In the first edition of this work I expressed my concurrence with the majority of the witnesses. But some facts, which came subsequently under my notice, led me to think that this concurrence was given rather too unreservedly. I still adhere so far to my original views as to think it improbable that, if the deceased, after swallowing the poison, had time to cork the phial, wrap it in paper, pull up the bed-clothes, and place the bottle at her side, the progress of the symptoms could have been so rapid and the convulsions so slight, as to occasion no disorder in the appearance of the body and the bed-clothes,—and I still likewise think, that after swallowing so large a dose it was improbable she could have performed all the successive acts of volition mentioned above—with ordinary deliberation. But I am informed on good authority, that some gentlemen interested in the case found by actual trial, that all the acts alluded to might be accomplished, if gone about with promptitude, within the short period, which, in some of their experiments, the witnesses found to elapse, before the action of the poison commenced. And such being the fact, we ought not perhaps to attach too great importance to the other argument I have employed,—the probability of disorder in the body and bed-clothes from the convulsions; for if the poisoning commenced very soon, the convulsions might have been slight. The results of my own experiments related in p. [582], although on the whole confirmatory of those of Mr. Macaulay and his colleagues, are nevertheless sufficient to prove that large doses occasionally do not begin to operate with such rapidity as was observed in their experiments; for in one instance four drops of concentrated acid, equivalent to two scruples of medicinal acid, did not begin to act on a rabbit for twenty seconds; and certainly, for so small an animal, two scruples are as large a dose as five drachms for a grown-up girl.
The two following cases will throw some farther light on the time within which this poison begins to act on man when taken in large quantity. The first case shows, that even when an enormous dose is taken, a few simple voluntary acts may be executed before the symptoms begin. In this instance which is related by Dr. Gierl of Lindau, the dose was no less than four ounces of the acid of the Bavarian Pharmacopœia, which contains four per cent. of pure acid, and is equivalent to five ounces at least of that commonly used in Britain and France. The subject, an apothecary’s assistant, was found dead in bed, with an empty two-ounce phial on each side of the bed,—the mattrass, which is used in Germany instead of blankets, pulled up as high as the breast,—the right arm extended straight down beneath the mattrass,—and the left arm bent on the elbow.[[1906]] The second case proves that, although one or two acts of volition may be accomplished, the interval is so very brief that these acts can only be of the simplest kind. An apothecary’s apprentice-lad was sent from the shop to the cellar for some carbonate of potass; but he had not been a few minutes away, when his companions heard him cry in a voice of great alarm, “Hartshorn! Hartshorn!” On instantly rushing down stairs, they found him reclining on the lower steps and grasping the rail; and he had scarcely time to mutter “Prussic acid!” when he expired,—not more than five minutes after leaving the shop. On the floor of the cellar an ounce-phial was found, which had been filled with the Bavarian hydrocyanic acid, but contained only a drachm. It appeared that he had taken the acid ignorantly for an experiment; and from the state of the articles in the cellar, it was evident that, alarmed at its instantaneous operation, he had tried to get at the ammonia, which he knew was the antidote, but had found the tremendous activity of the poison would not allow him even to undo the coverings of the bottle.[[1907]]
When the quantity of the poison is small, a much longer interval may elapse before the commencement of its action. Thus, when the dose is barely short of what is required to occasion death, the effects may be postponed even for fifteen minutes, as in a case which occurred to Mr. Garson of Stromness.[[1908]] This, so far as I am at present aware, is the extreme limit of interval hitherto observed.
In the trial related above the prisoner Freeman was found Not Guilty.
It is important to fix, if possible, the smallest fatal dose of hydrocyanic acid. This will vary with particular circumstances, such as the strength of the individual, and the fulness or emptiness of the stomach at the time. The cases of the Parisian epileptics, who were killed each by a draught containing two-thirds of a grain of pure acid,[[1909]] will supply pointed information. For, on the one hand, considering the long time they survived, it is not probable that a dose materially less would have a fatal effect on man. And on the other hand repeated instances of recovery have been observed, where the dose was as great or even greater. Thus Dr. Geoghegan had a patient who recovered from a state of extreme danger after taking two-thirds of a grain;[[1910]] and Mr. Banks of Lowth met with a case of recovery in similar circumstances, where the dose was very nearly a whole grain.[[1911]]
It is almost unnecessary to add, that in man, as in animals, this poison will act violently, through whatever channel it may be introduced into the body. It has not been positively ascertained to act with force through the unbroken skin. The chemist Scharinger indeed was supposed to have been killed in consequence of accidentally spilling the acid on his naked arm;[[1912]] but this was in all probability a mistake. Should the skin be freely exposed to the air it seems reasonable to expect that the poison will evaporate before it could act with energy; but if confined by pledgets or otherwise, a different result might ensue. Through every other surface, however, besides the unbroken skin, hydrocyanic acid acts with very great power; and it is in particular important to remember that its power is very great when inhaled, so that dangerous accidents have ensued even from its vapour incautiously snuffed up the nostrils. I have known a strong man suddenly struck down in this way; a French physician, M. Damiron, has related the case of an apothecary who remained insensible for half an hour subsequently to the same accident;[[1913]] and cases of the kind are more apt to occur than might at first view be thought, because, contrary to what is generally believed and stated in chemical as well as medico-legal works, its smell is for a few seconds barely perceptible, and never of the kind which these accounts would lead one to anticipate. Accidental death may readily arise from its action on a wound or an abraded surface. Sobernheim mentions that Mr. Scharring, a druggist at Vienna, was poisoned in consequence of a phial of the acid breaking in his hand and wounding it; and he expired in an hour.[[1914]]
The only case with which I am acquainted of poisoning with the artificial compounds of hydrocyanic acid is that formerly alluded to as having been occasioned by the cyanide of potassium. Six grains dissolved in a clyster amounting to six ounces, occasioned general convulsions, palpitations, slow laboured breathing, coldness of the limbs, dilated pupil, fixing of the eyeballs, and death in one hour,—phenomena much the same with those produced by the acid itself.[[1915]]—Another case has been published, in which a French physician, ignorant of the correct dose, prescribed a potion with three grains of cyanide of potassium twice a day. Immediately after the first dose the patient was seized with the usual symptoms of poisoning with hydrocyanic acid; and expired in three-quarters of an hour.[[1916]] In noticing the first of these cases, Orfila draws the attention of practitioners particularly to the fact, that not long before a similar dose of a sample of cyanide, which had been moist for some time, was twice administered with impunity. The reason is that the cyanide of potassium undergoes decomposition when acted on by water, or when long kept.
Section III.—Of the Morbid Appearances produced by Hydrocyanic Acid.
Under this head the appearances in a special case will first be mentioned, and then the varieties to which they are liable.
In Hufeland’s case [p. [587]] the inspection was made the day after death. The eyes were still glistening, like those of a person alive; but the countenance was pale and composed like one asleep. The spine and neck were stiff, the belly drawn in, the back alone livid. The body generally, the blood even within the head, and especially the serous cavities, exhaled a hydrocyanic odour, so strong as to irritate the nostrils. The blood was every where very fluid, so that two pounds flowed from the incision in the scalp and twelve ounces from that of the dura mater; and it had a glimmering bluish appearance, as if Prussian blue had been mixed with it. The vessels of the brain were gorged, the substance of the brain natural, and the left ventricle distended with half an ounce of serum. The villous coat of the stomach was red, easily removed with the nail, and gangrenous.[[1917]] The intestines were reddish, and the liver gorged. The lungs were also turgid, and to such a degree in the depending parts as to resemble the liver. The arteries and left cavities of the heart were empty, the veins and right cavities distended.