284 
DEATH FllOM E It GOT OE EYE. 
pears on the label, ancl the preparation is certified to contain 25 per cent, of 
citrate of quinine. 
No. 13 was of a dark-olive colour with a golden tinge. It was unaltered 
by exposure to the air at a temperature of 60°. It dissolved in water with 
considerable difficulty, yielding a dull yellow solution which was not clear, 
and had an acid reaction on test paper. It possessed a bitter and nauseous 
chalybeate taste. The precipitate thrown down by ammonia was dark in 
colour and resinous. From three analyses of twenty-five grains each I ob¬ 
tained 3*72, 3*7, and 3*67, mean 3*696, equal to 14*784 per cent, of quinine, or 
23‘09 per cent, of citrate of quinine. 
This, when treated with ether, yielded a brownish-coloured solution, and 
left a small quantity of insoluble matter. Prepared according to the British 
Pharmacopoeia formula. 
No 14 had a golden green colour and somewhat dull appearance. Was 
unaltered by exposure to the air at a temperature of 60°. It dissolved in 
water with difficulty, but more readily than the preceding, yielding a rather 
turbid solution, which on standing deposited a greyish sediment, and had an 
acid reaction on test paper, and an intensely bitter taste. It yielded a copious 
precipitate on the addition of ammonia. From three analyses of twenty-five 
grains each, and from one of fifty grains, I obtained 3*72, 3*7, and 3*73, from 
fifty grains 7'45, mean 3*72, equal to 14*88 per cent, of quinine, or 23*25 per 
cent, of citrate of quinine. 
This, when treated with ether, yielded a brownish solution, and left but 
little insoluble matter. The name appears on the label, and the preparation 
is certified to contain 25 per cent, of citrate of quinine. 
No. 15 occurred in very bright, fine golden scales, which remain unaltered 
by exposure to the air at a temperature of 60°. Dissolved readily in water, 
yielding a perfectly clear yellow solution, which had an acid reaction upon 
test paper, and a very bitter but not chalybeate taste. From three analyses 
of twenty-five grains each I obtained 3*96, 3*92, and 3*94, mean 3*96, equal to 
15*84 per cent, of quinine, or 24*75 per cent, of citrate of quinine. 
This, when digested in ether, yielded a brownish-coloured solution, and left 
a small quantity of insoluble matter. 
I regret that time does not permit me to report on the presence or absence 
of the other cinchona alkaloids. Quinidine will, I think, be found to be 
present in more than one specimen, and I imagine from the quantity of white 
precipitate left insoluble in ether in No. 7, that the presence of cinchonine is 
highly probable in that sample. I must, however, defer a further notice to 
another time. 
54, Kentish Town Road , London , K. IV. 
DEATH FROM ERGOT OF RYF. 
On Thursday, Oct. 6th, the Borough coroner resumed his inquiry, at the Town Hall, 
Brighton, as to the death of Susan Kingman. The facts of the case, as elicited at the 
inquest, are as follows :—The deceased had been cohabiting with a Mr. Leapman, and 
becoming enceinte had endeavoured to procure abortion by taking large quantities of 
ergot of rye. Mr. Leapman, when he discovered what she was doing, desired her to 
discontinue the medicine and made her promise that she would, but as soon as his back 
was turned she repeated the doses. In consequence of this her health was brought to so 
low an ebb that on Sunday, the 25th of September, medical assistance was called in; but 
notwithstanding the greatest care on the part of Dr. Stephens, she died on the following 
Tuesday. So peculiar were the symptoms of her ailing, that Dr. Stephens refused to give 
Mr. Leapman a certificate that Miss Kingman died from natural causes. The same day 
Mr. Leapman left Brighton, and no one knew where he was gone, although it was ru- 
