Chapter XVI: Part 16

Plinii Lib. xxxiv. cap. 2, 10.

Footnote 317:

We extract the notice of this case from Dr. _Gordon Smith’s_ work, not
having a copy of Metzger’s Principles of Judiciary Medicine at hand.

Footnote 318:

_Orfila_, l. c.

Footnote 319:

Pharmacologia, vol. ii. art. _Argenti Nitras_.

Footnote 320:

_Boerhaave_ relates the instance of a student in pharmacy having
swallowed some lunar caustic, in consequence of which the most serious
symptoms resulted, such as excruciating pains, gangrene, and sphacelus
of the primæ viæ. _Metzger_ also mentions a case, where a piece of
lunar caustic was accidentally dropped into the throat of a person
while applying it to an ulcer, but that the patient was saved by
drinking copious draughts of milk.

Footnote 321:

In the neutralization of acid poisons in the stomach, it is a great
object to avoid _carbonated_ alkalies and earths, on account of the
large volume of carbonic acid, thus given off, proving highly
distressing.

Footnote 322:

Pharmacologia, vol. ii, art. _Acid Nitric_.

Footnote 323:

Traité de l’Empoisonment par l’Acide Nitrique; par _A. E. Tartra_,
Médecin. à Paris 1802.

Footnote 324:

Some experiments and researches on the saline contents of sea-water,
undertaken with a view to correct and improve its chemical analysis.
By _A. Marcet_, M.D. F.R.S. in the Phil. Trans. for the year 1822.
part 2.

Footnote 325:

It is known in commerce by this name, since it is prepared on a large
scale, by distilling sugar with nitric acid. It derives the term
_oxalic_ acid, from the plant which so abundantly contains it, viz.
_oxalis acetosella_, or wood sorrel.

Footnote 326:

ESSENTIAL SALT OF LEMONS. “The preparation sold under this name, for
the purpose of removing iron moulds from linen, consists of cream of
tartar, and super-oxalate of potass, or _salt of sorrel_, in equal
proportions.” _Pharmacologia._

Footnote 327:

The parents of this child suppose that the violence of the screaming
ruptured the vesicles by which the breathing was impeded, and thus
proved an unexpected means of cure.

Footnote 328:

See “An account of the case of a man who died of the effects of the
fire at Eddystone Light-house,” by Mr. _Edward Spry_, Surgeon, at
Plymouth. PHIL. TRANS. vol. xlix, part 2, p. 477, A. D. 1756.

Footnote 329:

There are some exceptions to this law; for instance, the tincture of
litmus, and litmus paper, are always rendered more intensely blue, by
the addition of alkalies. There are also other bodies, besides
alkalies, which change the yellow colour of turmeric to a brown. Upon
this subject see an interesting paper in the 26th number of the
Journal of Science and the Arts, p. 315, by _Mr. Faraday_, entitled
“On the changing of vegetable colours as an alkaline property, and on
some bodies possessing it.” By this communication we are informed that
even the strong acids redden turmeric paper, and that a very weak
nitric acid gives it a tint exactly like that produced by an alkali.
Different metallic salts are characterised by similar effects.

Footnote 330:

A new alkali has been lately discovered in a mineral called
_Petalite_, by _M. Arfwedson_, a young Sweedish chemist, but as the
extreme rarity of the substance will prevent its ever becoming an
object of forensic interest, we shall pass it over without further
notice. Some new alkaline principles have also been developed by the
French and German chemists, in the analysis of certain vegetables, but
as these bodies have a physiological action, which is wholly
independent of their alkalinity, they will be more properly noticed
under the history of the vegetables which contain them.

Footnote 331:

Should the solution contain a small portion of lime, as may occasionly
happen, the cloud will be very slight, and cannot give origin to any
important fallacy.

Footnote 332:

_Orfila_, vol. i, p. 404.

Footnote 333:

Essay on Poisons, page 143.

Footnote 334:

_Orfila_, Lib. Cit.

Footnote 335:

_Brodie_, Phil. trans. 1812.

Footnote 336:

This is an important characteristic, since all the metallic poisons
yield an abundant precipitate, either black, yellow, or red, on the
addition of one or other of the alkaline hydro-sulphurets.

Footnote 337:

“GENERA CRUSTACEORUM ET INSECTORUM,” tom. 2, p. 220. The London
College in their present pharmacopœia refer this insect to the genus
LYTTA, an error which will be corrected in the future edition.

Footnote 338:

System of Chemistry, edit. 5, vol. iv. p. 436. See also Ann. de Chim.
lxxvi. p. 308.

Footnote 339:

Page 129, _note_.

Footnote 340:

_Homberg_, Mem. Par, 1692.

Footnote 341:

Ann. de Chim. xxvii, 87.

Footnote 342:

The earliest account we have of this substance having been used in
medicine is to be found in the seventh volume of _Haller’s_ collection
of Theses, relating to the history and cure of diseases. The original
dissertation is entitled “_De Phosphori loco Medicamenti adsumpti
virtute medica, aliquot casibus singularibus confirmata,” Auctore J.
Gabi, Mentz_.

