The Court was again crowded long before the commencement of the
proceedings this morning. The Earl of Denbigh and Lord Lyttleton were
among the gentlemen who occupied seats upon the bench.
The jury came into Court shortly before ten o’clock, and were soon
followed by Lord Campbell and Mr. Justice Cresswell, accompanied by the
Recorder, the Sheriffs and Under-Sheriffs, &c. Mr. Baron Alderson did
not take his seat until about two o’clock.
The prisoner was immediately placed at the bar. There was no alteration
perceptible in his countenance or demeanour, and he took notes of
several parts of Dr. Taylor’s evidence.
The Attorney-General, Mr. E. James, Q.C., Mr. Welsby, Mr. Bodkin, and
Mr. Huddleston, appeared for the Crown; Mr. Serjeant Shee, Mr. Grove,
Q.C., Mr. Gray, and Mr. Kenealy, for the prisoner.
Dr. ALFRED SWAYNE TAYLOR, examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL: I am a
fellow of the College of Physicians, lecturer on medical jurisprudence
at Guy’s hospital, and the author of the well-known treatise on poisons
and on medical jurisprudence. I have made the poison called strychnia
the subject of my attention. It is the produce of the nux vomica, which
also contains brucia, a poison of an analogous character. Brucia is
variously estimated at from one-sixth to one-twelfth the strength of
strychnia. Most varieties of impure strychnia that are sold contain more
or less brucia. Unless, therefore, you are certain as to the purity of
the article, you may be misled as to its strength. I have performed a
variety of experiments with strychnia on animal life. I have never
witnessed its action on a human subject. I have tried its effects upon
animal life--upon rabbits--in ten or twelve instances. The symptoms are,
on the whole, very uniform. The quantity I have given has varied from
half a grain to two grains. Half a grain is sufficient to destroy a
rabbit. I have given it both in a solid and a liquid state. When given
in a fluid state, it produces its effects in a very few minutes; when in
a solid state, as a sort of pill or bolus, in about six to eleven
minutes. The time varies according to the strength of the dose, and also
to the strength of the animal.
In what way does it operate, in your opinion?--It is first absorbed into
the blood, then circulated through the body, and especially acts on the
spinal cord, from which proceed the nerves acting on the voluntary
muscles.
Supposing the poison to have been absorbed, what time would you give for
the circulating process?--The circulation of the blood through the whole
system is considered to take place about once in four minutes. The
circulation in animals is quicker. The absorption of the poison by
rabbits is therefore quicker. The time would also depend on the
stomach,--whether it contained much food or not,--whether the poison
came into immediate contact with the inner surface of the stomach.
In your opinion, does the poison act immediately on the nervous system,
or must it first be absorbed? It must first be absorbed.
The symptoms, you say, are uniform. Will you describe them?--The animal,
for about five or six minutes, does not appear to suffer, but moves
about gently; when the poison begins to act it suddenly falls on its
side, there is a trembling, a quivering motion, of the whole of the
muscles of the body, arising from the poison producing violent and
involuntary contraction. There is then a sudden paroxysm or fit, the
fore legs and the hind legs are stretched out, the head and the tail are
drawn back in the form of a bow, the jaws are spasmodically closed, the
eyes are prominent; after a short time there is a slight remission of
the symptoms, and the animal appears to lie quiet, but the slightest
noise or touch reproduces another convulsive paroxysm; sometimes there
is a scream, or a sort of shriek, as if the animal suffered from pain;
the heart beats violently during the fit, and after a succession of
these fits the animal dies quietly. Sometimes, however, the animal dies
during a spasm, and I only know that death has occurred from holding my
hand over the heart. The appearances after death differ. In some
instances the rigidity continues. In one case, the muscles were so
strongly contracted for a week afterwards, that it was possible to hold
the body by its hind legs stretched out horizontally. In an animal
killed the other day the body was flaccid at the time of death, but
became rigid about five minutes afterwards. I have opened the bodies of
animals thus destroyed.
Could you detect any injury in the stomach?--No. I have found in some
cases congestion of the membranes of the spinal cord to a greater extent
than would be accounted for by the gravitation of the blood. In other
cases I have found no departure from the ordinary state of the spinal
cord and the brain. I ascribe congestion to the succession of fits
before death. In a majority of instances, three out of five, I found no
change in the abnormal condition of the spine. In all cases the heart
has been congested, especially the right side. I saw a case of ordinary
tetanus in the human subject years ago, but I have not had much
experience of such cases. I saw one case last Thursday week at St.
Bartholomew’s Hospital. The patient recovered.
You have heard the descriptions given by the witnesses of the symptoms
and appearances which accompanied Cook’s attacks?--I have.
Were those symptoms and appearances the same as those you have observed
in the animals to which you administered strychnine?--They were. Death
has taken place in the animals more rapidly when the poison has been
administered in a fluid than in a solid form. They have died at various
periods after the administration of the poison. The experiments I have
performed lately have been entirely in reference to solid strychnine. In
the first case the symptoms began in seven minutes, and the animal died
(including those seven) in thirteen minutes. In the second case the
symptoms appeared in nine minutes, and the animal died in seventeen. In
the third case the symptoms appeared in ten minutes, and the animal died
in eighteen. In the fourth case the symptoms appeared in five minutes,
and death took place in twenty-two. In the fifth case the symptoms
appeared in twelve minutes, and death occurred in twenty-three. If the
poison were taken by the human subject in pills it would take a longer
time to act, because the structure of the pill must be broken up in
order to bring the poison in contact with the mucous membrane of the
stomach. I have administered it to rabbits in pills.
