THE CASE OF DR. LAMSON
Theonly case on record in which the active principle of aconite has been used for the purpose of criminal poisoning is that of Dr. Lamson, who suffered the extreme penalty of the law for administering the drug to Percy Malcolm John, and thereby causing his death. The story is remarkable for the cold-blooded way in which the murder was carried out. George Henry Lamson, a surgeon, in impecunious circumstances, had a reversionary interest through his wife in asum of £1,500, which would come to him on the death of his brother-in-law, Percy Malcolm John. The latter, a sickly youth of eighteen years of age, was paralysed in his lower limbs from old-standing spinal disease. On November 27, 1881, Lamson purchased two grains of aconitine, and shortly afterwards went down to the school where the lad had been placed as a boarder, and had an interview with him in the presence of the headmaster, professing at the same time a kindly interest in the lad and his health. During the interview he produced some gelatine capsules, one of which he filled with a white powder, presumed to be sugar, and directly after seeing his brother-in-law swallow it, he took his departure. Within a quarter of an hour John became unwell, saying he felt the same as when Lamson had given him a quinine pill on a former occasion. Violent vomiting soon set in, and he became unable to swallow. This was rapidly followed by delirium, and in three hours and three-quarters death ensued. Suspicion fell on Lamson, and he was arrested shortly afterwards, and charged with the murder of John.
According to evidence at the trial, it is probable that Lamson had made several previous attempts on the lad's life, with aconitine, in the form of pills and powders, which he had given him under the pretence of prescribing for his ailments. The money to which he was entitled on the death of John doubtless supplied the motive for the crime. The proof of the purchase of aconitine by the prisoner, and the evidence of the post-mortem examination, pointed to the cause of death, and the presence of aconitine was amply proved by the clinical and other tests patiently and carefully applied by the analyst. The difficulty of proving the presence of a rare vegetable alkaloid in the body after death was, no doubt, duly considered by Lamson when he fixed on aconitine as the medium for his evil design; but science proved the master of the criminal, and the evidence of the instrument by which the crime was committed was indisputably proved.
THE BRAVO MYSTERY
Antimony, like arsenic, to which in many ways it is closelyallied, claims also to be ranked among the historic poisons. It was known and used by the ancient Greek and Roman physicians as a medicinal agent, and for certain purposes it is, perhaps, unequalled at the present time. The metal is a brittle, silvery and very brilliant substance, in the form of plates and crystals, and is largely used in the arts as an alloy, the most common form being Britannia metal, which is a compound of antimony, lead, and tin. The oldPoculo emeticaor everlasting emetic cups, were made of antimony. It is found abundantly in nature as a sulphide, also combined with various metals, and with quartz and limestone. From these it is separated by fusion, the heavy metallic portion sinking by the law of gravity, and abandoning the impurities which remain on the surface of the molten mass. Arsenic is a frequent contamination of commercial antimony, and it is very important that it should be eliminated before antimony is prepared for use in medicine.
Poisoning by tartarated antimony causes a peculiar metallic taste in the mouth, which is speedily followed by vomiting, burning heat, pains in the stomach and purging, difficulty in swallowing, thirst, cramp, cold perspirations, and great debility. In smaller doses it produces these effects in a mitigated form, which causes symptoms somewhat similar to natural disease, such as distaste for food, nausea, and loss of muscular power. For this reason, doubtless, it has been a favourite medium with many criminal poisoners, including Dove, Smethurst, Pritchard, and others; but there is no trial in which antimony has figured that caused more interest than the "Bravo Mystery" of 1876.
The story of this case begins with the marriage of Mr. Bravo, a young barrister of about thirty years of age, to Mrs. Ricardo, who was then a wealthy widow and a lady of considerable personal attractions. After the marriage, which followed a very short acquaintance, the couplewent to reside at Balham. According to a statement made by Mrs. Bravo, she informed her husband before the marriage of a former lover, and there is little doubt that it rankled in Mr. Bravo's mind, and he frequently taunted his wife with the fact. He was a strong, healthy, and temperate man, but appears to have been both weak and vain in character. On Tuesday, April 18, 1876, after breakfast at his own house at Balham, he drove with his wife into town. On their way, a very unpleasant discussion took place. Arriving in town, he had a Turkish bath, lunched with a relative of his wife at St. James's Restaurant, and walked on his way home to Victoria Station with a friend and fellow-barrister, whom he asked out for the following day. He arrived back home about half-past four. Shortly after his return, Mr. Bravo went out for a ride, in the course of which his horse bolted and carried him a long distance, and he got back to his home very tired and exhausted. At half-past six he was noticed leaning forward on his chair, looking ill, and with his head hanging down. He ordered a hot bath, and when getting into it he cried out aloud with pain, putting his hand to his side. The bath did not appear to relieve him much, and he seemed to be suffering pain all through dinner, but appeared to avoid attracting the attention of his wife and Mrs. Cox, her companion, who dined with him.
The food provided during the dinner was partaken of more or less in common by all three, but this was not the case as regards the wine. Mr. Bravo drank Burgundy, only, while Mrs. Bravo and Mrs. Cox drank sherry and Marsala. The wine drunk by Mr. Bravo had been decanted by the butler some time before dinner; how long he could not say, but he noticed nothing unusual with it.
The wine was of good quality, and Mr. Bravo, who was something of a connoisseur of wine, remarked nothing peculiar in its taste, but drank it as usual. If he had Burgundy for luncheon he finished the bottle at dinner; but if not, as on the day in question, the remains of the bottle were put away in an unlocked cellaret in the dining-room. The butler could not remember whether any Burgundy was left on this day or not; but, however, none was discovered.
This cellaret was opened at least twice subsequently to this, and prior to Mr. Bravo's illness,once by Mrs. Cox, and once by the maid.
Mr. Bravo seems to have eaten a good dinner, although he was evidently not himself from some cause or other. It was said he was suffering from toothache or neuralgia, and had just received a letter that had given him some annoyance.
The dinner lasted till past eight o'clock, after which the party adjourned to the morning-room, where conversation continued up to about nine o'clock.
Mrs. Bravo and Mrs. Cox then retired upstairs, leaving Mr. Bravo alone, and Mrs. Cox went to fetch Mrs. Bravo some wine and water from the dining-room.
Mrs. Bravo remained in her room and prepared for bed, and drank the wine and water brought to her by Mrs. Cox, who remained with her.
The housemaid, on taking some hot water to the ladies' room, as was her usual custom at half-past nine, was asked by Mrs. Bravo to bring her some more Marsala in the glass that had contained the wine and water. On her way downstairs to the dining-room, the girl met her master at the foot of the stairs. He looked "queer" and very strange in the face, but did not appear to be in pain, according to her statement. He looked twice at her, yet did not speak, though it was his custom, but passed on.
