THE POST-MORTEM DETECTION AND ESTI- 
MATION OF STRYCHNINE. 
By ALuertTon S. CusHMAN. 
In the post-mortem detection and estimation of strychnine 
the greatest difficulty which presents itself is the separation 
of the alkaloid from the various extractive fatty, sugary, and 
pigmentary matters derived from the stomach contents or 
organs under examination. The fact that such small doses 
as 32 mg. (4 grain) and 48 mg. (35 grain) of the sulphate 
of strychnia have in two well authenticated cases proved 
fatal,* and also that absorption and distribution of the poison 
through the system begins as soon as it is administered, makes 
the problem set before the chemist one of unusual difficulty. 
In case death has occurred with all the well defined symptoms 
of strychnine poisoning in the course of an hour or two after 
the first signs of sickness appeared, the contents of the stom- 
ach and bladder generally account for a sufficient quantity of 
the alkaloid to substantiate the diagnosis. Sometimes, how- 
ever, strychnine has to be sought in exhumed remains, where 
the evidence as to symptoms or duration of sickness is incom- 
plete or vague. In such a case it has been doubted by some 
toxicologists that strychnine could be detected at all after long 
burial and the consequent advanced decomposition of the 
body. In contradiction of this opinion is the experience of 
A. H. Allen,t who found the alkaloid in the dust of decom- 
posed human viscera which had lain in a charcoal stoppered 
vessel for six years. Again lately W. A. Noyes{ detected 
strychnine in an exhumed body after it had been buried for 
308 days. 
The danger of error has also been noted from the forma- — 
* Blyth — Poisons, Effects and Detection. 
+ Commercial Organic Analysis, Part II, Vol. III, p. 376. 
} Jour. Am. Chem. Soc., Vol. XVI, No. 2. 
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