Chapter XI: Part 11

Without going into unnecessary details, I will now state what I intend to prove upon this part of the case. I shall call a great number of most respectable medical practitioners and surgeons in general practice, with a large experience in great cities, who will support the theory that these fits of Cook were probably not tetanus at all, but violent convulsions, the result of a weak habit of body, increased by a careless mode of life--by at least a sufficient amount of disease to render violent mineral poisons, in their opinion, desirable, and by habits which led to a chronic ulceration of the tonsils and difficulty in swallowing. They will prove that men with constitutions weakened by indulgence have often, under the influence of strong mental excitement and violent emotion of any kind, been suddenly thrown into such a state of convulsion that symptoms have been exhibited in the voluntary muscles of violent disease, and that persons suffering from those symptoms have constantly died asphyxiated or of exhaustion, leaving no trace whatever as to the cause of death. In addition, I will call several gentlemen who will speak to experiments they have made upon animals, and who will be ready to show you those experiments in any yard belonging to this building, if my lords should think fit. They will tell you, on the authority of Orfila, that no degree of putrescence will decompose strychnine, and that if it is in the body they would be sure to find it even now.

Lord CAMPBELL said that the Court could not see the experiments made, but witnesses might be called to prove them.

Mr. Serjeant SHEE: I have now done with that branch of the case, and will proceed to the last matter to which I propose to direct your attention. I propose to discuss whether the circumstantial evidence is inexplicable on the supposition of the prisoner’s innocence; and, if I show you that in all its broad and salient features it is not so, I am sure that you will be only too happy to acquit him, recollecting that you represent the country, which is uninformed upon the case, which has no opportunity of hearing the witnesses on either side.

Lord CAMPBELL: In the language of the law “which country you are.”

Mr. Serjeant SHEE: Which country you are. You are responsible not to render this kingdom liable to the charge of having, in a paroxysm of prejudice propagated by a professional man with no knowledge of his own upon the matter, condemned an innocent person. In discussing the circumstantial evidence, I will avoid no point that seems at all difficult; but, not to waste time, I will not, after the intimation which I have received from the bench, trouble you with such matters as the pushing against Dr. Devonshire during the _post-mortem_ examination or the cutting of a slit in the cover of the jar, which might be done accidentally with any of the sharp instruments which were being used, or the putting it at the further end of the room.

Lord CAMPBELL: What was said referred only to the pushing.

Mr. Serjeant SHEE: I take leave to suggest that in an examination in the town of Rugeley, where Palmer was perfectly well known, the fact of there having been a little apparent shoving, which may for the moment have disturbed the operator, is not to be allowed to have weight against the prisoner, especially as Mr. Devonshire said nothing was lost. The matter was one in which all present took considerable interest, and a little leaning over might easily have produced the effect which was spoken to. Then, as to the removal of the jar. It was not taken out of the room. It could not have been taken away without its removal being observed, and it would have been to the last degree foolish for any guilty person to attempt to remove it. That a man who knew himself to be innocent should be very unwilling that the jar should be removed out of the hands of persons upon whom he could rely for honest dealing is very probable. Palmer knew that there were some persons who did not want to pay him £13,000, and who had for a long time been doing all they could to undermine his character, and to impute to him most wicked conduct with regard to the death of a relation--suspicions in which none of his relatives had joined. It is clear from his observation, “Well, doctor, they won’t hang us yet,” that he knew that it was intended to ground a suspicion or a complaint upon the _post-mortem_ examination, and it was exceedingly natural that he should like to have the jar kept in safe custody, even in the crowded room. All his conduct is consistent with this explanation. To Dr. Harland, with whom he does not appear to have been particularly intimate, he says, “I am very glad you are come, because there is no knowing who might have done it.” That is the conduct of a respectable man, who knew that his conduct would bear investigation if it were properly conducted.

I dare say there are in Rugeley many excellent and very serious people to whom the prisoner’s habits of life, his running about to races, and so on, would not much recommend him, and who he had reason to know entertained prejudices against him. As to his objection to the jar being taken to Mr. Frere’s, there had, I believe, been some slight difference, arising out of Thirlby (Palmer’s assistant) having come to him from Mr. Frere. I do not do Mr. Frere the injustice to think that this slight dispute would have led him to put anything into the jar, but it may account for Palmer’s caution. Let us now come to the more prominent features of Palmer’s conduct, upon which, in accordance with his instructions, my learned friend principally relied. I will first call your attention to the evidence of Myatt, the postboy at the Talbot Arms. Mr. Stevens had come down from London, and had acted towards Palmer in such a way as would have induced some men to kick him. Assuming Palmer to be innocent, Stevens’ conduct was most provoking. He dissembled with Palmer, cross-questioned him, pretended to take his advice, scolded him in a harsh tone of voice, almost insulted him, threatened a _post-mortem_ examination, and acted throughout under the impression that some one had been guilty of foul play towards Cook, which ought to be brought to light and punished. Stevens had been there during the whole of the _post-mortem_ examination--a gloomy, miserable day it must have been, poring over the remains of that poor dead man; the jar was ready, and the fly was at the door to take himself and Boycott to Stafford, in order that this jar might be sent to London, out of Palmer’s ken and notice; so that if there was anybody base enough to do it, either in support of a theory, or to maintain a reputation--God forbid that I should suggest that to the prejudice of Dr. Taylor! I do not mean to do so--but if there was anybody capable of acting so great a wickedness, it might be done; and it was but a reasonable concern that Palmer should be anxious that it should stop at Dr. Harland’s. He did not like its going with Stevens to London. Stevens had been particularly troublesome; he had been vexatious and annoying to the last degree. The fly was ready, when Palmer met Myatt, the postboy, and learned that he was going to drive Mr. Stevens to Stafford.

