The Press.
London, England, 1856-01-19 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

stances of her illness and death are simple and few.
On Monday, the 18th of September, 1854, the
deceased went to Liverpool to spend some days, and
on Tuesday evening, in a thin white dress, she
attended a concert at St. George's-hall. On the
Wednesday evening she returned home to Rugeloy
very unwell, and expressed a belief that she had
caught a severe cold. On the following morning
she complained of still feeling very ill, was sick, and
continued voiniting throughout the day. On the
Friday and Saturday she continued to suffer from
sickness, no medicine being administered to her
up to Sunday, when Dr. Bamford was called
in. He found the deceased in bed labouring under
nausea, and so much debility that she had great
difficulty in giving him an answer. She did not
apgear to have vomited to him, and was suffering
from constipation. He prescribed and prepared for
her an opening draught and two pills of colocynth,
calomel, and oil of carraway. On Monday, finding
deceased rapidly sinking, by his request Dr. Knight
was called in; he prescribed two smali pills, with a
weak dose of prussic acid in water, but the deceased
still suffered so severely from constant vomiting, from
excessive retching and purgings, and was so ex-
hausted, that she never rallied, sunk rapidly, and
died on the Friday.
The first witnesses called were the domestic
servants in attendance during the deceased's
last illness. Without exception they all testified to
the affectionate kindness with which Mr. Palmer
appeared to treat his wife. Anne Rowley, the char-
woman, says During the whole time of Mrs.
Palmer's illness, and all the time that I knew him
since he was married, he appeared to live comfortably
with his wife. They lived very comfortably together.
He was kind to all about him." Eliza Tharme, the
general servant :—" Mr. Palmer appeared kind to his
wife and all about him." Mrs. Bradshaw, the nurse:—
"Mr. Palmer appeared affectionate to his wife, and
seemed anxious to do everything for her comfort
that lay in his power. When told of her death he
appeared unconscious, and shed tears." Dr. Bam-
ford Palmer paid every attention to his wife
while I was there. No man could have been more
attentive." No complaint of any particular pain was
made by Mrs. Palmer, but, according to the evidence
of the witnesses, Eliza Tharme, Miss Palmer, and
Mrs. Bradshaw, the nurse, the deceased expressed
her belief that she had caught a severe cold at St.
George's-hall. Mrs. Bradshaw, who was the prin
cipal attendant during the deceased's illness, stated
that the deceased die not suffer much from purging
until just previous to death ; she gave the deceased
the pills and mixture prescribed by Dr. Bamford;
the deceased also took frequent effervescing draughts,
which were administered to her, in the witness's
presence, by Mr. Palmer. The evidence of the
witness upon this point was clear :
They were given to her by ➢[r. Palmer, her husband. I
cannot recollect how many she took. She generally asked
for the effervescing mixtures. They were given in my
presence in this way: he brought some quite clear water
in a glass and a spoon with some powder in it. The glass
was au ordinary tumbler, and was half filled with water.
He put the mixture into the water, and when he stirred it
with a spoon it effervesced. The mixture looked like the
ordinary effervescing draughts ; and she frequently said
that the preparation was very refreshing, and did her more
good than anything else.
These draughts were taken two or three times in the
course of the day for sense days previous to death. The
witness further stated that she tasted all the medi-
cines given to the deceased with the exception of
these effervescing draughts. At the time el her
death she appeared quite composed,
For some time before she begged I would not trouble
her to give her anything. I did not notice anything par-
ticular in her breathing. She appeared quite sensible to
the last. She was never otherwise, night or day, during
the time that 1 was with her. She had no convulsions or
spasms. It was two or three hours before her death that
she told me not to trouble her. The last thing she took
before her death was the juice of some grapes. I asked
her to take some grapes. She said she could not suck
them, when I replied," [ can squeeze them into a spoon."
I did so, and put it into her mouth, when she looked at
me in a very pleasing manner, and said, " Oh, that was
very nice." This was before the purging which preceded
her death. No one else besides Mr. Palmer and myself
gave her anything during the time that I was there. He
did not give her anything the day that she died. He was
with her very frequently—coming into the room very often.
Dr. Bamford, in his evidence, stated his belief
that the deceased had died of "bilious cholera."
Dr. Knight, who did not see her till the 25th, said
that as far as he could form a judgment on the case,
for the deceased was too exhausted to describe her
symptoms, he thought, from the account Mr. Palmer
gave of his wife's sufferings, that the cause of death was
" English cholera." He had recommended two minims
of diluted prussic acid to allay the retching, and
saline effervescing draughts, but prescribed no pre-
paration of antimony.
Dr. Monckton deposed to having made the post-
mortem examination on the 22nd December last.
There was no alteration in the structure of the body
sufficient to account for death ; and in his opinion

SATURDAY,

the appearances of the body were not consistent with
death from cholera, though death might have been
caused from extreme vomitings, producing exhaus-
t JD.

