The Northern Daily Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-05-20 00:00:00

I MPERIAL PARLIAMENT. rr ROUSE OF LORDS.—MONDAY 'he Rouse met at five o'clock. II " THE IRISH ECCLESIASTICAL COURTS. ' 4lll ' OF Dolzotraimoitz asked whether it was the %lonof the government to abolish the Ecclesiast i c al 4tlit of Ir e l and. 4 t 0141 14 ,, tb CHANCELLOR said it was not intended to to tirt ; 'an court, but i t was c ontemplated , to establish a tno t i: u lar to that proposed for this country for matri -117 and divorc e matters. National Gallery Bill was read a first time. F ails PUNIIHMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. tile at , , 141411 0 PE moved for a select committee to consider '°r substituting penal servitude for transportation. LAW OF PRIVATEBRINO. Art is "leREsTER fixed his motion in reference to that toe th t he Parii protocol which relates to the maritime law ncxt. "cared'— th 41 of ELGIN drew attention to a letter which ap -414, e Papers from the Under Secretary for Foreign io ati 6 t) tie representative of C osta Ri ca i n this country, r to an appli ca ti o n for arms, an I asked whether it 0,13 a genuine document? The United States were as anxi it : 4 ,1 4 ' 4 country for the protection of their subjec ts, and 4 been , 110 , -YestA that they should unite for the CENTRAL AMERICA, 11 i e ,1 41 ( if MXLMESBURY asked whether Circassia had tis a ° the Briti s h Minister at Constantinople for protec ,thagaiust Russi an aggress ion ? l the 1 41 Of CLA.RENDON said that no representations on the ei —je2t had been made to the British Government, but Itibi2 4BBi alas bad addressed a letter to the Queen on the Ti ~arl STATE OF INDIA. •of ALBEMARLE moved for a select com mittee to 4 11 ''' Into the state of the Indian territories. lqtim : 14°1101 1 was opposed by Earl GRANVILLE, and, after ttri l f etl o ar ks from the Earl ol ELLENBOR.OUGH and the L IItENnoN, was negatived without a division. would not be felt. The original army estimates for the year were, £34,919,000, but they had been reduced by £14,251.000. For the navy the original estimate was £19,876,000, which had since been reduced by £16,568,000. The total estimate for the service was therefore £37,315,000, instead of £54,878,000, as presented, before showing a total reduction of £17,559,000. The treaty of peace was not signed until after the passing of the convention with the Sardinian Bill, and her Majesty's government, consider ing the gallantry of the. Sardinian troops and the expendi ture Sardinia had been put to, proposed that a second sum of £4,000,000 should be advanced. The esti mated expenditure for the coming year sv as from funded debt £27,635,000 ; unfunded debt, £1,025,000 ; permanent charges on the consolidated fund, £1,750,000 ; army, £20,747,000; navy, £3,560,000; civil service, £6,800,000; which, including the cost of collect ing the revenue, made up a total of £75,525,000. He proposed to ask the House to allow him a margin of £2,000,000, in the shape of exchequer bills, which would make the total estimate £77,525,000. As to the revenue, the income tax would be continued, at 15 6d in the pound, for another year, according to the act of parliament, and from this source he expected £16,000,000. The act operated differently with regard to coffee and sugar. The tea duty would continue, till April Ist, at is 91 per lb.; from April Ist, 1857, till April, 1858, at is 3d per lb. ; and, after that date, the duty would be fixed at is. The right hon. baronet proceeded to refer to the duties on sugar nod coffee, in which he stated the gradual reduction accord ing to the act of parliament, and afterwards to the duties on malt and spirits, in which no alteration whatever was proposed. Upon this subject he entered into a comparison of the consumption of each article in each year from 1835 to 1855, showing that in tea, while in 1835 the amount consumed was 36,574,000 lbs., in 1855 it reached 63,000,000 lbs., that the consumption of coffee in the same period incrcasd from 23,000,000 lbs. to 35,000,000 lbs., and that the consumption of spirits showed a decrease as between 24,000,000 gallons in 1835, and 24,000,000 gallons in 1855. In conclusion, he observed, there was a total defecit of £6,800,000, to meet which he had contracted a loan of 5,000,000 and proposed to raise £2,000,000 be means of exchequer bills, and he further proposed, in addition to this, to take a margin of £2,000,000. The financial statement was commenced in a full house, but was concluded in a house of scarcely forty members. It lasted two hours, and scarce a cheer was elicited. Some discussion took place upon the various matters connected with the finance, in which Mr. M. GinsoN, Mr. DISRAELI, Mr. GLADSTONE, Sir 11. WILLOUGHBY, Mr. H. INGRAM, and others participated. The various resolutions carrying into effect the propositions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, were then put and carried, after which the house resumed, The Fire Insurance Bill, after a long discussion, and a division, in which the numbers were, for going into com mittee, 172, against it, 31, majority, 141, passed through MARRIAGE LA.NT AMEN DMENT. t 0 4)14 13 nouon.tm, in moving that the House should go tit ato e° nraittee on the Marriage Law Amendment bill, that he had withdrawn two classes relating to divorce tror l l d egitil:a ntY, and added that the bill in its present state 146 ,' n ot alte r th e marr i a ge laws in Scotland, but would t 4t e vasions by the conflicting laws of the two 4111 tri„ . Lord CA MPBELL tte „ if A mPBELL believed that the measure would add to T e ii ; u sion that al r eady existed. 11: 1 ' 41 Of ALBERMARLE approved of the bill. roeasure then went through committee. lev Proceedings of the Justices of the Peace (Scotland) T , 43 , read a second time. aeir I.nrdships rose at half-past seven o'clock. Tie ~ Q II °U . SE OF COMMONS.—AIONDAY P EA ER took the chair at four o'clock. PRIVATE BUSINESS. 4,Antrim and Coleraine Roads Bill, t he Eastern Union tow ia l Y Bill, th e Gl asgow C o urt Aiouse Bill, and the Glas a'ing Bill were read a third time and passed. SLIGO ELECTION. ~The m e mbers appointed to serve on the Sligo Election mlDittee Were called to the table, and sworn. r „ THE BANDS 1N THE PARKS. top., ‘ 'P L Y to questions from Mr. OTWAY and Mr. Lora p ALltaan)ri said that the bands playing in Ken ° n'gardens and the Parks, on Sundays, were stopped e°llse quenee of representations from th e Archbishop of 1: 41)111 7. But he (Lord Palmerston) still retained ° P il lion as to the advantages o f the arrange r4t4, e which he had felt it his duty to abandon. No i: 43t ion of Scotch members wait ed u p on him on the it enia _ 4eet . The prohibition of the bands appli ed onl y to --u gt° l l-gardens and the metropolitan parks. THE CAMPS , 1, -6 1 11 1 to Mr. HUME, PEEL said that it was the intention of the govern mentto continue the camp on the Curr a g h, county of are. THE DM , RNCE OF KARS. r e .DDii to Mr. ,aLIVEIRA, td .kr , .IIERSTON said the government wished, in the klo i of t he gallant defenders of Kars , to a ct conformably in ts t 4 "2 ") and there was no precedent for the extending of b,_ teards as had been conferred upon Ganeral Williams, "load the comin an di n g officers. committee. The other business was disposed of, and the House adjourned at one o'clok. CHARITY COMMISSION.