_'.'•; Proceedings of th Albany Institute. 



Dr. Mosher mentioned b fact concerning tin- presence of 

 arsenic in fuel, to which attention had been directed duriug 

 the trial of Mrs. McCarthy, for poisoning her husband. 

 " She bad thrown a package of poison into the Btoye, ami 



as I found arsenic in the chemical analysis of portion 

 McCarthy's body, it Beemed probable that if this were the 

 substance which had been tin-own into the fire, it would be 

 found sublimed in the flues and pipes. At the request of 

 the district attorney, I examined some soot taken from the 

 cooler parts of the stove and found it to contain a com- 

 paratively large quantity of arsenic. 



The important bearing of this fact upon the result of 

 the trial, made it proper to examine it more fully, and I 

 found that in all the stoves which were subjected to a 

 similar examination, arsenic was found in the flues where 

 it had been evidently deposited from the burning fuel. 



The finding of arsenic in the soot has, in several crimi- 

 nal cases, been used to prove the possession of arsenic by the 

 accused. In the case of Mrs. Mary Roosa, tried at Syra- 

 cuse, N. Y., February 7, 1858, the finding of arsenic in 

 soot taken from the stove pipe, was used as showing that 

 some arsenic had been thrown into the stove. — United Stat* s 

 Medical Transactions for 1862, p. 160." 



Gen. Read nominated as resident member, Mr. Robt. 

 L. Banks; and Dr. Hough nominated Mr. Daniel J. 

 Pratt. On motion, the rules were suspended, and the 

 Institute proceeded to vote on the candidates, viva voce. 

 Both were unanimously elected. 



Mr. James AVier Mason nominated as corresponding 

 member, Mr. Russell Sturgis, Jr., of New York. 



Adjourned. 



February 13th, 1865. 



The president being absent, ou motion, Dr. Hun was 

 called to the chair. 



Prof. G. W. Hough ottered remarks on the subject of 

 Personal Equation. 



