ATTEMPTED SUICIDE WITH STRYCHNIA. 
Heury Heap, with whom she kept company, and whom she was in the habit of meeting 
when out. This acquaintance her father and mother endeavoured to stop. The girl’s 
father being ill was attended by a medical man, who sent him a bottle of medicine, and 
the father of the girl on taking a dose of this experienced a burning sensation in the 
throat and stomach, and became very ill. He was also fond of buttermilk, and on par¬ 
taking of some which was in a jug in the house, the same symptoms were again pro¬ 
duced. In consequence, he had the medicine and buttermilk sent to his doctor, who 
found in each traces of white precipitate, and on the buttermilk being sent to Mr. 
Calvert, the analytical chemist, he found ten grains of white precipitate in it. This was 
described by the doctor as a virulent poison, and by Mr. Calvert as a noxious drug, not 
certain as a poison, but calculated to produce chronic inflammation of the bowels if taken 
in small doses. If taken in large doses it would produce vomiting and be rejected. It 
appeared that the prisoner had sent a little girl to a druggist’s for “ white precipitate ” 
to cure ringworm. On being taken into custody she stated that she had put it into her 
father’s medicine and milk to make him worse in his illness, so that she might be able 
to get out more to meet her sweetheart. In her defence she said she had done it at the 
instigation of Henry Heap, and that she never intended to kill her father, but only to 
make him ill. 
His Lordship directed the jury that the evidence rather pointed to the misdemeanour 
of administering a noxious drug with intent to injure, than to the felony ; and 
The jury found the prisoner guilty of the latter offence. 
His Lordship sentenced her to twelve months’ imprisonment with hard labour. 
ATTEMPTED SUICIDE WITH STRYCHNIA. 
The following case is reported by Dr. Tracy E. Waller, Philadelphia, in the Phil. 
Med. Reporter. 
In the afternoon of Sept. — th, Dr. -went into one of the most respectable and 
popular drug stores in the city, and wrote the following prescription, and giving it to 
one of the principal clerks, waited for it to be put up, which was done in a few minutes. 
R Strvchnise gr. iv.; Sacch. alb. 5j. M. 
He told the druggist that he would divide it into the proper doses himself when he 
o-ot home, and so had it put into a phial and labelled in accordance with the prescription. 
There was nothing in the doctor’s manner or appearance to indicate anything wrong in 
his purpose, and the gentlemanly and intelligent druggist had no idea but that it w as 
all right to give him the poison in bulk. During that afternoon and evening he took 
several drinks of whisky, and wrote letters to different persons respecting his suicidal act. 
About 11 o’clock, he went to his room, laid the letters on the table, so that they might 
be seen by others, and then took a tumbler with about half a gill of water, and poured 
the poison-dose into it, adding a large drink of whisky, and stirring it with a teaspoon 
until the medicine was all dissolved. He then swallowed the whole of it, and in five or 
minutes after took another drink of whisky. In the course of twenty minutes the 
effects became manifest, but not as he expected, as it was his intention, when he first 
thought of committing suicide, and started to the drug store to get the deadly article, 
to take morphia. But ere long after swallowing the fearful potation, he was convinced 
that he had taken strychnia, and knew what horrible sufferings would be the result 
before death could take place. The terrible spasms of the muscular system, the light- 
niug-like jerks of the limbs, the “throat-latch grip, strangulation, and all the horrible 
phenomena attending a fatal dose of this medicine, are well known to medical men 
generally, and I will only remark on this point, that the doctor went through the wfiiole 
catalogue of the horrors and sufferings of a living death, and during the latter part of 
the nmht it seemed impossible that he could live. He was finally relieved by chloroform 
and morphia in solution, but the muscular spasms did not entirely cease until the after¬ 
noon of the next day, and the lameness or stiffness of the limbs and neck, and consequent 
debility of such an'experience as he w r ent through continued for several days. During 
all the long hours of his unspeakable suffering, through that night and the next day, 
