July G, 1372.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
15 
medicine, and I took it in. I gave my aunt one of the 
pills about five minutes afterwards. I did not notice 
that it had any effect upon her for about half an hour, 
when she said she felt sleepy, and in about ten minutes 
.after that she fell asleep. At ten o’clock I left her for 
the night. Some time early in the morning my uncle 
■called me to her again. Mr. Metcalfe Johnson was then 
with her. I remained with her until she died. She 
never spoke whilst I was with her that I am aware of, 
and she died about half past six. I did not give her any 
other medicine besides the pill. I gave the box to my 
•uncle when I had done with it. 
Mr. John Townsend, lodging-house keeper, deposed : 
The deceased was my wife ; she was 62 years of age, and 
had been invalided for the Jast 20 years. For about 
three years and a half she had been attended by Mr. 
Metcalfe Johnson. I went for him on Tuesday morning, 
and he came between seven and eight o’clock in the 
•evening. He left no medicine with me, but some was 
left afterwards by Mr. Birkett’s boy. My niece subse¬ 
quently gave me the box, and I returned it to Mr. 
Birkett’s assistant, who came for it about eleven o’clock 
•on Tuesday night. My niece left us about ten, and I 
shortly afterwards went to the room whore the deceased 
was. I did not notice anything particular in her breath¬ 
ing, until about a quarter of an hour before Mr. Birkett 
and Mr. Johnson came. Mr. Johnson used means to 
rouse her, and a messenger was sent to Lancaster for 
further aid. Mr. Christopher Johnson came a little 
before four in the morning. She opened her eyes twice, 
•and exclaimed “Oh, dear,” and about six o'clock she 
•died. 
By Mr. Tilly: About a quarter of an hour elapsed be¬ 
tween the intervals of her exclaiming “ Oh, dear!” 
Mr. John Birkett deposed: I am a registered chemist 
residing at Morecambe, and Wm. Edmondson is my 
assistant. He was an apprentice, and is now an assis¬ 
tant, having been with me upwards of eight years. I 
have been in the habit of making up prescriptions for 
Mrs. Townsend, given by Mr. M. Johnson. My assistant 
informed me on Tuesday evening that Mr. M. Johnson 
had left a prescription to make up, and I told him to 
make it up. I went out on business for about a quarter 
of an hour. The medicine was sent out in the ordinary 
way. Shortly before ten o’clock I discovered that a 
mistake had been made. Mr. Townsend came and asked, 
“ Shall I be doing right to repeat those pills at eleven 
o’clock ? ” [Box produced, the directions being, “ One 
directly, and repeat every four hours until free from 
pain or sickness.”] I called my assistant, and said, 
“ Let me see that prescription.” I read it, and found 
that the dose was one-sixth of a grain for each pill. I 
told him that he might repeat it if necessary, accocding 
to the directions. He mentioned that she had gone to 
sleep, and said he supposed there would be no harm in it. 
I said “ None whatever.” He asked if they were sleep¬ 
ing pills, and I told him they were. After a conver¬ 
sation about the strength of the dose, Mr. Townsend 
left. Shortly after he had left, my assistant told me 
the pills contained one grain of morphia each. I knew 
that Mrs. Townsend was in a very weakly way, and I 
thought that the dose might bo too large for her. 1 
considered it over, and the conclusion I came to was that 
it would be best to go for Mr. Metcalfe Johnson. I took 
.a cab and went for him, leaving here about a quarter 
past eleven. I reached home about twenty-five minutes 
past twelve, and Mr. Johnson came down about a quar¬ 
ter of an hour afterwards. I accompanied him to Mr. 
Townsend’s. Further medical assistance was sent 
tfor, and Mr. Christopher Johnson arrived about a quar¬ 
ter to four. She never spoke while I remained, but 
opened her eyes once or twice. I keep the morphia in a 
cupboard where all the more active poisons are kept. 
