A Poisonous Method: Opium

The award winning Museums are open to the public, 7 days a week, 10am to 5pm and are home to one of the largest and most historic pathology collections in the United Kingdom.Surgeons’ Hall Museums reopened in 2015 after a major £4.4 million Heritage Lottery Funded redevelopment project. As one of the oldest Museums in Scotland, the collections grew from 1699 after 'natural and artificial curiosities' were publically sought,  with the Playfair Building opening in 1832 to house the Barclay and Bell collections. Whilst the Museums were initially established as a medical teaching resource, all are now welcome to visit.

Surgeons' Hall Museums

Join Surgeons Hall Museum Curator  for a trilogy of talks exploring why poison was the Victorian murder weapon of choice. Part two Opium!

A whole host of poisons were readily available and accessible to the public in 19th century Scotland. Murder by poison became an increasing worry for authorities and the medical community. This series will investigate three groups of poisons which were used to commit murder in the 19th century. For each poison we will look at the statistics, economic and social issues, present evidence from murder trials, and discuss the abilities of the authorities and most crucially the medical witness to prove a crime had occurred. Part Two: OpiumOpium was widely available in a range of medicines without prescription and accidental poisoning was common, making criminal intent difficult to prove. Commonly used in a great deal of infanticide cases, opium has a sad history. This session we will learn the affects and uses of opium and investigate the economic and social history surrounding infanticide cases. We will also examine a well-known case of murder by opium and the medical evidence that helped to convict the accused. This talk can be enjoyed individually or as part of the series. Each part must be booked separately. This is a pre-recorded lecture which lasts approximately 1 hour and delivered specially for Surgeons Hall Museums online program. Ticket holders will receive exclusive access to view this lecture at their leisure from 3pm GMT on Monday the 22nd February. Ticket holders can also ask questions in the comments section below the lecture which will be answered by the speaker.We will email attendees the link and password to lecture through Eventbrite by 3pm on Monday the 22nd February. The lecture will then be accessible until April 2021. Please keep a look out for your details and check spam if not received. If you have any problems please email museum@rcsed.ac.uk  Eventbrite charge a booking fee (0.49p + 6.5% of the ticket value) for this event which is added to your ticket price and is non-refundable.

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A Poisonous Method: Opium

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A Poisonous Method: Opium

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