136 
POISONING BY CALABAlt BEANS. 
examination of the body, he found all the organs healthy, with the exception of the 
lungs, which were somewhat tuberculous. The stomach and upper part of the small 
intestines contained a substance resembling slightly-digested nuts. He attributed 
death to the poisonous effects of the Calabar beans taken into the stomach. 
Dr. Cameron, residing at 17, Rodney Street, who was in attendance at the hospital, 
gave similar evidence, and added that forty-six children were admitted suffering from 
the effects of the same poison. 
Dr. John Baker Edwards deposed,—I am an analytical chemist and lecturer on 
medical jurisprudence at the Royal Infirmary School of Medicine, Liverpool. On Friday, 
the 12th instant, I attended a 'post-mortem examination of the remains of the deceased 
Michael Russell, and removed the stomach, intestines, and parts of the viscera of 
deceased in jars, which I conveyed to my laboratory at the Royal Institution for che¬ 
mical examination. On the same day I received from Inspector Moore a parcel of 
beans, said to be similar to those of which the said Michael Russell had eaten. The 
beans are those known in medicine as Calabar or ordeal beans (Physostigma vene- 
nosum). I proceeded to make an alcoholic extract of the beans, also of the contents 
of deceased’s stomach, and of the contents of deceased’s intestines. The stomach con¬ 
tained only five fluid ounces of fluid, consisting of a few fragments of the bean and the 
remains of a mustard emulsion which had been administered shortly before death. 
The quantity of alcoholic extract from the stomach was therefore very small, and its 
reactions were obscured by the mustard. After further purification by ether, an ex¬ 
tract was obtained which caused marked contraction of the pupil in the eye of a rabbit 
when applied to it externally. From the intestines of deceased I obtained seventeen 
fluid ounces of an emulsive fluid, which, after digestion with the alcohol, yielded an 
extract, which was then purified by ether and evaporated. This ethereal extract 
corresponded in its reactions with a similarly-prepared extract of the beans under exa¬ 
mination. The chemical reactions on a watery solution of the ethereal extract are as 
follows:—1. A pink colour, struck by caustic potash, which gradually increases in in¬ 
tensity to a deep red, and when mixed with chloroform forms a deep red cliloroformic 
solution, which separates from the clear yellowish supernatant liquor. 2. A red 
colour, struck by strong sulphuric acid, with separation of a resinoid coagulum. 3. 
A violet colour, changing to red by sulphuric acid and crystals of bichromate of 
potash. 4. A similar colour, with sulphmuc acid and binoxide of manganese, retain¬ 
ing the purple colour for a long time. 5. A yellow precipitate, with solution of iodine 
in iodide of potassium. 6. A purple colour, with terchloride of gold and reduction of 
metallic gold. 7. A yellow colour, struck with caustic ammonia, which, exposed for 
some hours to light, turned green, and finally a deep blue. I applied a few drops of 
the aqueous emulsion of this ethereal extract obtained from the intestines of deceased 
to a frog’s back, by insertion under the skin- In a short time the animal manifested 
an indisposition to movement, and became very quiet. In the course of an hour it 
became unable to jump, or to remove the position in which its limbs were placed, and 
in about two hours it became perfectly flaccid and insensible to any external irritation; 
although stimulated by strychnine, it was incapable of being roused to muscular exer¬ 
tion, and soon expired, having previously exhibited very irregular respiration and pul¬ 
sation. A second portion of the emulsion was exhibited to a mouse, which became 
soon paralysed in its limbs, and died after a few hours. A third portion was intro¬ 
duced into the circulation of a mouse by the ear, and after twenty-four hours the 
poison operated fatally, by complete paralysis of the limbs and senses, and the animal 
died by syncope. A fourth portion of the emulsion from the intestines of deceased, 
applied to the eye of a rabbit, caused strong contraction of the pupil after three-quar¬ 
ters of an hour. Similar results were obtained by an ethereal extract of the bean 
itself.* 
The Coroner, hj addressing the jury, remarked that the case was one of a distress¬ 
ing character, there being no doubt from the evidence that the death of the deceased 
was occasioned by the poisonous action of the Calabar beans which he had eaten. 
The only question for the jury was, whether there was negligence on the part of any 
* For further particulars see “Notes on the Cases of Poisoning by Calabar Beans,” by 
Dr. Edwards, p. 99. 
