On poisoning by tartarized antimony : with medico-legal observations on the cases of Ann Palmer and others / by Alfred S. Taylor.

  • Taylor, Alfred Swaine, 1806-1880.
Date:
1857
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On poisoning by tartarized antimony : with medico-legal observations on the cases of Ann Palmer and others / by Alfred S. Taylor. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.

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    The kidney enclosed in this jar, was minutely examined, and found to be quite healthy. No. 3. The Liver, part of the Lungs, Heart, and Spleen.—These organs were found to be in a healthy condition. They had undergone some changes as the result of putrefaction. The gall-bladder contained bile, which was thickened to the con- sistency of a brown paste. The cavities of the heart were empty ; the valves were firm and free from disease. The lungs and spleen were softened from putrefaction, hut they presented no appearance of disease. The whole of these viscera were in a remarkable state of preservation. A chemical analysis was made of the following parts : 1. The brown, pasty contents of the stomach removed from the surface. They were found to contain, in rather large quantity, a preparation of antimony. A very minute portion of arsenic was also detected; but as arsenic was not found deposited in the viscera, and is said to be an occasional impurity in ordinary tartar emetic, we consider that the presence of this minute trace of arsenic in the stomach of the de- ceased, may have been owing to such impurity. There was no indication of the presence of any other poison. 2. The coats of the stomach were examined, and yielded antimony. 3. The large and small intestines (duodenum, ileum, and caecum) were found to contain antimony. 4. The orange-red deposit on the rectum was removed and separately examined. Antimony was found in this in larger proportion than in the stomach or other parts of the body. The colour of the substance was found to be owing to the partial con- version of the mineral to sulphuret of antimony, as a result of putrefaction. The coats of the rectum also yielded antimony. 5. The thickened hile removed from the gall-bladder, and separately tested, yielded antimony in a proportion nearly as large as that found in the rectum. 0. About two ounces (i. e., about one twentieth part) of the liver yielded anti- mony in well-marked quantity. 7. The spleen contained antimony, but in smaller proportion than the liver. 8. The kidney contained a small quantity of antimony. 9. Antimony was detected in the inner substance of the heart. 10. Antimony was also detected in the substance of the lungs, but in smaller pro- portion than in the other viscera. 11. The drainings of the jars 2 and 3, consisting chiefly of blood, were tested, and found to contain antimony. 12. A portion of the lining of the shell and part of the dress of deceased, was ex- amined. It yielded no trace of antimony, or of any poison. In this investigation, fifteen different analyses were made, occupying us from the 26tn to the 31st of December, and the conclusions which we draw from the results are : Conclusions. 1. That all parts of the body of deceased examined by us contained antimony. In the (contents of the) stomach and intestines, the antimony wTas partly in a soluble form (soluble in water), while in the liver, heart, spleen, kidney, and lungs, it had been deposited as a result of absorption during life.