242 
POISONING BY STIIYCHNINE. 
usual tetanic convulsions which are produced by strychnia. These followed each other 
in rapid succession, and the animal died in three minutes, making altogether seven 
minutes from the time at which the extract, equivalent to one pill and a half, was placed 
beneath the skin of the rabbit. The blood contained in the bottle was then examined, 
but chemical analysis did not show in it the presence of strychnia. 
The contents of the jar were submitted to the same chemical processes as the pill for 
the detection of strychnia ; the result was that traces of that substance were detected in 
the liquid portion of the contents, but the liver and spleen did not contain any trace of 
that poison. The conclusions which I draw from this analysis are—Firstly, that the 
pills contained strychnia in a quantity sufficient to cause death, according to the num¬ 
ber taken; secondly, that there were traces of strychnia in the contents of the stomach ; 
thirdly, that there was no strychnia in the liver, spleen, and blood. This is a correct 
statement of the result of the analyses of the stomach, a box of pills, some blood, and 
portions of the liver and spleen, handed to me by Mr. Collins, the clerk to the coroner, 
on the 7th of September. Assuming that three pills had been taken shortly before the 
death of the deceased, and that they contained a similar amount of strychnia to that 
which I examined, I should not have expected to find greater and more distinct traces of 
strychnia in the stomach of the deceased than I did. The dose was very small. I 
should state that the longer a person lives after taking poison, the less trace of it is found, 
as it becomes absorbed into the system. I should not have expected to find it in the 
blood. Had it all been there, the proportion would only have been the fiftieth part of a 
grain to one pound of blood. Assuming the quantity of strychnia to have been taken 
which I discovered in the three pills, I should not have expected to find any traces in 
the liver or spleen. Half a grain of strychnia would destroy the life of an adult. Strych¬ 
nia is given in cases of paralysis and nervous affections ; but the medicinal dose would 
commence at the twentieth part of a grain, and increase to a twelfth, or even a tenth 
part of a grain. I may observe that symptoms of poisoning begin in doses from a 
quarter to a third of a grain, and actual death has taken place in two known instances 
from a quantity equivalent to that which is before you. The quantity of strychnia I 
found on the deceased is consistent with either a poisonous or a medicinal dose. From 
the traces found in the stomach I can draw no inference; the residue was consistent 
with either, as I have said, so that I can form no conclusion as to the cause of death. I 
cannot conceive that strychnia would be a proper medicine for the purpose of procuring 
abortion. I have never heard of it. I can conceive no other effect than convulsions re¬ 
sulting in death. The action of strychnia is over the voluntary muscles, and I have not 
heard of its action on the uterus. I do not think one pill would destroy life ; two might 
have jeopardized it; but three would, I think, have been fatal to any one. It is pos¬ 
sible that one pill may contain more than another; but from the analysis I made I take 
it that the strychnia in them was pretty equally divided, and that any adult taking three 
of those pills would die. There were not any directions on the box, as there should be 
in case of administration of such a poison. It is not usual to administer strychnia in 
pills, but in solution, as the dose can be thus more accurately apportioned. I have 
never personally known strychnia used as a medicine in procuring more regular feminine 
irregularities, but it has been stated on competent authority to have been so used and 
with benefit. Dr. Bardsley, of Manchester, is one of the authorities. There was cin¬ 
namon, cloves, sugar, and other aromatic confections in the pills; but though I tested 
for arsenic, antimony, and other powerful poisons, I found nothing but strychnia. I 
should say that no medical man would venture to give the dose of strychnia contained 
in one pill—that would be one-sixth of a grain. It would be a large dose for a person 
even in the habit of taking strychnia. I should say that three of those pills would act in 
from half an hour to tbxee-quarters of an hour, but I should think that poison is always 
more slow in action on a full stomach. The pills were apparently made up by a person 
conversant with medicine. The saccharine matter of which the pills were partially 
made would be influenced by the weather—dry in dry weather, damp and sticky in wet 
or muggy weather. Battle’s vermin-killer contains strychnia to the extent of a grain 
and a half in the sixpenny packet, and three-quarters of a grain in the threepenny 
packet. Strychuia has been given as a tonic for indigestion or disorders of the stomach, 
but in very small doses in all cases. Had the deceased taken one pill she might not have 
died, but in a case recently under my knowledge the same quantity produced in an 
adult man convulsions and all the symptoms of poisoning to an alarming extent. As- 
