EXTRACTS FROM A LECTURE ON STRYCHNINE. 727 
matter, of the consistence of butter, which had evidently oozed through the 
wooden plank, to which it still adhered. 
The following parts were examined for strychnine : 
a. Adipocere and hair. 
b. The earthy matter from the region of the stomach. 
c. The earthy matter from all other parts. 
i). The fatty matter on bottom of coffin. 
e. The coffin roughly cleaned. 
e. The bones with loosely adhering decayed matter. 
Each of the various parts was treated separately by the oxalic acid and 
charcoal process previously detailed. The coffin was previously broken 
into splinters, and the bones smashed into fragments. The other parts were 
reduced to as fine a state of division as possible. On being tested, strych- 
nine was distinctly detected in the extract from (1) the bones and (2) the 
coffin, but indistinctly and unsatisfactorily in (1) the adipocere and hair, 
(2) the earthy matter from the region of the stomach, (3) the earthy matter 
from other parts, and (4) the fatty substance from the bottom of the coffin. 
The greater portion of the bones, after being treated with oxalic acid, were 
placed in dilute hydrochloric acid, and examined in the same manner as 
that followed with the bones of the Scotch terrier dog, and no strych- 
nine was found. Another portion of the bones was treated with dilute 
hydrochloric acid, and the acid solution nearly neutralized with chalk, and 
digested with charcoal ; whilst a third portion was acted upon by dilute sul- 
phuric acid, nearly neutralized with chalk, and the solution decanted off, 
and agitated with animal charcoal. In neither instance was strychnine de- 
tected. Two points in this inquiry are worthy of notice : the first is, in 
reference to the death of the dog. It is difficult to come to a conclusion re- 
garding the particular agent which caused its decease. Two forces were at 
work, viz., the strychnine and the iron instrument. If the strychnine was 
the immediate cause of death, this case remains as an instance of ordinary 
poisoning by strychnine, but if the death was hastened by the blow which 
was dealt externally, then the case assumes a new aspect. Granting that 
the blow hastened the death, and of necessity we admit that, by so lessen- 
ing the period during which strychnine could be allowed to diffuse itself 
through the animal system, we diminish the chances of finding it where it 
was found in greatest quantity, viz., surrounding or in the bones. The 
second point I wish to allude to, is the presence of numberless maggots, &c. 
preying on the remains of this ancient poisoned dog. 
As another instance of the possibility of finding strychnine in the remains 
of an animal poisoned by strychnine, I have to bring forward the results of 
my examination of the debris of a small house terrier destroyed by that 
poison two years and a half ago. I am indebted for this case to my assist- 
ant, Mr. John J. J. Kyle (a relation of the late proprietor of the dog), who 
kindly exhumed and brought to me the bones covered with a mouldy sub- 
stance, as also the earth immediately surrounding these. The examination 
was conducted as in the previous instance, and strychnine was detected in 
the oxalic acid extract of the bones. The earth did not yield any evidence 
of the poison, neither did the bones (after treatment with oxalic acid) 
when acted on by hydrochloric acid. There were not so many portions 
to examine in the instance at present under review, as the dog had not 
been buried in a coffin, so that the various parts were not kept together. 
Whilst prosecuting these inquiries, my attention was directed to certain 
powders, ostensibly sold as vermin killers , and which are doubtless very use- 
ful for the purposes they are sold for. There are two of such which 
specially call for notice here, as they are in greater part composed of 
