The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-05-24 00:00:00

TIMES.---LIVERPOOL, SATURDAY.

minutes of the case which he had made at the time.] In
that case there was a lock-jaw ; it occurred about the middle
of the attack, but she was able to speak. In acute idiopathic
cases' it is a la'e symptom. I have had a patient, named
Copeland, who had been attacked with idiopathic tetanus
under my care ; there was an external cause. Death took
place in somewhat less than half an hour. I have made a
lumber of experiments on animals with respect to strychnia
td have found the post mortem examinations
ery generally to concur. The membranes of the brain
are highly congested, the sinus gorged with blood, and
in one case I had hemorrhage from the nostril. I have
cut through the substance of the brain and found nu-
melons red spots; these are the general results. The
lungs of those animals had been either collapsed or con-
gested, the heart invariably filled on the right side and very
often on the left. The liver has been congested
and the kidneys normal ; the spleen in a natural
condition. The vessels of the stomach I have also
found congested on the outside surface. On the
mucous or inner side I found them filled with blood,
the vessels of the membrane of the spinal cord
congested, also with sometimes red points cutting
into the spinal cord. The appearances of post mortem exa-
minations are always a true test of the cause of death.
I have experimentalised in a great many cases of strych-
nia. If you kill an animal with a grain of strychnia
you may discover traces of it that is evidence of its presence.
-1000th part of a grain will kill, and that can be

poisons,

The 50
f

id if in the body. I ha-ve actually experimented so as to
discover that quantity. The theory of the decomposition of
strychnia, as propounded by Dr. A. Taylor, is quite new.
The first time I ever heard of it was in the ciurt. There
is no well founded reason, in my opinion, for such a theory.
I have proved it by numerous experiments. I have taken
the blood of an animal poisoned with two grains of
strychnia, about the least quantity that would desiroy
it, and have injected it into the abdominal cavities
of smaller animals, and have destroyed them with all
the symptoms, and post mortem appearances of deaths
by strychnia. It would make no difference, I should
think, in fin ing strychnia, how it was administered.
If the pills containing it were bard, and not easily dissolved,
it would be easier to find. I differ from Dr. A. Taylor
relative to his colour tests. I believe them to be reliable
tests for finding strychnia. I have found it invariably in
urine that has been ejected by the animals that have taken
it, part of it is thrown off by the watery ekecretions.
Strychnine cannot be confounded with salacine or anthyne.
An increased flow of saliva is a very marked symptom, so is
susceptibility of touch in all caves. A slight touch, or a
sharp word will produce violent convulsions. They
are

recognised as chronic convulsions, :a stiffening
of the ' arms. A man who had taken strychnine,
having his neck rubbed before the paroxysms came
on, would be likely to be thrown into convulsions if
the first symptoms of poisoning had commenced. It would
not give him any' relief. I think it very improbable that a
man under the influence of strychnia could pull a bell
violently. I agree with Dr. Herapath that strychnia could
be found. I have heard the symptoms in Cook's case
described, but do not attach much importance to them, as
I have seen symptoms developed from other causes. A
dose strong enough to destroy life at one paroxysm would
not take an hour and a half to manifest itself. In my
opinion death arose from epileptic convulsions with
tetanic complications. The post modem appearances in
Cook's case being so different from those which I have
observed in cases of strychnine poisoning, that I do not
suppose that a dose sufficient to destroy life in one paroxysm
could not, so far as I am aware, require even an hour to
manifest its effects. The interval of repose from Monday
to Tuesday was, in his opinion, important as to the epileptic
nature of the convulsions, as in epilepsy the recurrence of
the fit generally comes on about the same hour. Any of
the causes which-I have here heard described,. such as cold,
the excitement upon the race course, and the vomiting,
might have produced the symptoms and death which has been
described in Cook's case.

The Court hera adjourned.
On the return of the judges,
' The Attorney-General proceeded with the cross exami-
nation of the witness. He had [spoken of the causes of
tetanus, but he had only seen two eases. What he had
told them about mental and sensual excitement and such
things had not come under his own observation.
The patient, Catherine Watson, had gone about her
duties until within a short time of her attack. He
was applied to in this (Cook's) case in January.
Witness communicated to Mr. Smith, Palmer's solici-
tor, this .case of Catherine Watson. He had been in the
court since the commencement of the trial, and had been
at consultations in the evening. He began a series of ex-
periments for this case in January, and made a report
nine or ten days ago. He had experimented on dogs,
cats, and fowls. He administered three-quarters of a
grain to two grains. He had tried to destroy a dog with
half a grain of strychnine, but it did not answer. He
had had two cases of traumatic tetanus In his own prac-
tice, and others in hospitals. They lasted six or seven
days. So far as he could judge Cook's death was caused
by epileptic convulsions with tetanic complications.
Noboby could tell what epilepsy proceeded from, and he
had no theory upon ;the subject. He had known of only
one death from epilepsy. He did not know of any person
who had died from epilepsy being conscious st the time of
death.

