180 
EDITORIAL. 
Mr.  Thompson  decided  not  to  use  the  prescription  until  evening,  ac- 
cepted an  invitation  to  dine  at  Mr.  Carr's,  and  afterwards  accompanied  a 
lady  to  church,  returning  at  9  o'clock,  P.M.,  when  he  went  to  Mr.  Bur- 
nett's drug  store  and  had  it  compounded  by  William  P.  Hedges,  his  chief 
clerk.  In  about  half  an  hour  he  returned,  saying  the  medicioe  was  too 
strong  for  him,  and  desired  to  be  relieved  by  a  stomach  pump.  Dr.  Quin- 
lan  happening  to  be  present,  and  being  made  acquainted  with  the  pre- 
scription, advised  Thompson  to  go  home,  he  would  soon  be  better.  Dr. 
Q.  actompanied  him  to  a  hotel,  where  he  was  seized  with  spasm,  and 
the  clerk  refused  him  a  room.  Dr.  Q.  then  sought  a  carriage,  but  re- 
turned without  one,  found  the  patient  "  twisting  and  turning"  with  pain, 
and  gave  him  brandy,  which  was  instantly  rejected.  He  died  about  11 
o'clock,  previously  suffering  intense  pain.  Dr.  Q.  thought  the  cause  of 
death  was  "  cerebral  difficulty  caused  by  liquor."  The  bottle  containing 
the  remainder  of  the  medicine  was  taken  from  the  pocket  of  the  deceased 
and  sealed  up,  at  Dr.  Q.'s  request,  at  the  hotel. 
The  Coroner,  Dr.  Letterman,  states  that  the  bottle  was  received,  with 
the  body,  by  his  clerk,  that  it  was  two-thirds  full,  and  that  it  was  not 
opened  until,  before  leaving  it  for  the  chemist,  Mr.  Howden,  at  Wakelee's 
drug  store,  he  opened  it  there  in  the  presence  of  four  witnesses,  who  each 
tasted  its  contents,  and,  from  its  physiological  effects,  were  each  satisfied 
that  aconite  was  in  it,  and  then  resealed  the  bottle.  Mr.  Howden  is  the 
chemist  at  Wakelee's  laboratory,  and  is  employed  by  the  coroner. 
Mr.  Howden  stated  in  substance  that  he  had  received  the  stomach  in 
a  jar,  and  the  bottle  of  medicine,  sealed  ;  one-half  of  the  latter,  in  the 
original  bottle,  was  returned  to  the  Coroner.  The  contents  of  the  sto- 
mach, amounting  to  five  ounces,  were  turned  into  a  porcelain  dish,  and 
the  organ  itself  well  washed  into  the  dish  with  twelve  ounces  of  alcohol, 
containing  some  acetic  acid.  They  were  digested  for  two  hours  with 
occasional  stirring,  filtered,  the  filtrate  evaporated  on  a  water  bath  nearly 
to  dryness,  the  residue  treated  with  water,  filtered  and  evaporated  care- 
fully to  a  drachm,  ammonia  added  in  excess,  and  the  mixture  treated 
with  repeated  portions  of  ether,  decanting  the  ether  each  time.  The 
ethereal  liquid  was  then  evaporated  to  dryness,  and  the  residue  contained 
aconitia,  and  had  the  peculiar  effect  of  aconite  when  tasted.  One-thirti- 
eth of  a  grain  of  it  killed  a  kitten  in  twelve  minutes.  The  mixture  in  the 
bottle  was  treated  in  the  same  way,  and  gave  a  similar  result.  The  infer- 
ence was  therefore  strong  that  the  contents  of  the  bottle  had  caused 
death. 
We  have  nowhere  seen  a  copy  of  the  verdict  of  the  coroner's  jury, 
but  from  the  published  proceedings  of  the  meeting  of  the  California 
Pharmaceutical  vSociety  it  may  be  inferred  that  it  was  to  the  effect  that 
George  Murray  Thompson  came  to  his  death  from  the  effects  of  aconite, 
put  in  a  mixture  by  mistake  on  the  part  of  the  clerk,  Mr.  Hedges. 
The  meeting  above  referred  to  met  on  the  27th  of  December,  and  its 
object  was  "to  investigate  the  charges  preferred  against  one  of  its  mem- 