Would poison given in pills take a longer period to operate on a human
subject than on a rabbit?--I do not think we can draw any inference from
a comparison of the rapidity of death in a human subject and in a
rabbit. The circulation and absorption are different in the two cases.
There is also a difference between one human subject and another. The
strength of the dose, too, would make a difference, as a large dose
would produce a more rapid effect than a small one. I have experimented
upon the intestines of animals, in order to reproduce the strychnia. The
process consists in putting the stomach and its contents in alcohol,
with a small quantity of acid, which dissolves the strychnia, and
produces sulphate of strychnia in the stomach. The liquid is then
filtered, gently evaporated, and an alkali added--carbonate of potash,
which, mixed with a small quantity of sulphuric acid, precipitates the
strychnia. Tests are applied to the strychnia, or supposed strychnia,
when extracted. Strychnia has a peculiar strongly bitter taste. It is
not soluble in water, but it is in acids and in alcohol. The colouring
tests are applied to the dry residue after evaporation. Change of colour
is produced by a mixture of sulphuric acid and bi-chromate of potash. It
produces a blue colour, changing to violet and purple, and passing to
red; but colouring tests are very fallacious, with this exception--when
we have strychnine separated in its crystallised state we can recognise
the crystals by their form and their chemical properties, and, above
all, by the production of tetanic symptoms and death when administered
through a wound in the skin of animals.
Are there other vegetable substances from which, if these colouring
tests were applied, similar colours would be obtained?--There are a
variety of mixtures which produce similar colours. One of them has also
a bitter taste like strychnia. Vegetable poisons are more difficult of
detection, by chemical process, than mineral poisons; the tests are far
more fallacious. I have endeavoured to discover the presence of
strychnine in animals I have poisoned in four cases, assisted by Dr.
Rees. I have applied the process which I first described. I have then
applied the tests of colouring and of taste.
Were you able to satisfy yourself of the presence of strychnia?--In one
case I discovered some by the colour test. In a second case there was a
bitter taste, but no other indication of strychnia. In the other two
cases there were no indications at all of strychnia. In the case where
it was discovered by a colour test two grains had been administered; and
in the second case where there was a bitter taste, one grain. In one of
the cases where we failed to detect it one grain, and in the other half
a grain had been given.
How do you account for the absence of any indication of strychnia in
cases where you know it was administered?--It is absorbed into the
blood, and is no longer in the stomach. It is in a great part changed in
the blood.
How do you account for its presence when administered in large
doses?--There is a retention of some in excess of what is required for
the destruction of life.
Supposing a _minimum_ dose, which will destroy life, has been given,
could you find any?--No. It is taken up by absorption, and is no longer
discoverable in the stomach. The smallest quantity by which I have
destroyed the life of an animal is half a grain. There is no process
with which I am acquainted by which it can be discovered in the tissues.
As far as I know, a small quantity cannot be discovered.
Suppose half a grain to be absorbed into the blood, what proportion does
it bear to the total quantity of blood circulated in the
system?--Assuming the system to contain the lowest quantity of blood,
25lbs., it would be 1-50th of a grain to a pound of blood. A physician
once died from a dose of half a grain in twenty minutes. I believe it
undergoes some partial change in the blood, which increases the
difficulty of discovering it. I never heard of its being separated from
the tissues in a crystallised state. The crystals are peculiar in form,
but there are other organic crystallised substances like them, so that a
chemist will not rely on the form only. After the _post-mortem_
examination of Cook a portion of the stomach was sent to me. It was
delivered to me by Mr. Boycott, in a brown stone jar, covered with
bladder, tied, and sealed. The jar contained the stomach and the
intestines. I have experimented upon them with a view to ascertain if
there was any poison present.
What poisons did you seek for in the first instance?--Various,--prussic
acid, oxalic acid, morphia, strychnia, veratria, tobacco poison,
hemlock, arsenic, antimony, mercury, and other mineral poisons.
Did you find any of them?--We only found small traces of antimony.
Were the parts upon which you had to operate in your search for
strychnia in a favourable condition?--The most unfavourable that could
possibly be. The stomach had been completely cut from end to end, all
the contents were gone, and the fine mucous surface, on which any
poison, if present, would have been found, was lying in contact with the
outside of the intestines--all thrown together. The inside of the
stomach was lying in the mass of intestinal feculent matter.
That was the fault or misfortune of the person who dissected?--I presume
it was; but it seemed to have been shaken about in every possible way in
the journey to London. The contents of the intestines were there, but
not the contents of the stomach, in which and on the mucous membrane I
should have expected to find poison. By my own request other portions of
the body were sent up to me,--namely, the spleen, the two kidneys, and a
small bottle of blood. They were delivered to me by Mr. Boycott. We had
no idea whence the blood had been taken. We analysed all. We searched in
the liver and one of the kidneys for mineral poison. Each part of the
liver, one kidney, and the spleen, all yielded antimony. The quantity
was less in proportion in the spleen than in the other parts. It was
reproduced, or brought out, by boiling the animal substance in a mixture
of hydrochloric acid and water. Gall and copper-water were also
introduced, and the antimony was found deposited on the copper. We
applied various tests to it--those of Professor Brandt, of Dr. Rees, and
others. I detected some antimony in the blood. It is impossible to say
with precision how recently it had been administered; but I should say
within some days. The longest period at which antimony can be found in
the blood after death is eight days; the earliest period at which it has
been found after death, within my own knowledge is eighteen hours. A boy
died within eighteen hours after taking it, and it was found in the
liver. Antimony is usually given in the form of tartar emetic; it acts
as an irritant, and produces vomiting. If given in repeated doses a
portion would find its way into the blood and the system beyond what was
ejected. If it continued to be given after it had produced certain
symptoms it would destroy life. It may, however, be given with impunity.