Lord Campbell: Is death from epileptic convulsions
with tetanic complications a disease known to medical
men ? Witness : To all medical men. It may be found
in Copland's Medical Dictionary.

Cross-examined : Mental excitement might have caused
Cook's convulsive attacks. That was in the range of
probability. He had never known sensual excitement
produce epilepsy.
The Attorney-General subjected the witness to a rigid
cross-examination upon this point, and the singular and
not altogether intelligible answers of the witness con-
vulsed the court with laughter, in wh:ch the judges, and
even the prisoner (Palmer) himself,
_could not help

joining.
Mr. Baron Alderson : I heard clapping in the court.
When a man is on trial for his life, it is a frightful
thing.
Re-examined by Mr. Sergeant Shee : He knew from an
extensive reading, that ;epilepsy frequently occurred
without destroying the consciousness of th) patient
The attack frequently come on in bed, and was accorn
panied with tetanic convulsions. It very often happened
that a person might have an attack of epilepsy at
night, and yet be quite well all the next day. It was
very usual, when an adult was seized with epilepsy for
the first time, for him to have a succession of attacks.
He should infix from the fact that Cook woke up in
middle of the night and said he had been mad
for two hours, that he had been seized with some sud-
den spasms. If there were no such spasms he should
infer that he was labouring under some nervous disorder,
some disturbance of the brain.

Dr. J. Bainbridge, examined by Mr. Grove, said he
was medical officer at St. Martin's Workhouse. He
had had much experince in convulsive disorders, which
admitted of great variety in the symptoms. Some of
these convulsive attacks came on at regular periods, and
it was impossible in the most experienced medical men to
say where ordinary convulsions ended and tetanic con-
vulsions began. Epileptic convulsions were often accom-
panied with tetanic convulsions.

- Mr. E. Austen Steady, a surgeon of Chatham, said
that in 1854 he attended a woman named Taylor, for
trismus and opisthotomos pleurusthotomos. The
attack continued for a fortnight, when she appeared to
get better and walked about. In twelve months after-
wards she was seized again. She recovered and was still
alive. It appeared that the patient had some quarrel
with her husband, and the attack was caused by excite-
ment.

Cross-examined by Mr. James, Q.C. : He learned that
during the quarrel she had a blow on her side. There
were no external appearance of that blow.
Dr. Robinson was next called, and said he was a fellow
of the Royal College of Physicians, and Physician to the
Newcastle-upon-Tyne Hospital. He had practised as a
physicians ten years. Be had heard the whole of the
evidence in this case. From the symptoms described
he believed that Jook died from tetanic con-
vulsions or, rather, from convulsions resembling te.
tames. The convulsions of epilepsy sometimes assumed
a tetanic form. There was no department of pathology
which was more obscure than that of convulsive
disorders, and it was frequently impossible to trace their causes.
Gritty granules in the spinal cord would tend to produce
convulsive disease?. These convulsions might resemble
those in Cook's case. He had turned his attention to
strychnine. He had witnessed some experiments, and had
performed a few.
Cross-examined by the Attorney General : He had seen
twenty cases of epilepsy which had assumed a tetanic form. Ho
had never seen rigidity from epilepsy so strong that the body
would rest upon its head and heels, if placed with the face
upwards. He thought that any exciting cause might bring on
the attack. He had never known any case of epilepsy produce
snoh results as those described in the case of Cook. The
sudden paryoxsms of the body, the stiffened body, and
other symptoms described in Cook's case, were consistent with
poison by strychnine, but they were common to other
diseases. Some of the symptoms were also inconsistent with

epilepsy.
By Mr. Sergeant Slice : Assuming that it was epilepsy,
he should say th) last attack was when Mr. Cook sat up in
bed.

- Dr. Richardson was called, and examined by Mr. Sergeant
Shre : He said he was a physician, practising in London. He
had never seen a case of tetanus, properly so called, but
he had seen a considerable number of deaths by convulsions.
He had seen those convulsions assume a tetanic form,
without • being strictly speaking tetanus. In those cases he
had seen the muscles fixed, and the arms stiffened out, the
hands firmly and closely clenched until death, a sense of
suffocation in the pa'ient. He had seen contortions
of the feet in some of these convulsions. Ho had known
persons die of angina pectoris. The symptoms of that disease
when it proved fatal resembled very closely those that
attended the death of Cook. In November, 1850, a girl,
ten years of age, was under his • care. He supposed that

she had had a slight attack of scarlet fever. She re-
covered so far that his visits ceased on the 26th of No-
vember. Ho left her in the morning amused and merry.
At half-past ten in the evening lie was called in
to see her. He found her dying. She was supported upright
by her sister. She was pale; the muscles of the face rigid,
the eyes staring, the respiratory muscles fixed and rigid ; and
with all this was combined au intense agony and restlessness
sueh as he had never witnessed. There was perfect conscious-
T 'he child knew witness, and eagerly took from his