Mr. Bravo was alone after the departure of his wife and Mrs. Cox, until the time when he passed the housemaid at the foot of the stairs. He entered his wife's dressing-room, and the maid Mrs. Bravo's bedroom. In the dressing-room, according to Mrs. Cox's statement, Mr. Bravo spoke to his wife in French, with reference to the wine. This had frequently been the subject of unpleasant remarks before; but Mrs. Bravo had no recollection of the conversation on this occasion.
After leaving his wife in her room, Mr. Bravo went to his own bedroom and closed the door. The maid left Mrs. Bravo's bedroom and met her mistress in the passage partially undressed and on her way to bed. Mrs. Bravo and Mrs. Cox entered their bedrooms, and the former drank her Marsala and went to bed.
In about a quarter of an hour Mr. Bravo's bedroom door was heard to open, and he shouted out, "Florence! Florence! Hot water." The maid ran into Mrs. Bravo's room, calling out that Mr. Bravo was ill. Mrs. Cox, who had not yet undressed, rose hastily and ranto his room. She found him standing in his night-gown at the open window, apparently vomiting, and this the maid also saw. Mrs. Cox further stated that Mr. Bravo said to her, "I have taken poison. Don't tell Florence" (alluding to his wife); and to this confession of having taken poison on the part of Mr. Bravo, Mrs. Cox adhered. After this, Mr. Bravo was again very sick, and some hot water was brought by the maid. After the vomiting he sank on the floor and became insensible, and remained so for some hours. Mrs. Cox tried to raise him, and got some mustard and water, but he could not swallow it. She then applied mustard to his feet, and coffee was procured, but he was also unable to swallow that. Meanwhile a doctor, who had attended Mrs. Bravo, and who lived at some distance, was sent for. Mrs. Bravo, who was aroused from sleep by the maid, and who seems to have been greatly excited, insisted on a nearer practitioner being sent for, and in a short time a medical man, living close by, arrived on the scene. The doctor found Mr. Bravo sitting or lying on a chair, completely unconscious, and the heart's action almost suspended. He had him laid on the bed, and then administered some hot brandy and water, but was unable to get him to swallow it. In about half an hour another medical man arrived, and was met by Mrs. Cox, who said she was sure Mr. Bravo had taken chloroform. Both doctors came to the conclusion that the patient was in a dangerous state, and endeavoured to administer restoratives. Realizing the critical nature of the case, Dr. George Johnson, of King's College Hospital, was sent for. Meanwhile, Mr. Bravo was again seized with vomiting, mostly blood, and the doctors came to the conclusion he was suffering from some irritant poison. About three o'clock he became conscious and able to be questioned. He was at once asked, "What have you taken?" But from first to last he persisted in declaring, in the most solemn manner, that he had taken nothing except some laudanum for toothache. In reply to other questions, asking him if there were any poisons about the house, he replied there was only the laudanum and chloroform for toothache, some Condy's Fluid, and "rat poison in the stable." Mr. Bravo did not lose consciousness again until the time of his death, which occurred fifty-five and a halfhours after he was first taken ill.
At an early period his bedroom was searched, but nothing was found but the laudanum bottle, and a little chloroform and camphor liniment which had been brought from another room. There were no remains of any solid poison in paper, glass, or tumbler, and nothing to indicate any poison had been taken. The post-mortem examination showed evidence of great gastric irritation, extending downwards, but there was no appearance of any disease in the body, or inflammation, congestion, or ulceration. It was left therefore to the chemical examination to show what was the irritating substance which had been introduced into the body, and supply a key to part of the mystery. The matters which had been vomited in the early stage of Mr. Bravo's illness had been thrown away; but, singular to relate, on examination of the leads of the house beneath the bedroom window, some portion of the matter was found undisturbed, although much rain had fallen and the greater part must have been washed away. This was carefully collected and handed to Professor Redwood for analysis. From this matter he extracted a large amount of antimony. Antimony was also discovered in the liver and other parts of the body, and it was concluded that altogether nearly forty grains of this poison must have been swallowed by the unfortunate man. How he came to swallow this enormous dose, whether the design was homicidal or suicidal, there was not the slightest evidence to show, or where the antimony was obtained. The whole affair was shrouded in mystery, and a mystery it remains.
THE CASE OF DR. PRITCHARD
Theremarkable case of Dr. E. W. Pritchard of Glasgow, who was arrested and charged with murdering his wife and mother-in-law in that city in the year 1865, excited great interest at the time. The respectable position occupied by the accused man in society in Glasgow, and the practice as a physician which he had been enabled to attain in the course of his six years' residence there, awakened an unusual degree of attention in the public mind when the fact of his apprehension became known. The excitement was strengthened by the mystery invariably attached to the prosecution of all criminal inquiries in Scotland.
It appears that for some time previous to her decease, Mrs. Pritchard had been in a delicate state of heath, and her mother, Mrs. Taylor, wife of Mr. Taylor, a silk weaver of Edinburgh, had gone to Glasgow to nurse her during her illness. Mrs. Taylor took up her abode in the house of Dr. Pritchard, and ministered to her daughter's comfort; but while so engaged she became ill, and died suddenly, about three weeks previous to the day on which the accused man was apprehended. The cause of death was assigned to apoplexy, and as Mrs. Taylor was about seventy years of age no public attention was awakened, and the body was conveyed to Edinburgh and buried in the Grange Cemetery.
Circumstances closely following on this, however, awakened grave suspicions. Mrs. Pritchard died shortly after her mother, and a report was circulated that she had succumbed to gastric fever. The family grave at the Grange was fixed on as the place of interment, and arrangements were made for the funeral without delay. The body was taken to Edinburgh by rail, and Dr. Pritchard accompanied it to the house of his father-in-law, where it was to await interment. The deaths of the two ladies occurring within so short an interval of each other, coupled with certain hints which they had received, set the police on the alert, and while Dr. Pritchard was absent in Edinburgh they institutedinquiries, which led to a warrant being issued for his apprehension. On his return to Glasgow, previous to the day fixed for the funeral, he was arrested at the railway station in Queen Street and conveyed to the police offices.
Meanwhile the authorities had transmitted to Edinburgh information of what had been done, and at the same time had issued a warrant for a post-mortem examination of the body of Mrs. Pritchard. This was entrusted to Professor Douglas Maclagan, assisted by Drs. Arthur Gamgee and Littlejohn. The result of the post-mortem proved that death had not resulted from natural causes, and a subsequent examination disclosed the presence of minute particles of antimony in the liver.
The case now assumed a grave and mysterious aspect, and the authorities resolved to carry the investigations further. The next step was to order the exhumation of the body of Mrs. Taylor. This having been effected, the internal organs were submitted to analysis by Professor Maclagan, Dr. Littlejohn, and Professor Penny of Glasgow, who, after a protracted examination, reported that the death of Mrs. Taylor, like that of her daughter, was due to poisoning by antimony. On these facts being elicited, Dr. Pritchard was fully committed on the charge of murdering Jane Taylor his mother-in-law and Mary Jane Pritchard his wife.