—The Queen has been pleased to appoint the Right Hon. Matthew Talbot Baines to he the Fourth Charity Commissioner for England and Wales, in the room of the Right Honourable Lord John Russell. ST. ANNE'S DISPENSARY AND EYE AND EAR INSTITU TION, 9, ROSE-HlLL.—Week ending May 17.—New patients entered on the books last week, viz—Relieved at the institution, 174 ; relieved at their own dwellings, 6 t ; cases of prevailing epidemic, 0 ; total, 235. Visitors, Mr. E. Watts, Mr. T. Kirk. Hon Sec. and treasurer, Joseph Kitchen, Esq. JUSTICE INEXORABLE.--•M‘Donnell, the swell-mobs' man, who was last week sentenced, by the magistrates to three months' imprisonment, appealed against the decision to the Deputy Recorder ; but that learned judge, not only confirmed the de , igion of the magistrates, but condemned the prisoner to pay the costs of the appeal, which, we are told, will amount to something like £l4. LIVERPOOL ROYAL INFIRMARY.—Week ending May 17, 1866.—Admitted : In-patients, 47 ; out-patients, 6 ; casuals during week, D. Discharged : In-patients cured, 17 ; relieved, and at own request, 7 ; made out-patients, 8 ; irregular, 1 ; dead, 3 ; remain in the house, 172. House visitors : Lawrence Peel, and: Joseph Matthews, Esqrs. Physician and surgeon for ensuing week : Dr. Turnbull and Mr. Long. House surgeon : Mr. G. B Halford. Junior house surgeon : Mr. Cecil Webster Chaplain : Rev. H. J. Garrod, B.A. Robert Hutchison treasurer IMPUDENT FELONY. — The halls of justice in Liverpoo have been desecrated I The thief has not confined him self to the dark alleys and lonely spots where policemen show their face—no, he has boldly entered the very foun tain of justice, and plundered it of a hat! Mr. Thomas, one of the ushers of the Police Court, and who also acts as Welsh interpreter, left his " bran new hat"—a guinea one, too—in his room in the lobby of the court, and some vile snapper, in a brief period, went off with it—not even leav ing a " shocking bad one" in its place. The fellow is known. A learned advocate, whose business in the court is ex'ensive, on hearing of the felony, at once presented Mr. Thomas with a new hat, to make good his loss. THE HOLIDAYS. —GREAT INFLUX. OF PEOPLE INTO TOWN. —During the poet week, the holiday folk from all parts of Lancashire and the adjoining counties poured into town in great numbers, but it was reserved for Saturday to bring in tens of thousands of visitors from all quarters. We imagined that the prodigious number of people who 41 san visited us on Monday could not be equalled, but Saturday's The visitors eclipsed those of Monday in extent. The streets e e sssof seas e meson of the EXCHEQUER then rose to pre- in the business portion of the town, the docks, and their his 0, • that financial st a tement. He reminded the committee localities were literally crammed with human being. he I s In the Prince's 13 )ck there was much attraction for the bes sf ad at the end of February last stated the difference visitors, in the shape of that splendid Australian vessel 4 , 40 e ta the revenue and expenditure of last year, and the the " British Trident," belonging to the " Liverpool Line" the s : f ilta a ctually realised, and observed that it would not of packets,' as she was of t f h o r u o r w t n h, le a n a t d o p t e h r e so i n n s sp w e e c n ti t o t n hre f u t o he am h °l6 be necessary to trouble the house with a repetition, peeorplfer,oamndtouppwards tobottem during the day. The Landing ereee a Would confine himself to stating that the receipts n stage and ferry boats were, as is usual on such occasions, p ew somewhat less than was anticipated, and the ex- crowded, and the railway stations d were not . less so. the 44 eatcture had been somewhat greater, and he had shown early partb etfathhentdnaoyonwathsewsnetnashonuenpornotmtishiengrafionr ceased,excnr- I,ltd moved deficiency of £3,560,000. To cover this he a ti nd ru a st fi s' ne stiff breeze set in which lasted till night. Every- Os this a resolution for a loan, in consols, of £5,000,000• thing went off quietly. tis k 14 sum £3,500,000 were received last year, and the PASSENGERS PER R.M.S. ARABIA, FROM BOSTON TO k a , r eceived in the present year had been £1,500,00 0 , HALIFAX AND LIVERPOOL. Mr. Graves and lady nurse , ee It, y, 14 h„ . i r the total amount of the loan. In addition to this, and s child, Mrs. S. 0. Ward, — Mrs. S. P. Bidder and child, Mr. Qaancv A. Shaw, Mr. G. H. Shaw and lady, two 1'417 submi tted a plan, which had received the assent of servants and two children, Rev. H. de Roven, lady, child, eh k s a alent, for providing a sum of £3,000,000 of ex- and two servants, Messrs. Quental, A T. l‘ lS ias r hego;k ei l - f t . zfi e Sever- Prol4eCcir bills. This had been carried into effect, and had toe anti da isi ll s etsr, B E ;rr li e rrn iv e t t r ro n g . , E Martin ' and lady, Misses 185 6.5 s uccessful. The revenue of the financial year, Donnas, Efiler Messrs. P. Donald, D. Morguerd, J. Hilton, J. ttlB,426sLwas £65,705,000, and the expenditure was D. Hall, Willianastone and two daughters, Mrs. Dyer tee ssm :" ° °, showing an excess of expenditure over and servant, Mr. J. B. Donnas, Mr. T John n a Brooke, of stl,o o - c e i of £22,723,000, which was exclusive of a sum of ;Messrs. J. on N. ad aw eh to il n, ; d J. Mites li s il . at ii, Bradford Dr. Dr. E. ;II •t2es 0 : 1: , :100 paid by way of loan to Sardinia, and of I s I‘ Clark and lady ; Messrs. E. Kelly, E. S. Milton, S. G. this e ' x Y° redemption of hereditary pensions. To cover Grafton, J. T. Burr, Landon C. Haskeu, F. Zamern, E. the eas s of expenditure, £26,478,000 had been raised by F. Lebrun, M. Frankenthat, or J. G. i E ti 7 l taf i‘ a a n ;e E irs . , S4l , o D m o a u ng: left : all and by exchequer bonds and exchequer bills, which Iligelen,ePr.aill3desisaidnygeriiiss sg leeper Messrs. J. H. Sleeper, sioa r si s sura of £2,542,000 to be accounted for. This was a .1 B. J. lt ) lanby, S. S. Lewis and two daughters, Messrs. R. is the matter, On the 31st of March, 1856, the balance Revnolde, S. Law , son, A. Nelson, J. Lailey and lady, Mr. D. t3g 4 e ex chequer was £5,600,000, and in 1855 . it was wKay, Kahn, l Se r nm ar b „ e iregJ.JelKoesesrell.ltelissußaichaarrdd.s,AMirra.. saes of AO, and to this latter amount was to be added a L. D I, . 0 anweanndlin.fant, Miss A. Pli p elp , s, Mr. C. A. g Scott, Miss Th e I" £ 1 , 0 00,000 advanced in anticipation of the revenue. 41.65 ,1 11 , ) °16 War expenditure during the two years, was Isiliacriamllodgetts, Mr. Thomas Williams, Miss Jane Tresi home, Mr. Benjamin \V. Rogers, Mrs. Jones j and two 'hit, ' 1 '" 0 , including the loan to Sardinia, childrer, Messrs. 