hand some brandy and water. He went out for the purpose
of obtaining chloroform, and on returning in a
few minutes her head was drawn back, and he
could detect no respiration. The eyes were fixed open, and
the body resembled a statue. She was dead. On the follow•
ing day he made a post mortem examination. The brain was
slightly congested. The upper part of the spinal cord seemed
healthy. The lungs had collapsed. The heart was in such a
state of firm spasmodic contraction, and was so perfectly
free from blood, and be remarked it might have been
washed out. He could not account for death except by a
slight serum in some of the cavities. The account received
from the parent was that the child had leaped into bed quite
merrily, then jumped up again, and exclaimed, " I am going to
die."

By the Attorney-General : He believed that was a case of
angina pectoris, and he was supported by the best autho-
rities. It was quite an open question amongst medical
men bow angina pectoris arose. Some had attributed
it to a disease of the coronary arteries, to a disease
of the valves of the heart, and there had been many
cases lately where there had been no discovered cause. It
was called angina pectoris (anguish of the breast) because
persons labouring under it, felt as though their chests were
placed in a vice. The symptoms of angina pectoris and of
strychnine were so aiike, that it would hill the most carefnl
observer to distinguish the one from the other. As regards
symptoms he knew no difference. When he had a case in
which he could not refer the result to one cause more than
another, he would go upon the chemical analysis. There were
no premonitory symptoms, and as a general rule he had never
seen more than one paroxysm in angina.

By Mr. Sergeant Shee : He had seen a patient appear to
recover frona an attack of angina pectoris, and then have
another attack in 24 hours. He should say that the symptoms
like angina pectoris than poison

in Cook's can were more

by strychnine,

Dr. Wrightson was recalled, and said that iu his opinion,
when the strychnine poison was wholly absorbed, it was
diffused cqua'ly throughout the entire system. The diffusion
would depend upon the rapidity with which death took place

after the absorptio

By the Attorney General : The absorption would be more
likely to be complete in the event of a tong interval elapsing
between taking the poison and death. If the minimum dose
which would estroy life were taken, the less the chance would
be of finding it in the stomach,

Mr. Baron Alderson : I suppose he would look for it else-
where ?

Witness : Yes. in the spleen, the Ever, and the blood

Catherine Watson, examined by Mr. Grove, said : She
lived at Garnkirk, in Scotland, and was there last October,
She had no wound on her body, and had taken no poison.

Cross-examined:by the Attorney-General : She was
at eleven o'clock at night. She had felt herself heavy all day
Her illness came on with pain in the stomach. Then she had
cramps in her arm. Then she became so ill that she was
was insensible. She had not felt any pain since. The only
thing she remembered was being bled.
As there was no other witness ready, the court at six o'clock
adjourned until to-morrow.
It is expected that the case for the defence will close about
three o'clock to-morrow (this day) that, the Attorney General
will then reply, and that Lord Campbell will defer his summing
up until Monday.

,t tacked

As soon as the court was closed it was re-opened, and, on
the application of the Attorney General, William Saunders, the
trainer, was called upon by subpzena, and a telegraphic message
was directed to be sent to him.

POLICE COURT .-YESTERDAY, .-_ESTERDAY,

(BEFORE MR. SANDS.)

GAROTTE ROBBERY.---A fellow named Edward Whitehead,
was charged with having robbed a stranger named Henry
Ward, of a gold ring and gold guard chain. The prisoner, with
two other persons got the prosecutor into a passage in Thurlow
street, " garotted" him, and took a gold ring from off his neck
tie, and his guard from off his neck. The other two persons
got away, but the prisoner was captured and the guard found
in his possession. Remanded.
FALSE DECLAUATION.—A young sailor, named Thomas
Lapelley, was sent for trial for having made a false declaration
in the following respect. He bad a watch pledged and he sold
the ticket to a woman, and then made a deelaration that be lost
the ticket with the view of getting out the watch, but the
imposition was discovered, and the prisoner was given into cus-
tody.

AN AFFECTIONATE WIFE.--John Addison, late in the
employment of Messrs. Lawrence and Daniels, the engine works,
Boundary street, was charged with having stolen tools belonging
to his employers. It appeared that before Good Friday last,
the prisoner was discharged from the service, and on Thursday
a woman called an officer and gave him a "cold chisel," which
she said her husband (the prisoner) had stolen from his employ-
ers; it had the name of the firm marked on it. Mr, Bluck.
for the prisoner, elicited the fact, that the woman who gave
the information was the wife of the prisoner, but that sho had
been separated for a long time. Mr. Bluck submitted that
the woman had done the thing out of spite. The prisoner was
discharged.