I heard the account given by the female servants of the frequent
vomiting of Mr. Cook, both at Rugeley and at Shrewsbury, and also the
evidence of Mr. Gibson and Mr. Jones as to the predominant symptoms in
his case. Vomitings produced by antimony would cause those symptoms. If
given in small quantities sufficient to cause vomiting it would not
affect the colour of the liquid in which it was mixed, whether brandy,
wine, broth, or water. It is impossible to form an exact judgment as to
the time when the antimony was administered, but it must have been
within two or three weeks, at the outside before death. There was no
evidence that any had been given within some hours of death. It might
leave a sensation in the throat--a choking sensation--if a large
quantity was taken at once. I found no trace of mercury during the
analysis. If a few grains had been taken recently before death I should
have expected to find some trace. If a man had taken mercury for a
syphilitic affection within two or three weeks I should have expected to
find it. It is very slow in passing out of the body. As small a quantity
as three or four grains might leave some trace. I recollect a case in
which three grains of calomel were given three or four hours before
death, and traces of mercury were found. Half a grain three or four days
before death, if favourably given, and not vomited, would, I should
expect, leave a trace. One grain would certainly do so. I heard the
evidence as to the death of Mrs. Smyth, Agnes French, and the other lady
mentioned, and also as to the attack of Clutterbuck.
From your own experience in reference to strychnine, do you coincide in
opinion with the other witnesses, that the deaths in those cases were
caused by strychnine?--Yes.
Did the symptoms in Cook’s case appear to be of a similar character to
the symptoms in those cases?--They did.
As a professor of medical science, do you know any cause in the range of
human disease except strychnine to which the symptoms in Cook’s case can
be referred?--I do not.
Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant SHEE: I mean by the word “trace” a very
small quantity, which can hardly be estimated by weight. I do not apply
it in the sense of an imponderable quantity. In chemical language it is
frequently used in that sense. An infinitesimal quantity would be called
“a trace.” The quantity of antimony that we discovered in all parts of
the body would make up about half a grain. We did not ascertain that
there was that quantity, but I will undertake to say that we extracted
as much as half a grain. That quantity would not be sufficient to cause
death. Only arsenic or antimony could have been deposited, under the
circumstances, on the copper, and no sublimate of arsenic was obtained.
[The witness, in reply to a further question, detailed the elaborate
test which he had applied to the deposit, in order to ascertain that it
consisted of antimony.]
Would a mistake in any one of the processes you have described, or a
defect in any of the materials you used, defeat the object of the
test?--It would, but all the materials I used were pure. Such an
accident could not have happened without my having some intimation of it
in the course of the process. I should think antimony would operate more
quickly upon animals than upon men. I am acquainted with the works of
Orfila. He stood in the highest rank of analytical chemists.
Did not Orfila find antimony in a dog four months after injection?--Yes;
but the animal had taken about 45 grains.
Mr. Serjeant SHEE called the attention of the witness to a passage in
Orfila’s work in reference to that case, to the effect that the antimony
was found accumulating in the bones, the liver contained a great deal,
and the tissues a very little.
Witness: Yes; when antimony has been long in the body it passes into the
bones; but I think you will find that these are not Orfila’s
experiments. Orfila is quoting the experiments of another person.
But is not that the case with nearly all the experiments referred to in
your own book?--No; I cannot say that.
Mr. Serjeant SHEE again referred to a case in _Orfila_, in which
forty-five grains were given to a dog, and three and a-half months after
death a quantity was found in the fat, and some in the liver, bones, and
tissues.
Witness: That shows that antimony gets into the bones and flesh, but I
never knew a case in which forty-five grains had been given, and I have
given no opinion upon such a case.
A pretty good dose is required to poison a person, I suppose?--That
depends on the mode in which it is given. A dog has been poisoned with
six grains. The dog died in the case you mentioned. When antimony is
administered, as it was in that case, the liver becomes fatty and
gristled. Cook’s liver presented no appearance of the sort. I should
infer that the antimony we found in Cook’s body was given much more
recently than in the experiments you have described. We cannot say
positively how long it takes to get out of the body, but I have known
three grains cleared out in twenty-four hours. I was first applied to in
this case on Thursday the 27th of November, by Mr. Stevens, who was
introduced to me by Mr. Warrington, Professor of Chemistry. Either then
or subsequently he mentioned Mr. Gardner. I had not known Mr. Gardner
before. I had never before been concerned in cases of this kind at
Rugeley.
Mr. Serjeant SHEE read the letter written by Dr. Taylor to Mr.
Gardner:--
“Chemical Laboratory, Guy’s Hospital, Dec. 4, 1855.
“Re J. P. Cook, Esq., deceased.
“Dear Sir,--Dr. Rees and I have completed the analysis to-day. We
have sketched a report, which will be ready to-morrow or next day.
“As I am going to Durham Assizes on the part of the Crown, in the
case of Reg. v. Wooler, the report will be in the hands of Dr.
Rees, No. 26, Albemarle-street. It will be most desirable that Mr.