5. Carry, Thomas Blanquit,_ g, W Whithead ve A n' Peace, the expenditure during the two years of W. Wright and . lady; a h her e ,. 1854 and 1855, was £102,032,000. The ,helol,mLaasylefo,rLanoutsl rs jo ß n Miiie u r, n- M. Legrand, I. Jacob., lady and y Child, Howe, D. Christy, Dortolla, Na ll -e , a the revenue from taxation in the two th ere ° the D. B. Cliff, Louis Qrengo, Miss Copeman, Messrs. Marvin, war was £17,118,000, and during that period Appleton, Lauder, Xaynes, Rev. Frith, Mrs. Stow, i J. M h ra n . za 3 6 1141 been added to the funded and unfunded debt Dowding, two fem_ale ser s vants, t child, a ß nd4n a fan n t e , r ll a r n . _ o mr. tso 'Q4 ' °44° . Thus the total receipt in the two years was illeach . lan, Mr. E, F. tewar. , Mr. rd , d " 86 ,000 L. Pottier. ''Pith te beyond the ordinary revenue, as compared SCENE IN THE UNITED STATES SENATE. —During a that ste two preceding years of peace, and the result was, debate on the slavery question in the United States Senate, eve r tia sum available for the war, during the first year, on the 2nd inst, an excited stchenre side o of f la t t w A h t i l c a h nt h ie as cau m se r d . see essd Peace expenditure, was £56,772,000, while on the sore Hale, alluding amusement t o o , the what, he e said, were grossly personal - U N year it was £24,500,000 in excess of the expendi- attaers on him in Mr. Clay's recent speech, remarked that That during the year of peace, immediately preceding. be had but one word to submit in reply, that it will take l i tiri ' ,, rnade a total of £77,58 8 ,000 for war expenditure somet t hing m b r es6sli l e a s malignity (. totorelelliesezeitinbreecaitiliytyefro c itsclndjonl ue the two years of the war. The American tdeenflithe senator's y ma s fi r c l e n Fts in guch as I contemn his baseness. oartile lasted six' years, and added £1,024,000,00 0 No man shall assail my rights, or those of my constituents, eta nati onal debt, whereas the war with R uss i a a dded an d shirk his responsibility by skulking behind the plea of lledr, Y ie iitr£l.olll2,obt o g oo to the funded and unfunded debt, the non-combahtanhcY'he plrldheessweserieleawniomulaatednolt;L,Teousepohnert94iics principally to the unfunded debt. After feelingsn which under the protection of its rules, seek immunity of refraining to the policy of the government during the war, for his insolence. I know he is pleased by this attention. Th e ; lin ing from adding fresh burthens upon the people lo,,i l glst h„ . ) There are those of biz class who, like t the l o so r ndo k rl c a c ttorney, baronet expressed a hope that the amicable Mark Meddle, in the play, are havrabLimouarskifn, a that l hesenlesaad ,erl: °as with America would remain undisturbed, and he t n io o i t rl n Mr. e Cl t aoysacortiocluthat senator, having twice declined N), I r i ndsd the committee that all the money asked for the his acfsu rn ia o n r tapee, ) a l nd he asked pardon of the senate for ,N,`' h eel not been expended on the war, but had been made consuming so much time about a sena p to l r e wlr a s t oils_th a e d ~ ,,,4 , 11 1_ le for the improvement of the army and navy, and carpet upon which he treads. My. Bale replied o d ne l2 o he h end that 1 , ) ,,1 :01 thee be of permanent benefit to the country. H e n w e a y s e r o sou a ,r g o b fe t an i introduction r M r t . h e Clay h bat ;ear,proceecled to the estimated expenditure for the coming I nc& of a citizen of Alabama. l - s M l° r n . aCtay business rejoined that be did not think his ._,.; _ remarking that the present year must be looked upon reputation for veracity would suffer by_ cemparis m with Rne . who bad repeatedly eaten his own words. D.lr. ITale i ; "._, t leally as a year of war, extensive preparations having _l'u made for another campaign had it being necessary, replied that, if he did eat his own words, he would have a more a d that till another year had passed the benefit of peace palatable meal than the senator from Alabama if lie should undertake to eat his. (Laughter.) IteD STAFF O FFICERS. LO a question from Sir De Lacy EVANS, ila ve PEEL said, he thought staff officers should either s 4 „ "Pensation for their buying hors3s, or have te i 4l4 allowed to bring them home, and believed Pe nt e ! ra Ph message had been sent to the Crimea to pre - ` u e recent order on the subject being acted upon. THE BUDGET. Tile house haring gone into committee of ways and THE RUGELEY POISONINGS. TRIAL OF PALMER AT THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. (FROM OUR OWN REPORTER) FIFTH DAY. LONDON, MONDAY The trial was resumed this morning at ten o'clock, when the judges took their seat precisely at that hour. Long before the time arrived for the commencement of the trial the court was crowded in every part, and even increased interest was manifested by the public. There were from two to three hundred medical gentlemen pre sent who had, no doubt, come to hear the evidence of Dr. Taylor. Mr. Baron Alderson was not present at the opening of the proceedings, being engaged in the House of Lords, giving his judgment, along with several other of the judges, on the Fermoy peerage. Lord Campbell and Mr. Justice Cresswell alone pro ceeded with the case. The prisoner looked rather pale, and during the day a strong nervous twitching of the lower muscles of the face bespoke the intense anxiety which he endured. The jury having re-assembled, The Attorney-General called Professor Taylor, who, having been sworn, said—My name is Alfred Swaine Taylor. lam a Professor at Guy's Hospital, and a Fel low of the College of Physicians. Lord Campbell: Let your statements be slow and tests. Strychnia has a strong bitter taste. Another test is that strychnia is nearly soluble in water ; it is is soluble in acid and in alcohol. It is precipitated by acid when it has been dissolved in them. The colour test is applied to the evaporations. A mixture of strong sulphuric acid and bi-chromate of potass produces a blue colour changing to a violet, then aaurple, and passing to a red. These colouring tests are very fallacious. When we have separated strychnia in its crystaline state, we have recognised the crystals by their form and their chemical qualities. You may produce all the symptoms by introduciug strychnine into a punctured wound ; it operates in that case more quickly. There are other vegetable substances which will exhibit similar results after the colouring tests. A mixture of sugar and bile will produce the purple red tint. A substance called phyrozantin produces precisely similar colours as strychnine. I have known cases occur in my own laboratory of persons thinking ;that they had strychnia when it was only phyrozantlu. A small quantity of salucine added, gives the mixture a bitter taste. Vegetable poisons are more difficult to discover than mineral ones. In the rabbits I have destroyed, I have tried to discover the strength of the strychnia in four distinct cases. I was assisted by