Vengeful barbers and crime-fighting magicians
This week Untold Lives brings you two tales of poisoning found in the annual reports of the Chemical Examiner to the Government of Madras for 1901 and 1902.
Our first example concerns an overzealous attempt to catch a thief:
IOR/P/6347 Jul 1902 nos 53-60
The second concerns an attempt to poach a neighbour’s business:
IOR/P/6579 Jul 1903 nos 101-07
These cases of poisoning were highlighted by the Chemical Examiner in his annual report as being particularly note-worthy, and appear in the section on Medico-Legal Investigations. Alongside human and animal poisonings the Examiner investigated a number of miscellaneous cases, including counterfeit coining, a case of disputed handwriting, and the examination of a number of articles concerned in a case of explosion and suspected incendiarism.
By far the largest section of the report concerns analyses performed for the Customs Department and the Board of Revenue:
IOR/P/6579 Jul 1903 nos 101-07
Reports of the Chemical Examiners can be found via the online catalogue in the IOR/V/24 series, and scattered through the IOR/P Proceedings.
Alex Hailey
India Office Medical Archives project
Also on Untold Lives -
Arsenic, Cyanide and Strychnine - the Golden Age of Victorian Poisoners
Comments