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Reports of Trials for Murder by Poisoning; / by Prussic Acid, Strychnia, Antimony, Arsenic, and Aconita. Including the trials of Tawell, W. Palmer, Dove, Madeline Smith, Dr. Pritchard, Smethurst, and Dr. Lamson, with chemical introduction and notes on the poisons used cover

Reports of Trials for Murder by Poisoning; / by Prussic Acid, Strychnia, Antimony, Arsenic, and Aconita. Including the trials of Tawell, W. Palmer, Dove, Madeline Smith, Dr. Pritchard, Smethurst, and Dr. Lamson, with chemical introduction and notes on the poisons used

Chapter 3: ADDENDA.
By G. Lathom Browne
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About This Book

The volume collects detailed reports of selected trials for murder by poisoning, presenting testimony, legal argument abstracts, and chemical analyses. It pairs medico-legal evidence with a chemical introduction and experimental notes that clarify disputed expert testimony, and organizes witnesses by their contribution, separating scientific from moral testimony. Essays explain the properties, detection methods, and practical dangers of various poisons and comment on regulatory shortcomings and risks from patent remedies and household substances. The editors generally refrain from judging verdicts, aiming to present evidence so readers in medicine, law, and forensic science can form their own conclusions.

ADDENDA.

A.

The following is my own experience of the differences between strychnia and morphia.—C. G. S.

MORPHIA. STRYCHNIA.
Concent. H2SO4—cold.
—”———”—–warmed.
To this warmed solution add:—		 If pure, nothing at first.
Violet, not strong.		 If pure, nothing. Some yellow-brown.
Do.
MnO2. Red, changing slowly to brown, then orange. On dilution,
yellow-brown.		 Deep blue purple —tored purple— cherryred—finally (changes slow). On dilution, rich orange red.
K6Cfy2. Violet, changing to orange; not strong. On dilution, at once destroyed to greenish-yellow solution, turning blue. Same changes, but more rapid and less distinct. On dilution, at once destroyed to greenish-yellow solution.
K2Cr2O7. Red-brown, orange-brown, green. On dilution, green. Same as with MnO2, but more evanescent and rapid in change. On dilution, at once removed to yellowish-brown.
HNO3 concent. Intense brownish- red, changing to brown— bleached by SnCl2. In the cold, nothing if pure. On warming, orange-yellow —then SnCl2 brown with excess to yellow.

B.

The chlorine used in the separation of arsenic (p. 385) must be pure. The best process for making it is to heat pure potass. dichromate with pure hydrochloric acid. The latter may be obtained by heating the “pure” acid of commerce in a retort until a portion of the distillate gives no indication of arsenic by the tests. The remainder in the retort is then arsenic-free.

ERRATUM.

Page 397, line 11, for “Waislow,” read, “Winslow.”