extract of the suspected matter, and producing with this extract the usual effects of a blister on a tender part of the arm. By these two tests Barruel discovered cantharides in chocolate cakes, part of which had been wickedly administered to various individuals.
From the late important researches of M. Poumet[1] it appears, that cantharides cannot be detected by its chemical properties in the contents, or on the inner surface, of the alimentary canal of animals poisoned with it; and that in such circumstances it is seldom to be discerned even by the shining green colour of its particles, unless the matter to be examined be dried. The method he recommends for a medico-legal investigation is to detach the stomach, small intestines, and great intestines, each separately from the body,—to wash out their contents with rectified spirit, and dry the pulpy fluid on sheets of glass,—to dry the stomach and intestines by distending them, removing their mesentery, and hanging them up vertically with a weight attached to stretch them,—and then to examine both the surface of the glass, and the inside of the stomach and intestines with the aid of sunshine or a bright artificial light. In this way cantharides may be detected, by the peculiar green hue of its powder, in most cases where this poison may have proved fatal; for M. Poumet constantly found it in dogs. The same author ascertained that the green particles generally abound most in the contents of the great intestine or on its inner membrane, next in the small intestines, and least of all in the stomach; and that they may be seen in the bodies of animals at least seven months after interment. Orfila had previously ascertained, that cantharides-powder may be recognized by its brilliancy in various organic mixtures after interment for nine months.[2] Poumet farther states that the green particles of cantharides may be confounded with the particles of other coleopterous insects, and also somewhat resemble particles of copper and tin. But he with reason asks, what possible accident could introduce the powder of any other coleopterous insect into the alimentary canal? And as to particles of copper or tin, he ascertained, that, unlike cantharides, these substances are visible in the contents, or on the tissues, of the stomach and intestines only before desiccation, and never after it.
Section I.—Of the Action of Cantharides and the Symptoms it excites in Man.
Cantharides, either in the form of powder, tincture, or oily solution, is an active poison both to man and animals. As to its action on animals, Orfila found that a drachm and a half of a strong oleaginous solution, injected into the jugular vein of a dog, killed it in four hours with symptoms of violent tetanus; that three drachms of the tincture with eight grains of powder suspended in it caused death in twenty-four hours, if retained in the stomach by a ligature
