alcoholic fluids, as well as in the case of a man who died during the night after drinking a bottle of rum, alcohol could be detected, generally in the urine, and also in the brain, by cautious distillation, and removing the water from the distilled fluid by means of dry carbonate of potass.[1] Dr. Percy gave me an opportunity of verifying his results with the brain of the man; and I had no difficulty in obtaining from a few ounces of brain a sufficiency of spirit to exhibit its combustion on asbestus repeatedly.
It is hardly necessary to add, that when the individual has survived the taking of the poison a considerable length of time, an odour of spirits will not be perceived either in the stomach or elsewhere. In the out-pensioner of Trinity Hospital, for example, who survived about twelve hours, no spirituous odour could any where be perceived. In such cases the poison disappears during life by absorption.—A question may even be entertained, whether the odour may not sometimes be imperceptible at the inspection of the body, although the poison was really present immediately after death. It is probable that, as in the instance of hydrocyanic acid, the alcohol, on account of its volatility or fluidity, will evaporate or percolate away in a few days. In this manner only can be explained the occasional absence of the odour in persons who have been killed in the early stage of drunkenness. I could not perceive any odour of whisky in the stomach of the woman Campbell, who was murdered by the notorious resurrectionist Burke, although she had drunk spirits to intoxication half an hour before her death. The body was not examined till thirty-eight hours after.[2] It must be observed, however, that alcohol may exist in the contents of the stomach and be detected by chemical analysis, although it is not indicated by its odour. I have twice had occasion to observe this, where the bodies were disinterred some time after death.
From all that has been said, there ought seldom to be much difficulty in recognizing a case of poisoning with spirituous liquors.
But, before quitting the subject, a form of it must be noticed which may be extremely difficult to distinguish. It was formerly remarked that the eatable mushrooms have been sometimes poisoned with substances possessing effects on the system analogous to those caused by the deleterious fungi. In the same manner spirituous liquors may be poisoned with narcotics allied to them in action. Thus, in former parts of this work, it has been stated that a young man was killed during a debauch in consequence of his companions having mingled opium with his wine; that many persons have been poisoned and some killed by fermented liquors drugged in the same manner; that murder has been accomplished by poisoning wine with nightshade; and that several fatal accidents have occurred in consequence of liqueurs having been too strongly impregnated with hydrocyanic
