The Unpleasantness at the Bellona Club · Chapter 15 (2/2)

“You mean, had he been poisoned before he came to me? Well, of course, digitalin is rather an uncertain drug.”

“How long would a big dose like that take to act?”

“I should expect it to take effect fairly quickly. In the ordinary way it would cause sickness and vertigo. But with a powerful cardiac stimulant like digitalin, the chief danger is that any sudden movement, such as springing suddenly to one’s feet from a position of repose, is liable to cause sudden syncope and death. I should say that this was what occurred in General Fentiman’s case.”

“And that might have happened at any time after the administration of the dose?”

“Just so.”

“Well, I’m very much obliged to you, Dr. Penberthy. I will just see your nurse and take copies of the entries in your books, if I may.”

This done, Parker made his way to Portman Square, still a little hazy in his mind as to the habits of the common foxglove when applied internally⁠—a haziness which was in no way improved by a subsequent consultation of the Materia Medica, the Pharmacopoeia, Dixon Mann, Taylor, Glaister, and others of those writers who have so kindly and helpfully published their conclusions on toxicology.