His symptoms increased. He uttered sighs and lamentations; his limbs became icy; a cold sweat covered his whole body; his pulse was scarcely perceptible; the pain was constant; still he could rise and make continual but useless efforts to quench his thirst, and satisfy his urgent desire to void urine, and go to stool. He continued in this state during the night; the matters vomited became more clear, and of a yellow colour. He at last made a few drops of urine. The shocking appearance of his body already resembled that of a corpse, but he retained his senses, and was speaking when he expired, nineteen hours after swallowing the acid.” The burning heat and pains which are commonly the immediate effects of the ingestion of this acid are very variable in their intensity and duration, and _M. Tartra_ observes that, in general, they are not in proportion to the quantity or strength of the acid swallowed. It often happens that persons who have taken only a small dose, are seized with the most excruciating and dreadful pains, and some of those who have swallowed a great quantity, two or three ounces for example, have had scarcely any suffering, but remained very tranquil. In the first case, the patients either recover, or survive a long time; in the second, speedy death is almost always the consequence; thus a young man of twenty died in twenty hours, without any agitation or signs of acute pains. On opening the body, the highest degree of disorganization appeared, perforations of the stomach, and great effusion of its contents into the abdomen. The second variety of the progress and termination of poisoning by nitric acid, exhibits, at first, the same phenomena as the preceding; but less alarming symptoms succeed by degrees; after some months, the inner membrane of the alimentary canal detaches itself in portions, the patient falls into a marasmus, and dies. We are here presented with a case of _consecutive_ poisoning, see _page_ 147. The third termination is in imperfect recovery. A slow and progressive amendment ensures the safety of the patient; but there still remains some complaint; obscure pains in the throat, and especially in the epigastric region; habitual constipation, occasional vomiting, and increased sensibility of the stomach, so that it can only support light nourishment and bland liquors; in short, they continue invalids during the rest of their lives; they are subject to repeated and even habitual indispositions, and sometimes to pain and insupportable heat of the stomach; but they are able to follow their occupations, and long survive their poisoning. The total disappearance of the symptoms produced by swallowing nitric acid; or complete and absolute recovery without leaving any consequences, is the last variety of termination. _Organic lesions discovered on Dissection._