Footnote 343:

Memoirs of the Society of Emulation at Paris.

Footnote 344:

See _Nicholson’s_ Journal iii, 85.

Footnote 345:

For July, 1813.

Footnote 346:

Numb. xxxi, 22.

Footnote 347:

System of Chemistry, 4th edit. 1, 274-277.

Footnote 348:

De Architectura, lib. viii, c. 7.

Footnote 349:

Researches into the Properties of Spring water, with Medical cautions
against the use of Lead, by _W. Lambe_, M.D. &c.

Footnote 350:

A case is recorded, wherein a legal controversy took place, in order
to settle the disputes between the proprietors of an estate and a
plumber, originating from a similar cause—the plumber being accused of
having furnished a faulty reservoir; whereas the case was proved to be
owing to the chemical action of the water on the lead. _Dr. Lambe_
states an instance where the proprietor of a well, ordered his plumber
to make the lead of a pump of double the thickness of the metal
usually employed for pumps, to save the charge of repairs; because he
had observed that the water was so hard, as he called it, that it
corroded the lead very soon.

Footnote 351:

_Van Swieten_ ad _Boerhaave_ Aphorism. 1060 Comment.

Footnote 352:

Libro supra citato, p. 24.

Footnote 353:

_Duncan’s_ Med. Comment. Dec. 2, 1794.

Footnote 354:

See the papers by Sir George _Baker_, in the first volume of the
Medical Transactions of the College of Physicians, viz. “_An Inquiry
concerning the Cause of the Endemial Colic of Devonshire_,” p. 175.

“_An Examination of several means by which the_ POISON OF LEAD _may be
supposed frequently to gain admittance into the human body,
unobserved, and unsuspected_,” p. 257.

“_An attempt towards an historical account of that species of
Spasmodic Colic, distinguished by the name of the Colic of_ POITOU,”
p. 139.

Footnote 355:

See a work by Dr. _William Musgrave_, which contains the earliest
account of the Devonshire colic, entitled “_Dissertatio de Arthritide
symptomatica_,” 1703; and also Dr. _Huxham’s_ work on the “_Morbus
Colicus Damnoniorum_.”

Footnote 356:

Annales de Chimie, vol. 1, p. 76.

Footnote 357:

See _Fourcroy_, Memoire sur la nature du Vin lithargyré, in the
“Histoire de l’Academie Royale,” for 1817.

Footnote 358:

Sir _George Baker_ considered that the dry belly ache, which is common
to the drinkers of _new_ rum, in the West Indies, ought to be wholly
referred to its contamination with lead.

Footnote 359:

The art of glazing earthenware with lead is of modern invention; that
part of the old earthenware, preserved in the British museum, which is
supposed to have been of Roman manufacture, is not glazed. The
vessels, which are called Etruscan, and which are supposed to be of
greater antiquity than the Roman, have indeed a paint or polish on
their surfaces; but that does not appear to resemble our modern
saturnine vitrification.

Footnote 360:

The workmen who are employed at the glazing tub are subject to colics
and paralysis.

Footnote 361:

The frequency with which the inhabitants of Madrid, and of a great
part of New Castille in Spain, were harrassed with colic, as recorded
by _M. Thierry_, received a satisfactory explanation from the fact of
glazed earthenware having been universally used in that country for
culinary vessels.

_Sir G. Baker_ in a paper entitled “_Further Observations on the
Poisons of Lead_,” Med. Trans. vol. 2, p. 419, mentions the practice
of drinking cyder out of glazed earthen vessels as dangerous. Dr.
_Watson_, junior, saw several instances of the Devonshire colic,
during the time of harvest, apparently from this cause. And a similar
instance fell under the notice of Dr. _Charleston_, where six persons
became, at one time, paralytic, by drinking cyder, brought to them
while at harvest work, in a new earthen pitcher, the inside of which
was glazed. That the glazing was dissolved by the liquor appeared not
only by the effects which it produced, but from its having given, as
these persons informed Dr. _Charleston_, that astringent sweetish
taste to the liquor, by which the solutions of this metal are so
peculiarly distinguished.

Footnote 362:

As it is very desirable to exclude the use of _lead_ altogether, the
Society for the promotion of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce, has
offered a premium for a substitute for this metallic glaze. For an
account of several new glazes, as substitutes for _lead_, see
_Parkes’s Chemical Essays_, vol. iii, p. 193-576.

Footnote 363:

_Darwin’s_ Zoonomia, vol. 3, cl. 1, 2, 4, 8.

Footnote 364:

Chemical Essays, vol. v, p. 193.

Footnote 365:

Philosophical Magazine, 1819, no. 257, p. 229.

Footnote 366:

The use of the arsenic is to render the lead more brittle, and to
dispose it to run into spherical drops.

