136 
CRIMINAL  POISONING  BY  ATROPIA. 
scribe  it;  he  will  doit,  or  has  done  it.  We  thought  of  these 
atoms  now  visible  to  a  microscope  but  still  divided  by  the  chemist 
in  many  portions,  and  long  after  the  finest  microscope  can  aid 
the  finest  eye  the  chemist  goes  on  dividing,  and  with  a  certainty 
which  is  absolute. 
It  was  our  wish  to  show  that  science  is  gradually  making  its 
devotees  the  representatives  of  care  and  accuracy.  We  have 
scarcely  space  to  carry  out  the  plan  fully,  but  chemists  are  ac- 
customed to  such  a  variety  of  occupations  that  they  can  readily 
finish  this  article  for  themselves.  It  is  a  fine  quality  that  of 
uttering  undeniable  truth.  Let  us  not  lower  that  position  but 
rather  magnify  our  office.  Let  our  words  suit  the  facts  with  an 
accuracy  equal  to  that  with  which  the  facts  themselves  can  be 
ascertained,  and  in  a  world  of  wavering  and  changing  let  us  show 
that  there  is  a  class  of  facts  to  be  found  upon  which  reliance  can 
be  placed  so  far  that  we  may  be  certain  they  will  never  change. 
In  common  affairs  a  mistake  may  have  but  a  short  life,  but  in 
the  study  of  nature  an  imperfect  observation  may  cause  infinite 
trouble  to  thousands.  The  increased  study  of  science  will  pro- 
mote exact  observation  and  greater  love  of  truth  among  men, 
and  will  produce  a  race  that  will  either  absorb  the  worthless 
residuum  or  drive  it  hence  into  the  unknown  and  unseen. — Ext, 
from  Editorial  of  Chem.  News,  Jan.  1,  1869. 
CRIMINAL  POISONING  BY  ATROPIA. 
A  case  is  about  to  occupy  the  tribunals  of  Geneva  which  bids 
fair  to  be  a  cause  celebre.  Mademoiselle  J.  stands  charged  with 
causing  the  death  of  several  persons  by  means  of  the  sulphate  of 
atropia,  which  she  obtained  in  the  form  of  a  coUyrium  by  the 
pretext  of  consulting  various  practitioners  for  disease  of  her 
eyes.  Her  pupils  were  habitually  dilated,  and  she  wore  green 
spectacles.  She  had  visited  various  cantons  offering  her  services 
as  a  nurse  to  doctors,  or  whoever  had  need  of  such  a  person,  and 
carried  about  with  her  the  names  and  addresses  of  some  of  the 
most  influential  persons  in  Switzerland.  She  was  very  assiduous 
in  her  attendance  upon  all  those  who  were  consigned  to  her  care; 
and  her  conversation,  knowle^^e,  and  long  experience  imposed 
