MISCELLANEA. 
585 
bottle was the following note, in the handwriting of the deceased :—“ John and Frederick 
are provided for, and therefore I do not now so much care to live any longer. Good-bye, 
my darling boys ! You know not what I may feel, but I have never ceased to love you, 
as I always did. God bless you, my dear boys !—G. W. H.” Deceased had no pecuniary 
or domestic grief preying on him. He was latterly, however, much affected, and was at 
times incoherent. The jury returned a verdict of “ Suicide while in a state of unsound 
mind.” 
Poisoning by Arsenic. —An adjourned inquiry into the circumstances connected 
with the death of Emma Hutchins, was resumed on Friday, December 18, at the 
Horseshoe Inn, Waltham, near Leicester. On Friday, the 4th December, at four o’clock 
in the morning, the servant of Mrs. Hutchins was called up to attend to her mistress, whom 
she found very ill, and who complained of having taken something which she thought 
was magnesia, but which she said tasted like copperas. She also said that her husband 
stood over her and made her take it, telling her it was magnesia, and that after she had 
swallowed it he admitted that it was arsenic. A surgeon was sent for and every possible 
remedy was applied, but the unfortunate woman died about ten hours after she had 
swallowed the poison. Her husband was suspected, and upon being arrested said that 
if his wife was dead she had died from poison. He was taken to the gaol at Melton, 
and an inquest was held on the body of the deceased. A post-rnortem examination was 
made by Mr. T. L. Barwis and Mr. H. Marryan, who found the viscera strongly congested, 
and indicative of inflammatory action. Portions of the viscera were forwarded to Professor 
Taylor, from whose report it appeared that the quantity of white arsenic found in the 
stomach and its contents amounted to seven grains. In the stomach traces of antimony 
were detected, mixed with the arsenic, but this was accounted for by the fact stated by 
Mr. Barwis that during the illness of the deceased a preparation of antimony (tartar 
emetic) had been administered to the deceased. Taking all these appearances into con¬ 
sideration, Dr. Taylor was of opinion that the deceased had died from effects of arsenic. 
Mr. Barwis and Mr. J. H. Marryan concurred in the opinion that arsenic was the cause 
of death. The jury returned a verdict of “Wilful Murder against John Hutchins.” He 
was accordingly committed on the Coroner’s warrant. 
Effects of Sugar and Tobacco on the Teeth.' —We find by the ‘Dental Re¬ 
view’ that this question was discussed at a congress of German surgeon-dentists recently 
held at Frankfort; and that the Congress decided in both instances that the articles, 
when taken in a pure state, and not in immoderate quantities, are not injurious. 
A 2?Jew Grain. —It is stated in the ‘Carlisle Patriot’ that in consequence of the 
publication of several letters by Mr. Gillbanks, describing the scarcity of wild-fowl and 
other once numerous birds, and ascribing it to the disappearance of their natural food, 
attention has been directed to the subject. Some gentlemen in her Majesty’s service, 
during their explorations in a wild part of our North American possessions, were struck 
with the pertinacity with which immense flocks of wild-fowl and other game haunted 
certain localities. It was found on investigation that they came to feed on a sort of 
rice which was indigenous to the place, and renewed itself by shedding its seed in the 
alluvial deposit. Some of this grain has been sent to Mr. Gillbanks, who will experi¬ 
ment on the same, and report the result. It is said to differ from the “ paddy,” or na¬ 
tional rice of China. 
Suicide by Prussic Acid. —An inquest was held at Worksop before Mr. T. : Den¬ 
mans, on the body of a young man named Walter Wells, who died from the effects of 
prussic acid. The deceased was an apprentice to Messrs. Marris and Draycott, chemists, 
Worksop. From a letter found in his pocket, he appears to have imagined that he was 
badly treated by a person named Griffiths. As there was no doubt that the deceased had 
poisoned himself with prussic acid, the jury found a verdict of “ Temporary Insanity.” 
Iberis amara. —It is stated in the ‘ Medical Times and Gazette ’ that the Iberis 
amara , or candytuft seed, is used by Dr. Wilks as a purgative medicine. The seeds, 
when bruised and made into a pill of four or five grains, are said to act as a good purge. 
About twenty cases have been treated, and its purgative action well tested. 
Gelatinized Chloroform. —Chloroform, as well as ether, possesses the property of 
intimately mixing with albumen, first forming a liniment and then a light jelly, which 
is often of much more easy application than the volatile substance which gives rise to it. 
