THE ANALYST. 141 POISONING OF FOURTEEN MEN BY SUGBR CONTAINING ARSENIC. IN THE AKALYST for August, an account was given, copied from a Glasgow newspaper, of the alleged poisoning of fourteen of the crew of the ship ( ( Crown Prince,” on her voyage between Laneton and Callao. I n the course of the voyage six of the men died, with all the symptoms of irritant poisoning, but the cause of their death was not ascertained at the time.On the arrival of the vessel in Glasgow, howeyer, a Board of Trade Inquiry was held, the result of which was that a report was made to the Board of Trade Authorities in London, to the effect, that in the opinion of the officials who conducted the Inquiry, the illness and death of the men had resulted from the use of unsound pork, a barrel of which had been opened, and a portion used, shortly before142 TEE ANALYST. the first symptoms were noticed.Before the Inquiry opened, however, the owners of the vessel had requested Mr. Tatlock, one of the Public Analysts for Glasgow, to examine some sugar which the Captain (Cochrane) suspected was the cause of the illness and death of tho men ; the result was that 139 grains of arsenious acid were found in one pound of the sugar, which was duly reported, and the report was furnished t o the officials who held the enquiry, but the fact did not seem to influence them in their opinion.I n consequence of their report, Mr. Tatlock communicated with Mr. Anderson, M.P. for Glasgow, who saw Mr. Stanhope, Secretary of the Board of Trade in London, and he at once telegraphed to Qlasgow, and indicated that the Inquirr would probably be re-opened.Shortly afterwards the Captain was apprehended on a charge of culpable homicide, or neglect of duty, by supplying unsound pork to the crew, and thereby causing their illness and death, and was tried at the Circuit Court, before the Lord-Justice-Clerk, a t Qlasgow, on the 13th September last.Several of the crew gave evidence to the effect that some rancid pork had been served out to them on a particular day, and that they were afterwards seized with sickness and vomiting of a violent and protracted character, and while some of them said that they considered the pork t o hat-e been the cause of their illness, the steward said that he never suspected the pork. * Professor Ferguson, (Chemistry), Glasgow University, and Professor Xuclagan, (Medical Jurisprudence), Edinburgh University, were called for the Crown, and corroborated the presence of arsenic in the sugar; and Dr.Dunlop, (Surgery), Anderson’s College, Dr. Moore and Dr. Johnstone gave it as their opinions, that the symptoms and the appearance of the men (some of whom were so paralysed in their lower limbs, that they were permitted to B i t in the witness-box,) distinetly indicated blood poisoning by unsound meat. Dr. Maclagan, however, was so clearly and emphatically opposed to this view, and gave his evidence in favour of the probability of arsenical poisoning, with so much force and precision, that Lord Moncrieff after consulting with the Advocate-Depute, said it was impossible, after hearing Dr. Maclagan, to go on with the case, and instructed the Jury to return a verdict of “Not Guilty.”