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Enclosure V.
GOVERNMENT LABORATORY,
HONGKONG, 13th June, 1898.
SIR,-I have the honour to submit a statement of the work done in the Government Laboratory during the year 1897. The work has not only been greater in amount than in any previous year but it has also been of a much more difficult character.
2. The work may be conveniently summarized as follows:---
Description of Cases.
No. of Articles examined.
Toxicological,
Potable Waters, Petroleum,
Morphine Ordinance,
Food and Drugs Ordinance,.
Coins,
Buffalo Milk,
63
97
120
3
26
:
6
4
Coal,...
Blood stains,
Miscellaneous,
15
6
28
Total,..
368
TOXICOLOGICAL.
3. The toxicological cases investigated during the past year include 12 cases of human poison- ing, exclusive of one case of Strychnine poisoning which occurred beyond the confines of the Colony.
4. In six cases death was found to be due to opium.
5. There were five cases of Datura poisoning during 1897, in all of which cases Datura Alba had been administered for criminal purposes. All the victims recovered from the effects of the drug. In one case of drugging the accussed used a mixture composed of Datura seeds and Datura flowers steeped in samshu. No less than three bottles of this mixture were found on his person together with a bottle of arsenic, and a powder composed of arsenic and Datura seeds. The pollen grains of Datura form a useful means for the identification of the flowers when mixed with other substances as they can be easily identified by their colour, shape, and markings. The mydriatic principle of Datura was isolated from the urines of the drugged persons without difficulty. The urines were collected, in four cases within 24 hours of taking the drug, but in one case an interval of 48 hours had elapsed before the urine could be collected.
6. A powder resembling pepper which had been thrown into a man's eyes was found to be native arsenic. One eye was seriously affected for some time, but after a few months all traces of injury disappeared.
WATERS.
7. The results of the analyses of samples taken each month from the Pokfulum and Tytam Reservoirs, and from the Kowloon Service, indicate that these supplies continue to maintain their excellent qualities. During the past year the Kowloon Service has given complete satisfaction. The composition of the water supplies varies hardly at all from month to month. The following table shows the composition of the three waters collected in December
Total solid matter dried Chlorine.
at 212° F.
Saline Ammonia.
Albumenoid Oxygen absorbed
Ammonia.in 4 hours at 80° F.
Nitrites. Nitrates.
Sugar test for the detection of sewage.
Pokfulum,....
4.0
.6
Absent.
Absent.
015
Absent. Absent.
Tytam....
3.8
.6
Do.
Do.
.013
Do.
Do.
No trace of sewage iudicated. Do.
Kowloon,
2.5
.6
Do.
Do.
.003
Do.
Do.
Do.
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