Mercury anthelmintics

The compounds of mercury are alterative, deobstment, cathartic, antiphlogistic, anthelmintic, and antisyphilitic. They are all of them (with the exception, perhaps, of the sulphurets) capable of inducing a state of mer-curialism, of which salivation is the most prominent symptom. Their action requires to be carefully watched. Some of the preparations of mercury are corrosive poisons and most of them are capable of doing serious injury when incautiously used. 

In children, mercury-containing pharmaceuticals such as laxantia (calomel, Hg2Cl2), teething powders, anthelmintics or diuretics have triggered acrodynia (see Section 17.6.4.1). The withdrawal of mercury from pharmaceuticals has led to a distinct reduction in the occurrence of this condition (von Miihlendahl 1991). 

Like lead mercury also was mined in antiquity and found many uses in preindustrial civilizations. In certain respects, its toxicity is even better documented, largely because its liquid state inspired widespread medical applications. For hundreds of years it was applied in unctions, usually to patients with syphilis, producing toxic reactions in physician and patient alike. It also was incorporated into anthelmintics, ointments for skin diseases, and even teething powders. For some years, it served a useful role as a diuretic. Mercury also enjoyed wide industrial use. It is still a major component of electrical devices such as meters and an effective fungicide. 

A few chemotherapeutic agents were known before Ehrlich s time. These were cinchona bark and ipecacuanha rhizome, for the cure of malaria and amoebic dysentery respectively, and mercury for alleviation of the symptoms of syphilis. Mercury began to be used in this way in the sixteenth century, cinchona and ipecacuanha in the seventeenth. Santonin and male fern have been used as anthelmintics since classical times. In view of the many centuries during which medication had been practised, this list is remarkable only for its brevity. 

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