Stevens should call on Dr. Rees, read the report with him, and put
such questions as may occur.
“In reply to your letter received here this morning, I beg to say
that we wish a statement of all the medicines prescribed for
deceased (until his death) to be drawn up and sent to Dr. Rees.
“We do not find strychnine, prussic acid, or any trace of opium.
From the contents having been drained away, it is now impossible to
say whether any strychnine had or had not been given just before
death; but it is quite possible for tartar emetic to destroy life
if given in repeated doses; and, so far as we can at present form
an opinion, in the absence of any natural cause of death, the
deceased may have died from the effects of antimony in this or some
other form.
“We are, dear Sir, yours faithfully,
“ALFRED S. TAYLOR.
“G. OWEN REES.”
Was that your opinion at the time?--It was. We could infer nothing else.
Have you not said that the quantity of antimony you found was not
sufficient to account for death?--Certainly. If a man takes antimony he
first vomits, and then a part of the antimony goes out of the body; some
may escape from the bowels. A great deal passes at once into the blood
by absorption, and is carried out by the urine.
Can you say upon your oath that from the traces in Cook’s body you were
justified in stating your opinion that death was caused by
antimony?--Yes perfectly and distinctly. That which is found in a dead
body is not the slightest criterion as to what the man took when he was
alive.
When you gave your opinion that Cook died from the effects of antimony
had you any reason to think that an undue quantity had been
administered?--I could not tell. People may die from large or small
quantities; the quantity found in the body was no criterion as to how
much he had taken.
May not the injudicious use of a quack medicine containing antimony, the
injudicious use of James’s powders, account for the antimony you found
in the body?--Yes; the injudicious use of any antimonial medicine would
account for it.
Or even their judicious use?--It might.
With that knowledge, upon being consulted with regard to Cook, you gave
it as your opinion that he died from the poison of antimony?--You
pervert my meaning entirely. I said that antimony in the form of tartar
emetic might occasion vomiting and other symptoms of irritation, and
that in large doses it would cause death, preceded by convulsions. [The
witness was proceeding to read his report upon the case, but was stopped
by the Court.] I was told that the deceased was in good health seven or
eight days before his death, and that he had been taken very sick and
ill, and had died in convulsions. No further particulars being given us,
we were left to suppose that he had not died a natural death. There was
no natural cause to account for death, and finding antimony existing
throughout the body, we thought it might have been caused by antimony.
An analysis cannot be made effectually without information.
You think it necessary before you can rely upon an analysis to have
received a long statement of the symptoms before death?--A short
statement will do.
You allow your judgment to be influenced by the statement of a person
who knows nothing of his own knowledge?--I do not allow my judgment to
be influenced in any way; I judge by the result.
Do you mean to state that what Mr. Stevens told you did not assist you
in arriving at the conclusion you state in writing?--I stated it as a
possible case, not as a certainty. If we had found a very large quantity
of tartar emetic in the stomach, we should have come to the conclusion
that the man had died from it; as we found only a small quantity, we
said he might have died from it. I attended the inquest on the body of
Mr. Cook. I think I first attended on the 14th of December. Some of the
evidence was read over to me. I think that Dr. Harland was the first
witness I heard examined. I heard Mr. Bamford examined, and also Lavinia
Barnes. I cannot say as to Newton. I heard Jones. I had experimented
some years ago on five of the rabbits I have mentioned; that is about
twenty-three years ago. That is the only knowledge of my own that I had
of the effect of strychnia upon animal life. I have a great objection to
the sacrifice of life. No toxicologist will sacrifice the lives of a
hundred rabbits to establish facts which he knows to be already well
established. I experimented upon the last rabbits since the inquest.
Do you not think that is a very slight experiment?--You must add to
experiment the study of poisons and cases.
Do not you think that a rabbit is a very unfair animal to select?--No.
Would not a dog be much better?--Dogs are very dangerous to handle. (A
laugh.)
Do you mean to give that answer?--Dogs and cats bear a greater analogy
to man because they vomit, while rabbits do not, but rabbits are much
more manageable.
Mr. Serjeant SHEE: I will take your answer that you are afraid of dogs.
Witness: After the experiments I have tried with dogs and cats, I have
no inclination to go on.
Do you admit that as to the action of the respiratory organs they would
be better than rabbits?--I do not.
As to the effect of the poison would they not?--I think a rabbit is
quite as good as any animal. The poison is retained and its operation is
shown. At the inquest I saw Mr. Gardner. I suggested questions to the
coroner. Some of them he put to the witnesses, and others they answered
upon my suggestion of them. Ten days before the inquest Mr. Gardner
informed me, in his letter, that strychnia, Batley’s solution, and
prussic acid had been purchased on the Tuesday; that is why I used the
expressions to which you have referred. We did not allow that
information to have any influence upon our report.
At the request of Mr. Serjeant SHEE, the deposition of this witness
taken at the coroner’s inquest was read by the Clerk of Arraigns.
Cross-examination continued: Having given my evidence I returned to
town, and soon afterwards heard that the prisoner had been committed on
a charge of wilful murder.
And that his life depended in a great degree upon you?--No; I simply
gave an opinion as to the poison, not as to the prisoner’s case. I knew
that I should probably be examined as a witness upon this trial.
Do you think it your duty to abstain from all public discussion of the
question which might influence the public mind?--Yes.
Did you write a letter to the _Lancet_?--Yes, to contradict several
misstatements of my evidence which had been made.
