Evidence of Arsenical Poison- 
ing in the Snook-Herr 
Wedding Guests. 
BY 
J. W. IRWIN, M. D. 
REPRINTED PROM 
Kite Neto York JHe&ical .^Journal 
for August 1, 1891. Reprinted from, the New York Medical Journal 
for August 1, 1891. 
EVIDENCE OF ARSENICAL POISONING 
IN THE SNOOK-HERR WEDDING GUESTS* 
J. W. IRWIN, M. D. 
Early in the morning on the 16th day of April, 1891, I 
was requested by telephone to call at the house of Dr. , 
where two persons were believed to be dangerously sick. I ar- 
rived at the house a little before 8 a. m., and was immediately 
shown into the presence of two patients, one of whom was ly- 
ing on a bed and the other on a couch. Both were lying on 
their sides with their limbs flexed on their abdomens. Their 
faces wore expressions of anxiety and suffering. The face of 
one looked bluish-gray and haggard, with the eyes suffused, dull, 
and heavy, and the vessels in the conjunctivas red and engorged. 
The other's face was swollen, with the eyes red and suffused. 
The cheeks, chin, and neck were covered with a bluish-red-col- 
ored eruption. There was marked oedema about the eyes, the 
lips were red and swollen, and the tongue was red and dry. In 
the former case respiration was irregular and sighing, pulse 65, 
small and feeble; and in the latter, respiration was quick and 
shallow, pulse 120 and irritable. Both patients complained of 
choking and burning sensations in the throat, with burning in 
the oesophagus, stomach, and bowels, attended by nausea and 
* Read before the Medico-chirurgical Society of Louisville, June 12, 
1891. 
Copyright, 1891, by D. Appleton asb^JHiu-. 2 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
vomiting. There was much clearing of the throat. Thirst was 
intense. Both patients had severe pain in the stomach and 
bowels and stiffness in the muscles and joints. The pain in the 
bowels became worse in paroxysmsand was attended by copious 
watery evacuations which gave little or no relief from suffering. 
In one case there was marked tenderness over the region of the 
stomach, which the patient was able to point out in well defined 
spots ; and in the other case the soreness was more diffu'ed and 
not so severe. Both patients complained of feeling weak and 
faint, but syncope did not occur in either case. There were 
feelings of intense nervousness and muscular tremor with twitch- 
ings of the limbs in both cases. Headache was quite severe. The 
urine was diminished in quantity and the act of micturition at- 
tended by burning pain. The daily quantity voided in one case 
during the first two days did not exceed two ounces, and in the 
other ten ounces. The urine was of a red orange color and on 
the sixth day contained a trace of albumin. One patient com- 
plained of dyspnoea and flashes of heat, and the other had chilly 
sensations, while the extremities were bathed in cold, clammy 
perspiration. 
The matter vomited at first was thick and slimy, and now it 
consisted of thin fluid with mucus, which a few hours later 
changed in color to greenish-yellow, and a few specks of blood 
could be seen in it. Even small quantities of fluid taken by the 
stomach increased the vomiting and were ejected or passed 
through the bowels with remarkable rapidity. The nurse in 
attendance in one case assured me that in less than three min- 
utes after her patient had taken two ounces of milk and lime- 
water by the stomach on the second day of the illness, it was 
observed to have passed through the bowels. The blandest ar- 
ticles of food taken by the stomach during the first few days of 
the sickness increased the suffering and usually caused vomiting. 
The thirst was still intense. Copious watery diarrhoea preceded 
vomiting in both cases, and one patient had almost a constant 
desire to empty the bowels, with distress in the rectum. At 
first the discharges were of the rice-water character, very much 
like those observed in cases of Asiatic cholera, but toward the 
end of the first day the color of the dejecta changed to yellow, THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
3 
green, and black, and they contained shreds of intestinal mucous 
membrane of a brownish-black color, mucus, and blood. Before 
the end of the first day, or about eighteen hours after the ingestion 
of the poison, fever set in, which lasted nearly three days. The 
pulse in both cases was 120 to 130, weak and irritable. During 
the early part of the day the axillary temperature was 101° F., 
and in the night it reached 103° F. One patient had mild de- 
lirium, some hebetude, nervous jerkings, and tremor of the mus- 
cles, and the other felt restless and anxious and suffered from in- 
somnia. On the second day the eruption had extended to the 
chest and abdomen, and here it occurred in irregular patches 
wdiich were unattended by burning and itching. The spats were 
of an irregular size and shape and resembled those observed on 
the face and necK. The smallest was about an inch and the 
largest four inches in transverse diameter. This eruption be- 
came gradually darker in color, and ten days later it was still 
visible on the parts of the body covered by the clothing. Des- 
quamation followed the eruption, leaving the skin slightly red 
and tender. 
The condition of the patients continued to be alarming until 
the third day of their illness, when the fever had subsided and 
vomiting and purging were lessened. During the three or four 
days following, a variety of changes took place in these cases. 
In the early part of the day the patients seemed to improve rap- 
idly ; all their symptoms became ameliorated and they were 
bright and cheerful, but as evening approached they grew worse, 
were nauseated and depressed, and little or no improvement was 
observed from that of the previous day. At the end of the first 
week of their illness both patients had ceased to vomit and the 
frequent movements of the bowels were checked. Food, such 
as chicken-broth, beef-tea, milk, and lime-water, was retained 
when taken in small quantities, but its presence in the stomach 
caused localized pain and nausea. In one case the abdomen be- 
came much distended and painful after the ingestion of about an 
ounce of milk toast. Nature brought about relief in this case 
by a free watery discharge from the bowels. 
On the second day of the illness the swelling of the face in 
one case had become more marked, with well-defined red rings 4 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
and swelling about the eyes, and in the other depression en- 
circled the eyes. The face was pale and contracted. 
On April 18th another patient was brought to me from the 
country, who had been subjected to the same cause as those I 
have mentioned. The history of all the cases I shall give at the 
same time. The patient was greatly prostrated, which may in 
part have been caused by his ride of seven miles. He looked 
haggard and spoke in a feeble tone. His face and neck were 
swollen and partly covered with an eruption similar in every 
particular to the eruption observed in another case which I 
have before described. The eyes were encircled by swelling and 
red rings, the lips were swollen and inflamed, the mucous lining 
of the gums, the edges of the tongue, and the cheeks were in- 
flamed and ulcerated. The hands and wrists were swollen. The 
skin eruption was visible on the chest and abdomen in irregular 
patches. Neither burning nor itching was complained of. There 
was slight stupor. The pulse was feeble and irregular and from 
60 to 70 beats in a minute. The temperature in the axilla was 
96'5° F. He complained of intense thirst and begged for iced 
water to relieve the burning in his insides. The urine at first 
was diminished in quantity and the act of voiding it attended 
by burning pain. Now it had increased to about a pint daily. 
The bowels were still disturbed; the evacuations were watery 
and passed involuntarily. There was numbness of the legs and 
there was stiffness of the joints. There was a burning sensation 
in the hands, which caused a desire to keep them immersed in 
cold water. The stomach was irritable, but vomiting was not 
frequent, and only when he drank too much water did it occur. 