Dr. Taylor deposed to having made, in company
with Dr. Bees tifteen different analyses of the body
of the deceased, and finding antimony in the liver,
spleen, kidney, the substance of the heart and the
substance of the lung, and in the stomach and
rectum. There was nathing to account for death in
the shape of disease, and the conclusion lie and Dr.
ltees at once came to was that the deceased hail died
from the effects of antimony administered in small
doses for some period previous to death. The disco-
very of antimony in the liver, kidney, spleen, heart, and
lungs proved the absorption during the life, while
its presence in the stomach, and particularly in the
rectum, was an incontestable proof that it had been
administered but a few hours previous to death :

We can detect (observed Dr. Taylor in the course of his
evidence) from a five•hundredth or a thousandth part of a
grain of tartar emetic when it is present. In the stomach
there was found from three-quarters of a grain to a grain of
tartar emetic, and in the rectum probably a grain. There
was antimony throughout the whole body. In the whole of
the tissues there could not have been less than a grain and
a half or two grains. From the results of our experiments
upon two ounces of the liver I was satisfied that the
deceased was saturated with antimony. I have frequently
found antimony in the dead; but I never found so much
in absorption.

Dr. Rees confirmed the evidence of Dr. Taylor,
and briefly stated, " I am decidedly of opinion that
the deceased died from the effects of antimony ad.
ministered in small doses, repeated at intervals."
Dr. Knight, upon a re-examination, stated that
after hearing the evidence of I)rs. Taylor and Rees,
although at the time of his visiting the deceased he
neither suspected nor perceived the effects of poison,
he now believed that at that time the deceased was
suffering from the effects of antimony.
Further evidence to prove the insurance of the de-
ceased's life by her husband for 13,0001. in the Sun
Life, the New Equitable, and the Scottish Equitable,
in the course of January and February, 1854, was
then given, when the examination concluded.

The Coroner then read over his notes, pointing
out to the jury that they had first to consider the
cause of death ; secondly, if the cause of death was
poison ; thirdly, by whom poison was administered,
if at all administered; and, lastly, whether it was
taken accidentally, or given deliberately. The jury,
after an absence of twenty minutes, returned a ver-
dict that " the deceased had died from the effects of
tartarized antimony, designedly administered to her
by her husband, William Palmer." A verdict of
Wilful Murder was then taken, and the inquiry
closed.

The inquest upon the body of Mr. Walter Palmer,
who died at Stafford on the 16th of August last, was
opened on Monday before the same jury empanelled
to investigate the death of Mrs. Anne Palmer.
From the general tenor of the evidence adduced,
Walter Palmer appears to have been for some years
a confirmed drunkard, and seldom free from the
effects of gin, his favorite drink. For some time
previous to his death he had been in bad health, and
was known to be suffering from diseased lungs and
kidneys. At the exact moment of death there was
every appearance of an attack of apoplexy, induced
by weeks of continued hard drinking ; but, from the
medical testimony given, such symptoms are not
at all incompatible with death from poison just pre-
viously administered. Walter Palmer died on the
16th of August. On the first or second Tuesday in
that month Mr. Palmer purchases an ounce of
prussic acid an ounce of jalap, and a third small
article, at Wolverhampton. On the Iltb, while at
Stafford, where his brother was staying, Mr. Palmer,
on the plea that his brother was drinking bad liquor,
orders a bottle of the best brandy for him. On the 14th
he gives two small bottles into the care of the " boots"
of the Junction Hotel, at Stafford. The same day he
calls for them, takes them away for three quarters of an
hour, and returns them into the care of the groom.
The next day be comes down to the stable with a
third bottle in his hand, asks for the other two, takes
one and mixes the contents with the one he brought.
On the Thursday morning Walter Palmer died sud-
denly ; and at the time of death a thin liquid,
smelling like brandy and water, was noticed running
from his mouth. The evidence at this stage was
stopped ; and until Wednesday next nothing further
will be heard.

