In English, the provision reads:

• Is considered a poisoning any attempt on the life of a person through the use of substances which can cause death more or less cleanly, regardless of the manner in which these substances were used or administered, and regardless of the consequences.
• Is also considered attempt on life by poisoning the use made against a person of substances which, without giving death, will cause a more-or-less prolonged state of lethargy, regardless of the manner in which these substances were used and regardless of the consequences.
• If the person was buried as a consequence of this state of lethargy, the attempt will be considered a murder.

Article 246 originally defined just the simple crime of “poisoning.”

It wasn’t until 1864 that the provision was expanded to include the second and third paragraphs, containing the language about “the use made against a person of substances which, without giving death, will cause a more-or-less prolonged state of lethargy” and burial thereafter.

Top image by Haitian painter Wilson Bigaud in 1939.
By Mark Strauss via io9 for the full article. Worth a look.