The Sun.
London, England, 1863-11-12 00:00:00

second, or about, comes a convulsion, probably a
shriek, then short, sharp, muscular twitches, and
gasping supervene, and, usually before a quarter of
a minute has gone by, practically speaking, death;
though the heart may continue throbbing up to the
end of half a minute. Such being the normal march
of symptoms, the difficulties of assumption is rela-
tion to this case begin. In the first place three
individuals could have not drunk simultane-
ously of one pot ; the drinking must have
been consecutive; and the case required that the
third individual should have swallowed the fatal
dose before any cognisance, or even suspicion 01
foul play, had arisen on the part of the two pre-
ceding. It is necessary, in point of fact, to assume)
that the triple poisoning should have been accom-
plished in three seconds of time. Such a result
would not seem easy to bring about. Three seconds
would appear to be inadequate for the taking of
three draughts, each by a different person, from tee
same vessel; even though the marked odour of
prussic acid (resembling that of bitter almonds) had
not been present We do not mean to assert that
the progress of results, as recited, is absolute to the
letter—that it may not be subject to variations ; but
the latter are slight, and even if admitted, they
import difficulties to take the place of others elimi-
nated. If, for example, the time between adminis-
tration of the poison and death be extended, then
it is accordant with what experience has shown, to
assume a prolongation of convulsions, shrieks, and
other demonstrations ; sufficient, it may reasonably
be assumed, to have challenged attention on the
part of the cab-driver. It needs no words of (mut'
sacs on our part to make the public understand that,.
but for the closing of this horrible drama, we should
not have felt ourselves justified in offering these
remarks. Justice to the prisoner would have
prompted an absolute reticence on a topic the dis-
cussion of which should in common fairness be
determined by a criminal court only. His death
has removed all such scruples. We, in common
with toxicologists and the public, may now'
study the case apart from every consideration of
human interest, regarding it only as a problem,
very much as the chess-player might study a
series of combinations on his chequered board.
The tale has a moral, one that the very highest liv-
ing authority on poisons inculcated:long ago, that
may bring confidence and consolation to the nerves
of some people who, perusing a record of modern
poisoning, may apprehend danger to themselves.
Master poisoners, according to Christison, must
henceforth be somewhat deeply versed in the science
of their art. The present case justifies that observa-
tion; and even the poisonings accomplished by
Catherine Wilson do not constitute an exception.
Passing now from the murdered wife and children
to Hunt himself, the poison aconite, with which he
elected to cut bhort his evil career, merits a remark.
Aconite, the active principle of monkshood, has no
affinity whatever with strychnia, although certain
contemporaries have stated the reverse. Neither
ire the effects similar; for whilst strychnia pro-
duces horrible convulsions, aconite has the remark-
able property of wholly destroying sensation with-
out motion; in other words, giving the indivioual
poisoned by it a total immunity from pain. We
cannot but regret that the ends of justice were de-
feated by the folly of the police, who went in uni-
form to Hunt's house and knocked at his door,
thus giving him the opportunity of swallowing the
fatal draught. The public, however, may derive
some consolation from the consideration that the
whole case is one of an extraordinary exceptional
nature.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

--------+ti _..__

NEWARK-WEDNESDAY.

A tolerable quantity of wheat on offer at our market to-
day, and the demand was fair, at a slight decline on the
rates of last week. Barley and other articles were not ma'
tonally changed.
White wheat new, 43s to 46s Barley, grinding.. 308 to 326
Red do. 37s to 42s Oats, old, ..
Old white 42s to 46s New do 20s to 24s
Red do.. 41s to 44s Beans. 37k, to 400
Barley, malting...36s to 40s `Beans, new.. 32s .to 310

HULL—TUESDAY.
At this day's market the show of English wheat vvas
moderate, with a ready sale, at fully late currencies, 00'
in some instances an advance of is per qr was obtained*
Foreign held firmly at rather more money. Barley met a.
slow sale, and prices in favour of buyers. Beans and peas
were quiet. Oats dull, but not quotably lower.
Wheat.... Old white.... per qr 43s Od to 45s Od
Old red
New white .. „
New red .... „
Barley.... English malting 32s Od to 36s Od
Grinding 26s 6d to 28s 01.1
Baal and Oderbruck
Holstein and Danish 303 Od to 31s Od
Grinding 2Bs Od to 31s Od
Oats English, old .. 22s Od to 24s Od
Archangel and Riga, per st.,
00ssi132Adtoto081313a
Friesland and Dutch
Swedish and Danish owl.2td to osl3d
Beans ....English., old, per qr. 44s 0 to 43s Od
New pigeon 42s ed to 41s Gd
New tic
Egyptian
Peas .. Foreign boilers .. 32s Od to 348 Od
Grinding
.........s
Od
Tares .... Spring. —s Od to
Indian Corn
Linseed; feeding
crushing
Linseed cakes (Hull) .
Foreign:
Rape cakes 6 0 oto 0 0 °'
Bones 5 5 oto 510 0
txt
000,
55
26
00: t
)0
il
• l9B
1.55450200:
tt C 1:01

MELTON MOWBRAY—TUESDAY.
The following were the currencies :—New white wheat!
41s Od to 45s Od ; new red, 39s Od to 43s per 36 stone
beans, 39s to 41s for old ; new sorts, 36s to 38s per 33 st?
barley, 35s to 37s for malting, and 28s to 321 s per qr. o,l'
grinding; new oats, 20s to 23s Od per 24 stone; old, 246
to 295.

LYNN—TUESDAY.
At to-day's market there was a short supply of wheat,
and the prices of last week were fully supported. Other
articles as before •
White 45s to 46s f Barley.... ... 37s to :390
.114 d..
Beans .4os to 44s I Oats.. ......... ..22s to 263
New 388 to 40s I Peas ............ —s to --4

Foreign Mail Packet List.

MAILS DUE.

tuetratia and Mauritius, via Southampton Nov. 1'
via Marseilles Nov 1:4
Jrazii and Cape Verds, by British packet. Dec. 4
,Jape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena Nov. 29.
(;hina, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton Nov. 18-
via Marseilles Nov. 12.

..... __ _____ .....
Falkland Islands
Gibraltar, via Southampton .. Nov. 11'
ied ia (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Nov. 18
via Marseilles Nov. 14.
india (Bombay), via Southampton
via Marseilles Nov. 2u.
Portugal. •.. 000000
Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Nov. 11'
via Marseilles Nov. 1.2-
Newfoundland
Oporto and Vigo
U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Nov. 11.
by U.S. packet....
by Canadian packet. Nov. 13.
W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Teneriffe Nov. 10.
Bahamas, via New York Nov. 20.
Mexico.
All parts of West Indies, including Chili, Peru, J Nov. 13.
California. and British Columbia..

PRUSSIAN POLES.—Out of 352 Prussian deputies,
elected in the proportion of one for every 50,000 of
population, 27 this time are Poles. As the Government
strains every possible influence to exclude them, the ratan
of so many is good evidence of the vitality and power of the
Polish element in Prussia, which may thus be estimated
roughly at 1,350,000.—Spectator.
—ow