440  ON  THE  ARSENIC  EATERS  OF  STYRIA. 
that  of  a  girl  taken  up  in  that  neighborhood  on  strong  suspi- 
cion of  having  poisoned  one  or  more  people  with  arsenic,  and 
though  circumstances  were  strongly  against  her,  yet  the  sys- 
tematic arsenic  eating  in  the  district  was  pleaded  so  successfully 
in  her  favor,  that  she  was  acquitted,  and  still  lives  near  Neuhaus, 
but  is  believed  by  every  one  to  be  guilty.  The  other  case  was 
mentioned  by  Dr.  Lorenz.  A  woman  was  accused  of  poisoning 
her  husband,  but  brought  such  clear  proof  that  he  was  an  arsenic 
eater,  as  fully  to  account  for  arsenic  being  found  in  the  body. 
She  was,  of  course,  acquitted. 
One  fact  mentioned  to  me  by  some  friends  is  well  worthy  of 
note.  They  say  :  "  In  this  part  of  the  world,  when  a  grave- 
yard is  full,  it  is  shut  up  for  about  twelve  years,  when  all  the 
graves  which  are  not  private  property  by  purchase  are  dug  up, 
the  bones  collected  in  the  charnel-house,  the  ground  ploughed 
over,  and  burying  begins  again.  On  these  occasions,  the  bodies 
of  arsenic  eaters  are  found  almost  unchanged,  and  recognizable 
by  their  friends.  Many  people  suppose  that  the  finding  of  their 
bodies  is  the  origin  of  the  story  of  the  vampire."  In  the  Medicin- 
ischer  Jahrbuch  des  Oster :  Kaiser •staates,  1822,  neuest  Folge, 
there  is  a  report  by  Professor  Schallgruber,  of  the  Imperial 
Lyceum  at  Gratz,  of  an  investigation  undertaken  by  order  of 
government  into  various  cases  of  poisoning  by  arsenic.  After 
giving  details  of  six  post-mortem  examinations,  he  says  :  "  The 
reason  of  the  frequency  of  these  sad  cases  appears  to  me  to  be 
the  familiarity  with  arsenic  which  exists  in  our  country,  par- 
ticularly the  higher  parts.  There  is  hardly  a  district  in  Upper 
Styria  where  you  will  not  find  arsenic  in  at  least  one  house,  un- 
der 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,  sev- 
eral cases  of  poisoning  by  cheese  have  occurred  in  Upper  Styria, 
one  not  long  since.  The  above-mentioned  peasant  states,  I  be- 
lieve truly,  that  they  buy  the  arsenic  from  the  Tyrolese,  who 
bring  into  the  country  spirits  and  other  medicines,  and  so  are 
