Ninth Day, Friday, 23rd May, 1856 — The Court Met at Ten O’Clock
J. B. Ross
Mr. John Brown Ross, examined by Mr. Grove—I am house surgeon to the London Hospital. On 22nd March a labourer, aged thirty-seven, was brought to the hospital about half-past seven in the evening. He had had one paroxysm in the receiving room of our hospital before I saw him. He had a rapid but feeble pulse, breathing quickly though not laboriously. The jaws were closed and fixed, there was an expression of anxiety about the countenance, and the features were sunken. He was unable to swallow, the muscles of the abdomen and back were somewhat tense. After he had been in the ward about ten minutes he had another paroxysm and opisthotonos, which lasted about one minute. He was then quiet for a few minutes; he had then another, and died. He had only been in the hospital about half an hour. An inquest was held on the body, but no poison was found. I attribute the cause of death to tetanus. There were three wounds, two on the back of the right elbow, about the size of a shilling each, and one on the left elbow, about the size of a sixpence. The man told me he had had them about twelve or sixteen years. They were old, chronic, indurated ulcers, circular in outline, the edges thickened round, undermined, and covered with a dirty white coating without any granulations. I am unable to say what produced those ulcers. I have seen old, chronic syphilitic wounds in the legs similar to those in the elbow, but I cannot say that these were so. These wounds were the only things to account for tetanus. There was no other cause found.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—I learned from the man’s wife that a linseed meal poultice had been applied to this ulcer a day or two before. The jaws were completely fixed when he came, so as to render him incapable of swallowing anything. He said he had just been taken with strange symptoms about the jaws at dinner that morning about eleven o’clock. He was able to speak, though he could not open his jaw. That is the case in tetanus.
Were there also symptoms of rigidity when he was brought in about the abdominal and lumbar muscles; did you learn from him how long this rigidity had been coming on?—Not further than that the first symptoms of the illness he had felt were that morning. He did not say how long he had felt this rigidity about the neck. He was seen by the parish surgeon in the afternoon before coming to the hospital. I have no doubt that the disease had been coming on from the morning.
J. B. Ross
Though you cannot speak as to the precise character of these sores, were they ugly sores?—Yes; sores of a chronic character—ulcers. The two on the right elbow were perfectly running into one another. A piece of integument connected the two, so that they would be likely to run into one another eventually. By saying that those sores were undermined I mean that the wounds continued under the skin. There were no signs of healing, and they had the appearance of old, neglected sores.
Were they near the site of any particular nerve?—They were near the ulnar nerve, a very sensitive nerve connected with what we call the “funny bone.”
How soon was he seized with the first paroxysm after he came in?—He had one directly he came into the hospital, but I did not see it. Half an hour from that time he died.
Had he had any paroxysms before he came to the hospital?—I believe he had, all the afternoon.
That was not one continuous paroxysm?—No; there was a twitching of the muscles of the legs and arms.
What are the particular symptoms of the case to which you refer as indicative of death from tetanus?—From the tetanic symptoms and from having wounds.
Put aside for the moment the fact of his having the wounds that would lead to that inference; what were the symptoms that manifested themselves previous to, or concomitantly with, death which you would call tetanic?—The tetanic symptoms there are the lockjaw and the muscles of the abdomen and the back also being rigid; and he complained of pain in his stomach, just over the stomach. I did not hear the account given of the symptoms of Mr. Cook’s death.
Re-examined by Mr. Grove—Strychnia was suspected in this case before the body was examined. The nerves of the tongue are very delicate ones. There are very delicate nerves at the throat and fauces.
Were you here yesterday when a case was described of an injury in the throat—a sore throat that caused tetanus?—I was.
Are you of opinion that an irritation of the nerves of the throat would cause tetanus as well as the other nerves?—That was produced by exposure to cold; it was therefore idiopathic.
Would any injury to any delicate nerves be a cause of tetanus?—Decidedly.
F. Wrightson
Dr. Francis Wrightson, examined by Mr. Kenealy—I was a pupil of Liebig. I am an analytical chemist and teacher of chemistry at the School of Chemistry at Birmingham. I have studied and made experiments in various poisons, including strychnia. I have not found any extraordinary difficulties in the detection of strychnia. It is detected by the usual tests. I have detected strychnia pure, and I have also discovered it when mixed with impurity, such as bile, bilious matter from putrefying blood, after having separated it from the impurities. Strychnia can be discovered in the tissues. I have discovered it in the viscera of a cat poisoned by strychnia, also in the blood of a dog poisoned by strychnia, also in the urine of another dog poisoned by strychnia. I have heard the theory propounded by Dr. Taylor as to the decomposition of strychnia by the act of poisoning.
Are you of opinion strychnia undergoes decomposition in the act of poisoning?—I am of opinion that it does not. If it were decomposed in the act of poisoning I should say it would not be possible to discover it in the tissues. Portions of strychnia can be discovered in extremely minute quantities indeed. In the first case I mentioned of the detection of strychnia in the blood, 2 grains were given to the dog. One grain was given to the second dog, in which we detected it in the urine. Half a grain was attempted to be administered to the cat, but a considerable portion of it was spilt.
Assuming that a man was poisoned by strychnia, and that his stomach and a portion of his tissues were sent within eight, or nine, or ten days after death for analytical examination, do you say you could discover the poison of strychnia in his remains?—I should have no doubt whatever in saying so.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—Suppose the whole of this poison to be absorbed, where would you expect to find it?—In the blood.
In its progress to its final destination, the destruction of life, does it pass from the blood, or is it left by the blood in the solid tissues of the body before it produces that effect?—I cannot tell.
If it has passed from the stomach by absorption in the blood, the whole dose, into the circulation, do you say you would still expect to find any of it?—Decidedly so, because I believe it exists as strychnia in the blood.
Do you say you would still expect to find any of it in the stomach?—In order to be absorbed it must be dissolved, and in that portion of the fluid which surrounds the coats of the stomach I should expect to find it.
Suppose the whole to be absorbed?—Then I should not detect it.
Suppose the whole of it has been eliminated from the blood and passed from the system?—Certainly not.
Lord Campbell—You would expect to find it elsewhere, not in the stomach?—Yes. I would expect to find it in the blood and in the tissues.
