colorless solution was obtained, this was treated with ether, and the ethereal solution separated; on mixing this with a weak solution of potash in water, the characteristic crimson color at once appeared.

The records contain two instances in which Men were poisoned by the Lall Chitra. In May, 1843, a woman living in Howrah confessed that, being on ill terms with her husband, she pounded a small piece of reddish-colored root which had been given to her and, mixing it with milk, gave it to her husband, who was taken ill in about two hours after swallowing it, and died after having vomited ten times, and being purged once. The Civil Assistant Surgeon observed a slight flush of inflammation on the surfaces of the stomach and small intestines. The stomach was preserved unopened, but the mucous membrane of the intestine continous with it was observed to be highly injected. On opening the stomach, Dr. Mouat found a small quantity of fluid of a deep coffee-color with a few grains of half-digested rice. The surface of the organ was much corrugated, and covered with small patches of inflammatory blush. On analysing the contents of the stomach, some of the matter vomited, and the remains of the food said to have been taken by the deceased, Dr. Mouat could detect no trace of any mineral poison, but obtained distinct evidence of the characteristic appearance produced by the Lall Chitra.

In October, 1853, the Civil Assistant Surgeon of Azimghur forwarded the stomach, with its contents, of a man supposed to have died by poison, together with a substance found near the body, and supposed by the Police to be poison. The stomach was received by Dr. Mouat in an advanced state of decomposition, but still exhibited traces of inflammation, and was found to contain Lall Chitra. The substance sent was also found to be a portion of the root of the Plumbago Rosea. Further reference of the use of this poison will be found under the head of "Criminal Abortion.".

U

EMPLOYMENT OF POISONS BY NATIVE PRACTITIONERS.

There is every reason to believe that the ignorant native doctors in this country by no means unfrequently administer poisonous drugs, in the treatment of disease, with so much indiscretion and recklessness as to cause death. As such cases occasionally, though rarely, are found to call for medico-legal investigation, a brief allusion to the chief of the deadly remedies employed by these Kobirajira and Hukeems will not be out of place here.

*

CUPRI SULPHAS.--Tutiya, H., Tutt'ha, (Fleming.)—Is mentioned in the Shastras as one of the mineral poisons which may be used, in a diluted form, as medicines. A case came under my notice, about four years since, in which there was reason to believe that death had been accelerated by rather small doses of Sulphate of Copper injudiciously prescribed. The body of an unhealthy-looking native who had been under treatment for bowel complaint by a kobiraj, and had died rather suddenly, was brought to me for examination. I could only discover marked signs of irritation in the mucous membrane of the stomach. This organ was nearly empty, as there had, doubtless, been some vomiting. I could not detect a trace of copper in its scanty contents, but one or two shreds of vegetable matter retained a deep green color, not usually found after the process of digestion has commenced. Two or three pills, containing very coarsely

* In October, 1853, Dr. Mouat received for chemical examination the stomach of a native who had, by mistake, swallowed a fluid medicine prescribed by a hukeem for external use, in consequence of which he died the same evening with symptoms of irritant poisoning. The Chemical Examiner failed to discover any poison recognisable by chemical tests in the inflamed stomach, and considered that the irritant matter had probably been ejected by vomiting. He very justly added that the case was evidently accidental, and that no criminality could attach to the hukeem, as such accidents might happen, and have happened, in the hands of careful, conscientious, European practitioners.

pounded Sulphate of Copper, mixed with some green succulent vegetable matter, were sent in, as specimens of the medicine which deceased had taken. It appeared probable that none of the pills had contained more than a grain and a half or two grains of the Sulphate; but, although a large dose of this salt may, of course, be given as an emetic, it is probable that doses of one or two grains, coarsely powdered, repeated frequently, would cause death, by gastric and intestinal irritation, especially if prescribed when the mucous membrane of the intestinal canal is in a state of vascular excitement. The case was, I believe, viewed upon my report as one of misadventure. A rather doubtful case of poisoning by some salt of copper occurred in February, 1854. The Civil Assistant Surgeon of Umballah forwarded two pills for examination. It was stated that one pill of the same kind had caused the death of an individual in that district, who had received it from a "Kahar" on the road. The native doctor who examined the body stated that he was unable to detect any marks of poison, and that death had occurred by other and natural causes; his report, however, was not relied upon. Dr. Macnamara found a small quantity of Copper in each of the pills.

