Year: 1875

The Gilroy Gal advocate gives the
following account of man in that
neighborhOod who is In the habit of
SOLDERING himself after drinking bout
by taking enormous quantities OF strych
nine


"The individual who performs the
wonderful feat of eating with impunity
such large quantities of this deadly
drug is an occasional visitor to this city,
and is well known by number our citi-
zens, to whom his popularity has been
known for years. He is an eccentric
genius, and does not make his strychnine-
eating a public matter, but rather seeks
to hide it. BY chance the subject has
got into print, and it being SO extraor-
dinary an occurrence, we took it upon
ourselves to investigate it, and now
know positively whereof we speak
Morphine, arsenic and other poisonous
drugs, it is well known, are often eater
in large and small doses, for various
purposes, but that strychnine shoulds
also become palatable article, and ina
such large doses, may we'll excite the
credulity of all, AMI it is only in the in
terest of science that we now write, hop
ing that the subject will be investigated
by the medical fraternity. This person..
who is known by the sobriquet OF
Jack, is man of intemperate habits.
and has his periodical sprees, which last
from one to three weeks, during which
time he keeps completely saturated witt
whisky. If occasion requires that las
should be sober at a certain time, or II
perchance he feels the Shiny folds OF
snakes coiling in his boots, he immedi-
ately procures bottle of strychnine,
and eats from ten to twenty grains. IL
the desired effect is not produced, say
within an hour, the dose is repeated
Unless his spree has been protracted,
one dose usually straightens him up,
and no matter how drunk he is when
he takes it, within three hours every
trace of his debauch has left him, anoI
the closest observer could not discover
the slightest indication of recent dissi
patton. Instead of hectic flush or dull,
heavy look, his eyes are clear and bright
and his skin presents its natural appear
ance. This singular being came to this
city last Saturday and remained until
Monday, during which time he went
through his performance. He had in
tended to depart on Sunday, and having
imbibed rather freely missed the train.
On Monday morning he was very drunk,
and visiting DIR. Morey's drug store
called for a bottle of strychnine, re-
marking that he must leave on the noon
train. He Immediately emptied a por
tion of the contents of the bottle into
his mouth and went off. When the time
for departure came he was as sober as a
Judge. The only information that can
be derived from him as to this habit is
that he has followed it since 1856, but
as to how he acquired it cannot be
learned. DIR. Fl. G. Moroy has known.
him since 1861, and has frequently
known him to eat bottle of strychnine
within twenty-four hours. When we
consider that from an eighth to quarter
of grain of this poison is usually suffi
cient to make corpse of the most ro-
bust person, we do not wonder that the
statement that twenty grains can be
taken at time with no deleterious effect
should he increduously received. How
ever, facts herein stated can be substan-
tiated by incontrovertible evidence, and
no matter how absurd or singular they
may appear, must be accepted as facts.
Query: Is strychnia an antidote for the
poisonous effects of alcohol, and vice
verso %