The trial opened on July 3, 1865, at the High Court of Justiciary, Edinburgh, before the Lord Justice-Clerk, Lord Ardmillan, and Lord Jervis-woode, the Solicitor-General prosecuting for the Crown, while the prisoner was defended by Messrs. A. R. Clark, Watson, and Brand.
Evidence was given that Mrs. Pritchard was first taken ill in the October of 1864, with constant vomiting, often accompanied by severe cramp.
After being treated by her husband for some time, and getting no better, at her own request a Dr. Gairdner was called in, and her mother, Mrs. Taylor, came from Edinburgh to nurse her.
While on this visit to her daughter, Mrs. Taylor, on February 24, complained of feeling unwell. The next day she was found insensible, sitting on her chair in her daughter's room, and died the same night. From this time Mrs. Pritchard got gradually worse, and died within three weeks afterwards.
Mary McLeod, a girl who hadbeen in the service of the prisoner, admitted that he had familiar relations with her, and that this fact was known to Mrs. Pritchard.
The doctor had also made her presents, and told her he would marry her if his wife died.
Dr. Paterson, a medical practitioner of Glasgow, who was called in to see Mrs. Taylor, stated Pritchard told him the old lady was in the habit of taking Batley's solution of opium, and a few days before her death, she had purchased a half-pound bottle. When he saw her, he was convinced her symptoms betokened that she was under the depressing influence of antimony, and not opium. He therefore refused to give a certificate of her death.
Pritchard eventually signed the certificate himself, stating the primary cause of death had been paralysis and the secondary cause apoplexy. He further certified Mrs. Pritchard's death as due to gastric fever.
It was proved on the evidence of two chemists, that Pritchard was in the habit of purchasing tartarated antimony in large quantities, and also Fleming's tincture of aconite.
Dr. Maclagan, professor of medical jurisprudence in the University of Edinburgh, was then called to give the result of the chemical examination of the various organs of the body of Mrs. Pritchard, which had been retained for analysis. Antimony, corresponding to one-fourth of a grain of tartar emetic, was found in the urine, in small quantities in the bile and blood, and as much as four grains in the whole liver. Evidence of the presence of antimony was also found in the spleen, kidney, muscular substance of the heart, coats of the stomach and rectum, the brain and uterus.
Antimony was also detected in various stains on linen and articles of clothing, which had been worn by Mrs. Pritchard during her illness.
From these results Dr. Maclagan concluded that Mrs. Pritchard had taken a large quantity of antimony in the form of tartar emetic, which caused her death, and that from the extent to which the whole organs and fluids of the body were impregnated with the drug, it must have been given in repeated doses up to within a few hours of her decease.
The result of the chemical examination of the various organs of the body of Mrs. Taylor, which was exhumed for this purpose, revealed the presence of ·279, or a little more than aquarter of a grain of antimony in the contents of the stomach. Antimony was also found in the blood, and 1·151 grain was recovered from 1,000 grains of the liver.
Dr. Penny, who made an independent analysis, found distinct evidence of antimony in the liver, spleen, kidney, brain, heart, blood, and rectum, but no trace of morphine or aconite. He also came to the conclusion that Mrs Pritchard's death had resulted from the effects of antimony.
Antimony was found mixed with tapioca contained in a packet discovered in the house, also in a bottle containing Batley's solution of opium found in the prisoner's surgery.
Dr. Littlejohn, surgeon to the Edinburgh police, who was present at the post-mortem examination of both women, gave his opinion that Mrs. Pritchard's death had been due to the administration of antimony in small quantities, and that continuously. In Mrs. Taylor's case he believed some strong narcotic poison had been administered with the antimony.
This opinion was further endorsed by Dr. Paterson. Evidence was offered, that Pritchard had been in the habit of purchasing large quantities of Batley's solution of opium, which the manufacturers swore contained no antimony. For the defence it was urged, that there was no proof whatever that poison had had been administered by the prisoner, who had always lived on affectionate terms with his wife, and that the motive suggested was of the most trifling nature; that the stronger suspicion pointed to the maidservant Mary McLeod, on whose uncorroborated statements the chief evidence against the prisoner lay. The senior counsel for the prisoner (Mr. Clark) concluded his address by stating that the Crown had admitted there were but two persons who could have committed the crime—the prisoner, and Mary M'Leod. Mary M'Leod's hand had been found in connexion with every one of the acts in which poison was said to have been administered in the food. The case against the prisoner seemed to depend on a series of suspicions and probabilities, and not upon legal proof; and upon these grounds he asked a verdict of acquittal.
The "summing up" of the Lord Justice-Clerk occupied three hours and twenty minutes, on the conclusion of which the jury retired to consider their verdict. After an absence of fifty-five minutes they returnedwith the following verdict—"The jury unanimously find the prisoner guilty of both charges as libelled."
Dr. Pritchard was thereupon sentenced to death, and was executed at Glasgow on July 28, 1865.
There can be no doubt that he fully deserved his terrible doom.
THE PIMLICO MYSTERY
Chloroformbelongs to the class of neurotic poisons which act on the brain, and produce loss of sensation. It is a colourless, heavy, and volatile liquid, having a peculiar ethereal odour which cannot be easily mistaken, and a sweet pungent taste when diluted. For producing insensibility it requires very careful and experienced administration, and more lives have been lost by carelessness in using, than from the noxious character of the drug.
Many stories are related of the peculiar hallucinations and remarks made by patients while under, or partially under the influence of chloroform. The following has the merit of being true:—
"Doctor (who has just administered chloroform to a lady): 'Nurse, some 1 in 1,000, if you please.'
"Patient (under the anæsthetic): 'Ah! that's my Jack. He's one in a thousand. Dear Jack!'"
The stories that crop up from time to time, of persons who have been rendered unconscious by simply waving a chloroformed handkerchief before the face, usually emanate from the fertile brain of some imaginative journalist. As an internal poison chloroform has rarely been used, although there are many cases on record where persons have accustomed themselves to drinking chloroform, until they have been able to swallow it in very large quantities. The one recorded instance in which it was alleged to have been used for the criminal destruction of life was in the remarkable case known as the "Pimlico Mystery."