The condition of the patient remained practically unchanged for 
two or three days, when a new eruption was observed on the 
cheeks, on the chin, and around the nose. This eruption at first 
was slightly papular, and each papule was about a line in trans- 
verse diameter at the base, of a bluish red color, encircled by 
a red zone and some induration of the skin. The eruptions oc- 
curred in groups and the papules were from one to three lines 
apart. No itching attended this eruption. After two days a 
slight serous exudation could be observed on the top of the 
papules, which soon became incrusted with grayish-brown THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
5 
crusts, and these crusts were shed between the seventh and 
tenth days thereafter, leaving the skin red, smooth, and shining. 
Desquamation of the face, neck, chest, abdomen, wrists, and palms 
followed the former eruption. Before the end of the second 
week from the beginning of the illness, minute abscesses ap- 
peared here and there on the face, neck, back, arms, and hands. 
These little abscesses were very painful and from half to 
three quarters of an inch in transverse diameter, indurated 
around the base, purplish in color, and raised very little above 
the surrounding surface. On the top the skin was of a grayish- 
white color and shriveled in the center, and when first observed 
they were found to contain pus. 
A few days later this patient was advised to return to his home 
in a healthful part of the country, and I have not heard the final 
result of the abscesses, but from his friends I learn that he is 
well. 
On April 19th I saw in consultation another person who had 
been subjected to the same cause and was suffering in all essential 
particulars as in the cases I have just described, except that I did 
not observe any eruption at the time of my visit. Since then 
I have been informed that the patient has had much swell- 
ing of the face, hands, and feet, and that his recovery has been 
tedious. 
These cases have the following history : 
On the fifteenth day of April, 1891, the patients, with seventy 
others, ate of the feast that was served at the now sad though 
historic Snook-Herr wedding, which occurred at Lyndon, Ken- 
tucky. With four or five exceptions, all became sick within a 
few hours after eating, and presented essentially the same gen- 
eral symptoms. Six of them died at various dates between the 
second and sixteenth days after the wedding. The groom is 
numbered with the dead. He was the last to yield up his life 
to the subtle destroyer. Two or three more of the guests are 
still lingering near the verge of the grave. There were at the 
wedding seventy-four persons, sixty-three of whom were poi- 
soned. Only eleven escaped. 
The wedding feast was composed of the following articles of 6 
THE SNOOK-HEKR POISONING CASES. 
food: Chicken salad, stewed mushrooms, beat biscuits, snow- 
flake crackers, cakes, coffee, chocolate, ice cream, ice-cream 
bricks, and water. The chickens were killed and then cooked 
in an iron pot two days before the wedding, and the person who 
caught them assures me that they were healthy, as he had to 
run fast to catch them. Mr. Herr, the father of the bride, states 
positively that the chickens were healthy, and that there has 
not been a case of chicken cholera on his place for years. The 
salad was made from the white meat of the boiled chickens, and 
two ladies who assisted in making it certify to the meat being 
perfectly sound and good. Only six cans of French mushrooms 
were stewed. The mushrooms were intended to be used in pre- 
paring another dish, but, as the cook had eaten some of the 
chicken meat that was prepared for the salad and had been 
taken sick, this dish was abandoned. On the day of the wedding 
the mushrooms were stewed by another cook in tin pans on a 
stove. The coffee, chocolate, and biscuits were made in the 
usual way. The ice cream was made in the city by a careful 
and competent caterer. The chicken salad was served on let- 
tuce leaves on plates, and the mushrooms were served on the 
same plates beside the salad. 
Case I.-This patient ate of the wedding feast on April 15, 
1891, between 3 and 4 p. m. The meal consisted of chicken 
salad, one teaspoonful of stewed mushrooms, beat biscuits, 
cakes, ice cream, ice-cream brick, coffee, and water. No symp- 
toms worthy of note occurred until the patient was awakened 
from sleep at midnight, when the first real symptoms were an- 
nounced by copious watery discharges from the bowels, which 
were attended by burning pain in the throat and stomach, 
nausea and vomiting, and a feeling of faintness. These troubles 
continued during the night, more or less severe, and when 
seen by me on the following morning at eight o'clock, the pa- 
tient was very ill. 
Case II.-The wedding feast was partaken of by this patient 
at 3.30 p. m. on the day named. She ate half of one mushrooms 
snowflake crackers, cake,- and ice cream, and tasted ice-cream 
brick. The first symptom of illness was felt by this patient at five 
o'clock on the following morning by being awakened from sleep THE SNOOK-IIERR POISONING CASES. 
7 
with pain in the stomach and bowels, attended by wratery diar- 
rhoea and burning in the rectum. Nausea and vomiting soon 
came on, with constriction in the throat and great thirst. This 
patient I saw at 8 a. m. on the same day. 
Case III.-On the morning of April 18th this patient was 
brought to me from the house where the wedding occurred, and 
from him I learned that between three and four o'clock on the 
evening of the wedding day he ate heartily of every kind of 
food that was prepared for the feast. Again he ate of the same 
food between six and seven o'clock on the evening of the same 
day. Shortly after the second meal he began to feel badly, and 
at 8 p. m. he was very ill, after which he became so sick that he 
did not remember much that occurred during the next two 
days. 
Case IV.-I saw this patient in consultation on April 19th, 
and from him I learned that on the evening of the wedding day, 
between four and five o'clock, he ate of all the food that was 
prepared for the feast. Soon afterward he drove to the city, a 
distance of seven miles, and shortly after dark went to visit a 
friend, at whose house he was taken very sick, about eight 
o'clock on the evening of the same day. This patient had been 
vomiting and purging, and the burning thirst had been very 
great. His abdomen was retracted and bis bowels were still 
quite irritable. 
From the cases reported it will be seen that the earlier 
symptoms of the illness came, as in Case I, at the expiration 
of nearly eight hours from tne ingestion of the wedding 
feast, and in Case II thirteen hours elapsed before any dis- 
comfort was felt. It is worthy of note that both persons 
had been asleep before any real feelings of sickness were 
experienced, which may account in part for the symptoms 
of illness coming on so late. 
In Case III the patient ate two meals of the food, the 
first between three and four and the.second between six and 
seven o'clock on the evening of the wedding day. Three 
hours after the first, or one hour after the second meal, l>e 8 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
became sick. lie had not been asleep from the time he ate 
the food until the symptoms of illness were felt. 
In Case IV the illness came on in three hours after the 
ingestion of the wedding feast. This patient had not been 
asleep from the time he ate the food until his sickness 
began. 
Cases I and II were the first to come under my ob- 
servation, and the question of diagnosis occurred to me as 
being of much importance. The history and symptoms of 
the patients were carefully considered, and I gave as my 
opinion that, notwithstanding the lateness of the initial at- 
tack from the wedding feast, the cases presented the symp- 
toms of acute arsenical poisoning. Time and further obser- 
vations helped to strengthen this opinion. The question of 
prognosis was doubtful, as the patients were dangerously ill. 
In considering the question of diagnosis and differential 
diagnosis I found all authorities to agree that the symptoms 
of arsenical poisoning were varied and often anomalous. 
