13 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[July 1, 1871, 
had been absorbed into the system. As to the way in 
which the strychnine was administered, that also was 
perfectly clear. It must have been by means of the 
chocolate-creams, but how it got into them could only be 
a matter of conjecture, and the most reasonable hypo¬ 
thesis was that it was through some misadventure with 
the vermin poison. But how that got there, there was 
no evidence to show. They would also have to consider 
whether any one had been guilty of criminal negligence. 
The fact of the manufacturer having been established in 
business thirty-two years, and never having had a com¬ 
plaint previously, was sufficient to show the manner in 
which his business was conducted, and, therefore, to ex¬ 
culpate him. Mr. Maynard had taken every reasonable 
precaution, after Miss Edmunds had complained to him; 
and though it was certainly unfortunate that neither she 
nor Mr. Schweitzer had thought of communicating the 
result of the analysis to him, yet, strange to say, the 
poison discovered on that occasion was evidently quite 
different from that which had caused the death of the 
deceased, and must have found its way in a different way. 
He, therefore, recommended them to find a verdict in 
accordance with the medical evidence as to the cause of 
death, and stating that there was no evidence to show 
how the strychnine got into the chocolate. 
The Foreman of the Jury said that they fully agreed 
with the Coroner’s remarks, but would wish to add a 
suggestion to their verdict, that great care should be 
taken in using vermin poison at the place of manu¬ 
facture. 
Mr. Penfold wished to state that Mr. Maynard would 
at once destroy the whole of his present stock of French 
chocolate .—Brighton Daily News. 
Suicide by Phosphorous Vermin Killer. 
An inquest has been held at Tweedmouth upon the 
body of Jane "VVeatherhead. It appeared that the de¬ 
ceased, having had some little difference with her hus¬ 
band, left her home and went to stay two or three days 
with some friends. Upon returning home her husband 
noticed that her lips, teeth and tongue were black, and 
asked her what was the matter. She replied that she 
had taken poison at Kelso two days previously, in the 
form of vermin killer. Medical assistance was obtained, 
but she died the next day. 
Dr. Brown said that he found the deceased in a state 
of collapse, pulseless and breathing heavily; her eye¬ 
balls were dilated and she was almost unconscious. He 
tried to get her to swallow a little milk but she could 
not. He examined some of her vomit: it was of a dark 
-coffee colour, and had the appearance of containing some 
undigested blood. He was told that deceased had taken 
some “ vermin destroyer,” and that it was a paste. From 
the appearance and symptoms he was of opinion that 
the deceased died through poisoning by phosphorus. 
He considered the case hopeless from the first. 
The jury returned that the deceased died from the 
effects of phosphorus taken while in a state of insanity. 
Adulteration of Bread with Alum. 
At the City Police Court, Manchester, charges were 
recently brought against two bakers of having adulte¬ 
rated bread by the admixture of alum. Loaves of bread, 
which had been purchased at the shops of defendants, 
were submitted to analysis by Professor Roscoe, who de¬ 
posed that he had found in the different samples 13, 12, 
and 4 grains of alum to the pound respectively. In one 
case it was submitted that in order to convict it must be 
proved that the defendant was cognizant of the presence 
of alum in the flour. The magistrate, however, decided 
that it was the duty of the baker to take care that the 
flour had no alum in it. A fine of £5 was inflicted in 
each case. 
Contributions towards the Materia Medica ani> 
Natural History of China, for the use of Medical 
Missionaries and Native Medical Students. By Fre¬ 
derick Porter Smith, M.B. London, Medical Mis¬ 
sionary in Central China.—Shanghai: American Pres¬ 
byterian Mission Press.—London : Triibner and Co., 
60, Paternoster Row. 1871. Pp. 237. 
This work is the result of the leisure moments of two 
years spent by the author at the great trading city of 
Hankow on the banks of the Yang-tse-kiang, some 
hundreds of miles from the sea. It forms a neatly printed 
volume in which are arranged in alphabetical order the 
names either in English or in Latin of a variety of sub¬ 
stances, most of which are either found in the drug- 
shops of the Chinese or in the dispensaries attached te 
the Mission Hospitals. Each name is followed by a 
Chinese equivalent expressed in native characters. As 
most of the chemical substances employed in European 
medicine have no Chinese names, and as the sound of 
Latin or English words is often inexpressible by Chinese 
characters, special names framed according to Chinese 
ideas have been invented. Thus Iodine is termed 
1lai-tien i. e. Sea-indigo ; Sulphuric acid , Liu-hwang-iw 
i. e. Sulphur-oil; Lunar caustic, Yin-siau i. e. Silver- 
nitre. Even Chlorodyne is put into Chinese as Poh-ho - 
yoh, literally Peppermint-medicine. 
Following the name are remarks descriptive of the 
history and uses of each article. As a specimen we may- 
quote the following: 
“Sal Ammoniac.— Nau-sha, Nung-sha, Peh-ting- 
“ sha. —This saline substance, the chloride of ammonium 
“ of chemists, is brought from Lan-chau-fu and Ning- 
“ hia in Kan-suh. The country of the Tih, or Si-jung,. 
“ and Turfan formerly yielded it. The volcanic moun- 
“ tain of Peh-ting in Turfan is said to have yielded some 
“ ammoniacal salt from fissures in its sides, and hence 
“ the name Peh-ting sha, more correctly given perhaps to 
“ volcanic ammonia. The Chinese name Naxi-sha is very 
“ like the Hindustani names Naushadar and Nausadar , 
“ given to thick, fibrous, translucent cakes of this crude 
“ salt of ammonia obtained in India from the unburnt 
“ extremity of brick-kilns in which the manure of camels- 
“ etc. is used as fuel. (Dr. Waring’s Ph. of India, p. 309.) 
“ Keferstein affirms that both carbonate and muriate of 
“ ammonia are found in China, but the dirty-white, rough, 
“ deliquescent salt commonly sold under this name is 
‘‘nothing but sulphate of soda, or common salt. Nitre 
“ (soda-nitrate) and borax are also confounded with it- 
“ It is used as a flux or solder, or is said to be so em- 
“ ployed. Whilst the salt is said to be deleterious, it is 
“ also said to be used in curing meat, or as a condiment. 
“ It is mainly used as a solvent for opacities of the 
“ cornea, for which the sulphate of soda acts almost as 
“ well. It acts as a sedative, resolvent, deobstruent, 
“ pectoral and mild escharotic, in Chinese estimation. 
“ They use it in veterinary practice. Some of the 
“ samples contain iron, and resemble the Kala Nimuh 
“ of India.” 
Several of the substances used in Chinese medicine 
described some years ago in the pages of this journal- 
are further illustrated by the researches of Dr. Porter- 
Smith. Thus the seeds called Fc-tsaou-toxo* are referred, 
by him to Acacia coucinna [DC.], with the information, 
that the pods containing them are used instead of soap 
in the washing of clothes, but from their strong smelL 
are not allowed in the public baths. The root known as- 
Tsing-muh-heang noticed in one of the papers referred to,-f- 
is stated by our author to be that of Aristolochia con- 
torta [Bunge], but he does not say how this point waa. 
settled, or give any particulars as to the cultivation or 
collection of the plant. By the Trade Report of Ningpo 
* Ph. J. III. (1862) 8. f Rh. J. III. (1862) 264. 