The trial of Adelaide Bartlett for the wilful murder of her husband by administering chloroform to him, was held before Mr. Justice Wills at the Central Criminal Court on April 12, 1886, and lasted for six days. The case attracted considerable attention and interest throughout, which culminated in a dramatic scene at the close, and the acquittal of the accused woman. The strange relations which existed between Mrs. Bartlett and herhusband, with whose murder she was charged, the yet more strange relations between her and the man who in the first instance was included in the accusation, together with the exceptional circumstances of his acquittal, and his immediate appearance in the witness box formed a case of peculiar dramatic interest. Thomas Edwin Bartlett was a grocer, having several shops in the suburbs of London, and at the time of his death was forty years of age. In 1875 he married a Frenchwoman, Adelaide Blanche de la Tremoille, who was a native of Orleans, and whom he met at the house of his brother, she being at that time about twenty years of age. After the marriage she went to a boarding-school at Stoke Newington, and lived with her husband only during the vacation. At a later period she went to a convent school in Belgium, where she remained for some eighteen months, after which she rejoined her husband, and settled down to live in London. During Christmas of 1881 she gave birth to a stillborn child, which so affected her that she came to the resolution that she would have no more children. Some four years later Bartlett and his wife made the acquaintance of George Dyson, a young Wesleyan minister, who soon became on terms of great social intimacy with them, visiting and dining with them frequently. The admiration for their friend seems to have been common to both husband and wife. In 1885 Edwin Bartlett made a will, leaving all he possessed to his wife, and making Mr. Dyson and his solicitors his executors. Shortly afterwards the couple removed to furnished apartments in Claverton Street, Pimlico, where they apparently lived on good terms, and were still frequently visited by their friend Mr. Dyson.
On December 10, in the same year, Mr. Bartlett became seriously ill. Peculiar symptoms developed, which excited the curiosity and surprise of the medical man called in to attend him. The state of his gums suggested to the doctor that the illness was due to mercury, which in some way was being taken or administered to him, and he complained of nervous depression and sleeplessness. He appeared to be gradually recovering from this, but on December 19, Mr. Bartlett himself suggested that a second doctor should be called in, lest, as he put it, "his friends should suspect, if anything happened tohim, that his wife was poisoning him." The cause for this was put down to some ill-feeling which had formerly existed between Mrs. Bartlett and her husband's father. A second practitioner, therefore, was called in, and the patient, on December 26, was practically well and went out for a drive though still weak.
The next day Mrs. Bartlett asked Mr. Dyson, who was constantly calling at the house, to procure for her a considerable quantity of chloroform, which she told him she had used before with good effect on her husband for some internal ailment of long standing, and that this internal affliction had upon previous occasions given him paroxysms. She further expressed apparently some belief that he might die suddenly in one of these attacks. Dyson seems meekly to have yielded to her request, and obtained three different lots of chloroform, in all six ounces, from various chemists, giving the reason, that he required it for taking out grease spots, and placed it all together in one bottle. Two days after he met Mrs. Bartlett on the Embankment and handed her the chloroform. During his illness, Mr. Bartlett had slept on a camp bedstead in the front drawing-room, his wife occupying a sofa in the same room. On December 31 he was apparently quite well again, and about half-past ten o'clock in the evening, Mrs. Bartlett told the servant she required nothing else and retired with her husband for the night. At four o'clock in the morning the house was aroused by Mrs. Bartlett, and it was discovered her husband was dead in bed.
The statement made by the lady was, that when her husband had settled for the night she sat down at the foot of the bed; that her hand was resting upon his feet; that she dozed off in her chair; she awoke with a sensation of cramp, and was horrified to find her husband's feet were deathly cold. She tried to pour some brandy down his throat, and she found he was dead. She then aroused the household. The first person who entered the room was the landlord, who noticed a peculiar smell that reminded him of chloric ether. The doctor was promptly sent for, but from external examination could find nothing to account for death. The only bottle found was one that contained a drop or two of chlorodyne. A post-mortem examination was held, and the stomach showed evidence of having contained a considerable quantity of chloroform. There was no internal disease or growth,the organs being quite healthy, and nothing to account for death beyond the chloroform, which the medical men concluded must have been the cause of death.
The coroner's inquiry resulted in a verdict of wilful murder against Adelaide Bartlett and George Dyson, and they were both arrested. At the trial, the Crown decided to offer no evidence against Dyson, and, after being indicted and pleading "Not guilty," he was discharged by the judge to be called as a witness.
A brilliant array of counsel were engaged on the case, the late Lord Chief Justice, then Sir Charles Russell, having charge of the prosecution, while the defence of Mrs. Bartlett was entrusted to Sir Edward Clark, and that of Mr. Dyson to Mr. Lockwood.
Dyson's examination occupied nearly the whole of the second day, during which he detailed the form of the intimacy between Mrs. Bartlett and himself; how he procured the chloroform and disposed of the bottles after hearing the result of the post-mortem, by throwing them away on Wandsworth Common while on his way to preach at Tooting. He was in the habit of kissing Mrs. Bartlett, and usually called her Adelaide. He had had conversations with Mr. Bartlett on the subject of marriage, and had heard him express the opinion that a man should have two wives, one to look after the household duties, and another to be a companion and confidante. He had told Mr. Bartlett he was becoming attached to his wife, but the latter seemed to encourage it, and asked him to continue the intimacy. He did not mention the matter of having procured the chloroform for Mrs. Bartlett until he had heard the result of the post-mortem.
The medical man called in to attend Mr. Bartlett during his illness, described the condition in which he found him, and his recovery from the illness. He also gave an account of a very extraordinary statement, which was made to him by Mrs. Bartlett after the death of her husband. It was as follows. At the age of sixteen years she was selected by Mr. Bartlett as a wife for companionship only, and for whom no carnal feeling should be entertained. The marriage compact was, that they should live together simply as loving friends. This rule was faithfully observed for about six years of their married life, and then only broken at her earnest and repeated entreaty that sheshould be permitted to be really a wife and a mother. The child was still-born, and from that time the two lived together, but their relations were not those of matrimony. Her husband showed great affection for her of an ultra-platonic kind, and encouraged her to pursue studies of various kinds, which she did to please him. He affected to admire her, and liked to surround her with male acquaintances, and enjoy their attentions to her. Then they became acquainted with Dyson. Her husband conceived a great liking for him, and threw them together. He requested them to kiss in his presence and seemed to enjoy it, and gave her to understand that he had "given her" to Mr. Dyson. As her husband gradually recovered from his illness he expressed a wish that they should resume the ordinary relations of man and wife, but she resented it. She therefore sought for some means to prevent his desire, and for this purpose she asked Dyson to procure the chloroform.
On the night of the death, some conversation of this kind had taken place between them, and when he was in bed she brought the bottle of chloroform and gave it to him, informing him of her intention to sprinkle some upon a handkerchief and wave it in his face, thinking that thereby he would go peacefully to sleep. He looked at the bottle and placed it by the side of the low bed, then turning over on his side apparently went to sleep. She fell asleep also, sitting at the foot of the bed, with her arm round his foot; she heard him snoring, then woke again, and found he was dead.
Dr. Stevenson, who made the analysis, gave evidence as to finding eleven and a quarter grains of pure chloroform in the stomach of the deceased, but, judging from the time that had elapsed and the very volatile nature of the liquid, a large quantity must have been swallowed. No other poisons were found. The jury, after deliberating nearly two hours, returned a verdict of "Not guilty," thus making another addition to the list of unsolved poisoning mysteries.