Footnote 367:

_Francis Citois_, the historian of this celebrated epidemic, published
his “_Diatriba de novo et populari apud Pictones, dolore colico
bilioso_,” A.D. 1617. In which he states that the “_dolor colicus
Pictonicus_” was a new epidemic in the province of Poitou, about the
year 1572; and after having prevailed in that province about 60 or 70
years, it became milder, less untractable, and by degrees was
translated to other parts of France. The supposition, however, says
Sir _George Baker_, that the colic of Poitou was a new disease, about
the time when Citois lived, is not true; the disease was even
mentioned by our countryman _John of Gaddesden_, who appears to have
written his _Rosa Anglica_ early in the fourteenth century. If we
consult authors posterior to _Citois_, we find this species of colic
mentioned in almost every practical book. We have an account in
_Sennertus_ of its having prevailed epidemically, all over Silesia, in
the year 1621. _Baglivi_ even affirms that “nihil facilius colicæ
supervenit, quam paralysis.” None of these authors, however, appear to
have entertained the slightest suspicion of the true source of the
malady.

Footnote 368:

EPHEMERIDES GERMANICÆ, Ann. 4.—Observ. 60 by _Cockelius_.—Obs. 92 by
_Brunnerus_.—Obs. 100 by _Wicarius_.

Footnote 369:

Chemical Essays, vol. 3, page 369, edit. 3.

Footnote 370:

Exam. Chy. de Differ. Subs. par M. Sage, p. 157.

Footnote 371:

Medical Transactions of the College of Physicians, vol. ii, p. 86.

Footnote 372:

The art of making wines, from fruits, flowers, and herbs; all the
native growth of Great Britain, by _William Graham_, late of Ware in
Hertfordshire.

Footnote 373:

See “_Some experiments made upon Rum, in order to ascertain the cause
of the colic, frequent among the Soldiers in the island of Jamaica, in
the years 1781, and 1782_”; by JOHN HUNTER, M.D. In the Medical
Transactions, vol. 3, p. 227.

Footnote 374:

Annales de Chimie, tom. lvii, p. 84. Memoire de _M. Proust_.

Footnote 375:

_Cerusse_ was in great request among the Roman ladies as a cosmetic.

Footnote 376:

The manufacture of this colour was long kept secret; but its
consumption has lately been greatly lessened by the introduction of
the artificial CHROMATE OF LEAD, which is a yellow of much greater
brilliancy than the muriate of that metal.

Footnote 377:

See Repository of Arts, vol. viii, no. 47, p. 262.

Footnote 378:

Med. Trans. vol. 2, p. 445.

Footnote 379:

See a paper in the Medical Transactions, vol. 2, p. 68, “Of the Colica
Pictonum,” by _R. Warren_, M.D. &c.

Footnote 380:

_Paulus Ægineta_ is the first writer who has described a species of
Colic terminating in Paralysis. (Lib. iii, c. 18, 43.)

Footnote 381:

Poitou, this late province in France was divided at the revolution
into the three departments of Vendée, Vienne, and the Two Sevres.

Footnote 382:

Pictones—_Cæs._ People of France, whose chief city is Pictavium, now
called Poictiers.

Footnote 383:

_Percival’s_ Essays, vol. 1, p. 458.

Footnote 384:

See our remarks upon this subject at page 142. See also _Teichmeyer_,
Inst. Med. For. p. 164.

Footnote 385:

Upon the subject of slow poisons we have already expressed the
latitude of our belief, see page 143.

Footnote 386:

Medical Transactions, vol. 2, p. 420.

Footnote 387:

Transactions of Medical Society of London.

Footnote 388:

Med. Legale, iv, § 921.

Footnote 389:

“De Lithargyrio quoque mihi narravit, matronam quandam nobilem
pulverem ejus in rubore faciei, postquam hic ipsi tanquam singulare et
certissimum arcanum deprædicatus fuisset, in petia ligatum, axillis
bis vel ter die aspersisse cum præsentaneo effectu; verum exinde
subsecuta fuisse dyspnæam, lipothymiam, dolores vagos in abdomine,
vomituritionem, et nauseam.”

Footnote 390:

See his “Researches into the Properties of Spring water.” 8vo. London.
_Johnson._ 1803.

Footnote 391:

Observations on the Water with which Tunbridge is supplied for
domestic purposes.

Footnote 392:

The following is the method of preparing the test. Expose equal parts
of sulphur and powdered oyster shells to a white heat for fifteen
minutes; and, when cold, add an equal quantity of cream of tartar;
these are to be put into a strong bottle with common water to boil for
an hour; and the solution is afterwards to be decanted into ounce
phials, adding twenty drops of muriatic acid to each.

Footnote 393:

_Lambe_, op. sup. cit. page 175.

Footnote 394:

On the ultimate Analysis of Vegetable and Animal Substances, by
_Andrew Ure_, M.D.F.R.S. Phil. Trans. for 1822, part. 2.

Footnote 395:

Essay on Chemical Analysis, by _J. G. Children, Esq._

Footnote 396:

Where a compound is merely separated it is called an EDUCT; but where
it arises from a new combination of the elements it is distinguished
by the term PRODUCT.

Footnote 397:

Recherches Physico-Chimiques.

Footnote 398:

On the ultimate Analysis of Vegetable and Animal Substances, by
_Andrew Ure_, M.D.F.R.S. Phil. Trans, for 1822, part 2.

