On Sunday the 27th of March, 1808, at noon, _Dr. Rutter_ was desired
by the Coroner of Liverpool to take with him an experienced surgeon to
the house of _Mr. Charles Angus_, and there to examine the body of a
young lady who had died suddenly.
The examination was made at two o’clock the same day, by _Mr. Hay_, a
surgeon in Liverpool, with his apprentice, in company with _Dr.
Rutter_ and _Dr. Gerard_; and the following report on the subject was
presented to the coroner in writing.
“On our arrival at the house, we were introduced into a parlour, where
we found _Mr. Angus_, with some other persons to us unknown; and we
delivered to him the note from the coroner as the authority under
which we acted. Upon perusing it, he expressed perfect willingness
that the examination should be made. We were then introduced into the
room up stairs, were the body of the deceased was laid. After having
removed the body, a small stain of blood was observed on the sheet of
the bed on which it had laid; and the pillow was stained with a fluid
which had issued from the head. The body being laid on a table, a
large quantity of a thin yellowish fluid poured out from the nostrils,
and was collected in vessels. No marks of external violence were
discovered on the body; nor was there any appearance of commencing
putrefaction. The nails of the fingers were of a bluish colour; and
the veins on the external surface of the _abdomen_ or belly appeared
to be much enlarged. At this period we were joined by _Mr. Christian_,
surgeon. On opening the _abdomen_, a considerable quantity of fluid
was found to have been effused into that cavity, similar in colour and
smell to that which issued from the nostrils, but more turbid. Marks
of inflammation were found on the external or peritoneal coat of
different portions of the small intestines; but the large intestines
were free from it. The external coat of a part of the smaller
curvature of the stomach was also inflamed; and a similar appearance
of inflammation was observed on a small portion of the anterior edge
of the liver, directly over the smaller curvature of the stomach. On
raising up the stomach, an opening through its coats was found in the
anterior and inferior part of its great curvature; and from this
opening a considerable quantity of a thick fluid of a dark olive
colour issued; of which fluid some ounces were collected and
preserved. The natural structure of the coats of the stomach for a
considerable space around this opening was destroyed; and they were so
soft, pulpy, and tender, that they tore with the slightest touch.
Around this part of the coats of the stomach, there were no traces of
inflammation whatever. The stomach was then taken out of the body; and
its inner surface was carefully washed; and the contents washed out
were preserved. A quantity, about three ounces, of a fluid resembling
that in the stomach, but not quite so thick, was also taken out of one
of the small intestines, and preserved.
“On examining the womb, it was found to be very considerably enlarged,
and, on its inner surface, the part to which the _Placenta_, or
after-birth, had adhered, was very plainly discernible. This part was
nearly circular, and occupied a space of about four inches in
diameter. The mouth of the womb was greatly dilated. In a word, the
appearances of the womb were such as might have been expected a few
hours after the birth of a child nearly full grown.
“The fluid taken out of the stomach and intestines, and cavity of the
_Abdomen_, as well as that collected from the nostrils, was taken
away: and, afterwards, in the course of the same day, examined, and
subjected to various trials, with a view to discover the presence of
such mineral substances as were likely to produce appearances or
effects similar to those which were found in the stomach of the
deceased. In this examination, we thought it right to request the
assistance of _Dr. Bostock_. The contents of the stomach were, as has
already been mentioned, of a dirty olive colour, thick, and of an acid
smell. A considerable number of large globules of a dark coloured,
dense, oily fluid, floated upon them; but no particular smell that we
could discover. We could not discover, in the contents of the stomach,
by the smell, the presence of any known vegetable substance, capable
of producing deleterious effects when introduced into it. The fluid
contained in the stomach deposited no sediment; nor was any but a
mucous sediment found in the water with which the inner surface of the
stomach was washed. Upon subjecting the contents of the stomach, in
the state in which we found them, to such tests as are deemed
sufficient to detect the presence of any active preparation of Mercury
or Arsenic, we could not detect either of these substances. The
contents of the stomach were then filtered, and subjected to the same
trials, but with the same result. These trials were made at _Dr.
Bostock’s_, in the presence of _Dr. Gerard_ and _Dr. Rutter_.”
The substance of this report was afterwards delivered, in evidence, on
the trial; and the following additional circumstances stated.
“The preternatural opening in the stomach was larger than a crown
piece; but _Mr. Hay_ thinks he may have increased it in drawing down
the stomach, as it was nearly in the centre of the disorganized
portion, where the coats were thin, soft, and semi-transparent. The
stomach was nearly full of the fluid described, but not distended. The
intestines also contained a great deal of a similar fluid; and the
internal villous coat of the duodenum was slightly inflamed, while its
external coat was also more inflamed than that of the other
intestines.”
In consequence of the suspicious circumstances attending the death of
_Miss Burns_, _Charles Angus_ was indicted for her murder; but, after
a trial which occupied the court from eight o’clock on Friday morning,
until three on Saturday, the 2d of September, 1808, the prisoner was
acquitted.
