Medico-legal contributions on arsenic : containing reports of a number of cases of arsenical poisoning, together with an account of the methods employed in their chemical examination / by Charles H. Porter.

  • Porter, Charles H. (Charles Hogeboom), 1834-1903.
Date:
1862
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Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medico-legal contributions on arsenic : containing reports of a number of cases of arsenical poisoning, together with an account of the methods employed in their chemical examination / by Charles H. Porter. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    and the omission of their preliminary examination, that led to Orfila's erroneous assertion that arsenic is a normal constituent of the human body. Because of this omission in the case of Mrs. Wooler,(Durham, Eng., Winter Assizes, 1855,) doubt was thrown on the scientific evidence by reason of the use of chlorohydric acid containing arsenic ; the discovery of this impurity was not made until after the analysis was completed. In every case investigated by me, a preliminary examination has been made in the way just mentioned. It is true that but a few poisons, of which the chief is arsenic, are likely to occur in the materials employed in analysis; occasionally, however, others are present, and as a general rule, therefore, it is advi- sable to make a preliminary examination. 5. Separate examination of each part.—It is always desirable that each part be separately examined, as for instance, the stomach, the contents of the stomach, the small intestines, the large intestines, the liver, &c, for often by proceeding thus, important information may be obtained. It is best ajso to con- sume in the. first examination but a part of the material (after the whole has been finely divided and intimately mixed)—two- thirds for example—so that in case of accident an examination may still be made; and to this there is usually no objection, since in almost all cases, if the poison can be detected in the whole it can be in the part mentioned, and in sufficient quantity not only to identify it but to make the greater number of the confirmatory tests. 6. Remarks on the method to be pursued.—It is not difficult to identify the various metallic poisons when they are free from other substances, by the application of a few simple tests. Where, however, the poisons are in admixture with organic mat--' ter, the problem presented is of far more difficult solution, for the organic substances may prevent, modify or conceal the char- acteristic chemical reactions which otherwise would take place upon the application of the different reagents. As most often the substances presented for toxical examination are articles of food or portions of the human system, toxicologists have devised many methods for the destruction or separation of the organic matter without any loss of the poison. The method we prefer is that proposed by Duflos? and elaborated by Fresenius and Babo. I speak from a somewhat large experience, and can say that, taking everything into consideration, it is far more reliable and