Treatise on Poisons by Sir Robert Christison

5. The next article among the moral circumstances,—the simultaneous

1396 words | Chapter 34

illness of other members of the family besides the person chiefly affected,—depends for its conclusiveness almost entirely upon the researches and opinion of the medical witnesses. The fact, that several persons, who partook of the same dish or other article, have been seized about the same time with the same symptoms, will furnish very strong evidence of general poisoning. A few diseases, such as those which arise from infection or from atmospheric miasmata, may affect several persons of a family about the same time; and hysteria, and epilepsy, have been communicated to several people in rapid succession.[130] But I am not aware, that, among the diseases which resemble well marked cases of poisoning either with irritants or with narcotics, any one ever originates in such a way as to render it possible for several persons in a family to be attacked simultaneously, except through the merest and therefore most improbable accident. Cholera perhaps is an exception. But when cholera attacks at one time several people living together, it arises from bad food, and is properly a variety of poisoning. In such cases, too, the fallacy may in general be easily got the better of, by finding that the store or stock, from which the various articles composing the injurious meal have been taken was of wholesome quality. Hence it may be laid down as a general rule, that, perhaps if two, but certainly if three or more persons, after taking a suspected article of food or drink, are each affected with symptoms, furnishing of themselves presumptive evidence of poisoning, and have been seized nearly about the same time, and within the interval after eating within which poisons usually begin to act,—the proof of poisoning is decisive. Several late cases might, in my opinion, have been decided by this rule. Thus it might have decided the important case of George Thom tried at Aberdeen in 1821 for poisoning the Mitchells, and likewise that of Eliza Fenning, about whose condemnation some clamour was made in London in 1815. In both instances, as will be mentioned under the head of arsenic, the symptoms were developed so characteristically, that from them alone poisoning with arsenic might have been inferred almost to a certainty. But even if the symptoms had been somewhat less characteristic, all doubt of general poisoning was set aside by the fact, that four persons in the former case, and five in the latter, were similarly and simultaneously affected, and all of them at an interval after eating, which corresponded with the interval within which arsenic usually begins to act. Sometimes it happens, that while one or more of a party at a certain meal suffer, others escape. Such an occurrence must not be hastily assumed as inconsistent with poison having been administered at that meal. For the guilty person may have slipped the poison into the portion taken by the individual or individuals affected. If it be proved that all who ate of a particular dish have suffered, and all who did not have escaped, the kind of moral evidence now under review becomes strongest of all. It is well for the medical jurist to remember also, that such evidence is very useful in directing him where chiefly he should look for poison. At other times it happens that the several people affected, suffer in proportion to the quantity taken by each of a particular dish. Too much importance ought not to be attached to the absence of that relation; for it has been already mentioned that habit, idiosyncrasy, and the state of fulness of the stomach at the time, will modify materially the action of poisons. But when present, it will often form strong evidence.