330 Simple method for the 



are unpractised in chemical manipulation may meet with as 

 few difficulties as possible. 



In this country duties of medical officers peculiarly remove 

 them from the appliances requisite in toxicological research, 

 and limit their opportunities of acquiring and maintaining 

 that amount of practical skill on which, to so great an extent, 

 depends the degree of importance attached to medical evi- 

 dence in courts of law. So forcibly have these circumstances 

 been experienced, that it is almost universally the practise 

 with medical officers and magistrates at out-stations to for- 

 ward to the Presidency, substances suspected to contain 

 poison, for examination either by the coroners surgeon,* or 

 by some practised person possessing the requisite appliances. 

 In Calcutta, the necessity of submitting all suspected sub- 

 stances to the examination of a properly qualified person has 

 led to the appointment of an officer with the title of i( Chemi- 

 cal Examiner," whose duty it is to investigate all toxicological 

 cases referred to him, as well as to conduct other chemical re- 

 searches in relation to soils, waters, and various natural pro- 

 ductions : and there can be no doubt that, to promote the 

 ends of justice, and to develope the resources of the country, 

 it would be highly advantageous if there were such a chemi- 

 cal authority at each of the Presidencies. 



Circumstances, however, frequently arise, which prevent 

 the transmission of suspected substances to the Presidency ; 

 and cases not unfrequently occur in which, during their 

 carriage, decomposition of the substances, favoured by the 

 high temperature of a hot season, alters their condition, 

 and gases become disengaged, which destroy the containing 

 vessels. 



Amongst many such cases that have come to my notice 

 I may mention two in particular. The first was that of a 

 medico-legal investigation, which was undertaken at Hydera- 



* These, amongst other circumstances alluded to in this paper, refer chiefly 

 to the Bombay Presidency. 



