Jaksch, etc., we find some descriptions about a number of cases of CS2intoxication in men, most of them, however, being related to chronic intoxications occurred among workmen in match or rubber factories. Acute cases, in which men have taken CS2 mistaking it for a drink, are also quoted in those books.
In the case of acute intoxication, according to the results obtained from the experiments with animals, paralysis of the respiratory system first appears, then that of the heart and finally general paralysis followed by coma. If it is the case of a slight intoxication, in which the animal is exposed to the CS2 gas for a short time, then it will easily be recovered under the supply of fresh air, but if exposed for a long time, the animal may die in one or two days, though once recovered. They report that an inhalation of air containing 5 volume % CS2 gas is enough to kill experimental animals in a few minutes.
As to the subjective and objective symptoms which appear in men in the case of acute or chronic intoxication, they declare that the CS2 content below 0.8mg in 1 litre of air is not dangerous.
I have made some CS2 intoxication experiments with mice, guinea-pigs, and rabbits, etc.; from the results obtained I come to the following conclusions.
1) 1.5 volume per cent. CS2 in the air can be considered as the minimal lethal dose, causing an acute intoxication in an experimental animal, and 3 volume per cent. CS2 is enough to kill the animal within ten minutes; Thus the result of my experiments is coincident with that of the authors above mentioned, who stated that the air containing 5 volume per cent. CS2 kills the animal within a few minutes. As already mentioned, if the CS2 content in 1 litre of air is below 0.8mg, no disturbance will be recognized in the physiological functions of workers in a factory, though the air is stinking. 0.8mg in 1 litre is equal to 0.125 volume per cent. at 15°C and 760mm Hg, so this volume per cent. is less than 1/120 of the minimal lethal dose (1.5 vol. per cent.) obtained in the animal experiments.
2) The phrenic nerves of a rabbit which is in a state of apnoea, intoxicated by inhalation of a certain dose of CS2, still react to an electric irritation in the same degree as before intoxication. This fact proves that the cause of intoxication death is the paralysis of the respiratory centre. The simultaneous disappearance of the movements of the alae of the nose and the accessory respiratory muscles, and of the movement of the diaphragma also proves that the inhalated CS2 has given rise to the paralysis of the respiratory centre.
3) The respiration of an animal which breathes the air containing CS2 at first accelerates, then becomes slow and finally stops. The blood pressure rises with the acceleration of respiration but it suddenly falls down at the stage of apnoea and a few minutes later palpitation of the heart stops.