A DEADLY MEDICINE.

Patea Mail, Volume I, Issue 57, 27 October 1875, Page 2

A DEADLY MEDICINE.

Public. Opinion of 21st November, sf affs that the evidence given before a recent inquest at Manchester deserves atteniion, as proving the great danger attending tin* use of ceitain drugs that have come inio fashion during- late yoars. A man n:i:no<i Alfred Holme, being troubled with some sort -of nervous .headache, was . recommended. by a ;friend to try. hydrate of chloral as a remedy. Following this foolish advice, lie sent for a six. oz. b >tth- of thecompound mi Monday, and wit hut (wmifyfour hours be was found dead. According to the medical evidence, the man’s death was syncope cordis, produced by the action of the hydrate on a weak heart; - The doctor who gave this testimony ; also stated that hydrate of chloral is little understood oven by medical men, he himself ibeing.igoorarit; as .touts effects are cumulative.; This allegation of general want of .knowledge regarding the power of the medicine was corroborated by the chemist who sold the (lose to the ■ dead man. Yet although it was his opinion that the hydrate of chloral ought not, to be given except under medical advice,.he.appears to have : made little inquiry when making up tbc proscription brought to him, by Holme’s daughter, a little girl about eight 'years of age. As the bottle contained Go z., while the label directed a tablespoonfid to ho taken every two hours, the unfortunate man was virtually instructed, that ho might with safety, drink within twenty-four hours what was almost certain to kill any one with a weak heart. The sad results following the nse*6f the medicine in this case will, it is to be’hoped, render hydrate , of chloral and similar strong physic less fashionable. Unless perfectly acquainted with their constitutions, people who fly to these remedies’ for relief may inadvertently be running the risk of death..