STRYCHNINE may very justly be termed a deadly poison. It is one of the active principles extracted from nux vomica, the singular disk-like seed of the _Strychnos nux vomica_, a tree indigenous to most parts of India, Burmah, Northern Australia, and other countries. Nux vomica was unknown to the ancients, and is said to have been introduced into medicine by the Arabians, but there is very little reliable record of it until the seventeenth century, when the seeds were used for poisoning animals and birds. Strychnine was discovered in 1818 by Pelletier and Carenton, and was first extracted from St. Ignatius' bean, in which it is present to the extent of about 1·5 per cent. Very soon afterwards it was extracted from nux vomica, which, being very plentiful, is now the chief source of the drug. It is extremely bitter in taste, and may be distinctly detected in a solution containing no more than one-six-hundred-thousandth part. For a considerable time after its discovery, the detection of strychnine in the body after death was a matter of great uncertainty, especially when only a small quantity had been administered; but now it is possible to detect the presence of one-five-thousandth part of a grain, and that even after some period has elapsed. It has been used for criminal purposes by several notorious poisoners, notably by Dove, Palmer, and Cream, but the symptoms produced are so marked and its presence clearly indicated, that detection now is almost certain. Among the most celebrated trials of this century was that of Dr. Palmer, who was charged with the wilful murder of John Parsons Cook, at Rugeley, in 1855. A special Act of Parliament was passed in order to have this case tried in London, where it was brought before Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice Cresswell, at the Central Criminal Court, on May 14, 1856. The Attorney General, Mr. E. James, Q.C., with several other counsel, conducted the prosecution, and Palmer was defended by Mr. Serjeant Shee, Messrs. Grove, Q.C., Gray, and Kenealy.