—A good illustration of what is now said may be found in the case of Thomas Lenargan, tried in Ireland for the murder of his master, Mr. O’Flaherty. He had for some time carried on an amour with O’Flaherty’s wife; and afterwards, to get rid of the troublesome surveillance of the husband, contrived to despatch him by poison. The crime was not suspected for two years. Among the facts brought out on the trial the most pointed were, that O’Flaherty’s daughter and two servants were affected at the same time with the very same symptoms as himself; that they had partaken of the same dish with him; that the severity of their several complaints was in proportion to the quantity each had taken; and that others of the family, who did not eat it, were not affected.[131] Another remarkable instance of this kind has been recorded by Morgagni. A clergyman, while travelling in company with another gentleman and two ladies, was setting out one afternoon to resume his journey after dining at an inn, when he was suddenly taken ill with violent pain in the stomach and bowels, and soon after with vomiting and purging. One of the ladies was similarly affected, but in a less degree; and likewise the other gentleman, though in a degree still less: but the other lady did not suffer at all. Morgagni found, that this lady was the only one of the party who had not tasted a dish of soup at the commencement of dinner. But he was puzzled on finding that the gentleman who suffered least had taken the largest share of the soup, while the clergyman had taken less than either of the two that were seized along with him. He then remembered, however, that in the district where the accident happened, it was the custom to use scraped cheese with the soup in question; and on inquiry he was informed that they had each added to the soup a quantity of cheese proportioned to the severity of their illness. Here, therefore, Morgagni was led to suspect the presence of poison; and accordingly, after the whole party had fortunately recovered, the innkeeper acknowledged, that in the hurry of preparation, he had served up to his guests cheese seasoned with arsenic to poison rats.[132] This interesting anecdote shows, that the truth in such cases is not always to be discovered without minute inquiry and considerable adroitness. In the case of poisoning with arsenic in wine formerly alluded to,—where all the individuals at table, to the amount of six, were severely affected during dinner,—the soup was the article suspected, because all had partaken of it; and, accordingly, the soup and vomited matter were sent to me for analysis. On detecting a trace of arsenic in the vomited matter, but none in the soup, I suggested that some other article might have been used in common by the party, and mentioned the wine as a probable article of the kind. It turned out that all had drunk a single glass of champagne from a particular bottle; and in the wine remaining in this bottle arsenic was found in the proportion of half a grain per ounce.[133] Cases of this nature are so instructive that no apology need be made for mentioning one example more which lately came under my own notice. In the case of Mary Anne Alcorn, convicted here in the summer of 1827, of having administered poison to her master and mistress (a case already referred to for another purpose, p. 75), it was proved that a white powder was introduced in a suspicious manner into the gravy of baked beef, which gravy was subsequently poured over the beef. Now the master of the family dined heartily on beef, potatoes and rice-pudding, and mixed the greater part of the beef gravy with his pudding; the mistress ate moderately of the first slices of the beef, took very little gravy, even to the beef, and none at all to the pudding; a little girl, their niece, dined on pudding alone, without gravy; and the prisoner dined after the family on the beef and potatoes. Accordingly the master suffered so severely as for two or three days to be in danger of his life, the mistress was also severely, but by no means so violently affected, the little girl did not suffer at all, and the servant had merely slight pain and sickness at stomach. The evidence thus procured was exceedingly strong, more particularly when coupled with the fact, that the beef used was half of a piece, the other half of which had been used by the family two days before, without any ill consequences.

Chapters