This letter, which appeared in the _Lancet_ of February 2, 1856, was put
in by Mr. Serjeant Shee and read by the Cleric of Arraigns. The
principal part of the letter referred to the case of Mrs. Ann Palmer;
the concluding paragraph, for which Mr. Serjeant Shee stated that he
desired it should be read, was as follows:--
“During the quarter of a century which I have now specially devoted
to toxicological inquiries, I have never met with any cases like
these suspected cases of poisoning at Rugeley. The mode in which
they will affect the person accused is of minor importance compared
with their probable influence on society. I have no hesitation in
saying that the future security of life in this country will mainly
depend on the judge, the jury, and the counsel who may have to
dispose of the charges of murder which have arisen out of these
investigations.”
Cross-examination continued: That is my opinion now. It had been stated
that if strychnia caused death it could always be found, which I deny.
It had also been circulated in every newspaper that a person could not
be killed by tartar emetic, which I deny, and which might have led to
the destruction of hundreds of lives. I entertain no prejudice against
the prisoner. What I meant was that if these statements which I have
seen in medical and other periodicals were to have their way, there was
not a life in the country which was safe.
Do you adhere to your opinion that “the mode in which they will affect
the person accused,” that is, lead him to the scaffold, “is of minor
importance, compared with their probable influence on society?”--I have
never suggested that they should lead him to the scaffold. I hope that,
if innocent, he will be acquitted.
What do you mean by “the mode in which they will affect the person
accused being of minor importance?”--The lives of 16,000,000 of people
are, in my opinion, of greater importance than that of one man.
That is your opinion?--Yes. As you appear to put that as an objection to
my evidence, allow me to state that in two dead bodies I find antimony.
In one case death occurred suddenly, and in the other the body was
saturated with antimony, which I never found before in the examination
of 300 bodies. I say these were circumstances which demanded
explanation.
You adhere to the opinion that, as a medical man and a member of an
honourable profession, you were right in publishing this letter before
the trial of the person accused?--I think I had a right to state that
opinion in answer to the comments which had been made upon my evidence.
Had any comments been made by the prisoner?--No.
Or by any of his family?--Mr. Smith, the solicitor for the defence,
circulated in every paper statements of “Dr. Taylor’s inaccuracy.” I had
no wish or motive to charge the prisoner with this crime. My duty
concerns the lives of all.
Do you know Mr. Augustus Mayhew, the editor of the _Illustrated
Times_?--I have seen him once or twice.
Did you allow pictures of yourself and Dr. Rees to be taken for
publication?--Be so good as to call them caricatures. No; I did not.
Mr. Serjeant SHEE: There may be a difference of opinion as to that. I
think it is very like.
Did you receive Mr. Mayhew at your house?--He came to me with a letter
of introduction from Professor Faraday. I never received him in my
laboratory.
Did you know that he called in order that you might afford him
information for an article in the _Illustrated Times_?--I swear solemnly
I did not. The publication of that article was the most disgraceful
thing I ever knew. I had never seen him before, nor did I know that he
was the editor of the _Illustrated Times_.
“On your oath?--On my oath. It was the greatest deception that was ever
practised on a scientific man. It was disgraceful. He called on me in
company with another gentleman, with a letter from Professor Faraday. I
received him as I should Professor Faraday, and entered into
conversation with him about these cases. He represented, as I
understood, that he was connected with an insurance company, and wished
for information about a number of cases of poisoning which had occurred
during many years. After we had conversed about an hour he asked if
there was any objection to the publication of these details. Still
believing him to be connected with an insurance-office, I replied that,
so far as the correction of error was concerned, I should have no
objection to anything appearing. On that evening he went away without
telling me that he was the editor of the _Illustrated Times_, or
connected with any other paper. I did not know that until he called upon
me on Thursday morning, and showed me the article in print. I
remonstrated verbally with him. He only showed me part of a slip. I told
him I objected to its publication, and struck out all that I saw
regarding these cases. He afterwards put the article into the shape in
which it appeared. I could not prevent his publishing the results of our
conversation on points not connected with these cases.”
You did permit him to publish part of the slip?--Nothing connected with
the Rugeley cases.
Did he show you the slip of “Our interview with Dr. A. Taylor?”--I do
not remember seeing that. I will swear that, to the best of judgment and
belief, he did not. He showed me a slip containing part of what appeared
in that article. I struck out all which referred to the Rugeley cases. I
thought I had been deceived. A person came with a letter of introduction
from a scientific man and extracted information from me.
Why did you not tell your servant to show him the door?--Until we had
had the conversation I did not know anything about the deception. It was
not until the Thursday morning that I knew he was connected with a
paper. He told me it was an illustrated paper.
Did you correct what he showed you?--I struck out some portions.
And allowed the rest to be published?--I said I had nothing to do with
it, but I objected to its publication.
Peremptorily?--No; I said, “I do not like this mode of putting the
matter. I cannot, however, interfere with what you put into your
journal.”
Did you not protest as a gentleman, a man of honour, and a medical man
that it was wrong and objectionable to do it?--I told him that I
objected to the parts which referred to the Rugeley cases. It was most
dishonourable.
Did you not know that in the month of February an interview with Dr.
Taylor on the subject of poison must be taken to apply to those
cases?--I did not think anything about it. I thought it was a great
cheat to extract from me that information. Mr. Mayhew was with me about
twenty minutes or half an hour on the Thursday morning. I remonstrated
with him. I was not angry with him in the sense of quarrelling.
