16 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[July 1,1871. 
Dunfermline, by Mr. Campbell.. 
Eorfar, by Mr. Baxter. 
Goole, by Mr. Dennison. 
Grossington, by Lord F. Cavendish. 
Horncastle, by Mr. Chaplin. 
Hull, by Mr. Clay. 
Kidderminster, by Mr. Lea. 
Kilburn, by Viscount Enfield. 
Kingston-on-Thames, by Mr. Peek. 
Macclesfield, by Mr. Brocklehurst. 
Newcastle-on-Tyne, by Mr. Headlam. 
Perth, by Mr. Ivinnaird. 
Peterborough, by Mr. AVhalley. 
Reading, by Sir F. Goldsmid. 
Rochester, by Mr. Wykeham Martin. 
Taunton, by Mr. Barclay. 
Tewkesbury, by Captain Price. 
Tunbridge Wells, by Mr. Dyke. 
Wareham, by Mr. G. Sturt. 
Winchester, by Mr. W. B. Simonds. 
June 28.—Petitions against the Pharmacy Act Amend¬ 
ment Bill were presented from— 
Abingdon, by Colonel C. L. Lindsay. 
Bridgnorth, by Mr. W. H. Foster. 
Bristol, by Mr. Kirkman-Hodgson. 
Bury St. Edmund’s, by Mr. Hardcastle. 
Cardiff, by Colonel Stuart. 
Chelmsford, by Lord E. Cecil. 
Colne and Haslingden, by Mr. Holt. 
Doncaster, by Mr. H. F. Beaumont. 
Dorking and Farnham, by Mr. Cubitt. 
Gainsborough, by Sir M. Cholmeley. 
Greenwich, by Sir D. Salomons. 
Gosport, by Lord II. Scott. 
Ilfracombe, by Mr. Acland. 
Knutsford, by Mr. W. Egerton. 
Leominster, by Mr. R. Arkwright. 
Liscard, by Mr. Laird. 
Lowestoft, by Mr. Corrance. 
Ludlow, by Lieut.-Colonel AY. Clive. 
Market AVeighton, by Mr. Sykes. 
Northallerton, by Mr. Hutton. 
Northampton, by Mr. Gilpin. 
Ross, by Sir J. Bailey. 
Shaftesbury, by Mr. Glyn. 
Stirling, by Mr. Campbell. 
Stowmarket, by Colonel Parker. 
Sydenham and neighbourhood, by Mr. Mills. 
Tunbridge AVells, by Lord Holmesdalo. 
AYaisall, by Air. C. Forster. 
Poisoning by Strychnia in Sweetmeats. 
An inquest has been held in Brighton to inquire into 
the cause of death of Sidney Albert Barker, a boy about 
four and a half years of ago, who died shortly after eat¬ 
ing some chocolate creams, purchased at Air. Maynard’s, 
in West Street, with symptoms that seemed to point to 
poison as the cause of death. The following are the 
facts as they appeared in evidence :— 
On Alonday morning, about nine o’clock, Air. Charles 
David Aliller bought some chocolate-cream at Air. Alay- 
nard s shop.. He gave one of the drops to the deceased, 
who complained of its being “nasty,” and his brother, 
Air. Ernest Aliller, spat one 'out as soon as he put it in 
his mouth. Notwithstanding this, however, Air. Aliller 
ate several of the drops himself, and shortly afterwards 
felt very unwell. . A feeling of coldness suddenly came 
over him; ho shivered all over, and his limbs became 
quite rigid. As these feelings recurred to him when he at¬ 
tempted to get from the chair in which ho was sitting, a 
medical man was sent for. Air. Tuke, surgeon, on his 
arri\ al, attributed these symptoms to nervousness, and 
said there was no harm in the chocolate. Air. Aliller, 
however, continued to feel very unwell throughout the 
day. In the afternoon some more of the drops were given 
to the deceased, who almost directly afterwards was 
taken violently ill, and cried and screamed in a most alarm¬ 
ing manner. Then his feet began to stiffen and his face to 
become black. He was, thereupon, put into a warm 
bath with mustard in it, and Air. Rugg, surgeon, having 
in the meantime been sent for, this gentleman on ar¬ 
riving, found the child in strong convulsions, and its. 
bowels much distended. Before inquiring the cause, he 
was told the circumstance of the chocolate-cream, and 
how the uncle of the child had been taken ill in the 
morning. His first thought was to remove the poison, 
(for that ho supposed it to be) from the stomach, and for 
that purpose sent for an emetic which he prescribed from 
the nearest chemist. He at once applied cold vinegar- 
and-water to the child’s head, but before the emetic ar¬ 
rived the child died. 
The inquest having been adjourned, that the contents 
of the stomach might be forwarded to Dr. Letheby for 
analysis, was resumed on Thursday last. 
Air. Pcnfold w r atched the case on behalf of Air. Alay- 
nard, and Air. Gell on behalf of the father of the de¬ 
ceased. 
Dr. Letheby, Professor of Chemistry at the London. 
Hospital, said that he had examined the stomach of the 
deceased, and found that it presented a perfectly natural 
appearance, showing no signs of the action of any irritant 
mineral poison. On examining the brownish fluid 
smelling of chocolate, which, according to the label, was 
the contents of the stomach of the deceased, he found in. 
it several pieces of meat partly digested, a small piece of 
lettuce, and three or four grains of wheat, whole. On 
analysing this fluid he found it to be perfectly free from 
mineral poison, but to contain nearly a quarter of a grain 
of strychnia, which would be quite sufficient to account 
for death. One of the other parcels he received from 
Inspector Gibbs contained four kinds of bonbons. The- 
coloured ones, he found on analysis, to contain a prepa¬ 
ration of alum and cochineal, but no poison. The white 
ones, or, at least, the one he analysed, contained strych¬ 
nia. The third parcel contained two kinds of chocolate- 
creams, rose-pink and white, but they were quite free 
from poison. The colouring matter, though containing 
cochineal, was prepared rather differently. 
By the Coroner.—Strychnia would not be used in. 
colouring sweetmeats, nor in flavouring them, for it is 
excessively bitter. It is used extensively in the prepa¬ 
ration of vermin killers. The symptoms of the deceased, 
as shown by the evidence, are precisely those which 
would attend poisoning by strychnia, and there can be 
no doubt that that was the cause of death. 
Air. Tuke, surgeon, in answer to a question, said that 
he had given some of the chocolate to a dog, but it seemed 
to have no ill effect. 
Aliss Christiana Edmunds said that in September last 
she bought some chocolate creams at Air. Alaynard’s; 
establishment. On that occasion she ate two of them, 
and, about an hour afterwards, was seized with violent 
internal pains, and a burning in the throat, which lasted 
twenty minutes. She did not notice any unusual taste 
when eating them. On taking some brandy she became 
worse, and then took some castor-oil, after which she re¬ 
covered. In Alarch last, she tried some creams again, 
and a friend who was with her also tasted some of them. 
They had a strange nauseous metallic taste, and witness, 
had no sooner swallowed a portion of one than she was 
seized as before, but more violently, and in a slightly 
different way. There was the same burning in the 
throat, and a feeling of lightness in that region. The 
saliva kept flowing into the mouth, and she was seized 
with a trembling all over, and felt an indescribable 
sensation. Her face also looked livid. She again took 
brandy-and-watcr with the same effect as before, and 
then trying the castor-oil, she gradually recovered. Her 
friend was affected in the same way, and took a glass of 
wine, which made her very sick, and she then also re- 
