January 18,13?3.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
575 
•some time. He was a single man and lived on the 
Stafford Road. About twelve o’clock on the previous 
day the deceased came to the Coach and Horses Inn, 
as he was in the habit of doing, to give any assistance.he 
•could. He remained on the premises until about nine 
o’clock. He went out, but returned some time after¬ 
wards, and about twenty minutes past ten he fell down 
in the kitchen ; he went black in the face, and very 
stiff. Witness thought he was in a fit, and bathed 
his temples with vinegar. He sent four times for Mr. 
Pope, surgeon, but he did not attend, and then witness 
sent for Mr. Bunch, who came shortly after eleven 
o’clock. By his advice, deceased was then taken to the 
Hospital. In reply to further inquiries, witness said 
the deceased had been in very low spirits of late, owing 
chiefly he (deceased) had said, to the manner in which 
his father (from whom he lived apart) had treated him. 
He had been very much down-hearted because his 
father had not taken so much notice of him, he said, as 
he did of his housekeeper, and he had told witness that 
he should kill either that person or himself. He had 
recently been in a “ bother ” at Tettenhall, and had been 
discharged from his work. This, also, had preyed on 
his mind. On two occasions, several weeks ago, deceased 
said he should poison himself, but witness persuaded him 
not to do so.—Susan Evans, waitress at the Coach and 
Horses, said she saw the deceased several times on the 
previous day, and noticed that he was more dull than 
usual ; he would scarcely speak to any one. At about 
twenty minutes to eleven o’clock at night witness found 
him in a fit on the floor of the kitchen. She had not 
previously seen him since three o’clock, when she had 
given him some port wine at his own request. When 
Mr. Bunch arrived, he said (in reply to that gentleman’s 
inquiries) that he had taken six pennyworth of vermin 
killer, which he had purchased from Mr. Moses, the 
chemist, and had taken it at ten o’clock. 
Mr. H. Moses, chemist, Duiley Street, said that on 
the previous evening, about ten minutes to nine o’clock, 
he sold six pennyworth of Battle’s Vermin Killer to 
a voung man, whom he did not know, and whom he 
eould not recognise in the person of the deceased. He 
had no recollection of the man. Witness did not make 
any entry of the sale, neither did he explain to the 
purchaser the nature of the purchase. It was labelled 
“ Poison.” 
Alfred Henry Carter, house physician at the South 
Staffordshire Hospital, stated that he was called to at¬ 
tend the deceased at twenty minutes past eleven on the 
previous night, and found him insensible. He was then 
slightly convulsed. Witness administered an emetic 
within two minutes of the man’s admittance, having 
heard that deceased had taken poison, and at once went 
for the stomach pump. Witness used other means to 
retain life, but the patient died within twelve minutes 
-of admittance. The symptoms displayed were the same 
as those he might have expected from a person who had 
taken poison, but they were not definite. At this stage 
of the proceedings the inquest was adjoarned till Mon¬ 
day, for the purpose of a post-mortem examination. 
The adjourned inquest was held on Monday morning, 
at the New Market Inn, before W. H. Phillips, Esq., 
Borough Coroner. Dr. Carter stated that he made a 
post-mortem examination of deceased’s body on Satur¬ 
day afternoon. The heart was healthy, but gorged with 
red blood, lungs congested, the lining membrane of the 
stomach highly congested and covered with unusual 
viscid mucus and spotted wuth adherent particles 
of varying sizes with what appeared to be a white 
powder. It also contained a considerable quantity 
•of grumous-looking matter, amongst which were small 
particles of what seemed to be Prussian blue. Mr. F. 
J. Barrett (the hospital pharmaceutist) made under his 
superintendence an analysis of about one-third of the 
(Contents of the stomach, and separated nearly one grain 
of strychnine, showing that the stomach contained about 
three grains, besides absorbing a sufficient quantity to 
cause death. There was no arsenic present. The wit¬ 
ness was satisfied that the deceased died from poisoning 
by strychnine. He did not find any curvature of the 
spine or lockjaw. 
After a short consultation the jury returned a verdict 
to the effect that “ the deceased destroyed his life by 
taking some of Battle’s Vermin Killer whilst in a state 
of temporary insanity.” 
The Coroner (addressing Mr. Moses, the chemist who 
sold the powder to the deceased) said it became his duty 
to call his attention to one or two matters. It appeared 
that he (Mr. Moses) sold a packet of Battle’s Vermin 
Killer to a person whom he did not know, and after see¬ 
ing the body of the deceased was unable to identify him 
as the same person. It became his (the Coroner’s) duty to 
call his attention to section 17 of the Pharmacy Act, 
1868, wdiich required every chemist to endorse 
every packet of poison which he sold with the 
word “ poison,” and to enter the name of the person to 
whom he sold it in a book. Also the person to whom the 
poison was sold must be either known or introduced to 
the chemist. The Pharmacy Act contained a schedule 
of poisons for which caution was required to be taken, 
and “ vermin killer ” was amongst them. The chemist 
who did not comply with the regulations was liable to 
a penalty, on the first offence to £5, and on the second 
offence to £10. Mr. Moses had omitted to comply with 
these regulations by selling the “ vermin killer ” to the de¬ 
ceased without first being introduced to him; and 
secondly, not entering the name of the purchaser in a 
book. He (the Coroner) was therefore bound to bring 
the matter to the notice of the police authorities of the 
Borough. 
Mr. Moses: I did not know that it contained strychnine. 
The Coroner said he should have made himself ac¬ 
quainted with the matter. He had sold the packet of 
“ vermin killer ” without entering the name of the de¬ 
ceased in a book. Although he labelled it poison, he 
sold it to a person whom he did not know, and to whom 
he had not been introduced. The Coroner then thanked 
the jury for their attendance. 
Alleged Attempt to Poisox a Schoolmaster. 
At the Thames Police Court on Tuesday, January 14th, 
James Thomas Langton, aged 15 years, a compositor, of 
No. 40, White Hart Place, Newgate Street, William 
Finchcliffe, aged 11 years, and James Grant, aged 11, 
were brought before Mr. Lushington charged with at¬ 
tempting to poison John Sonden, assistant-master at the 
industrial school, No. 96, Mansell Street, Whitechapel. 
A police-constable said that the complainant came to 
the station, and from what he told him he took the 
prisoners in charge. At the station, Langton said that 
Finchcliffe gave him a penny to purchase a precipitate 
powder, and he went to a Dr. Squares and bought it of 
the assistant. He gave the powder to Finchcliffe, and 
asked him what he w r as going to do with it. Finchcliffe 
said he was going to give it to the master as a medi¬ 
cine, because he had flogged him. He (Langton) told 
him if he had known it was going to be used for that 
he would not have fetched it, and asked Finchcliffe for 
it back again. The latter refused to give it iip. When 
the prisoners were told the charge Finchcliffe said he 
put the powder in the medicine, but was told to do so by 
the prisoner Langton. 
Mr. Segueria, a surgeon, said that Mr. Pitt, the su¬ 
perintendent of the school, brought him the bottle of 
physic produced on Saturday last. It w r as half full. 
There was a sediment in the bottle, which he found to 
be precipitate powder, which was poison. There was 
about half a drachm of pow r der, which would be suffi¬ 
cient to destroy life. 
Mr. Lushington remanded the prisoners for a week, 