The medical defence, conducted by _Dr. Carson_, and which savoured
more of the ingenuity of the forensic pleader, than the justice of the
honest inquirer after truth, rested upon the following grounds, viz.
1. The appearances of the stomach upon dissection are to be reconciled
upon the supposition of the dissolution of its coats having taken
place, _after death_, in consequence of the action of the gastric
fluid. 2. The symptoms which preceded death were not such as accompany
corrosive poisoning. 3. No poisonous substance was detected in the
body. 4. The appearance of the uterus does not justify the conclusion
that a delivery had recently taken place; such a dilated state of the
organ, had it lately parted with a placenta, must have occasioned
death by hemorrhage, or it must have been found gorged with coagulated
blood. 5. The appearances may be reconciled by supposing that an
expulsion of hydatids had taken place.
We must not omit to state, that in consequence of the intense interest
excited by this trial, the ovaria were subsequently examined, when a
_corpus luteum_ was discovered.
We cannot conclude this account without expressing a regret that
several important sources of information should have been neglected.
The omitting to inspect the appendages of the uterus, to examine the
œsophagus, the chest, and the head, and to analyse the membranes of
the stomach, are instances of inattention, for which it is not easy to
find an excuse. May they furnish a salutary lesson for future
anatomists.
Footnote 192:
Med. Leg. vol. ii, p. 315.
Footnote 193:
This appearance is particularly mentioned by _Juvenal_ as an effect of
poison.
“Per famam et populum _nigros_ efferre maritos.”—_Sat._ i, _v._ 72.
The reader will remember, that we have already stated our opinion,
that the poisons of the ancients were of a vegetable origin.
Footnote 194:
Dissertatio Inauguralis de effectibus Arsenici in varios Organismos,
nec non de Indicus quibusdam Veneficii ab Arsenicoillati. Quam præside
_C. F. Kielmayer_ publicé defendet, Jan. 1808, Auctor _Georg_: _Fred_:
_Jäeger_, Stuttgardianus. A very full analysis of this Essay was
published by Dr. _Siegwart_ in _Gehlen’s_ Chemical and Physical
Journal; and which afterwards found its way into the Edinburgh Medical
and Surgical Journal, no. xxv, Jan. 1811.
Footnote 195:
Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, no. XX.
Footnote 196:
Epist. lix, 3.
Footnote 197:
_Patrick Ogilvy_ and _Catharine Nairne_ were indicted for incest, and
the murder, by Arsenic, of _Thomas Ogilvy_, brother of the said
_Patrick_, and husband of the said _Nairne_. This celebrated Scotch
trial commenced at Edinburgh, on Monday the 12th of August at seven in
the morning, and the court continued setting until about two on
Tuesday morning, when the Jury being inclosed, it adjourned until
Wednesday at four o’clock in the afternoon. They were both found
guilty. After several respites _Ogilvy_ was executed. _Nairne_ escaped
from prison, and was never afterwards heard of.
Footnote 198:
Camp: Elys:
Footnote 199:
Edinb. Med. and Surg. Journ. no. xvii.
Footnote 200:
Ibid. no. xxvi.
Footnote 201:
Ibid. no. lxxi, for April, 1822.
Footnote 202:
_Mr. Marshall_, in his account of the symptoms of _Mr. Robert Turner_,
who was poisoned by _Eliza Fenning_, states, “On examination I
discovered a very remarkable irregularity of surface, occasioned by
the spasmodic contractions of the muscles of the abdomen, and even of
the viscera; this unevenness extended from the epigastric region to
the pubes, and to the right and left hypochondrium.”
Footnote 203:
Nothing can be more strikingly illustrative of the characteristic
appearances which distinguish the effects of violence during life,
from those which result from putrefaction as described at page 181.
Footnote 204:
The author refers the reader to the first volume of his
_Pharmacologia_, page 124, _note_. In addition to what he has there
observed it may be stated, that many fallacies have arisen in
pharmacology, from deducing conclusions respecting the effects of
remedies upon inferior animals. One example will suffice.—Several
substances have gained the reputation of Styptics, from the effects
which have followed their application to the wounded and bleeding
vessels in the extremities of the horse and ass; whereas the fact is
that the blood-vessels of these animals possess a power of contraction
which does not exist in those of man, and to which the cessation of
the hemorrhage, fallaciously attributed to the styptic, is to be
wholly attributed.
Footnote 205:
See Appendix, page 272.
Footnote 206:
Toxocologie Générale considérée, sous les Rapports de la Physiologie,
de la Pathologie, et de la Medicine légale. Paris, 1815. This work has
been faithfully translated into English by _John Walker_, in two
volumes. London, 1817.
Footnote 207:
De Sed. et Caus. Morb. per Anat. indag. Epist. 59, 18.
Footnote 208:
See the interesting trial of _Michael Whiting_, for administering
poison to _George_ and _Joseph Langman_, of Downham, in the Isle of
Ely, at the Assizes holden at Ely on Wednesday, March 4th, 1822,
before _Edward Christian, Esq._ Chief Justice of the Isle. The
prisoner was convicted and executed.
Footnote 209: