The Sun.
London, England, 1859-02-09 00:00:00

SALE OF POISONS.

Mr. WALPOLE moved for leave to bring in a bill to re-
gulate the sale of poisons. At the end of last session a bill
on this subject came down from the House of Lords, founded
on the report of the late commission ; but objections were
taken to certain clauses interfering with the druggists' busi-
ness, and at that late period of the session it was thought
better to let it stand over for further consideration. All the
reasons, however, which were then urged in favour of such
a measure had since been increased by the fearful accident
which occurred last autumn at Bradford, where a whole
population were put in danger by the inadvertent sale of
poison. Tho present bill was founded partly on the Arsenic
Act, passed 15 years ago, in which there were certain re-
strictions on the sale of arsenic, the fact of the sale, the
name of the buyer, the quantity sold, and the purpose for
which it was required, having to be registoted. It was the
opinicn of Mr. Jacob Bell, Dr. Hornaman, and Dr. Taylor,
the eminent chemists, that the Arsenic Act had to a great
extent answered its purpose, in diminishing the number of
poisonings by arsenic, and Mr. Taylor said that, during the
last year only two cases were brought to Guy's Hospital.
The Registrar-General's report showed that the number of
cases of arsenic poisoning during the year 1857 was reduced
to 27, whereas in the two years 1837 and 1838 there
were ISS cases of poisoning by arsenic, or 94 in a year,
If the law regulating the sale of arsenic had so far succeeded.
it was desirable to extend similar provisions to the sale of
other poisons. , But the late sad occurrence at Bradford re-
sulted from a mistake ; instead of selling the article which
the purchaser demanded, and which was one supposed to
be innocent, tho dealer sold another article, which in fact
was arsenic. The existing provisions merely as to the sale
of the poisonous article were not sufficient to prevent such
a mistake, and it was necessary there should be some legal
regulations as to the keeping of poisons, as well as the sale
of them. The bill of last year, in order to supply this
defect, provided that in the dealer's premises there should
be a poison closet, where all his poisons should be kept to-
gether, separate from other medicines or drugs; but it was
objected that the business of a chemist and druggist could
hardly be carried on under such a condition. There was
another method suggested by the committee of the House
of Lords which, ho thought, might very reasonably be
adopted. It was that the. person who sold certain poisons
should be required to keep each article in a box or vessel
labelled in a conspicuous manner with the word " Poison,"
and that the article should be sold in a wrapper, or cover,
also labelled " Poison." All the evidence showed that
this would tend to prevent mistakes, and the bill which he
now asked leave to introduce, therefore, contained such a
provision. Certain penalties were imposed for breaking this
law, and power was given to the justices in session to order
any constable to go into shops where such articles were sold,
and. to see that the law was duly observed. He believed this
would have a good effect, though, no doubt, the com-
mittee were right in saying that the best security would
be to raise the standard of education among chemists
and druggists, and to take care that they were well
qualified to compond and dispense the medicines in which
they dealt It appeared from the Registrar-General's report
for 1857, that 401 persons died by poison in the coursu•-of
year ; in 113 cases the poison was not specified ,
34 persons
died by opium, besides 89 by laudanum, and two? 3,
mor-
phia; 34 by prussic acid, including 15 by essential 13 of
almonds ;27 only by arsenic ;23 by sugar of lead , by
oxalic acid ; and 15 by sulphuric acid. 'The deaths by poison
might be divided into murders or manslaughters, suicides,
and accidental deaths. Of deaths from the use of quack or
improper medicines, the number was stated at 183 in four
years. It was not to be expected thastuaineie
legislationydsorof
deeoauthlds
materially diminish the number of
caused by poison deliberatel, given for the purpose of
taking away human life; though in cases of murder,
such regulations as he proposed would, no doubt,
give a clue to the detection of the guilty persons.
As he had before said it was a mistake to suppose that any
regulation with respect to the Sale of poisons would stop
self-destruction. The registrar's report showed that eight-
tenths of those cases arose from the halter, drowning, or the
razor, and only two-tenths were ascribed to poison or other
causes. The object of the bill was chiefly to re' ulat the
keeping and sale of poisons, so as to prevent the fearful
number of accidents which had arisen fromthe sale of these
articles. The other point which he had to bring before the
house was the articles which should be included in the
schedule as poisonous articles. The committee of the House
of Lords had placed 23 articles in one schedule, and he did
not know how many on the other. Now, it was impossible
to expect that the business of chemists and druggists could
be carried on with such regulations, and ho had ,cut down
the number of articles from 23 to 13, and should be glad to
find that the number could be still further diminished. The
only articles with respect to which he felt any great diffi-
culty were laudanum and opium, because they were con-
tinually asked for brthe poorer classes in small quantities
and by placin g difficultiesin the way of obtainine-such quanti-
' titles, trade might be unduly interfered with. He hoped he
had overcome the difficulty by iucluding the pima of