1. Chapter 1 2. PART II.—OF INDIVIDUAL POISONS. 3. CHAPTER I. 4. 1. _On the Action of Poisons through Sympathy._ In the infancy of 5. 2. _Of the Action of Poisons through Absorption._—If doubts may be 6. 1. _Quantity_ affects their action materially. Not only do they produce 7. 2. _As to state of aggregation_,—poisons act the more energetically the 8. 3. The next modifying cause is _chemical combination_. This is sometimes 9. 4. The effect of _mixture_ depends partly on the poisons being diluted. 10. 5. _Difference of tissue_ is an interesting modifying power in a 11. 6. With respect to differences arising from _difference of organ_, these 12. 7. _Habit and Idiosyncrasy._—The remarks to be made under the present 13. 8. The last modifying cause to be mentioned comprehends certain 14. CHAPTER II. 15. 1. The first characteristic is the _suddenness of their appearance and 16. 2. The next general characteristic of the symptoms of poisoning is 17. 3. Another characteristic is _uniformity in the nature of the symptoms_ 18. 4. The fourth characteristic is, that _the symptoms begin soon after a 19. 5. Lastly, _the symptoms appear during a state of perfect health_. This 20. 1. As to the _suddenness of their invasion and rapidity of their 21. 2. As to the uniformity or _uninterrupted increase of the symptoms_, it 22. 3. It was stated above, that the third character, _uniformity in kind_ 23. 4. In the next place, it was observed that some reliance may be placed 24. 5. Little need be said with regard to _the symptoms beginning, while the 25. 1. It may have been discharged by vomiting and purging. Thus on the 26. 2. The poison may have disappeared, because it has been all absorbed. It 27. 3. Poisons may not be found, because the excess has been decomposed. 28. 4. Lastly, the poison which has been absorbed into the system, and may 29. 1. The evidence derived from _the effects of suspected food, drink, or 30. 2. In the case of _the vomited matter_ or _contents of the stomach_ 31. 3. The effects of _the flesh of poisoned animals_, eaten by other 32. 3. The next article, which relates to the proof of the administration of 33. 4. The next article in the moral evidence relates to the intent of the 34. 5. The next article among the moral circumstances,—the simultaneous 35. 6. The next article of the moral evidence relates to suspicious conduct 36. CHAPTER III. 37. CHAPTER I. 38. 1. _Arsenical_ White arsenic 185 39. 2. _Acids_ Sulphuric acid 32 40. 3. _Mercurials_ Corrosive sublimate 12 41. 4. _Other mineral irritants_ Tartar-emetic 2 42. 5. _Veget. irritants_ Colchicum 3 43. 7. _Opium_ Opium or Laudan. 180 44. 8. _Hydrocyanic acid_ Med. Hydroc. acid 27 45. 9. _Other veget. Narcotics_ Nux-vomica 3 46. 11. Unascertained 22 47. CHAPTER II. 48. 1. _Distension of the Stomach._—Mere distension of the stomach from 49. 2. _Rupture of the Stomach_ is not a common occurrence; but it sometimes 50. 3. _Rupture of the Duodenum_ is a very rare accident from internal 51. 4. Under the next head may be classed rupture of the other organs of the 52. 5. The next accident which may be noticed on account of its being liable 53. 6. _Of Bilious Vomiting and Simple Cholera._—Of all the diseases which 54. 7. _Of Malignant Cholera._—The history of this disease affords a fair 55. 8. _Of Inflammation of the Stomach._—Chronic inflammation of the stomach 56. 9. _Inflammation of the Intestines_ in its acute form is more common 57. 10. _Inflammation of the Peritonæum_, or lining membrane of the belly, 58. 11. The subject of _Spontaneous Perforation of the Stomach_ is an 59. 12. The _gullet_ may be perforated in a similar manner either with or 60. 13. _Perforation of the alimentary canal by worms_ may here also be 61. 14. The next diseases to be mentioned are melæna and hæmatemesis, or 62. 15. The last are _colic_, _iliac passion_, and _obstructed intestine_. 63. CHAPTER III. 64. 1. _When concentrated_ it is oily-looking, colourless, or brownish from 65. 2. _When diluted_, it may be distinguished from all ordinary acids by 66. 3. It is seldom that the medical jurist is called on to search for 67. 1. The most ordinary symptoms are those of the first variety,—namely, 68. 2. The second variety of symptoms belong to a peculiar modification of 69. 