F. Wrightson
Cross-examination resumed—My question only supposes the minimum of the dose that will destroy life to have been given; and, supposing that to have been absorbed into the circulation, and there deposited in the tissues, or part of it eliminated by the action of the kidneys, would you know where to search for it?—I should search for it both in the blood and in the tissues, and in the ejecta of the kidneys; and from my experiments I should expect to find it in each of them, in case the urine was not ejected during the time of poisoning.
Re-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee—If a man had been killed by strychnia, administered an hour and a half before he died, the poison would certainly be detected in the stomach in the first instance.
Supposing it to have been administered in the shape of pills, would it by that time have been all absorbed and circulated in the system so as to get out of the stomach?—I cannot tell. If it were so I would find it in the blood, the liver, and the spleen.
Could you form an opinion whether it could be detected under these circumstances on the coats of the stomach?—Not knowing the dose administered and the powers of absorption, I cannot say with absolute certainty it would be detected, but I should think it in the highest degree probable if a moderate dose had been administered.
Could you form any opinion from the fact that death had taken place after one paroxysm, and in an hour and a half after the ingestion of the poison, whether it was a considerable or an inconsiderable dose?—I cannot give a decided opinion.
Lord Campbell—I cannot allow this gentleman to leave the box without expressing my high approbation of the manner in which he has given his evidence.
R. Partridge
Mr. Richard Partridge, examined by Mr. Grove—I have been for many years in practice as a surgeon, and am Professor of Anatomy at King’s College. I have heard the evidence as to the symptoms of Mr. Cook and as to the post-mortem examination. In my opinion it is most important in a case of convulsion that the spinal cord should be examined after death. The gritty granules that were found would be likely to cause inflammation of the arachnoid membrane, which would be discoverable if the spinal cord had been examined shortly after death. If examined nine weeks after it is not likely it would be discovered. Although I have not seen such a case, there are cases on record that such inflammation, if it existed, would be capable of producing tetaniform convulsions. The medical term for such inflammation of the arachnoid is arachnitis, or inflammation of the membrane. That disorder produces convulsions and death. I should not say universally; sometimes it does not result in death. I could not form any positive judgment as to the cause of death in Mr. Cook’s case. I have heard the evidence as to the state of contraction after death. No inference at all can be formed of the degree of contraction, or the kind of contraction, that I heard described. If I find the back curved and the body resting on its back and feet after death, I should infer that he died of that form of tetanus which convulses the muscles of the back. Various degrees and varieties of rigidity occur after a natural death. The clenching of the hands or the semi-bending of the feet are not uncommon in cases of ordinary death.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—The granules from which arachnitis might have proceeded were, I understand, situated in the inner surface of the fibrous investment of the cord. They are occasionally found in these parts; not commonly. They are signs. Arachnitis, producing convulsions, has never come under my personal observation, nor has it satisfactorily come under my observation without producing convulsions. It is a very rare disease.
Are you enabled to state from the recorded cases the course of the symptoms of the disease?—No.
Do not you know it to be a disease of considerable duration?—The cases have varied in duration; commonly days at the shortest. Arachnitis is accompanied with paralysis if they live.
Would it, considering the connection that there is between the spinal cord and the brain, affect the brain by sympathy, or otherwise, prior to death?—No.
In these cases, where granules have produced arachnitis, do you happen to know whether the granules have been considerable in point of size?—It has varied in different cases.
Suppose them to be very small and minute?—I should think there would be less likelihood of their producing inflammation.
Suppose an examination at a longer interval than nine days after death failed to detect the inflammation of the arachnoid, that the spinal cord and its integuments had not undergone any decomposition, and that the appearance was perfectly healthy, should you be warranted in inferring there was inflammation?—I should not conclude there was inflammation. Prior to decomposition I should not.
The examination was made by four medical men; are you of opinion that they would be competent judges as to decomposition?—[The question was objected to.]
Does arachnitis not sometimes extend to a matter of months, even where it extends to death?—It might go on for months.
Does it not affect the patient by a series of convulsions at recurring intervals?—That varies.
Did you ever know, or hear of, or read of a case in which the patient died after a single convulsion of arachnitis?—Not a single one.
What would be the concomitant symptoms; would it affect the rest of the patient or affect the general health?—I cannot say.
R. Partridge
Do you believe that a man could have twenty-four hours of complete repose?—No.
In the interval between the convulsions could he be quite well?—No; he would have pain and uneasiness according to the situation of the muscles convulsed, the back usually.
You have heard the symptoms, and I presume you have heard from the midnight of Monday till Tuesday Mr. Cook had complete repose. I now ask you if, in the face of the Court and of the profession, you will undertake to say that Mr. Cook’s death proceeded from arachnitis?—I should think not. The majority of the symptoms do not show arachnitis.
You have mentioned that there were one or two of the appearances after death in Cook’s case which would be common to other cases, the semi-closing of the hand. Did you ever know, except in a case of tetanus, the hand so completely clenched as to require force to take the fingers away from the hand?—No, I do not.
Have you ever known the feet to be so distorted as to be described by a medical man as assuming the form of a club foot?—Never.
Did you hear the description given by Mr. Jones that when this man died the body was bowed so that, if he had turned it from its side upon its back, it would have rested on its head and on its heels?—I did.
Have you any doubt that that indicates death from tetanus?—Not from some form of tetanic symptoms. I am only acquainted by reading and hearsay with the symptoms that accompany death from tetanus resulting from the administration of strychnia.
From your knowledge of the subject, having attended to the symptoms described by Mr. Jones from the moment the paroxysm set in of which Mr. Cook died, and the symptoms and appearances attending his death, does it appear that these symptoms are consistent with death by strychnia?—Some are consistent and some are inconsistent. The long interval which occurred after the taking of the poison is inconsistent.
What I am asking you is, whether these symptoms on the Tuesday night, from the time the man was taken with the paroxysms of convulsions of the muscles of the trunk, of the legs, of the arms—the bending of the body into a bow—the difficulty of respiration—are consistent with what you know of death by strychnia?—Quite.
Do you agree that the symptoms in tetanus come on gradually and progressive; that, although they are intermitted, the disease is never wholly remitted?—I do.
What is the shortest period in which you have ever known the disease of traumatic tetanus run its course to death?—Never under three or four days.
R. Partridge
Suppose a case could be described as of shorter duration, such as a day or a few hours, would your medical experience lead you to infer that the premonitory symptoms had very likely been neglected?—I should consider that probable.
Bearing in mind the distinction between traumatic and idiopathic tetanus and a case such as has been here described, have you ever seen such a death as this was with the symptoms mentioned proceed from natural causes?—No.
