HE PORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE. 
39 
ing reported in the ‘Lancet,’ in which a woman swallowed an ounce and a half of this 
solution, it was observed that, forty-eight hours after death, notwithstanding the great 
heat of the weather, no decomposition had taken place, and in examining the intestines 
no disagreeable odour was apparent, owing to the antiseptic property of the poison 
taken. 
Oxalate of Cerium and 'Compound Tincture of Valerian in Sea-sick¬ 
ness.— Mr. C. W. Walsh, surgeon, in a letter to the ‘Medical Times and Gazette,’states 
that he has found two grains of oxalate of cerium and one drachm of compound tincture 
of valerian invariably gives great relief. The dose may be administered at intervals of 
thirty minutes. 
Suicides by Cyanide of Potassium. —An inquest was held by Mr. Payne, coroner 
for the City of London, on the body of Edward H. Hawkins, of the Coldstream Guards, 
who committed suicide by swallowing about a drachm of cyanide of potassium, which he 
had procured from a chemist under the pretence that he required it for the purpose of 
cleaning his gold lace. It appeared from the evidence that he had quarrelled with a young 
woman, who had, however, afterwards met him by appointment, and both agreed to take 
poison. In the case of the young woman the poison was ejected, and her life was saved. 
An inquest was also held at Peckham by Mr. Carter, coroner for Surrey, on the 
body of Mr. James W. Trist, aged 31, who was found lying on the turf in Nunhead 
Cemetery. Dr. George Webster was called in, who found the deceased dying from 
the effects of a large dose of cyanide of potassium—a bottle containing some of 
this salt was lying by his side. It was stated in evidence that the deceased had lately 
given way to intemperate habits. A letter, written to his wife, was read, in which he 
said he wished to prove that he had the courage to commit the act he had hinted 
to her, and that he now constituted himself a judge of the Divorce Court, and left her. 
The jury returned a verdict “That the deceased died from poison, administered by his 
own hand, in Nunhead Cemetery, while of unsound mind.” 
REPORT OF THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON CHEMISTS AND DRUGGISTS 
i BILLS, 1865. 
Your Committee have examined witnesses on the general questions raised by the pro¬ 
visions contained in the two Bills committed to them, and have also heard evidence in 
support of the Chemists and Druggists (No. 1) Bill. 
1. Your Committee then passed the following resolutions:— 
“1st. That no compulsory examination or registration under the Bills referred to 
the Committee should be required of persons now carrying on the trade of chemists 
and druggists. 
“2nd. That the Bill do provide that no other person shall, after a day to be fixed 
by the Bill, sell certain dangerous drugs, to be scheduled in the Bill, unless he shall 
be examined and registered.” 
2. By the adoption of the second resolution as an amendment to a proposal that per¬ 
sons compounding medicines from the prescriptions of medical men should also be ex¬ 
amined, your Committee decided against the principal provision contained in the Chemists 
and Druggists (No. 1) Bill, and they accordingly resolved to proceed with the Chemists 
and Druggists (No. 2) Bill. 
3. After several clauses of the Bill were passed, considerable difficulty arose in pro¬ 
viding for the first formation of the Council to which the duty of regulating the exami¬ 
nation of Chemists and Druggists was to be intrusted ; and your Committee, considering 
the advanced period of the Session, were compelled to abandon the expectation of any 
useful result from a further consideration of the Bill. 
4. Having, therefore, disposed, pro forma, of the remaining clauses, they came to the 
following resolution :— 
‘‘That inasmuch as there appears to be little prospect of any satisfactory termi¬ 
nation to the labours of the Committee in the present Session, it is desirable that 
the evidence, so far as it has been already taken, and the proceedings of the Com- 
♦ mittee, be reported to the House, accompanied by a recommendation that the 
Government should, early in the new Parliament, bring in a Bill on the subjects 
referred'to the Committee.” 
5. Your Committee have in conclusion to report, that, in their opinion, it is not expe¬ 
dient to proceed further with either of the Bills which have been committed to them. 