3. The third variety includes cases of imperfect recovery. These are 70. 4. The last variety comprehends cases of perfect recovery, which are 71. 1. _When concentrated_, nitric acid is easily known by the odour of its 72. 2. _In a diluted state_ this acid is not so easily recognised as the 73. 3. _When in a state of compound mixture_, nitric acid, like sulphuric 74. 1. Hydrochloric acid, _in its concentrated state_, is colourless, if 75. 2. _When diluted_, it is recognised with facility, first by 76. 3. In the last edition of this work I proposed for the detection of 77. CHAPTER IV. 78. CHAPTER V. 79. CHAPTER VI. 80. 1. In the form of a pure solution, its nature may be satisfactorily 81. 2. The only important modifications in the analysis rendered necessary 82. CHAPTER VII. 83. CHAPTER VIII. 84. CHAPTER IX. 85. CHAPTER X. 86. CHAPTER XI. 87. CHAPTER XII. 88. CHAPTER XIII. 89. 3. The arsenite of copper, or _mineral green_. 4. The arsenite of potass 90. 2. _Of the Tests for Arsenious Acid._ 91. 7. After the precipitate has thoroughly subsided, the supernatant liquid 92. introduction as a poison into the body. This topic, one of paramount 93. 1. _Arsenic may exist as an adulteration in some reagents._—It must be 94. 2. _Arsenic may be present in some articles of chemical 95. 3. _Arsenic may have existed in antidotes administered during life._—It 96. 4. _Arsenic sometimes exists naturally in the human body._—This 97. 5. _Arsenic may exist in the soil of churchyards._—This proposition too 98. 3. _Arsenite of Copper_. 99. 4. _Arsenite of Potass_. 100. 5. _Arseniate of Potass._ 101. 6. _The Sulphurets of Arsenic._ 102. 7. _Arseniuretted-Hydrogen._ 103. 1. In one order of cases, then, arsenic produces symptoms of irritation 104. 2. The second variety of poisoning with arsenic includes a few cases in 105. 3. The third variety of poisoning with arsenic places in a clear point 106. CHAPTER XIV. 107. 1. _Of Red Precipitate._ 108. 2. _Of Cinnabar._ 109. 3. _Of Turbith Mineral._ 110. 4. _Of Calomel._ 111. 5. _Of Corrosive Sublimate._ 112. 1. _Hydrosulphuric acid gas_ transmitted in a stream through a solution 113. 1. _Lime-Water_ throws down the binoxide of mercury in the form of a 114. 6. _Of Bicyanide of Mercury._ 115. 7. _Of the Nitrates of Mercury._ 116. 1. The symptoms in the first variety are very like what occur in the 117. 2. The second variety of poisoning with mercury comprehends the cases, 118. 3. The third variety of poisoning with mercury comprehends all the forms 119. introduction of corrosive sublimate into the stomach. The poison then 120. CHAPTER XV. 121. 1. _Mineral Green._ 122. 2. _Natural Verdigris._ 123. 3. _Blue Vitriol._ 124. 1. _Ammonia_ causes a pale azure precipitate, which is redissolved by an 125. 2. _Sulphuretted hydrogen gas_ causes a dark brownish-black precipitate, 126. 3. _Ferro-cyanate of potass_ causes a fine hair-brown precipitate, the 127. 4. A polished rod or plate of _metallic iron_, held in a solution of 128. 4. _Artificial Verdigris._ 129. 1. Should the subject of analysis not be a liquid, render it such by 130. 2. If the copper be extremely minute in quantity, sulphuretted hydrogen 131. CHAPTER XVI. 132. 1. _Caustic potass_ precipitates a white sesquioxide, but only if the 133. 2. _Nitric acid_ throws down a white precipitate, and takes it up again 134. 3. The _Infusion of Galls_ causes a dirty, yellowish-white precipitate; 135. 4. The best liquid reagent is _Hydrosulphuric acid_. In a solution 136. 5. When the solution is put into Marsh’s apparatus for detecting arsenic 137. 1. Subject a small portion of the liquid to a stream of hydrosulphuric 138. 2. If hydrosulphuric acid do not distinctly affect the liquid, or if no 139. 3. If antimony be not indicated in either of these ways in the fluid 140. CHAPTER XVII. 141. CHAPTER XVIII. 142. 1. _Of Litharge and Red Lead._ 143. 2. _Of White Lead._ 144. 3. _Of Sugar of Lead._ 145. 1. _Hydrosulphuric acid_ causes a black precipitate, the sulphuret of 146. 2. _Chromate of potass_, both in the state of proto-chromate and 147. 3. _Hydriodate of potass_ causes also a lively gamboge-yellow 148. 4. _A rod of zinc_ held for some time in the solution displaces the 149. 