Woodman and Tidy say, in their work on Forensic Medi- 
cine, at page 139 : 
'' Cases are recorded .where the symptoms have set in imme- 
diately. In one half the recorded cases they have commenced 
within two hours, and in two thirds within five hours. In two 
cases that are on record no active symptoms occurred before 
the fourth day. It will, however, generally be found, in cases 
where the symptoms are delayed for some hours, either that the 
person went to sleep after taking the poison (for during sleep 
the animal system is peculiarly inactive), or that the poison was 
taken with or soon after a meal." 
Here are two conditions which apply to the cases I have 
just described and will readily explain why the symptoms 
of poisoning were deferred several hours after the ingestion 
of the poison. The following case from the London Lancet 
of May 14, 1848, will be found recorded in Wormley's 
Micro-chemistry of Poisons, at page 242 : THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
9 
" A stout, healthy young man took a teaspoonful of arsenic, 
mistaking it for flour. No marked symptoms of the action of 
the poison appeared for nearly six hours afterward." Ibid., 
page 243, a case is mentioned where " half an ounce of arsenic 
was taken in porter, and the first symptoms of poisoning did 
not occur for nine hours afterward." In the U. S. D., page 27, 
the report of a case by Dr. Edward Hartshorne is recorded 
where " a drachm of arsenic had been taken and the symptoms 
of poisoning did not appear for sixteen hours." 
In Woodman and Tidy's work on Forensic Medicine, at 
page 164, the case of a female is recorded who took half 
an ounce of arsenic after a meal, and eight hours elapsed 
before symptoms of poisoning set in. Ibid., page 162 : "A 
female took twelve grains of arsenic, and no intense symp- 
toms set in for three days." Ibid., page 160 A child took 
eight grains of arsenic, and no symptoms of poisoning set 
in for four days." 
The citation of the above-given cases will suffice to 
show that the symptoms of arsenical poisoning sometimes 
come on late even in cases where large doses have been 
taken. 
As regards the differential diagnosis of acute arsenical 
poisoning and acute gastric catarrh, the history, the inten- 
sity of the symptoms, the skin eruption, and the character 
of the dejecta excluded the latter. 
Von Ziemssen's Cyclopaedia of the Practice of Medicine, 
vol. xvii, page 923, says of poisoning by mushrooms: 
"Asa rule, the symptoms appear after six or eight hours, sel- 
dom earlier, frequently later. Violent colic is the earliest symp- 
tom, soon followed by vomiting; later, diarrhoea." 
Ibid., page 925 : 
" The recognition of the illness described as arising from mush- 
rooms depends chiefly on the history and then on the inspection 
of the evacuation. If these criteria fail, only a chemical ex- 
amination can prevent its being mistaken for arsenical poi- 
soning." 10 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
Here we have a history of the cases, and have had am- 
ple opportunity to inspect the evacuations. One patient 
ate about a teaspoonful of the mushrooms, and another 
ate half of a mushroom, and both patients have assured me 
that the mushrooms were not decayed. Schmiedeberg and 
Koppe have found that it takes a pound of poisonous mush- 
rooms to produce a grain of the active principle upon which 
the symptoms of poisoning depend, and that it has taken 
from one sixteenth to one eighth of a grain of the ptomaine 
to kill a cat, and that one thirtieth of a grain has caused 
contraction of the pupils, etc., in a man. In view of such 
observations, one can not believe that a taste of mushroom 
would contain enough of the poisonous principle to account 
for the dangerous symptoms observed in the cases, even 
were it true that the mushrooms were poisonous and that 
the symptoms of arsenic and mushroom poisoning are iden- 
tical in character. 
I shall now examine some of the symptoms which have 
been found to occur most frequently in arsenical and mush- 
room poisoning : 
SYMPTOMS OF BEING POISONED SYMPTOMS OF BEING POISONED 
BY ARSENIC. 
In poisoning by arsenic, 
the symptoms come on some- 
times immediately, one half 
in two hours, and two thirds 
within five hours, and some 
as late as the fourth day after 
the ingestion of the poison. 
Sleep causes the symptoms 
to be delayed, and when the 
poison is taken with or after 
a meal the symptoms come 
on late. 
BY MUSHROOMS. 
In poisoning by mush- 
rooms, the symptoms appear 
after six or eight hours, sel- 
dom earlier, frequently later. THE SNOOK-IIERR POISONING CASES. 
11 
The first symptoms are 
violent gastro-enteritis, soon 
followed by rice-water dis- 
charges from the bowels, 
sometimes mixed with blood, 
and subsequent vomiting, 
which matter is sometimes 
colored green by bile. Thirst 
is intense, constriction in 
throat, dryness of mouth and 
tongue, rarely salivation. 
Abdomen retracted and 
tender under pressure. Pain 
never entirely absent. 
Stools change to yellowr- 
green and tarry-black, mixed 
with mucus and blood and 
pieces of intestinal mucous 
membrane, attended by tenes- 
mus and burning in rectum. 
Stools have a very foetid 
odor. 
Urine is diminished in 
quantity, burning pain is felt 
on voiding it, and sometimes 
it contains albumin or blood. 
Patient has fever, lasting 
from one to three or more 
days. Hebetude, delirium, 
coma, and convulsions. 
There is pain in limbs 
and stiffness in joints, with 
tremor and jerking of the 
limbs. 
The first symptoms are 
violent colic, soon followed 
by vomiting of contents of 
stomach. Subsequent rice- 
water discharges from the 
bowels occur, which rarely 
contain blood. Thirst is in- 
tense, constriction in throat,, 
profuse salivation. 
Abdomen distended and 
relieved by pressure. Pain in 
paroxysms. 
Stools remain practical- 
ly unchanged in character. 
Careful inspection sometimes 
detects pieces of mushrooms. 
Stools rarely have a foetid 
odor and are rarely black. 
Urine is lessened in quan- 
tity. No pain while voiding 
it, and it does not contain 
albumin or blood. 
Patient has no fever ; be- 
comes violently excited, at 
times maniacal; sometimes 
coma and convulsions. 
No pain or stiffness in 
joints ; sometimes tremor of 
the limbs. 12 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
Patients seem at times 
almost we'l, but relapses oc- 
cur. May die at any time 
within two years. Rarely 
ever fully regain their health. 
Skin eruptions, such as 
urticaria and eczema, occur, 
and are followed by desqua- 
mation. Sloughing of the 
skin. 
Ulceration of the lips, 
gums, mucous membrane of 
cheeks and throat occur. 
Pupils slightly dilated, 
and photophobia occurs. 
Respiration is increased 
and labored, often shallow, 
again sighing and irregular. 
Pulse increased in frequency, 
irritable and feeble. 
Priapism occurs. 
Eyes suffused and con- 
junctivae red or inflamed. 
Epistaxis. 
Face, neck, hands, feet, 
and other parts of the body 
swollen, also swelling round 
eyes, with red rings. 
Finger and toe nails loos- 
en, suppurate, and fall out ; 
falling of the hair. 
Aphonia ; paralysis of 
sensation and motion, espe- 
cially of lower extremities. 
