656 
A NOVEL METHOD OF CATCHING MICE. 
Having on several occasions noticed mice in our seed barrels, I bethought me of some 
method of how I might trap the little intruders ; they having gained entrance by eating 
through the chime. To kill them with a stick was impracticable, as the little fellows 
would invariably escape as soon as the lid was raised to any height. I then thought of 
saturating a piece of cotton with chloroform and throwing it in and then closing the 
lid. On raising it again in a few minutes, I would find that life had almost or quite 
departed. Having on one occasion left the piece of cotton in the barrel, on again re¬ 
turning, found three little mice with their heads in close contact with it, and dead. In 
the evening I saturated another piece and placed it in the barrel, and on opening it 
the next morning to my surprise I found nine dead mice.—American Journal of 
Pharmacy. 
DEATH FROM THE APPLICATION OF CARBOLIC ACID. 
At the Worcester Infirmary, the death of one of the patients has been caused through 
a mistake in applying a remedy intended for another patient. It appears that Thomas 
Price, aged 34, was an in-patient in the infirmary, and under treatment for urinary 
fistula of the perinaeura. His case had been attended to by Mr. Sheppard, one of the 
surgeons, who had performed an operation, and the patient was going on well. There 
w r as another patient, named Freeman, in the institution being treated for a similar com¬ 
plaint, and for him Mr. Budd, another of the hospital surgeons, prescribed an enema of 
carbolic acid oil in the proportion of 1 in 12. Mr. Budd stated that carbolic acid oil 
was commonly used as a lotion to wounds and ulcers for antiseptic purposes. It was a 
deadly poison, and somewhat analogous in its action to prussic acid. Carbolic acid was 
not required in Price’s case at all. The prescription for Freeman was handed to the 
nurse, who took it to the dispenser, Mr. Harding; but the patient’s card, bearing his 
name, got lost, and the dispenser asking the nurse who was the patient that had a fistula, 
she said Price, on which the carbolic acid mixed with water (not oil) was used for him. 
When the nurse was applying it the patient suddenly fell in a fit and became stertorous. 
The house surgeon, Mr. Knapp, was called in, and, seeing what had been done, he sy¬ 
ringed out the rectum with hot water; but, although the patient slightly rallied, he 
died in about twenty minutes. The coroner’s jury returned a verdict to the effect that 
“ the patient died from the effects of the carbolic acid, but that there was no evidence to 
show that any person was guilty of gross negligence.” 
Subsequently, an inquiry into the case was instituted by the authorities at the In¬ 
firmary, from which it would appear to have been an act of carelessness on the part of 
the dispenser, who having neglected to make the prescription up on the day on which it 
was ordered, dispensed it on the following day from memory. At a special meeting of 
the Governors a resolution was adopted to the effect that the death of the patient had 
resulted from the gross negligence of the dispenser, and recommending that he should 
be prosecuted for manslaughter. 
A numerous meeting of the governors was held to consider this Report, at which Lord 
Beauchamp moved, as an amendment, the omission of the clause recommending the pro¬ 
secution of the dispenser, of whose negligence he had no doubt, but he was of opinion 
that there was a great want of supervision in the Institution. The amendment was 
carried by 34 votes to 6. His Lordship then gave notice of a motion for the appoint¬ 
ment of a special committee “ to inquire into and report upon the organization of the 
infirmary, and the duties of all the officers and persons employed.” 
It may be interesting, as bearing on this unfortunate case, to quote Dr. S. W. Mitchell, 
a member of the National Academy of Sciences, U.S.A., who, in a communication “ On 
the Venom of Serpents” (‘ Medical Times and Gazette,’ February 6), speaks of the ap¬ 
plication of carbolic acid in cases of snake-bites, and observes that it merely delays death, 
and lessens the local symptoms; that the reason for this comes out distinctly when the 
weakest solution of carbolic acid is allowed to run over the living mesentery while the 
