, 1873-10-04
"a SINGULAR POISONING CAGE"

New YoRK, Sept: s, 1873,
To tho Editor n The chtcaqo Tribune:
| 81n: A short tinle since, there appeared In
| somo of tho Wostorn papers, undor tho above
caption. tile following paragraph:
telegram from Louisville, Hy., 10Th inst, reas
al l1oy snrings, Mss, sod to ono oi it, patroa
81 oassa e s asar GT u NV roa s 1saopxp p
tho label each fluid drachm contains onesixtcenth Of
2 grain of ntrychntne:; The alalysis 1nado by Or.
each fluid trachm: Tho scond dose takon by tho
purchaser produced all the Symphonic Of poAontng,
standard one, md is sold iii over tic country" -
AS to this alleged poisoning, tho gentleman
who ia represented to Eayo beon SO seriously mr.
foctod eays that, "After tho second loso, ho or
poriencod 4 rather unpleasant feeling in the
head! During tho AFTERNOON, however, the ,1,l-
pleasant feeling wore off He had no physician
nor did he require any," This Information wo
received through Nj. J. Il. Athey, Of Holly
dispatch as the sollor Of the elixir. These symp-
toms, as is we'll known to every medical mai,
are not thoAo produced by MI overdose Of
strychnia; therefore tho man had not euen tho
symptoms OF being poisoned.
hlr. Athey procured the remainder OF tho con-
tents Of Tho bottle, and, Bolno two mouths aftor
took it to J.. 2. Darnu1n, Df. D., of Louisville
~. requesting him to analyzo portion: Soon
lie that Ee had found it to contain one-touth Of
o grain Of Htryelluine to tho fluid draohm. Mr,
AtEoy forwarded to us, in scaled packages from
louisville, potion OF the contents Of tho bot
anco Of his purchase Of the samo lot Of elixir,
consisting Of sevcn bottles. which wo delivered
with Mr. Atboy's seal unbroken to the eminent
chemist, trof. John g. Draper, Of this city. The
result Of his analysis appears in tho following
letter:
MEDICAL. DEPARTMENT
,,,,.u. UNIVERSITY or New iohK, Aug. 90, 1879.
' ,a haSe subnttea the sealed spcctmcn
of elixir Of pcpsln, bsmuh mud Btrychnia said by j.
Barnrm, n. D.. to contain one-tenth Of grain of
to a draehm of he osr Ths eotea: NJ ef ts
Athey of Holly sprtngs aiiss., DO not conn @ over e.
one;aixtieth Of grain to tho draehm II tic contents
tamrorcd With, this dierence mig be- esplaned DIV by
the partial evaporation tat wonld occur in any fluid
that was 'arelss'y gas XS1s p.sss f.
Professor Of Cho1nstry, Medical Dviart,nont unvor
sity Of Now York.
W.. would add TINT the quantity of strychnine
examined by two thoroughly competent chemists,
and that our elixir of popsin, bismuth, aud
etrychnia is manufactured not BY tho bottloful,
but in largo quantities, and TINT no compaint
has reached uH Of any o1cess of strychnino i'll
any of the many other bottles which woro filled
at tho samo timo and with the Bamo preparation,
II DR.. Barnum's analysis is correct, tile gontlo-
man at Holly Springs who took two doscs {cach
. sirachm) within five hours, must in that timo
l,ayo had one-lfth of grain of Btrychulne. and
ho wonld hardIy have lived to return tho bottle
to Mr.. Atlloy.
As tho appearance Of such q paragraph as tho
Especial telegram" III calculated to greatly injuro
our reputation, as manufacturing chemists, wo
beg that you will publish this explanation of the
truo facts Of tho case. Respectfully yours,
CAswELL, HAZARD Go.