In 1841, Dr. O'Shaughnessy mentioned that cases of poisoning by Sulphate of Copper had occurred in Calcutta. That gentleman discovered that one of three suspicious powders forwarded to him for examination by the Civil Surgeon of Hooghly was ACETATE OF COPPER (Zangar and Pitrai, H. Pitalata, S. Fleming.)*

The BISH BOREE, or Bish Baree, appears to be almost universally resorted to, by the Bengalee practitioners, in cases of

* I find it mentioned in one of the Nizamut Adawlut Reports N. W. P. that the water in which a copper pice has been boiled is considered by the natives of that part of the country as a useful emetic. It is almost needless to say that, if tolerably pure water be used, it can receive no metallic admixture in this process.

fever, where the symptoms do not yield readily to milder remedies.

In an interesting paper on this subject,* Baboo C. C. Moitre, Sub-Assistant Surgeon, Nattore, mentions that, although it is a matter of great difficulty to ascertain the composition of Bish Baree, it appears, from his inquiries, that the following substances are its principal ingredients:White Arsenic, Sulphuret of Arsenic, Sulphur, Mercury, and the Seeds of the Croton Tiglium pounded. There are, he adds, various forms of Bish Baree, some containing the mildest vegetable poisons, others the more powerful. Snake Poison is said to be an ingredient, but the quantity used cannot be

*Bengal Hurkaru Medical and Scientific Gazette, May 22nd, 1852.

European Physicians residing in the East have, in several instances, allowed their scientific ardour to outrun their discretion in experiments upon Snake poison, as an internal remedy. Meade, as cited by Dr. Taylor, described the viper poison as having a sharp burning taste. When a drop, undiluted, was placed on the tongue, the organ became swollen, and there was a sensation of soreness which remained two or three days. Russell applied one drop of the poison of the cobra to his tongue and found it' tasteless. It is commonly said that it may be swallowed with impunity, but Dr. Hering found, while residing at Surinam, that, on taking even small doses of it, much diluted with water, very preceptible effects were produced; such as pains throughout the body, abundant secretion of mucus from the nose and oesophagus, and diarrhoea (Treatise on Poisons). A recent investigator, Dr. Jetio, asserts that snake poison, though tasteless, is not harmless when taken into the stomach. Dr. Honigberger appears to be a believer in the medicinal virtue of serpent poison. He tells us that, on one occasion, he prepared it from the virus of the Aspis Naja; another time, he procured it from that of the Aspidoclonion; from whichever obtained, there appeared to him to be little difference in the effects produced. He prepares it by expressing a drop of the limpid fluid from the poison gland of a living snake, cunningly secured, upon a small lump of sugar; this is instantly deposited in a porcelain mortar and subjected to trituration with a few drops of spirit. The powder, when shaken up in a drachm of proof spirit, is fit for use. It is to be kept from the light, and to be well shaken up before it is administered. One drop constitutes a dose. Even in this homoeopathic quantity, the remedy appears to have been worse than the disease.-" Rumbling in the bowels,"-for which it is alone recommended.

ascertained with certainty. Musk is not unfrequently used; the whole of these ingredients are not always compounded into the same mass; any two or three of these form a boree.

The Baboo regards the Bish Baree as a powerful excitant, determining blood to the head, and increasing the frequency and fulness of the pulse, acting on the pulmonary organs as an irritant, producing at first a dry cough and subsequently accumulation of mucus in the bronchial tubes. It also acts as a powerful irritant on the abdominal organs,vomiting, diarrhoea and hiccup being the usual effects of its exhibition. It exercises a similar influence on the bladder and kidneys, inducing strangury and diminishing the quantity of the urine. It can, sometimes, give rise to retention of urine. Still, singularly enough, the Baboo considers that, when due caution is observed to prescribe this medicine only in cases "where there are no local complications existing"-its effect being more or less that of a stimulant irritant upon almost all the organs of the body-"it is a very useful agent;-Ammonia is not half so efficacious!"

Baboo Isserchunder Gangooly, now of Howrah, has also written a brief account of the Bish Boree, which he says is a generic term comprising a large group of medicinal preparations, the chief of which is Aconite; though many metallic substances enter into their composition, the principal of which are Mercury and Arsenic. This gentleman also considers that there are some of the Rusauns which are much more powerful stimulants than any which are to be found in our Pharmacopoeia. The chief of these are Baboo Gopaul Bose's Nas; Kalanul; Soochika Pills; Jurangkoosh Pills; and the Rambawn Pill. Some of these contain Arsenic, Poison of the Black Cobra, Opium, and Sulphate of Copper; and others Aconite, Realgar, &c.*

* Bengal Hurkaru Medical and Scientific Gazette, for 7th February and 18th December 1852.