44 
OBITUARY. 
found him lying dead on the floor upon some flexible tubing which communicated with 
a bottle of carbolic acid. His face was quite black, and he had vomited. It was clear 
that he had died from the carbolic acid, but he had not committed suicide. 
Dr. J. B. Metcalf said that deceased had fixed an elastic tube, ten feet long, to a large 
glass jar of carbolic acid, and had then evidently seated himself in a chair, and had in¬ 
serted the end of the tube in his mouth, for the purpose of allowing a drop of the 
liquid to fall on the tooth. He had a brass regulator on the tube to control the quan¬ 
tity of the acid, but it did not act efficiently, and the volatile poison overcame him, and 
he became giddy and fell. Being alone in the room, the poison continued flowing into 
his mouth, and the heart’s action was stopped, and he died. The remedy which he tried 
was a new one, and the deceased was in the habit of recommending it to his friends. 
It should never be used without medical assistance. The jury returned a verdict of 
‘‘Accidental death, from inhaling carbolic acid as a cure for the toothache.”— Express , 
June 24. 
ACTION AGAINST A DRUGGIST FOR SELLING POISON FOR MEDICINE. 
The following extract from the ‘ New York Times ’ may be interesting to the readers 
of this Journal. 
Mr. P. W. Bedford is a pharmaceutist of high standing in New York, and is the 
Corresponding Secretary of the American Pharmaceutical Association. 
Two years since Mr. Bedford sold the woman Jane Arnold some senna leaves, which 
she shortly after alleged were some poisonous drug and not senna. From that time he 
was subjected to most annoying persecution, for the purpose of extorting money from 
him, which at length culminated in an action, which was settled in favour of the defen¬ 
dant. It is difficult to guess what poisonous leaves could by any possibility have been 
substituted for senna without immediate detection. 
“ Jane Arnold v. P. W. Bedford .—This action was brought to recover =8T000 damages 
for injuries sustained by plaintiff in consequence of taking medicine sold by defendant, 
a druggist, doing business at No. 745, Sixth Avenue, in January, 1866. It appears from 
the testimony of plaintiff, who is a seamstress, that on the 28th of January, 1866, she 
sent her boy to defendant’s drug store for some senna to give to her sick daughter; a 
package labelled ‘ senna ’ was given to the boy, and a portion of it was steeped in water 
and given to the girl, who was immediately seized with vomiting; a sample of the me¬ 
dicine was shown to plaintiff’s physician the next morning, who tasted it, and remarked 
that it produced a curious sensation upon his throat, and advised plaintiff not to use any 
more of it. Previous to this, however, plaintiff had eaten two or three leaves of the 
medicine, and she alleges that it produced serious injuries to her health, from which she 
has not yet recovered. 
“ The defence admitted having sold the medicine as charged, but denied that it was 
poison, or that the evil results, if any, arose from the senna sold by defendant. It was 
claimed that the charge of poisoning was bogus, and that the suit was instituted for 
blackmailing and speculative purposes. The senna, it appears, was never analysed, but 
was given to a physician, who also has mislaid it, and it cannot be found.” 
After a protracted trial, the jury rendered a verdict for the defendant. 
©httitaiu. 
NATHANIEL BAGSHAW WARD, F.R.S. 
We regret having to record the decease of another of our great and good men, 
Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward, of “The Ferns,” Clapham Rise, who died on the fourth day 
of this month (June), in the seventy-seventh year of his age. 
Mr. Ward was chiefly known to the public as the inventor of glass cases for the 
growth of plants. Among his more intimate friends he was equally well known for his 
genial and amiable disposition, and his intense love of plants. 
He was born at Plaistow, in the year 1791. His father was for many years in 
practice as a medical practitioner, at Plaistow, in Essex, where much of the early 
life of Mr. Ward was spent. His pursuit of botany at that time was characterised by 