Relapses rarely occur. If 
patient lives past the third 
day, as a rule, recovery takes 
place. 
Skin eruptions do not oc- 
cur. No desquamation. 
No ulcerations occur. 
Pupils are contracted and 
everything is seen dimly, as 
if in mist. 
Pulse and respiration are 
retarded. 
No priapism occurs. 
Eyes pale and sunken. 
No epistaxis. 
No swelling ; no red rings 
around eyes. 
These phenomena do not 
occur. 
No aphonia ; no such pa- 
ralysis. THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
13 
Involuntary evacuations of 
bowels. 
Autopsy.-There is often 
ulceration of the mouth, oeso- 
phagus, and stomach; usual- 
ly inflammation of the mucous 
membrane of stomach and 
intestinal tract of a dark-red 
color, distributed sometimes 
in stripes or spots. Some- 
times the ulcers penetrate the 
coats of the stomach and in- 
testines ; haemorrhage, exu- 
dation, or infiltration; inflam- 
mation and ulceration of the 
rectum. Ecchymoses beneath 
the endocardium and pericar- 
dium, and fluid blood, fatty 
heart, liver, spleen, kidneys, 
and other internal parts. 
Autopsy shows acute gas- 
tric and intestinal catarrh, 
and the evidences of inspissa- 
tion of the blood and of death 
brought on by cardiac paraly- 
sis, as the only more or less 
constant phenomena. 
These are the main symptoms which occur in arsenical 
and mushroom poisoning. Reliable information from those 
who helped to serve some of the feast and those who par- 
took of the food is to the effect that there were at least 
seven persons sick who presented the main symptoms I 
have described who did not eat mushrooms or anything 
containing mushrooms at that wedding. This, by exclusion, 
proved that the mushroom ptomaine was not the cause of 
the poisoning. The chicken ptomaine, being still unknown 
to science, as there is no mention of its having been sepa- 
rated, must remain as a matter of conjecture and can prove 
nothing. But had the chicken ptomaine been discovered 
recrystallized and free from impurities, the fact that at least 
four of the victims of the wredding feast, who did not even 14 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
taste the chicken salad or anything containing it, were 
sick, would outweigh any amount of ptomaine testimony. 
The tyrotoxicon ptomaine died in the nascent state, since 
there were six or eight persons who ate only ice cream and 
cake and were not sick at all. 
Some of the excretions from the poisoned patients were 
obtained on the morning of the second day, and, by the 
method of Reinsch, pieces of copper wire and copper foil 
were boiled in them, and evidences of the presence of ar- 
senic found (the acid and copper were previously tested for 
arsenic and none found). One piece of copper foil that was 
boiled in the suspected excrement I handed to Mr. J. A. 
Flexner, the well-known chemist and druggist of our city, 
and from him I received the following note: 
Louisville, April 21, 1891. 
Dr. J. IF. Irwin, City. 
My dear Doctor: I have examined the sublimate from the 
copper which you brought me, and find it to contain arsenic. 
Very respectfully yours, J. A. Flexner. 
I wish to say in this connection that the excrements 
were obtained from my patients before any bismuth had 
been taken. 
In the Louisville Post of April 22, 1891, I find the fol- 
lowing : 
Dr. Turner Anderson. 
My dear Doctor: I beg to report to you that 1 find arsenic 
in the urine which was brought to me for analysis last Thurs- 
day afternoon, April 16th. 
Very respectfully, J. A. Flexner.* 
Since the foregoing was written, eleven of those who 
were poisoned by the wedding feast, having secondary symp- 
* The urine referred to was obtained from one of the lady sufferers 
attended by Dr. Anderson the day following the wedding. THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
15 
toms, have come to my notice, and from them I have ob- 
tained additional information as to the time that elapsed 
after the food was eaten until they became sick. The initial 
symptoms of illness were observed by several of these pa- 
tients within four hours, and by three within one hour after 
the food had been eaten. Three have had aphonia. Fall- 
ing out of the hair has occurred in at least seven cases. 
Two of the patients have lost toe-nails, and five are still 
troubled with jerking of the limbs. The secondary symp- 
toms came on between the second and sixth weeks after the 
wedding. All complain of being feeble and easily fatigued. 
Dr. Joseph Hobson, of St. Mathews, who attended nine 
of the victims of the feast, has kindly sent me reports of 
their cases. From these I have compiled the following 
brief summary. 
One patient did not eat any kind of salad, and the other 
eight partook of every kind of food that was served at the 
wedding. The symptoms of illness in all cases came on in 
from three to six hours after the ingestion of the wedding 
feast. Purging preceded vomiting in seven cases, and two pa- 
tients vomited and purged simultaneously. All complained 
of dryness of the mouth and throat and intense thirst. Con- 
striction of the throat was observed in all cases. (Edema of 
the glottis was present in two cases. Two patients had swol- 
len tongues and five had inflammation of the lips and mouth. 
Three had ulcers of the mucous membrane of the gums and 
cheeks. The vomited matter in seven cases contained bile 
and in five instances it was streaked with blood. The 
stools were watery in all cases at first, but afterward became 
more consistent, and in six cases contained yellow and green 
matter mixed with mucus and blood. The urine was sup- 
pressed in six cases. The abdomen was retracted in all 
cases. Five of the patients had aphonia. An erythematous 
eruption was observed in six cases and one patient had a dis- 16 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
tinctly papular eruption with serous exudation, which be- 
came incrusted. The face, neck, chest, and abdomen were 
chiefly the seat of these eruptions. Desquamation followed 
the eruptions on the ninth or tenth day. Hemiplegia of 
the left side occurred in one case. The patient was still 
paralyzed in the early part of June. (Edema of the face, of 
the neck, and around the eyes occurred in six cases. All 
had burning pain in the throat and stomach and four had 
cramps in the bowels. Six had nervous tremors, jerking of 
the muscles and limbs, and pain in the muscles and joints. 
Three suffered from intense prostration, and felt as though 
they might die at any moment. The eruption in three 
cases was attended by itching. Three had mild dilirium. 
Two had some hebetude. Four had fever; their tempera- 
ture in the axilla varied from 101° to 104° F. In three 
cases the temperature was subnormal. Dr. Hobson diag- 
nosticated acute arsenical poisoning. All have recovered 
except MiSs R., who has hemiplegia, and it is believed that 
she may ultimately regain the use of her limbs. Dr. 
Mitchell and Dr. Hyndman, of Cincinnati, who attended 
the late Mr. Snook and his bride (see Medical News, June 
27, 1891, page 710), say of the eruption: "Beginning on 
the third and fourth days, respectively, both cases exhibited 
a decided eczematous eruption over the arms, shoulders, 
face, and upper portions of the chest. In the case of the 
lady this continued during her entire convalescence, which 
began about the sixth or seventh day. In the case of Mr. 
S. the eruption had more of a papular appearance." 
In addition to the cases I have mentioned where blood 
appeared in the stools, the above-quoted authors say of 
Mr. Snook: " On the twelfth day he was given a saline 
cathartic in divided doses. The resulting passages con- 
tained a small amount of bright-red blood, evidently from 
the lower bowel. From this time on the bleeding con- THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
17 
tinned." For an account of the autopsy, etc., in the case 
of the late Mr. Snook, see the Medical News for 
page 710. 