Re-examined by Mr. Grove—What are the other symptoms which you consider inconsistent with strychnia?—The sickness manifested before the attack came on; the beating of the bed clothes with the arms, want of sensitiveness to external impression, and the sudden cessation of the convulsions, and apparent complete recovery.
You mentioned previously the time that occurred between the ingestion of the poison and the paroxysm coming on. What inference do you deduce from that?—That it is inconsistent with strychnia.
As to the mode in which it came on without premonitory symptoms, do you consider that is inconsistent with strychnia?—There was apparently an absence of the usual condition that is described.
You stated that the bent form indicated some tetaniform symptom. Did that answer apply to natural tetaniform as well as to tetaniform convulsions caused by strychnia?—Yes. The bent form of the feet indicated tetanic spasm. That would be the case whether it was a tetaniform spasm with poison or without poison.
By Lord Campbell—And the other symptoms of rigidity?—It is rather a question of degree.
They would be more violent if from poison?—No doubt.
You have stated in the cases of tetanus you have seen there was no intermission. Do you know, from your reading, that the intermission of the disease is a frequent thing?—I know it occurs, but it is not frequent.
As to decomposition of the spine. Do you think it could remain for nine weeks undecomposed?—I do not.
The Attorney-General—I have one question which I would put (this gentleman spoke as to vomiting), whether, if the stomach had been brought by any other cause into a state of irritation, would he think those causes inconsistent?
Lord Campbell—I intended to put the question myself.
Witness—I should think it not inconsistent.
John Gay
Mr. John Gay, examined by Mr. Gray—I am a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and have been for eighteen years a surgeon of the Royal Free Hospital. In the year 1843 I had under my care in the hospital a case of tetanus in a boy eight years old. He was brought in on the 28th of July. The accident occurred a week before. I saw him on the 28th of July. He could not open his mouth at that time. He complained of great pain and stiffness about the neck. During the first three days I saw him he had unusually severe paroxysms.
By Lord Campbell—During the first night of his admission he started up convulsed, and spasmodically closed his jaw. During the following night he was a good deal convulsed at times. The abdominal muscles, as well as the muscles of the neck and back, had become rigid during the night. The muscles of the face were also in a state of great contraction. On the following day I found the muscles remained in the same state. In the morning of that day, at two o’clock, on visiting him I found there was much rigidity of the muscles, especially those of the abdomen and back. The following morning the muscular rigidity had gone. He opened his mouth as usual, and was able to talk. The lad appeared to be thoroughly relieved. He had no return of the spasms till the following day. At that time he asked the nurse to change his linen, and she was lifting him up in bed to do so when violent convulsions of the arms and face came on, and he died in a few minutes.
Examination resumed—About thirty hours elapsed from the time the convulsions of which he died came on and the last preceding convulsions. The last paroxysm before he died lasted a few minutes. Before it came on the rigidity which I have described had been completely relieved. At the time he was convulsed the nurse was lifting him up to put on his linen.
By Lord Campbell—The second day I gave him small doses of tartar emetic to produce vomiting, but without effect. I repeated them in larger doses of 2 grains, but without effect. I did not repeat the dose after the third day.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—What was the accident?—A large stone had fallen on the middle of the left foot and had completely smashed it. The wound had become very unhealthy. When I first saw it it had portions of bone and cartilage adhering to the surface. I amputated the toe. When the boy was brought in his mother said he could not open his mouth so wide as usual. When I saw him his mouth was almost closed up.
On 29th July he slept but little during the night, and during sleep started up convulsed and spasmodically closed the jaw. The jaw remained closed until the 1st of August. It was closed when I administered tartar emetic to him. In all these cases so trifling a remedy as the tarter emetic is easily given.
John Gay
By Lord Campbell—The tongue seems to retain its powers?—Yes. The case is recorded in the Lancet.
Cross-examination resumed—After the 29th of July did the convulsions continue throughout the 30th and part of the 31st?—The convulsions came on during the night, and they appear to have remitted during the day, except a muscular rigidity. The tetanus did remain.
But were there no spasms during the daytime?—I believe not.
In the daytime, although there were no convulsions, were the muscles of the body, of the chest, and of the abdominal back and neck all rigid?—Yes. That continued throughout the two days I administered tartar emetic. The rigidity of the muscles and of the stomach would go far to prevent sickness.
You have no doubt that your tartar emetic would have produced its effect but for the rigidity of the muscles?—I suppose it would have done so.
When did the symptoms begin to abate?—On the 1st of August, on the fourth day, and they gradually subsided. They appeared to have subsided during the night. I saw the child during the middle of the day, and I found that they had subsided, and in fact had entirely gone off. I thought he was going to get well.
You told us the woman set him up in bed for the purpose of changing his linen. Would that in any way have brought the toe, that part that had been attacked, into any friction with some parts of the bed?—It must have done so. But I do not think the simple irritation of the toe at that part would have any effect.
But there not having been, in your judgment, nervous irritation set up from the original seat of the disease, can you account in any way for the nervous or muscular disease of tetanus?—If the cause had not entirely gone the symptoms were brought back by the act of sitting up in bed. My impression is there must be some action about the spinal cord as the immediate cause of the symptoms.
Action set up in the spinal cord by irritation of the nerves in the immediate site of the laceration or wound?—Quite so.
May it not be reasonable to infer that any irritation of the part originally injured, exciting or irritating the nerve or the nerves connected with the part, may support its action over the whole system, and so produce convulsion?—I had removed the end of the diseased part, so I cannot conceive that the same cause could exist.
John Gay
If you imagine you feel yourself justified in saying that the irritation of the spinal cord once set up continues, why should you infer that the irritation of the nerve may not also continue?—There must be some peculiar irritation of the nerve to give rise to the affection of the spinal cord from which tetanus arises. There appear to be some particular circumstances which produce it.
You have no doubt the state of the toe was the original cause of the convulsions?—I have not.
And that death took place by something or other distinct from the first cause?—Yes.
Re-examined by Mr. Gray—I think you told my friend that, with regard to the convulsions which end in death, you thought they arose from some irritation set up in the spinal cord?—I did, from that and other causes.
May the causes of such irritation be very various in different cases? May the cause of the irritation in the spinal cord which would end in tetaniform be very various?—I think so.
Suppose in one you have a death accompanied with tetaniform symptoms and opisthotonos, and the various symptoms of a tetanic character; in the absence of any knowledge of the case—of the cause you state, probably the irritation of the spinal cord—do you think it is possible to ascribe them to any particular cause?—I think it would be extremely difficult to do so.
Will you give me the proposition you lay down?—In the event of a given set of symptoms, tetanic symptoms I should say, being proposed, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, without some other evidence, or collateral evidence, to assign it to any given disease.
Lord Campbell—Or cause?—Or cause.
W. M‘Donnell
Dr. William M‘Donnell, examined by Mr. Kenealy—I am a licentiate of the College of Surgeons of Edinburgh, and have been in practice for about eight years. I have had practical as well as theoretical knowledge of idiopathic and traumatic tetanus. Tetanus will proceed from very slight causes. Almost any internal disorder or alteration of the internal secretions will produce idiopathic tetanus. Exposure to cold or damp would produce it. Mental excitement would be a probable cause.
By Lord Campbell—Mental excitement would be the proximate cause of tetanus. The presence of gritty particles or granules in any part connected with the nervous structure, in either the spine or the brain, might produce tetanic convulsions. I have seen small deposits or tubercles in the brain, the only assignable cause for death terminating in convulsions.
W. M‘Donnell
Examination resumed—In addition to those slight causes, I believe that tetanic convulsions arise from causes as yet quite undiscoverable by science. I have had many post-mortem examinations of patients who have died of tetanus, and no trace of any disease whatever could be discovered beyond the congestion or vascularity of some of the vessels surrounding the nerves. Though tetanus is not easily discoverable, strychnia is easily discoverable by scientific men. I had a case of idiopathic tetanus—a female, Catherine Watson. I was fortunate enough to restore her, and she is here. (Dr. M‘Donnell read his notes of the case of Catherine Watson.) In her case lockjaw set in about the middle of the attack. She was able to speak. In acute idiopathic tetanus, ending fatally, trismus is generally a later symptom. I had a case of tetanus which ended fatally, a man named Copeland. It must have been idiopathic, as there was no external cause. Death took place in somewhat less than half an hour. I cannot say precisely. He was dead before I could reach the house.
By Lord Campbell—Do you know what the cause of the disease was?—Yes. I examined the patient carefully, and made inquiry as to the symptoms.
Examination resumed—I have made a number of experiments on animals with reference to strychnia poison. I have found the muscles of the brain highly congested, the sinuses gorged with blood, and in one case hæmorrhage from the nostrils. That would indicate a very high state of congestion. I have found extravasation of the blood in some cases, likewise in the brain. I have cut through the substance of the brain and found numerous red points. I have found the lungs of these animals either collapsed or congested. The heart has been invariably filled in the right side with blood, and very often on the left. The liver has been congested, the kidneys normal generally, the spleen in its ordinary condition. I have found the vessels of the stomach on the outer surface congested, and on the mucous or inner surface highly vascular. In the spinal cord I have found the vessels of the membranes congested, and also red points seen on cutting it through, not invariably, but sometimes. I have experimented in many cases for the discovery of strychnia. You may discover the smallest dose that will kill the animal. If you kill an animal with a grain of strychnia you may discover traces of it.
What do you mean by a trace of it?—Evidence of its appearance.
Does that mean an imponderable quantity?—It may.
Do you mean by traces to convey the idea that you can discover the smallest quantity?—That will kill.
What is the smallest quantity you can discover?—The fifty-thousandth part of a grain.
Have you actually experimented so as to discover that quantity?—Yes.
W. M‘Donnell
You have heard a theory propounded in the course of this inquiry by Dr. Taylor—I mean the destruction by the supposed decomposition of strychnia—to your knowledge has any scientific man of eminence ever propounded that theory at all?—I never heard of it until mentioned in this Court. In my opinion there are no well-grounded reasons for that theory. I have proved that that theory is false by numerous experiments. I have taken the blood of an animal poisoned with 2 grains of strychnia, about the least quantity which would kill an animal, and have injected it into the abdominal cavities of some animals, and have destroyed them, with the symptoms and post-mortem appearances of strychnia. It should not make it any more difficult to detect if the strychnia is administered in the form of pills. If the pills were hard, and not readily solved, you would find it much easier, because you might find some remains of the pill. I do not agree with Dr. Taylor’s opinion about the fallacy of colour tests. I believe a colour test is a reliable mode of ascertaining strychnia. I agree with Mr. Herepath that it is found in urine that has been ejected. I have found it invariably.
Does it first pass into the blood and then into that watery excretion?—Part of it may be drawn off by that means. It is not true that strychnia can be confounded with pyroxanthine. In these animals which I have killed with strychnia I have generally observed an increased flow of saliva; that was a very marked symptom. The animals were very susceptible to touch. A stamp of the foot, a slight touch, or a breath, or a sharp word, would drive them into tetanic convulsions. We recognised them by the straightened condition of the muscles.
Supposing that a dose of strychnia sufficient to kill a man were administered to him, do you think he could bear to have his neck rubbed?—I think it would be very likely to throw him into convulsions before the paroxysm came on.
By Lord Campbell—As soon as the poison is taken into his system?—No. It requires a certain time. You must have the first symptoms of poison developed. It would be after the first symptoms.
W. M‘Donnell
Examination resumed—What would be the effect of a man pulling a bell violently if he was poisoned by strychnia?—I think it would be extremely probable, if the dose had been sufficient, to destroy life, provided the symptoms had made their appearance. I quite agree with Mr. Herepath that, if a sufficient dose to poison has been administered, it can and ought to be discovered. I have heard the medical evidence that was given in this case and the evidence as to the symptoms. The symptoms I attach very little importance to as the means of diagnosis, as you may have the same symptoms developed from many different causes. There is one principal reason I have, which is this—a dose of strychnia sufficient to destroy life in one paroxysm would hardly require an hour and a half or two hours. The cause of death was from convulsions, epileptic convulsions with tetanic symptoms.
Does the interval of repose from the Monday night to the Tuesday at all operate on your judgment in coming to that conclusion?—If my opinion that it was of an epileptic character were correct, it would.
It is your opinion that if that were of an epileptic character—then what follows?—The intermission from the Monday night would be considered important, as epilepsy seizures very often recur about the same hours, as I have seen them.
Assuming that a man was in such an excitable state of mind that he was silent for two or three minutes after his horse winning a race, that he exposed himself to cold and damp, that he excited his brain by drinking, and he was attacked by violent vomiting, and after his death gritty granules were found in the neighbourhood of his spine, could not, in the present instance, such a death as it was arise from these causes?—Any of these causes might aggravate or hurry it.
You say any one of those causes?—Might cause it.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—I am a general practitioner at Garnkirk, near Glasgow, general surgeon to the ironworks, and parochial medical officer. I have had personal experience of two cases of idiopathic tetanus—this one I have recorded and another.
What you have been telling us about mental excitement, sensual excitement, is not within your own observation?—This case might have arisen from those causes.
Have you any reason to think it did?—I have no reason to do so.
Then do not tell us what it might have done. Now, in the case of Catherine Wilson?—I saw her about half-past ten at night. She had been ill very nearly an hour before I saw her. She had convulsions. She had gone about her usual duties up to the evening. She felt a slight lassitude previous to that time. It was only by close pressing that she could call it to mind. The lockjaw, I think, came on in an hour or two; I could not be positive.
In the other case, of Mr. Copeland?—It was a young child between three and four months old.
Was that the person of the name of Copeland?—Yes.
What was the matter with the child?—I saw it in good health half an hour before the attack came on. It had an attack of convulsions and opisthotonos. I rode away from the house, and they supposed I had not gone a couple of miles when it died.
W. M‘Donnell
It was seized with a fit?—Apparently a spasm, which I consider to be of the tetaniform character. I had seen the child half an hour before. There was nothing the matter with it then. It was in bed, I believe, with the mother, who was laid up. I did not see its face. I saw it lying in bed, but did not examine it. I judged it to be asleep.
With regard to the animals that you experimented on with strychnia, when did you begin with them?—I began this series of experiments for this case in January.
Had you ever made any before?—Yes; I think eight or ten years ago. The dose by which I killed the animals was from 1¾ to 2 grains. The animals experimented upon were dogs, cats, rabbits, and fowls. These experiments will relate to dogs. A grain is the smallest dose I administered. In four cases I used a grain, in five 1½ grains, in one, I think, 1¼ grains, and in two 2 grains.
You never tried them with half a grain?—Yes, I did; I did not mention it before. I gave half a grain for the purpose of ascertaining the least dose that would kill.
Did you try if you could detect it afterwards?—How could I try before I killed the dog?
Do you mean on your oath you do not understand my question? Show me one instance where you have given half a grain?—I did not make a note, because it did not kill. I have never destroyed a dog with half a grain; I tried it, and it did not answer.
Now let us come to your symptoms. You say you have always found the brain highly congested?—By the stoppage of the circulation in the system.
Have you not found in some cases that the brain was not congested?—No; I think in every case there were more or less congestion.
Is that greater in proportion to the length of the paroxysm?—No; it is greatest where the animal was young and in a full state of health.
Have you ever seen any case of traumatic tetanus?—I think two in my own practice, but I have seen a few others in hospital.
Have you ever seen a case of strychnia in the human subject?—No, I have not.
I understand you to say that, in your opinion, this was a case of epilepsy with tetanic complications?—As far as I can judge from hearing the evidence in Court.
What does epilepsy proceed from?—Nobody can answer that question.
You have no theory upon the subject?—I have not exactly arrived at any distinct theory, not quite as distinct as strychnia or tetanus. I have seen one case of death from epilepsy. The patient was not conscious when he died.
Can you find me any case in which consciousness has preceded death?—I cannot recollect.
W. M‘Donnell
You have studied on purpose for these cases?—No; I am pretty well up in most branches.
Being so universally proficient in the science of your profession, do you know of any single recorded case of consciousness at the time of death?—I do not from my own knowledge. I have heard what Sir Benjamin Brodie said on this subject.
You mean deliberately to state that you believe this to have been from epilepsy?—I do state so.
Without being able to refer to any cause whatever as producing the disease?—When I have told you before that deaths often take place in idiopathic tetanus without leaving any trace behind, I think I may say——
That is idiopathic tetanus?—They are all of the same class. I think all forms of convulsions arise from a decomposition of the blood, and, if a person has probably an incipient tendency to disease of the brain, that it always may be affected, and that the decomposition of the blood might set up the diseased action.
Do I understand you that mental excitement had anything to do with this?—I do not say it had. I said it might have caused it.
Do you find any excitement in this case?—I find at Shrewsbury he was excited, and wherever you have excitement you have a consequent depression.
Do you find he was depressed?—When you find a man in bed sick, he must be depressed.
I was speaking of the depression consequent on these symptoms. Where do you find any symptom of illness until he begins to vomit?—If I have much excitement, if I am up all night, it upsets me the next day, and I generally vomit the food I take. Cook was overjoyed at winning his race.
And you think he vomited in consequence?—He might.
Do you mean to swear that you think the excitement of the three minutes on the course on the Tuesday accounts for the vomiting?—I do not mean to say anything of the kind.
Do you find any excitement or depression from that time till the time he died?—There is nothing reported that I can recollect just now.
On the contrary, do you not recollect that the man, when he was not vomiting, on that very night, was joking and laughing; was that sufficient to make him vomit?—That may well be where a man is subject to bilious fits.
We are talking of excitement—of epilepsy with tetanic complications; I want to know on what you can put your hand in the way of excitement or depression which will account for the remarkable symptoms?—I have told you that almost any one of them is sufficient.
W. M‘Donnell
Where is there one which you say might have occasioned death?—These white spots in the stomach might have caused death by an inflammatory condition of the stomach.
But there was no inflammation of the stomach, was there?—I have given you my opinion.
If there had been any, would not the gentlemen who examined it have seen it?—If those white spots were present you would have had inflammation.
They say there was none?—I do not believe them.
Sensual excitement is a cause of epilepsy with tetanic complications; is that what you say?—Yes, it might be.
Do you find a tittle of evidence of any such excitement?—I think so—the syphilitic spots. There was no doubt about it.
Do you mean to say that you attribute this to some excitement at some anterior period long before?—I am not called upon to say that. I take my opinion from what was seen.
Supposing the man had any such excitement a week before, do you mean that is sufficient?—Yes; we have instances on record of convulsions in the very act you allude to.
Have you any instance a fortnight afterwards?—It is quite within the range of possibility.
Would epilepsy, with tetanic complications, set in from that cause? Do you mean to stand there, as a serious man of science, and tell me that?—Yes, the results of sensual excitement—chancre in one of them, and syphilitic sore throat.
Did you ever hear or know of such a thing as chancre or any other form of syphilis producing epilepsy?—Not epilepsy, but tetanus. You are forgetting the tetanic complications.
If I understand it rightly, it stands thus: the sensual excitement produces the epilepsy, and the chancre produces tetanic complications?—You are quite mistaken. I say the results of a sensual excitement.
You have just now said that your reason for thinking and referring it to epilepsy was that, amongst other things, an hour or an hour and a half intervened between the taking of the poison and the appearance of the first symptoms. Do you mean that in your reading you have not met with cases quite as long as that when the death has arisen from strychnia?—I cannot recollect where death has followed.
Would the fact of morphia having been given for an hour or two previously in any way touch your opinion with regard to poison?—No; I have seen opium bring on convulsions very nearly the same.
Will opium bring on convulsions?—Yes, but a different form of convulsions from epilepsy.
Because opium brings on convulsions, you assume in this case that morphia accelerated the disease?—Drawing the inference, I should say it might.
W. M‘Donnell
Suppose not a case of epilepsy, but of strychnia; what would be the action of morphia? How would it attack the disease?—In some cases it stimulates. It is exceedingly apt to cause congestion of the brain.
In which disease does it cause excitement?—It depends on the idiosyncrasy, on the habit of body, if I might use a common term.
Having taken it on the Saturday and Sunday night, and having been free from nervous excitement on the Sunday and Monday, what would you assume judging from the result?—If it were opium, yet it is only presumed to be opium, it appears to have soothed him.
And why, when the man was tranquil on the Sunday and Monday, did you, after that, venture to say that these pills irritated him?—I do not mean to say they did.
Re-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee—You stated that, though you had seen no case of epileptic convulsions with tetanic complications, your reading informed you that there had been, and you mentioned Dr. Mason Goode?—Yes. He is a well-known author on the subject of convulsions. There is a class of convulsions called epileptic—not, strictly speaking, epilepsy—though they resemble it in some of its features. Epilepsy, properly so called, is sudden in its attacks. The patient falls down at once with a shriek. Within my knowledge, the disease constantly occurs at night and in bed.
Are the convulsions which the authors do not class as properly epilepsy, but as convulsions of an epileptic character, sometimes attended with premonitory symptoms?—Sometimes the patient is thrown into tetanic and tetaniform convulsions. Pending the struggle or the convulsions, actual epilepsy may come on in this way, and the patient die. In epilepsy and in convulsions of an epileptic character, a patient may have suffered in the night and be well the next morning, and as well the next day as if he had had no fit at all, more especially where adults are seized for the first time. When an adult is seized for the first time it is in my experience that several fits follow each other during a short period.
If it were true that Cook’s mind appeared distressed and irritable the afternoon before he died, would you infer from that, considering the former excitement and elation, he was in a state of depression or not?—Yes.
What would you infer from what happened in the middle of the Sunday night, supposing it were true that he represented himself to be mad for ten minutes, and it was occasioned by a quarrel in the streets?—That he had been seized with some sudden cramp or spasm.
W. M‘Donnell
Supposing there was no such cramp, and that he meant to tell the truth, would you refer what he said to any nervous and mental excitement?—Yes, decidedly.
With regard to the spots on the stomach, which you mentioned when my friend was examining you, you stated you differed from some gentlemen of your profession?—Yes.
The Attorney-General—He said he did not believe them?—I did not. I did not believe that inflammation could be absent and these spots present.
Re-examination resumed—Have you known any serious consequence of a convulsive character reasonably imputed to spots of that description?—I have. There was a case about twenty years ago. It was published. I saw a case myself, about eighteen months ago. I examined the body after death. It was a case of fever, I thought. I did not know what the spots were, and consulted all the authors who had treated on the mucous structure of the stomach, and could find no account of it but in one which I have here, an essay by Dr. Sproshoid, a medical man practising in Edinburgh, but now deceased.
J. N. Bainbridge
Dr. John Nathan Bainbridge, examined by Mr. Grove—I am a doctor of medicine and medical officer to the St. Martin’s Workhouse. I have had considerable experience of convulsive disorders. They admit of a very great variety of symptoms. There are causes of them varying from what are called chronic diseases to rigid opisthotonos. Hysterical convulsions are very frequently accompanied with opisthotonos; convulsions of the muscles of the back and of the limbs. The different cases vary very much as to the frequency of the recurrences, and as to the muscles attacked. Periodicity is very common, that is, occurring at the same hour, the same day, and at an interval of a year. I have known this very common at shorter periods, such as twelve or twenty-four hours. These disorders run so imperceptibly one into the other that it is almost impossible for the most experienced medical man to decide where one kind of convulsion terminates and the other begins. Epileptic attacks are frequently accompanied with tetanic complications, or tetanic spasms.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—Do hysterical convulsions ever end in death without being attended by these tetanic symptoms?—Very rarely indeed. I have known one case within the last three months.
Can you undertake to say that that was not a death by apoplexy?—No. The symptoms were somewhat of the same character, but more of the character of epilepsy. It would be very difficult for any man to define the difference in some instances between hysteria and epilepsy.
J. N. Bainbridge
In fact, had not the man been subject to these fits for a long series of years, and at last he died in one of them?—Yes, he had.
In attacks of this nature is there in the fits a loss of consciousness?—Sometimes. I have seen several cases in which there has been, and in others they can almost understand anything you say to them, not perfectly perhaps, but you may rouse them.
Have you ever known an instance in which a man was able to speak when the paroxysm has set in?—They will scream, and recollect what we have said to them. I never knew any of them, in the actual violence of the paroxysm, ask to have their position changed. Epilepsy, when it is very bad, is sometimes attended with opisthotonos.
When the convulsions are so violent that opisthotonos is produced, have you ever known patients conscious?—Partly conscious. If they were asked subsequently they would recollect what had occurred. I have seen cases of traumatic tetanus. As far as I have observed the patient always retains his consciousness. I have frequently known epilepsy end in death, and also hysteria with tetanic complications end in death.
Because you tell me you have known of hysteria ending in death, I wish you to inform me what in your opinion is the distinction between them?—The less consciousness more especially found in epilepsy, and the sudden falling down.
Did you ever know a case of death in epilepsy where consciousness was not destroyed before death?—No, I do not know one.
Mr. Serjeant Shee—I think it is an assumption that Mr. Cook was conscious between the last shriek and his death.
E. A. Steady
Mr. Edward Austin Steady, examined by Mr. Gray—I am a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and am in practice as a surgeon at Chatham. In June, 1854, I attended a person for trismus and pleurosthotonos, the head depending on one side, and not backwards as is the case in opisthotonos. Convulsions came on in paroxysms. The first attack continued for a fortnight. She had trismus all the time. For twelve months there were remissions of the pleurosthotonos. She appeared to get better to a certain extent, and walked about, but the tendons of one knee were contracted. About twelve months after she was again seized. The seizure continued about a week.
Did you ascertain the cause which had brought about this disease?—It was detailed to me as excitement. A passion, I believe, brought it on. I believe she had had some quarrel with her husband. I discovered no other cause.
E. A. Steady
Cross-examined by Mr. James—I do not know how long before I was called in she had this quarrel. I learned that during the quarrel she had had a blow given her on her side by her husband. I observed the setting in of the lockjaw at that time. I saw her in March, 1855, when she was under my care for about a week. The locking of the jaw continued the whole week. She has never got thoroughly well. She has tetanic extensions of the limbs in any case of excitement. In my opinion the disease is in action in her system at the present time.
G. Robinson
Dr. George Robinson, examined by Mr. Kenealy—I am a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians and Fellow of the Royal Medical Chirurgical Society of London, and physician to the Newcastle-on-Tyne Dispensary and Fever Hospital. I have devoted considerable attention to pathology, and have published essays on it. I have practised as a physician for ten years. From the symptoms I have heard described my opinion is that Mr. Cook died from tetanic convulsions, by which I mean, not the disease of tetanus, but convulsions similar to those witnessed in tetanus. Convulsions of that kind occasionally assume the nature of epilepsy. I know of no department of pathology which is more obscure than that of convulsive diseases. I have been present at post-mortem examinations of persons who died from convulsive diseases. I have sometimes seen no morbid appearance whatever, and in other cases the morbid appearances which were visible were common to a variety of diseases. Convulsive diseases undoubtedly depend very much on the state of the nerves. They are all connected with disorders of the nervous action. The brain has great influence in producing convulsive diseases, but the spinal cord has a greater influence. The presence of gritty granules in the neighbourhood of the spinal cord would be likely to produce convulsive diseases. There is such a disease as spinal epilepsy, which is accompanied by strong convulsions, which might resemble in a great degree those described in the present case. Periodicity would belong to convulsions arising from spinal epilepsy. I should think from the evidence I have heard that Mr. Cook’s mode of life would predispose him to epilepsy.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—In all cases of epilepsy there are violent convulsions. I cannot tell you how many I have seen assume a tetanic character; perhaps twenty.
Has it gone as far as opisthotonos?—Not the extreme opisthotonos of tetanus. The whole body has been straightened out and the head thrown back. I heard Mr. Jones describe Mr. Cook’s symptoms, that the body was so bowed that he could not raise it, so bowed that it would lean upon its heels and the back of its head if it had been turned over.
G. Robinson
Have you ever seen anything in epilepsy approaching to these symptoms?—I have never seen anything approaching to it. I have never seen a body so stiffened that it would rest on the head and heels.
Is that symptom peculiar to tetanus?—You may have convulsions of the same character occurring from other causes—tetanic convulsions from the operation of various poisons.
Keep to natural diseases. Did you ever know these symptoms of opisthotonos, in that shape or to that extent, arise from anything but tetanus?—Not within my own experience. I have read of epilepsy being accompanied with tetanic convulsions. Epilepsy, when it assumes that marked character, is accompanied with unconsciousness. I have read in a case of Dr. Marshall Hall’s that sometimes unconsciousness is not present. He does not mention whether death took place in this case or not. That would make all the difference.
You said that gritty granules would be likely to produce convulsive diseases. What extent of development, in your judgment, must such granules reach to produce an action in the spinal marrow?—I should say there is no relation between the size of the granules and the extent of the effect produced.
Would you expect when they began to get to the size that they would have any effect on the nervous system—that they would begin to show their effect more or less gradually?—No, in epilepsy I have myself observed several granules in the membrane of the brain; and any disturbing cause in the system, I think, would be likely to produce convulsions. I believe that the granules in this case were very likely to irritate the spinal cord, and an attack might very likely come on at once in a fit of epilepsy. There would be pain during the continuance of the violent spasms of the patient, not necessarily pain merely from the spasms. These granules might or might not produce arachnitis.
You would expect to find inflammation in that case?—Not necessarily. Irritation, not inflammation. Granules of that description do not often exist in healthy spines. In the dissections of epilepsy in the large hospitals, these small granules have been found very frequently. The granules, in my opinion, would be likely to produce epilepsy. In my experience I have never known epilepsy unaccompanied by unconsciousness, nor have I known epilepsy producing the marked symptoms of tetanic character which occur in Mr. Cook’s case.
G. Robinson
Do you feel yourself warranted in giving an opinion that these granules caused epilepsy in this case?—I think I might have done so. If I put aside the hypothesis of poisoning by strychnia I would. Several of the symptoms described by Mr. Jones, the severe paroxysm, the stiffening of the body, the convulsions of all the muscles of the trunk and limbs, and the complete opisthotonos, are also common to other convulsions. The symptoms are certainly consistent with death by strychnia.
They are the symptoms that you would expect after strychnia?—I think there would have been some slight premonitory symptoms. If I had no other cause to which I could ascribe the death I would ascribe it to epilepsy.
But in this case you admit some of the symptoms are inconsistent with your experience of epilepsy?—Yes.
Re-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee—They are consistent with the possibility of epilepsy. They are consistent with convulsions of an epileptic form ending in death, though perhaps not actually amounting to epilepsy.
Supposing it to have been actual epilepsy, at what period of the last attack should you say the epilepsy commenced?—When Mr. Cook sat up in bed and cried out. I should imagine that would be the sense of suffocation which would be the premonitory symptoms.
After the final shriek, and throwing himself back in his bed, is there any symptom from which you would infer consciousness after that moment?—Except that he swallowed some pills.
The Attorney-General—Allow me to remind you he asked them to turn him over.
By Mr. Serjeant Shee—Would you consider that a body which immediately, or within ten minutes after death, when it is quite warm, lay perfectly straight, the hands extended, resting on its heels and its back and its head, was in a state of opisthotonos?—Not if it rested on its back. In my judgment it might be that the body might assume, without actual rigidity, the bow-like shape and appearance which has been spoken of, and yet, when turned over, lie flat in the bed, resting on the head, back, and heels.
B. W. Richardson
Dr. Benjamin Ward Richardson, examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee—I practise in London, and I am a licentiate of the Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons in Glasgow and a member of the College of Physicians in London. I have never seen a case of idiopathic or traumatic tetanus, but I have seen a considerable number of deaths by convulsions, and I have known these cases, when they have ended in death, sometimes assume tetaniform appearances without being, strictly speaking, tetanus. The patient, if conscious, generally desires to sit up. I have known persons to die from a disease called angina pectoris. The symptoms of the disease, when it is fatal, resemble closely the symptoms of the paroxysms in which Mr. Cook died. It is classed amongst the convulsive or spasmodic diseases, and has no distinctive feature in post-mortem examination.
B. W. Richardson
Will you state what symptoms you particularly refer to?—I could not do better than describe a case which I myself saw. A child, ten years of age, was under my care in November, 1850. I supposed she had suffered from scarlet fever. She had a slight feverish attack. She recovered so far that my visits ceased on 20th November. I left her merry in the morning, and at half-past ten I was called to see her dying. She was supported upright at her own request. The face was pale; the whole of the face and arms rigid, the fingers clenched, the respiratory muscles completely fixed and rigid, and, with all, complained of an intense agony and restlessness such as I had never witnessed. There was perfect consciousness. The child knew me, and explained her intense agony; eagerly took from my hands some brandy and water from a spoon. I then left to get some chloroform for the purpose of producing relaxation by chloroform vapour. On returning, I found the head was thrown back. I could detect no respiration. The eyes remained fixed open, and the body just resembling a fit. She was dead. I did not observe whether the rigor-mortis came on at its usual time or later. I made a post-mortem examination the following day. Unfortunately I left the body in the arms of the sister, and, of course, it was laid out afterwards. At the post-mortem examination I observed that the brain was slightly congested; a portion of the upper part of the spinal cord seemed normal and healthy, the lungs were collapsed, the heart was in such a state of firm spasms and so empty that I remarked it might have been rinsed out, it was so perfectly clean and free from blood. There were no appearances of functional disturbances except a slight effusion of serum in one pleural cavity, I believe the right side. The other part of the spinal cord was in a normal state. They told me the child was unusually well and merry at supper; that she then went to bed with her sister, and in lying down suddenly jumped up and said, “I am going to die,” and begged her sister to rub her.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—This case accords with all the descriptions of angina pectoris by the best authors—Latham, Watson, Boyeau, Pratt, and Sir Everett Holme.
What is the true nature and cause of angina pectoris?—It has been laid down as disease of the valves of the heart. There have been many cases in which there has been no discovered cause.
Are the symptoms of angina pectoris not those that would be produced by taking strychnia?—Not exactly. In angina pectoris the patient requests to be rubbed to give relief.
Did you hear the Leeds case?—Assuming that that was a case of strychnia, I must say that the two forms are so strictly analogous that there would be great difficulty in detecting angina from strychnia, with this difference, that angina is paroxysmal, it comes and goes, and strychnia would not be so likely to do that. You would not expect it for many months.
B. W. Richardson
But in this case you are speaking as if it ended in the first paroxysm?—Yes.
How then can you be justified, in cases where you discover no abnormal conditions of the heart or its arteries, in setting down the death to angina?—Precisely as if I saw the symptoms of epilepsy I should accept them as such.
Supposing the disease was referable to two causes, in the absence of all evidence, what is your reason for setting it down to one in preference to the other?—I quite admit that if I had known as much of the nature of strychnia as I do now I should have gone on to make analysis.
Is the disease of angina pectoris attended with painful symptoms before it terminates in death?—Most painful. The paroxysms terminating in death may run on for more than eight minutes. It comes on suddenly. It does not always kill at the first attack. It generally spreads itself over a certain period of time.
You said that the head was somewhat bent back. Was that opisthotonos?—There was rigidity, not amounting to opisthotonos, but still very marked. The neck was so stiffly bent back that if the body had been laid down, and the lower limbs, which I did not see, had been the same, I have no doubt the body would be resting on its head and heels.
You say in epileptic convulsions you have seen the hands clenched firmly till death. Did you ever see them so long after death?—I have seen them firmly clenched, not in epilepsy only.
In what cases have you seen them firmly clenched after death?—In cases where there has been violent convulsion. I saw them once from hæmorrhage.
In other cases have you?—I can only say, in a general sense, I have seen the hands clenched over and over again, and have paid no attention to it. My belief, from seeing people die, is that the clenching of the hands is, in many cases, mere matter of accident.
Re-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee—Have you known cases personally or from your reading where patients recover from angina pectoris, and whether within a short time afterwards they sometimes have another attack?—They do, sometimes in so short an interval as twenty-four hours.
During the interval between the two attacks what is the condition of the patient?—Perfectly healthy, to all appearance.
Are the symptoms described in the evidence more like the symptoms of angina pectoris or strychnia poison?—I should certainly say angina pectoris.
You had no reason to suspect poison of any kind in that case, either before or now?—Not the slightest.
Dr. Wrightson
Dr. Wrightson, recalled, examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee—In your opinion, when the strychnia poison is absorbed into the system, does it become diffused by the circulation of the blood through the system, or does it collect in the tissues?—I should think it is diffused throughout the entire system by circulation if it be wholly absorbed, and it would depend on the rapidity with which death takes place after complete absorption, and on the quickness of circulation.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—Would the absorption be more complete if a longer time were given for the process between the administration and the death?—Certainly, it would be.
Is that supposing a minimum dose given sufficient to destroy life; if a long interval elapses between the taking of the poison and the death, the more complete the absorption the less the chance of finding it in the stomach?—Cæteris paribus that would be so.
By Mr. Serjeant Shee—Would you have a very good chance of finding it in the kidneys and spleen and in the blood?—Yes.
C. Watson
Catherine Watson, examined by Mr. Grove—I live at Garnkirk, in Scotland. Last October I was affected with a fit. I had no wound nor injury on my body before. I had taken no poison.
Cross-examined by the Attorney-General—I was not ill during the day. I was in low spirits, but not in pain. A few minutes before eleven at night I took a pain in the stomach, then two cramps in my arms, then I was very ill. I have never had cramps like this before nor since.
The Court then adjourned.