November 11,1871.] THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS 
397 
Have you ever analysed yeast F—Yes. Since the 
cases were heard at the other court, I have found seven- 
tenths of a grain of phosphate of alumina in two ounces 
of yeast, which is equal to nineteen grains and a fraction 
to the pound of yeast. 
Do you believe Mr. Black put alum into his bread 
when he says he did not F—I do not think he did. 
Might not the four grains of alum be easily accounted 
for by the presence of alumina in the ingredients natu¬ 
rally F —I do not think that more than half of the alum 
found could thus be accounted for. But I do not believe 
the bakers put alum in their bread, and I have good 
reason for believing it was in the flour. I examined 
six samples of flour, and found alum in all of them, in 
quantities varying from eleven grains to twenty-eight 
grains to the pound of flour. The amount of alum in 
the flour did not correspond to the amount in the bread. 
In one case, for instance, there were eleven grains of 
alum in the pound of flour, and only two grains in his 
bread; and in another only five grains in the bread, 
while he had twenty-eight grains in his flour. They 
must have more than one lot of flour. 
His Honour Judge Cope then asked if the quantity 
alleged to be found over what Mr. Johnson had stated 
might be in the bread naturally would be unwholesome 
or injurious to the consumer F —The reply was that it 
would not. 
His Honour then said that it was possible that such a 
small quantity, that nothing short of a scientific test 
could discover, might have got in accidentally or un¬ 
avoidably, or without the defendant’s knowledge or 
consent, in which case he was not liable. It seemed to 
him that the millers were, according to Mr. Johnson, 
more to blame than the bakers, and should have been 
proceeded against. The conviction was quashed, but 
without costs, as he considered the appellant must pay 
for the accidental introduction of the alum. 
In the next case—one similar—Mr. Johnson stated 
that he had discovered the equivalent of 18| grains of 
alum, in each pound of bread. 
Cross-examined:—How much alumina did you find in 
this bread F I found phosphate representing l T 3 yths of a 
grain of alumina, which equals eighteen grains in the 
pound. 
This case was decided against the baker, as his Honour 
held that such a large quantity as eighteen grains to the 
pound could not have got into the bread accidentally. 
Suicide of a Chemist. 
On Saturday morning last Mr. Corbett Smith, chemist 
and druggist, of High Street, Bromsgrove, was found 
dead in bed by his housekeeper, who noticing that he did 
not come down as usual to open his shop, went into her 
master’s room to ascertain the cause. An inquest was 
held upon the body the same afternoon, when, from the 
evidence, it appeared that deceased, a bachelor, aged 
forty-one years, and well known as a man of a jovial 
and easy temper, had been drinking rather of late. On 
Eriday he was more than usually excited, and rather 
unsettled in his mind and manner, and when he returned 
home, after spending the evening out, about twelve 
o’clock, he was not sober. He was not seen alive after 
that time, and when found in the morning had evidently 
been dead some hours. On the table in his sitting-room 
was found an ounce-bottle half full of prussic acid, and 
by his bed-side, on a chair, was a medicine glass, which 
had contained some liquid. "Underneath the candlestick 
was a paper, upon which was written in pencil, in 
deceased’s handwriting, “ From this world of long suf¬ 
fering and trouble I now make my exit. Friends, fare¬ 
well.” There were also some vague expressions. The 
light was put out, all the room was in perfect order, and 
deceased was lying with his hands folded upon his 
breast, as though in a deep, calm sleep. After hearing 
the evidence of Dr. Prosser and the other testimony, the 
jury returned a verdict “That deceased committed 
suicide by taking prussic acid whilst in a state of tem¬ 
porary insanity.”— Standard. 
Suicide by Strychnia. 
On Saturday last an inquest was held in Westminster 
to inquire into the death of Mr. Antonio Bini, described 
as an Italian surgeon. Evidence was given that as the 
deceased, who had been in practice as a medical man in 
Castle Street, did not make his appearance, the door of 
his room was broken open, when he was found dead, and 
a glass containing a strong solution of strychnia on the 
table. The body presented the appearance of strychnia 
poisoning, which was confirmed by a post mortem ex¬ 
amination. A verdict was returned that the deceased 
poisoned himself with strychnia while of unsound mind. 
Poisoning by Laudanum. 
On Saturday last the coroner for East Middlesex 
held an inquiry at Mile End, upon the body of a child, 
aged four days. It appeared that the mother had been 
taking medicine containing a small quantity of laudanum, 
and one empty bottle stood upon the bed-room shelf, 
another bottle containing one dose standing beside it. 
A small quantity of aniseed was fetched, and incautiously 
placed in the empty bottle, and the nurse, by mistake, 
gave the child a portion of the contents of the wrong- 
phial, the consequence being that death supervened 
shortly afterwards. A verdict of “ Death by misadven¬ 
ture” was returned. 
Suspected Poisoning by Antimony. 
At an inquest held last week at Bilston, Dr. Alfred 
Hill, of Queen’s College, Birmingham, deposed that he 
found antimony in the stomach of a child aged eleven. 
The father is a puddler. Deceased was seized with ex¬ 
cessive vomiting and purging, and died the same day. 
Sufficient antimony to cause death was found even after 
excessive vomiting. The mother denied having ad¬ 
ministered it in any shape. She had buried nine of her 
twelve children, and some of them died as this one did. 
The coroner has ordered the exhumation of the child 
last interred. 
A Systematic Handbook of Volumetric Analysis. 
By Francis Sutton, F.C.S., Norwich. Second 
Edition. J. and A. Churchill. 1871. Pp. 377. 
Although we find it difficult to admit without the 
proverbial grain of salt, the observation of a distinguished 
French chemist that “chemistry is a French science, 
having been founded by Lavoisier, of immortal memory,” 
we feel bound to allow that illustrious man a position in 
the front rank of those who taught first the principle 
upon which all science, and the science of chemistry 
especially, relies, namely, quantitative - exactitude. In 
the words of. Sir William Thomson, “ Accurate and 
minute measurement seems to the non-scientific imagina¬ 
tion a less lofty and dignified work than looking for 
something new. But nearly all the grandest discoveries 
of science have been but the rewards of accurate mea¬ 
surement and patient and long-continued labour in the 
minute sifting of numerical results.” This was the solid, 
if not the brilliant part of the philosophy of Lavoisier. 
It is true he was not the first who performed quantitative 
analyses, nor is his work distinguished by any very 
remarkable accuracy; but still we are indebted to him 
