CHEMICAL SCIENCE. 17^ 



been told of by trustworthy people whose names are given ; whilst 

 others, again, report 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, of 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 

 accurate 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 interesting, 

 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, ate, on the 22nd of February, 1SG0, a piece, of 

 arsenious acid weighing Ah grains, and on the 23rd another piece 

 weighing 5i 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 quantities three or four times each week. A number of other 

 cases, witnessed by the medical men themselves, of persons eating 

 arsenic, were then detailed. Dr. Holler, of Hartberg, says that he 

 and other persons, named in his report, guarantee that they are 

 together acquainted with forty persons who eat arsenic ; and Dr. 

 Porcher, of Gratz, gives a list of eleven people in his neighbourhood 

 who indulge in the practice. 



Professor Roscoe did not think it necessary to translate the 

 reports in extenso ; he gave extracts containing the portions imme- 

 diately bearing upon the two questions at issue, and deposited 

 authentic copies of the original reports with the society lor the pur- 

 pose of reference. He concluded that decisive evidence had, in his 

 opinion, been brought forward, not only to prove that arsenic is well 

 known and widely distributed in Styria, but that it is likewise re- 

 gularly eaten — for what purpose he did not at the moment in- 

 vestigate — in quantities usually considered sufficient to produce im- 

 mediate death. — From the Proceedings of the Manchester Literary 

 and Philosophical Society, October '30, 1860. 



ARSENIC IN COAL. 



Dr. R. Angus Smith has given to the Manchester Literary and 

 Philosophical Society a short account of his examination of Coal 

 Pyrites for Arsenic. He stated that although the knowledge of the 



