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CHEMICAL  TESTS  FOR  STRYCHNIA. 
1.  One  grain  of  strychnia  and  ten  grains  of  tartar  emetic 
were  boiled  in  an  ounce  of  distilled  water.  Nearly  a  clear  solu- 
tion was  obtained.  When  cold,  crystals  were  deposited,  which, 
on  being  tested,  showed  the  presence  of  both  antimony  and 
strychnia,  the  latter  almost  more  distinctly  than  by  itself.  The 
crystals  were  remarkable ;  they  were  neither  the  prismatic  crys- 
tals of  strychnia,  nor  the  octahedra  of  tartar  emetic,  but  appa- 
rently some  combination  of  the  two  substances. 
2.  One  grain  of  strychnia  and  ten  grains  of  the  orange  sul- 
phuret  of  antimony  were  boiled  as  before.  When  cool,  no  crys- 
tals were  obtained,  but  simply  a  deposit,  apparently  identical 
with  the  sulphuret.  On  testing  this,  the  presence  of  strychnia 
was  shown  even  through  the  orange-colored  mass.  The  object 
of  using  this  substance  was  to  learn  whether  antimony,  when  in 
combination  with  sulphur,  a  circumstance  not  unlikely  to  happen 
in  the  decomposing  body  of  Cook,  would  in  any  way  affect  the 
strychnia. 
3.  One  grain  of  strychnia  and  one  grain  of  tartar  emetic  were 
boiled  in  two  ounces  of  distilled  water.  Very  nearly  the  whole 
of  the  strychnia  dissolved.  No  crystals  were  deposited  on  cool- 
ing, but  a  slight  amorphous  deposit,  rich  in  antimony,  had  col- 
lected upon  the  surface  of  the  dish.  A  portion  of  the  liquid  was 
evaporated  and  tested  for  strychnia,  which  was  shown  most  dis- 
tinctly. The  liquid  was  now  examined  for  antimony  ;  on  adding 
sulphuretted  hydrogen  very  faint  traces  were  shown  ;  for  greater 
certainty,  some  of  the  liquid  was  transferred  to  a  clean  Marsh's 
apparatus — antimoniuretted  hydrogen  was  obtained,  which,  being 
burnt,  afforded  a  stain,  which  was  subsequently  found  to  be  anti- 
mony. To  the  rest  of  the  liquid,  ammonia  was  added ;  after  a 
short  time,  long  shining  needles  were  formed,  these,  being  sepa- 
rated by  filtration,  were  found  to  be  strychnia. 
Perhaps  the  point  most  worthy  of  notice  in  this  experiment,  is 
the  greatly  increased  solubility  of  strychnia  in  presence  of  anti- 
mony, which  gives  rise  to  thoughts  as  to  what  might  take  place 
in  the  yet  living  body — how  far  the  system  might  be  drained  of 
the  poison  by  the  energetic  eliminating  powers  of  antimony.  Not 
unworthy  of  attention  also  is  the  nature  of  the  compound  formed, 
and  which  is  retained  in  the  solution. 
4.  A  drop  of  a  solution,  which  contained  the  l-250th  part  of 