Did you allow him to publish this--“Dr. Taylor here requested us to
state that, although the practice of secret poisoning appeared to be on
the increase, it should be remembered that by analysis the chemist could
always detect the presence of poison in the body?”--I did not request
him to state anything of the kind. I do not remember whether that was on
the slip. Had I seen it, I should have struck it out. I remember seeing
on the slip, “And that when analysis fails, as in cases where small
doses of strychnia had been administered, physiology and pathology would
invariably suffice to establish the cause of death.” I did not strike
that out. I did not think of it circulating among the class of persons
from whom jurors would be selected. I think the public ought to know
that chemical analyses are not the only tests on which they can rely. I
don’t remember the passage--“Murder by poison could be detected as
readily as murder in any other form, while the difficulty of detecting
and convicting the murderer was felt in other cases as well as in those
where poison was employed.” The article has been very much altered. It
was a disgraceful thing. I have not seen Mr. Mayhew since. Seeing in
_The Times_ an advertisement, stating that this information had been
given by me, I wrote to him demanding its withdrawal, and that demand
was complied with. That was on the Thursday or Friday.
Did you say to a gentleman named Cook Evans, that you would give them
strychnia enough before they had done, or words to that effect?--No; I
do not know the person.
Or to any one?--No. I never used any expression so vulgar and improper.
You have been greatly misinstructed.
Or, “He will have strychnia enough before I have done with him?”--It is
utterly false. The person who suggested that question to you, Mr.
Johnson, has been guilty of other falsehoods. In the letter to Sir
George Grey, and on other occasions, he has misrepresented my statements
and evidence.
What did you do with the medical report to which you referred?--It was a
private letter from Dr. Harland to Mr. Stevens.
Mr. Justice CRESSWELL: It was memoranda made by Dr. Harland at the time.
Cross-examination continued: Cook’s symptoms were quite in accordance
with an ordinary case of poisoning by strychnia.
Can you tell me of any case in which a patient, after being seized with
tetanic symptoms, sat up in bed and talked?--It was after he sat up that
Cook was seized with those symptoms.
Can you refer to a case in which a person who had taken strychnia beat
the bed with his or her arms?--It is exactly what I should expect to
arise from a sense of suffocation.
Do you know any case in which the symptoms of poisoning by strychnia
commenced with this beating of the bed-clothes?--There have been only
about fifteen cases, and in none of those was the patient seized in bed.
Beating of the bed-clothes is a symptom which may be exhibited by a
person suffering from a sense of suffocation, whether caused by
strychnia or other causes. A case has been communicated to me by a
friend, in which the patient shook as though he had the ague.
Mr. Serjeant SHEE objected to this last answer, but as the learned
Serjeant had been questioning the witness as to the results of his
reading,
The COURT ruled that the evidence was admissible.
Cross-examination continued: I have known of no case of poisoning by
strychnia in which the patient screamed before he was seized. That is
common in ordinary convulsions. In cases of poisoning by strychnia the
patient screams when the spasms set in; the pain is very severe. I
cannot refer to a case in which the patient has spoken freely after the
paroxysms had commenced.
Can you refer me to any case in an authentic publication in which the
access of the strychnia paroxysm has been delayed so long after the
ingestion of the poison, as in the case of Cook on the Tuesday
night?--Yes, longer. In my book on medical jurisprudence, page 185 of
the 5th edition, it is stated that in a case communicated to the
_Lancet_, August 31, 1850, by Mr. Bennett, a grain and a half of
strychnia, taken by mistake, destroyed the life of a healthy young
female in an hour and a-half. None of the symptoms appeared for an hour.
There is a case in which the period which elapsed was two hours and
a-half. It was not a fatal case, but that does not affect the question.
A grain and a-half is a full, but not a very considerable dose. In my
book on poisons there is no case in which the paroxysms commenced more
than half an hour after the ingestion of the poison. That book is eight
years old, and since 1848 cases have occurred. There is a mention of one
in which three hours elapsed before the paroxysms occurred.
Mr. Serjeant SHEE then referred to this case, and called attention to
the fact that the only statement as to time was that in three hours the
patient lost his speech, and at length was seized with violent tetanic
convulsions.
Cross-examination continued: I know of no other fatal case in which the
interval was so long. In that case there was disease of the brain.
Referring to the _Lancet_, I find that in the case to which I referred,
as communicated by Dr. Bennett, the strychnia was dissolved in cinnamon
water. Being dissolved, one would have expected it to have a more speedy
action. The time in which a patient would recover would depend entirely
upon the dose of strychnia which had been taken. I do not remember any
case in which a patient recovered in three or four hours, but such cases
must have occurred. There is one mentioned in my book on medical
jurisprudence. The patient had taken nux vomica, but its powers depend
upon strychnia. In that case the violence of the paroxysms gradually
subsided, and the next day, although feeble and exhausted, the patient
was able to walk home. The time of the recovery is a point which is not
usually stated by medical men. I cannot mention any case in which there
was a repetition of the paroxysms after so long an interval as that from
Monday to Tuesday night, which occurred in Cook’s case. I do not think
that the attack on Tuesday night was the result of anything which had
been administered to him on the Monday night. In the cases of four out
of five rabbits, the spasms were continued at the time of death and
after death. In the other the animal was flaccid at the time of death.
Are you acquainted with this opinion of Dr. Christison, that in these
cases rigidity does not come on at the time of death, but comes on
shortly afterwards?--Dr. Christison speaks from his experience, and I
from mine.
