The Press.
London, England, 1856-05-24 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

taken he believed it impossible to fail in detecting
the poison if the proper tests were used. in
death from strychnine, the muscles were soft,
powerless, and flaccid, and the right side of
the heart full. He had made experiments with
strychnia upon upwards of forty animals, and inva-
riably found the right side of the heart full. Cook
had more powers of voluntary motion than he had
ever known animals to possess under the influence
of this poison. Cook's sickness indicated an injured
state of the brain, which wuuld account for the suc
cessive convulsive attacks, for which there was no
name. He believed he died from convulsions arising
from a combination of symptoms. In strychnine the
convulsive twitchings were the first symptoms, in
tetanus the last. After strychnine no animal could
bear to he touched, and Cook asked to be rubbed.

Mr. Herapath said the detection of strychnine
under any circumstances of animal decompositiou but
reduction to dry powder, was certain. He had never
failed, and was perfectly sure that he would detect
the fifty thousandth part of a grain if unmixed with
organic matter. If he mixed ten grains with 70,000
grains of water, he could detect the poison in one
tenth part of a grain of that water.
Mr. s3gers was of opinion that strychnine must
unquestionably have been discovered in Cook's body
if it had been present and the right tests used.
The contents of the stomach being shaken up would
make no difference.

Dr. Letheby had for a series of years made many
experiments upon the bodies of animals killed by
strychnine, and of one person poisoned by the nux
vomica. The symptoms described in Cuok's case
did not accord with the symptoms he had witnessed
in the case of those animals. They differed in this
respect:—

In the first place I never witnessed the long interval be-
tweeu the administration of the poison and the commence-
ment of the symptoms which is said to hays elapsed in
this case. The longest interval I have known has been
three-quarters of an hour, and then the poison was admi-
nistered under most disadvantageous circumstances. It
was given on a very full stomach, and in a form uneasy of
solution. I have seen the symptoms begin in five minutes.
The average time in which they begin is a quarter of an
hoar. In all cases I have seen the system has been in
that irritable state that the very lightest excitement, such
as an effort to move, a touch, a noise, a breath of air, would
send the patient off in convulsions. It is not at all pro-
bable that a person, after taking strychnia, could pull a
bell violently. Any movement would excite the nervous
system, and bring on spasms. It is not likely that a
person in that state could bear to have his neck rubbed.
He bad no hesitation in saying that strychnine, of
all poisons, either mineral or vegetable, was the most
easy of detection :
I never failed to detect strychnine where it had been ad-
ministered I have made post-mortem examinations on
various animals killed by it. I have always found the
right side of the heart full. The shaking about of the
contents of the stomach with the intestines in a jar would
not prevent the discovery of strychnia if it had been admi-
nistered.

In strychnine poisoning there was great uniformity
in the effects. Cook's actions were wholly inconsistent
with what he had observed in strychnine cases, and
his death was wholly irreconcileable to any disease
he had ever heard of, or was acquainted with, natural
or artificial, and as at variance with poisoning by
strychnine as with every thing else.
Mr. R. E. Ga) detailed the symptoms of a case of
idiopathic tetanus arising from cold and exposure
actin; upon a nervous and irritable temperament,
in which the patient lived for fourteen days under
a succession of attacks of violent convulsions and in-
voluntary muscular contractions, with loud screaming.
On a post-mortem examination being made an in-
flammatory sore throat was discovered, to which,
with the exposure, he attributed death.
The court then adjourned.
FRIDAY,
The court was densely crowded on this morning, and
an evident increase of interest in the trial exhibited
by the audience.
Mr. Ross, surgeon to the London Hospital, was
the first witness examined. He merely stated a re-
cent case of tetanus admitted to the hospital. Poi-
soning by strychnine was suspected. The symptoms
were laborious breathing, rapid feeble pulse,
paroxysms of convulsive spasms, lockjaw, and muscu••
lar rigidity about the back and abdomen. The patient
died in half an hour after three convulsive attacks.
On making a post-mortem examination, the nerves
of the tongue, throat, and fames were found very
delicate. No strychnine was discovered, but there
were two chronic sores near the ulna nerve.
Dr. Wrightson, a pupil of Liebig, was examined
with reference to the discovery of strychnine after
ingestion. It was a poison easily detected, even in
the tissues. He denied the theory of Dr. Taylor
that it became absorbed and decomposed. A man
killed by strychnine administered two hours before
his death the poison would certainly be discoverable
in the first instance in the stomach.
. Mr. Partridge, Professor of Anatomy at King's
College, said that such granules as were found in
Cook's spinal cord would be very likely to produce

