POISONING BY STRYCHNIA. 
395 
from the cranial or maxillary bones, and their structure is 
not more wonderful, being tooth-formed in the vicinity of 
tooth, than bony tumours formed in other parts of the system, 
whether connected or not with the skeleton. 
{To be continued .) 
Facts and Observations. 
• ON POISONING BY STRYCHNINE, AND ITS TESTS. 
Although it is a well-ascertained fact that the purely 
herbivorous animals are less influenced by many of the vege- 
table poisons than the carnivora ; yet it is equally as certain, 
that there are some of those agents which they are extremely 
susceptible of the influence of. 
Among these we may place Strychnine, or Strychnia, the 
active principle of Nux Vomica. Instances of poisoning 
with this alkaloid are by no means uncommon, and its effects 
are so characteristic and decided that scarcely any doubt can 
be left on the mind of a person who has once witnessed its 
action on animals, as to the agent that has been the cause 
of death, even although chemical reagents may fail to demon- 
strate its existence in the body after death. This in a great 
degree is dependent on the fact, that small quantities suffice 
to destroy life even in the larger animals ; of which abundant 
proofs may be found scattered throughout the pages of this 
Journal. 
So unsatisfactory at times, has been the result of these 
post-mortem investigations, that some analytical chemists have 
refused to express their opinion respecting the presence of 
this agent unless it is separated and shown to them in its 
crystalline form. It has been, therefore, proposed to demon- 
strate the existence of the alkaloids as a class, by adopting 
precisely the same methods for obtaining them from the 
contents of the stomach, alimentary canal, &c., as are re- 
sorted to for their procuration from the vegetable containing 
them ; since they are well known to combine with the acids 
in the system, and to form definite salts there. This cer- 
tainly is not a more difficult process, and it must prove much 
more satisfactory, as it dissipates all doubt on the subject. 
As general tests for these substances, MM. Larocque and 
