ATROPINE. 
393 
§§ 456, 457-1 
Criminal poisoning by atropine in any form is of excessive rarity in 
Europe and America, but in India it has been frightfully prevalent. In 
all the Asiatic cases the substance used has been one of the various 
species of datura, and mostly the bruised or ground seeds, or a decoction 
of the seeds. In 120 cases recorded in papers and works on Indian 
toxicology, no less than 63 per cent, of the cases were criminal, 19 per 
cent, suicidal, and 18 per cent, accidental. In noting these figures, 
however, it must be borne in mind that known criminal cases are more 
certain to be recorded than any other cases. The drug has been known 
under the Sanscrit name of dhatoora by the Hindoos from most remote 
times. It was largely used by the Thugs, either for the purpose of 
stupefying their victim or for killing him ; by loose wives to ensure for 
a time the fatuity of their husbands ; and, lastly, it seems in Indian 
history to have played the peculiar role of a state agent, and to have 
been used to induce the idiocy or insanity of persons of high rank, whose 
mental integrity was considered dangerous by the despot in power. 
The Hindoos, by centuries of practice, have attained such dexterity in 
the use of the 44 datura ” as to raise that kind of poisoning to an art, so 
that Dr Chevers, in his Medical Jurisprudence for India, 1 declares 
that 44 there appears to be no drug known in the present day which 
represents in its effects so close an approach to the system of slow 
poisoning, believed by many to have been practised in the Middle Ages, 
as does the datura.” 
§ 456. Fatal Dose. —It is impossible to state with precision the 
exact quantity which may cause death, atropine being one of those 
substances whose effect, varying in different cases, seems to depend on 
special constitutional tendencies or idiosyncrasies of the individual. 
Some persons take a comparatively large amount with impunity, while 
others scarcely bear a very moderate dose without exhibiting un¬ 
pleasant symptoms. 8 mgrms. (| grain) have been known to produce 
poisonous symptoms, and -129 grm. (2 grains) death. We may, there¬ 
fore, infer that about *0648 grm. (1 grain) would, unchecked by remedies, 
probably act fatally ; but very large doses have been recovered from, 
especially when treatment has been prompt. 
Atropine is used in veterinary practice, from 32-4 to 64-8 mgrms. 
to 1 grain) and more being administered subcutaneously to horses ; 
but the extent to which this may be done with safety is not yet 
established. 
§ 457. Action on Animals. —The action of atropine has been 
studied on certain beetles, on amphibia (such as the salamander, triton, 
frogs, and others), on guinea-pigs, hedgehogs, rats, rabbits, fowls, 
pigeons, dogs, and cats. Among the mammalia there is no essential 
difference in the symptoms, but great variation in the relative 
1 Pr Chevers’ work contains a very good history of datura criminal poisoning. 