According to Myatt’s evidence, Palmer then asked him if he would upset “them.” That word was first used in this court to designate the jars; but as there was at that time but one jar, it must have been intended to apply to Mr. Stevens and his companion. Palmer’s conduct to Stevens had been most exemplary, and he must have been irritated to the last degree to find that he was suspected of stealing a paltry betting-book, which was of no use to anyone, and of having played foully and falsely with the life of his friend, the deceased. That he was much annoyed was proved by his observation to Dr. Harland in the morning--“There has been a queer old fellow down here making inquiries, who seems to suspect that everything is wrong. He thinks I have stolen a betting-book, which everyone who knows anything knows can be of no use to anyone now that poor Cook is dead.” This shows that Palmer’s mind was impressed with a sense that Stevens had illtreated him. He, no doubt, said to himself, “He (Stevens) has encouraged and brought back suspicions which have well-nigh destroyed me already, and which, if he proceeds in this course of bringing another charge against me, will probably render it impossible to get the sum which would be sufficient to release me from my embarrassments.” In this state of mind Palmer met the postboy who was ready to drive Mr. Stevens to Stafford. What occurred then was thus described by Myatt:--“He said he supposed I was going to take the jars.--What did you say then, or what did he say?--I said I believed I was.--After you said you believed you were, what did he say?--He says, ‘Do you think you could upset them?’--What answer did you make?--I told him ‘No.’--Did he say anything more?--He said, if I could, there was a £10 note for me.--What did you say to that?--I told him I should not.--Did he say any more to you?--I told him that I must go, for the horse was in the fly waiting for me to start.”

In cross-examination he was asked--“Were not these the words Palmer used,--‘I should not mind giving £10 to break Mr. Stevens’s neck?’--I do not recollect him saying ‘to break his neck.’--Were they not words to that effect, ‘I should not mind giving him £10 to break his neck?’--I do not recollect that.--Then ‘£10 to upset him?’--Yes.--Those were the words, were they?--Them were the words, to the best of my recollection. Did he appear to have been drinking at the time?--I cannot say.--When he said ‘to upset him,’ did he use any epithet; did he describe him in any way, such as ‘upset the fellow?’--He did not describe him in any way.----Did he say anything about him at the time?--He did say something about it; ‘it was a humbugging concern,’ or something to that effect.--That he was a humbugging concern, was that it?--No.--That ‘it was a humbugging concern,’ or something to that effect?--Yes.”

I submit to you that, after this evidence, you can only regard this expression about “upsetting them,” in its milder and more innocent sense, as a strong expression used by a man vexed and irritated by the suspicious and inquisitive manner which Stevens had from the first exhibited. That this is the correct view of the matter is confirmed by the fact that at the time of the inquest nothing was known of this, and Myatt was not called. Myatt was engaged at the Talbot Arms, and must frequently have conversed about the death of Cook and the _post-mortem_ examination with servants and other persons about that inn. Had any serious weight been attached to this offer of Palmer, it would have excited attention, and would have been given in evidence before the coroner. On the other hand, it is to the last degree improbable that a medical man, knowing that he had given a large dose of strychnine, with the violent properties of which he was well acquainted, should have supposed that by the accidental spilling of a jar--the liver, spleen, and some of the tissues remaining behind--he could possibly escape detection. I will next call your attention to the evidence of Charles Newton, who swore that he saw Palmer at Mr. Salt’s surgery at 9 o’clock on Monday night, when he gave him three grains of strychnine in a piece of paper. He did not bring this to the knowledge of the Crown until the night before this trial commenced. He was examined before the coroner, but although then called to corroborate the statement of Roberts as to the presence of Palmer at Hawkins’s shop, where he was said to have purchased strychnine, he then said nothing about the purchase on the Monday night. A man who so conducts himself, who when first sworn omits a considerable portion of what he tells three weeks afterwards, and again comes forward at the last moment and tells more than enough in his opinion to drive home the guilt to the person who is accused, that man is not to be believed upon his oath. There are other circumstances which render Newton’s statement in the highest degree improbable. That Palmer should once in a way purchase strychnine in Rugeley is not to be wondered at. It is sold to kill vermin, to kill dogs. And whatever the evidence as to the galloping of the mares and their dropping their foals, it shows that Palmer had occasion for it, and for other purposes. But that, having bought enough for all ordinary purposes, he should go and buy more the next day, and should purchase it at the shop of a tradesman with whom he had dealt for two years, is in the highest degree incredible. Nobody would believe it. Nobody can or ought to believe it. But observe this also. Palmer had been to London on the Monday, and in London there is no difficulty in procuring strychnine. It is sold to any one who, by writing down the technical description of what he wants, shows that he has had a medical education. Why did he not get it in London? And if he could not get it in London, why did he not get it at Stafford, or at any of the other places to which he had been? If he had bought it for this guilty purpose, would he not, as a wary man, have taken care that when his house was searched there should be found in it the paper containing the exact quantity of strychnine which he had purchased? What could have been easier to do than that? Newton’s story, therefore, cannot be believed, but, in addition, I will show that Palmer, who is stated by Herring to have been in London at a quarter past 3 o’clock, could not have been in Rugeley at the time at which Newton says he was at Mr. Salt’s.

