56 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[July 20, 1872. 
The effect of arsenic in the human hody was to preserve 
the viscera in a very extraordinary manner, and this ap¬ 
peared to he the case in the hody of the deceased. 
Dr. Thomas Stephenson, of Guy’s Hospital, said he 
examined and tested the contents of the stomach and 
Comsgoft&mtt 
* * 
* 
No notice can be taken of anonymous communica - 
tions. Whatever is intended for insertion must be authentic 
other portions cf a human hody that were brought to cated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily 
for publication , but as a guarantee of good faith . 
Provincial Education. 
Sir,—One of Mr. Schacht’s “ principles ” is, that the dis¬ 
tribution of the Society’s aid shall be “ as far as possible just 
- , - T . ' and universal,” and I believe his scheme, as a whole, admits 
on the stomach neaily two and a halt grains ot almost 0 f as w jq e an application as is practicable. But, as it still 
arwmir. TVio trvt-cil nnonfjf.tr arapniV Tin rHsonverArl faUg short of beirlg quite universal in its application, it is 
regarded by 3ome as unsatisfactory and unfair. 
The greatest conceivable good is undoubtedly the bringing 
of means of systematic pharmaceutical education within 
reach of every apprentice and assistant; this we all know to- 
be impossible. The next best thing is to bring it within 
of arsenic. Some particles of arsenic were imbedded on j reach ot as many as we can. Are we not justified in hoping 
the coats of the stomach, and very extensive inflamma- ^at this result will be attained by the new scheme P 
tion had been thus created; and he was of opinion, from ' ** ^ understand rightly, the object in view is less to reduce- 
_. . _ _ 3 _ f ' .It ho oner, n nhnnnnPAiitiDa oniiPQtmn to tin ofn< nnt than tn. 
him by Dr. Cook on the 4th of April. The effect of the 
analysis to which he subjected these matters was to pro¬ 
duce a portion of white arsenic. The stomach was 
washed with pure water, and that water subsequently 
yielded nearly half a grain of arsenic. He also picked 
ch nearly two and a ha! o 
pure arsenic. The total quantity of arsenic he discovered 
altogether in the stomach and the other portions of the 
body that were brought to him, was about five grains, 
which -was quite sufficient to destroy" life. The brilliant 
yellow colour, and the state of preservation of the sto¬ 
mach, at once excited his suspicions as to the presence 
all the appearances he observed, that some of the arsenic 
the cost of pharmaceutical education to the student, than to- 
increase and improve the means of which he can avail himself,. 
must have been administered withm twenty-four hours thou h some J correspondent3 appear t0 tllink differ ; 
of death. The conclusion arrived at by him, from all ent i y . Tbe last clause of Mr. Schacht’s document affords a. 
the appearances that presented themselves, was that the w ide field of action wdiich I trust may not be curtailed, 
death was caused by" white arsenic, and that some por- Beyond making grants to associations (how’ever small those 
tion of the poison must have been administered within associations may be) there is but one step to granting aid to 
twenty-four hours of death. "Where one fatal dose of individuals; such grants "would necessarily be so small as to 
arsenic was administered, death generally ensued from 
twelve to eighteen hours, but in this case the quantity 
of arsenic amounted to several fatal doses, and in his 
opinion it was impossible for the deceased to have lived 
for more than a few hours after such a quantity of arse¬ 
nic had been administered. He could not discover in 
the body 7 any" other cause of death than the administra¬ 
tion of arsenic. Dr. Stephenson then went on to say 
that the arsenic supplied by" the witness Vincent to 
Norman was of the same description as a portion of the 
arsenic found in the stomach of the deceased. There 
was a trace of copper in the stomach, copper being an 
ingredient of verdigris. 
Serjeant Parry called for the production of the por¬ 
tions of arsenic found in the body" of the deceased and 
those supplied by Vincent to Norman, and he asked 
that they might be shown to the jury, and said it ap¬ 
peared to him that they" were as dissimilar as tw "0 things 
possibly could be. 
In further cross-examination Dr. Stephenson said that 
arsenic mixed with verdigris would have a very nauseous 
and unpleasant taste. Arsenic by" itself would not. It 
would have rather a sw-eet taste. 
Ihe trial was then adjourned until the next day, but 
upon the reassembling of the Court it was announced 
be practically useless. It would be absurd for the Council to 
receive applications from apprentices for “os. towards an 
Attfield’s ‘ Chemistry,’ or a Bentley’s ‘ Botany.’” 
I apprehend that the pecuniary value of the prizes intended 
to be given to students themselves will be but nominal. It 
certainly does not seem to me desirable to foster the idea that- 
young men are to be paid fordoing their duty, to be enticed 
by promises of prizes and reimbursements to gain knowledge, 
which is its own reward; or the whole matter might be 
simplified by giving £5 to every man when he passes his- 
Minor, and £10 for his Major. We must hope for a healthier 
and more independent spirit. 
A strong point in the proposed scheme is the encourage¬ 
ment it gives to the formation of Provincial Pharmaceutical 
Associations. There is nothing, I believe, more likely to 
elevate the whole trade than this combination for educational 
purposes. There are few towns of 10,000 or 15,000 inhabi¬ 
tants in which such might not exist, and though these can¬ 
not include the w’hole trade, they may a very large proportion. 
Assistants now migrate so frequently" from one tovm to another, 
that there will be no great difficulty in every one bringing 
himself under the influence of one of these associations, the 
least ot which may establish a small library. I am glad to- 
see that Mr. Hills advocates a proposition 1 recently made in 
your columns, that the grants towards furnishing libraries,, 
museums, etc., should bear some proportion to the sum. 
actually collected locally, and with characteristic open- 
that the prisoner had been delivered of a child, and the heartedness he suggests “ half or one-third.” This, I believe. 
trial w-as, therefore, adjourned until the 24th of October 
and the jury was discharged. 
HENRY ARGLES. 
It is with much regret we announce the death of Mr. 
Argles, of Maidstone, which took place somewhat sud¬ 
denly at his residence on the Ashford Road, Maidstone, 
on Saturday, the 6th inst., at the age of seventy r -two. 
The deceased gentleman w-as held in high esteem 
amongst his fellow-tow-nsmen, both for his public and 
private virtues. Mr. Argles w-as a Justice of the 
1 eace, and had tw-ice filled the office of mayor. He 
w-as one of the founders of the Pharmaceutical Society, 
having joined it in 1841, and continued his connection 
with it up to the time of his death. 
w-ill be better than making the sum granted dependent on 
the “required expenditure” only; at ail events, the amount 
should not only be “required,” but the association’s share- 
raised before the grant is made. 
I do not doubt but the country will appreciate the libe¬ 
rality of the new scheme, and that one of the results of its- 
adoption will be a large addition to the membership roll of 
the Pharmaceutical Society. There are many who will haiL 
this movement as a return of the Society to its first love— 
the educational advancement of the whole body of chemists 
and druggists, and will feel ashamed not to contribute some¬ 
thing to that by which they will now be great gainers. 
E. Baden Ben gee. 
1, Hark el Place, Manchester, 
Jaly \btlx, 1872. 
Sir,—Though I have not hitherto taken any conspicuous- 
part in the discussion of how to aid pharmaceutical education 
in the provinces, I think I may still be considered to have 
shown a practical interest in this subject, having delivered 
three courses, each consisting of twenty-four lectures, on 
pharmacy ; and having been thus engaged six months in the 
year tor the last three years, the subject has naturally come 
before me in various different phases. 