Dr. Rees. I applied the processs I have just described. I endeavoured to reproduce the strychnia if present, and then applied those coloury tests I have mentioned. In one case by the colour tests I had given two grains of strychnia, when it was discovered by the colour test in the other case, I had given one grain. I attribute the absence of strychnia in some of the cases to its absorption into the blood, and therefore it would be no longer in the stomach. It is in great part changed in the blood. In some cases there would be a retention of some not absorbed, there being an excess of what was required to destroy life. Supposing the minimum dose given, I should not expect to discover any, if it was required to destroy life. There is no process by which I am acquainted with of detect ing strychnine in the tissues. Half a grain has destroyed life, and supposing it to be absorbed in the system by circulation I should find in the blood, assuming that it be 251 b. in the human subject, there would be 1-50th of a grain to 11b. of blood. A physician in Canada died in twenty minutes from a dose of half a grain. I believe it undergoes a partial change in the blood. I have never heard of its being separated from the tissues in a crys talised state. The crystrals are peculiar in form. They present themselves in the form sometimes of octahedra and quadilateral prisms, terminating in four-sided pyramids. There are other organic substances which crystalise in a similar manner. After Cook's death I received a brown stone jar from Mr. Boycott covered with bladder and tied and sealed. It contained the stomach and intestines of the deceased. I experimented on it with a view to discover poison. We sought for varnous first, prussic acid, oxalic acid, morphia, strychnia, veratria, the poisons of tobacco and hemlock. We only found small traces of antimony. The parts sent to us to experiment on were the most unfavourable that possibly could be to find strychnia , from the stomach having b een cut com p letely from en d to end, and all the contents gone, and the fine mucous surface in which any poison, if present, would be found lying in contact with the outside of the intestines, all thrown together. On the surface of the mucous mem brane of the intestines there was feculent matter. No doubt, in its journey up to London, it had been shaken in every possible way ; the contents of the intestines were also gone. if this poison had been in the system I should have expected to have found it in the contents and on the mucuous membrane. At my request other parts of the body was sent—the liver, spleen, and the two kindeys, and in addition a small bottle of blood, 11b weight—it was unlabelled, giving us no idea from whence it was taken. We analysed all the liver and kidneys for mineral poison, and discovered in one-eighth part of the liver antimony. We analysed the left kidney and the spleen—they all yielded antimony, but the quantity was less in the spleen than in the other parts. The blood also yielded antimony. It was re-produced or brought out by boiling the animal substance in a mixture of hydro-chloric acid and water, and copper in a state of foil and gall was introduced into it whilst boiling, and the antimony appeared on the surface. Ve applied various tests to it—both the established tests andl others. [The professor handed in a small quantity of the antimony so produced.] It is im possible to say with precision when the antimony was taken by the subject, but it must have been within a few days. The longest period I have known antimony found in the blood after the person has ceased to take it, is eight days; antimony within my knowledge has got into the blood in the quickest time in eighteen hours. I found it in the liver, the boy having died within nineteen hours after taking it ; it was a small dose, and was not the cause of death. It was about five or six grains of anti monial powder. Antimony is given in tartar emetic. It acts as an irritant, and produces vomiting. Repeated doses would, notwithstanding the vomiting, leave a portion behind, and that would find its way into the Fystem. It is often given in minute doses with impu nity, and it might be given so as to produce symptoms that would produce death if continued. I heard from the servant her description of Mr. Cook's vomiting both at Rugeley and at Shrewsbury, as well as the accounts given by Mr. Jones and Mr. Gibson, and it was such as that which would be produced from antimony antimony is partly soluble in fluids, and does not affect the colour of the fluid in which it is mixed, if used in small quantities ; a quantity sufficient to produce sickness would not affect the colour of toast and water, brandy, wine or broth. I should think the antimony found in the deceased must have been given three weeks of death —there was no evidence of any having been given within a few hours of death. By Lord Campbell: It might have been administered within a few days of death—ln fact within eighteen hours of death. distinct. The Attorney-General: You are, I believe, a lecturer upon medical jurisprudence at Guy's Hospital? I am. The Attorney-General : And author of a work upon poisons ? I am. The Attorney-General : Have you, amongst your studies upon the nature of poisons, turned particular attention to that of strychnine? I have. The Attorney-General: It is, I believe, the produce of nux vomica ? It is. The Attorney-General : And nux vomica contains, I believe, besides strychnine that which is called bouschia ? It does; nux vomica contains about twelve of bruschia to six of strychnine, and the impure and not properly prepared strychnine contains more or less bruschia. The Attorney-General : So that, unless you know the purity of the article, you may be misled as to the strength of the strychnine? You may. The Attorney-General: You have, I believe, tried various experiments with strychnine upon animal life? I have. The Attorney. General : Have you ever witnessed an instance of its action upon a human subject? I have not. The Attorney-General: In how many instances have you tried its effects upon animal life ? Ten or twelve. The:Attorney-General: What class of animals ? Rab bits. _ • The Attorney-General : Have you found the symptoms produced universally the same ? Yes. The Attorney-General: What has been the. quantities you administered ? From half a grain to two grains. The Attorney-General : Have you found half a grain sufficient to destroy life ? Yes. The Attorney-General: In what manner have you administered it? Solid. The Attorney-General : And also liquid ? Yes. The Attorney-General : Were the effects between that which you gave solid and that given fluid different ? They were. The Attorney-General : How long was that, given in a fluid state, before it took effect ? A very few minutes. The Attorney-General; And how long that which you administered solid? That which I gave solid in the form of a pill or a roll did not produce any effect from six to seven minutes. The