On the detection of aconite by its physiological action : being notes of experiments made in connection with the trial of Dr. E. W. Pritchard / by Frederick Penny and James Adams.

  • Penny, Frederick, 1816-1869.
Date:
[1865]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the detection of aconite by its physiological action : being notes of experiments made in connection with the trial of Dr. E. W. Pritchard / by Frederick Penny and James Adams. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    mony. In the liver, kidney, and other viscera, the antimony was deposited in a state insoluble in water. 3rd, That the contents of the intestines contained the largest proportion of antimony, next the heart, then the liver, kidney, and spleen ; less in the stomach ; and the smallest quantity in the rectum, brain, and blood. Not knowing the total weight either of the contents of the intestines, or of the several organs here enumerated, I was unable to calculate the total quantity of antimony in these matters, either separately or conjoined. 4th, That the contents of the intestines, the spleen, the heart, the blood, and the kidney, contained mercury ; but that none of this metal was present in the liver, stomach, rectum, and brain. That, in all these matters, the mercury was in a state in¬ soluble in water; and this result is quite consistent with the known property of mercury to form insoluble combinations with animal substances, even though it had been taken or administered in a soluble form during life. 5th, That the largest quantity of mercury was contained in the contents of the intestines, next in the spleen and heart, and extremely minute traces in the blood and kidney. 6th, That the presence of antimony and mercury in the contents of the intestines, indicates that these metals were being passed from the deceased up to the time of death. 7th, That no other metallic poison was contained in the matter ex¬ amined. 8th, That no aconite, morphia, or other vegetable poison, discoverable by chemical processes, was contained either in the contents of the intestines, or in the stomach. 9th, Not having detected any organic poison, either in the said contents of the intestines or in the stomach, it was not necessary to examine the other articles for such poisons, and more especially as the quantities of these matters received for analysis were too small to hold out any prospect of a suc¬ cessful result. All this I certify on soul and conscience. Glasgow, 9th May, 1865. Frederick Penny. Report of Analysis in the Case of the Death of Mrs. Taylor. Andersonian University, Glasgow, 9th May, 1865. On the same day and occasion that I received the articles in the case of the death of Mrs. Pritchard, Dr. Douglas Maclagan delivered to me the following articles, certified to have been taken from the body of Mrs. Taylor:—1. Portion of liver in stoneware jar; 2. Portion of stomach in glass bottle; 3. Portion of heart in glass bottle; 4. One kidney in glass bottle; 5. Portion of rectum in glass bottle; 6. Portion of blood in glass bottle; 7. 100 grains of dried contents of intestines. The vessels containing these articles were securely closed and duly labelled, and were, on the day referred to, brought by me direct to Glasgow. I have subjected all the articles above enumerated to a course of analysis and chemical examination similar to that applied to the articles in the case of Mrs: Pritchard. The following were the results obtained:— Liver.—In the liver the presence of antimony was unequivocally detected, and a quantitative estimation gave ‘047 of a grain in 1000 grains of this organ. A careful analysis was also made for the presence of mercury, but not the slightest trace was detected. Stomach.—The stomach yielded about the same proportion of antimony as that found in the liver. No mercury was detected. The stomach was also minutely examined by Stas’s process for aconite and morphia, but not a trace of these poisonous alkaloids was obtained. Heart.—The heart was found to contain antimony in less proportion than the liver. It yielded no mercury.