The Sun.
London, England, 1862-05-01 00:00:00

ARSENICAL PAPER _HANGINGS.

Yesterday afternoon the investigation was re-
sumed at the Freemasons' Arms Tavern, Limehouse,
by klr.John Humphreys, the coroner for Middlesex,
touching the death of Amelia Turner, aged three
years, the last of a family of four children who have
all died within a period of two months with strong
symptoms of arsenical poisoning, alleged to have
been caused by inhaling the emanations from green
paper hangings. The leading facts in the case were
noticed in a paragraph and letter which appeared
in Tice Sun on the 23d and 29th ult. Dr. Thomas
Oren, of White Horse-lane, Stepney, said he was
called i`o dece;,'sed on the 3d of April, and found he
suffering from extreme vrostration. He thought the
symptoms exhibited by the' child very strange, and
questioned the mother about
the other children.
She said they had all been attacked in the same
ttacked i
way, and had ultimately died o soreness in the
throat, which had been attribute,-1 to diphtheria.
eh effect. He
NO and could
He prescribed tonics, but without mt.'
then noticed the green paper on the w
see a marked connexion between the sy Cu,rtonis ex-
hibited by the deceased and the other en and
those caused by arsenical poisoning. He na.'de
u.
post mortem examination, and found that the
stomach presented streaks of inflammation, but was
otherwise healthy. The intestines were a
inflamed. The other organs were healthy. iI
found no traces cf disease to account for death. Dr.
Letheby, Professor of Chemistry at the London
Hospital, said he had received from Dr. Orton the
stomach and viscera of deceased, and also a certain
portion of green paper. He found that the latter
contained arsenic, loosely adherent', in the propor-
tion of three grains to the square foot. There was
no glaze, and the poison could be very easily rubbed
off. He examined the stomach and viscera, but
could not find arsenic. The symptoms described by
Dr. Orton were those of arsenical poisoning. He
had known effects of the same kind praduced by
the poisonous powder from such pavers being
absorbed and inhaled while floating in the at-
mosphere, though he could not trace arsenic iu
the system, yet he should say in the absence of dis-
ease that death might have been caused by arse.mc.
Owing to the absorption of the poison being gill-
dual, it was possible that the traces might be want—
ing, though the effect would be fatal. The fact
that the children were not sleeping in the room did
not make much difference. He had known two
children in Hackney die from arsenical poisoning
imbibed while playing for a few hours daily in their
father's library. Arsenic would not produce diph-
theria, but it would soreness of throat. Dr. Orton,
recalled, said he had no hesitation in saying that
deceased died from chronic poisoning, by arsenic
taken into the system in minute quantities. Cases.
were on record in which arsenic known to have been
taken could not be traced after death. The paper
in question was highly deliquescent. At 50 degrees
it became quite damp, and the colour came off on.
the hand almost like paint. The coroner summed
up, and the jury, after a brief consultation, returned
a verdict of " Natural Death." The coroner said it
was a question whether he could take this verdict.
He could not refrain from expressing his dissent
from the conclusion to which the jurors had come.
The medical evidence showed that there was not
only no disease to account for death, hut that there
were no traces of disease. A juror said that the
jury were willing to admit that • the use of green
paper was objectionable, although they were of
I opinion that in this case death was natural,

COUNIRY 11-IABKE2S.

,b,,..

SALISBURY—APRIL 29.
At to-day's market wheat was in moderate supply, and
in much better condition. A short
Atternidanitcuer,afarmers
eu
being engaged at home in out of door at,'
opera-
tions for which the weather is now so favt. urable. Sales
were at a trifling decline. Oats, beans, and peas showed
considerable steadiness, at last week's prices. Barley Was
much in request.