122 
Sale  of  Bichloride  Tablets. 
(  Am.  Jour.  Pharm. 
\     March,  1914. 
various  parts  of  the  United  States;  and  the  publicity  given  to  the 
harrowing  details  in  connection  with  several  of  the  cases  was  in 
turn  followed  by  agitation  for  legislation  on  the  part  of  some  of 
the  firm  believers  in  the  power  of  statute  law  to  right  all  wrongs 
and  to  correct  or,  better,  to  prevent  all  possible  abuses. 
Bills  designed  to  restrict  fatalities  from  the  accidental  taking  of 
tablets  containing  corrosive  mercuric  chloride  have  been  introduced 
in  several  of  the  State  legislatures.  In  Pennsylvania,  an  act  pro- 
hibiting the  sale  of  bichloride  of  mercury  at  retail  except  upon  the 
prescription  of  a  registered  physician  was  adopted  by  both  houses  of 
the  legislature,  but  vetoed  by  the  governor  for  the  reason  that  "  the 
public  is  amply  protected  regarding  this  drug  by  the  restrictions  put 
upon  the  sale  of  other  poisons.  Besides,  I  am  informed  that  it  is  a 
household  commodity."  As  the  agitation  for  special  legislation  to 
restrict  or  at  least  regulate  the  sale  of  tablets  of  corrosive  mercuric 
chloride  is  destined  to  be  revived  by  the  supposedly  accidental  poi- 
soning of  a  Brooklyn  business  man  and  to  continue  for  some  time  to 
come,  it  may  be  of  advantage  to  review  briefly  the  several  factors 
involved,  the  abuses  really  existing,  the  propositions  that  have  been 
made  to  correct  them,  the  safeguards  already  established,  and  the 
possible  ways  and  means  of  bringing  about  desirable  changes. 
While  it  will  generally  be  admitted  to  be  impracticable  to  prevent 
suicide  or  violent  death  by  law  or  regulation,  it  is  nevertheless  well 
recognized  that  despondent  and  melancholy  humanity  is  ever  ready 
to  seize  upon  any  suggestions  that  offer  sure,  speedy,  and  painless 
death,  so  that  every  report  of  death,  accompanied  by  the  details  of 
the  means  and  methods  producing  it  can  be  counted  on  as  an  incen- 
tive for  other  deaths  brought  about  in  much  the  same  way. 
It  is  perhaps  unfortunate  that,  for  the  rational  study  of  the  prob- 
lem before  us,  no  definite  and  satisfactory  information  is  available 
as  to  the  conditions  actually  existing  in  our  own  country.  Our 
mortality  statistics  give  only  general  death  rates  and  standardized 
death  rates,  without  furnishing  any,  even  approximate,  information 
regarding  the  nature  of  the  poison  used  or  taken  in  cases  of  reported 
fatalities.  There  is,  however,  available  in  the  report  of  the  registrar- 
general  of  births,  deaths,  and  marriages  for  England  and  Wales, 
a  detailed  account  of  the  nature  and  kind  of  substances  used,  both 
in  suicides  and  in  accidental  deaths,  and  a  careful  study  of  the  tables 
herewith  presented  will  suffice  to  demonstrate  the  impracticability 
of  legislating  specifically  for  any  one  poison.    The  tables  also  at 