THE RUGELEY MYSTERY
Strychninemay very justly be termed a deadly poison. It is one of the active principles extracted from nux vomica, the singular disk-like seed of theStrychnos nux vomica, a tree indigenous to most parts of India, Burmah, Northern Australia, and other countries. Nux vomica was unknown to the ancients, and is said to have been introduced into medicine by the Arabians, but there is very little reliable record of it until the seventeenth century, when the seeds were used for poisoning animals and birds. Strychnine was discovered in 1818 by Pelletier and Carenton, and was first extracted from St. Ignatius' bean, in which it is present to the extent of about 1·5 per cent. Very soon afterwards it was extracted from nux vomica, which, being very plentiful, is now the chief source of the drug. It is extremely bitter in taste, and may be distinctly detected in a solution containing no more than one-six-hundred-thousandth part. For a considerable time after its discovery, the detection of strychnine in the body after death was a matter of great uncertainty, especially when only a small quantity had been administered; but now it is possible to detect the presence of one-five-thousandth part of a grain, and that even after some period has elapsed. It has been used for criminal purposes by several notorious poisoners, notably by Dove, Palmer, and Cream, but the symptoms produced are so marked and its presence clearly indicated, that detection now is almost certain.
Among the most celebrated trials of this century was that of Dr. Palmer, who was charged with the wilful murder of John Parsons Cook, at Rugeley, in 1855. A special Act of Parliament was passed in order to have this case tried in London, where it was brought before Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice Cresswell, at the Central Criminal Court, on May 14, 1856. The Attorney General, Mr. E. James, Q.C., with several other counsel, conducted the prosecution, and Palmer was defended by Mr. Serjeant Shee, Messrs. Grove, Q.C., Gray, and Kenealy.
The accused man was a countrydoctor, and had carried on a medical practice in Rugeley, a small town in Staffordshire, for some years. Then he went on the turf, and made his business over to a man named Thirlby, a former assistant. Shortly afterwards, he made the acquaintance of John P. Cook over some betting transactions. Cook was a young man of good family, about twenty-eight years of age, and was intended for the legal profession. He was articled to a solicitor; but after a time, inheriting some property worth between twelve and fifteen thousand pounds, he abandoned law and commenced to keep racehorses. Meeting Palmer at various race meetings, they soon became very intimate. In a very short time Palmer got into difficulties, and was compelled to raise money on bills. Things went from bad to worse—until he at last forged an acceptance to a bill in his mother's name, who was possessed of considerable property. In 1854 he owed a large sum of money, and in the same year his wife died, whose life, it transpired, he had insured for £13,000. With this money he bought two racehorses; but in his betting transactions he lost heavily, and then commenced to borrow money from Cook, whose name he also forged on one occasion on the back of a cheque. He insured his brother's life for £13,000, and very shortly afterhedied, the amount being also paid to Palmer. This money soon went, and at length he had two writs out against him for £4,000.
In the meanwhile, Cook had been more successful than his friend in his racing ventures, and had won a considerable amount with a race-horse he owned called Polestar. Polestar was entered for the Shrewsbury races on November 14, 1855, and Cook and Palmer went there and stayed with some friends at the same hotel in that town. On the evening of the races they were drinking brandy and water together. Cook asked Palmer to have some more, and the latter replied, "Not unless you finish your glass." Cook, noticing he had some still left in his tumbler, said, "I'll soon do that," and finished it at a draught. On swallowing it he immediately exclaimed, "There's something in it burns my throat." Palmer took up the glass and said, "Nonsense, there is nothing in it," and called the attention of the others standing by. Cook then suddenly left the room, and was seized with violent vomiting. This became so bad that he soon had to betaken to bed, and appeared to be very seriously ill. Two hours later a medical man was sent for, who at once prescribed an emetic, and then a pill. He obtained relief from these, and by the morning the vomiting had ceased, and he was much better, though he still felt very unwell. They returned to Rugeley together, Cook taking rooms at an hotel directly opposite Palmer's house. Cook was still confined to his room, and during the next few days, was constantly visited by Palmer, and after each visit it was noticed the sickness commenced again. On one occasion Palmer had some broth prepared, which he specially wished Cook to take. The latter tried to swallow it, but was immediately sick.Itwas then taken downstairs, and a woman at the hotel, thinking it looked nice, took a couple of tablespoonfuls of it; but within half an hour she was taken seriously ill, and obliged to go to bed, her symptoms being exactly like those of Cook's when first taken ill at Shrewsbury. Three days after this a neighbouring doctor was called in, Palmer telling him that Cook was suffering from a bilious attack. Palmer then suddenly went off to London, his business being to try and arrange about the settlement of some debts that were pressing. From the time he left, it was noticed by the doctor that Cook's condition rapidly improved, and in a day or two he was able to leave his bed and be up and dressed. On Palmer's return to Rugeley he at once went to see Cook and during the rest of his illness was constantly with him. On the evening of his return he also called on a surgeon's assistant, with whom he was acquainted, and purchased from him three grains of strychnine. Cook was taking some pills which had been prescribed by the doctor, and which had done him good. They were ordered to be taken at bedtime, and the box containing them was in his room. He was visited by Palmer about 11 o'clock the same night, and up to that time he was apparently well. Palmer left shortly after. At 12 o'clock the whole house was aroused by violent screams proceeding from Cook's room. The servants rushed in and found him writhing in great agony, shouting "Murder!" He was evidently suffering intense pain, and soon was seized with convulsions. Palmer was at once sent for, and on his arrival Cook was gasping for breath, and hardly able to speak. He ran back to procure some medicine, which on his return he gave him,but the sick man at once threw it back. The attack gradually passed off, and by the morning he was somewhat better, but very weak. The same day Palmer visited a chemist he knew in the town, and purchased six grains of strychnine. During the afternoon a relative of Palmer's, who was also a medical man, arrived on a visit to Rugeley, and he was taken to see Cook, and in the evening a consultation was held by the three medical men. They agreed to prescribe some medicine for the patient in the form of pills, which were prepared, and in the course of the evening were handed to Palmer, who was to administer a dose the last thing at night.
About half-past ten Palmer gave Cook two of the pills, settled him comfortably for the night, and went home. At ten minutes to eleven Cook roused the house with a frightful scream, calling out, "I'm going to be ill as I was last night." Palmer was sent for, and brought with him two more pills, which he said contained ammonia, and gave them to Cook. Very shortly afterwards convulsions set in, which were followed by tetanus, and the unfortunate man died in a few minutes in great agony.
The deceased man's relatives were communicated with, and his father-in-law soon arrived in Rugeley. On Palmer being questioned about Cook's affairs, he said that he held a paper drawn up by a lawyer, and signed by Cook, stating that, in respect of £4,000 worth of bills, he (Cook) was alone liable, and Palmer had a claim for that amount against the estate. This, with other matters, aroused suspicion, and it was decided to hold a post-mortem examination on the body to ascertain the cause of death. Palmer was present at the examination, and by his deliberate act the fluid contents of the stomach were lost. What portions of the body were reserved for analysis, he did all he could to prevent from reaching the analysts. When the jars, etc. were being sent to London for examination by the Government analyst, he intercepted them, and offered the post-boy £10 to upset the conveyance and break them.
