436 
MEDICO-LEGAL CONTRIBUTIONS ON ARSENIC. 
take place upon the application of the different reagents. As 
most often the substances presented for toxical examination are 
articles of food or portions of the human system, toxicologists 
have devised many methods for the destruction or separation 
of the organic matter without any loss of poison. The method 
we prefer is proposed by Duflos (?) and elaborated by 
Fresenius and Babo. I speak from a somewhat large expe¬ 
rience, and can say that, taking everything into consideration, 
it is far more reliable and satisfactorv than anv other that I 
have met with. In many cases forwarded to me for examina¬ 
tion I have not been informed of the circumstances attending 
the death, and have therefore sought for a method by which 
(after determining as far as possible the absence of organic 
poisons) none of the metallic poisons could escape detection, 
and have adopted that alluded to. 
If the problem were always the simple one, “ Is arsenic or 
is mercury contained in these remains other processes 
might possibly be more advantageously employed. Taylor, 
in his w^ork on poisons, speaks depreciatingly of Fresenius 
and Babo^s method as being elaborate and exhaustive, and 
says that (according to Orfila) its complications surpass all 
credibility. To this it may be replied that the process which 
the most distinguished chemists of the world approve, as 
Otto, Bocher, Wohler, Silliman, &c., and which stands the 
test of years, must have great merit in it, or it would not 
be thus supported ; in their opinion it is evidently the best 
that has been devised. 
It is true that the process demands a considerable amount 
of chemical knowledge and skill in manipulation; it is elabo¬ 
rate and exhaustive; it is also accurate and reliable, and can 
be satisfactorily applied in any case. 
It may be said that in many cases a physician or other 
person, who has not applied himself especially to the detec¬ 
tion of poisons, may satisfactorily determine their presence. 
Undoubtedly this is true; but it seems to us most prudent, 
in cases involving a human life, to have the examination 
conducted by those who are experts and have made 
toxicology a specialty, for thus the fallacies attending all 
chemical processes in the hands of the inexperienced are 
removed. 
We will now briefly give a— 
II. General Method for the Destruction of Organic Matter in the 
Presence of the Metallic Poisons. 
Decolorisation and Solution, —If much water is present in 
