ACCIDENTAL POISONING BY STRYCHNIA. 
581 
Taking our new monitor as the authority we are all now, as well by law as 
by duty, bound to, my own experience leads me to fix the best temperature for 
mixing the acid nitrate with the melted lard and oil at 150°, or if operating 
largely at 145°, or a little lower; even for small experimental purposes a heat 
of 160° may be used, but much beyond this, I have never succeeded in obtain¬ 
ing a satisfactory result. At a heat of 145° to 150°, the decomposition com¬ 
mences slowly, proceeds rapidly and controllable, and continues till perfected, 
resulting in an ointment of fair colour, nice consistence, and from my own 
limited experience so far, one that will keep well; though certainly not in any of 
these respects equal to where an equivalent of weaker acid has been employed 
in the manufacture. 
It occurs to me here also to mention, as having a side-connection with my pre¬ 
sent subject, the Liquor Hydrargyri permits acid, which is stated in the first, or 
materia medica part of the P. 13., to be used in the proportion of Ung. Hyd. 
Nit. ; this I take simply to be a typographical error, for although doubtless an 
analogous preparation is added to the ointment, yet it cannot be intended to be 
conveyed there in this particular solution, or why the formula? And further, 
en passant, if I understand correctly, the explanation given by a distinguished 
member of the Pharmaceutical Society (who conducted the 13. P. experiments 
on collodion) for the insolubility of pyroxylin, was, his process was conducted 
with a nitric acid of sp. gr. 1-42, believing this the strength about to be adopted 
in the new work ; it therefore immediately suggests itself, was this miscon¬ 
ception confined only to the preparation of collodion, or was the ointment 
under consideration another exception also to the use of B. P. nitric acid ? 
I remain, yours faithfully, 
Bristol. John Boucher. 
ACCIDENTAL POISONING BY STRYCHNIA. 
On Saturday, April 16th, an adjourned inquest was held at Liverpool, relative to the 
death of Mr. John Lingard, a Liverpool tradesman. On the 11th of April, Mr. Lingard, 
having a cold, received a prescription from Dr. Nottingham; the prescription was for 
a powder consisting of James’s powder and Dover’s powder, and was made up at the shop 
of Messrs. Clay and Abraham, Bold Street. About half an hour after taking the powder, 
Mr. Lingard expired in great agony, the symptoms being those of poisoning by strychnia. 
A -post-mortem examination of the body was ordered by the coroner, and the contents of 
the stomach were analysed by Dr. Edwards, who reported as follows:— 
I am an analytical chemist, and lecturer on chemistry and medical jurisprudence 
at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary School of Medicine. On Wednesday last I re¬ 
ceived from Dr. Nottingham, in this court, four jars covered with bladder, tied, and 
sealed; these I conveyed to my laboratory, and examined in the presence of Dr. 
Nottingham and Dr. Smyth, and labelled their contents as follows:—No. 1, stomach, 
portion of duodenum, spleen, and heart; 2, liver; 3, blood; 4, kidneys. I proceeded 
at once with the analysis of the contents of the stomach, dividing it into two equal 
portions; one-half I digested with oxalic acid to dissolve the organic salt present, and 
separated the dissolved portion from the residue by filtration and decantation. I then 
separated the oxalic acid by nitrate of lime, and agitated this aqueous mixture with 
pure ether and caustic potash. By this process those vegetable alkaloids soluble in ether, 
such as strychnia, are separated from others, and from the usual animal and vegetable 
matters present in human food. The ethereal solution was then decanted, filtered, and 
evaporated to dryness. The residue thus obtained was then dissolved in chloroform, the 
solution filtered and evaporated to dryness, the residue treated with strong sulphuric 
acid to destroy extraneous colouring matter; the acid was then neutralized with caustic 
potash, evaporated to dryness, and treated with fresh ether; this ethereal solution dried, 
and the residue dissolved in pure chloroform. After these several purifications a colour¬ 
less residue was obtained, which, when a slight portion was applied to the tongue, gave 
a peculiar and strongly bitter taste, which remained on the palate for more than an hour. 
This process was completed on Friday afternoon, w r hen, in the presence of Dr. Notting- 