Footnote 399:

The author has already in the fifth edition of his Pharmacologia,
entered so fully into the philosophy of medicinal combination, that he
can scarcely feel regret at the limits of the present work not
allowing him to dwell upon the subject.

Footnote 400:

The Cambogia _Gutta_ Lin. (Polyandria Monogynia) and several species
of Hypericum; Chelidonium, &c. also yield a similar juice.

Footnote 401:

The Dutch appear to have first introduced it into Europe about the
middle of the seventeenth century.

Footnote 402:

Ελλεβορος λευκος of Dioscorides.

Footnote 403:

Histoire des Plantes Vénéneuses de la Suisse.

Footnote 404:

The same alkali has been discovered in the seeds of the _Veratrum
Sabadilla_, and in the root of the _Colchicum Autumnale_.

Footnote 405:

It was first cultivated by _Gerarde_ in 1596.

Footnote 406:

See London Medical Repository, vol. xii, no. 67.

Footnote 407:

Pharmacologia, vol. ii, art. _Extract. Elaterii_, p. 204.

Footnote 408:

Fragmenta Chirurg. et Med. p. 66.

Footnote 409:

Obs. Lib. iv, c. xxvi, p. 208.

Footnote 410:

The juice of every species of _spurge_ is so acrid, that it corrodes
and ulcerates the body wherever it is applied. Warts or corns,
annointed with the juice presently disappear; hence this tribe of
plants has derived the popular name of _wart weed_.

Footnote 411:

One of the supposed proofs of the guilt of _Charles Angus_ in the case
of _Margaret Burns_, as stated at page 177, rested upon the fact, that
on searching the prisoner’s bed room, three bottles were found in the
wardrobe, viz. one marked “_poison water_;” a second “_Jacob’s
water_;” and a third “_Savine oil_.”

Footnote 412:

The roman poets constantly use it in the plural number, which
evidently shews that it was meant to denote other kinds of poisons, or
poisons in general; thus JUVENAL in the first satire, v. 156.

“Qui dedit ergo tribus patruis ACONITA, vehetur
Pensilibus plumis,——”

So again _Ovid_ in the first book of Metamorph, v. 47.

“Lurida terribiles miscent ACONITA novercæ.”

Footnote 413:

_Theophrastus_ tells us that a poison may be prepared from _aconite_
so as to occasion death within any definite period; see page 183 in
the present volume.

Footnote 414:

See an account of this process of preparing extracts _in vacuo_, in
Medico-Chirurg. Trans. vol. x, p. 240; and for a history of their
superior powers, the author begs to refer the reader to an account of
the articles in his Pharmacologia.

Footnote 415:

Pharmacologia, vol. 1, p. 136.

Footnote 416:

Med. Observ. and Inquiries, vol. v. p. 317.

Footnote 417:

It may be obtained from opium by the following process, invented by
ROBIQUET. Three hundred parts of pure opium are to be macerated during
five days, in one thousand parts of common water; to the filtered
solution, fifteen parts of perfectly pure magnesia (carefully avoiding
the _carbonate_) are to be added; boil this mixture (A) for ten
minutes, and separate the sediment (B) by a filter, washing it with
cold water until the water passes off clear; after which, treat it
alternately with hot and cold alcohol (12, 22. Bé) as long as the
menstruum takes up any colouring matter; the residue is then to be
treated with boiling alcohol (22, 32, Bé) on cooling, the solution
will deposit the _Morphia_ in crystals.

_Rationale of the process._ A soluble _meconiate of magnesia_ is, in
the first place, formed; (A) while the sediment (B) consists of
_morphia_, in the state of mixture, with the excess of magnesia; the
boiling alcohol, with which this residuum is treated, exerts no action
upon the magnesia, but dissolves the _morphia_, and, on cooling,
surrenders it in a crystalline state.

Footnote 418:

Ann. de Chim. et de Phys. tom. v.

Footnote 419:

“Confessions of an English opium-eater.” London, 1822.

Footnote 420:

History of Aleppo.

Footnote 421:

_Orfila_ states that animals, on which the section of the _par vagum_
of both sides has been performed, die at the end of two or three
hours; after having experienced intoxication, somnolency, and
convulsions. _Bulletin de la Soc. Philomatique, Mai 1808_, _t._ 1,
_p._ 143.

Footnote 422:

_Toriosa_ (_Istituzioni di Med. For._) has remarked that opium may act
mortally without losing much of its weight in the stomach. We are very
sceptical upon this point.

Footnote 423:

The reader is requested to refer to our chapter “On the Physiological
causes and phenomena of sudden death,” p. 22.

Footnote 424:

See “Cases illustrating the decided efficacy of cold affusion in the
treatment of poisoning by opium, by _S. Wray_.” _London Medical and
Physical Journal_, for September 1822.

“A case of poisoning by opium, in which the cold affusion was
successfully employed; with observations on the medical management of
similar occurrences, by _J. Copland_, M. D.” _Ibid._

“On the most efficacious means of remedying the effects of opium, when
taken in poisonous doses, by _J. H. Sprague_.” _Ibid._

Footnote 425:

Avis au _peuple_, tom. ii, § 535, p. 280, 7th edit.

