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upon cases which they themselves have observed. Professor 

 Roscoe proceeded to bring forward, in the first place, evidence 

 bearing upon the question, — Is or is not arsenious acid, or 

 arsenic in any other form, well known to, and distributed 

 amongst the people of Styria ? He said that he had received 

 6 grms. of a white substance forwarded by Professor Gottlieb, 

 in Gratz, accompanied by a certificate from the district judge 

 of Knittelfeld, in Styria, stating that this substance was 

 brought to him by a peasant woman who told him that she 

 had seen her farm-labourer eating it, and that she gave it up 

 to justice to put a stop to so evil a practice. An accu- 

 rate chemical analysis showed that the substance was pure 

 arsenious acid. Extracts from many of the reports of the 

 medical men were then read, all stating that arsenious acid, 

 called "Hidrach" by the Styrian peasants, is well known and 

 widely distributed in that country. The second question 

 to which Mr. Roscoe sought to obtain an answer was, whether 

 arsenic is or is not regularly taken by persons in Styria 

 in quantities usually supposed to produce immediate death ? 

 The most narrowly examined, and therefore the most interest- 

 ing case of arsenic eating is one recorded by Dr. Schiifer. 

 In presence of Dr. Knappe, of Oberzehring, a man thirty 

 years of age and in robust health, eat, on the 22nd February, 

 1860, a piece of arsenious acid weighing 4J grains ; and, on 

 the 23rd, another piece weighing 5^ grains. His urine was 

 carefully examined and shown to contain arsenic; on the 

 24th he went away in his usual health. He informed Dr, 

 Knappe that he was in the habit of taking the above quanti- 

 ties three or four times each week. A number of other cases, 

 witnessed by the medical men themselves, of persons eating 



