Dr Milne in Reply.

Waipawa Mail, Volume XVI, Issue 2714, 28 January 1892, Page 2

Dr Milne in Reply.

(To the Editor of the N.Z. Times.) fcm Sir, —I have read an article in issue of to-day in which you criticise nil evidence at the recent inquest at PahirCSJ somewhat severely, and at considerabiEM length, and I trust you will allow x ** briefly to reply. And, first, as regards w OI failing to report the matter to the polia -JK I admit that I committed an error judgment in considering the oases les&iS severe than they ultimately turned out tt" u be, but I maintain that many a modi.; 2 better man than I would have beet|*3 deceived by tbe unusual course of tb;‘"l| symptoms, their delayed inset, and com- J parative mildness after an interval ofjft seven hours. It is very easy to be wi* 1 after the event, but, as a matter of faci all the persons whom I saw on the ever .|M ing of 26th December, have now perfects £jj recovered. Now, as regards your remark! with reference to my statement about “ colouring matter in the cake.” You my statement is an enigma to yotf|j|9 Probably eo. Things that medical nasi dw say and do are often enigmatical tclfjH ignorant geople. You further say that I »*m am as utterly at sea as you would be ill attempting to perform the operation otiH lithotomy. Now let us go into this point a little, and, as you have referred to Taylor’s work, let us see what that gentleman has to say about it. In speaking of arsenite of copper (Scheele’s green) he: W says that it is met with spread over fectionery, and quotes the case of two jgf children poisoned by confectionery M coloured with this substance, and refers to ‘jM six other similar cases. He also mentions a case where a confectionery ornament W coloured with arsenite of copper proved w fatal to two children, and another in which it caused the death of a gentleman • 0I by reason of its having hom employed to j ok give a rich green to blanc mange at public dinner. In referring to the snip-' II hide of arsenic, after stating that it i* i »t employed to give a colouring to sweet- to meats, be quotes a case in which six * fr persons suffered from arsenical poisoning ijJSI from having eaten bath buns containing sulphide of arsenic used by a confectioner yl at Clifton to give them a rich yellov colour, and make them saleable. in fact i Dr Taylor goes the length of saying that : ** “ most of the colours used for coufeo* P ® tionery are of a poisonous nature; the J pink colour which is given by cochineal lf3 or madder is the “ only one which is -af innocuous.” The above quotations, ag| coining from such an authority, cannot be gg gainsaid. I hope they will help to solve c < the “ enigma ” for yon, and show you that n you are entirely out of your provence when you attempt to teach qualified tc medical men their business ; that, in fact, 1 it is you, not I, who are “ utterly at sea,” and considerably out of your depth, too.— m I am, &c., A. Cumming Milne. Woodville, 23rd January, 1892.