Footnote 426:

“On the common syringe, with a flexible tube, as applicable to the
removal of opium, and other poisons, from the stomach, by _F. Bush_.”
_London Med. and Phys. Journ._ for September, 1822.

“New means of extracting opium, &c. from the stomach, by _E. Jukes,
Esq_.” _Ibid._ for November, 1822.

Footnote 427:

See Pharmacologia, vol. 1, p. 234.

Footnote 428:

Reports on Water, 1, 80.

Footnote 429:

A very high degree of vascularity is often found in the stomach and
alimentary canal of those who have been suddenly deprived of life. The
reader may consult _Dr. Yelloly’s_ paper in the _Medico-chirurgical
Transactions_, vol. iv, respecting the appearances found in the
stomachs of several executed criminals.

A case of poisoning by opium is given in the foreign department of the
London Medical Repository, for November 1820; in which two drachms of
solid opium had been swallowed, and on dissection a general congestion
of blood was found in the internal organs.

Footnote 430:

The stomach in this case was observed to be red, but the colour was
traced to the tincture of cardamoms, which the deceased had taken.

Footnote 431:

Philosophical Transactions, vol. xl, p. 446.

Footnote 432:

It was discovered by _Scheele_, but _Gay-Lussac_ first succeeded in
depriving it of a very great quantity of the water with which it was
combined, when prepared according to the process of its discoverer.
See _Annales de Chimie_, tom. lxxvii, p. 123.

Footnote 433:

By the decomposition of muriatic acid, and the cyanuret of mercury.

Footnote 434:

_Dr. Majendie_ has informed us that, in consequence of some
carelessness, he breathed a portion of the vapour, while preparing the
acid for the purpose of experiment; and that he suffered very violent
pains in the chest, accompanied by feelings of oppression, which
endured for several hours.

Footnote 435:

“En conservant cet acide dans des vases bien fermés, même sans quil
ait le contact de l’air, il se decompose quelquefois en moins d’une
heure.” _Gay-Lussac._

Footnote 436:

See “An Historical and Practical Treatise on the Internal use of
hydro-cyanic (Prussic) acid, by _A. B. Granville_, M.D.” Second edit.
London, 1820.

Footnote 437:

See, however, an account of “A new substance found accompanying Welsh
Culm, by _J. A. Paris_, M.D.” in the first volume of the Transactions
of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall.

Footnote 438:

The poisonous properties of this plant are alluded to by _Strabo_, who
says that the _Lauro-cerasus_ produces a mode of death, similar to
that of epilepsy.

Footnote 439:

The merits of this case are to be found very fully discussed in a
pamphlet, entitled “Considerations on the criminal proceedings of this
country; on the danger of convictions on circumstantial evidence, and
on the case of _Mr. Donellan_.” By a barrister of the Inner Temple,
London, 1781.

Footnote 440:

“Experiments and Observations on the different modes in which Death is
produced by certain vegetable poisons.” Phil. Trans. vol. 101, for the
year 1811.

Footnote 441:

To those who may wish to gain further information upon this subject,
we beg to recommend the perusal of _Dr. Granville’s_ work above
quoted.

Footnote 442:

Treatise on Prussic acid, sup. citat. p. 96.

Footnote 443:

Journal General de Médecine, 1. xxiv, p 224.

Footnote 444:

Annals of Philosophy, vol. i, p. 2, _new series_.

Footnote 445:

From this person the plant received its generic name, _Nicotiana_; the
specific appellation being taken from _Tabac_, the name of an
instrument used by the natives of America in smoking the herb.

Footnote 446:

In 1624 Pope Urban the VIII, published a decree of excommunication
against all who took snuff in the church. Ten years after this,
smoking tobacco was forbidden in Russia, under the pain of having the
nose cut off. In 1653 the Council of the Canton of Appenzel cited
smokers before them, whom they punished; and they ordered all
inn-keepers to inform against such as were found smoking in their
houses. The police regulations of Berne, made in 1661, were divided
according to the ten commandments, in which the prohibition of smoking
stood immediately beneath the command against adultery. This
prohibition was renewed in 1675, and the tribunal instituted to put it
into execution—viz. “CHAMBRE AU TABAC,” continued to the middle of the
eighteenth century. Pope Innocent the XII, in 1590 excommunicated all
those who were found taking snuff, or using tobacco, in any manner, in
the church of St. Peter at Rome; even so late as 1719 the Senate of
Strasburgh prohibited the cultivation of tobacco, from an apprehension
that it would diminish the growth of corn. Amurath the IV published an
edict which made the smoking tobacco a capital offence; this was
founded on an opinion that it rendered the people infertile.

Footnote 447:

Pharmacologia, vol. 1, 228, and vol. 2, art. Tabaci Folia.

Footnote 448:

Vol. ii, p. 404.

Footnote 449:

We are, however, by no means disposed to assign greater weight to this
expression that it can fairly sustain; it may perhaps refer to the
operation of dropping the poison into the ear, and not to the poison
itself—thus _Juvenal_, “_stillavit_ in aurem.”