Attorney-General : Do you find the the time of its taking effect influenced by the strength of the dose ? Yes, and also by the strength of the animal. The Attorney-General: How does it operate upon the system to produce the symptoms ? First, by absorption in the blood. It then circulates through the body, and especially acts upon the spinal cord. The Attorney-General: Suppose absorption to have taken place, how long is it circulating through the body ? The supposed circulation of the blood is once in from three to four minutes. Through the whole system it would be about four minutes. The circulation in the blood of a rabbit is quicker. The absorption in a rabbit would be quicker. The rapidity of the absorption also depends upon the state of the stomach receiving it as to whether there is much food to prevent its coming in contact immediately with the coats of the stomach. I think it must be first absorbed before it will act upon the nervous system. The Attorney-General : Describe the symptoms which it produces. The animal, for the first five or eight minutes, does not appear to suffer, but runs about as soon as the poison acts. It suddenly falls on its side, and is seized with a trembling of the whole of the body. The Attorney-General: What first causes the trem bling? A general motion of the whole muscular system, arising from the poison producing' an involuntary con traction. Upon this taking place, the fore and hind legs are stretched out, with the head drawn back, and the body is bent in the form of a bow. The jaws are closed, and the eyes are prominent, protruding after a short time, there are slight remissions of symptoms, and it then appears to be quiet. The slightest noise or touch pro duce convulsions or spasms, and the animal shrieks or screams as if suffering great pain. The hearts beats very violently during the fits, and after a succession of those fits, it dies quietly . Sometimes it does not die quiet, but appears to die during one of these spasms of the heart. The Attorney-General : "What are the appearances after death ? In some instances, they appear to differ, but in general, the animal is in a strictly rigid state throughout. In one instance the animal was so stiff after death, that you could hold it horizontally by taking hold of its hind legs, as I now hold this book (taking up the Testament). It remained in that state for a week. In the case of an animal killed the other day by strychnine, it was flaccid at the time of death, but became rigid in about five minutes afterwards. The witness in answer to other questions said, I have opened the bodies of animals thus destroyed, and found no appearance of the stomach being congested, and in one or two cases found congestion of the membranes more than due to the gravitation after death. The congestion, I think, is due to the succession of fits the animals had. In three out of the five cases I found no abnormal change. The heart in all the cases has been congested. By the Lord Chief Justice : The right side more Examination continued: Antimony to cause sickness would not be perceptible to the taste. A large quantity taken might leave a tickling or choking sensation for a time. In the analysis made we found no trace of mer- If it had been taken recently, to the extent of two grains, 1 should have expected to have found some trace of it in the liver. If he had taken any for a syphilitic affection, I should have expected to have found it; and if taken within a few hours of death, I should have expected some traces of it would have been found from its slowly passing through the body. Three or four grains taken then, I should have expected, would have been traced. I recollect finding it on the liver on one occasion 24 hours after being taken ; half a grain had been taken daily for four days previous to death. I have heard the evidence relative to Mrs. Smith's death ; that of Agnes Sinett, Mrs. Dove, and the gentleman about whom Dr. Moore gave evidence, and I coincide with them in opinion that the three former died from stryahnia. Mr. Cook's symp toms were of a similar character to those referred to. As a professor of medical science, I know of no other disease to which Cook's death can be attributed than that it arose from str ychnia. especially. By the Attorney-general: I have seen, years me, a case of ordinary tetanus, but I have not had much expe rience. I saw a case of tetanus in the human subject last Thursday week, in St. Thomas's Hospital. It did not end fatally; the person recovered. I have heard the sym ptoms of Mr. Cook described. Th ose symptoms appeared to me precisely the same as those which appeared in the animals I have described. The animals have died at variable periods. One died in 13 minutes and one in 17. Symptoms appeared more rapidly when the styrehnine had been given in a fluid state. Death takes place in about 17 minutes. The experiments T have made lately have been confined entirely to solids. The symptoms appeared in the first case in 7. minutes, and the animal died in about 13 minutes. In the next case symptoms tt,ppeared in 9 minutes, and death occurred in 17 minutes ; in the third, 10 minutes and died in 13 minutes ; in the fourth, in 12 minutes and died in `,14 minutes ; in the fif, in ten minutes and died in 23 m inutes. The poisonth would take longer to act on the human subject. The pill structure would require to be broken up in order to bring the poison in contact with the mucous naerribrane of the stoTach. In the case of the rabbits I have destroyed, I have administered the poison in the form of pills. I don't think we can draw any inference between the death of the animals and the human subject, because the circulation and absorption are entirely different. There would be a difference between one human subject and another. The strength of the dose would also make a difference. lu the experi ments made upon the animals I have reproduced the strychnia. The principle of extraction consists in putting the stomach and its contents in alcohol mixed with a small quantity of sulphuric acid to dissolve the strychnia. We then get sulphate of strychnia, if any be discovered. Having got the sulphate of strychnia, the liquor is filtered and gently evaporated, and then an alkali added---carbo - nate of potass. It combines with the sulphuric acid, and so produces the strychnia, if present. Besides this mode of ascertaing the strength of strychnia, there are other go out by the bowels and part by the urine. Orfile inclines to the opinion that in from four to seventeen hones it passes out from the urine. I believe I was justified in coming to the -opinion that Cook might have died from antimony. The qnantity found in the body does not always prove the cause of death. Any anti monial preparation, taking judiciousiy or injudiciously, might have given the results of antimony which we arrived at. - .Tames's powder, or any such preparation, might have left enough in the system. The accounts which 1 received of Cook's :death guided