The first witness called was Mr. Henry Day, a
surgeon of Stafford, who attended the deceased for
six weeks previous to his death. In the course of
his evidence, Mr. Day stated that he found the de-
ceased suffering from chronic inflammation of the
lungs, and an affection of the liver and kidneys. lie
attended him every day from the 7th to the 31st of
July, and from the 10th to the 10th of August, the
day of his death. At one of his last visits, in the
course of conversation, the deceased said :
" Doctor, those pills last night were twisters." I asked
him, " What pills ?" He replied, " Those you sent last

JANUARY 19, 1856.

night." I said, "I sent you none." He r6plied, " You
must have done so. Will must have had them either from
yourself or from Marson. He gave them to me out of
your box."
The witness admitted having sent [the deceased
twelve pills some time before, but had sent none at
the time. When he mentioned the subject to Mr.
Palmer, he denied having given his brother the pills,
and said it was "all bosh." With respect to the
cause of death, he attributed it to apoplexy, brought
on by continued drunkenness. The symptoms were
Close of apoplexy—the skin was moist, and no con-
vulsive symptoms beyond a slight twitching of the
left side of the face and left arm. Witness came
ilto the room just as deceased was in articulo mortis;
t ie features were swollen ; there was a blueish look
about the face, and a little liquid, smelling like
brandy and water, running from the mouth.
Lucy Walkeden deposed that she had frequently
attended the deceased during his illness. His
general state of health was very poorly for two or
three months before his death. During the last
week of his life, after his return from the Wolver
hampton races, whither he had gone with his bro.
ther, he complained of pains in his limbs ; said " he
had taken cold, and felt very poorly." He was very
often drunk; would drink brandy if he could not get
gin, but he preferred gin ; used to take a bottle or
so of gin into his room every night, and was gene-
rally sick in the morning. The witness further
stated that she came into the room just after his
death ; the body presented no peculiar appearance,—
the limbs were pliant, the eyes a little open, the face
drawn on the left side, and the fingers not con-
tracted. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

Thomas Walkenden deposed that the deceased had
been ill for two or three months before he died, and
that previous to April he had suffered and recovered
from an attack of delirium tremens while boarding
in the witness's house. In the early part of the
week in which deceased died he eat little, but drank
deeply. On the day immediately previous to his
death he had eaten nothing, and was drinking gin
and water all day. On the night before his death
the bottle of gin was put into his room as usual: he
called up witness in the morning, who, going into
his room, found him
toddling into bed in a great hurry, as if he did not wish
me to see that he had got up. His face was as black as
ink for half a minute, and his eyes flashed. This was
about seven o'clock in the morning, or between seven and
eight o'clock. The blackness in his face lasted a few
seconds. I have seen him in that way before, after he had
drank a glass of gin off at one " gulph." He seemed, on
such occasions, to have a difficulty in getting his breath.
I have seen him that way three or four times before. He
generally drank a glass of gin in two " gulphs." I asked
him what he had been doing, as I generally did when I
saw him in that excited state. He smiled as soon as he
could, and I looked at the bottle and said, " Oh, this is
what you have been at, is it?" " No, no," he said, "it
runs out" (alluding to some that he had spilt in the
night on the chest of drawers).

On the morning of his death he came down about
ten, and commenced drinking gin and water at
once. While sitting in an easy-chair he suddenly
said, " Help me to the sofa, I feel very ill ; "
reaching the sofa, he lay down, snored very loud,
and his face became blackened. Witness imme
diately ran to the kitchen and told Mr. Palmer, who
had come in about three quarters of an hour. Mr.
Palmer instantly sent witness off for Dr. Day, and
called in Mrs. Phillips, the next-door neighbour.
In conclusion, this witness stated that the deceased
seldom drank brandy, for he preferred gin.
Dr. Taylor deposed to having made an analysis of
the viscera of the deceased, the result of which was
that no mineral or vegetable poison could be de-
tected, and that the opinion of himself and Dr.
Rees as to the cause of death was that, assuming
nothing was taken by the deceased an hour before
death, the cause of death was apoplexy, resulting
from excessive drinking.
Dr. Monckton, who made the post-mortem ex-
amination, stated that, from the absence of any
cause shortly before death to produce the symptoms
described by the witnesses, he could form no other
opinion but that the deceased died from apoplexy,
though there was nothing in the symptoms incom-
patible with the use of prussic acid.

The sale of prussic acid to Mr. Palmer was proved
by the evidence of Whyman, assistant to Messrs.
Maunders, chemists, at Wolverhampton. Witness
deposed that on the first or second Tuesday in
August Mr. Palmer came into the shop and pur-
chased one ounce of jalap, and one ounce of prussic
acid.
The "boots" at the Junction Hotel, at Stafford,
stated that about two days before Mr. Walter Pal.
mer's death Mr. Palmer gave witness two small bot-
tles to take care of. On the same day he took them
away, and brought them back in about three
quarters of an hour. The next morning he asked
for them again, and, taking one, mixed with it a
Portion of the contents of a smaller bottle he had
with him • then mixing their contents both together,
he left the large bottles with witness, taking the
small one with him.