Poisoning by Arsenic. « 73 
high degree of interest to the scene. In some places of this re- 
gion coal is found only four feet from the surface. 
TEST OF POISONING BY ARSENIC. 
On the 22d of May, a Coroner’s inquest was held before Thos 
mas Stirling, Esq. at the King’s Arms in Little Woodstock- 
street, on the body of Eliz. Danvers, who, from disappointment 
in love and a consequent state of despondency, had put an end to 
her existence by means of arsenic. Neither the family, nor the 
medical gentleman who was called in, at first suspected the cause 
of her death ; but a coffee-cup, out of which the deceased, it was 
supposed, had drunk something improper, being sent to Mr, 
Hume, chemist, in Long Acre, sufficient evidence was obtained 
to induce a further inquiry. At this gentleman’s request the body 
was opened, and the contents of the stomach, which amounted 
to about twelve ounces, were separated, and nearly a wine-glass 
full of these delivered to him for analysis. From these two sources 
the most satisfactory and convincing testimony was derived, 
that arsenic was the sole cause of her death; for even the cof- 
fee-cup, although in appearance quite empty and clean, yielded a 
sufficiency to substantiate above a thousand separate experiments. 
The contents of the stomach afforded a still more ample sup- 
ply, for they impregnated at least a pint and a half of distilled 
water so completely, that every single drop indicated the pre- 
sence of arsenic when exposed to the proper tests. It was re- 
tharked by Mr. Hume, and should serve as a warning to the ex- 
perimentalist, that the fuid portion of what was abstracted from 
the stomach showed no indications of the poison; it was only 
from the sediment, and more gross and viscid matter, that he 
could form his solution, The medical practitioner, who had been 
called m to the deceased, when labouring under the-agonizing 
symptoms, at first ceclared the case to be that of cholera morbus, 
It is but fair, however, to state, that this professional gentleman 
saw the young woman but a few minutes before she expired ; for 
on witnessing some of the experiments, and attending to Mr, 
Hume’s evidence, he most readily acquiesced in the verdict, that 
Miss Danvers’s death was solely occasioned by a dose of arsenic. 
it cannot be too strenuously impressed upon the public mind, that 
no substance is more readily detected than arsenic, provided the 
proper means be employed : it is therefore highly incumbent on 
medical men in general to inform themselves of the nature and 
practical application of the tests, and most effectual modes of 
Operating, which, we believe, are very simple, and require but a 
moderate share of chemical knowledge. There are many obser- 
vations and comprehensive instructions upon this subject, espe- 
cially 