Palmer attended the _post-mortem_ examination; and is it credible that he, a skilful medical man, who studied in a London hospital, and made a note upon one of his books of the effect of strychnine, would ask that stupid sort of fellow Newton anything about its action upon a dog; and would, when the answer was given, snap his fingers and say, “It is all right, then, it cannot be found.” No one will believe it for a moment. The _animus_ of Newton is shown by his omitting the word “poor,” and representing Palmer as having said, “You will find this fellow suffering from a disease of the throat; he has had syphilis;” and then, when cross-examined upon the subject by my learned friend Mr. Grove, replying, “I don’t know whether he said poor or rich,” as if that had anything to do with the question. I will now take you back to what occurred at Shrewsbury. The case for the Crown is that as early as Wednesday, the 14th November, the scheme of poisoning Cook begun to be executed at Shrewsbury. It is suggested that Cook was dosed with something that was put into his brandy-and-water. You will remember that I read to you a letter from Cook to Fisher, dated the 16th of November, to which there is this postscript--“I am better.” That must have referred to his illness at Shrewsbury. It is the postscript to a letter in which he speaks of the object he has in view, which is of great importance to himself and Palmer. Is his writing in that tone consistent with his having a belief that Palmer had drugged him with poison for the purpose of destroying his life at Shrewsbury? What did Palmer say about it?--“Cook says I have put something in his glass. I don’t play such tricks.” He treated it as though it had never been understood to be more than the expression of a man who, if not actually drunk, was very nearly so. Palmer did not arrive at the Raven until after the dinner hour. We have no evidence how Cook fared there; but we shall be able to prove that he went from there to the Unicorn, where he arrived pretty flush, and where he sat drinking brandy-and-water with Saunders the trainer and a lady. Seven or eight glasses of brandy-and-water did this good young man drink, and the result was that his unfortunate syphilitic throat was in a very dreadful state, if not of actual laceration, at least of soreness and irritation. [The learned Serjeant here read to the jury a long extract from an article which had appeared in some newspaper, which he did not mention, in which the occurrences at Shrewsbury were described in a style which seemed intended to be humourous, and in which Cook’s sickness was attributed to his having taken too much brandy upon champagne, in order to “restore his British solidity.” The learned Serjeant said that this entirely concurred with his own view of the case. He then continued.]

Cook’s own conduct afterwards proved that his illness was owing to his having drunk too much. He got up in the morning, breakfasted with Palmer, was good friends with him, and went with him to Rugeley. At Rugeley they received Pratt’s letter of the 13th, in consequence of which Palmer wrote to Pratt to say that some one would call upon him and pay him £200, and Cook wrote to Fisher and asked him to call on Pratt and pay this money. Does that look as though he thought there had been an attempt to poison him? Mrs. Brooks, who gave her evidence in a most creditable manner, proved that there was much sickness among the strangers who were at Shrewsbury; and the rest of her evidence did not tell much against Palmer, who might, after Cook’s complaint, very naturally have been looking at the tumbler to see if anything had been put into it. Cook got worse, and at last had the good sense to put his money into Fisher’s hands and go to bed. He was still very sick, and a doctor was sent for, who recommended an emetic. Cook made himself sick by drinking warm water and putting the handle of a toothbrush down his throat. He took a pill and a black draught, went to sleep, and next morning was quite well. This is really too ludicrous to receive a moment’s consideration. A person named Myatt was in the room at the Raven all the evening. He has been put into the box, but I shall call him, and you will hear his account. Palmer and Cook having got back to Rugeley the history of the slow poisoning continues. They went there together, and probably talked on the way of their difficulties and the mode of getting out of them, and of the small way that the winnings at Shrewsbury would go to effect that object, both seeing ruin staring them in the face unless the Prince of Wales Insurance-office could be made to pay the money which was due, and they could meanwhile remain free from all suspicion of insolvency or any sort of misconduct. When they got to Rugeley they provided for the temporary difficulty by sending £200 to Pratt. They were then evidently on friendly terms, Cook’s winnings being at Palmer’s service, and probably both effecting their objects, because, as it would appear from what Palmer said, Cook had some interest in the bills which were outstanding. Probably his name might not be upon them, but as they were engaged in these racing transactions, were joint owners of one horse and had the same trainer, they were very probably equally interested in these bills--were in fact what I remember to have once heard a nobleman well known upon the turf call “confederates.” The frequency of Palmer’s visits to Cook during the illness of the latter at Rugeley affords no ground of suspicion against the prisoner. On the contrary, it tells in his favour. Cook had no friend in the town but Palmer, with whom he may almost be said to have been on a visit; for though he did not sleep in Palmer’s house Palmer was in continual attendance on him, and, owing to the close proximity of his own residence, was enabled to bring him many little delicacies not easily attainable at an inn. Had he neglected the sick man, and only visited him occasionally, the inference of the Crown would probably have been that he was a black-hearted scoundrel, who only looked in now and then to give him his poison; but as he was zealously and laboriously attentive to him the conclusion is that he must have murdered him!