The evidence offered at the trial was almost entirely circumstantial, and the medical testimony was very conflicting. It was supposed, in the first instance, Palmer had administered tartar emetic to his victim, but that for the fatal dose strychnine was used. It was proved Palmer had purchased strychnineunder suspicious circumstances on the morning of the day on which Cook died, and could not account for the purchase of it, or state what he had done with it. The symptoms appeared at a timewhichwould correspond to the interval that precedes the action of strychnine, being developed over the entire body and limbs in a few minutes, suddenly and with violence. None of the pills could be obtained for analysis, and Dr. Taylor, who made the analytical examination, was unable to find any trace of strychnine in the portions submitted to him, but he found half a grain of antimony in the blood. He believed Cook died from the effects of strychnine. The great point in the case was, did the tetanic symptoms, under which the deceased man died, depend on disease or poison? Doctors Brodie, Christison and Todd, and other eminent authorities of the time agreed, that when taken as a whole they were not in accordance with any form of disease, but were in perfect accordance with the effects of strychnine. On the other hand, medical men called for the defence testified that tetanus might be caused by natural disease, and the deceased might have died from angina pectoris or epilepsy. In spite of the absence of confirmatory chemical evidence, after one hour and seventeen minutes' deliberation, the jury returned a verdict of "Guilty," and Palmer was sentenced to death, the trial having lasted twelve days.
The rigid and fixed condition of the limbs is a marked feature after poisoning by strychnine. In the recent Horsford case, in which a farmer named Walter Horsford was convicted of the murder of his cousin Annie Holmes, at St. Neot's, in 1897, 3·69 grains of strychnine were recovered from the internal organs, after the body was exhumed,nineteen daysafter death. Even then, rigidity was very marked, especially in the lower limbs and fingers. The same rigidity was remarked by Dr. Stevenson in the case of Matilda Clover, who was poisoned by Neill Cream with strychnine a few years ago. In this case, the body had been buriedfrom October until May, and the rigidity in the limbs and fingers was still maintained. Dr. Stevenson states that usually when persons are suffering from strychnine poisoning, they are very apprehensive of death. He has known a woman say, "I am going to die" before any intimation of symptoms had occurred. The first apprehension is, that some terrible calamity is about to take place.
OPIUM EATING AND SMOKING—MESCAL BUTTONS
Thenarcoticpropertiesof the poppy have been known from times of great antiquity. The first mention we have of its use is by Theophrastus, who lived about 300 yearsB.C.It is supposed that the potion known under the name of Nepenthe, prepared by Helen of Troy, and given to the guests of Menelaus, to drive away their care, was none other than a wine of opium. This conjecture receives support from Homer, who states that Nepenthe was obtained from Thebes, the ancient capital of Egypt. According to Prosper Alpinus, the Egyptians were practised opium eaters, and were often faint and languid through the want of it. They prepared and drank it in the form of "Cretic Wine," which they flavoured and made hotter by the addition of pepper and other aromatics. The Turks and Persians employed opium as a medicine, and also for eating, from a very early period. Dioscorides, the ancient Greek pharmacist, describes how the capsules from which the drug is collected should be cut, and Celsus, a Roman physician of the first century, frequently alludes to opium in his works under the quaint name of "poppy tears."
The introduction of opium into India seems to have been connected with the spread of Mahomedanism, the earliest record we have of its use in that country being made by Barbosa in 1511, although it is more than probable it was used in India long before that time. Pyres, the first ambassador from Europe to China in 1516, speaks of the opium of Egypt, Cambay, and the kingdom of Coûs, in Bengal, and states it was eaten by "the kings and lords, and even the common people, though not so much because it costs dear." The Mogul Government uniformly sold the opium monopoly, and the East India Company did likewise.
The properties of opium have also been known from early times to the Persians, who flavoured the drug with aromatics, and held it in great esteem. By them it was commonly called Theriaka. It is supposed to have been first introduced toChina by the Arabs, who traded with the Chinese as early as the ninth century. Towards the end of the eighteenth century a trade sprang up with India, which rapidly increased, till it led to political difficulties, culminating in the war of 1842, and the signing of the treaty of Nanking, after which five ports of China were opened to foreign trade, opium being admitted as a legalised import in 1858. Opium smoking in China was practised in the seventeenth century, and gradually extended over the entire empire, and at the present time is almost a recognised habit among the people.
With regard to the introduction of opium into India, the Mahomedans once having established its use began to make it a source of income. The Great Mogul monopolized the opium production and trade, and derived an immense income from the sale of the monopoly. With respect to its use in India, it is not easy to state with certainty whether or not and in what periods, it has increased over the various parts of the country. From the most recent reports it appears that "the largest amount of opium is produced in the central tract of the Ganges, extending from Dinapore in the east, to Agra in the west, and from Gorakhpur in the north to Hazaribagh in the south, and comprising an area of about 600 miles long and 200 miles broad." In the district of Bengal, the Government has the monopoly of the opium industry, and the districts are divided into two agencies, Behar and Benares, which are under the control of officers residing in Patna and Ghazipur. In 1883 the amount of acres under poppy cultivation was in Behar 463,829, and in Benares agency 412,625; but the export of opium has somewhat diminished since then. Any one may undertake the industry, but cultivators are obliged to sell the opium exclusively to the Government agencies, at a price which is fixed beforehand by the officials. The Government sells the ready goods to merchants at a much higher price, which difference is paid by the country to which the opium is exported. In India itself, the sale of opium is restricted to licensed shopkeepers, a practice which has proved to be useful, because in some places, when the licensed shops have been closed, a greater number of unlicensed and secret shops have sprung up, and have made the contract insufficient.
The opium question is so complex in its nature, and is so largely influenced by the habitsand constitution of those nations who are addicted to its use, that it is obvious that only those with skilled medical knowledge, who are on the spot and have lived and had a daily experience of the people, are in a proper position to deal with the question at all. So much has been written by religious enthusiasts, and other persons totally ignorant of the nature and properties of the drug, that one almost hesitates to touch upon the question at all. Our only excuse for so doing is, that the following facts have been furnished by reliable medical authorities, who are really in a position to judge on the subject.
The cause which led to the use of this narcotic drug by the races of the East may have been primarily due to the prohibition of wine by the Moslems, but more likely on account of its valuable remedial or protective properties, needed by a race subject to malaria and kindred diseases, and to counteract the effect of the hot climate to which they are exposed. It is a remedy at hand, and would seem to be one to which they at once fly. The evil lies more in the smoking than the eating of the drug; the former habit is more prevalent in China, and has the most demoralizing effect. The extent of its use in the East varies according to the geographical and social differences of the people, and it is used in various degrees of moderation and excess.
