216      INFLUENCE  OF  MORPHIA  IN  DISGUISING  STRYCHNIA. 
Beyond  this  the  experiment  was  not  pursued,  Dr.  Reese  being 
satisfied  that  Wormley's  observation,  that  the  action  of  strych- 
nia became  more  difficult  as  the  proportion  of  morphia  in- 
Creased,  was  correct. 
But  an  important  point  to  be  determined  was,  how  a  quantity 
of  strychnia,  almost  infinitesimal,  might  be  effected  by  an 
amount  of  morphia,  which,  though  small  in  itself,  yet  bore  a  rela- 
tively large  proportion  to  the  strychnia  :  just  precisely  such  a 
state  of  things  as  would  be  likely  to  be  met  with  in  an  analysis 
of  the  human  stomach,  and  to  decide  this  Dr.  Reese  tried  the 
following  experiments  on  three  half-grown- cats  : 
"  Half  a  grain  of  pure  strychnia  was  given  to  the  first  animal,  and  in 
eleven  minutes  it  died  in  a  violent  convulsion.  The  poison  was  very  easily 
discovered  in  its  stomach,  by  the  usual  tests,  on  the  following  day.  To 
the  second  animal  a  quarter  of  a  grain  of  strychnia  and  the  same  quantity 
of  morphia  were  given  ;  and,  somewhat  to  my  surprise,  the  animal  was 
deeply  convulsed  in  six  minutes,  and  died  very  quickly.  Here  the  morphia, 
so  far  from  counteracting  the  toxic  influence  of  strychnia  (as  might  have 
been  inferred  from  its  opposite  physiological  influence,)  seemed  actually  to 
have  increased  its  effects.  The  stomach  of  the  second  animal  was  like- 
wise examined,  but  I  obtained  scarcely  recognizable  evidence  of  strychnia, 
owing  doubtless  to  the  influence  of  the  presence  of  the  associated  morphia. 
It  will  be  recollected  that  the  quantity  of  morphia  in  this  case  was  just 
equal  to  that  of  the  strychnia.  To  the  third  animal,  the  l-20th  of  a  grain 
of  strychnia,  and  the  l-10th  of  a  grain  of  morphia  (double  the  quantity) 
were  administered.  Convulsions  took  place  in  about  fifteen  minutes,  and 
death  in  half  an  hour.  The  stomach  was  examined  by  Staas'  process,  as 
in  the  other  cases,  but  with  a  total  failure  to  detect  the  poison  by  the  color- 
test;  although  the  bitterness  of  the  extract,  and  its  decided  action  in  pro- 
ducing tetanic  convulsions  in  a  number  of  frogs,  clearly  established  its 
presence/7 
From  all  the  foregoing  experiments,  it  appears  to  be  conclu- 
sively established,  that  morphia  does  unquestionably  possess  the 
power,  when  present  in  excess,  of  completely  disguising  the 
color-test  of  strychnia  ;  and  this  is  emphatically  the  case  when 
they  are  associated  in  organic  mixtures,  as  in  the  contents  of 
the  stomach.  Consequently  this  fact  should  always  be  taken 
into  account  in  medico-legal  investigations. 
The  moral  evidence  in  the  foregoing  case  was  very  strong, 
and  although  Dr.  Reese's  evidence  entirely  failed  to  establish 
