MISCELLANEA. 
491 
Oct. 8th, at No. 1, Richmond Terrace, Hackney, before Mr. Humphreys, on the body of 
Mr. William James Groves, aged 42 years. He was a merchant in the City, and his 
transactions were principally on the Corn Exchange and with New York. The evidence 
showed that he had sustained very severe losses in connection with America, which had 
preyed upon his mind in a most distressing manner. On Thursday last he came to his 
father’s house earlier in the day than the hour at which his father and brother were 
usually there. He asked the servant if they were at home, and, ascertaining that they 
were not, he went into the dining-room, ordering that a glass and some water should be 
brought. He then closed the door, and the room was not entered till later, when his 
father returned. He was then discovered lying on the couch, as though asleep, but 
dead. On the table stood a bottle containing a quantity of cyanide of potassium, and 
the tumbler in which he had mixed a supply of the poison, and from which he had drunk 
as much as he was able before the poison took effect. On the table beside the glass 
were two letters, in which he stated that his mind was going, and that he could not 
bear his troubles any longer, as well as a kindly and anxious reference to his wife. The 
medical evidence established that the deceased had been poisoned with cyanide of potas¬ 
sium. The jury found “That the deceased committed suicide by poisoning himstlf with 
cyanide of potassium while in a state of unsound mind; and the jury desire to draw 
attention to the danger of permitting the indiscriminate sale of cyanide of potassium to 
unknown persons, and to suggest that in all cases the purpose to which so deadly a drug 
is to be applied should be carefully ascertained.” 
% 
Alleged Poisoning by Strychnine.—A trial has lately taken place before the 
Assize Court of Berne, in Switzerland, bearing someyesemblance to the La Pommerais 
case in Paris. Charles Hermann Demme, doctor of medicine, practising at Berne, was one 
of the accused parties, and Sophia Elizabeth Triimpi, the widow of Gaspard Triimpi, of 
Glaris, banker, also of Berne, was charged with being the accomplice of Dr. Demme in 
the murder of her husband. On the night of the 15th of February last, Gaspard 
Triimpi died, and on the following day it was rumoured that he had died by his own 
hand, and in consequence of this and of another report that Triimpi had met with foul 
play, an inquest was ordered by the authorities, and Dr. Demme, as the family physi¬ 
cian, was called upon for a report of the circumstances relating to Triimpi’s death. In 
this report death was attributed to an apoplectic stroke. The Procureur-General of 
Berne ordered a post-mortem examination to be made by Dr. Charles Emmert and Dr. 
Kupper, both of Berne, and an analysis of the intestines, which was conducted by MM. 
Fliichigcr and Schwalbach, resulted in the discovery of more than ten grains of strych¬ 
nine. The notion of accidental death was therefore rejected, and the supposition of 
self-murder was not admitted. As it was known that Dr. Demme had been alone in the 
house of the deceased the night he died, and that a criminal intimacy had existed be¬ 
tween him and Madame Triimpi, the authorities issued warrants for the apprehension of 
both parties. For the defence it was alleged, that although death had undoubtedly 
been caused by strychnine, the fact was concealed by Dr. Demme in order to spare the 
feelings of the family. The medical questions were again discussed before the College 
of Health, who came to the conclusion that the poisoning was not accidental, but that 
there were some grounds for believing in suicide. It was finally resolved that the case 
should be sent before the Assize Court, and left to the jury to pronounce on the guilt 
or innocence of the parties. This resulted in the acquittal of both, Dr. Demine having 
to pay half the costs of the trial. As if to darken a picture already black enough, it was 
reported that Dr. Demme and Mademoiselle Flora Triimpi, daughter of Gaspard Triimpi, 
had committed suicide by drowning in the Lake of Geneva; but this was without 
foundation, and it is now stated that Dr. Demme and Mademoiselle Triimpi committed 
suicide by taking poison at the Hotel d’Angleterre, Genoa. 
Poisoning by Absorption. —A curious case of poisoning by absorption of tobacco 
through the skin was mentioned at a recent meeting of the Academie des Sciences by 
M. Cl. Barnard, who received the information from M. Namias. A smuggler had placed 
a quantity of unmanufactured tobacco next his skin, and the heat and perspiration pro¬ 
duced by walking caused the absorption of the poisonous properties of the tobacco, the 
consequences of which were very serious. 