Discussion. 
Mr. J. A. Flexner, chemist (present by invitation), said that 
the examination for arsenic under the circumstances had not 
been a difficult one by any means. He had only this point in the 
paper to allude to, and he was glad of the opportunity of doing 
it. Under the circumstances, as expected, the deposit upon the 
copper was very minute. The portion of copper brought to him 
had been small, and, after so much purging, vomiting, and medi- 
cation, he was prepared to find only very small quantities of 
arsenic, although the copper presented the characteristic appear- 
ance of an arsenical deposit. The strip of copper had been half 
an inch wide and an inch long. He had sublimed a piece in a 
rather small test-tube, and, while he got a distinct ring, it was 
not such as could be called crystalline under the glass he had 
used. He had then resorted to a smaller tube and had obtained 
a somewhat denser sublimate, and yet not such as he felt satis- 
fied to express an opinion about. He had proceeded to draw 
out capillary tubes, and in tubes of this size had obtained an 
exceedingly satisfactory sublimate. He would say that, in so 
far as all authorities were agreed in reference to the peculiari- 
ties of this test, every single point had been completely fulfilled. 
The temperature used had been that of the ordinary alcohol 
lamp. On applying the heat, the way in which the sublimate 
had moved along the tube had been strikingly characteristic. 
It was known that antimony yielded a sublimate somewhat 
crystalline, and was the only thing likely to be confounded with 
arsenic. The talk about sulphur, to his mind, was very far- 
fetched, to say the least. Sulphur had an affinity for oxygen 
under heat, and if sulphur had been present the heat would 
have converted it into sulphurous acid immediately. Under the 
temperature of the alcohol lamp the sublimation from the cop- 
per had been characteristic; the copper had been left clear and 
bright, and the crystals had been well-marked octaedra under 
the microscope, which had led him to express the unqualified 18 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
opinion that the sublimate from the copper which Dr. Irwin 
had brought him contained arsenic, and, in spite of all said since 
that, he was of the same opinion s:ill. Some of the sublimates 
in these tubes, which he had preserved, had been shown to a 
prominent gentleman, himself a fellow in Johns Hopkins Uni- 
versity and for a time an assistant to Professor Remsen, and he 
had agreed with the speaker. 
With reference to the urine he had examined for Dr. Turner 
Anderson, he had bad a similar experience. He had had a small 
amount of urine to begin with, and had proceeded approximate- 
ly in the same way. Dr. Anderson had sat at his de>k and 
watched some of the experiments he made, and at the distance 
of probably two feet had seen the sublimate as plainly as any- 
thing of the kind could be seen. Sublimation in the larger 
tubes had not been satisfactory, but when he had conducted the 
experiments in the capillary tubes in every instance be had ob- 
tained a perfectly satisfactory crystalline sublimate. He had 
seen no reason for changing his opinion at all, and he thought 
if the gentlemen who made similar experiments had made them 
without bias, under the same conditions, they would have had 
the same experience. One of the gentlemen had told him that 
he bad used a tube of about the size of his finger, and he was 
not surprised that, under such circumstances, bis results bad 
been negative. 
Dr. J. B. Marvin thought that the essayist had presented an 
admirable paper, and from bis standpoint it looked almost con- 
clusive. He had considered himself to be a little more fortunate 
than any of the gentlemen connected with the case, in that he 
had escaped the coroner, and nearly escaped the newspapers. 
He had seen several of these cases, and several articles of food 
had been submitted to him for examination. He bad declined 
to make a statement for the coroner or for any one else, taking 
the ground that no man lived who could say positively that it 
was or was not arsenical poisoning rather than any other, and 
that it had passed from the domain of the physician to that of 
the chemist; that these parties ought to employ chemists to make 
a complete and exhaustive analysis, and, as he no longer proposed 
to do chemical work of this kind, be bad declined to do it. THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
19 
In the cases that he had seen there had been no eruption, no 
ulceration about the mouth, no characteristic changes about the 
eye. He had seen the cook who had prepared the supper, and 
others. Further than that, he had had no personal experience 
with the now celebrated cases. 
In regard to the symptomatology, he thought that every one 
present would admit that it was very risky business to put down 
symptoms in parallel columns. By so-called differential diag- 
nosis, one could prove anything one wanted to, if one differen- 
tiated. Another point was that he thought the doctor had per- 
haps erred a little in quoting authorities, in taking exceptional 
cases. As he had listened, he had noticed that in every case 
he referred to, in which symptoms were told, the patient had 
taken enormous doses of arsenic-ten grains, fifteen grains, 
half an ounce, or more. All authorities said that the symp- 
tomatology of arsenic was so vague, uncertain, and confusing, 
that one could never decide in any two cases whether it was 
arsenic or not. In the now' famous case of the Grand Duke of 
P., where it had been distinctly proved that arsenic had been 
the cause of death, there had been no characteristic symptoms 
of arsenical poisoning. He thought if one would look through 
Reese's Forensic Medicine, it would be found that he made a 
statement that at least half the subjects of arsenical poisoning 
would die in a few hours, and two thirds would die in six hours. 
In the majority of cases the symptoms would develop rapidly. 
He would dislike very much to risk his reputation as a diag- 
nostician on the symptoms of arsenic. He could say, without 
conceit, as it was known to some of his hearers, that he had had 
as much personal experience with arsenical poisoning as any one, 
and he had long since maintained that no man could say from 
the symptomatology alone that a case was one of poisoning with 
arsenic. He had not seen anything to change his opinion. 
Next, he thought that Reinsch's test, on account of its ease 
of application, had been the most misleading test in chemistry. 
It had been the rock that had wrecked more chemists than any- 
thing he knew of. The books described it as so delicate that 
one could detect the fifty thousandth of a grain. It was an ex- 
tremely delicate test, but right there came the fallacy. No man 20 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
ought to stop right there. He ventured the assertion that, unless 
things had changed rapidly in the last five years, he could take 
hydrochloric acid and could prove it would leave on copper 
a characteristic sublimate. Sulphur compounds, arsenic, anti- 
mony, and a variety of metals left a similar sublimate. Any 
man could take urine and he would get a deposit. Just there 
he thought Mr. Flexner might have given us more detail. He 
differed with him on one point most diametrically. Reese said 
one could take Reinsch's test and certain sulphur compounds 
and they would sublime and give a characteristic ring. If the 
hydrochloric acid was impure it would color the copper when one 
heated it, and would give acicular crystals. It was extremely 
important that those crystals should be octaedral, and even then 
it was best to go a step further and apply a solution test to the 
crystals. Now, he knew nothing about these tests. He had had 
no personal experience. He should have liked a little more in- 
formation from Dr. Irwin in regard to the copper and in regard 
to the acids, and then as to the questions he had thrown out to 
Mr. Flexner. 
Dr. H. A. Cottell said that certainly this Herr-Snook poi- 
soning must become historic. It was the most remarkable ex- 
ample of wholesale poisoning in all the annals of poisoning. 
