268 
Extracts from British and Foreign Journals. 
THE LATE SHEEP-POISONING CASE. 
Want of space in our last number prevented us from 
making any comments on the above case, a report of which 
we gave in full, considering its importance demanded it. 
In the Pharmaceutical Journal for last month occur the 
following observations in reference to it; which being in 
perfect accordance with our views, we hesitate not to extract 
them from their association with other relevant matter. 
“ To those who consider that severity of punishment and 
penalties in terrorem constitute the essence of good legislation, 
it maybe satisfactory to find that, even in the present state 
of the law, a chemist may be liable to a verdict against him, 
with J014OO damages, for injury resulting from the use of a 
poison sold by him in one transaction across the counter. 
There are others, however, who think that purchasers as well 
as vendors should be required to use precautions in reference 
to poisons, and who consider the revision of the sentence at 
a new trial as nothing more than an act of justice to the 
defendant. 
“ A report of the case (Black v. Elliot) will be found in 
another part of this number, and it has also been very 
generally reported in the metropolitan and provincial papers, 
in some instances with rather severe comments on the 
verdict. We can scarcely conceive it possible that such a 
verdict will be confirmed at the new trial about to take place; 
and the elaborate investigation by Dr. Macadam and Mr. 
Gamgee, reported in another part of this number, also tends 
greatly to strengthen the position of the defendant, as no 
injury was occasioned to any of the animals experimented 
upon, although the wash was subjected to a much more 
severe test than would have been justified by Mr. Elliot’s in¬ 
structions. 
“ On a review of the case, as stated in the reports of the 
trial, it appears that the purchaser, as well as the vendor, 
knew that the compound sold was a deadly poison, so 
rapidly fatal in its effects, that immersion in it for less than 
a minute was sufficient to destroy animal life, on which 
account it was used as the most effectual remedy against 
certain kinds of vermin in sheep. It was proved that the 
defendant had sold within three years at the rate of 500 
powders per annum, each powder being sufficient to make 