It is said that Palmer was guilty of a falsehood in representing Cook as suffering from diarrhœa; but that is to put a very violent and a very uncharitable construction on his words, for you will remember that Bamford swore to Cook having told him that his bowels had been affected twice or three times on Sunday. But, leaving these minor points, I come to one which in this case of circumstantial evidence is of the very last importance, and should be deemed decisive of the prisoner’s innocence. The supposition of the Crown is, that Palmer intended to dose Cook with antimony--to keep his stomach in continual irritation by vomiting, in order that he might the more surely despatch him with strychnine; and that during Sunday, the day on which he insisted on his taking the broth, Cook was under the influence of this insidious treatment. Now, supposing this to be true, and assuming it to be the fact that Palmer was indeed bent upon destroying Cook by this singular process, is it not manifest that there is one man who of all the men in the world would have been the very last whom he would have selected to be a witness of his proceedings? That man is a surgeon in the prime of life, a man intimately acquainted with Cook, and very much attached to him--Mr. Jones, of Lutterworth. Yet this is the very man to whom, when he is about to set out for London, Palmer writes a letter informing him that Cook is ill, and urging him to come over and see him without delay. I entreat of you to appreciate the full importance of that fact. The more you think of it the more profound will become your conviction that it affords evidence irrefragable of Palmer’s innocence. The imputation is that Palmer meant to kill Cook to possess himself of his winnings. Who was with Cook when the race was won? Who was by his side on the Shrewsbury racecourse for the three minutes that he was speechless? Who saw him take out his pocketbook and count up his winnings? Who but Jones?--Jones, who was his bosom friend, his companion, his confidant, and who knew to the last farthing the amount of his gains. Jones was of all men living the most likely to be the recipient of Cook’s confidence, and the man who was bound by every consideration of honour, friendship, and affection to protect him, to vindicate his cause, and to avenge his death. Yet this was the man for whom Palmer sent, that he might converse with Cook, receive his confidences, minister to him in his illness, and even sleep in the same room with him!

How, if Palmer is the murderer they represent him, are you to account for his summoning Jones to the bedside of the sick man? If Cook really suspected--which we are assured he did--that Palmer was poisoning him, Jones was the man to whom he would most willingly have unbosomed himself, and in whose faithful ear he would have most eagerly disburdened the perilous stuff that weighed upon his own brain. Palmer and Jones were both medical men; and it is not improbable that, in the course of his studies, the latter may have noted in his classbook the very passages respecting the operation of strychnine which also attracted the attention of the former. Is it conceivable that if Palmer meant to slay Cook with poison in the dead of the night he would have previously ensured the presence, in his victim’s bed-room, of a medical witness, who would know from the symptoms that the man was not dying a natural death? He brings a medical man into the room, and makes him lie within a few inches of the sick man’s bed, that he may hear his terrific shrieks, and witness those agonising convulsions which indicate the fatal potency of poison! Can you believe it? He might have despatched him by means that would have defied detection, for Cook was taking morphia medicinally, and a grain or two more would have silently thrown him into an eternal sleep. But, instead of doing so, he sends to Lutterworth for Jones. You have been told that this was done to cover appearances. Done to cover appearances! No--no--no! You cannot believe it. It is not in human nature. It cannot be true. You cannot find him guilty--you dare not find him guilty on the supposition of its truth. The country will not stand by you if you believe it to be true. You will be impeached before the world if you say that it is true. I believe in my conscience that it is false, and that, consistently with the rules that govern human nature, it cannot possibly be true. [Sensation and murmurs of applause.] With respect to the interviews and dialogues that took place between the prisoner and Mr. Stevens, I contend that, so far from telling against the former, they are in his favour. There is nothing but the evidence of a kind and considerate nature in the fact of his having ordered “a shell and a strong oak coffin” for the deceased; nor is it possible to torture into a presumption of guilt the few words of irritation that may have fallen from the prisoner in the course of a conversation in which Mr. Stevens treated him with scorn, not to say insolence.

With respect to the betting-book, many persons had access to Cook’s room--servants, both men and women, undertaker’s men, and barbers; and though I do not venture to mark out any particular person for suspicion, any one of them may have purloined the book and been afraid to return it. It is not fair in a case of this momentous importance to affix the opprobrium on a man who is not proved to have ever had it in his hand. The Crown had no doubt originally intended to rely upon the prisoner’s medical books as affording damning proof of his guilt; but I will refer to those volumes for evidences that will speak eloquently in his favour. In youth and early manhood there is no such protection for a man as the society of an innocent and virtuous woman to whom he is sincerely attached. If you find a young man devoted to such a woman, loving her dearly, and marrying her for the love he bears her, you may depend upon it that he is a man of a humane and gentle nature, little prone to deeds of violence. To such a woman was Palmer attached in his youth, and I will bring you proof positive to show that the volumes cited against him were the books he used when a student, and that the manuscript passages are in the handwriting of his wife. His was a marriage of the heart. He loved that young and virtuous woman with a pure and generous affection; he loved her as he now loves her first-born, who awaits with trembling anxiety the verdict that will restore him to the arms of his father, or drive that father to an ignominious death upon the scaffold. [The prisoner here covered his face with his hands and shed tears.] Here in this book I have conclusive evidence of the kind of man that Palmer was seven years ago. I find in its pages the copy of a letter addressed by him while still a student to the woman whom he afterwards made his wife. It is as follows:--

“My dearest Annie,--I snatch a moment from my studies to write to
your dear, dear little self. I need scarcely say that the principal
inducement I have to work is the desire of getting my studies
finished, so as to be able to press your dear little form in my
arms. With best, best love, believe me, dearest Annie,

Your own WILLIAM.”

Now this is not the sort of letter that is generally read in courts of justice. It was no part of my instructions to read that letter, but the book was put in to prove that this man is a wicked, heartless, savage desperado; and I show you what he was seven years ago--that he was a man who loved a young woman for her own sake--loved her with a pure and virtuous affection--such an affection as would, in almost all natures, be a certain antidote against guilt. Such is the man whom it has been my duty to defend upon this occasion, and upon the evidence that is before you I cannot believe him to be guilty. Don’t suppose, gentlemen, that he is unsupported in this dreadful trial by his family and his friends. An aged mother, who may have disapproved of some part of his conduct, awaits with trembling anxiety your verdict; a dear sister can scarcely support herself under the suspense which now presses upon her; a brave and gallant brother stands by him to defend him, and spares neither time nor trouble to save him from an awful doom. I call upon you, gentlemen, to raise your minds to a capacity to estimate the high duty which you have to perform. You have to stem the torrent of prejudice; you have to vindicate the honour and character of your country; you have, with firmness and courage, to do your duty, and to find a verdict for the Crown if you believe that guilt is proved; but, if you have a doubt on that point, depend upon it that the time will come when the innocence of that man will be made apparent, and then you will deeply regret any want of due and calm consideration of the case which it has been my duty to lay before you.

The speech of the learned Serjeant occupied exactly eight hours in its delivery. There were some slight indications of an attempt to applaud at its conclusion, but they were instantly repressed.

The Court then adjourned till 10 o’clock next morning.

EIGHTH DAY, MAY 22.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge was among the distinguished persons who were accommodated with seats upon the bench.

The learned Judges, Lord Campbell, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice Cresswell, took their seats at ten o’clock. The prisoner was at once placed at the bar. His demeanour was, as on the previous days of his trial, calm and attentive, but betrayed no additional anxiety.

Immediately after the learned Judges took their seats,

Lord CAMPBELL said: Before the proceedings commence I must express a most earnest hope that until this trial is concluded the public journals will continue to abstain from any comments upon the merits of the case, or upon any part of the evidence. The propriety of this course is so obvious as to need no explanation. This warning ought to extend to the insertion of letters as much as to that of editorial articles.

THOMAS NUNNELEY, examined by Mr. GROVE: I am Fellow of the College of Surgeons, and Professor of Surgery at the Leeds School of Medicine. I am also a member of several medical and learned societies, foreign and English, and have been in practice between twenty and thirty years. I have a large practice, and have seen cases of both traumatic and idiopathic tetanus. Of the latter disease I have seen four cases. They did not all commence with lockjaw. One did not commence so, nor did lockjaw become so marked in it as to prevent swallowing once during the course of the disease. I have heard the evidence as to the symptoms of Cook, and had previously read the depositions as to that part of the case. Judging from those symptoms, I am of opinion that death was caused by some convulsive disease. I found that opinion upon the symptoms described in the depositions and the evidence before the Court.

Lord CAMPBELL said that the witness could only be examined as to his opinion founded upon the _vivâ voce_ evidence before the Court.

Mr. GROVE said that his object was to distinguish between the opinion founded on the _vivâ voce_ evidence and that founded on the depositions.

Examination continued: From the symptoms described by the witnesses in court, I am of opinion that death was caused by some convulsive disease. Looking at Cook’s general state of health--

Mr. Baron ALDERSON: You have nothing to do with that. You must only give an opinion upon the symptoms described in evidence.

Examination continued by Mr. Serjeant Shee: I have been in court during the whole of the trial. I have heard the evidence as to the symptoms of Mr. Cook’s health previous to his final attack at Rugeley, the description of the actual symptoms during the paroxysms, and the appearance of the body on the _post-mortem_ examination. Do you remember the account of the syphilitic sores?

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL objected to this mode of putting the question, because it was an assumption that these sores existed. A medical man ought to be asked his opinion on the supposition only that certain symptoms existed.

Mr. Justice CRESSWELL: Let the witness describe what he assumes to have been the state of Cook’s health, and you will then see whether he is justified in his assumption.

Examination continued: I assumed that Cook was a man of very delicate constitution--that for a long period he had felt himself to be ailing, for which indisposition he had been under medical treatment; that he had suffered from syphilis; that he had disease of the lungs; and that he had old standing disease of the throat; that he led an irregular life; that he was subject to mental excitement and depression; and that after death appearances were found in his body which show this to have been the case. There was an unusual appearance in the stomach. The throat was in an unnatural condition. The back of the tongue showed similar indications. The air vessels of the lungs were dilated. In the lining of the aorta there was an unnatural deposit, and there was a very unusual appearance in the membranes of the spinal marrow. One of the witnesses also said that there was a loss of substance from the penis. That scar on the penis could only have resulted from an ulcer. A chancre is an ulcer, but an ulcer is not necessarily a chancre. The symptoms at the root of the tongue and the throat I should ascribe to syphilitic inflammation of the throat. Supposing these symptoms to be correct, I should infer that Cook’s health had for a long time not been good, and that his constitution was delicate. His father and mother died young. Supposing that to have been his state of health, it would make him liable to nervous irritation. That might be excited by moral causes. Any excitement or depression might produce that effect. A person of such health and constitution would be more susceptible of injurious influence from wet and cold than would one of stronger constitution. Upon such a constitution as that which I have assumed Cook’s to have been convulsive disease is more likely to supervene. I understand that Cook had three attacks on succeeding nights, occurring about the same hour. As a medical man, I should infer from this that the attacks were of a convulsive character. I infer that in the absence of other causes to account for them. According to my personal experience and knowledge from the study of my profession, convulsive attacks are as various as possible in their forms and degrees of violence. It is not possible to give a definite name to every convulsive symptom. There are some forms of convulsion in which the patient retains his consciousness. Those are forms of hysteria, sometimes found in the male sex. It is also stated that there are forms of epilepsy in which the patient retains consciousness.

By Lord CAMPBELL: I cannot mention a case in which consciousness has been retained during the fit. No such case has come under my notice.

Examination continued: I know by reading that that, although rarely, does sometimes occur. The degree of consciousness in epilepsy varies very much. In some attacks the consciousness is wholly lost for a long time. Convulsive attacks are sometimes accompanied by violent spasms and rigidity of the limbs. Convulsions, properly so called, sometimes assume a tetanic complexion. I heard the passage from the works of Dr. Copland read to the Court yesterday. I agree with what he states. Convulsions arise from almost any cause--from worms in children, affections of the brain in adults, hysteria, and in some persons the taking of chloroform. Adults are sometimes attacked by such convulsions. Affections of the spinal cord or eating indigestible food will produce them. I know no instance in which convulsions have arisen from retching and vomiting. I agree with Dr. Copland that these convulsions sometimes end immediately in death. The immediate proximate cause of death is frequently asphyxia.

By Lord CAMPBELL: Death from a spasm of the heart is often described as death by asphyxia.

Examination continued: I have seen convulsions recurring. I have seen that in very various cases. The time at which a patient recovers his ease after a violent attack of convulsions varies very much. It may be a few minutes, or it may be hours. From an interval between one convulsion and another I should infer that the convulsions arise from some slight irritation in the brain or the spinal cord. When death takes place in such paroxysms there is sometimes no trace of organic disease to be found by a _post-mortem_ examination. Granules between the dura mater and the arachnoid are not common at any age. I should not draw any particular inference from their appearance. They might or might not lead to a conjecture as to their cause and effect. I do not form any opinion upon these points. They might produce an effect upon the spinal cord. There are three preparations in museums where granules are exhibited in the spinal cord, in which the patients are said to have died from tetanus. Those are at St. Thomas’s Hospital. To ascertain the nature and effect of such granules the spinal cord ought to be examined immediately after death. Not the most remote opinion could be formed upon an examination made two months after death, more especially if the brain had been previously opened. Independently of the appearance of granules, it would not after that period be possible to form a satisfactory opinion upon the general condition of the spinal cord.

If there were a large tumour, or some similar change, it might be exhibited; but neither softening nor induration of the structure could be perceived. The nervous structure changes within two days of death. To ascertain minutely its condition, it is necessary to use a lens or microscope. That is required in an examination made immediately after death. I have attended cases of traumatic tetanus. That disease commonly begins with an attack upon the jaw. One of the four cases of idiopathic tetanus that I have seen was my own child. In three of those cases the disease began with lockjaw. The fourth case commenced in the body, the facility of swallowing remaining. I have, within the last twelve months, made _post-mortem_ examinations of two persons who had died from strychnia. I did not see the patients before death. In both cases I ascertained, by chemical analysis, that death had been caused by strychnia. In both I found the strychnia. In one case--that of a lady aged 28 years--I made my examination forty-two hours after death, and in the other thirty hours. In the former case, the body had not been opened before I commenced my examination. [The witness read a report of this examination, in which it was stated that the eyelids were partially open, and the globes flaccid, and the pupils dilated. The muscles of the trunk were not in the least rigid; indeed, they were so soft, that the body might be bent in any direction. The muscles at the hip and shoulder joints were not quite so flaccid, but they allowed these joints to be easily moved, while those of the head and neck, fore-arms, &c. were rigid. The fingers were curved, and the feet somewhat arched. All the muscles, when cut into, were found soft and dark in colour. The membranes of the liver were exceedingly vascular. The membrane of the spinal cord was much congested. There was bloody serum in the pericardium; the lungs were distended, and some of the air-cells were ruptured. The lining membrane of the trachea and bronchial tubes were covered with a layer of dark bloody mucus of a dark chocolate colour. The thoracic vessels and membranes were much congested, and the blood was everywhere dark and fluid.] After reading this report the witness continued:--In the second case I made my examination thirty hours after death. I first saw the body about twelve hours after death. It was a woman somewhere near twenty years of age. [The witness also read the report of the examination in this case. The appearances of the body were substantially similar to those presented in the previous case.] In two other cases I have seen a patient suffering from over doses of strychnia. Neither of those cases was fatal. In one case I had prescribed the twelfth of a grain, and the patient took one-sixth. That was for a man of middle age. Strychnia had been given in solution. In a few minutes the symptoms appeared. They were a want of power to control the muscles, manifested by twitchings, rigidity, and cramp, more violent in the legs than in any other part of the body. The spasms were not very violent. They continued six hours before they entirely disappeared. During that time they were intermittent at various intervals. As the attack passed off the length of the intervals increased. At first their length was but a few seconds. The spasms were not combatted by medical treatment. The other case was a very similar one. The quantity taken was the same--double what I had prescribed. I have experimented upon upwards of sixty animals with strychnia. Those animals were dogs, cats, rats, mice, guinea-pigs, frogs, and toads. The symptoms of the attack in all animals present great resemblances. Some animals are, however, much more susceptible of its influence than others are. The period elapsing between the injection of the poison and the commencement of the symptoms has been from two minutes to thirty--more generally five or six. I administered the poison occasionally in solution, but more generally in its solid state. It was sometimes placed dry upon the back of the tongue, and some fluid poured down the throat; sometimes it was enclosed between two portions of meat; sometimes mixed up with butter or suet, and sometimes rolled up in a small piece of gut. To frogs and toads it was administered by putting them into a solution of strychnia. I have also applied it direct to the spinal cord, and in other cases to the brain. The first symptom has been a desire to be quite still; then hurried breathing; then slavering at the mouth (when the poison had been given through that organ); then twitching of the ears, trembling of the muscles, inability to walk, convulsions of all the muscles of the body, the jaws being generally firmly closed; the convulsions attended by a total want of power in the muscles, which, on the least touch, were thrown into violent spasms, with a galvanic-like shock. Spasms also come on if the animal voluntarily attempts to move; that is usually the case, but occasionally the animal is able to move without inducing a recurrence of the spasms. These spasms recur at various periods, but do not always increase in violence. The animals die after periods varying from three hours to three hours and a half. In the cases where the animals live longest the paroxysms occur at the longest intervals. In all cases, in the interval before death, the rigidity ceases (I know no exception to this), and the muscles become quite soft, powerless, and flaccid. The limbs may be put in any position whatever. There is but little difference from ordinary cases of convulsive death in the time at which the _rigor mortis_ comes on.