Some seventy people went to a wedding, ate of the wedding sup- 
per, sixty of them became very sick, six died, one died in about 
forty-eight hours, the others lingered along six, seven, and fif- 
teen days, and then died. The symptoms in connection with 
these cases had come on not earlier than in four hours. All of 
the articles of food eaten at the wedding, the water, the coffee, 
the tea, had been voted innocent by exclusion. It could be 
clearly proved by people suffering from the same character of 
symptoms that they did not eat one or more of these articles. 
One or two chemists in Cincinnati, six or seven in Louisville, ex- 
amined portions of the food, examined the urine of several of the 
patients, examined the vomited matters, examined the matters 
discharged by the bowels, examined various organs in three 
of the persons who had died, the liver, the kidneys, and various 
parts of the alimentary canal, spleen, etc , and arsenic was found 
by one only, and this in excreta. It was a very remarkable case. THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
21 
He did not think the annals of toxicology contained anything 
like it. He confessed that he knew less about it to-day than he 
knew when the investigation began. He knew nothing posi- 
tively about it. The point that seemed to weigh strongest 
against arsenic, though a diagnosis could not be made out by 
symptoms alone, was time. All the authorities in toxicology 
said the effects came on in from half an hour to an hour, and 
in some instances in eight or ten minutes. In none of these 
cases had the symptoms come on within four hours. On the 
other hand, there were exceptional cases. There was one case 
on record where the symptoms did not come on for sixteen 
hours. It would hardly be worth while for him to make the 
point that it would be extremely remarkable, very unusual, if 
sixty people poisoned by arsenic should all prove to be excep- 
tional in point of time. In thinking over the symptoms of 
these patients, when he had first taken charge of several of 
them, he had thought possibly it was arsenic. Mr. Guthrie 
had purged himself almost to death and had died of sup- 
pression of urine. In Mrs. Guthrie's case there had been 
constant vomiting and purging up to within forty-eight hours 
of her death. In the case of Mrs. Gray, she had vomited and 
purged almost incessantly, and so had Mr. Gray, and the latter 
had bad tenderness over the epigastric region, and also tender- 
ness in the neck when pressure was made in such a way as to 
involve the oesophagus There had been no ulcers about the 
tongue or the lips. But, in thinking over these symptoms, ana- 
lyzing them, at this date, it struck him that the symptoms of 
arsenical poisoning were not met with in these cases. There 
were symptoms that might be attributed to any irritant poison. 
They were all general. Now, these he had noted: Faintness, a 
feeling of heat, unusual burning pain in the stomach increased 
by pressure. In only one case had this been noted, and that 
several days after the poison was taken. 
As to vomited matters streaked with blood, he had seen no 
blood. 
As to purging with tenesmus and great purging with not so 
much tenesmus, those symptoms had not been prominent. The 
lower bowel did not seem to be so much involved as the upper 
bowel. 22 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
As to cramps in the legs, he had noticed them in none of the 
cases. 
As to great depression, cold sweat, and frequent pulse, Mr. 
Guthrie's pulse had been frequent forty-eight hours after taking 
the poison, when he saw him first. He did not notice a frequent 
pulse in the other cases. It might be an early effect. 
As to symptoms resembling those of cholera morbus, cer- 
tainly the«e had in the beginning strongly resembled those of 
cholera morbus. 
Then as to coma, there had been none in any of these cases. 
Mr. Guthrie had become comatose shortly before he died, but 
had died from suppression of urine. In the other cases the urine 
had been rather increased in quantity. 
It seemed to him that in as many as sixty cases of arsenical 
poisoning there ought to be some chronic symptoms, such as 
falling of the hair, jaundice, inflamed eyes, etc. He thought 
that jaundice was not a common symptom, but in chronic effects 
of arsenical poisoning jaundice did appear, and it was very un- 
reasonable to suppose that out of sixty none would have any 
jaundice, salivation, or some of those things that were wont to 
follow in the wake of arsenic. 
On chemical grounds he had very little to say. He had taken 
a hand in these cases. He would have declined to have anything 
to do with it had it not been that he had been associated with 
the cases in the Guthrie family, and Dr. Anderson had wanted 
him to have a hand in the case of Mrs. Guthrie. He had not at 
hand a copy of the post-mortem notes he had taken at the time, 
but he could tell, he thought, the essential points. 
The autopsy had been made by Dr. Rodman, in the presence 
of Dr. Bailey, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Goodman, Dr. Chenoweth, the 
coroner, and himself. The rigor mortis had been well marked. 
The autopsy had been made only upon the abdominal organs, 
about five hours after death. They had been considerably hur- 
ried in the autopsy. A very prominent feature in the appear- 
ance of this subject had been its exsanguined condition. It had 
been the most bloodless autopsy he had ever seen. The veins 
and arteries had been empty. The spleen had been smaller than 
normal. She had died on the eighth day. Of course they had THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
23 
expected this, after such constant diarrhoea. One could see 
through the intestinal walls such materials as had been expelled 
before death took place, dark-greenish material, just such as 
he had read a description of to-day in von Ziemssen's Cyclo- 
padia o f the Practice of Medicine, where patients died of chol- 
era. The organs had been removed as rapidly as possible, the 
stomach tied and removed, and then the intestines bad been 
removed down to the rectum. The liver had been removed, 
the spleen, and the kidneys. These specimens had been put 
in 90-per-cent. alcohol and sent to the laboratory. They 
had looked at these specimens on Friday morning, but nothing 
had been done, he believed, until the following Monday, when 
the can had been opened and the stomach and intestines had 
been examined. On laying open the stomach, he had noticed 
that on the anterior surface all these organs had shown evi- 
dence of inflammatory trouble, and there bad also been some 
peritonea] adhesions, only some of which bad seemed to be re- 
cent. Also there had been at certain places infiltration of the 
mucous membrane of the stomach, and at others corrosive evi- 
dences. The gastric coats had been destroyed for a very con- 
siderable space down through the muscular coat almost to the 
peritonaeum, and then in every place could be found some small 
ulcers, and very near the cardiac end were found some ulcers, ugly 
patches, etc. It had occurred to him, since the stomach had been 
ligated at either extremity, that perhaps there had been some 
post-mortem digestion of the mucous membrane of the stomach. 
Fortunately, the ligature had been tied around a part of the gut 
where a portion of an ulcer was exposed to the alcohol outside, 
and had been bathed in 90-per-cent. alcohol, and that had shown 
several distinct ulcers, which had proved they were not post- 
mortem changes. Well, then, going down the intestines, the 
lumen of the gut had seemed somewhat increased at the upper 
part and had looked rough and full of rugse ; the ulcers had been 
distinct enough to show. Most of them did not go lower than 
the base of the mucous membrane, but occasionally one had been 
found dipping down to the peritoneal coat. In the small intes- 
tines, sometimes for a foot or more, the lumen had been so con- 
tracted that the little finger could not be passed through it. The 24 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
rug® did not show ulcers, although it was said that that peculiar 
condition of the mucous membrane was the condition met with 
in arsenical poisoning. Going down, the caecum was reached. 
