222  Mrs.  Winslows  Soothing  Syrup,  etc.  {^T?;^*** 
Dr.  Murray  had  been  called  to  see  a  child  aged  six  months,  apparently 
in  a  dying  condition  from  the  effects  of  some  narcotic  poison.  He 
found  that  this  Soothing  Syrup  was  the  only  medicine  which  had  been 
administered,  and  of  it  the  child  had  taken  two  teaspoonfuls  within 
ten  hours.  There  was  remaining  in  the  vial  from  which  the  two  tea- 
spoonfuls  had  been  taken,  ten  drachms,  which  yielded,  on  analysis  by 
a  skillful  chemist,  nearly  one  grain  of  morphia  and  other  opium  alka- 
loids to  the  ounce  of  syrup.  "  The  specimen  of  Soothing  Syrup  an- 
alyzed was  made  by  Curtis  &  Perkins,  of  New  York,  who  are  the  only 
manufacturers." 
On  the  7th  of  February,  Mrs.  W.  came  into  my  office  with  a  child 
five  months  old  in  her  arms,  which,  she  said,  was  very  sick ;  that  it 
slept  constantly,  and  would  not  nurse  or  move  for  several  days.  The 
child  was  breathing  heavily  and  its  pupils  were  closely  contracted.  I 
asked  if  the  child  had  been  taking  opium ;  she  replied  that  it  had 
taken  nothing  but  soothing  syrup.  She  said  that  on  the  5th,  two 
days  before,  the  child  was  restless  and  its  bowels  costive,  and  that  a 
neighbor  had  advised  her  to  give  it  a  teaspoonful  of  soothing  syrup, 
saying  it  was  excellent  to  regulate  the  bowels.  (She  had  previously 
given  the  syrup  in  small  doses.)  She  administered  the  syrup  twice 
during  the  day,  a  teaspoonful  each  time ;  the  child  slept  heavily  all 
night,  and  would  not  nurse  when  roused.  Not  suspecting  the  syrup 
had  anything  to  do  with  its  sleeping,  she  gave  on  the  6th,  at  different 
times,  three  teaspoonfuls  more.  The  child  refused  to  nurse  when 
roused.  On  the  7th  she  gave  it  another  teaspoonful,  before  bringing 
it  to  my  office.  I  told  her  that  the  child  was  poisoned  by  morphia,  of 
which  soothing  syrup  contained  a  large  quantity.  The  mother  was 
surprised  and  alarmed,  and  had  had  no  idea  that  there  was  morphia 
in  soothing  syrup. 
I  ordered  brandy  and  coffee,  the  bowels  to  be  kept  open  by  injec- 
tions, and  the  child  to  be  kept  awake  as  much  as  possible.  The  child 
recovered,  but  was  not  able  to  nurse  until  the  10th.  This  is  but  one 
of  the  many  instances  of  poison  by  this  nostrum. 
Dr.  R.  S.  Maxwell,  my  partner,  was  called  to  see  a  child  five  weeks 
old,  to  whom  half  a  teaspoonful  of  soothing  syrup  had  been  given  a 
few  hours  previous.  The  child  was  already  past  all  help,  and  died  in 
a  few  hours.    No  other  medicine  had  been  given. 
In  my  own  case,  the  child  five  months  old  had  taken  two  teaspoon- 
fuls on  the  5th,  three  on  the  6th,  and  one  on  the  7th,  making  six  tea- 
