370 
USE Of ARSENIC. 
unless they gradually give up the practice invariably die 
suddenly at last.” 
Persons who are employed in the smelting of metals con¬ 
taining arsenic fortify the system and enable it to resist the 
influence of the disengaged fumes by daily swallowing doses 
of this mineral, while others, who refrain from doing so, 
quickly die when they are exposed for any length of time to 
the arsenical vapours. In this they have a royal exampler or 
follower, as it is said that Napoleon I was in the habit 
of taking arsenic to ensure himself against being poisoned 
by it. 
The use of such an agent being so common, what wonder 
is it that death from it should frequently take place ? This 
has often led to judicial investigations, and also to trials for 
murder, the accused being sometimes acquitted on the 
grounds of the party having been an arsenic eater, or the 
general use of it in the district leading to the belief that it 
was not considered destructive of life. 
“ Professor Schallgruber, of the Imperial Lyceum at Gratz, 
investigated, by order of government, various cases of poison¬ 
ing by arsenic. After giving details of six post-mortem 
examinations, he says :— 4 The reason of the frequency of these 
sad cases appears to me to be the familiarity which exists 
in our country with arsenic, particularly the higher parts. 
There is hardly a district in Upper Styria where you will not 
find arsenic in at least one house under the name of hydrach. 
They use it for the complaints of domestic animals, to kill 
vermin, and as a stomachic to excite an appetite. I saw one 
peasant show another, on the point of a knife, how much 
arsenic he took daily, without which, he said, he could not 
live; the quantity I should estimate at two grains. It is said, 
but this I will not answer for, that in that part of the country 
this poison is used in making cheese; and, in fact, several 
cases of poisoning by cheese have occurred in Upper Styria, 
one not long since. The above-mentioned peasant states, I 
believe truly, that they buy the arsenic from the Tyrolese, 
who bring into the country spirits and other medicines, and 
so are the cause of much mischief.’ ” 
Mr. C. Boner, of Ratisbon, avers that the use of arsenic by 
horse-dealers is very general in the East. They come across 
to Greece from Smyrna, or buy their stock in Macedon; and 
such adepts are they in the art of preparing their horses for 
the market, that he must indeed be a connoisseur who is not 
deceived by their blandishments by the time they appear in 
the Athenian market. They all, without exception, mix 
arsenic with their horses’ provender. Some years ago, an 
