An analysis of medical evidence : comprising directions for practitioners in the view of becoming witnesses in courts of justice, and an appendix of professional testimony / By John Gordon Smith, M.D.

  • Smith, John Gordon, 1792-1833.
Date:
1825
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An analysis of medical evidence : comprising directions for practitioners in the view of becoming witnesses in courts of justice, and an appendix of professional testimony / By John Gordon Smith, M.D. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Harvey Cushing/John Hay Whitney Medical Library at Yale University.

    398/418 (page 374)
    3J4' fkp:nch evidencl:. f ipiund. //. we had the same draught composed again with a grain of the salt, and, upon analysing it, found the acetate of n)orphinc readily*. ^ (By the Court.) On examining the stomach at the time of the dissection, do not you say that it was in an extraordinary state? Yes, in a state of inxoufflation, an emphysema of the mucous membranes. I had never before observed it, which prompted me to take the stomach to Paris, to be examined by Dr. Chaussier.—Could that em- physema be caused by poison ? I cannot speak from my ow n know- ledge, never having previously seen the phenomenon; but, according to the opinion of persons who are worthy of the greatest confidence, it has no connexion with the action of poison, and sometimes is found in diseases. — Is the idea of its connexion with poison out of the question? No, nothing is out of the question with regard to that idea-f-. ***** M. Laennec recalled.— Court. The court and gentlemen of the jury wish to have your opinion. Sir, upon a question I shall have the honour to address to you. A man, aged twenty-five, in good health, drinks some warm wine in the evening, in which there is acetate of morphine sufficient to create considerable disorder in the animal economy. Next morning he drinks some milk, in which there is also acetate of morphine; and the same day, towards evening, he takes a s[)oonful of a draught in which there is still some of this acetate. Whiit ought to be the probable consequences ? The witness stated, that the tdects of the acetate of morphine were not yet so positively known as to enable him to give a precise answer. Many experiments had been made with it on animals; but accurate conclusions with regard to the human body could not be drawn I'rom these. Besides whicii, the effects might vary according to the age, constitution, and state of health of the individual. He believed he might v.arrantably state, tiial if a considerable quantity of the acetate were administered, and succeeded by vomiting, the effects would be less severe. In the contrary case, the consequences would be more rapid and serious, and wouid produce death. Q. Supposing the acetate of morphine to have been given in the morning, would it be possible for the poison not to act till the evening? It i:> TiJt probable, if given in great quantity, and if there were no vomiting; but, in the event of vomiting, the thing would be more likeiv:}:. a iS * vt iS M. Chaussier declared, that he did not find, either in the stomach. * It is a common complaint against those who nsake up prescrip- tions, that if they possess not the articles required, the receipt is, soi- disant, completed nevertheless. The following acknowledgment was drawn from the next witness, Anselme,t\\e pharmacist: — Ju(/gc. Did vou not prepare another siniihir prescription, by order oiDr. Pigache? Yes, but it was not for jM. Ballet.—Who was it for ? I was not told.— Did it not contain acetate of morphine? It ought to have done so; but as I had none, I did not put it in ! j Let us applv th s proposition a little further, and see the result. Set lip AN IDEA ('[ui qiicn soil, pro or con,J and uolhing is out of the question with regard to it—a notion utterly inconceivable in justice. X As a mere illustration of the economy of judiciary process, I may