The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-11 00:00:00

THE PRO

LITERATURE.

and never in the least flushed thereby ; and finally, and
above all, I never hear him express- an-opinion that any human
thing is right or wrong. If 'he have an opinion on any
subject, and he converses on almost all topics, it is not on
board the ' Preussicher Adler,' or to me, that he will im-
part it. With his handsome face and graceful carriage,
and varied parts, this is the sort of man whom nine women
out of ten would fall desperately in love with at first sight;
yet he drops a wity anecdote or so about the sex, that makes
me start and say, Heaven help the woman who ever falls
in love with him !"
The great Russian Boguey, as the author terms the
secret police, appear to possess a terrible übiquity.
It strikes the traveller on his first arrival. There
are thirty passengers by the Prussian steamer ; they
eat, and drink, and talk together, mingling freely
as voy tigers and wanderers, but only twenty-nine
take their places at the table in the cabin, where
each has to give an account of himself and his
passport to the officials. The 30th passenger takes
his seat among these officials, asking his fellow-
travellers, with eool politeness, what their business
might be ? He devotes an entire chapter to the
especial description of this Boguey,which certainly
appears in very unattractive colours, whether as a
preserver of public order, or an uninvited constant
fcompanion. "The Ischvostehiks," "The Merchants
and Money--changers," " The Russian Village,"
Music," " The Drama in Russia," " The Black
People," &c., all occupy different chapters and arc
described in the lively style, and with
the keen
penetration which we find in most of this writer's
pages. This work is as animated a compound of
sense and nonsense, anecdote and humour, as one
can readily meet in a traveller's tale.; yet with it
all the reader lays it down with a somewhat melan-
choly feeling. The perpetual supervision and übi-
quity of the police, the hopelessness of appeal from
any grievance or injustice, the monotonous dejec-
tion of the people, the absence of all spirit, energy,
or enjoyment of life in thousands of toiling labour-
ers, all combine to impress the denizen of a free
country -witli a sense of oppression and gloom.
Some of the hardships may have been ameliorated
since the author's visit, but it is to be apprehended
that much still remains to make a " Journey Due
North" more pleasant in Mr. Sala's pages than in
real earnest.

The Seaman's Pocket Annual for 1858. Compiled
by John Mayo, Esq. b'Byrne, Brothers.
This useful little compendium is issued for the
benefit of masters,- apprentices, and seamen. It
contains all information likely to be „required for
the regulation of affairs between masters and sea-
men, matters of salvage, pilotage, &c. Another
remarkable feature is the explanation of the system
of signal flags for the commercial code, of which
coloured illustrations are given, and of the ensigns
worn by foreign merchant vessels. The best plans for
preserving life from shipwreck, and in accidents,
and casualties, &c., are fully and clearly explained,
and the names of the principal officers of the Board
of Trade, the Marine Board, and a list of the
Sailors' societies are also added. The volume is
published with the sanction and approval of the
Board of Trade, which renders its information
authentic.

SUSPECTED DEATH FROM POISON.

An inquest was recently opened at Bradford, bv
Mr. Jewison, coroner, on the body of a youth
named John Snowden Harrison, aged 16 years, who
had died rather suddenly, after being under the
treatment of several duly authorised medical prac-
titioners, but the interment of whose corpse was
stopped in consequence of the last medical attend-
ant, Dr. Brady, (a homoeopathist), having returned
a certificate to the effect that death was the result
of the over-administration of strychnine. The in-
quest was adjourned to give opportunity to Mr. F.
W. Rimmington, analytical chemist, to analyse the
contents of the stomach.

The adjourned inquiry was held at Bradford on
Wednesday, and occupied five hours, the evidence,
which was very conflicting, being altogether medi-
cal and scientific ; in fact, the case, in consequence'
of publicity having been given to it, appeared to
have excited considerable commotion amon'st the
medical men in the neighbourhood, of whom there
were eight or nine present, including two homceo-
pathic practitioners—Dr. Brady and Dr. Brereton.
The medical witnesses, Dr. Brady and Mr. J. N.
Terry, alleged that the appearances of the post
2nortent examination, which they had made jointly,
indicated death to be caused by asphyxia, produced
by over doses of nux milieu, from which strychnine
was drawn.

Mr. Terry, who had attended the deceased after
Mr. Field, found him suffering from St. Vitus's
dance or chorea, and had accordingly administered
medicine compounded of tincture of iron, tincture
of iodine, and cinnamon water ; and at the same
time recommending the removal of the patient to
the seaside as a better remedy for the disease.
Mr. William Field, finding the disease one of
a desperate character, admitted that he had after
this prescribed 12 powders of nux romica of
ten grains each, one to be administered every
12 hours ; at the same time telling the parents
of the lad what the medicine was. Two of
the powders were taken, one on the 27th
ultimo, and the other on the 28th ; but the
deceased refused to take more, saying the medi-
cal man should not "Palmer" him. Mr. Field
justified his treatment in giving the powders of
nux romica as being perfectly consistent, under the
circumstances, with duly authorised medical prac-
+;,..

Mr. Rimmington had made an analysis of the
contents of the stomach, but had not detected the
presence of strychnine. lie thought that this, how-
ever, might be accounted for by the fact that such
poison, whether given in flux vomica or othcwise,
passed rapidly out of the system, and that two days
had elapsed from the time of taking the medicine
and death ensuing.
Mr. Joseph Harrison, father of the deceased,
stated that his son died in perfect calm, and not in
convulsions.

Dr. It. B. Lewis and Mr. Beach, surgeons, were
called by Mr. Field in support of his mode of treat-
ment. The former gentleman, in opposition to Dr.
Brady and Mr. Terry, stated that chorea was
sometimes fatal. He had himself seen such a case
in Bartholomew's Hospital in 1851, the patient
being a young woman of 16 years, who, as in the
present instance, had previously been in rheumatic
fever, and there were several cases on record.
Strychnine was recommended in 1841 by M. Trous-
seau, one- of the highest medical authorities in
France, as the best remedy for chorea, and he had
reported upon it at intervals since, and still recom-
mended it. It was a remedy which any medical
man was justified in using. This was a severe case,
and a slight remedy would not have availed. No
one who did not see the case would be justified in
saving the dose was too large. Ten grains of ?lux
romiNt, given twice, with an interval of 12 hours,
• and at such a time before death, could have caused
no such result. Nifx vonnca was given for the
strychnine it contained. The symptoms detailed
in the present case were altogether those of chorea,
and not those of poisoning by strychnine. The
symptoms in the two cases were entirely different.
The patient presented no symptoms of the effects
of MIX vomica, and consequently that could not be
the cause of death.