Those who are desirous of becoming farther acquainted with the history of this opinion may consult the “_Recherches et Considerations Medicales, sur l’acide Hydro-cyanique, son radical, ses composés, et ses antidotes_,” par _J. Coullon_, D. M. 1 vol. 8vo. 1819. _Dr. Granville_ has also in his Treatise on Hydrocyanic acid (edit. 2d 1820) alluded to this opinion, and to the different authors who have supported it, p. 24. The reader will also find a case by _Fourcroy_, (Annales de Chimie, tom. 1, p. 66) of a woman, of about thirty years of age, who in consequence of protracted grief, laboured under a nervous and melancholic affection; she became extremely emaciated, and her livid paleness, and universal langour seemed to indicate a depressed state of vitality, and a decomposition of the animal fluids; after a few days she was seized with faintings and convulsions, which were followed by the discharge of drops of blood from the edge of the eye-lids, the nostrils, and the ears. The linen with which the blood was wiped was marked with spots of a beautiful blue. Fourcroy examined this matter, and concluded that the blood contained Prussiate of iron. Footnote 178: Anthropolog. Forens. p. 526. Footnote 179: Edinburgh Medical Essays. Footnote 180: Phil. Trans. A. D. 1772, “_On the Digestion of the Stomach after Death_,” by _John Hunter_, F. R. S. and Surgeon to St. George’s Hospital. Footnote 181: This phenomenon is frequently exhibited, in a very satisfactory manner, by inferior animals who die suddenly. _Mr. Hunter_ noticed it particularly in fish. Footnote 182: We allude to a highly interesting paper, to which we shall have frequent occasion to refer in the progress of the present inquiry, entitled “_Observations on the Digestion of the Stomach after Death_,” by _Allan Burns_, Lecturer on Anatomy and Surgery in Glasgow. Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journ. for April, 1810. Footnote 183: _Hunter’s_ Observations on Digestion, p. 185. Footnote 184: _Adams’s_ Observations on Morbid Poisons, edit. 2, p. 30, where he says “but for this purpose, _Mr. Hunter_ saw that the animal must be in health immediately before death, otherwise neither the quantity nor quality of the secretion would be equal to the purpose; he was confirmed in this by the instances in which he saw the stomach digested; both were men who had died from a violent death; both had been previously in sufficient health to eat a hearty meal. The fair inference from these was, that when men die of disease, the appetite usually ceases, and probably the secretion of the gastric juice also.” Footnote 185: _Burns_, loco citato. Footnote 186: