1'YRKTHIMM POWDEB8 CONTAINING POISONOUS tfKTALS, 



It was easy to see that they had been poisoned, and since in the in. irning they had 

 catni the -aim- food as tin- rot of the household, \\li remained in perfect health, 

 probably the poi.-oning was due t > t!ie above-mentioned bees, -even df which had 



been -jivel! to the children t<> play WJtll, while only <'Iie could lie found. They 



finally confessed that they had eaten the remaining six. and the nurse had Been 

 tlu-ni d<> it. The nur-e thinking it might In- harmful, had taken a softened ' 

 fnun tlie younger child and wiped out his mouth. 



( >ne .if the "bee-." of which inoiv were found at the coiifect i. HUT'S \\ ho had 

 tin- cake, uas examined by a chemist and found to consist of L r, lm ;m ,l l,. a ,l rhromate. 

 On the following day both patients ha<l the same red an 1 heated faces; they -ho\\ed 

 no interest, ami on being .|uestioned gave tokens of displeasure. They did not com- 

 plain of local pain>, evidently because their sense- weiv lieinnniie.l. The younger 

 had some diarrhea and toward noon convulsions, from which his face was livid. 

 The convulsions became more freijiie.it toward evei:in-_ r . and at '. o'clock on the 

 morning of the following day, March M, tin- younger boy died. 



The older child still had a red, heated face and displayed no interest, beim; almost 

 unconscious. The skin upon his In-east and alidomen was strikingly red. The even- 

 ing temperature was :'<!. r> in the armpits. On the 17th the pulse was irregular and 

 the temperature in the eveiiin-j M. >. Drinking \yas extremely painful, in spite. ,f 

 ureat thii'st. ' >n the ISth a foul smell came from the mouth, i-edness was still pi'es- 

 ent. acemn]anifl ly stupidity and painful swallowing; temperature in the eveniir: 

 was 39.2. < n tlie lUth a c<llapse took place, a very foul smell came from the mouth, 

 and swallowing was almost impossible. The senses were very much benumbed. anH 

 death followed at 11 a. in. The result of the post-mortem may be summed up in tl e 

 words of tlie physician as follows: "The death of the children is the direct result of 

 the lU-st ruction which ha< befallen the digestive, canal from the throat to the duode- 

 num. Coiu-erninir the cause of this destruction and concerning some further con- 

 ditions \ve will not express an explicit opinion." The liver, gtomach and contents, 

 and urine were then subjected to a chemical examination. This gave negative 

 results, except that in the liver of both corpses traces of copper were found, a dis- 

 covery of no toxological interest. The absence of all poisonous metals in all other 

 parts ,,f the corpses was shown. 



The "bees" were also examined, and o.L'7 -ram of gum and 0.0(141* uram of neutral 

 lead chromate were found in one that was 1:5 mm long and "> mm thick. The pow- 

 der used by the conk-ction-r was also analyzed and found to contain lead chromate. 

 The illness of both children, occurring at the .-ante time and showing it-elf by E 

 vomiting, must be traced back to their eating some poisonous food; and since it was 

 known that they both ate the "bees" which contained lead chromate and that they 

 vomited up yellow vomit, the eatinir of the metallic salt must be considered as the 

 cause of the deaths. 



It is not remarkable that no lead chromate was f.itind in the alimentary tract, 

 since the children vomited a great deal and thus threw up all of the poison. 



FATA I. 1'MlMiMMi 11 Y IMIAUV; Dl>T FIIO.M YAKN CoLoliKD WITH I. MAD 



On December 21.), lS7(i, a weaver. I'... at E., received a package of yellow threads, 

 colored with lead chromate, which were to be used for the manufacture of curtains. 

 P.. and his mate. < ... worked at one spool and Mrs. I',, and a girl, L., at the other. They 

 worked from 7 a. m. to 10 and 11 p. m. While they were working the threads 

 shed powder, according to P.. 'tatement, >o that their faces and hair became entirely 



a VierteljahresBchrift fur gerichtl Medi/in. Is77. 27: 2n < No, 1 ). 