The drug is employed in various forms, according to the class of people who consume it. In India it is largely used in the crude state, and is sold at about two annas a drachm, in small square pieces. The opium eater will take two or three grains and roll them into the form of a pill between his fingers, and then chew or swallow it, often twenty times in the day. It is also used in a liquid form called Kusambah made by macerating opium in rose-water; others boil it with milk, then collect the cream and eat it. The varieties for smoking are known as Chundoo and Mudat, the former being a very impure extract of a fairly stiff consistence, and the latter made from the refuse of Chundoo, of which it largely consists; but being much cheaper, is chiefly used by the low-class Hindoos and Mahomedans. From two to four grains a day may be called a moderate use of the crude drug. The poorer people regularly give it to children up to two years of age, to keep them quiet, also as a preventive against such complaints as enteritis,so common in the East; and so before youth is reached they become inured to its action. Licences to sell the drug are sold to the highest bidder at the opium auctions, the licensee having the privilege of supplying a certain number of small dealers.
The Chinese smoker usually lays himself down on his side, with his head supported by a pillow. On the straw mat beside him, between his doubled-up knees and his nose, a small glass oil lamp, covered with a glass shade, is burning. Close to this is a tray, containing a small round box holding the drug, a straight piece of wire used for manipulating it, a knife to scrape up fragments, and the pipe used for smoking. The latter is about two feet long, with a bore of about half an inch in diameter, and is not unlike the stem of a flute before it is fitted. About two inches from the bottom of the tube, is a closed cup or bowl of earthenware or stone, having a central perforation. To charge the pipe, a small portion of the drug (weighing a few grains) is picked up with the wire, kneaded and rolled in the closed surface of the cup, then heated in the flame of the lamp till it swells. This is rolled up and again manipulated, then finally placed in the aperture in the surface of the bowl. It is then lighted from the lamp, and the smoke drawn into the lungs through the tube till the first charge is exhausted.
In a report made by theBritish Medical Journalconcerning the use of opium in India, from the evidence of medical men long resident in that country, there seems a general concensus of opinion that opium eating, in the majority of cases, exercises no unfavourable influence on the people who indulge in the habit, and that it is a prophylactic against fever, and prevents the natives from malaria and excessive fatigue. There is no comparison between the effects of the opium habit and the habitual use of alcohol. English people cannot judge from their own standard, the manners and customs of people living under conditions with which they are unacquainted. While we look on opium as a narcotic, the Hindoo uses it as a stimulant to enable him to go through hard work on the smallest quantity possible of food. In Persia, at the present time, according to Wills, nine out of ten of the aged, take from one to five grains of the drug daily. It is largely used by the native physicians. It does not appear that the moderate use of Persianopium in the country itself, is deleterious. Opium smoking is almost unknown, and when it is smoked, it is, as a rule, by a doctor's orders. The opium pill-box—a tiny box of silver—is as common in Persia as the snuff-box was once with us. Most men of forty in the middle and upper classes use it. They take from a grain to a grain and a half, divided into two pills, one in the afternoon and one at night. The majority of authorities agree that opium smoking as a habit is much more harmful and attended with more demoralizing influences than opium eating; but either habit is undoubtedly harmful to Europeans, and when once formed, is extremely difficult to break.
Paracelsus is generally credited with being the originator of the word "laudanum," which is now employed as the popular name for tincture of opium. Yet there seems little doubt the word was first applied to the gum of the cistus. Clusius in his "Rariorum Plantarum Historia" states, "The gum of the cistus is called in Greek and Latin, ladanum, and in shops laudanum." It is therefore very likely that the secret preparation originated by Paracelsus which he called laudanum, was composed of the gum of the cistus as well as opium, and that he adopted the title from the former ingredient.
The Kiowa and other Mexican Indians use the fruit of theAnhelonium Lewinii, which they call "mescal buttons," to produce a species of intoxication and stimulation during certain of their religious ceremonies. The effects of this fruit, which like Indian hemp varies considerably in different individuals, are very peculiar, and have been described by Lewin, Prentiss and Morgan.
The eating of the fruit first results in a state of strange excitement and great exuberance of spirits, accompanied by great volubility in speech. This is shortly followed by a stage of intoxication in which the sight is affected in a very extraordinary manner, consisting of a kaleidoscopic play of colours ever in motion, of every possible shade and tint, and these constantly changing. The pupils of the eyes are widely dilated, cutaneous sensation is blunted, and thoughts seem to flash through the brain with extraordinary rapidity. The colour visions are generally only seen with closed eyes, but the colouring of all external objects is exaggerated. Sometimes there is also an indescribable sensation of dual existence.
Recent investigation into thepharmacology of the mescal plant prove it to be a poison of a very powerful nature. Lethal doses produce complete paralysis, and death is caused by respiratory failure.
HASHISH AND HASHISH EATERS
Hashish, or Bhang, is the native term applied to the dried flowering tops of the Indian hemp, from which the resin has not been removed.
This plant, cultivated largely in India, is now considered to be the same, botanically, as theCannabis sativaof European cultivation; but there is great difference in their medicinal activity, that growing in India being much more powerful. Ganja is the native name for part of the plant, and Sidhi for another part, which is much poorer in resin. The resinous principle is calledchurrusorcharas, and the entire plant, cut during inflorescence, dried in the sun and pressed into bundles, is calledbhang.
The method of using it in India is chiefly for smoking in combination with tobacco. For this purpose, a plug of tobacco is first placed at the bottom of the bowl of the pipe, on the top a small piece of hashish, and over this a piece of glowing charcoal. Another way is to knead the drug with the tobacco by the thumb of one hand working in the palm of the other, till they are thoroughly incorporated. Simple infusions of the leaves and flowering tops are also much used for drinking purposes by old and young in India, the alcoholic form being a most active and dangerous intoxicant.
The antiquity of the drug is great, and it is said to have been used in China as early as the year 220, to produce insensibility when performing operations. The Persians employed it in the Middle Ages for the purpose of exciting the pugnacity and fanaticism of the soldiers during the wars of the Crusades.
In 1803 Visey, a French scientist, published a memoir on hashish, and attempted to prove that it was the Nepenthe of Homer; there is little doubt, however, that the use of the drug was known to Galen.
Silvestin de Lacy contends that the word assassin is derivedfrom "hashishin," a name given to a wild sect of Mahomedans who committed murder under its influence.
The Chinese herbal, Rh-ya, which dates from about the fifth century,B.C., notices the fact that the hemp plant is of two kinds, the one producing seeds and the other flowers only. Herodotus states that hemp grows in Scythia both wild and cultivated, and that the Thracians made garments from it which can hardly be distinguished from linen. He also describes "how the Scythians exposed themselves as in a bath" to the vapour of the seeds thrown on hot coals.
