396 
POISONING OF DOGS WITH STRYCHNINE. 
Externally everything appeared natural. On opening the 
thorax, the lungs were found slightly congested, the heart 
and its membranes healthy, the left side containing a con¬ 
siderable quantity and the right side a small quantity of dark 
semi-fluid blood. The stomach and intestines externally 
presented no unnatural appearance, both being nearly empty, 
the former containing only a small quantity of partly digested 
food, apparently bread, and its inner coat very slightly in¬ 
flamed. The bladder was empty, and like the rest of the 
abdominal viscera, appeared healthy. The brain and its 
membranes were considerably congested. 
The body of the retriever dog was in the same condition 
as seen immediately after death, no rigidity having takeu 
place. The lungs were much congested, the heart healthy, 
and in every respect like the dog previously examined, as 
regards the right and left side containing blood. The 
stomach contained a considerable quantity of food, princi¬ 
pally bread, and its inner coat was redder than natural. 
The bladder was full of urine, and, with the rest of the viscera, 
was in perfect health. The brain and its membranes, as in 
the one previously examined, were much congested. 
Having secured the stomachs and other parts necessary, 
I proceeded on the following day to make an analysis. The 
method I adopted was that recommended by Dr. Macadam 
in a lecture on strychnine, to be found in the Pharmaceutical 
Journal , namely, by mascerating the materials to be examined 
some hours in a dilute solution of oxalic acid, and after 
filtering and boiling to get rid of the albuminous matter, 
adding animal charcoal, evaporating to dryness, and then 
adding alcohol, applying heat, and, after removing the charcoal 
by filtration, evaporating the residue to dryness in a porce¬ 
lain vessel over a water bath. Having proceeded in this 
manner with the stomachs and a portion of the blood of both 
animals, the following tests gave clear evidence of the presence 
of strychnine : 
Taste , exceedingly bitter. 
Sulphuric acid (with trace of nitric acid) and binoxide of 
lead , a dark violet changing to a brich-red colour. 
Sulphuric acid and bichromate of potash, a violet changing in 
a short time to a brick-red. 
How these animals obtained the poison will probably 
never be known, as all our investigations on the subject 
proved nothing. It is somewhat singular that the two 
animals alone affected should be the ones which had been 
out the previous night, and this might at first indicate that 
the poison had been picked up by them at that time, but the 
