March 11, 1871-3 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS 
735 
of the corolla. The generic name Atropa was taken 
from Atropa, one of the Fates, who was supposed to cut 
the thread of life. Its chemical constituents were treated 
upon at some length, as also its therapeutic properties, 
which, he said, extended more or less over the whole 
human body, but more especially the face and head, 
dilating the pupil of the eye. Its effects on the throat 
were very marked, it was used successfully in scarlet 
fever, small doses acting as a preventive. The officinal 
parts of the plant, both dried and fresh, next received 
attention, and its cultivation and collection in Britain 
and Germany. After a few remarks on the extract, 
tincture, etc., and their preparation, he concluded with 
the active principle atropia, the sulphate of atropia, and 
Pseudotoxin. 
A long and interesting discussion followed, bearing very 
much on the uncertainty of the strength of the extract 
and the advisability of making emp. bellad. from a root 
.extract. 
MEETINGS FOR THE ENSUING WEEK. 
Monday . Medical Society, at 8 p.m. 
London Institution, at 4 p.m. —“On Astro¬ 
nomy.” By Mr. It. Proctor. 
Tuesday . Loyal Institution, at 3 p.m. —“The Nutri¬ 
tion of Animals.” By Professor Foster. 
Loyal Medical and Chirurgical Society, at 
8.30 p.m. 
Photographic Society, at 8 p.m. 
Wednesday. ..Society of Arts, at 8 p.m. —“The Different 
Methods of Extracting Sugar from Beet¬ 
root and Cane.” By Mr. F. Kohn. 
London Institution, at 6.30 p.m.— Conver¬ 
sazione. “ Stained Glass aesthetically con¬ 
sidered with reference to Modern Art.” 
By Mr. H. Holiday. 
TnuESPAY. Loyal Society, at 8.30 p.m. 
Linnean Society, at 8 p.m. 
Loyal Institution, at 3 p.m. —“Davy’s Dis¬ 
coveries in Chemistry.” By Prof. Odling. 
Friday . Loyal Institution, at9 p.m. —“The Eclipse.” 
By Mr. Lockyer. 
adiijnwntitrjr attir fhto frwttiimp. 
Death resulting from an Excessive Dose of 
Chloral Hydrate. 
The La)icet of the 18th inst. contains a report by 
Dr. Norris of a case of overdose of chloral hydrate, 
which appears to be the same as that already recorded 
in the Pharmaceutical Journal, p. 636. As any ad¬ 
ditional information as to this now extensively-used drug 
is of importance, we extract the following particulars:— 
_ The deceased, wh« appears to have been a victim to 
dipsomania, when opposed in her desire for stimulants, 
was very violent. No sedative seemed to produce any 
effect but chloral hydrate, and for months previous to 
her decease she was supplied almost every evening with 
a draught containing from twenty to forty grains. After 
some time, Dr. Norris was astonished to hear that his 
patient had been taking, in addition to the draughts 
supplied by himself, others which she had obtained from 
a druggist, containing from thirty to thirty-six grains. 
The following list gives the quantity of chloral hydrate 
taken by the deceased during the last nine days of her 
life, the asterisks denoting the draughts supplied by the 
I druggist, which Dr. Norris had no knowledge until 
after his patient’s decease :— 
On the 3rd of January, after 10 oz. of Townsend’s 
sarsaparilla, she had 36 grs. of chloral; on the 4th, 
26 grs.* ; 5th, 30 grs.; 5th, 36 grs.* ; 6th, 30 grs.; 6th, 
36 grs.* ; 7th, 30 grs.; 7th, 36 grs.* ; 8th, 20 grs.; 8th, 
40 grs.; 8th, 36 grs.* ; 9th, 10 grs.; 9th, 30 grs. ; 9th, 
36 grs.* ; 10th, 10 grs.; 10th, 40 grs.; 10th, 108 grs.* ; 
11th, 40 grs.; 11th, 72 grs.* Thu3 making a total of 
712 grs. within nine, days, the last 260 grains of which, 
had been taken within thirty-five hours. 
A hundred and thirty hours after death the stomach 
and contents, together with portions of the lung, liver, 
heart, kidney and spleen, were submitted to Mr. Stod- 
dart, of Bristol, for analysis. His report was as fol¬ 
lows :— 
“ The first thing that struck me was the very extraor¬ 
dinary way in which the several portions were pre¬ 
served. Evon now, although more than a w r eek has 
elapsed since death, yet not the slightest sign of decom¬ 
position has taken place, nor any unpleasant odour. 
This doubtless is the effect of chloroform in the tissues. 
Part of the gruel-like contents of the stomach was 
treated with caustic soda, and distilled at 160° F., and 
the vapour passed through a red-hot glass tube. Chlo¬ 
rine and hydrochloric acid were produced, which red¬ 
dened litmus paper. Iodide of potassium and starch 
were coloured blue, and then decolorized. Solution of 
nitrate of silver threw down the chloride. 
“ Another portion was placed in a small alembic, with 
a mixture of potash and soda, and distilled at 160° F. by 
means of a water-bath, and the head of the exit tube 
immersed in pure distilled water contained in a small 
Clark’s receiver. In a few minutes small drops of chlo¬ 
roform were slowly deposited at the bottom of the water. 
These were pure chloroform. The smell of chloroform 
was perceptible in the alembic the day after. I tested 
for all the poisons that were probable, but without any 
success. 
“There seems, therefore, no doubt that an excess of 
chloral must have been taken, and the resultant chloro¬ 
form was so disseminated through the tissues that they 
were completely preserved. I should mention that the 
contents of the stomach had no perceptible smell of 
chloroform till after the addition of an alkali.” 
In a subsequent letter, Mr. Stoddart adds:—“ I found 
the most (chloroform) in the liver and contents of the 
stomach, but could not separate any from the other 
parts; nor could I from the heart, which seemed to have 
lost any blood contained in it.” 
Dr. Norris considers that tho mode of death supports 
the opinion of Dr. B. W. Richardson that, in such cases, 
dangerous decomposition of the blood may occur before 
coma is produced, and that the repetition of considerable 
doses of chloral at short intervals would be followed by 
the formation of formiate of soda in the blood, by which 
its coagulating power would be much diminished; and 
that in such cases the symptoms would be similar to 
those induced by loss of blood. 
Poisoning by Carbolic Acid. 
An inquest has been held at the Whitechapel District 
Schools, Forest Gate, touching the death of two children, 
inmates of the schools. It appears that it was the duty 
of a nurse to disinfect the lavatory every evening by 
means of carbolic acid, and then carry what acid re¬ 
mained to the boys’ side of the building. On Friday 
evening, after using the acid as usual, she left the re¬ 
mainder in a vessel in the lavatory. On the following 
morning the two children came downstairs a little before 
seven o’clock, and, seeing the vessel in the lavatory, 
each drank from it, and directly fell down insensible. 
Medical aid was promptly obtained, but to no purpose. 
The jury returned a verdict of “Accidental poisoning.” 
— Standard. 
HOUSE OF COMMONS. 
On Monday, March 6, Sir J. Lawrence gave notice 
that on Thursday he should ask the Chancellor of the 
Exchequer whether the Board of Customs had allowed 
15 instead of 10 per cent, of spirits to be mixed with 
wines in bond for the purpose of fortifying them. 
