| 1. Per cent. | 2. Per cent. | |
|---|---|---|
| Arsenious Acid, | 38·5 | 38·3 |
| Starch (Potato), | 54·8 | 55·4 |
| Magnesia, &c. | 6·7 | 6·3[724] |
[724] Two recipes were handed in at the coroner’s inquest which pretty fairly represent the composition of ordinary commercial violet powder:—
| First Quality, sold at 7s. per gross. | |||
| Starch Powder, | 28 | lbs. | |
| Magnesia, | 1 | 1⁄2 | lb. |
| Orris-root, | 1 | lb. | |
| Violet Perfume, | 1 | oz. | |
| Essence of Roses, | 5 | drops. | |
| Second Quality, sold at 6s. per gross. | |||
| Terra Alba (Sulphate of Lime), | 14 | lbs. | |
| Potato Starch, | 21 | lbs. | |
| Magnesia, | 3 | lbs. | |
| Orris-root, | 1 | 1⁄2 | lb. |
| Violet Perfume, | 1 | 1⁄2 | oz. |
| Essence of Roses, | 5 | drops. | |
Although the children were poisoned by absorption through the skin (unless it is allowed that some may have found its way in the form of arsenical dust into the throat, or, what is still more probable, that the infants may from time to time have seized the puff-ball and sucked it), the large quantity of ·421 grm. (6·5 grains) of arsenious acid was separated in the one case, and ·194 grm. (3 grains) in the other. In these cases arose the question which is sure to recur in legal inquiries into poisoning by absorption, viz., whether the poison lying on the surface and folds of the skin could not have been mixed during the post-mortem examination with the organs of the body? In these particular cases special care appears to have been taken, and the answer was satisfactory. It is not amiss, however, to call attention to the extreme precaution which such instances necessitate.
A woman, aged 51, had used a solution of arsenious acid to cure the itch; erysipelas of the body, however, followed, and she died after a long illness—one of the symptoms noted being trembling and paresis of the limbs.[725] In a case recorded by Desgranges,[726] a young chambermaid had applied to the unwounded scalp an arsenical ointment for the purpose of destroying vermin. She also suffered from a severe erysipelas, and the hair fell off. Quacks have frequently applied various arsenical pastes to ulcers and cancerous breasts with a fatal result. Instances of this abound; in one, a charlatan applied to a chronic ulcer of the leg an arsenical caustic; the patient showed symptoms of violent poisoning, and died on the sixth day.[727] In another, a lady suffering from some form of tumour of the breast, applied to an unqualified practitioner, who made from fifteen to twenty punctures with a lancet in the swelling, covered a piece of bread with an arsenical compound, and applied the bread thus prepared to the breast. Twelve hours afterwards symptoms of violent gastric irritation commenced; and vomiting and a sanguinolent diarrhœa followed, with death on the fifth day. Arsenic was found in all the organs.[728] Such examples might be multiplied. Arsenic has been in more than one case introduced criminally into the vagina with a fatal result.[729] Foderé, e.g., has recorded the case of a maid-servant who poisoned her mistress by intentionally administering several arsenical enemata.[730] Arsenious acid again has been respired in the form of vapour. One of the best instances of this is recorded by Taylor, and was the subject of a trial at the York Lent Assizes, 1864. The prisoner placed some burning pyrites at the doorway of a small room, in which there were eight children, including an infant in the cradle. The other children were removed speedily, but the infant was exposed to the vapour for an hour; it suffered from vomiting and diarrhœa, and died in twenty-four hours. There was slight inflammation of the stomach and intestines, the brain and lungs were congested, and the lining membrane of the trachea of a bright red colour. Arsenic was detected in the stomach, in the lungs, and spleen. The pyrites contained arsenic, and the fatal fumes were in effect composed of sulphurous and arsenious acids.