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THE AUSTRALASIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY. 
At the Central Criminal Court, London, Absolom Wm. Head was recently 
-charged with having caused the death of Henry Hibberd, through negligence, 
under somewhat peculiar circumstances. The accused, an unqualified medical 
assistant to Mr. Money, a surgeon, of Shoreditch, had been applied to by the 
wife of the deceased to prescribe for her husband, who was suffering from pains 
in J the back and shoulders and insomnia. The accused prepared the following 
mixture : — Chloral hydrate, grs. 60 ; bromide of potassium, grs. 90 ; and solution 
of morphia, 5j., verbally directing the woman to administer the mixture half at 
once, and the remainder two hours later. On the label of the bottle, however, 
he varied this order by directing that one-third of the preparation should be 
taken every four hours. The wife did not refer to the label, but followed the 
verbal instruction, with the result that her husband died. Mr. Head was 
acquitted ; but the British and Colonial Drug gist , whilst approving of the 
verdict, makes a pertinent query as to what would have been said or done if 
the unqualified assistant of a druggist (instead of a surgeon) had occupied the 
position of the accused. 
At Manchester, on 7th May, a labourer named Guest took a piece of opium, 
described as about the size of a pill. He fell into a deep sleep, from which 
he never awoke. 
A sudden death of a married woman, named Mrs. Bond, occurred at Mr. 
Jacob Clegg’s farm, Wandin Yallock, [near Lilydale, on the 3rd inst. Dr. 
Henderson, the local health officer, reported that the cause of death was lead 
poisoning. It appeared that the husband of the deceased had just come out of 
the Melbourne Hospital, where he has been treated for the same affection ; it 
also transpired that another man employed on the same farm has been suffering 
from a similar cause. It was ascertained that Mrs. Bond was in the habit of 
making bread in a leaden dish, and Dr. Henderson was of opinion that the 
fermentation, acting upon the lead, developed the poison which led to the illness 
of those who partook of the bread. Dr. Henderson having certified to the cause 
of death, it was not considered necessary to hold an inquest. 
An inquest was held at Dimboola on the 19th June (before Messrs. P. 
Fraser and Sands, J.P.’s, the coroner for the district not attending), on the body 
of Richard Rinvig, saddler, of Dimboola, who died shortly after taking a sleep- 
ing draught procured from Mr. D’Albites, the local chemist. The evidence 
occupied four hours in the taking, and included that of three medical men. The 
verdict returned by the presiding justices was as follows : — “ We are unable to 
state the cause of death in consequence of the medical opinions being so con- 
flicting ; but we think that death may have been accelerated by the sleeping 
draught which the deceased took half-an-hour before he expired.” Mr. Fraser 
stated that the papers would be forwarded to the Crown Law office. Dr. Hayden 
expressed a firm conviction that the dose included in the ounce phial supplied, 
containing two drachms of morphia and half a drachm of chloral hydrate, was 
poison. Dr. Wilson expressed the opinion that he would not have given the dose 
to anyone not used to taking such draughts. Dr. Cross, who made the post 
mortem , was undecided, although he stated that the only thing diseased in the 
body was one congested lung. The decision of the Crown Law Department is 
awaited with interest. 
It is claimed that the popular drink of the future will be milk charged 
with carbonic acid gas. Milk so charged keeps well. 