me in the opinion I came to, that he, Cook, might; have _died from; the effects of antimony. Mr, Sergeant Shee : Do fyouNallow yourself to be di rected in the opinion you arrive at by hearsay statements ? —A. man may die from many sorts of poisons. The learned professor explained that an account of how a man died would tend to assist and direct him in the analysis, but not influence the opinion of such analysis beyond guiding him in the conclusion drawn. that the symptoms exhibited by the deceased had been caused by whatever poison might be traced. I was not at the inquest on Cook at its commencement. Some of the evidence was read over to me. Dr. Harland was being examined. I also heard Dr. Bamford, Lavinia Barnes, and Elizabeth Mills examined. I had not experimented on the rabbit before I went to the inquest. Five of the rabbits were experimented on 2e years ago. I had a great objection to destroy life except in extreme cases. My last experimentd were m ide after the inquest. I don't consider a rabbit an unfair test; dogs are not, so good. They are not sb dangerous to handle. I think the rabbits as good as any animal, as the poison is retained and the effects are visible. I attended the inquest and suggested questions. They were put to the witnesses, I remember Roberts being examined, but I only paid attention to the medical part of the case. I did not hear Roberts say strychnia had been bought, but I knew it had been bought on the Tuesday, from Mr. Gardner's letter to me, and it was with that knowledge, and after hearing some of the evi dence, that I gave my opinion. Mr. Sergeant Shee : I think, my lord, we ought here to have the witness's depositions read. The Lord Chief Justice: Very well. The Clerk then read the evidence given by Dr. Alfred Taylor at the inquest held on Mr. Cook. Examination continued: I returned to town immedi ately after giving my evidence, and the prisoner was com mitted for wilful murder. I thought it my duty to abstain from all discussion calculated to influence the public mind. I wrote a letter to the Lancet contradicting some state. ments that had been made. The letter was here read. It was one complaining 01 certain statements, and also misquotations that had been made from his evidence. The court adjourned for a quarter of an hour. The learned judges returned in about a quarter of an hour, together with Baron Alderson, who appeared to be suffering from indisposition. The cross examination of Dr. Taylor was then pro ceeded with as follows : Mr. Sergeant Shee referred to the last paragraph of the letter, where he stated that the mode in which the case would affect the person was a minor security, but that the interests of society were concurred in it. Witness : That is my opinion now. I could have no prejudice whatever against the man. I alluded to the assertions which have been made; and I stated that if they were to have their sway no life would be safe. I stated that the life of the prisoner was of little importance, and I still adhere to the opinion that several lives are of more value than one. Mr. Sergeant Shee : Had any remark been made by the prisoner or his family ? Witness : No, but the man below him, Mr. Smith, has ; and statements, unfounded, have appeared in all the papers by him. I never received Mr. Mayhew in my laboratory. Mr. Sergeant Shee : Did you notl sanction your like. ness being taken for the Illustrated Times. Witness : Call it a caricature. (Laughter.) I never knew that my likeness was being taken. I never sanctioned it. Mr. Sergeant Shee : Upon your oath, sir, didyon not re ceive Mr. Mayhew at your house, and sanction his report ing your conversation. Witness z He represented himself as connected with an insurance office, and I informed him the number of cases of poisoning. I never sanctioned his reporting our conversation, and I remonstrated with him for doing so. 1 think it was a gross imposition to come and get information in that way. I permitted him to draw up an article, but it has been considerably altered, and I wrote a letter complaining of it. I have not seen Mr. Mayhew since, but I received a letter from him stating that an advertisement which appeared in regard to this information should be withdrawn. Mr. Sergeant Shee: Did you not say that you would give them enough strychnine before they had gone ? Wit ness (with great warmth and indignation) : I assure you, sir, you have been grossly misinstructed ; aud Mr. John ston, who suggested that to you, has been guilty of other falsehoods. (Sensation in court.) I entirely deny any thing of the kind. Mr. Sergeant Shoe : I would not have put the question had not been so instructed. The Witness, in reply to further questions put to him, said there was not anything in the symptoms of Cook inconsistent with those of strychnine. He should expect to find in a person suffering from such effects, a degree of agitation, and beating the bed with the arms, would be in perfect conformity with the effects of strychnine. There were only fifteen cases on record of poisoning by strychnine. lie had not known many instances where persons screamed before the fit. He had not known that they would speak freely after the paroxysm commenced. He agreed with the description given of the effects of strychnine in Dr. Watson's book, viz , that the opening of a door or other slight movement, &c., would cause paroxysm so far as animals were concerned, but he could not say as much with respect to a human being. He had known a fatal case with the symptoms as evinced by Cook on the Tuesday evening ; and quoted a ease where a healthy young woman died from the effects of a grain and a half of strychnine, taken by mistake, the symptoms not appearing for an hour after taking the poison. That was a remarkable case. Knew a case where two hours and a half elapsed, but it was not a fatal one. A. grain and a half was a full dose, There was a fatal case from a grain and a half, where the symptoms did not come on for three hours. There was no case in his book on poisons where more than half an hour elapsed before the effects of the poison began; but that book was written eight years ago, and, therefore, the case mentioned in that book could not be looked upon as any authority at the present time. Never heard of a fatal case where the symptoms showed themselves more than an hour and a half after the inges • tion of the poison. Had never himself known a case where a man recovered from a paroxysm caused by strychnine poisoning, in so short a time as Mr. Cook on the Msnday night; but had no doubt it was not an unusual circumstance. Believed several circumstances might be found in medical practice, He could not refer Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant Shee : The term trace means a small quantity ; but I do not use it in that term now. The whole which we found was about half a grain. That would not cause death. The tests are used for anti mony after obtaining the deposit by boiling the animal matter. Nothing but