Did you hear that Dr. Bamford said, that when he arrived he found the
body of Cook quite straight in bed?--Yes.
Can that have been a case of ophisthotonos?--It may have been.
Are not the colour tests of strychnia so uncertain and fallacious that
they cannot be depended upon?--Yes, unless you first get the strychnia
in a visible and tangible form.
Is it not impossible to get it so from the stomach?--It is not
impossible; it depends upon the quantity which remains there.
You do not agree that the fiftieth part of a grain might be
discovered?--I think not.
Nor even half a grain?--That might be. It would depend upon the quantity
of food in the stomach with which it was mixed.
Re-examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL: In case of death from strychnia the
heart is sometimes found empty after death. That is the case of human
subjects. There are three such cases on record. I think that emptiness
results from spasmodic affection of the heart. I know of no reason why
that should rather occur in the case of man than in that of a small
animal like a rabbit. The heart is generally more filled when the
paroxysms are more frequent. When the paroxysm is short and violent, and
causes death in a few moments, I should expect to find the heart empty.
The rigidity after death always affects the same muscles--those of the
limbs and back. In the case of the rabbit, in which the rigidity was
relaxed at the time of death, it returned while the body was warm. In
ordinary death it only appears when the body is cold, or nearly so. I
never knew a case of tetanus in which the rigidity lasted two months
after death; but such a fact would give me the impression that there
were very violent spasms. It would indicate great violence of the spasms
from which the person died. The time which elapses between the taking of
strychnia and the commencement of the paroxysms depends on the
constitution and strength of the individual. A feeling of suffocation is
one of the earliest symptoms of poisoning by strychnia, and that would
lead the patient to beat the bed-clothes. I have no doubt that the
substances I used for the analysis were pure. I had tested them. The
fact that in three distinct processes each gave the same result, was
strong confirmation of each. I have no doubt that what we found was
antimony. The quantity found does not enable me to say how much was
taken. It might be the residue of either large or small doses. Sickness
would throw off some portion of the antimony, which had been
administered. We did not analyse the bones and tissues.
Why did you suggest questions to the coroner?--He did not put questions
which enabled me to form an opinion. I think that arose rather from want
of knowledge than from intention. There was an omission to take down the
answers. I made no observation upon that subject. At the time I wrote to
Mr. Gardner I had not learnt the symptoms which attended the attack and
death of Cook. I had only the information that he was well seven days
before he died, and had died in convulsions. I had no information which
could lead me to suppose that strychnia had been the cause of death,
except that Palmer had purchased strychnia. Failing to find opium,
prussic acid, or strychnia, I referred to antimony, as the only
substance found in the body. Before writing to the _Lancet_, I had been
made the subject of a great many attacks. What I said as to the
possibility or impossibility of discovering strychnia after death had
been misrepresented. In various newspapers it had been represented that
I had said that strychnia could never be detected--that it was destroyed
by putrefaction. What I said was, that when absorbed into the blood it
could not be separated as strychnia. I wrote the letter for my own
vindication.
Dr. G. O. REES, examined by Mr. E. JAMES, Q.C., said: I am Lecturer on
Materia Medica at Guy’s Hospital, and I assisted Dr. Taylor in making
the _post-mortem_ examination referred to by that gentleman; and he has
most correctly stated the result. I was present during the whole time,
and at the discovery of the antimony. I am of opinion that it may have
been administered within a few days, or a few hours, of Mr. Cook’s
death. All the tests we employed failed to discover the presence of
strychnia. The stomach was in a most unfavourable state for examination;
it was cut open, and turned inside out; its mucous surface was lying
upon the intestines, and the contents of the stomach, if there had been
any, must have been thrown among the intestines, and mixed with them.
These circumstances were very unfavourable to the hope of discovering
strychnia. I agree with Dr. Taylor as to the manner in which strychnia
acts upon the human frame, and I am of opinion that it may be taken,
either by accident or design, sufficient to destroy life, and no trace
of it be found after death. I was present at the experiments made by Dr.
Taylor upon the animals, and at the endeavour to detect it in the
stomachs afterwards. We failed to do so in three cases out of four. The
symptoms accompanying the death of the animals were very similar to
those described in the case of Mr. Cook. I have heard the cases that
have been mentioned in this Court, and the symptoms in every one of them
are analogous to those in the case of Mr. Cook.
Cross-examined by Mr. GROVE, Q.C.: I did not see either of the animals
reject any portion of the poison; but I heard that in one case the
animal did reject a portion. I have no facts to state upon which I
formed the opinion that the poison acts by absorption.
Professor BRANDE, examined by Mr. WELSBY: I am Professor of Chemistry at
the Royal Institution. I was not present at the analysis of the liver,
spleen, &c., of the deceased; but the report of Dr. Taylor and Dr. Rees
was sent to me for my inspection afterwards. I was present at one of the
analyses. We examined in the first place the action of copper upon a
very weak solution of antimony, and we ascertained that there was no
action until the solution was slightly acidified by muriatic acid and
heated. The antimony was then deposited, and I am enabled to state
positively that the deposit was antimony.
By the ATTORNEY-GENERAL: The experiment I refer to was made for the
purpose of testing the accuracy of the test that had already been
applied, and it was perfectly satisfactory.
