355
I can scarcely imagine, considering the rapidity of the action of the poison, that fish killed by saponin would have absorbed sufficient of the glucoside to render them objectionable as an article of diet: nevertheless the practice of destroying them by such means is one that the Government should, for several reasons, do all in its power to prevent.
3. Supposed Administration of a Stupefying drug.-This was the case of a Chinese youth, 19
years of age, who on the 20th of May was admitted into the Civil Hospital under the influence of a narcotic poison.
The Magisterial enquiry elicited the following particulars :-Between 7 and 8 A.M., on the 17th of May, the boy-then residing in Canton with his parents-was sent by his father to pay a sum of money to a certain shopkeeper in that City. The lad did not return to breakfast and suspicion being aroused, his elder brother left for Hongkong the same evening and reported the occurrence at the Central Police Station, A reward was offered for the recovery of the boy and on the 20th of the same month a Detective found him in a state of insensibility on board a steamer that was about to leave Hongkong for Singapore,
When the boy was discharged from the Hospital and examined by the Magistrate he stated that as he was passing along one of the streets of Canton a man, whom be had never seen before, puffed some smoke into his eyes and rubbed his hand once down his face. He at once became insensible and remained oblivious of everything that took place from that day (the 17th) until the 20th when he regained his senses and found himself in the Hongkong Civil Hospital.
Dr. M. T. YARR, A.M.S., then the Acting Superintendent, was of opinion that when he examined the boy he was recovering from the effects of a narcotic poison; but I failed to detect any poisonous principle in the material extracted from the lad's stomach soon after his admission into the Hospital. In this instance a special search was made for Atropine the active principle of Datura alba, Nees, the
Nau Yeung fa of Chinese Materia Medica.
A number of men were charged with kidnapping this youth but the case fell to the ground through lack of evidence.
A perusal of the cases of poisoning by Datura cited in No. 8 of Notes on Chinese Materia Medica3 would lead one to imagine that this boy had been drugged with some agent allied in its physio- logical action to this easily accessible poison; and that the somewhat extraordinary symptoms recounted by the victim might be referred to the hallucinations to which persons are subject in the early stages of poisoning by drugs of the mydriatic class.1
The remainder of the analysis were of minor importance and call for no special remarks.
REMARKS.
The new Assistant Apothecary Mr. W. MALCOLM WATSON entered on his duties on the 25th of September.
The appointment, to the Civil Medical Staff, of this officer who holds the Major Diploma of the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, places the Department-so far as the Analytical and Pharma- ceutical work is concerned-on a proper footing. To provide quarters for his accommodation I vacated my rooms at the West end of the large building and pending the appointment, and for some mouths after the arrival of Dr. ATKINSON, I resided in the quarters set apart for the Superintendent. After this I removed to quarters at the East end of the Civil Hospital and am at present lodged there pending the construction, in connection with the Hospital extension scheme, of the new Laboratory with quarters attached, which will, I understand, be completed during the course of the present year.
I avail myself of this opportunity for stating that the Student Apothecary, Mr. U I Kax, conti. nues to make satisfactory progress with his studies.
I have the honour to be,
Appendix A.
Extract from a letter received from Mr. CHAS. FORD, F.L.S. Director of the Hongkong Botanical Gardens.
"In reply to your enquiries concerning the preparation and uses of Ch'à tsai ping I have much pleasure in being able to furnish you with some information."
"While on a Botanical tour in the Kwangtung province, from which I have just returned, I had an opportunity of inspecting plantations of the shrub from which the material is obtained, of seeing milis in which the article is prepared, and of receiving information on both the cultivation of the plant and the preparation of tea oil from an intelligent and courteous old Chinese gentleman."
"Camellia oleifera, Abel, is extensively grown in South China for the production of seeds which yield a valuable oil known as tea oil. Ch'à tsai ping is the refuse matter left after the oil has been ex- pressed. The preparation is very simple. The seeds are collected in October or November, dried and taken to a mill where they are crushed in a circular mortar or trough by a pestle drive through it by water power. The seeds after being crushed are steamed and then the mass is placed in a powerful press which expresses the oil. The refuse, after the extraction of the oil is the article known as Ch'á tsai ping. It is produced in cakes weighing, when dry, about 3 ozs. and 34 lbs. respectively. The quality of the two kinds of cake is the same. I am not aware that anything besides the seeds of Camellia oleifera enters into the composition of these cakes."
person
"Ch'á tsai ping is used by the Chinese as a hair-wash and as soap for cleansing both the and clothes. It is also used for the eradication of earth worms from the soil in which plants in pots are grown. In these gardens we also use it for eradicating earth worms from grass lawns. For this purpose the cake is crushed and boiled. The decoction is then diluted and poured on the grass when the worms come to the surface of the ground. As a rule the small worms die, but the larger ones after a time recover, After being picked up from the grass the worms are often given to fowls and ducks which devour them readily and apparently thrive on them, experiencing no inconvenience from the effects of the Ch'á tsai ping with which the worms were killed."
Botanical GarDENS,
Hongkong, September 20th, 1887.
Appendix B.
Extract from a memorandum on fish-poisoning agents received from Mr. J. H. STEWART LOCK- HART the Registrar-General.
"In ponds of great dimensions these drugs (more than one is mentioned) are often used for killing fish and shrimps and are so powerful that not a single fish can escape. The fish so caught are offered for sale and the writer has never heard of a single instance in which any one has suffered from eating 'fish obtained in this way. Ch'á fu is sometimes used for killing earth worms."
REGISTRAR GENERAL'S OFFICE,
Hongkong, September 21st, 1887.
True extracts,
WM. EDWARD CROW.
Dr. PH. B. C. AYRES,
Colonial Surgeon and Inspector of Hospitals.
Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
WM. EDWARD CROW, Government Analyst and Apothecary, Civil Medical Department.
(3.) Notes on Chinese Materia Medioa, by C. FORD F.L.S., Ho Kai, M.B., and W. E, CROW 8. Datura albe, Nees, in China Revier
vol. XVI, p. 2.
(4.) Toxicologists will be interested in the discovery, last year, on this island of Dutura Stramonium, linn, a species hitherto unrecorded
from South China.
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