Footnote 450:

Ephemerides des Curieux de la Nature, Dec. ii, An. i, p. 46.

Footnote 451:

_Orfila_, Toxicol.

Footnote 452:

Pharmacologia, vol. 1, p. 228.

Footnote 453:

Pliny informs us that the word _cicuta_ amongst the ancients, was not
indicative of any particular species of plant, but of vegetable
poisons in general. We have already made the same remark with respect
to Aconite.

Footnote 454:

Κωνειον of Dioscorides.

Footnote 455:

In the London Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 14, p. 425, we shall
find a case wherein the hemlock was eaten through mistake for common
parsley. Similar accidents are also recorded in _Miller’s_ Dictionary.

Footnote 456:

It is figured in the Hortus Malabaricus under the name of _Canirum_.

Footnote 457:

Annales de Chimie, t. 8 to 10.

Footnote 458:

Ibid. t. x, 153.

Footnote 459:

Journal de Physiologie Experimentale, 1^{er} numeroJanvier 1821, in a
paper entitled “_Memoire sur le Méchanisme de l’Absorption_.”

Footnote 460:

We avail ourselves of this report, as given by _Orfila_ in his System
of Toxicology.

Footnote 461:

Bulletin de la Société de Med. Nov. 1807.

Footnote 462:

Analyse Chimique de la Coque du Levant. Paris, 1812.

Footnote 463:

We have already stated that this sauce has been occasionally rendered
poisonous by the presence of copper, p. 290.

Footnote 464:

_Haller_, Helvet. hist.

Footnote 465:

We have explained, at page 150, the sense in which we wish these terms
to be received.

Footnote 466:

Krascheminckow, Histoire Naturel du Kamtschatka, p. 209.

Footnote 467:

Systematic arrangement of British Plants, vol. iv, p. 181.

Footnote 468:

Leçons, faisant partie du Cours de Medecine Legale de _M. Orfila_.
Paris, 1821.

Footnote 469:

This fact is particularized, as some persons have supposed the
symptoms which have arisen from the ingestion of these fungi, may have
been the effect of copper derived from the cooking utensils.

Footnote 470:

Let it be remembered that this term is to be received conventionally;
we merely intend it to express certain phenomena, without any
reference to their cause.

Footnote 471:

_Mr. Brande._ Phil. Trans. 1811 and 1813.

Footnote 472:

“I apprehend that the peculiar flavour of _cogniac_ depends upon the
presence of an æthereal spirit, formed by the action of tartaric, or
perhaps acetic acid upon alcohol. It is on this account that nitric
æther, when added to malt spirits gives them the flavour of brandy.”
Pharmacologia, vol. 2, p. 396.

Footnote 473:

Pharmacologia, vol. 2, p. 397.

Footnote 474:

See our chapter on “_the Physiological causes and Phenomena of Sudden
Death_,” page 16.

In the course of the present work we have frequently recommended the
artificial inflation of the lungs, in cases where life is liable to be
extinguished by suffocation, (_page_ 78); but we have not yet hinted
at the possibility of employing such a resource with success in cases
of narcotic poisoning, wherein the death may be physiologically
considered as analogous to that occasioned by suffocation. _Mr.
Brodie_ was the first philosopher who ventured to propose such an
expedient, and in an experiment carefully performed on an animal under
such circumstances its life was preserved.

The success of the process will depend upon our being able to keep up
an artificial breathing, until the effects of the narcotic have passed
away, and the energy of the brain is restored. As during this interval
the generation of animal heat appears to be in a great measure
suspended, it will be necessary to maintain a sufficient temperature
by art.

Footnote 475:

We have just received from _Mr. Alcock_ a history of the particular
circumstances of the interesting case alluded to at page 58 of the
present volume, and we shall give insertion to it in our chapter on
Anatomical Dissection.

Footnote 476:

Treatise on Nervous Diseases, vol. 1, p. 221.

Footnote 477:

Case of a woman bitten by a viper, _Med. and Phy. Journ._ vol. ii, p.
481.

Footnote 478:

Celsus Medicin. lib. 5, c. 27.

Footnote 479:

Lucan Pharsal, c. 9.

Footnote 480:

See our remarks on the effects produced by the accidental ingestion of
boiling water, page 317, and which will apply to the circumstances of
the present case.

Footnote 481:

Med. Legale, t. iv, 835.

Footnote 482:

Vol. 1, p. 519.

Footnote 483:

See volume 1 of the present work, p. 95.

Footnote 484:

See _Orfila_, vol. 2.

Footnote 485:

See _Dr. Stone_ on the Diseases of the Stomach, p. 80. We also beg to
direct the attention of the medical reader to a paper entitled “On the
effects of certain articles of food, especially oysters, on women
after child-birth, by _John Clarke_, M. D.” Med. Trans. vol. v, p.
109.

Footnote 486:

For October, 1808, vol. iv, p. 393.

Footnote 487:

For June, 1815, vol. 3, p. 445.

Footnote 488:

_Dr. Burrows_ has given us a list of them in the paper above alluded
to; the most poisonous of which is the yellow-bill’d sprat, (_Clupea
Thryssa_.) Indeed, says this author, it has rarely occurred that
_immediate_ death has ensued between the tropics from the virus of any
other fish. _M. Orfila_ observes that the action of this fish is so
rapid, that it has been often seen at _St. Eustatia_ that persons have
expired while still eating it.

Footnote 489:

Med. Rep. vol. 3, p. 445.

Footnote 490:

Gazette de Santé, Ire Mars, 1812, p. 51.—Ibid. 21 Mars, 1813.—Ibid. 1,
Octob. 1812.

Footnote 491:

Tom. iv, p. 85.

Footnote 492:

_Behren’s_ Dissert. de Affect. a comest Mytil.

Footnote 493:

Voyage of Discovery, vol. 2, p. 286, 287.

Footnote 494:

The Principles of Forensic Medicine, _page_ 191.

Footnote 495:

See Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, for Jan. 1811, p. 41.—_Bateman_
on Cutaneous Diseases, art. _Prurigo_.

Footnote 496:

Observ. on the Diseases of the Army in Jamaica, vol. ii, p. 182.

Footnote 497:

Giornale di Fisica, &c. Secondo Bimestre, 1817.

Footnote 498:

There is no trade more immediately destructive of health than dry
grinding steel; the workmen are usually attacked by what is called the
grinder’s asthma at twenty-five or thirty years of age, and few of
them live to forty. The Society of Arts have long offered a reward for
the invention of some mode of securing the workmen from this dreadful
calamity, and in 1822 awarded their gold medal to _Mr. J. H. Abraham_,
of Sheffield, for his Magnetic Guard for Needle-pointers, (see
Transactions for 1822.) The contrivance is likely to answer its
intended purpose, provided the obstinacy and prejudice of the workmen
can be overcome by the perseverance of the master manufacturers, who
are morally bound to adopt every probable means of securing the health
of those employed under them, even though their servants should
themselves neglect it.

Footnote 499:

_Diemerbroeck_, lib. ii, p. 443.

Footnote 500:

The oxide of mercury is not volatile.

Footnote 501:

Where mercury is sublimed, it will usually assume the appearance of a
black powder, in consequence of the extreme state of division it has
undergone. This appearance has no doubt deceived the superficial
observer, and given origin to many erroneous statements.

Footnote 502:

“A small portion of mercury was put through a funnel into a clean dry
bottle, capable of holding about six ounces, and formed a stratum at
the bottom not one-eighth of an inch in thickness; particular care was
taken that none of the mercury should adhere to the upper part of the
inside of the bottle. A small piece of leaf-gold was then attached to
the under part of the stopper of the bottle, so that when the stopper
was put into its place, the leaf-gold was enclosed in the bottle. It
was then set aside in a safe place, which happened to be both dark and
cool, and left for between six weeks and two months. At the end of
that time it was examined, and the leaf-gold was found whitened by a
quantity of mercury, though every part of the bottle and mercury
remained, apparently, just as before. This experiment has been
repeated several times, and always with success. The utmost care was
taken that mercury should not get to the gold, except by passing
through the atmosphere of the bottle. I think therefore it proves that
at common temperatures, and even when the air is present, mercury is
always surrounded by an atmosphere of the same substance.”—_On the
vapour of mercury at common temperatures, by M. Faraday, Chemical
Assistant at the Royal Institution._ Journal of Science and the Arts,
vol. 10, p. 354.

Footnote 503:

_Mr. Plowman_ has since stated, in conversation, that he has seen five
or six mice, in one day, come into the ward-room, leap up a
considerable height, and fall down dead on the deck. He also stated
that the food for the use of the canary bird was kept in well closed
bottles, so that it was impossible for it to have contracted any
metallic impregnation.

Footnote 504:

The gases given off by burning coal, will vary very much according to
the activity of the combustion, and the degree of moisture present; so
that we may expect to receive sulphuretted hydrogen, sulphurous acid,
carbonic oxide, carbonic acid, and carburetted hydrogen.

Footnote 505:

Researches Chemical and Philosophical, chiefly concerning nitrous
oxide, &c. London, 1800.

Footnote 506:

Recherches de Physiologie et de chimie, p. 144, an. 1811.

Footnote 507:

See the case in _Valentini_, _P. M. L._ p. 538, of a woman wilfully
killed by continual and excessive doses of sulphuric acid,
administered to her under pretence of medicine.

Footnote 508:

See the trial of _Jane Butterfield_ for the murder of _Wm. Scawen_,
Esq. published from the short hand writer’s notes, London 1775. _Miss
Butterfield_ was acquitted, the case is therefore put
supposititiously.

Footnote 509:

Such was the case of the ignorant man who went out at night with the
intention of shooting a ghost, which was supposed to haunt the village
of Hammersmith; he actually shot a bricklayer’s labourer who was
returning from his work; this was held to be murder, and the prisoner
was convicted; he was not indeed a fit subject for execution, and was
therefore pardoned; but this should not be extended into a doctrine,
that gross ignorance, producing death, is always a pardonable offence.

