The reports of the dissection of those who have been destroyed by saturnine poisons are far from being satisfactory. Where the person has died from the primary effects of a large dose of the acetate of lead, the stomach has betrayed a state of inflammation, similar to that which results from the action of a corrosive poison; black points and spots, from venous extravasation, have been also observed in the interior of this viscus; _M. Orfila_ states that he has seen in the stomach of animals who have taken a large dose of the acetate of lead, and have not vomited, a membraneous lining tolerably thick, of an ash colour, easily detaching in small pieces; the origin of which appeared to be owing to the decomposition of a part of the acetate of lead by the mucous, bilious, and other fluids, contained in this viscus. The mucous membrane lying under this lining, was of a dark grey colour throughout its whole thickness, and appeared to have exercised the same action on the acetate of lead. The case is very different in those who have died from the slow action of this metal; all anatomists agree in reporting, that in the _colica pictonum_, the digestive canal exhibits no vestige of inflammation;[387] but the diameter of the large intestines, especially that of the colon, is generally contracted; thus displaying the effects of that operation, which is supposed to be characteristic of the compounds of lead, and which has bestowed upon them the peculiar designation of _astringent_ poisons. _Foderé_ states that the mesentery and its glands; and the lacteal and lymphatic vessels, are inflamed and obstructed, and the thoracic duct almost obliterated; the liver, spleen, pancreas, and lungs often inflamed, tumefied and purulent, and even the heart shrivelled;[388] and the whole body, in consequence of the constriction of the chyliferous vessels, in a state of complete marasmus. Upon this passage _Orfila_ makes the following observation. “We are under the necessity of declaring, that almost all these signs are wanting in the majority of the cases of simple colic of lead, terminated by death.” _Fourcroy_, in a note to his translation of _Ramazzini_, “_De Morbis Artificum_,” observes that the intestines have, in these cases, been discovered distended by air, parched, and slightly altered in colour; and that in the larger ones, balls of dry, dark coloured, excrementitious matter, have been found. _Physiological action of Lead Poisons._