MISCELLANEA. 
397 
startled to hear of drawers full of half-drachm packets of opium, of which many custo¬ 
mers take three a day. A farmer came in to get some good laudanum. “How many 
drops?” asked the chemist. “ Drops?” was the reply ; “give me an ounce and a half.” 
The chemist looked at him, saw he was in the habit of taking it, and gave him the 
dose. He drank it off, returned twice in the day for the same quantity, and took home 
a half-pint bottleful with him when he left market. The habit is no new one. The 
present writer can vouch for its existence in and round Spalding, and even across in 
Leicestershire, a dozen years ago. The excuses would be obvious—deficient food with 
the poor ; ague and “ rheumatiz” needing an anodyne, with others. But it is a growing 
habit, and Dr. Hawkins speaks very strongly of its pernicious effects in poisoning the 
blood. To it he attributes the excessive infant mortality in the district, and the “ mise¬ 
rable, feeble, brownish-yellow countenances so striking among many of the inhabitants.” 
In fact, he thinks its effects on the system almost as bad as those of syphilis, and calls 
for some interference to discourage what is becoming a cause of wide-spread degeneracy 
in the breed .—Imperial Review. 
Suicide by “ Battle’s Vermin Hiller.”— An inquest has been held at the 
Koyal South Hants Infirmary on the body of Hannah Maria Skeats, aged forty-two 
years. Mr. W. B. Sherto, resident surgeon, deposed that the deceased was brought to 
the hospital suffering from all the symptoms of tetanus. On her person was found a 
paper marked “ Battle’s Vermin Killer,” which contains three-quarters of a grain of 
strychnia in each packet, quite sufficient to produce the symptoms he observed, and this 
was confirmed by a post-mortem examination. Mr. A. Walden, chemist, St. Mary 
Street, Southampton, proved the purchase of the poison by the deceased. There was 
nothing unusual in her manner to indicate that she wished to use the powder for any 
unlawful purpose. Evidence was given as to the great distress of mind the deceased 
had for some time endured, and the jury, concurring in the view of the case taken by the 
coroner, returned a verdict of “ Suicide whilst in an unsound state of mind.” 
Vaginal Suppositories. —It has been proposed in the Journ. de Med. de Bor¬ 
deaux, to cast in a mould hollow cones of cacao butter, to pour into them glycerine in 
which either tannin or morphine has been dissolved, and to close the cone with a plug 
of the same butter. The latter dissolves in the vagina as far as the hollow cone is con¬ 
cerned, but the plug, being thicker, resists, and the medicated glycerine remains in con¬ 
tact with the vaginal walls.— Lancet. 
Accidental Poisoning by White Hellebore.— At Aldersceugh, Cumberland, 
the second son of Mr. Wilson Pattinson, farmer, of the above-mentioned place, went 
into the shop of Mr. Joseph Straughton, druggist, of Cockermouth, and asked for three- 
pennyworth of white hellebore, a vegetable poison. That night, or the following morn¬ 
ing, he informed the inmates of the house that he had got a powder for his stomach, 
and prepared a portion of the poison by mixing it with something else, and then 
swallowed it. Almost immediately after doing so he was taken seriously ill, and died in 
a comparatively short time, in the greatest agony. From the evidence given at the 
inquiry, it appeared that deceased had, as a remedy for some ailment, been supplied 
with powdered hellebore, a quantity of which, under a mistaken impression as to its 
application, he had taken inwardly. The effects of the deadly potion were immediately 
felt. The poor sufferer at once expressed his conviction to his father that the result 
would be fatal, and medical aid was promptly summoned ; but before the nearest doctor 
could arrive, the unfortunate young man had ceased to exist. After hearing the evi¬ 
dence, the jury came to the conclusion that no blame could properly be attributed to 
any one, and returned a verdict of “Accidental death.'’ 
Ozonized Ether as a Deodorizer. —Dr. Day, in a communication to the ‘Medi¬ 
cal Press and Circular,’ of January 9th, on the properties of ozone, and its use as a test 
for blood, recommends ozonized ether, mixed with essential oils, for destroying the pro¬ 
ducts of decaying organic matter. The following is the plan“ In an ordinary case I 
suspend a piece of sponge or of flannel in the closet, and occasionally sprinkle over it a 
few drops of ozonized ether, combined with about a sixth or an eighth of some ozonized 
essential oil, oil of lavender, or oil of cassia, or juniper will answer as well.” The plan 
has been tried in the closets of a large public school with success. 
