The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-04 00:00:00

POISONOUS QUALITIES OF THALLIUM.

Our readers are well acquainted with the history of this
new metal, which has been the subject of a dispute for
priority between Mr. Crookes and M. Lamy. The latter
gentleman, in a paper addressed to the Academy of Sciences,
now announces a property of that metal, the discovery of
which undoubtedly belongs to him, viz., its deleterious
power. Having experienced certain pains, especially
in his lower limbs, while pursuing his studies on thal-
lium, he was induced to attribute them to a noxious influ-
ence of that metal ; and in order to ascertain whether such
was the fact, he dissolved five grammes of sulphate of
thallium in milk and offered it to two puppies, each
about two months old. But after tasting the liquid, they
left it, and could not be induced to take any more. On the
following day the milk, which had been forgotten in the
yard, has disappeared, and it soon turned out that it had
been partaken of by a dog, two hens, and six ducks ; for a
few hours after ingestion the dog became sad and refused to
eat. During the night it was seized wilh violent gripes,
which caused it to utter piercing cries. These gripes con-
tinued during the morning; the dog's features had under-
gone a change; its back was bent up through the effect
of pain, the seat of which was evidently in the intes-
tines. Its hind-legs, after a continuance of convul-
sive motions, became paralysed, and it died sixty-four
hours after taking poison. On the day before its
death a hen and six ducks died, and in those which were
watched in time the paralysis of the legs was remarked.
The two puppies which had scarcely touched the milk had
meanwhile shown symptoms of fatigue; by degrees they
were seized with convulsive trembling, and could hardly
stand, then came the acute pains which ended in death,
although every precaution had been taken, apparently in
good time, to save their lives. All these animals being
subjected to dissection, there could not be found the
slightest corrosion, or even inflammation of any coneequance,
only the gall-bladder of the dog vraa.found considerably ex-
tended, and in some of the ducks various serous membranes,
that of the liver especially, had assumed a whitish and
granulous appearance. As to the nature of the poison, if
there could have been any doubt about it, it would have
been at once dispelled by the characteristic green band pe-
culiar to thallium in the spears' analysis of the crgans of
the dead animals. Eight days later another hen was taken
ill; its wings hung down, it could hardly walk, and when
it wanted to peck its food, its neck seemed to have lost the
power of bending down sufficiently, so that its beak did
not reach the food. The hen was killed, and thal-
lium found in the intestines, but in a very small dose
indeed; and the other organs did not contain any. M.
Lamy next administered a decigramme (a grain
and a half) of the sulphate to a dog two months old, and it
died 40 hours after taking it. Hence M. Lamy justly in-
fers that sulphate of thallium is a powerful poison, pro-
ducing pain in the intestines and paralysis of the lower
members. This poison and the nitrate have but little
taste, and might therefore be used for criminal purposes;
but fortunately there is not a poison that can be traced
with more certainty through spectral analysis than this.
This new method of analysis bids fair to render excellent
service in cases relating to forensic medicines.—Galigtzani.

NOVEL RETREAT FOR A BURGLAR.---Before the
magistrates at Manchester yesterday, two men
named Henry Smith and John Pendleton were charged
with breaking into the dwelling-house of Mr. Charles Mac-
laren, Embden-grove, Moss-lane. Mr. Maclaren had closed
his house to go into the country, but before doing so had de-
sired his neighbours to keep a watchful eye upon the pre-
mises. On Wednesday night the suspicions of three of the
neighbours were aroused by seeing a light in the house,
and went to search for it. They found the prisoner Smith
at the head of the stairs, who told them the house belonged
to him. Fora time they failed to discover any one else, but
seeing a bed in some disorder two of the neighbours com-
menced beating the cover, one with a stick and the other
with a poker. Two sportsmen beating a cover in search of
other kind of game could hardly have found their labours
more immediately requited, for the prisoner Pendleton
started from under the clothes with a cry of pain, and was
ultimately handed over to the police, along with the other
prisoner. The prisoners had not taken anything from the
house, but they had broken open drawers and removed
goods within the meaning of the statute. The case was
remanded for want of a witness to prove that the house
had been locked up, but the depositions were ordered to
be taken, with a view to the committal of the prisoners
for trial,