it was, most probably, a vegetable poison, which he believed, from the appearance of a small portion which adhered to the Chukkee, or grinding-stone, to be the bark of the plant known as Kunere a variety of the Oleander family, which he stated are included botanically under the class 'Nerium' of which there are five different species, all natives of warm latitudes, and several very common in India; the whole plant is thought to be poisonous, but especially the bark of the roots. It was proved that the substance pounded on the stone by the male prisoner was of a black colour, and in size about a finger's length and breadth. Further that the powdered drug was replaced in the rag in which it was brought from market, and was, in the victim's absence, mixed with the rice and milk which his wife had provided for his supper. When the man had eaten of this keer, he complained of its bitter taste, to remove which he chewed some sugar cane and a carrot, and was seized with violent purging and vomiting, and died during the night. The female prisoner threw away what remained of the poisoned food, washing the dishes in which it had been cooked. The medical officer expressed an opinion that the substance administered was not Arsenic. He had observed similar symptoms in a previous case of poisoning by Kunere. Both prisoners were sentenced to transportation for life.*

as

TERMINALIA BELLERICA.-(Belleric Myrobalon).—Vern. Beheyra Hind. Bahira Sans.-O'Shaughnessy describes the tree as growing in the mountainous parts of India; and common in Mysore. "Drupe oval, somewhat fiveangled, size, when dry, of a gall nut-colour dirty brown; size of a nutmeg and fleshy, when fresh, with a grey silky down, very astringent; kernels eaten and deemed intoxicating; bark abounds in gum." Ainslie reckons the fruit

* Nizamut Adawlut Reports, N. W. P., 13th March 1855, p. 345.

Dose one or two

as astringent, tonic, and attenuant. direms." The only cases of poisoning by the Bahira have been recorded by Mr. C. E. Raddock, Sub-Assistant Surgeon, in charge Malwa Bheel Corps. Three boys, from five to nine years of age, picked up and ate some of the dry nuts near the house of a Chumar who had brought them from the jungles for the purpose of colouring leather. Two of these boys become drowsy, complained of headache and sickness at stomach, and vomited freely a thick white frothy mucus. The third, a rather weakly boy of seven, was first seen by Mr. Raddock on the following morning. He was in his father's lap and appeared as if asleep; the legs and arms were relaxed and bent; eyes closed, breathing soft. There was total insensibility; shaking and calling did not make him stir in the least, or answer. The pulse was scarcely perceptible, action of the heart frequent and weak. Body of natural warmth, legs cold, eyes rather glistening, pupils fixed, neither contracted nor dilated, jaws closed, and only to be opened by much force. This child had eaten the largest quantity of kernels-between 20 and 30. At the time, or subsequently, nothing was complained of. He played all day and at night before going to bed; went to sleep, and was not noticed until next morning, when he was found insensible and was supposed to be dead. With difficulty he was made to vomit three or four times, the eyes opened with a heavy dull expression and closed again; though he relapsed, his condition was now improved, the insensibility was not so deep, and his hand was moved to his throat. Small quantities of strong black tea were administered. About 10 A. M. he became sensible, opened his eyes and answered when spoken to; towards the afternoon he walked about and improved greatly. At 5 in the evening he was sensible but drowsy, pulse small and rapid, complained of being giddy, had vomited twice since morning, with relief to

the symptoms-His recovery was speedy. Mr. Raddock justly infers from these cases, that the Bahira is a mild narcotic poison. In the last mentioned case, he is convinced that it would have proved fatal, had the stomach pump not been used or had emetics failed. He adds that, in two of the boys who ate about the same quantity, no effects were produced till about eight hours after, and the poison was got rid of by vomiting; In the third, who ate the most, no effects were produced in 12 hours, at least, no vomiting resulted, and, during sleep, insensibility came on.*

Dr. H. Cleghorn, of Madras, has obliged me with the following notes

"EUPHORBIA.-There are several species of EUPHORBIA, as the E. Neriifolia, Antiquorum, Acaulis, and others which abound in a milky caustic juice-this produces a blister, when rubbed on the integuments, and serious inflammation if dropped into the eye-several cases have happened within my knowledge, where the sight has been endangered from this cause.

"HURA CREPITANS-the Sand-Box Tree, introduced from the West Indies, is not uncommon at the Presidency towns -the seeds are violent dangerous purgatives, and the fruit is therefore unsafe in the hands of children, who are not unfrequently seen playing about with it.

"There are several species of ARUM, requiring examination, of a suspicious, if not of a poisonous nature-on one occasion five Mysore villagers were poisoned by partaking of the acrid rhizomes of an Arum, imperfect specimens of which I sent to Dr. Wight for identification, but he could not distinguish the species. If the roots had been boiled, the fatal results would not have occurred,-(as is well known) the deleterious property is easily driven off by heat."

* Indian Annals of Medical Science, April 1855, p. 709.

POUNDED GLASS.-Dr. R. Haines has published an interesting case in which a Mahratta Artist of Bombay, having been seized in the act of committing a robbery, managed to break up and swallow a quantity of bottle glass. The remainder of the bottle was produced-a reddish brown quart bottle, such as Rhenish wine is imported in.

He merely complained of a little pricking sensation in the throat and stomach. He was made to vomit, but no glass was ejected. He took castor oil, the stools were yellow and loose, not bloody. At the bottom of the vessel were found a number of pieces of thin bottle glass, precisely corresponding with the remains of the bottle shown by the policeman. There were about twenty fragments of various sizes, the largest an inch long by a quarter of an inch broad, the smallest as large as a grain of rice. There was considerable tenderness at the epigastrium which continued more or less until his discharge on the 8th day.

Mr. Haines remarks that cases of this kind are by no means infrequent in that part of India, the idea of the poisonous nature of pounded glass being even more generally received among the natives than in Europe. It is generally taken for the purpose of committing suicide. One or two other such cases have come under his observation since the. one above mentioned. Where such large fragments, slender and sharp-pointed, have been swallowed, some degree of danger, he thinks, must always exist of the pieces sticking crosswise in some portion of the intestinal tube, and producing ulceration, which might lead to the laying open either of a large vessel or of the cavity of the peritoneum. Hence, he insists, it will always be advisable to keep the patient under observation for ten or twelve days, by which time symptoms of such ulceration, if it existed, would manifest themselves.

It is very singular, however, with how much impunity fragments of glass have frequently been swallowed. It

seems to have been a rather common practice among mountebanks and drunkards, in the last century, to eat the glass after drinking its contents. Sound teeth and a strong jaw appear generally to have afforded these idiots an impunity which they scarcely deserved.*

It frequently happens, in India, that infants swallow the piece of SPONGE which is tied at the mouth of their nursing bottles. The accident generally causes much alarm; but, in two cases which I have seen, the foreign body has been passed in a few hours without causing any inconvenience.

ACCIDENTAL POISONING.

COPPER.-Cooking vessels of this metal being universally employed by Europeans and by most East Indian and Mussulmaun families throughout India, (except by a few, who use earthern pots for greater security), cases of poisoning by Copper not unfrequently occur, where, by the carelessness of servants, the usual precaution of having these vessels newly tinned every month is not observed. In such cases, the salt, or acid, or oily matter contained in rich soups, stews or curries, which require long boiling, acts chemically upon the exposed copper surface, and becomes highly poisonous. It is now well understood that keeping the exposed surface of the copper perfectly bright and clean is no safeguard against these impregnations. I am acquainted with a family among whom very severe cases of poisoning from this cause, fortunately not terminating fatally, have occurred twice, within the last six years.†

* It was believed that the "Powder of Succession" of the Italian poisoners was Diamond Dust. It is probable, however, that its compounders used less expensive substances of far greater activity.

In this country, where copper vessels are used so very extensively, the following conclusions, appended by Dr. Corrigan to some cases of Slow