CHRISTISON, Robert.

Inquire · Offered by Peter Harrington

A Treatise on Poisons, in Relation to Medical Jurisprudence, Physiology, and the Practice Of Physic. Second and revised edition of the standard 19th century textbook of forensic toxicology. Christison served as the medical adviser to the Crown in Scotland, in which capacity he acted as medical witness in numerous important cases, beginning with the famous trial of Burke and Hare in 1829. This copy is from the crime library of Patricia Cornwell. After studying analytical chemistry in Paris under Pierre Jean Robiquet, Christison was appointed in 1822 to the chair of Medical Jurisprudence at the University of Edinburgh, where he devoted his time to establishing a scientific foundation for the subject. He risked his own life several times in his investigations into the detection and treatment of poisoning, tasting arsenious acid, eating an ounce of the root of Oenanthe crocata, and taking a large dose of Calabar bean, almost paralysing himself.The first edition was published in 1829.

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