DETECTION  OF  STRYCHNINE  IN  CASES  OF  POISONING.  271 
morning,  ^  grain  of  strychnine  mixed  with  ~  grain  of  tartrate 
of  antimony  and  potash.  This  dose  was  repeated  twice  on  the 
following  day,  at  9  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  at  4  o'clock  in 
the  afternoon,  without  any  symptom.  On  the  following  day  the 
dose  was  repeated  at  9  o'clock,  and  again  at  12  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  at  1  o'clock  the  dog  had  a  violent  attack  of  tetanus, 
accompanied  by  salivation  and  ejection  of  urine.  This  attack 
lasted  some  minutes,  and  was  soon  followed  by  a  second,  which 
was  still  more  violent.  At  3  o'clock  the  dog  got  a  third,  and  at 
8  o'clock  a  fourth  dose  of  poison,  each  of  which  was  followed  by 
an  attack  of  tetanus,  one  hour  after  the  introduction  of  the  poison. 
On  the  30th  of  September,  the  situation  of  the  dog  was  much 
better  compared  with  that  of  the  preceding  evening.  At  10,  and 
again  at  12  o'clock,  a  dose  of  poison  was  administered,  which 
doses  were  followed  now  and  then  by  spasmodic  contractions, 
whilst  it  appeared  that  the  irritability  of  the  nerves  was  much 
increased,  for  the  dog  jumped  up  or  trembled  at  the  least  noise. 
At  2  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  a  third  dose  of  poison  was  given, 
which  was  followed  at  half-past  2  and  half-past  3  o'clock  by  at- 
tacks  of  tetanus,  the  latter  lasting  ten  minutes.  The  fourth  dose 
was  given  at  half-past  5  o'clock.  One  hour  later  the  dog  got 
the  most  vehement  attack  of  tetanus,  accompanied  by  salivation 
and  ejection  of  urine  and  foeces,  which  lasted  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  and  terminated  by  the  death  of  the  animal.  This  death 
was  caused  by  a  chronic  poisoning,  begun  on  the  26th  of  Sep- 
tember, and  terminated  on  the  30th  of  September,  in  which  lapse 
of  time  the  dog  got  no  more  than  -^ths  of  a  grain  of  strychnine, 
and  |^ths  of  a  grain  of  tartrate  of  antimony  and  potash,  which 
small  dose  of  poison  caused  seven  attacks  of  tetanus.  After  each 
attack  .the  widely-extended  hind  feet  were  much  stiffer  than  the 
fore  feet. 
The  post-mortem  examination  of  the  body,  which  was  very  care- 
fully performed  by  the  distinguished  Assistant-Physician  of  the 
Rotterdam  Hospital,  Dr.  Schmidt,  proved  that  there  was  nothing 
abnormal  to  be  found  which  could  even  lead  to  the  suspicion  that 
death  had  been  caused  by  the  administration  of  a  poison.  The 
chemical  analysis  of  all  the  parts  of  the  body  led  to  the  same 
negative  conclusion,  for  not  the  least  trace  of  strychnine  could  be 
detected,  notwithstanding  the  great  sensibility  of  our  reagents 
which  was  proved  in  the  former  experiments. 
