/August 12, 1571.] 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
137 
■of the many scientific objections which may ho urged 
against this hypothesis, hut I believe them to he all an- 
.swerable. I have already taxed your patience too se¬ 
verely to allow me to think of discussing any of them 
-on the present occasion. The hypothesis that life ori¬ 
ginated on this earth through moss-grown fragments 
from the ruins of another world may seem wild and 
■visionary; all I maintain is that it is not unscientific. 
From the earth stocked with such vegetation as it 
•could receive mcteorically, to the earth teeming with all 
the endless variety of plants and animals which now in¬ 
habit it, the step is prodigious; yet, according to the 
doctrine of continuity, most ably laid before hie Asso¬ 
ciation by a predecessor in this chair (Mr. Grove), all 
-creatures now living on earth have proceeded by orderly 
•evolution from some such origin. Darwin concludes his 
great work on ‘The Origin of Species’ with the follow¬ 
ing words:—“ It is interesting to contemplate an en¬ 
dangled bank clothed with many plants of many kinds, 
with birds singing on the bushes, with various insects 
flitting about, and with worms crawling through the 
•damp earth, and to reflect that these elaborately con¬ 
structed forms, so different from each other, and depen- 
•dent on each other in so complex a manner, have all 
been produced bylaws acting around us.” .... “There 
is grandeur in this view of life with its several powers, 
having bcc-n originally breathed by the Creator into a 
few forms or into one; and that, whilst this planet has 
gone cycling on according to the fixed law of gravity, 
from so simple a beginning endless forms, most beautiful 
•and most wonderful, have been and arc being evolved.” 
With the feeling expressed in these two sentences I most 
-cordially sympathize. I have omitted two sentences 
which come between them, describing briefly the hypo- j 
thesis of “the origin of species by natural selection,”) 
because I have always felt that this hypothesis docs not 
•contain the true theory of evolution, if evolution there ; 
has been, in biology. Sir John Herschel, in expressing 
•a favourable j udgment on the hypothesis of zoological 
■evolution, with, however, some reservation in respect to J 
the origin of man, objected to the doctrine of natural 
-■selection, that it was too like the Laputan method of 
making books, and that it did not sufficiently take into 
■account a continually guiding and controlling intelli¬ 
gence. This seems to me a most valuable and instruc¬ 
tive criticism. I feel profoundly convinced that the ar¬ 
gument of design has been greatly too much lost sight 
of in recent zoological speculations. Reaction against 
the frivolities of teleology, such as arc to be found, not 
rarely, in the notes of the learned commentators on 
iPaley’s ‘ Natural Theology,’ has, I believe, had a tempo¬ 
rary effect in turning attention from the solid and irre¬ 
fragable argument so well put forward in that excellent 
•old book. Rut overpoweringly strong proofs of intelli-; 
gent and benevolent design lie all round us, and if ever 
perplexities, whether metaphysical or scientific, turn us 
•away from them for a time, they come back upon us with 
irresistible force, showing to us through nature the in¬ 
fluence of a free will, and teaching us that all living 
beings depend on one ever-acting Creator and Ruler. 
parliamentary anir fato $rwttiiinp. 
Alleged Death through taking “Vegetable Pills.” 
An inquest was held at Bridlington Quay, on the 
38th ult., to inquire into the cause of death of Miss 
Anne Dowsland, who was found dead at her residence 
•on the previous Sunday. From the evidence, it ap- 1 
peared that the deceased had complained to her neigh¬ 
bours of bad health, and suffered from asthma and 
shortness of breath. On the Saturday week previous to 
her death she had been called upon by Mr. Robinson, of 
Hull, from whom she had previously received a circular, 
and persuaded by him to purchase a box of his pills, 
which he said would do her more good than anything. 
She took three pills in water the first night, two on the 
Monday night, and two on Tuesday morning, after 
which she was very much purged up to the time of her 
death. 
| Mr. Robinson, having been cautioned, said that he 
was a “medical herbalist,” residing in Grimsby Lane, 
Market Place, Hull. He called on the deceased, who 
complained of a pressure and gathering of wind at the 
chest and stomach and costiveness, and sold her a box of 
his “vegetable pills.” He saw she was very low and 
weak, and advised her to take rice and boiled milk, and 
a tablespoonful of raw Jamaiea rum in the middle of the 
forenoon; he also gave directions as to the time and 
way the pills should be taken. The ingredients of the 
pills were jalap, aloes, ginger, half a drachm of cayenne 
or capsicum in a 2 lb. mass, with carbonate of soda and 
simple syrup. In answer to a juror, witness said he 
had taken six similar pills on Saturday night previous 
and six on the following morning without sustaining 
any injurious consequences. The diet he prescribed 
was intended as a corrective to any purgative action. 
He did not prescribe the pills for every class of ailment. 
The medical gentlemen who had conducted a post¬ 
mortem examination gave evidence as to the state of the 
body. They were of opinion that the diseased state of 
the lungs must eventually have proved fatal, but that 
drastic purgatives would have a depressing effect upon a 
person suffering from extreme exhaustion; and that 
under the circumstances the taking of these pills would 
have had a tendency to accelerate death. 
The jury returned a verdict of “ Death from natural 
causes, accelerated by incautiously taking purgative 
medicine.” 
We are informed that after the conclusion of the in¬ 
quest Mr. Robinson was arrested by the police, on a 
warrant charging him with manslaughter. Some of the 
pills were forwarded to an analyst for examination. 
Poisoning of a Family by Prussic Acid. 
A case of poisoning occurred at Glasgow, on Thurs¬ 
day, August 5th, in which three children and their 
father died from the effects of prussic acid. It appears 
that the father, Mr. Nimmo, in a fit of mental aberra¬ 
tion, mixed some prussic acid with wine, which he gave 
to four of his children, aged respectively 7 years, 5 
years, 3 years, and 20 months. A servant, attracted by 
the moaning of the youngest child, went into the room, 
and saw the father bending over the bed. He made an 
excuse, which satisfied her for the time, but on going to 
the other children she saw there was something wrong, 
and gave the alarm. Assistance was immediately ob¬ 
tained, when the three youngest children and Mr. 
Nimmo were found to be dead. The eldest child had 
been offered some wine by his father, but he only tasted 
it, and, disliking it, would not take any more. The 
glass was afterwards found to contain a mixture of wine 
and prussic acid. This child has since recovered. 
Mr. Nimmo is said to have obtained the prussic acid 
from a firm in Glasgow which was in the habit of sup¬ 
plying him with goods necessary for his business, stat¬ 
ing that he wanted it for use in a chemical process. A 
member of the firm took the precaution to go to Kilsyth, 
where the deceased had just erected a millboard factory, 
and deliver the prussic acid to him in person. At the 
same time, he warned Mr. Nimmo that, being required, 
as he alleged, for experimental purposes, it was of the 
strongest manufacture, and extreme caution would be 
required in its use. 
