AFebJruaiVri905m'}      Two  Toxico  logical  Investigations.  91 
conflicting  statements  regarding  the  disposition  of  the  strychnine 
she  had  purchased,  stating  that  she  had  burned  it  in  the  presence 
of  three  witnesses,  who  testified  that  they  did  not  see  her  burn  any 
in  their  presence,  and  knew  nothing  at  all  of  the  purchase  of  the 
poison  until  it  became  public,  through  the  investigation  of  the 
authorities. 
The  autopsy  was  conducted  the  next  day  by  Dr.  Richard  H. 
Parsons  and  Dr.  J.  E.  Dubell  The  body  then  exhibited  marked 
rigidity,  the  arms  and  wrists  were  bent,  and  the  hands  clinched, 
the  legs  extended,  the  feet  arched  and  turned  inward,  and  the  head 
thrown  back.  The  membrane  covering  the  brain  and  upper  part 
of  the  cord  was  somewhat  engorged  with  blood.  The  heart  was 
full  of  dark  blood,  and  the  brain,  heart,  lungs  and  kidneys  were  all 
in  a  healthy  condition.  The  post-mortem  examination  failed  to 
reveal  the  cause  of  death. 
The  various  organs  removed  from  the  body  were  each  placed  by 
Dr.  Parsons  in  perfectly  clean,  new  fruit  jars,  labelled,  tied  and 
sealed,  and  delivered  to  the  writer  in  person  on  Tuesday,  March  10th. 
The  Stomach  and  Contents. — The  stomach  and  contents  weighed 
410  grammes.  The  external  appearance  of  this  stomach  showed 
numerous  congested  blood-vessels,  giving  it  a  distinct  bright  red 
coloration  throughout.1 
The  stomach  was  cut  open  and  the  contents  poured  into  a  clean 
dish.  This  consisted  of  a  fluid  mass  of  yellowish  green  color,  which 
weighed  145  grammes,  and  mixed  with  this  partly  digested  food 
were  some  fat  globules,  but  no  particles  of  meat.  A  microscopic 
examination  showed  that  the  solid  part  of  the  contents  consisted 
largely  of  starch,  many  of  the  grains  still  retaining  sufficient  of  the 
characteristic  shape  and  markings  by  which  corn  and  pea  starch 
were  identified.  The  internal  surface  of  the  stomach  showed  the 
mucous  membrane  of  a  yellowish  color,  marked  here  and  there  by 
materials  of  a  yellowish-green  color,  and  close  inspection  showed 
only  a  few  small  blood  clots  to  ife  inch  in  diameter,  but  no 
marked  signs  of  inflammation  or  corrosion. 
^he  writer  is  not  a  pathologist,  and  does  not  know  if  the  appearance  of  the 
external  surface  of  this  stomach  had  any  significance  whatever,  but  he  was  im- 
pressed with  the  fact,  because  a  short  time  before  he  had  made  the  examina- 
tion of  the  organs  of  a  dog  poisoned  by  strychnine,  and  the  stomach  of  the 
animal  showed  very  similar  coloration  and  arterial  congestion. 
