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 The Psychology of Poisoning.

THE

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PSYCHOLOGY OF POISONING. II. BY J. H. BEALE, JR.

NINE years ago, Carlyle W. Harris was About a year later, Robert W. Bu tried in New York for the murder of chanan poisoned his secretly married his wile. It appeared that he had been se wife under almost identical circumstances. cretly married to a young girl, that the He, too, was a physician, and used fact of the marriage had been discovered by a single large dose of morphine to kill his wife; but he attempted to disguise the the girl's relatives, and they were strenu symptoms of morphine poisoning and thus ously insisting that it should be acknowl edged. Harris dreaded the effect of such an obviate suspicion by giving also atropine, acknowledgment upon his prospects in life; another vegetable poison which modifies and but at last was forced to consent to a public to a certain extent neutralizes the action of marriage. A short time before the date set morphia. Buchanan confessedly imitated for the marriage, he procured of a druggist, Harris, professing to be able to avoid the mistakes which had led to the detection of and gave his wife, a box of capsules for head ache. Mrs. Harris took the last capsule one the latter; and his case is therefore not an evening just before going to sleep; she woke, independent example of poisoning. But in in about half an hour, numb and choking, the events which led to suspicion he was of and soon became unconscious. She remained course an entirely independent actor; and in unconscious, breathing slowly and heavily, those events there were curious resemblances until her death, twelve hours later. An ex between the two cases. Both made quite un amination of the body showed that she had necessary incriminating statements; Bu died from the effects of a large dose of mor chanan, for instance, saying to several phine. The jury had no difficulty in finding strangers, during his wife's illness and be that it had been criminally administered by fore her physicians looked for her death, her husband; and he was convicted and exe that "the old woman'' would not live. Neither showed grief at his wife's death,— cuted. Harris was a medical student, familiar with Buchanan, in fact, was scandalously happy; the nature of poisons; yet he performed his in sharp contrast with the conduct of the work so clumsily as to leave no doubt of his women whose cases have been considered in guilt, after suspicion had once fastened upon a previous article. Both Harris and Bu him as a result of his actions at the time of chanan suggested and urged other causes of his wife's death. He had taken steps, how death than the true ones. ever, intended to conceal his agency in the In Massachusetts, in 1861, George C. Hercrime. Immediately after giving his wife sey was tried for the murder of Miss Tirrell the box of capsules, Harris left New York by poisoning her with strychnine. Hersey for Virginia, and only returned ten days had seduced Miss Tirrell (a girl of unblem later. If his wife had not by chance first ished reputation) under promise of marriage. taken the nine harmless capsules, Harris The circumstances of the seduction were would have been absent at her death. As particularly distressing. Hersey had be come engaged to a sister of Miss Tirrell. By the capsules made up by the druggist con tained morphine, suspicion of negligence in her sudden death Hersey appeared to be so compounding them would naturally have deeply affected that the girl's family pro posed to him to live with them. He came, rested upon him, rather than upon Harris.