Poison
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States · John Bouvier · 1839
A Law Dictionary, Adapted to the Constitution and Laws of the United States
crim. law. Those substances which, when applied to the organs of the body, are capable of altering or destroying, in a majority of cases, some or all of the functions When administered with a felonious intent of committing murder, if death ensues, it is murder the most detestable, because it can of all others, be least prevented by manhood or forethought. It is a deliberate act necessarily implying malice.
1 Russ. Cr. 429.
For the signs which indicate poisoning, vide 2 Beck’s Med. Jurisp. ch.
16, p. 236 et seq.; Cooper’s Med. Jurisp. 47; Ryan’s Med. Jurisp. ch. 15, p. 202, et seq.