I have destroyed animals with other poisons, and there is very little difference between the rigidity in their cases and that in the cases of death from strychnia. In the two women I have mentioned the _rigor mortis_ was much less than is usual in cases of death from natural disease. I have known fatal cases of poisoning animals by strychnia in which there has between the first and the second paroxysm been an interval of about half an hour, but that is not common. I have examined the bodies of upwards of forty animals killed by strychnia. I have invariably found the heart full on the right side; very generally the left ventricle firmly contracted, and the blood usually dark, and often fluid. There is no particular appearance about the spine. I have experimented with other poison upon upwards of two thousand animals, and have written upon this subject. It very often happens that in the case of animals dying suddenly from poisoning the blood is fluid after death. That also happens in cases of sudden death from other causes. I have attended to the evidence as to the symptoms exhibited by Cook on the Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday night. The symptoms on Sunday night I assume to have been great excitement. Cook described himself as having been very ill, and in such a state that he considered himself mad for a few minutes. He stated that the cause of this was a noise in the street. These symptoms, in the three nights I have mentioned, do not resemble those which I have seen follow the administration of strychnia. Cook had more power of voluntary motion than I have observed in animals under the influence of this poison. He sat up in bed, and moved his hands about freely, swallowed, talked, and asked to be rubbed and moved, none of which, if poisoned by strychnia, could he have done. The sudden accession of the convulsions is another reason for believing that they were not produced by strychnia. Other reasons for believing that the convulsions were not produced by strychnia are their sudden accession without the usual premonitory symptoms, the length of time which had elapsed between their commencement and the taking of the pills which are supposed to have contained poison, and the screaming and vomiting. I never knew an animal which had been poisoned with strychnia to vomit or scream voluntarily. I apprehend that where there is so much spasm of the heart there must be inability to vomit. In the cases related in which attempts were made to produce vomiting they did not succeed. There is such a case in the 10th volume of the _Journal de Pharmacie_, in which an emetic was given without success. The symptoms exhibited after death by animals poisoned by strychnia differ materially from those presented by the body of Cook. In his case the heart is stated to have been empty and uncontracted.

Lord CAMPBELL: I do not remember that. I think it was said that it was contracted.

Mr. Baron ALDERSON: According to my note, Dr. Harland said that the heart was contracted, and contained no blood.

Examination continued: The lungs were not congested, nor was the brain. In the case of animals which have recovered, the paroxysms have subsided gradually. I never knew a severe paroxysm followed by a long interval of repose. I have experimented upon the discovery of strychnia in the bodies of animals in various stages of decomposition, from a few hours after death up to the forty-third day, in which latter case the body was quite putrid. It has never happened to me to fail to discover the poison. I have experimented in about fifteen cases.

Supposing a person to have died under the influence of strychnia poison in the first paroxysm, and his stomach to have been taken out and put into a jar on the sixth day after death, must strychnia have, by a proper analysis, been found in the body?--Yes. If the strychnia be pure, such as is almost invariably found among medical men and druggists, the test is nitric acid, which gives a red colour, which in a great measure disappears on the addition of protochloride of tin. If the strychnia be pure, it does not undergo any change on the addition of sulphuric acid, but on an addition of a mixture of bichromate of potash, with several other substances, it produces a beautiful purple, which changes to varying shades until it gets to be a dirty red. There are several other tests. In this case the stomach was not, in my opinion, in an unfavourable condition for examination. The circumstances attending its position in the jar, and its removal to London, would give a little more trouble, but would not otherwise effect the result. If the deceased had died from strychnia poison, it ought to have been found in the liver, spleen, and kidneys. I have seen this poison found in similar portions of animals which had been killed by it. I have also seen it found in the blood; that was by Mr. Herepath, of Bristol.

Could the analyses be defeated or confused by the existence in the stomach of any other substance which would produce the same colours?--No. Supposing that pyrozantine and salicine were in the parts examined, their existence would not defeat the analysis. Pyrozantine is very unlikely to be found in the stomach. It is one of the rarest and most difficult to be obtained. The distinction between pyrozantine and strychnia is quite evident; pyrozantine changes to a deep purple on the addition of sulphuric acid alone, and the bichromate of potash spoils the colour. In strychnia no change is produced by sulphuric acid. It requires the addition of the bichromate to produce the colour.

Supposing the death to have been caused by a dose of strychnia, not more than sufficient to destroy the animal, would it be so diffused by the process of absorption that you would not be able by these tests to detect it in any portion of the system?--No; I believe it would not.

Had that question occupied your attention before you were called upon to give evidence upon this trial?--It had.

What is your reason for stating that strychnine, when it has done its work, continues as strychnine in the system?--Those who say that some change takes place argue that as food undergoes a change when taken into the body, so does the poison; it becomes decomposed. But the change in food takes place during digestion; consequently its traces are not found in the blood. Substances like strychnine are absorbed without digestion, and may be obtained unchanged from the blood. They may be administered in various ways.

In your judgment will any amount of putrefaction prevent the discovery of strychnine?--To say that it is absolutely indestructible would be absurd, but within ordinary limits, no. I have found it at the end of forty days.

What is the probable relative rapidity of the action of strychnine in an empty and a full stomach?--The emptier the stomach the quicker the action.

Cross-examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL.--I am a lecturer on surgery. Mr. Morley, who was called for the prosecution, is a lecturer on chemistry. Part (perhaps half) of the experiments on the 60 animals were made by me and Mr. Morley jointly. There was nothing to distinguish the experiments which I made alone from those which I made jointly with him. I state the apparent results of the whole. My experiments were spread over a period of thirty years. Many of them have been made since the Leeds case. Some of them were made in reference to this case. I can’t say how many.