PRICE 4D. S'IAM yt,, 5D

opium and laudanum in the schedule, but providing- that
where any poisonous article was required by meth_
cal prescription the enactments of the bill should not apply,
and also that where laudanum and opium were asked for in
small quantities the strict regulations of the bill should not
be obs:rved. He invited the attention of the house to
the bill on its passage through committee, and would take
care to fix such a day for its consideration as would suit
the convenience of those parties who were interested in the
ii :tter. . .

The motion was then agreed to, and leave was given to
bring in the bill.
CHURCH RATES COMMUTATION.

Mr. ALCOCK obtained leave to bring in a bill for the
voluntary commutation of church rates.

COLONISATION AND SETTLEMENT (INDIA).
Mr. W. E WART moved the re-appointment of the select
committee to inquire into the progress and prospects, and
the best means to be adopted for the promotion, of Euro-
pean colonisation and settlement in India, especially in the
hill districts and healthier climates of that country ; as well
as for the extension of our commerce with Central Asia ;
and that the committee do consist of eighteen members.
Mr. VANSITTART saidthat two vacancies had occurred
in the committee, in consequence of the hon. members for
Guildford and Leominster having accepted seats at the
Council of India, and the hon. member proposed not only to
fill up these two vacancies, but to enlarge the committee by
the addition of two others. The committee was already it.
conveniently large, and he was afraid that if they pursued
the system which was acted on last year they would be un-
able to make any report during the session.
Mr. CHEETHAM recommended the nomination of one
of the members for Manchester on the committee.
Atr. WALPOLE thought that when"committhes werere-
app4inted they ought to be confined as much as possible
to those members who had previously served. A regula-
tion had been made by the house that the number should
not exceed 15, unless some special reaWon should be given
for a larger committee. He suggested to the hon. member
the propriety of giving notice of the names for consideration
on a future day.
Mr. EWART had no objection to accede to the proposi-
tion of the right hon. gentleman.
The motion for the appointment of the committee was
then agreed to.

The screw steamship =es Watt, 91, was placed
in dock at Devonport on Monday, when it was
found that a large portion of her false keel was
gone, and that her bottom was thickly studded
with muscles.
The screw steamsloop Racer, 11, Commander the
Hon. T. A. Pakenham, steamed from Hamoaze into
iymouth Sound on Monday, and took in t. er
powder, preparatory to sailing for the North Ame-
rican and West India station.

