1022 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[June 17,1871. 
duty committed to them for the protection of the public 
in the matter of the sale of poisons, and at tho same time 
most desirous, not to act unjustly to the said E. C. 
Whisken.” 
The whole thing has been thoroughly investigated. 
The Lord Chief Justice.- —If we had known all this we 
should not have granted the rule. 
Mr. Bullen. —That is an affidavit that I have not got 
a copy of. My Lords, what we say is this, that opposition 
has been got up by Mr. "Williams, who is the local secre¬ 
tary to the Society down there. 
The Lord Chief Justice. —Whose duty it is to make 
any communication to them if any one is carrying on 
business as a chemist and druggist who is not qualified. 
Mr. Bullen. —But we say the information that was 
given to the Society has not been true information. 
The Lord Chief Justice. —They were willing to give 
you an opportunity of being reheard, which I do not 
know that they are now boimd to do, as you have allowed 
the time to pass. -Still they are willing to give you an 
opportunity of going before the Council again. 
Mr. Bullen. —I should have said that your Lordships 
had power to have this matter inquired into. 
The Lord Chief Justice. —So we have, if we see any 
abuse of the authority of the Council. The powers 
given to them are so salutary, and the exercise of them so 
desirable for the protection of the public , that unless we see 
a case of manifest injustice and oppression we do not inter¬ 
fere. So far from seeing anything of that kind here, as 
far as I can judge, it appears that what has been done 
by the Council has been properly done. I do not wish 
to say anything more. 
Mr. Bullen. —What I wish to submit to the Court is 
this, that I have sufficient evidence before the Court, in 
the shape of affidavits from medical practitioners in the 
place, for it to be said that the Council has been mis¬ 
informed. 
The Lord Chief Justice. —If they hav*) been misinformed, 
they can correct anything they have done; that is to say, 
if you would be so good as to condescend to go to the 
proper tribunal, that is, the Council, and satisfy the 
Council that they have acted improvidently in the case. 
Mr. Bullen. —I should submit it is rather late in the 
day for them to say they are ready to hear it again. 
Mr. Justice Lush. —A man who declines to satisfy them 
that he can read a prescription, surely is not entitled to 
come here for a mandamus. 
Mr. Bullen. —We have satisfied them. 
Mr. Qua in. —On the contrary. 
Mr. Justice Lush. —On the contrary, you have not. 
Mr. Bullen. —We have the affidavits of several medical 
practitioners who have examined this man. But there 
is this difficulty, my Lords, they have put us in the 
County Court. 
Mr. Justice Lush. —You deserve to be there if you 
have been practising without a qualification. This is 
an indirect mode of preventing that action being tried. 
Mr. Bullen .—No, my Lord, we say “ you wrongfully 
refused to qualify us, and therefore we go to the Court 
of Queen’s Bench to make you do it. We are prepared 
to say to the Court of Queen’s Bench we have satisfied 
the Act in all respects.” That is what I ask your 
Lordships to do, and to hear the affidavits, and say 
whether you are not satisfied that we are properly quali¬ 
fied to be put on the register. 
The Lord Chief Justice. —"What for? However, if you 
have anything to say we will hear you. 
Mr. Bullen. —I do not wish to keep the case up if your 
Lordships have made up your minds; but I should ask 
your Lordships to impose, so to say, the rehearing of our 
case before the Council itself. 
The Lord Chief Justice. —They offer that. 
Mr. Quain. —We have done that twice. 
Mr. Bullen. —Are you ready to do it again F that is the 
question. 
The Lord Chief Justice. —Up to the present time you 
have declined to avail yourself of that offer. It is not 
for us, under those circumstances, to impose any condi¬ 
tion. Tho Council will do what they think to be right. 
If they have thought it right to say they will give you 
a further hearing, I have no doubt they will continue 
to say it, without our interfering. I think there is no 
alternative but to discharge the rule, and to discharge it 
with costs. If a man will be obstinate, and not submit 
himself to the proper authority which has been autho¬ 
rized by the Act of Parliament to consider whether he is 
entitled to practise or not, and will come here, he must 
pay the expenses. 
Poisoning by Arsenic. 
An inquiry into the deaths of Airs. Matilda Harper, 
wife of Mr. William Harper, farmer, of Linley Hill, 
near Beverley, and of Lily Marian Taylor, their grand¬ 
child, was held on Friday last. On the 25th ult., Airs. 
Harper, Aliss Harper and the child Taylor, in the ab¬ 
sence of the male members of the family, partook of tea, 
and during the meal the child was taken ill. Airs. Harper, 
who for some time previously had been in delicate 
health, soon afterwards became indisposed, and as they 
grew worse assistance was sent for. Dr. Calvert, of 
Brandesburton, ascertained that they were suffering from 
the effects of poison. Everything possible was done to 
alleviate their agonies, but medical aid was of no avail,, 
and both Airs. Harper and her granddaughter died 
next day. Aliss Harper and Hannah Bromby were also 
taken ill after tea, as was also Henry Dunn, a brick ~ 
layef, working at the house, but they were ultimately 
restored. An inquest was opened on the bodies on the- 
20th ult., evidence was given to show that red lead 
had been used by the family during cleaning time, and the 
hypothesis was entertained that the water used for the tea 
might have become impregnated with the poison. A 
pump, which had been for a time disused, was repaired 
the same day, and the water for the tea was taken from this 
pump. Other persons, however, who were not affected, 
drank from the pump spout shortly after it was mended, 
and this fact tended to show that poison must have been 
contained in some of the vessels in which the water had 
been placed from the time of its extraction from the 
pump to coming on to the table. The kettle, teapot, 
etc., were carefully taken care of by the police, and the* 
inquest was adjourned in order that the viscera of the 
child and the contents of the vessels might be analysed.. 
Aliss Alary Anna Harper said : Eed lead was used on 
Thursday. Hannah Bromby filled the kettle on the* 
day of the accident from the pump. No one told her 
to put the kettle on the first time. She put it on the 
kitchen fire on her own account. It was her duty to- 
do so. The kettle boiled some time between four and 
five o’clock. When it boiled, I told her to take it off 
and refill it from the river. When it boiled over, I saw 
some stuff of a slate colour come from the kettle, and 
I told her to fill it from the river. She took it out of the 
kitchen into the back kitchen, and I suppose into the 
yard. I had not noticed the kettle boil over in that 
way before. She was just going out of tho kitchen 
where I was, when I told her to refill it from the river. 
She could not help hearing me. During the time the* 
pump was disused, about three weeks, we used the water 
from the river for drinking purposes. We have not 
lately used soda in the tea, not for three or four months 
perhaps. Do not remember using it since Hannah 
Bromby came to us. Did not observe anything the- 
second time the kettle boiled. Do not remember looking. 
Aly mother filled the teapot as soon as the kettle boiled, 
a second time. I gave Alarian Taylor about a quarter 
of a mug full of tea first, and about as much milk. If 
was not a large mug. She did not drink above half 
of it. She complained of being sick, and mother gave 
her a drink of her tea in a saucer. She drank about & 