The hemp occurs in two principal forms, viz.: 1.bhang, consisting of the dried leaves and small stalks of a dark green colour, mixed with a few fruits. It has a peculiar odour but little taste. Mixed with flour or incorporated with sweetmeat it is called hashish. It is also smoked, or taken infused in cold water. 2.Ganjaconsists of the flowering shoots of the female plant, having a compound or glutinous appearance, and is brownish-green in colour.
Of the many curious experiences that have been written describing the effects of hashish, perhaps the most accurate is that given by Gautier, in which he relates his own experience of the drug.
"The Orientalists," he states, "have in consequence of the interdiction of wine sought that species of excitement which the Western nations derive from alcoholic drinks." He then proceeds to state how a few minutes after swallowing some of the preparation, a sudden overwhelming sensation took possession of him. It appeared to him that his body was dissolved, and that he had become transparent. He clearly saw in his stomach the hashish he had swallowed, under the form of an emerald, from which a thousand little sparks issued. His eyelashes were lengthened out indefinitely, and rolled like threads of gold around ivory balls, which turned with inconceivable rapidity. Around him were sparklings of precious stones of all colours, changes eternally produced, like the play of a kaleidoscope. He every now and then saw his friends who were round him, disfigured as half men, half plants, some having the wings of the ostrich, which they were constantly shaking. So strange were these that he burst into fits of laughter, and, to join in the apparent ridiculousness of the affair, he began by throwing the cushions in theair, catching and turning them with the rapidity of an Indian juggler. One gentleman spoke to him in Italian, which the hashish transposed into Spanish. After a few minutes he recovered his habitual calmness, without any bad effect, and only with feelings of astonishment at what had passed. Half an hour had scarcely elapsed before he again fell under the influence of the drug. On this occasion the vision was more complicated and extraordinary. In the air there were millions of butterflies, confusedly luminous, shaking their wings like fans. Gigantic flowers, with chalices of crystal; large peonies upon beds of gold and silver, rose and surrounded him with the crackling sound that accompanies the explosion in the air of fireworks. His hearing acquired new power; it was enormously developed. He heard the noise of colours. Green, red, blue, yellow sounds reached him in waves—a glass thrown down, the creaking of a sofa, a word pronounced low, vibrated and rolled within him like peals of thunder. His own voice sounded so loud that he feared to speak, lest he should knock down the walls or explode like a rocket. More than five hundred clocks struck the hour with fleeting silvery voice, and every object touched gave a note like the harmonica or the Æolian harp. He swam in an ocean of sound, where floated like aisles of light some of the airs of "Lucia di Lammermoor" and the "Barber of Seville." Never did similar bliss overwhelm him with its waves; he was lost in a wilderness of sweets; he was not himself; he was relieved from consciousness, that feeling which always pervades the mind; and for the first time he comprehended what might be the state of elementary beings, of angels, of souls separated from the body. All his system seemed infected with the fantastic colouring in which he was plunged. Sounds, perfume, light, reached him only by minute rays, in the midst of which he heard mystic currents whistling along. According to his calculation, this state lasted about three hundred years, for the sensations were so numerous and so hurried one upon the other, that a real appreciation of time was impossible. The paroxysm over, he was aware that it had only lasteda quarter of an hour.
Another interesting account of the strange hallucinations produced by the drug is related by Dr. Moreau, who with two friends experimented with hashish. "At first," he states, "Ithought my companions were less influenced by the drug than myself. Then, as the effect increased, I fancied that the person who had brought me the dose had given me some of more active quality. This, I thought to myself, was an imprudence, and the involuntary idea presented itself that I might be poisoned. The idea became fixed; I called out loudly to Dr. Roche, 'You are an assassin; you have poisoned me!' This was received with shouts of laughter, and my lamentations excited mirth. I struggled for some time against the thought, but the greater the effort the more completely did it overcome me, till at last it took full possession of my mind. The extravagant conviction now came uppermost that I was dead, and upon the point of being buried; my soul had left my body. In a few minutes I had gone through all the stages of delirium."
These fixed ideas and erroneous convictions are apt to be produced, but they only last a few seconds, unless there is any actual physical disorder. "The Orientalist, when he indulges in hashish retires into the depth of his harem; no one is then admitted who cannot contribute to his enjoyment. He surrounds himself with his dancing girls, who perform their graceful evolutions before him to the sound of music; gradually a new condition of the brain allows a series of illusions, arising from the external senses, to present themselves. The mind becomes overpowered by the brilliancy of gorgeous visions; discrimination, comparison, reason, yield up their throne to dreams and phantoms which exhilarate and delight.
"The mind tries to understand what is the cause of the new delight, but it is in vain. It seems to know there is no reality."
Hardly two people experience the same effects from hashish. Upon some it has little action, while upon others, especially women, it exerts extraordinary power. While one person says he imagined his body endowed with such elasticity, that he fancied he could enter into a bottle and remain there at his ease, another fancied he had become the piston of a steam engine; under the influence of the drug the ear lends itself more to the illusion than any other sense. Its first effect is one of intense exhilaration, almost amounting to delirium; power of thought is soon lost, and the victim laughs, cries andsings or dances, all the time imagining he is acting rationally. The second stage is one of dreamy enjoyment followed by a dead stupor.
Of the ordinary physical effects of hashish, the first is a feeling of slight compression of the temporal bones and upper parts of the head. The respiration is gentle, the pulse is increased, and a gentle heat is felt all over the surface of the body. There is a sense of weight about the fore part of the arms, and an occasional slight involuntary motion, as if to seek relief from it. There is a feeling of discomfort about the extremities, creating a feeling of uneasiness, and if the dose has been too large the usual symptoms of poisoning by Indian hemp show themselves. Flushes of heat seem to ascend, to the head, even to the brain, which create considerable alarm. Singing in the ears is complained of; then comes on a state of anxiety, almost of anguish, with a sense of constriction about the chest. The individual fancies he hears the beating of his heart with unaccustomed loudness; but throughout the whole period it is the nervous system that is affected, and in this way the drug differs materially from opium whose action on the muscular and digestive systems is most marked.
It is somewhat remarkable that Indian hemp fails to produce the same intoxicating effects in this country that it does in warmer climates, and whether this is due to the loss of some volatile principle or difference in temperature it is not yet determined. But would-be experimentalists in the effects of hashish would do well to remember that it may not be indulged in with impunity, and most authorities agree that the brain becomes eventually disordered with frequent indulgence in the drug even in India. It further becomes weakened and incapable of separating the true from the false; frequent intoxication leads to a condition of delirium, and usually of a dangerous nature; the moral nature becomes numbed, and the victim at last becomes unfit to pursue his ordinary avocation. It is stated by those who have had considerable experience in its use, that even during the dream of joy there is a consciousness that all is illusion; there is at no period a belief that anything that dances before the senses or plays upon the imagination is real, and that when the mind recovers its equilibrium it knows that all is but a phantasm.