MISCELLANEA. 
91 
time without success. It was found on the •post-mortem examination of the body that 
both lungs were in a very unhealthy state, and there was fatty degeneration of the "heart; 
and it was thought the shock of an operation would have been more dangerous than the 
chloroform. The jury returned the following verdict“ That the deceased died from 
chloroform administered in a proper manner, previous to the amputation of the finger, 
which had been injured by accident.” 
Alleged Death from Arsenical Paper ESangirngs. —Mr. Carttar held an in¬ 
quest on Wednesday, May 27, at the Prince Alfred Tavern, Plumstead, on Thomas Ded- 
man, aged five years. It appeared from the evidence that the deceased expired somewhat 
suddenly, and as he had been in the habit of sleeping with two other children of the 
same family in a room the walls of which had recently been covered with green paper, 
Dr. Wise gave evidence to the effect that in his opinion the deceased had been poisoned 
by inhaling the arsenic used in the preparation of the green paper. The jury returned 
a verdict to that effect. 
Suicide by Prussic Acid. —On Saturday, May 30th, Joseph Medway, aged twenty- 
two, a medical student, lately residing in Penton Street, Ivennington, committed suicide 
by swallowing a quantity of prussic acid. It appears that the deceased left home in his 
usual spirits on Friday, and returned at half-past eight, and, having procured a light, he 
proceeded to his bedroom. Not making his appearance, the bedroom door was forced, 
when he was found lying on the bed, dead. 
Suicide by Arsenic. —An inquest has been held at the Marquis of Lansdowne Ta¬ 
vern, Thomas Street, Hackney Eoad, on Eliza Eobinson, aged eighteen. Mrs. Charlotte 
Eobinson said that deceased was on the point of being married to a young man, when 
he unexpectedly died about six weeks ago. Deceased was much attached to him, and 
his death seemed almost to make her distracted. On Sunday evening, May 31st, witness 
noticed that she was ill and retching, but she did not say what was the matter. At five 
o’clock the next morning she confessed that she had taken arsenic. Witness ran for a 
doctor, but before he could arrive she expired. The jury returned a verdict of “ Tem¬ 
porary insanity.” 
Accidental Poisoning by Oxalic Acid.* —(Court of Queen’s Bench, June 13th ; 
before Lord Chief Justice Cockburn.) Farrell v . Pound. Mr. Mills, Q.C., and Mr. F. 
H. Lewis appeared for the plaintiff; Mr. Huddleston, Q.C., and Mr. Prentice were for the 
defendant. This was an action brought by the widow of a labouring man, of 7, Poole’s 
Place, Gray’s Inn Lane, against a chemist and druggist carrying on business in Leather 
Lane, Holborn, to recover compensation for the loss of her husband, who at the time 
of his death was about fifty-five years of age, and earning, in constant employment, 
a guinea per week. It appeared that the deceased was in the habit of taking salts and 
senna; and on Saturday night, the 23rd of August, he and his wife, on returning from 
marketing, went into the defendant’s shop, and asked for one pennyworth of salts and 
one pennyworth of senna. They were served with two packets; but on reaching home 
the plaintiff discovered that one packet did not contain senna, and to all appearance the 
contents of each were salts. She went back with both, but the shop was closed, and her 
husband, on her return, thinking both packets were salts, said he would take one of them. 
The plaintiff gave the smallest packet, and her husband became very ill, sick, and purged, 
and in ten minutes expired.' It was then discovered that he had been poisoned, and that 
the packet contained oxalic acid. The other packet was really Epsom salts, and although 
the papers had printed upon them “ Epsom salts ” and “ Oxalic acid—Poison ” respec¬ 
tively, neither husband nor wife could read, and hence the lamentable mistake. On the 
part of the defendant, it was suggested that the poison was not supplied from Mr. 
Pound’s shop; but it came out in the course of the trial that on the day after the death 
the defendant’s attention was called to the unused packet being labelled with his name 
and address; and the learned judge, in summing up, said it was a great pity defendant’s 
counsel should have been instructed to suggest that Mrs. Farrell was untruthful and in¬ 
accurate when she said she had purchased the packets at defendant’s shop, while it was 
perfectly well known to the defendant, and quite clear, that she was correct in that state¬ 
ment. It was also suggested, on the part of the defendant, that the plaintiff had con¬ 
tributed to the death by her own negligence, as she must have taken up a packet of 
oxalic acid intended for another customer, instead of the packet of senna with which she 
* The particulars of this case will be found in our number for October last, page 185. 
