138 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[August 12,187L. 
Poisoning by an Overdose of Morphia. 
An inquest has "been held at Sidmouth to inquire into 
the death of Air. William Ellis Wall, a private gentle¬ 
man, residing at Salcombe Regis. 
Mrs. Wall, the widow, deposed to the deceased hav¬ 
ing, about two o’clock on Saturday afternoon, written 
out a prescription, and sent it by a servant to Mr. Web¬ 
ber, chemist, to be made up. He then went to bed, 
and, not having received the draught, he sent the girl 
again to Mr. Webber’s at nine o’clock to fetch it. The, 
girl brought back a bottle (which was produced), and, 
following the directions on the bottle and her husband’s 
previous directions, she gave him one-half of the mix¬ 
ture immediately. Directly afterwards, the housemaid 
came to say that the wrong medicine had been sent. In 
about five minutes her husband began to breathe unna¬ 
turally. She sent for Dr. M‘Kenzie, who, however, had 
nearly reached the house with Dr. Atkins, and met the 
servant in the drive. Mrs. Wall said that her husband 
was in the habit of taking opium, and of prescribing for 
himself. He had taken but little substantial food dur¬ 
ing that or the previous day, but on Saturday had 
drunk three large bottles of champagne. 
Jane Shepherd, the servant already mentioned, said 
she was sent with the prescription by her master in the 
afternoon, and again in the evening, when Mr. Robert 
Webber prepared the mixture in her presence. Shortly 
after, a messenger brought a bottle to the house, saying 
that Mr. Webber had sent the wrong draught, and re¬ 
quiring to have the previous mixture returned. 
Walter Finn, an apprentice, said he was directed by 
Mr. Robert Webber, about twenty-five minutes to ten, 
to go as quickly as possible to Mr. Wall’s with a bottle, 
and to say that the wrong medicine had been sent, 
which he was to bring back immediately. On his re¬ 
turn, about ten minutes after, he was sent to ask Dr. 
MTvenzie to come to Mr. Webber’s. 
Dr. M‘Kenzie stated that he was sent for at about 
twenty minutes to ten to go to Mr. Webber’s, and that 
on his arrival Mr. Webber told him that he had made a 
mistake,, and that instead of putting in half a drachm 
of solution (equal to half a grain) of muriate of mor¬ 
phia, he had put in a scruple (equal to 20 grains) of 
the drug, half of which quantity would kill any habitual 
morphia taker. Dr. Atkins was in the shop, and they 
both hastened to Mr. Wall’s, taking materials for a 
powerful emetic. Dr. M‘Kenzie described Mr. Wall’s 
symptoms when he first saw him, and the remedies 
which were applied. Mr. Wall died about a quarter- 
past three on Sunday morning. He had made a post¬ 
mortem examination, and had no doubt that death was 
caused by an overdose of morphia. Mr. R. Webber was 
in the room the whole of the time, rendering any assist¬ 
ance that was in his power. 
Confirmatory evidence having been given by Drs. 
Hodges and. Atkins, the coroner, in summing up, said 
that the evidence clearly established that death was 
caused by an overdose of morphia prepared by Mr. R. 
Webber; and pointed out that if a man undertook an 
office requiring care and skill, and by his want of skill 
or negligence caused the death of another, the law held 
him guilty of manslaughter; and it would be for the 
jury to consider whether the prescription had been pre¬ 
pared with the skill and care the law required, and find 
their verdict accordingly. 
The jury, in about a quarter of an hour, found a ver¬ 
dict of “Death by misadventure,” requesting the co¬ 
roner to admonish Mr. Webber to be more careful for 
the future, which he did.— Tiverton Gazette and East 
Devon Herald. 
[*** We are informed that Mr. Charles Webber, the 
principal, was absent from homo through indisposition, 
and that Mr. Robert W ebber, a younger brother, was 
left in charge of the business.— Ed.' Pharm. Journ.] 
Poisoning by Carbolic Acid. 
An inquest was held on Tuesday, at Salford, concern¬ 
ing the death of Isabella Storks, aged one year and ten 
months. The mother of the deceased said her husband 
was a private soldier, now with his regiment. She re¬ 
sided in St. John’s Wood. Some carbolic acid was re¬ 
ceived from the nuisance department for the purpose of 
disinfecting the house where a case of smallpox had re¬ 
cently occurred. Part of it had been used and the re¬ 
mainder wa3 left in a bottle, and placed amongst other 
similar bottles in a cupboard. The child got to the cup¬ 
board and drank some of the acid in the bottle. She be¬ 
came very ill, and was shortly afterwards removed to the* 
Infirmary where she died. 
Dr. Syson, Medical Officer of Health for Salford, was 
present at the inquiry, and said the carbolic acid in the 
bottle produced was in a crude state. He had given- 
strict instructions that it should not be left in that state 
at any house, but that the nuisance officers should take 
it to the houses and dilute it there before it was handed 
to the occupants for use. The officer who took the acid 
to the house in question was at present away on leave. 
The jury returned a verdict of “ Accidental death,”’ 
and, at their request, Dr. Syson promised to make further 
inquiries into the matter, and report to the committee if 
he considered the conduct of the nuisance officer rendered, 
such a step necessary.— Manchester Courier. 
Poisoning by an Overdose of Laudanum. 
An inquest was held Friday, August 4, concerning the 
death of a child two years old, daughter of George Whit- 
taker, residing in Pendleton. It appeared that a nurse 
that had been in attendance upon the child, who was suf¬ 
fering from a severe cough, recommended the mother to 
give it a dose of paregoric and aniseed. By a mistake 
laudanum and aniseed was purchased from the chemist’s,, 
and some of the mixture was administered to the child* 
who died in consequence. After several witnesses hadi 
been examined, the jury returned a verdict of “Acci¬ 
dental death.” —Manchester Courier. 
Cambridge Poisoning Case. 
There was a further remand of the prisoner in this case.., 
to enable Professor Liveing to confer with Dr. Letheby 
respecting the different results arrived at by the two 
analysts. 
BOOKS RECEIVED. 
On the Source of the Radix Galang^: Minoris of 
Pharmacologists. By Henry Fletcher Hance*. 
Ph.D. From D. Hanbury, Esq. 
Historical Notes on the Radix Galangje of Phar¬ 
macy. By Daniel Hanbury, Esq. From the Author. 
Des Rhubarbes. These presentee et soutenue a l’Ecole 
superieure de Pharmacie de Paris, pour obtenir le diplome 
de Pharmacien de Premiere Classe. Par Eugene Collin. 
Paris: 1871. From Professor J. L. Soubeiran. 
The following journals have been received:—The ‘British 
Medical Journal,’ Aug. 5 ; the ‘Medical Times and Gazette/ 
Aug. 5 ; the ‘ Lancet,’ Aug. 5 ; the ‘ Medical Press and Cir¬ 
cular,’ Aug. 9; ‘Nature,’ Aug. 3; the ‘Chemical News/ 
Aug. 5; * Gardeners’ Chronicle,’ Aug. 5; the ‘Journal of 
the Society of Arts,’ Aug. 5; the ‘ Grocer/ Aug. 5; ‘ Pro¬ 
duce Markets Review,’ Aug. 5; the ‘ English Mechanic/ 
Aug. 4 ; ‘ Journal de Pharmacie et de Chimie ’ for April, May- 
and June; ‘ Proceedings of the Royal Institution;’ ‘ Chicago 
Pharmacist ’ for July; ‘ Practitioner ’ for August; ‘ British 
Journal of Dental Science ’ for August. 
