Local Intelligence

Abstract

Section 1: Poisoning Investigation in Paris

This article details a judicial and chemical investigation into a series of food poisoning cases that occurred among the customers of a Paris pastry-cook after consuming a ham-pie.

The initial case involved a family of three who suffered severe symptoms approximately three hours after eating the ham, including violent pain, vomiting, extreme tenderness of the belly, and profuse purging. The attending physician suspected carbonate of copper (natural verdigris) from the pastry-cook's moulds.

However, a subsequent chemical analysis of the pie's remains and the patient's discharges, conducted by M. Olivier and M. Barruel, disproved this initial suspicion. Using reagents such as sulphuretted hydrogen, nitric acid, and ferrocyanate of potash on incinerated and extracted samples, the analysts concluded that there was no trace of arsenic, copper, antimony, or lead in the remains.

M. Olivier's final conclusion was that the ham had, in some manner, acquired the "poisonous properties sometimes remarked in German sausages, cheese, and ham," suggesting a form of bacterial spoilage or ptomaine poisoning rather than heavy metal contamination.

Section 2: Criminal Convictions in the Cape Colony (Autumn 1830)

This is a statistical table summarising the Criminal Convictions handed down at the Circuit Courts of the Cape Colony during the Autumn of 1830, presented before the Hon. Mr Justice Menzies.

The table records a total of 102 convictions across ten different magisterial districts (e.g., Albany, Graaff-Reinet, Stellenbosch). The most frequent crimes were Theft (52 convictions) and Assault (20 convictions).

The convictions are broken down by race, revealing the demographic composition of those found guilty:

• Europeans: 50 convictions

• Khoi: 31 convictions

• San: 12 convictions

• Africans: 8 convictions

• Slaves: 1 conviction

The table provides a clear, quantitative snapshot of the colonial judicial proceedings and the prevalence of various crimes among different population groups in the Cape Colony during that period.