Transcriber’s Note

This book uses inconsistent spelling and hyphenation, which were retained in the ebook version. Ditto marks and dashes used to represent repeated text have been replaced with the text that they represent. Some corrections have been made to the text, including correcting the errata noted in Volume 1 of this work, normalizing punctuation. Diacritics were left off Greek words since they were used inconsistently and when they were used they were often incorrect. Further corrections are noted below:

p. 6: proved the means of resucitating -> proved the means of resuscitating Anchor position for Footnote 8 assumed p. 14: whereas the _cadeverous_ stiffness -> whereas the _cadaverous_ stiffness p. 24: in cases of supended animation -> in cases of suspended animation p. 30: in such cases it become a question -> in such cases it becomes a question Footnote 21: _Tranee._ Although this term -> _Trance._ Although this term p. 28: killed at the seige of Osen -> killed at the siege of Osen p. 37: there is asecond period of danger -> there is a second period of danger p. 41: until a sufficient quanity of air -> until a sufficient quantity of air p. 46: 3. BY MANUAL STRAGULATION. -> 3. BY MANUAL STRANGULATION p. 58: no doubt but that persous -> no doubt but that persons p. 75: cases were life is suddenly arrested -> cases where life is suddenly arrested p. 85: are founded n error -> are founded in error p. 87: animal will be enable to perform -> animal will be enabled to perform Anchor position for Footnote 72 assumed p. 110: it is scarely necessary; -> it is scarcely necessary; p. 116: 1. _Absolutely mortal._ 2. _Dangerous._ 8. _Accidentally mortal._ -> _Absolutely mortal._ 2. _Dangerous._ 3. _Accidentally mortal._ p. 120: footnote marker removed for which no footnote was printed: destroy the patient, by hemorrhage. Anchor position for Footnote 152 assumed p. 154: our idea of it importance -> our idea of its importance p. 162: with numerous alledged difficulties -> with numerous alleged difficulties Footnote 187: the stomach which undergeos solution -> the stomach which undergoes solution p. 171: satisfactorily corrobrate the truth -> satisfactorily corroborate the truth p. 174: the red and inflammed appearance -> the red and inflamed appearance Footnote 191: being very thirsy, and in considerable pain -> being very thirsty, and in considerable pain Footnote 191: wlth yellow pieces in it -> with yellow pieces in it Footnote 191: that they torn with the slightest -> that they tore with the slightest p. 191: was of an unusally red colour -> was of an unusually red colour p. 193: which are undoubtedly worthy consideration -> which are undoubtedly worthy of consideration p. 195: from which he his led to conclude -> from which he is led to conclude p. 200: some few and unimportannt exceptions -> some few and unimportant exceptions p. 200: Cl. V, _Narotico-Acrid poisons_ -> Cl. V, _Narcotico-Acrid poisons_ p. 210: The greek work Αρσενικον -> The greek word Αρσενικον σανδαραχη -> σανδαρακη αρρενιχον -> αρρενικον Footnote 214: Σανδαραχη -> Σανδαρακη p. 211: will assume a _tretrahedral_ form -> will assume a _tetrahedral_ form p. 217: the head has also been observd -> the head has also been observed Footnote 230: at the age of thirth-eight -> at the age of thirty-eight p. 227: confined to the stomach and ntestines -> confined to the stomach and intestines Footnote 245: _Black’c_ Lectures, v. ii, p. 430. -> _Black’s_ Lectures, v. ii, p. 430. p. 240: application in the Philosophial Magazine -> application in the Philosophical Magazine p. 248: no solid matter could be dicovered in it -> no solid matter could be discovered in it p. 253: difficulties and embarassments, occasioned by -> difficulties and embarrassments, occasioned by p. 273: containing sublimate, accidently or by design -> containing sublimate, accidentally or by design Footnote 296: having been adulterated with red red -> having been adulterated with red lead p. 297: but their are quite insoluble -> but they are quite insoluble Footnote 359: supposed to have been of Roman manafacture -> supposed to have been of Roman manufacture p. 373: thereby destroying the energ of the nervous system -> thereby destroying the energy of the nervous system Footnote 426: New means of extractiug opium -> New means of extracting opium p. 395 with dilalation of the pupils -> with dilation of the pupils Footnote 431: Philosophical Taansactions, vol. xl, p. 446 -> Philosophical Transactions, vol. xl, p. 446 p. 400: footnote marker after _Foderé_ removed since there was no corresponding footnote p. 403: taking six dops of the water -> taking six drops of the water p. 406: but not succesfully recommended -> but not successfully recommended p. 414: most of those symytoms which we have described -> most of those symptoms which we have described p. 430: he answed yes, or no -> he answered yes, or no p. 430: longer intermission than that preceeding -> longer intermission than that preceding Footnote 469: which have arisen form the ingestion -> which have arisen from the ingestion Footnote 474: in cases were life is liable to be -> in cases where life is liable to be Anchor position of Footnote 482 assumed p. 449: or idosyncrasy of constitution -> or idiosyncrasy of constitution