arsenic or antimony would deposit upon the copper. We found no sublimate of arsenic. We next used the test of sulphuretted hydrogen, and after twenty-four hours there was a deposit of a reddish colour, like sulphuret of antimony, and was soluble in hydro chloric acid. He then described the tests employed, which produced a deposit, which, upon being dissolved in hydro chloric acid, converted the black precipitate into antimo uial An inaccuracy in the tang process or badness of the instrument might affect the experiment. The antimony which I found might have been taken three weeks before. I should think antimony gets quicker out of the body of an animal than a man. lam acquainted with the works of Orfile. He was one of the most esteemed chemists. He makes men tion of a dog in whose body after it had lived four months, was found to contain antimony, but that dog took 45 grains. That was a large dose, and some of the dogs died who had taken the dose. I never knew of a case of such a quantity being taken. We cannot clearly tell when it gets out of the body. I was first applied to about this body upon the 21st of NorenAer ; by Mr. War rington. I did not know Gardner. I have not had any previous cases at Bugeley. Mr. Stevens and Boycott brought in the jar with the contents of the stomach- I wrote a letter in answer, giving my opinion of the cause of death. The letter was here read, and went on to state strychnine to any case of strychnine puisoning where so long a period elapsed between the paroxysm as in the case of Mr. Cook, between the Monday and Tuesday night. Did not know that immediately after/ death from strychnine poisoning the body took its rigidity, but in the case of five rabbits four of them were quite stiff, i rime diately after death, one of them only being placid. The clenching of the hands ocevred in other eases of convul sions besides those occasioned by strychnine, but accord ing to his knowledge the hands were clenched where strychnine had been administered, lie still believed colour tests were so fAllacicus that they could not be depended upon unless strychnine was found in a tangible form. By the Attorney-General : Had heard of cases where the heart was found empty immediately after death. He thought this was occasioned by the spasmodic action on the muscles of the heart. The rigidity always affected the same muscles —those of the limbs and the back In cases of poisoning by strychnine, where the rigidity of the limbs relaxed at the time of death, it returned while the body was warm; but rigidity in ordinary cases only occurred after the body was cold. Had rover heard of a case where the rigidity lasted so long as two months. The e ff e cts of the same dose of strych nine wo uld vary accord ing to the constitution , &c. , in the persontaking it. The feeling of suffocation was one of the earliest symptoms, such as that evil eed by Mr. Cook on the Tuesday night Three distinct doses produced the same result. As to the discovery of the antimony in the portions of Mr. Cook's body he analysed, there was no doubt it was antimony he discovered. tla could not tell by the quantity he found what quantity was taken. Never knew of a case where antimony was known to have been taken where it could not be discovered. The coroner did not put questions to enable witness to form that the centents of the stomach did not give the pre sence of either strychnia, prussic acid, or opium ; but that the deceased might have died from the effects of antimony. A man will vomit upon first taking antimony—part will an opinion, and he therefore suggested some which ought t o have been put ; but he did not think the coroner omitted t put the questions for any reason, excepting that he did not understand the medical questions; he certainly noticed the omission to write down some of the answers. He had been misrepresented in the newspapers as to his opinion whether strychnine could or could not be found in a dead body ; he bad card that when the poison had been absorbed in'o the thod, it could not be separated as strychnine. He had written various letters in his own vindication. Dr. George Owen Rees, Fellow of the College of Phy sicians and Lecturer on Materia Medica at Guy's examined by Mr. Edwin James: I assisted Professor Taylor in his analysis, and it has been very correctly stated. I hate directed my attention t ) the discovery of poison after death. Professor Taylor has correctly stated the quantity antimony found in portions of Mr. Cook's body. have been administered two hours or two days before The stomach was presented most unfavourably fo discovery of strychnine. The stomach had been cut and turned inside out, the lining of the stomach coma contact with the intestines. The contents of the stc had there been any, must have been mixed with the intee. That, of course, rendered it unfavourable for the diecovery o strychnine. I agree with Professor Taylor as to the el' of strychnine on human life. If, by ace enough strychnine was given to destroy life, it might n. found after death. It is only the excess, as stated by P, fe:s Taylor, that is found after death. Saw the caper. ments mode by Professor Taylor on four of the rabbits, :an assisted I inn in the endeavour to find strychnine after death but, as stated by him, we failed in detecting it in thre, The symptoms in the aaimals resembled those of Mr. Cu , up to his death. Never saw a death of a human sub; from strychnine. He generally agreed with all Prof , Taylor bad said wi:h respect to the experimeof- oni lob, Neat or desigr. rabbits, &C. Cross-examined by Mr. Groves, Q C.: Ti nit reject the pills in four cases ; but in th of the strychnine adhered to the animal's r - kno any satisfactory experiments wh're the een found after it had been absorbed into the bloo,. witness then corroborated Professor Taylor's evidence a_ the colour tests, and to the positive finding antimony in Cook's body. By the Attorney-general: The presence of antimony was clearly shown. Mr. William Thomas Brand, examined by Mr. 