The Portland daily press., 1897-08-12

occurrence with the coachmen Of the no.
bility. They either shake it in pulver-
lied state among the corn, or they tie
bit the size of pea in piece OF linen,
which they fasten to the curb when the
horse Is harnessed, and the saliva Of the
animal soon dissolves it. The sleek,
round, shining condition of the carriage
norses, and especially the much-admlred
ioamlng at the mouth, is the result OF
Uhls arsenic feeding. 1t is common
practice with the farm servants in the
mountainous parts to streW pinch OF
arsenic on the last feed of hay before GO
ing up q steep road. This is done for
years without the least unfavorable re-
suits; but should the horse fall into the
hands of another owner who withholds
the arsenic he loses flesh Immediately, is
no longer lively, and even with the best
feeding there is no possibility of restoring
him to his former sleek appearance.
The writer of fifty years ago, in Har-
per's Magazine, after giving the results
OF the findings of "a contributor resld'
ing in Germany regarding poisons of q
peculiarly quick and deadly nature, used
these blunt words: "Our ordinary indul-
gences in this country are the same IN
kind, though not in degree, for we are all
poison eaters. To say nothing of our OPT
UNI and alcohol consumers, ourtteetoalers
are delighted with the briskness and
sparkle of spring water, although these
qualities indicate the presence of carbon1c
acid or fixed air. In like manner few
persons will object to a drop or two OF
| frightfully corrosive sulphuric acid (vlt-
| rioD in a glass of water, to which 1t
communicates an agreeably acid taste
and most of us have, at some period or
other of our lives imbibed prussic acid
| arsenic and other deadly poisons under
| the orders Of the physician, or the first
of these in the more pleasing form OF
confectionery. Arsenic is said by DR..
Pearson to be as harmless as glass of
wine in the quantity of one-sixteenth
part of grain; and in the cure of ague
it is so certain in its effects that the
French Directory once issued an edict
| ordering the surgeons of the Italian
army, under pain of military punish
ment, to Danish that complaint, at two
or three days notice, from among the vast
numbers of soldiers who were languish-
ing under it in the marshes of mbardy
1t would seem that no poison taken in
| small and diluted doses is Immediately
hurtful, and the same thing may be said
of other agents. The tap of fan, for In
stance, is blow, and so is the stroke OF
a club; but the one gives an agreeable
sensation, and the other fells the recipi-
ent to the ground. In like manner the
analogy holds good between the distribu-
tion of blow over a comparatively large
portion of the surface of the body and the
dilution or distribution of the particles
of poison. A smart thrust upon the
breast, fer instance, with a foil does nc
injury; but if the button is removed and
the same momentum thus thrown tc a
point, the instrument enters the struc.
lures and perhaps causes death. But the
misfortune is that poisons swallowed for
the sake of the agreeable sensations they
occasion owe this effect to their action
upon the nervous system, and the action
must be kept up by a constantly increas-
ing dose till the constitution Is irremedi-
ably injured. In the case of arsenic, as
we have seen, SO long as the excitement
is undiminished all is apparently we'll,
but the point is at length reached when
to proceed or to turn back is alike death
The moment the dose is diminished or
entirely withdrawn symptoms of poison
appear, and the victim perishes because
he has shrunk from killing himself.