I know morphia to be an active poison.—By Mr. Tilly : 
The prescription reads literally, “ Take of the acetate of 
morphia one grain; let six pills be made; one directly, 
and repeated every four hours until free from pain or sick¬ 
ness.” The prescription does not say literally, “ Let 
six pills be made of it,” but “ Let six pills be made.” It 
is mostly usual to say that the ingredient is to be di¬ 
vided into so many pills, and it would have been a greater 
safeguard to have said so in this instance. When I read 
it I saw at once it meant one-sixth of a grain in each 
pill, taking the prescription as a whole. 1 have known 
doses of a grain given. I considered the prescription 
was perfectly intelligible, but it would have been better 
to have said the morphia was to be divided into so many 
pills. 
Wm. Edmondson deposed: I am assistant to Mr. 
Birkett. I have not gone through my examination to 
qualify myself as a chemist, but am preparing for it. 
I served my apprenticeship with Mr. Birkett, and 
have been with him about eight and a half years al¬ 
together. I have made up prescriptions for Mrs. Town¬ 
send before, but not recently. On Tuesday evening I 
received the prescription produced from Mr. Metcalfe 
Johnson. He asked me if I could make it out. I read 
it, and replied, “Yes.” After some verbal directions 
about the lotion, which I wished particularly to under¬ 
stand, Mr. Johnson pointed to the first part of the pre¬ 
scription relating to the pills, and I understood him that 
I had to put one grain of morphia in each of the six pills. 
Immediately on getting into the. shop, I wrote 
down the directions about the lotion, and I tlien 
began to make the pills. The box produced contains 
the remainder of the pills, and they contain one grain 
of morphia each. I know morphia to be an active poison, 
and I understood Mrs. Townsend to be dangerously ill; 
but not in a weakly state. I do not remember ever 
having previously made up pills containing a grain ot 
morphia each. I knew Mrs. Townsend was. suffering 
from dropsy. When I had made up the pills, I sent 
them by our boy. About ten o’clock, I was in the shop 
when Mr. Birkett and Mr. Townsend had some conver¬ 
sation together. Almost immediately after Mr. Town¬ 
send had left, I told Mr. Birkett what the pills contained. 
He replied that it must be a mistake, as Mrs. Townsend 
was in a very weakly state. He said, “We.had bet¬ 
ter get the pills back, before another dose is given.” I 
went to Mr. Townsend and got the pills back, just as 
ho had reached home.—By Mr. Tilley: There is another 
form of prescription when we have to make up pills. 
It says, “ Take the quantity, and divide into so many 
Pills.” 
At this stage of the examination, the inquest was 
adjourned until Saturday. 
On Saturday William Edmondson was re-called. He 
produced the authorized British Pharmacopoeia, in which 
from one-eighth to half a grain of morphia was pre¬ 
scribed as a dose. He said he knew the book by 
heart from end to end, and that the extent of the 
dose according to the Pharmacopoeia was half a 
grain. It did not occur to him until afterwards 
—when Mr. Townsend came to ask about repeating 
the dose—that one grain, was too much to give. Ho 
supposed the reason why it did not occur to him at the 
time, was that his mind was absorbed with the lotion 
part of the prescription more than, with the pill portion, 
inasmuch as there were some special verbal directions to 
attend to. , , , r 
Mr. Metcalfe Johnson said: I have attended Mrs. 
Townsend two or three years, or more. She was suffer- 
in 0- from dropsy produced by a combination of diseases. 
On Tuesday last I saw her at six o’clock in the evening. 
I prescribed for her; the prescription produced being 
the one I wrote out. I took it to Mr. Birkett s shop, and 
saw his assistant, William Edmondson. I gave him 
verbal directions, and intended to convey to his mind 
that the grain of morphia was to be divided into six 
pills. He asked no questions upon it, and I lelt it m ms 
hands to be made up. One grain of morphia is an 
unusual dose, and only prescribed in very rare cases. 