4. _Goulard’s Extract._ 150. introduction of lead into the body; and in the last the whole course of 151. introduction of lead into the body may be presumed to be the real cause. 152. introduction of lead into the system. Dr. Burton thinks it will when the 153. CHAPTER XIX. 154. CHAPTER XX. 155. CHAPTER XXI. 156. CHAPTER XXII. 157. CHAPTER XXIII. 158. CHAPTER XXIV. 159. CHAPTER XXV. 160. CHAPTER XXIV. 161. 1. Apoplexy is sometimes preceded at considerable intervals by warning 162. 2. Apoplexy attacks chiefly the old. It is not, however, confined to the 163. 3. The next criterion is, that apoplexy occurs chiefly among fat people. 164. 4. A fourth criterion is drawn from the relation which the appearance of 165. 5. Another criterion relates to the progress of the symptoms. The 166. 6. Although there is a great resemblance between the symptoms of 167. 7. In the last place, a useful criterion may be derived from the 168. 1. The epileptic fit _is sometimes preceded by certain warnings_, such 169. 2. The symptoms of the epileptic fit _almost always begin violently and 170. 3. As in apoplexy, so in epilepsy the patient _in general cannot be 171. 4. When a person dies in a fit of epilepsy, _the paroxysm generally 172. 5. M. Esquirol, a writer of high authority, says that epilepsy _very 173. CHAPTER XXVII. 174. 1. If there be any solid matter, it is to be cut into small fragments, 175. 2. Add now the solution of acetate of lead as long as it causes 176. 3. The fluid part is to be treated with hydrosulphuric acid gas, to 177. 4. It is useful, however, to separate the meconic acid also; because, as 178. 5. If there be a sufficiency of the original material, Merck’s process 179. 546. There is little doubt that poisoning with opium may cause 180. CHAPTER XXVIII. 181. CHAPTER XXIX. 182. CHAPTER XXX. 183. CHAPTER XXXI. 184. 1. M. Chomel of Paris has related a case of poisoning with the gas 185. 2. The fumes of burning charcoal have been long known to be deleterious. 186. 3. It is probable that in some circumstances a very small quantity of 187. 4. The vapours from burning coal are the most noxious of all kinds of 188. 5. Somewhat analogous to the symptoms now described are the effects of 189. CHAPTER XXXII. 190. CHAPTER XXXIII. 191. CHAPTER XXXIV. 192. CHAPTER XXXV. 193. CHAPTER XXXVI. 194. CHAPTER XXXVII. 195. CHAPTER XXXVIII. 196. CHAPTER XXXIX. 197. CHAPTER XL. 198. CHAPTER XLI. 199. 1. When the dose is small, much excitement and little subsequent 200. 2. When the effect is sufficiently great to receive the designation of 201. 160. In twenty-four hours more the breathing became laborious and 202. 3. The third degree of poisoning is not so often witnessed, because, in 203. CHAPTER XLII. 204. 1. _Poisoning with Arsenic and Alcohol._—A man, after taking twelve 205. 3. _Poisoning with Tartar-Emetic and Charcoal Fumes._—Under the head of 206. 4. _Poisoning with Alcohol and with Laudanum._—Under the head of 207. 5. _Poisoning with Laudanum and Corrosive Sublimate._—Of all the cases 208. 6. _Poisoning with Opium and Belladonna._—A lady, who used a compound 209. 7. In the following cases, the active poisons to which the individuals 210. 2. Apparatus for the distillation of fluids suspected to contain 211. 3. Tube for reducing very small portions of arsenic or mercury. The 212. 4. A small glass funnel for introducing the material into the tube 213. 5. The ordinary apparatus for disengaging sulphuretted-hydrogen. The 214. 6. Instrument for washing down scanty precipitates on filters. It is a 215. 7. Tubes of natural size for collecting small portions of mercury by 216. 8. Pipette, one-fourth the natural size, for removing by suction 217. 9. Apparatus for reducing the sulphurets of some metals by a stream of 218. 36. Quoted by Marx, die Lehre von den Giften, I. ii. 163. 219. 92. Vicarius, Ibidem, Obs. 100. Riselius, Ibidem, Dec. i. An. v. Obs. 220. 1762. See Marx, i. ii. 29. 221. 1. P. 476, changed “exasperated by the use of oil” to “exacerbated by 222. 2. P. 513, changed “I may here add a very opposite instance of 223. 6. Enclosed italics font in _underscores_.

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