inflammation of the membrane, tetanus, and death.
He could form no positive opinion of the cause of
Cook's death. On cross-examination by tho At-
torney-General, Mr. Partridge said the symptoms
were in part consistent and in part inconsistent with
death by strychnine. In the whole course of his
experience he never knew a death like Cook's result
from natural causes. (This answer produced a pro-
found sensation in the court, as Mr. Partridge was
considered one of the principal witnesses for the
defence.)
Mr. Gay detailed the symptoms of a case of trau-
matic tetanus, brought on by a crushed toe, under
his care in the Free Hospital. The symptoms con-
sisted of violent convulsive attacks at periods of
thirty hours, and rigid contraction of the muscles of
the back and neck during those attacks. The boy
lived under these attacks for seventeen days. Hi*
impression was that the convulsions were brought on
by irritation of the nerves of the spinal cord.
Mr. Wm. M'Donald, of Edinburgh, had had great
experience in tetanus. Very slight irritation would
produce convulsions. The causes of tetanus con-
vulsions were hitherto undiscovered:—

Any internal alteration of the secretions might produce
idiopathic tetanus. Exposure to cold or damp would de
so. So would mental excitement. Gritty grannies in any
pelt of the system connected with the nervi,nB system
would produce tetanus. I have seen small milliary tuber
cies, the only assignable cause on the brain fur death ter-
u lasting in convulsions.

As to the discovery of strychnine, it was most easy.
fie denied Dr. Taylot's theory of " decomposition "
in to to. Its effects, also, were most marked. A great
increase of saliva was at once observable. For a
man to pull a bell violently, while under the influence
of a dose of strlchnine sufficiently powerful to
cause death, was highly improbable. He attached
little importance to the symptoms described in this
case, as be had seen similar symptoms developed
from many different causes. In reply to Mr. Kenealy
as to what he attributed the cause of Cook's death,
witness replied .
My opinion is, that_ it was epileptic convulsions with
tetanic combinations. That is the nearest approach to it
from post-mortem appearances, Cook's case being ao dif-
ferent from those I have described. A dose of strychnine
sufficient to destroy life in one paroxysm would not have
required even one hour to produce effect. Epileptic
seizures very often recur about the same hour. If the man
were in so excited a state as to be silent two or three
minutes atter his horse winning a race, then afterwards
exposed himself to wet and cold, was attacked by convul-
sions, died, and after death gritty granules were found in
the spinal cord, I am of opinion that any one of these
causes might have produced his death.
The witness was then subjected to a close cross-
examination by the Attorn, y-General, with the view
to show the general character of epilepsy, and the
effe 't of opium and morphine pills upon a person so
predisposed. Mr. M'Donald said opium would most
likely accelerate the symptoms, and morphia would
accelerate rather than tranquillise a disposition to
congestion of the brain.
Dr. Bainbridge and Mr. Steady deposed to the
general variety of symptoms in convulsive diseases.
Dr. Robinson ascribed Cook's death to tetanic con-
vulsions. Gritty granules in the region of the spinal
cord would produce irritation and convulsions. There
was a peculiar convulsive disease known as spinal
epilepsy. Cook's case was one of real epilepsy ; his
sitting up in bed arose from a sense of suffocation—
a premonitory symptom.
Dr. Richardson had frequently known contortions
of the feet and legs and great rigidity of the limls
accompany death from convulsion. Death from
angina pectoris and from strychnine was very similar
in appearance—the same muscular rigidity, open
eyes, and clenched bands. Suffering from a re-
lapse, a patient would enjoy perfect health between
the attacks.
Dr. Wnghtson was recalled, and said that strych-
nine, if taken in small doses, would become ab-
sorbed, but would be discoverable in the spleen and