may hope will be augmented by the zeal of other contributors. Probably the eminent professor to whom I am indebted for so valuable a communication will yet add to the body of facts he has supplied. I am not without hope that such may be the case. Some of the inferences to be drawn from Dr Goodeve's table and answers, and the letters of the missionaries, may be stated thus:

1st. That the view of Haller, namely, that female puberty in the warm regions of Asia occurs from the eighth to the tenth year, is not only erroneous but wide of the truth.

2d. That the age for the earliest commencement of menstruation either in Bengal or England is nine years. The single case at eight in Dr Goodeve's table might easily be paralleled in this country. An instance of the kind came under my own notice in the course of last year.

3d. That hence, although the average age of puberty, according to Dr Goodeve and Mr Wenger, is earlier in Calcutta than it is in this country, puberty does not actually appear at an earlier period of life in the one country than the other.

4th. That the remarkable difference between the tables consists in the far greater proportion of Hindus who arrive at puberty at the age of twelve.

To put this fact in as clear a light as may be, I have to observe that in England and the other European countries where tables. of the ages of puberty have been collected, it has not been found that a large proportion of instances cluster at any particular year of age. On the contrary, the occurrence of the sign of puberty is distributed, (as may be seen in those tables,) over a number of years, but pretty equally in the 12th, 13th, 14th, 15th, and 16th years. Out of 2169 English cases only one in about fourteen begins to menstruate at the age of 12, whereas in Dr Goodeve's table, nearly one in three begins at that age. May not the age at which marriage was consummated have been given by some of the Hindu women in place of the age when the menses first appeared? I put this query without, however, feeling sure that it deserves any weight.

5th. That should it ultimately appear, from a sufficiently ample body of facts, that Hindu women reach the age of puberty earlier on the average than happens in Europe, this will be no conclusive evidence that the influence of climate is the cause. Jamaica, Antigua, Barbadoes, and Grenada,† are farther south, and have a higher mean annual temperature than Calcutta, and yet the facts derived from these islands show that the age of puberty, in blacks

• See "On the Period of Puberty in Negro Women," in this Journal, No. 152, 1842.

+ Dr Robert Lee, in Lond. Med. Gazette, vol. xxxi. p. 162.

and whites alike, is no earlier than in England. Upon this subject I will not now stay to enlarge, because I trust, in the course of a few months, to be in possession of the results of inquiries made in Surinam, British Guiana, and the West Indies, which will probably suffice to settle so much of this question as respects the alleged influence of climate in hastening or retarding puberty.

If a difference of this nature exists between the European and the Hindu, it must probably be sought in race. When it is recollected that the consummation of marriage among the Hindus has taken place, at the latest on the arrival of puberty, during the lapse of more than three thousand years, and that the practice is sanctioned by ancient laws and consecrated by custom, it is easy to conceive that those females who were the latest in reaching puberty would be the least sought after for wives-that such women would not unlikely, in many instances, remain unmarried; and that thus, (owing to the origination of a preference on this ground in the selection of wives, operating through a long period of time,) Hindu women would gradually come to consist, in a proportion different from that in Europe, of such as by constitution are early nubile. To me there seems nothing extravagant or far-fetched in this supposition. The production of a like state of things in England, in any particular district, is quite conceivable. Nothing is better established than that early puberty is a family peculiarity. Let us then only suppose families possessing this kind of constitution to intermarry, and the peculiarity in question would be propagated, extended, and transmitted, and so a race distinguished by it would be produced.

6th. That the very infantile age at which child-bearing has been known to occur in Hindustan, namely, ten years, is not to be wondered at, considering the odious practice of premature sexual intercourse, the consequence of early marriage. Did the same obtain to an equal extent in England the like consequence (wellknown facts warrant us in concluding) would unquestionably, to some extent at least, ensue. Mr Wenger remarks that the birth of a child, even at 14 and 15 years, is a rare occurrence in Bengal. This, however, is not borne out by Dr Goodeve, who affirms that a large portion of Hindu women give birth to a child before they are fifteen. That the latter is the more corect account there can be little doubt; for such a result must follow, of course, where marriage is universally consummated at puberty or even there is reason to infer, in many cases earlier.

Dr Goodeve states that he has known menstruation in the Hindu continue to the age of fifty. Upon this point our information as yet is extremely limited. It would be nearly as important (for the determination of the question as to the age of puberty) that a full table of the ages, when mestruation ceases, should be procured,

as it would be to obtain more data respecting the ages when it begins, for if it should appear that Hindus menstruate, on the average, to as advanced a period as occurs in Europe, it would afford strong presumption in favour of there being no difference as to the age when this function commences. Moreover, facts regarding the ages when menstruation terminates are readily obtained, and their accuracy is generally more to be relied on than those which have reference to puberty.