He had been anxious to see how it would look, knowing it would 
probably suffer most of all. There had been found a great num- 
ber of ulcers-thirty or forty, perhaps fifty, many very small- 
and in each one of these could be found what looked like green- 
ish mucus, and it had occurred to him, when he saw these ulcers, 
that he should find mineral poison there. He had picked out a 
number of them, and had found characteristic deposits on the 
copper, but they could not get it to respond fully to several tests 
for arsenic. When submitted to microscopical examination they 
had proved to be colonies of bacteria. Of course they had found 
plenty of bismuth. 
So far as the chemical investigation upon the kidney, liver, 
and other parts, post mortem, was concerned, he had not said 
before the coroner's jury, under oath, that these experiments had 
been carried out with the utmost care. They had not conducted 
any experiments at all in their working laboratories. They had 
gone up into the histological laboratory, where no chemical work 
was ever done. They had not contented -themselves with any 
chemicals made in America, though the speaker had no doubt 
there were good chemicals made here. They had used entirely 
German chemicals, and had taken the utmost care to test every 
material. Then they had not contented themselves with any 
one test. They had tested for several of the metals. Every 
specimen examined had been tested, in the case of arsenic, by 
the following methods: Reinsch, Marsh, Fleitman, ammonia, 
and silver, and in some cases by the sulphureted-hydrogen test. 
In most cases where they had tried the Reinsch with negative 
results, they had tried other methods, and in every one of those 
instances the results had been apparently negative. In regard 
to the liver, they had tested almost the whole of it. They had 
taken plenty of time and every precaution, and the only trace 
of arsenic he had found was in one of the specimens of bis- 
muth 
Dr. A. M. Vance asked what had killed the people. 
Dr. Cottell said that the only theory, granting arsenic did THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
25 
not kill them, that had anything like facts to support it, was 
the ptomaine theory. Dr. Goodman had carried out a very well 
conducted theory of ptomaine. He had got some facts, and very 
good ones, and the speaker would say that it was the best theory 
he had seen. * 
Dr. J. A. Ochterlony (by invitation) said that he had been 
very much interested, not only by the paper, so carefully writ- 
ten and evincing such close observation, which Dr. Irwin had 
read, but by all the remarks that had been made by the gent'e- 
men taking part in the discussion. The whole affair had excited 
the interest of the physicians throughout the city and, he was 
sure, throughout the country, and not the least interesting was 
that everybody who had had anything to do with it seemed 
to be nearly as much in the dark now, if not more so, than 
in the beginning. So far as he had been able to keep up 
with the progress of the investigation, there seemed to be three 
theories. One gentleman had attended some cases, and had 
said that there had been nothing about them indicative of poi- 
soning of any kind. They had been simply cases of cholera 
morbus. He thought that opinion rather strange, when it was 
a well-known fact that the different kinds of metallic poisoning 
were all characterized by acute gastritis, and that, after all, 
cholera morbus was nothing but irritation and congestion. 
Then the three different kinds of poisoning suggested-pto- 
maine, mushroom, and arsenical poisoning. It was a very curi- 
ous affair through and through. He believed about sixty-five 
people had b^en poisoned, and out of that number six had died, 
and he thought that only three post-mortem examinations had 
been made. All seemed to have died at considerable periods 
of time after the supposed poisoning had taken place. It had 
occurred to him that, in the celebrated case he had seen re- 
ported somewhere, death had taken place on the sixteenth day, 
and it was a well-established fact that death had been the result 
of arsenical poisoning, and yet no trace of arsenic had been 
found on analysis. It did not seem to him that negative results 
militated very much against the possibility that arsenic might 
have been the cause of the trouble, and when he thought of the 
ptomaine theory that had been alluded to by his distinguished 26 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
friend, Professor Cottell, lie remembered several instances re- 
corded by Brouardel and Botmy where ptomaines had been 
found in the cases of persons proved to have died of arsenical 
poisoning. There was no doubt at all of the existence of ar- 
senical poisoning in these cases, yet ptomaines had been found. 
The clinical phenomena seemed to have been very different 
in the different cases, but that was what one expected-symp- 
toms varied so much in regard to the quantities taken, accord- 
ing to the emptiness of the stomach, according to the dilution 
of the poison, according to the temperament, according to the 
condition of the patient, whether asleep or awake, and accord- 
ing to the preconceived notion of the observer. Bennett had 
said a long time ago that there were more false facts than 
theories in medicine. And the further we traveled along the 
journey of life, the more we realized that facts appeared very 
different according to the medium through which they were 
viewed, the point from whence they were viewed, and the pre- 
conceived notions of the individuals who observed the facts, and 
he was satisfied in his own mind that perfectly honest men, 
well-meaning, competent men, would see things very different- 
ly. The time had long gone by with him when he was inclined 
to quarrel with people because they did not see things as he 
saw them. He was perfectly satisfied that they differed either 
because they had some facts that he had not, or because he had 
some facts that they had not, and, whichever it was, there was no 
reason for animadversion on either side. lie must say that, look 
ing at the matter from the standpoint of an outsider, he was un- 
able to divest his mind of the idea that certainly the cases that 
Dr. Irwin had reported must have been cases of arsenical poison- 
ing. It was simply an opinion. Making all allowance for its un- 
reliability, the symptomatology was very striking, and he must 
say he did not see anything to conflict with that view, but. on 
the other hand, everything to bear it out. The whole affair was 
shrouded in mystery. Possibly one of these days it would be 
solved, but until then there would always be more or less doubt 
and more or less uncertainty about it. All we could say was 
that we had to judge by the facts before us. All the perfectly 
reported and recorded facts that he had seen or knew anything THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
27 
about were those furnished by Dr. Irwin, and he did not think 
any one who had listened to that report could help being im- 
pressed with the fact that these cases looked like arsenical poi- 
soning. In addition to that, he had got Mr. Flexner's report that 
arsenic had been found in the sublimate from the copper given 
him and in the secretions from Dr. Anderson's patient; also the 
post-mortem appearances given by Dr. Cottell, and from what 
he had said relating to the condition of the mucous membrane in 
the stomach of Mrs. Guthrie. Certainly those appearances must 
have been produced by some corrosive poison. Neither mush- 
rooms nor ptomaines would produce such destructive lesions in 
the mucous membrane of the oesophagus, stomach, and intes- 
tinal tract. How c mid we believe that a vegetable poison not 
corrosive in its character could produce such destructive ef- 
fects? These poisons killed as other vegetable poisons did- 
chiefly by their paralyzing effects upon the nervous system. 
So far as the paper of the evening was concerned, which he 
had followed very closely, it seemed to him that the only con- 
clusion he could reach was that they had been cases of arseni- 
cal poisoning. He thought, perhaps, Dr. Irwin had been a little 
autocratic in the matter of the diagnosis, but, after all, that was 
but natural, and he did not know but he would have done just 
about the same himself. 
Dr. T. H. Stucky- wished to speak from a clinical stand- 
point. He had had two of these poisoning cases. There had 
been no eruption or any ulceration about the lips or gums. There 
simply had been symptoms of a great intestinal irritation, accom- 
panied by fever for three or four days, followed by recovery. 
There had been a complete absence of any of the peculiar symp- 
toms spoken of in Dr. Irwin's paper. He simply said this be- 
cause one of his patients had stated that he had eaten very 
heartily of all the food, and had been taken sick about eight 
hours after the feast. 
Mr. J. A. Flexner said, in reply to Dr. Marvin, that when he 
had spoken of the sublimate as crystals of arsenic he had meant 
octaedral crystals, as that metal crystallized only in octaedral 
crystals, or decaedral. So far as antimony was concerned, it 
-was a well-known fact that the sublimate was never crystalline 28 
TIIE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
unless the temperature was exceedingly high, about 1900° F., 
while arsenic sublimated at a much lower temperature, and 
antimony could not be driven up and down the tube as ar- 
senic could. As regarded the purity of the acids Dr. Irwin had 
used, he knew nothing of them whatever. With reference to 
the materials employed in the test for Dr. Anderson, he was per- 
fectly willing to stand by them. Any man who had had any 
experience with examinations for arsenic, and he had had a 
great deal, knew that the materials were always examined first. 
An element of doubt that very frequently occurred was thaj 
possibly free chlorine might be found in the hydrochloric acid. 
It took away the bright color of the copper and was apt to mis- 
lead, if one depended simply upon the tarnishing of the copper. 
He thought that Dr. Marvin overrated the importance of his state- 
ments with reference to the purity of the chemicals; but, if it was 
true, it was only so when inexperienced men had such matters in 
hand. But where the analyst was satisfied in the first place with 
his copper, and in the second of his hydrochloric acid, and did not 
work, where small amounts of arsenic were present, with too 
much copper, and where the copper was properly treated after- 
ward, where the sublimation was carried on in proper tubes, 
and where the temperature was not too high, Reinsch's method 
was one of the most useful of all the tests for arsenic. It had 
the advantage of extricating arsenic from more complex mixt- 
ures than any other method, and he reiterated that the sub- 
limate he had obtained from Dr. Irwin's copper corresponded 
with the description, in every possible way, the authorities gave 
for arsenic. 
Dr. Irwin said that he had been very much interested in 
the discussion. He wished to say in reply to Dr. Marvin that 
the persons whose cases he had described in his paper were all 
living and could substantiate all that he had said. He had wit- 
nesses to show that the eruptions had been present. As to the 
enormous doses of arsenic, it was rarely that they u ere ever re- 
tained in the stomach even for a short time, as they were gener- 
ally speedily ejected. The authorities said that when the patient 
went to sleep soon after taking arsenic it took a longer time for 
the symptoms of poisoning to be felt. Hence the delay in some THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
29 
of the cases. Tn making the diagnosis, he had not depended on 
symptoms alone. He had taken the history ; he had then made 
tests according to Reinsch's method ; he had found a coating on 
copper that looked to him very much like a deposit showing the 
presence of arsenic, which, when taken in connection with the 
history and symptoms presented, he had regarded as pretty con- 
clusive. He could not consider the symptoms of the patients 
under his observation as those of any other poison known to 
him than arsenic. The symptoms he had seen had been those 
of arsenic and nothing else. This view had been confirmed by 
Mr. Flexner's test. Dr. Cottell had said the mortality from 
arsenical poisoning should have been very much larger. In 
Taylor's treatise on Poisons we had a report of two hundred 
persons who had been poisoned by arsenic. Out of this number 
seventeen had died. Twelve had died from acute symptoms, 
and five from secondary results. In this instance the rate of 
mortality corresponded with that of the cases under discussion. 
Some one had said that there was no paralysis. Miss R. 
was paralyzed and had lost the power of speech. She was not 
expected to recover. Another patient had suffered from pa- 
ralysis of sensation in the legs-so much so that the application 
of a coarse flesh-brush was not felt by her. 
So far as jaundice was concerned, several cases had been 
mentioned. Mrs. L. had had very considerable jaundice, but 
that had come on since he had written his paper. In this con- 
nection he wished to read a letter received from Mrs. L. on yes- 
terday. The letter was dated June 11,1891, in which she said: 
" Positively I did not taste one particle of the chicken salad on 
the day of the wedding." He had proof in his possession, some 
of which was taken before the coroner, that there were at least 
four persons sick who had partaken of the feast and who had 
not tasted of the chicken salad or anything pertaining to it at 
that wedding. He had in his possession more proof that seven 
persons had not eaten of the mushrooms, or anything pertaining 
to mushrooms, and had been poisoned. He had proof of others 
who had not eaten anything but ice cream and they had not 
been sick at all. The letter further said : " I am still very weak, 
any exertion tiring me. My hair is falling out by the handful. 30 
THE SNOOK-HERR POISONING CASES. 
Mrs. C. II. W., my sister, is losing her hair. Mrs. II. and her 
sister are also losing their hair. Mrs. J. L. H.'s nails are loosen- 
ing and suppurating around the quicks, and the discharge is very 
offensive. Mr. A. G. II. has lost some of his toe-nails." 
Were not these symptoms those of arsenical poisoning and 
nothing else? And to these statements he had others to add. 
He had witnesses who had seen the red rings around the eyes, 
the various eruptions, and the color of the evacuations. He had 
witnesses who could corroborate everything he had stated in 
his paper. 
He did not care to consider the rest of the discussion just 
now, as the time had expired and he expected to continue this 
report at another time. £ REASONS WHY 
Physicians Should 
Subscribe 
i '~i^y job 
The New York Medical Journal, 
Edited by FRANK P. FOSTER, M. D.,! 
Published by D. APPLETON & CO., 1, 3, & 5 Bond St 
I. BECAUSE : It is the LEADING JOURNAL of America, and 
contains more reading-matter than any other journal of its class. 
a. BECAUSE: It is the exponent of the most advanced scientific 
medical thought. 
3. BECAUSE: Its contributors are among the most learned medical 
men of this country. 
4. BECAUSE: Its "Original Articles" are the results of scientific 
observation and research, and are of infinite practical value to the 
general practitioner. 
5. BECAUSE : The "Reports on the Progress of Medicine," which 
are published from time to time, contain the most recent discov- 
eries in the various departments of medicine, and are written by 
practitioners especially qualified for the purpose. 
6. BECAUSE : The column devoted in each number to "Therapeu- 
tical Notes " contains a resume of the practical application of the 
most recent therapeutic novelties. 
7. BECAUSE : The Society Proceedings, of which each number con- 
tains one or more, are reports of the practical experience of 
prominent physicians who thus give to the profession the results 
of certain modes of treatment in given cases. 
8. BECAUSE : The Editorial Columns are controlled only by the 
desire to promote the welfare, honor, and advancement of the sei- 
ence of medicine, as viewed from a standpoint looking to the best 
interests of the profession. 
9. BECAUSE : Nothing is admitted to its columns that has not some 
bearing on medicine, or is not possessed of some practical value. 
jo. BECAUSE: It is published solely in the interests of medicine, 
and for the upholding of the elevated position occupied by the 
profession of America. 
Subscription Price, $5.00 per Annum. Volumes begin in January 
and July.