Can poisons administered for criminal purposes be almost certainly detected?
They can; chemical science within the last few years has made such advances that the most minute quantities of all the best known poisons can be detected with certainty long after death.
There is no poison so liable and certain to be found as arsenic, and in almost every case of poisoning with mineral poisons, science is enabled to detect the substance, even when life has been extinct for years, and the body nearly decomposed.
What is arsenic?
Metallic arsenic is an exceedingly brittle metal, of a steel-gray color. It vaporizes, when heated, with a strong odor of garlic, a property not possessed by any other metal.
The substance used as poison, and sometimes known as ratsbane, is arsenious acid, a compound of arsenic and oxygen. Arsenious acid has the form and appearance of a fine white powder.
What is the best remedy in cases of poisoning with arsenic?
The hydrated peroxide of iron (iron rust) is considered the best remedy.
The following is the best method for preparing this substance: Take common copperas (sulphate of iron) four ounces; dissolve in warm water in a glass, or porcelain dish, and add a small quantity of sulphuric acid, and afterwards ammonia solution, so long as a dense red precipitate is formed. This precipitate carefully strained off, and thoroughly washed in a filter with water, is hydrated peroxide of iron. So long as kept moist, it may be preserved for a great length of time.
Is lead a poison?