ABSTRACT
There are at least two interesting things about this playlet. Firstly, its description of how easy it was to buy strychnine and other poisons in the Victorian pharmacy is hardly an exaggeration, and it is a telling comment on the slapdash state of affairs that enabled the famous poisoner William Palmer to flourish. But the second, and much more remarkable thing, is this: had it been written and published during the public hysteria and indignation of the Palmer furore, it would have been merely a piece of Mr. Punch’s heavy-handed wit in rather poor taste. But, extraordinarily, it was written and published in 1849, seven years before the Palmer trial. If Palmer was the first Englishman to stand trial for murder by strychnine, what was going on in the years between 1820 and 1856? It is quite clear that the Punch writer knew that strychnine was readily available, was notorious for its poisoning powers, and had almost certainly been used to murder people. But, more to the point, the readership knew it too. There is no point in publishing a lampoon that means nothing to the audience.
