To The Editor Of The Time...
Rir.-It appears from Ea pper on the table of the House co' C nons, and also from other authentic documents I have before me, that more than thirty thousand pounds ot the nu;r vomica, and more than twelve thousand pounds of the cocml= indicus, are, upon an average, annuaUy im- orted into Great Britain. They are both highly poisonous 5lugs, but in small portions may, like some other poisons, be swlallowed without producing any other immediate efect than a kind of stupil intoxication. Alarming conjectures and susPIcionsare entertained, and, I may add, fearful assertions made, in regard to the use of these drugs in this country. But, nevertheless, the apprehensions of the public seem to rest more upon inference and implication than upon proof. The argument used is this-that neither in England, nor m any other part of the world, is there any known putrpose for which the articles in question are used, with the ex- ceptionl of a smaU quantity occasionally consuaned as poison for vermin; ergo, there is good ground for believing that the grand consumption is for some end or purpose secret, mys- ternous, andillegal. I am aware that it is stated that the larger portion of these poisons is exported: but it may by Possibility happen, that the hrticles either return hither in a coincentrated form, or that the alleged exporta- tion extends not beyond Beachy-head or the Isle of Wight. Now, Sir, the wholesale tlealers in the nu. v0omica and the cociulus intdicas have an easy mo(le of remnoving any odium or suspicion attaching to themselves or their supposed customers, and at the same time of making the public mind easv, by plainly statiug to what honest use such enormous quantities of these highly deleterious drugs are devoted in this or ir any other country; and I do most sincerely hope, that some one of the many highly respect- ble individuals engaged in the drug trade, wvill, through the mediuml of your paper,.gire the required explanation. 1 thtlis be not done, you may probably receive some further hints ont the subiect from rour most ohelient servant. SCRUTATOR. June 7. TO THE EDITOR OF THE TIMES.