Outlines of medical jurisprudence for India / by J.D.B. Gribble and Patrick Hehir.

Date:
1892
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Outlines of medical jurisprudence for India / by J.D.B. Gribble and Patrick Hehir. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    come in contact. Many definitions of the term a poison exclude such substances. As already pointed out, however, the question whether or no such substances may properly be called poisons is, for medico-legal purposes, in India, a matter of little importance. In this country in fact, when it is alleged that an individual has committed an offence by administering or attempting to administer one of these substances, e.g., pounded glass, the questions which a medical expert has to consider are,— (1) What has been the effect of the administration of the substance ? and (2) Is the substance one which it is deleterious to the human body to swallow and not, Is the substance ' a poison' or an unwholesome thing ? 790- Substances which, when swallowed, may act as mechanical irritants are,— (1) Hard, sharp, angular, or pointed solid matters, e.g., pounded glass, pins, and needles. (2) Substances which swell largely by inhibition of water, e.g., sponge ; and (3) Liquids at a high temperature, e.g., boiling water or melted lead. 791- Of mechanical irritants, the following require spe- cial notice :— (a) Pounded glass.—This, in many parts of India, is Pouuded glass popularly believed to be a very active poison, and has poiso™6Cliamcal been used both in attempts at suicide attempts at homi- cide. The Bombay Analyser's record for the ten years ending 1884 show that during that period this substance was only detected in thirty-one cases of alleged attempted human poisoning. In twenty-three of these it was detect- ed in bread, sweetmeat, or some other article of food; in 63