272      DETECTION  OF  STRYCHNINE  IN  CASES  OF  POSONING. 
From  the  alleged  facts  we  may  be  justified  in  making  the  fol- 
lowing 
CONCLUSIONS. 
1.  That  the  method  which  we  pursued  for  detecting  strychnine 
was  adapted  to  discover  the  least  trace  of  the  poison,  for  even 
only  JL  of  a  grain  could  be  detected. 
2.  That  even  when  the  strychnine  is  combined  with  albumi- 
nous matter,  nevertheless,  the  whole  quantity  can  be  separated 
by  the  method  of  Stas,  if  properly  conducted. 
3.  That  if  death  has  been  caused  by  strychnine,  this  poison 
can  be  detected  in  the  body,  provided  it  has  been  administered 
in  a  quantity  more  than  sufficient  to  cause  death. 
4.  That  if  the  poisoning  by  strychnine  has  been  chronic,  and 
has  resulted  from  a  quantity  not  greater  than  just  necessary  to 
cause  death,  the  cause  of  this  death  cannot  be  'proved,  either  by 
the  post-mortem  examination  of  the  body,  or  by  a  chemical  inves 
ligation  of  the  intestines. 
5.  That  it  appears  to  be  highly  probable  that  that  part  of  the 
strychnine  which  acts  mortally  is  decomposed  in  the  living  body. 
6.  That  the  urine  of  patients  who  take  strychnine  or  its  salts 
as  a  medicine,  contains  not  a  trace  of  this  poison. 
Rotterdam,  8th  Jan.  1857. 3 
Mr.  Redwood  said  that  the  results  described  in  this  paper  dif- 
fered from  those  which  had  been  obtained  by  other  Chemists 
under  similar  circumstances.  Several  Chemists  had  detected 
strychnine  in  the  urine  after  its  administration  by  the  stomach. 
Mr.  Rodgers  (Lecturer  on  Chemistry  at  St.  George's  School 
of  Medicine)  observed,  that  he  had  paid  especial  attention  to  the 
subject  of  the  detection  of  poisons,  and  particularly  of  strychnine, 
and  that  the  results  and  conclusions  of  the  authors  of  the  paper 
just  read,  were  at  total  variance  with  his  own  and  that  of  Mr. 
Girdwood,  with  whom  he  had  made  an  extensive  series  of  ex- 
periment's, the  re§ults  of  which  and  the  processes  adopted,  had 
already  been  made  public.  He  did  not  consider  that  the  pro- 
cess adopted  by  the  authors  was  of  sufficient  delicacy  to  extract 
strychnine  from  the  blood  and  tissues  of  the  body,  a  view  that 
was  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  they  had  failed  to  obtain  evidence 
of  the  strychnine  in  their  experiments,  where  half  a  grain  of 