Professor CHRISTISON said: I am a Fellow of the Royal College of
Physicians, and Professor of Materia Medica to the University of
Edinburgh; I am also the author of a work on the subject of poisons, and
I have directed a good deal of attention to strychnia. In my opinion,
it acts by absorption into the blood, and through that upon the nervous
system. I have seen its effects on a human subject, but not a fatal
case. I have seen it tried upon pigs, rabbits, cats, and one wild boar.
(A laugh.) I first directed my attention to this poison in 1820, in
Paris. It had been discovered two years before in Paris. In most of my
experiments upon animals I gave very small doses--a sixth of a grain;
but I once administered a grain. I cannot say how small a dose would
cause the death of an animal by administration into the stomach. I
generally applied it by injection through an incision in the cavity of
the chest. A sixth part of a grain so administered killed a dog in two
minutes. I once administered to a rabbit, through the stomach, a dose of
a grain. I saw Dr. Taylor administer three-quarters of a grain to a
rabbit, and it was all swallowed, except a very small quantity. The
symptoms are nearly the same in rabbits, cats, and dogs. The first is a
slight tremor and unwillingness to move; then frequently the animal
jerks its head back slightly; soon after that all the symptoms of
tetanus come on, which have been so often described by the previous
witnesses. When the poison is administered by the stomach, death
generally takes place between a period of five minutes and
five-and-twenty minutes after the symptoms first make their appearance.
I have frequently opened the bodies of animals thus killed, and have
never been able to trace any effect of the poison upon the stomach or
intestines, or upon the spinal cord or brain, that I could attribute
satisfactorily to the poison. The heart of the animal generally
contained blood in all the cases in which I have been concerned. In the
case of the wild boar the poison was injected into the chest. A third of
a grain was all that was used, and in ten minutes the symptoms began to
show themselves. If strychnia was administered in the form of a pill, it
might be mixed with other ingredients that would protract the period of
its operation. This would be the case if it were mixed with resinous
materials, or any materials that were difficult of digestion, and such
materials would be within the knowledge of any medical men, and they are
frequently used for the purpose of making ordinary pills. Absorption in
such a case would not commence until the pill was broken down by the
process of digestion.
In the present state of our knowledge of the subject, I do not think it
is possible to fix the precise time when the operation of the poison
commences on a human subject. In the case of an animal we take care that
it is fasting, and we mix the poison with ingredients that are readily
soluble, and every circumstance favourable for the development of the
poison. I have seen many cases of tetanus arising from wounds and other
causes. The general symptoms of the disorder very nearly resemble each
other, and in all the natural forms of tetanus the symptoms begin and
advance much more slowly, and they prove fatal much more slowly, and
there is no intermission in certain forms of natural tetanus. In tetanus
from strychnia there are short intermissions. I have heard the evidence
of what took place at the Talbot Arms on the Monday and Tuesday, and the
result of my experience induces me to come to the conclusion that the
symptoms exhibited by the deceased were only attributable to strychnia,
or the four poisons containing it. [The witness gave the technical names
of the poisons he referred to.] There is no natural disease of any
description that I am acquainted with to which I could refer these
symptoms. In cases of tetanus consciousness remains to the very last
moment. When death takes place in a human subject by spasm it tends to
empty the heart of blood. When death is the consequence of the
administration of strychnia, if the quantity is small, I should not
expect to find any trace in the body after death. If there was an excess
of quantity more than was required to cause the death by absorption, I
should expect to find that excess in the stomach. The colour tests for
the detection of the presence of strychnia are uncertain. Vegetable
poisons are more difficult of detection than mineral ones, and there is
one poison with which I am acquainted for which no known test has been
discovered. The stomach of the deceased was sent in a very
unsatisfactory state for examination, and there must have been a
considerable quantity of strychnia in the stomach to have enabled any
one to detect its presence under such circumstances.
Cross-examined.--The experiments I refer to were made many years ago. In
one instance I tried one of the colour tests in the case of a man who
was poisoned by strychnia, but I failed to discover the presence of the
poison in the stomach. I tried the test for the development of the
violet colour by means of sulphuric acid and oxide of lead. From my own
observation I should say that animals destroyed by strychnia die of
asphyxia, but in my work, which has been referred to, it will be seen
that I have left the question open.
Some further questions were put to the witness by the learned counsel
for the prisoner, in reference to opinions expressed by him in his work,
and he explained that this work was written twelve years ago, and that
the experience he had since obtained had modified some of the opinions
he then entertained.
Cross-examination continued.--I have not noticed that in cases where a
patient is suffering from strychnia the slightest touch appears to bring
on the paroxysm. It is so remarkably in the case of animals, unless you
touch them very gently indeed. Strychnia has a most intensely bitter
taste. It is said, on the authority of a French chemist, that a grain
will give a taste to more than a gallon of water. If resinous substances
were used in the formation of a pill it does not follow that they would
necessarily be found in the stomach; they might be passed off.
By the ATTORNEY-GENERAL: One of the cases referred to in the work that
has been referred to was that of a game-keeper, who was found dead; his
head was thrown back, his hands were clinched, and his limbs were rigid.
A paper containing strychnia was found in his pocket, and upon a
_post-mortem_ examination there were indications which, under the
circumstances, satisfied him of the existence of strychnia. There was a
substance in the body of an intense bitter, which was tested by the
colour test, and it succeeded in one instance, but failed in another. I
have no doubt that colour-tests are not to be relied on.
The trial was then again adjourned at six o’clock, until the following
(Tuesday) morning, at ten o’clock. The jury were taken, as on the former
occasions, to the London Coffee-house, in the charge of the officers of
the court.