'Si Was professor of medicine at the Royal Institi. Had the report of Drs. Taylor and Rees sent to him for opinion. Was present at Guy's Hospital on Saturday, th 3rd of May, when himself and Drs. Taylor and Rees mad an examination of the action of copper on a very weak - tion of antimony, and found there was no action until Cie solution was slightly acidified by sulphuric acid and heated. The antimony was then deposited. Could state positive y that that deposit was antimony. Cross-examined by Mr. Groves, Q C.: That test used by them was known by the name of Wrench's test for aisenic. He only knew of three poisons which would be precipitated by the same t est, viz., antimony, ar:e.lia, and he believed bismuth. Sulphur did not leave the same appearance on the copper—the difference was manifest. By the Attorney-General : The tests used were the proper ones to ascertain the presence of antimony. Had no doabt about the presence of antimony. Dr. R. Christonson, Fellow of the College of Physiciaas, and professor of materia medica, in Edinburgh : Was the author of a work on poisons, and amongst others, hal directed his attention to strychnine, which acted on the human frame by the absorption of the blood, and acting also on the nervous system. Had seen a case of poisoning from strychnine, though not a fatal case. Had seen frogs, rabbits, cats, dogs, and one wild boar, experimentalised upon by strychnine. He had directed his attention to this poison since 1820 in Paris. It was discovered two years before in Paris. In most of his experiments he had given many small doses, but sometimes as much as a grain. One-sixth of a grain had killed a dog in two minutes, when injected into the cavity of the chest by a small incision. He had administered a grain to a ( rabbit, and death had been occasioned thereby. Witness I then described the general symptoms and effects of s'.,ry chine, both ire animals and human beings, and to the appearance of their body after death, agreeing in all par ticulars with the views expressed by Professor Taylor and other witnesses. lie always found blood in the hearts of animals, but had heard of persons having found the heart empty. The poison was longer operating in the larger animals than in the smaller. Generally gave the poison in a solid form but had administered in a liquid also. The method of mixing the poison made a difference in the action upon the system. If given in pills much would depend upon what the pills were constructed of. Absorption would begin as soon as the pills were broken up or digested, and not before. The less soluble the pill the longer the time that would be required. Could not Si the precise time, in the preset , state of medical knowled ? .-,e, that would be taken by t' p )ison to operate. When administering the . it shout ..on to an animal ere is taken that given at a time the most favourable to its action aeon cases of tentanus of a natural kind arising both f wounds and disease. Would not place much rel on the slight difference existing in the c.nr of the symptoms between tentanus arising f poison and disease. The symptoms begin advance much more slowly, and in caie of discasl I prove fatal much more slowly than in tentanus produ by poison. Strychnine is one of the four natural p,.11 contained in nux vomica. No natural disease that knew, or even heard of would produce such symptoms as these which preceded the death of Mr. Cook. death takes pace from spasm of the -heart, would not be found in it, Should not expect to strychnine in the body after death, where the quantity v small. If the dose of poison was in great exe . expect to find it. The . witness considered the col tests uncertain. Vegetable poisons were mori discover than mineral ones. Should net have have discovered strychnine in Cook's stoma( analysis. The symptoms in Cook' similar to those cases in which de th was p. Cross-examined by Mr. Grove : Had made ex , upon the body of a man who died from stryeb failed to discover the poison ' tests. That was in the year 1851 the usual c . in that case was th?, development of the violet COluur by means of sulphuric acid and the oxide of lead. [With( es here entered into some explanations ro:Tecting cases of poisoning by strrehnine mentioned in a book written by him: There was no taillency, he observed generally in cases of poisoning by strychnine, that the patient should be thrown into paroxysms by the touch, but in animals it was invariably the case. The bitter taste of strychnine was so remarkable, that one grain would be discovered in more than a gallon. • If ad ministered in pills, they would not necessarily be dis covered in the system, forthey might pass off by digestion, The witness generally agreed with the previous evidence, as to the time taken for absorption. &c. By the Attorney-General: In the case of the man whose body he examined, the appearances of the body were precisely similar to that of Mr. Cook's. It was very easy to'detect styrchnine if found in a state of purity. Colour tests were not to be relied upon for styi•chnine rn an impure condition. The Attorney-General intimated that he should finish the prosecution by two or three o'clock to-morrow, and it being arranged that Mr. Sergeant Shee should commence his address on Wednesday morning, the Court adjourned until ten o'clock to-morrow (this) morning. It is now considered certain that the case cannot terminate before the end of the week, and many persons imagine that it will not conclude before Monday or Tuesday next. The witnesses for the defence number ing between twenty and thirty, are, most of them staying at Peele's Coffee House, Fleet-street. Amongst those present to-day was Calcraft. He remained in court several hours The Daily News mentions a report 'gnat the Govern ment of Victoria has been offered and refused by, Sir H. Bulwer, and the Hon. Cliv.iies Villiers. THE PARES ON SuND:.r.—The countermanding by the Premier of the perfnrrnances on Sunday of the military bands in the parks of the metropolis was expected to havo led to some poPftlar demonstration, but the heavy rain which felt during the morning prevented any gathering of the pe:;ple. THE PREMIER.—Some very foolish statements have found their way into some of the papers respecting Lord Palmerston's health. The Premier has never enjoyed better health. He arrived in London from Broadland, Hants ; attended the Cabinet Council on Saturday at the Foreign Office; and went to Brocket Hall, 'legs, the same evening, from whence he is expected in Lon don this morning, to be present at the bidding for the loan in the morning, and at the meeting of the House of Commons in the afternoon. Orss9rzyrtoti3 OF PARTNER3IIIP.—J. Goodwin Goodwin, Liverpool, grocers. R. Webster and W. Gr wood, Bradford, Halifax, and Huddersfield, cement dealers 3. Blagbrough, and J. Mortimer, Bradford, woolstaplcrs T. Stores and I. Storey, Manchester, brassfounders. Brooke, Brooke, and J. Brooke, Morley and Letds, general commission agents. H. Taylor, H. Hoyle, and 3, Barlow, Manchester, commission agents, so far as regards J. Barlow. H. Newsum, jun, W. Newsuni, W. J. Walker, and J. Norton, Rotherham, Yorkshire, engineers. J. Speigh and C. Simpson, Wakefield, Yorkshire, joiners. CAIIINET COUNCIL. —On Wednesday summonses were issued to the ministers to attend a cabinet council on Saturday at one o'clock, at the Foreign Office, Downing street. Lord Stanley of Alderney travelled to town front Alderley in order to attend the meeting. Sir Charles Wood also came up to town to be present at the council. Mr. Lahouchsre travelled from Chiselhurst. The Lord , Chancellor, Lard Clarendon, Lord Palmerston, Sir George Grey, Mr. Baines, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, attended. Lord Granville was absent, being at present at Drayton Manor. The Duke of Argyle, Lord; Panmure, and the Earl of narrowly, are also out of town. The ministers remained in consolation until four o'clock. THE NORTHERN TIMES.---LIVERPOOL, TUESDAY.