If this inquiry answered no other purpose than to prove how little we know as yet of the physiological, social, and moral condition of our fellow subjects in the East, it would not be altogether in vain. Our empire embraces every variety of climate and of race to be found on the globe. Besides the ruling race at home and scattered through the colonies, there are the Esquimaux of Labrador and Hudson's Bay, the Indians north and west of Canada, the negroes in the West Indies, British Guiana, the Mauritius, and in the colonies on the western coast of Africa; the Hottentots and Kafers of South Africa, the New Zealanders, the Native Australians, the Chinese in several settlements, the Malays of Malacca, the Burmese of Arracan, the Singalhese of Ceylon, the Arabs, Hindus, Tamuls, and numerous other nations of continental India, the Greeks of the Ionian Republic, and the Maltese; and yet, with the exception of the Esquimaux, (of whom we have learned a great deal from the scientific men entrusted with the Arctic voyages and journeys,) what know we comparatively, in regard to the above particulars, of most of these races of people? Little, with that fulness and accuracy of knowledge, which our ample and long-enjoyed opportunities might have been expected to secure. Nevertheless, we hesitate not to legislate for most of these nations and tribes-we enact new and modify old laws, we force them to change their immemorial customs and manners, we set up schools for their instruction, we scatter amongst them our literature of all descriptions, and invite them to imitate our freedom of thought by the unrestricted use of the public press. In short, we do not trouble ourselves to study with much of either care or attention the various strongly marked features whereby, in very many instances, they are so widely distinguished from each other, and from us their governors. We know that they are men, and beyond this give ourselves little concern to study with intelligent scrutiny the wonderful diversities they present, the causes of those diversities, and the consideration. that these demand at our hands. On the contrary, we seem to content ourselves, so long as the dread of our power shall secure obedience, to treat them according to our own peculiar humour and profound prejudices. This state of things in the East may perhaps endure for a long time; but it is neither honourable to us

as a nation, nor safe to the stability of our rule. The medical profession might do something towards remedying this state of ignorance and apathy. Considering the large number of medical men, and those, too, of an enterprising and energetic character, to be found in our possessions in all parts of the world, it is remarkable how few have trod in the steps of such men as Russell of Aleppo and Winterbottom of Sierra Leone.* It can be owing to neither lack of the necessary talent, leisure, nor opportunity, but to a spirit of indifference, which it is easier to point out than to account for. To such of my professional brethren in India as may chance to peruse this very imperfect contribution to the natural history of the Hindus, I now make an earnest and respectful appeal, and request their attention to those points of my inquiry needing further elucidation-all the points do, more or less and solicit their friendly aid either in the way of private communication, or, what will be equally agreeable to me, through the medical press.

May 1845.

ART. VIII.-Case of Poisoning by Hemlock, (Conium Maculatum.) By JOHN HUGHES BENNETT, M. D., Lecturer on Pathology and the Practice of Physic, Pathologist to the Royal Infirmary, &c.

ON Monday, April 21st, about seven o'clock in the evening, a man called Duncan Gow was brought into the Infirmary by two policemen. It was stated that he had been found lying in the street apparently in a state of intoxication or in a fit. On being taken into the waiting-room, he was found to be dead. On the 24th I examined his body, and the following is an account of the appearances observed.

The body was well-formed and muscular. There were no external marks of violence. The back and depending portions were livid from sugillation.

Head.-An unusual quantity of fluid blood flowed from the scalp and longitudinal sinus when divided. There was slight serous effusion below the arachnoid membrane, and about two drachms of clear serum in the lateral ventricles. The substance of the brain was soft throughout; on section presented numerous bloody points, but was otherwise healthy. No fracture could be discovered in any part of the cranium.

Chest.-There were slight adhesions between the pleuræ on both sides superiorly. The apices of both lungs were strongly puckered. On the right side below the puckering were two cretaceous con

I refer to "The Natural History of Aleppo," 2 vols. 4to, 1794, by Alexander Russell, M. D.; and "An Account of the Natives of Sierra Leone," 2 vols. 8vo, 1803, by Thomas Winterbottom, M. D.

cretions the size of peas, surrounded by chronic pneumonia and pigmentary deposit. On the left side only induration, with hard, black, gritty particles existed below the puckering. The structure of the lungs otherwise was healthy, although they were throughout intensely engorged with dark-red fluid blood. The heart was healthy in structure, but soft and flabby. The blood in the cavities was mostly fluid, presenting only here and there a few small grumous clots.

Abdomen. The liver was healthy. The spleen soft, readily breaking down under the fingers. The kidnies were of a brownishred colour throughout, owing to venous congestion, but healthy in structure. The stomach contained a pultaceous mass formed of some raw green vegetable resembling parsley. Its contents weighed eleven ounces, and had an acid and slight spirituous odour. The mucous coat was much congested, especially at its cardiac extremity. Here there were numerous extravasations of dark-red blood, below the epithelium, over a space about the size of the hand. The intestines were healthy, here and there presenting patches of congestion in the mucous coat. The bladder was healthy, its inner surface much congested from venous obstruction.

The blood throughout the body was of a dark colour and fluid, even in the heart and large vessels.

From the absence of structural lesion, and the general fluidity of the blood, I was induced to suspect that the vegetable matter found in the stomach was of a poisonous nature. On examining this more minutely it was seen to be composed chiefly of fragments of green leaves and leaf-stalks. Although much was reduced to a pulp, a considerable quantity of both had escaped the action of the teeth. The same afternoon I carried as perfect a specimen of the fragments as could be found to Dr Christison, who pointed out that they could scarcely be anything else than the lacinia of the Conium maculatum or common hemlock. Next day I bruised some of the leaves in a mortar, with a solution of potash, when the peculiar mousy odour of Conia was evolved so strongly, that Dr Douglas Maclagan and others, although previously unacquainted with its nature, at once pronounced it to be hemlock. Dr Christison also procured a recent specimen of the Conium maculatum from Salisbury Crags, the botanical characters of which, on being compared with the fragments found in the stomach, were proved to be identical. No doubt could exist, therefore, that the man died from having eaten hemlock.

Few cases of poisoning with this plant have hitherto been published, and none have been minutely detailed. The effects imputed to it in the notices given of prior cases are very contradictory. In some it is said to have caused death like opium, by stupor and coma. In others, convulsions or delirium of the frantic kind are symptoms stated to have been present. But the effects observed by Dr Christison in the lower animals, in his experiments with extract of hemlock and its alkaloid conia, are totally different, viz.