MISCELLANEA. 
663 
bitter taste, and to get rid of what remained of the latter an almond had been taken. 
Enough, however, of the powder (starch, Prussian blue, and strychnia, similar to what 
was employed in the Yyse case) remained behind to kill by absorption through the 
mucous membrane of the tongue, etc. The coroner, at the adjourned inquest, declined 
Dr. Herapath’s evidence, as he had not given any order for a chemical analysis, and 
now objected to the county being put to the expense. “ He said there was no doubt 
the case was one of suicide, therefore an analysis was unnecessary. The magistrates 
were very particular, and would not allow the expenses. Dr. Baker said the coroner 
had left the case with him. A country practitioner was not supposed to make an 
analysis, and he (Dr. Baker) was not prepared to state the cause of death unless the 
evidence of Dr. Herapath was taken. Dr. Herapath said that the law was at fault, as a 
medical gentleman was allowed only two guineas for making a post-mortem examination, 
and no man of education could be expected to do it for that sum. The coroner replied 
that he could not and would not let medical gentlemen act as Dr. Baker had done with¬ 
out the coroner’s instructions.” Dr. Herapath then made a voluntary statement, fore¬ 
going the usual fee. “ He stated that death had been caused by arsenic, a quantity of 
which, found in the stomach, he then produced. The jury heartily thanked him for his kind¬ 
ness, and returned a verdict in accordance with his testimony, and that the deed was 
done during temporary insanity.” It would be well if coroners and juries would 
remember that scientific men cannot live upon thanks, however hearty, any more than 
can the ordinary run of mortals. 
The following letter on the above case has been received from Dr. Herapath:— 
Sir,—I have only just succeeded in obtaining samples of Simpson’s rat-poison from 
Messrs. Balkwell and Son, of Plymouth, who appear to be the only agents for the article 
in the West of England, as I have failed in getting i-t in most of the chief towns, even 
Exeter and Bristol, most of the druggists of whom I have inquired informing me that it 
is very seldom found in the trade. I have also analysed it, and find that the packets con¬ 
tain a very varied, irregular quantity of material, from 7^ to 13g- grains ; four packets, 
containing 41f grains, giving an average of a little more than 10 grains for each powder, 
if all equally mixed and properly weighed and divided. The mixture consists of arse- 
nious acid, potato-starch, coloured by smaltz, and flavoured or scented with some essential 
oil, probably oil of rhodium. I found 10 grains to contain 4 grains of arsenious acid. 
It is, therefore, certain that Mrs. Williams had arsenious acid in her possession, and that 
she must have taken from 0 to 8 grains, as two empty packets were found by the police 
in her bedroom. This is a quantity sufficient to kill, but requiring more time probably 
than she liked,—thus accounting for the opening of the third packet. 
I greatly regret that there was no opportunity given me of examining the saliva for 
strychnia, as that would have determined the question whether that poison had also 
been taken into the mouth. Mrs. Williams had been buried in the interval of the ad¬ 
journment of the inquest, and I never saw the handkerchief. 
It is probable, therefore, that Mrs. Williams purchased all these rat and vermin 
poisons at Plymouth, on her way up to Dawlish from Devonport; and the tracing of the 
arsenic into her own possession is satisfactory to all parties, as the matter is now fully 
explained, and all other theories must for ever be set at rest. 
I am, Sir, yours most obediently, 
W. Bird Herapath. 
MISCELLANEA. 
Deaths by Poison.—Dr. Lankester, in his report, observes that the methods of self- 
destruction employed in the last two years have differed very considerably. Thus, in 
the year 1862-63, there were nineteen cases of poisoning, while in 1863-64 there were but 
nine. There was but one instance of poisoning by opium in the latter year, against four 
in the previous year, and two cases of poisoning by oxalic acid in the second year 
against five in the first year. The only poison employed in the second year, which was 
not used in the first, is corrosive sublimate; while strychnine, sulphuric acid, prussic 
acid, and potash, which were answerable for six deaths in the first year, do not appear 
in the list of the second. 
