Mrs. Pritchard.
On the 21st of March a similar examination was made of the body of Mrs. Pritchard three days after death by the same medical men, who reported “that it presented no appearances of recent morbid action beyond a certain irritation of the alimentary canal, and nothing at all capable of accounting for death.” They had therefore secured for chemical analysis those parts of the body which they deemed likely to disclose the cause of death. As a portion of this analysis had been conducted during the temporary absence of Dr. Maclagan in London by Dr. Gamgee and Dr. Littlejohn, previously to the report being read they were called to prove that Dr. Maclagan’s report of what they had done in his absence was correct. The following was the substance of the report of the chemical analysis:—
“(1.) Contents of stomach amounted to little more than ½ an ounce, and free from all odour of any poisonous drug. Not a trace of any vegetable poison or of antimony was found.
“(2.) Urine.—The presence of antimony having already been ascertained in a portion of this secretion, the remainder (7 ounces) was employed to determine the quantity. The process followed was that by which antimony is obtained in the form of the sulphuret, after destroying the organic matter by means of hydrochloric acid and potash. The quantity was readily weighed, and found to be rather more than one-tenth of a grain (0·1078). This corresponds to nearly one-fourth of a grain (0·121) of tartar emetic.
“(3.) The Bile.—A little more than ½ an ounce of this fluid was obtained from the gall-bladder. By Reinsch’s process 50 minims readily gave an antimonial deposit. The remainder (4 drachms) used to determine the amount, yielded sulphuret of antimony corresponding to more than one-tenth of a grain (0·121) of tartar emetic.
“(4.) The Blood.—1 ounce, by Reinsch’s process, readily gave evidence of the presence of antimony.
“(5.) The Liver.—The weight was 36 ounces, a portion of which, weighing less than 4 ounces (1460 grains), by Reinsch’s process, gave sufficient antimony to coat rather more than four square inches of copper foil. (This experiment was satisfactorily tested by another process described in the report.) As to quantity, 1,000 grains gave of sulphuret of antimony 0·1234 grains, corresponding to a quarter of a grain of tartar emetic, making the whole amount contained in the liver almost exactly 4 grains (3·93 grains).
“I next examined the remainder of the solid organs removed from the body of Mrs. Pritchard, and found more or less antimony in the whole of them.
“I also examined certain articles of clothing and bed-linen handed to me by the officer, and in the stains on four of them—the chemise, two sheets, and a toilet-cover, on which was a stain as of wine—I found antimony. From these experiments I have been led to the following conclusions:—
“(1.) Mrs. Pritchard had taken a large quantity of antimony in the form of tartar emetic.