The broken bowsprit of the screw steam-frigate
Curacoa, 31, was removed from her at Devonport
on Monday. It is to be replaced with the bow-
sprit belonging to the frigate Pique, 40, which has
been taken out for that purpose.
The paddle-wheel steam-vessel Lightning, front
Portsmouth, with Mr. Craddock, master shipwright,
for Pembroke, put into Plymouth on Monday, to
disembark 17 supernumeraries for the Curacoa, after
which she sailed for her destination.
Her Majesty's steam-sloop Virago, Commander
Dunn, having in tow the Conway, 26, intended for
a training ship at Liverpool, put into Falmouth,
from Plymouth, on Sunday, owing to stress of
weather, and sailed again on Monday.
The paddle-wheel steam yachts Black Eagle and
Vivid got up steam yesterday morning, in pur-
suance of an Admiralty telegram, and sailed from
Woolwich at an early hour for Portsmouth. The
Vivid embarked 48 supernumerary seamen and
boys from the Fisgard, and the Black Eagle was
ordered to call at Sheerness and embark supernu-
meraries from the Waterloo. An Admiralty de-
mand was likewise transmitted to Mr. Rice, mils-
' ter shipwright, requesting to be informed when the
Banshee, in dock at Woolwich, could be got ready
for sea, and to name the earliest date. The reply
stated that " the partial repairs necessary for home
service only could be got through by the 12th inst.,
and that the more important details rendering her
fit for foreign service might be completed, if rc.
quired, by the 19th." The whole of the ships in
course of construction and under repairs at Wool-
wich are ordered to be completed with despatch. -
The screw steam-frigate Galatea, in a forward
state of progress, has received an additional num-
ber of hands. The officers of the shipwright de-
partment of Woolwich dockyard are desirous of
correcting a slight inaccuracy which appeared in
our military and naval intelligence of yesterday, to
the effect that " the Nankin was built at Chatham,"
whereas she-was built at Woolwich and launched
from that yard in March, 1850. The present is
her second commission. The whole of the war
.material shipped from Woolwich Arsenal on board
the ill-fated ship Czar, wrecked off the coast in the
Channel, consisting f 51 68-pounder siege guns
and 400 tons of stores, having been lost, a second
cargo is ready for embarkation at Woolwich, and
will be shipped in a few days. The freight-ship
Plover was yesterday taken up for the conveyance
of war stores for Barbadoes.
Her Majesty's screw steamship Royal Sovereign
131, wasyesterday warped under the sheers in the
steam basin, Portsmouth Dockyard, and shipped
her bowsprit.
Her Majesty's gunboats Havoc, Hardy, awl
Grasshopper got up their steam to test their ma-
chinery, in the steam basin, Portsmouth, yesterday.
Commander Joseph Bickford, of the flag ship
Victory, at Portsmouth, has been summoned to
attend the Royal Naval Commission for the more
efficiently manning the British navy.
The Fire Queen, yacht, Master Commander F.
W. Paul, went out of Portsmouth Harbour yester-
day morning, to test some improvements to her
machinery, which were successful. _

The IsTiinkin, 50, at Chatham, bearing the broad
pendant of Commodore the Hon. Keith Stewart, has
commenced rattling down her rigging. As soon as
she is paid off she is to be turned into a screw steam

ship. -
The Urgent, 6, embarked yesterday alongside
the Portsmouth Dockyard jetty the right wing of
the 2d battalion of the 23d Regiment, from Alder-
shot, comprising 19 officers, 526 rank and file, 3
officers' wives, 18 women, 22 children, and 3 horses,
for conveyance to Malta ; she will sail from Spit-
head to-day.
A desperate attack was made yesterday by a con-
vict on his warder in the Portsmouth Dockyard.
The warder was severely injured. The convict was
secured, handcuffed, and placed in an underground
cell, in the convict prison.

The following appointments were made yesterday
at the Admiralty :—Lieut. L. V. Peyton, Lieut.
the Hon. Richard Hare, Lieut. Edward Poulden,
Lieut. Sir Lambton Loraine, and Lieut. C. F.
Palmer to the Algiers ; Lieut. R. H. Roe to the
Victory ; S. J. Cunningham, surgeon, to the Al-
giers, and John G. Smith, assistant surgeon, to the
Algiers. It was Mr. John W. Mel. Hall who was
appointed on Monday master to the Algiers, and
not " Molfale," as stated in mistate.