The Sun.
London, England, 1849-08-02 00:00:00

N°.17,739.] LONDON, THURSDAY E .7 N 7 AUGUST 2, 1849.

after eating my supper with my mother and my brothers
and sisters. They all appeared to partake of the same
food, and I was not aware of anything being put int.,
mine. I never heard of arsenic being made use of to
get horses into condition. The drawers were open to
every one in the house.
By Mr. CREASY—My mother carved and helped us all
to supper on the night of the 6th of April.
Mary Anne Geering said—l am daughter of the pri-
soner, and am fourteen years old. My father used to
take his dinner with him when he went out to work, in
a basket or a bag, and I have seen my mother put it up
for him. I never saw any rats in the house, and my
mother has never complained of them, or said anything
about getting arsenic to give them; and I did not upoe
any occasion hear my brother James say that he wanted
any arsenic for his horses.
By the COURT—During the week my father was taken
ill, my mother put the dinner for him every day.
Alban Geering said—l am twenty-four years old. The
prisoner is my mother. In September last I was not
living with my father and mother. My father was very
ill in June and July, but did not at that time keep his
bed. I saw him when he was taken bad the last time,
and he complained of having been sick. My father had
some money in the Saving's Bank, but I do not recollect
ever asking my mother to let me see the deposit book.
About a month after my father was buried, I asked my
mother if be had dravn all the money out of the bank,
and she said he had not, and there was 121. there. I
had no knowledge that there was arsenic in the house.
I have heard my brothers say there were rats in the
cottage, but I never saw any myself. Just before my
brother James died, I saw some medicine for horses i❑
his possession. I knew it was medicine for horses, be-
cause he told me so.
Edwin Geering, another son of the prisoner, sixteen
years old, said that in December, while he was sleeping
with his brother James, he heard the souad of rats, but
never saw any.
Mr. John Pocock deposed as follows—l am a surgeon
and apothecary at Winehelsea, and under a charitable
bequest I attend the poor people of Gurstling profes-
sionally without any charge. I saw tho deceased on the
10th of September. He was in bed, and the prisoner
was in the room when I went in. The deceased was
very feverish, and complained of chills and sickness, and
also a difficulty of breathing and pain in the chest and
stomach. I sent him a blue pill and an opening mixture,
and when I called on the second occasion I found him
dead. I treated him for a bilious intermittent fever. The
prisoner, after his death, told me that her husband had
been suffering from a disorder to which hie family were
subject ; and, in consequence of her representation I
gave a certificate that death was occasioned by disease of
the heart and pericardium. There was no arsenic in
the medicine I administered.

By Mr. iIIIRST-1 had no suspicion that there was
anything wrong in the case.
Judith Veness deposed that she assisted the prisoner
to lay out the body of the deceased, and, while they
were so engaged, the prisoner said it was a disease of the
heart that her husband died of. Some months„be-
fore the death took place, the prisoner said that her
husband was a great trouble to her, and she wished he
was dead.

Evidence was then given that the body which had been
exumed was that of the deceased, and that when the
coffin was taken home the prisoner wished the body to
be screwed down immediately.

John Hawkins, sexton and gravedigger of Guestling,
deposed that on the occasion of the burial of the de-
ceased the prisoner looked out a piece of ground in the
churchyard, and wished h m to ask the Rev. Sir John
Ashburnham to allow her to have it, as she said she had
a large family, and she should wish them all to be buried
together. She at the same time requested that her hus-
band's grave might be six feet deep, and that a piece of
plank should be put over the coffin to keep the earth
from it. Four feet was the usual depth of a grave in
that parish.
By Mr. HURST —Had no doubt that the effect of put-
ting the plank on the coffin was to preserve it.
George Hawkins, father of the last witness, proved
that the cost of the funeral, without the church fees,
was 2l ss. The deceased and his two sons were buried
close to each other, in accordance with the request of the
prisoner.
Alban Geering, recalled by Mr. IltnitsT—l heard my
father say before his death that he should like to be
buried in a six-foot grave, and have a slab placed on his
coffin, to keep the earth from it.
Mr. F. Ticehurst, a surgeon at Hastings, deposed that
on the 26th April, he was present when the bodies of the
deceased and his two sons were dog up, and he after-
wards examined the body of the deceased. There was a
considerable quantity of fluid in the coffin, and the body
was almost swimming in it. The head and face were
very much decomposed, but the external portion of the
abdomen appeared in good preservation. The intestines
were of a pink colour and were not decomposed. The
right lung adhered to the pleura covering the ribs. The
heart appeared healthy, as also did the liver. The pink
appearance of the intestines indicated severe inflamma-
tion, and he had no doubt that the inflammation was the
cause of death: Witness afterwards placed the contents
of the abdomen, the stomach, the pericardium, and the
liver in .a jar; which he sealed, and afterwards delivered
to Professor Taylor on the Ist of May. The witness
then proceeded to state that upon examining the other
two holies, those of George and James, he discovered
similar appearances to those exhibited in the body
of the deceased ; and he said that he placed those
portions of the internal organs which he consi-
dered necessary in different jars, and banded them
also to Dr. Taylor. The witness likewise expressed his
opinion that the deaths were occasioned by the exhibi-
tion of some irritant poison to the deceased. Mr. Tice-
hurst also deposed that the vomit of Benjamin was like-
wise given to Dr. Taylor for analysis. The witness then
read the statement which he took down from the witnes
Benjamin with regard to his symptoms, and it appeared
that after describing what he himself suffered, he said
that his father and brothers suffered in exactly the same
way immediately before their deaths. He added that,
upon hearing what Benjamin said, he called to the pri-
soner and told her that he had just received an account
of the circumstances connected with the death of her
husband and sons, and he wished to know if it was cor-
rect.
He then read to her what he had taken down,and
she said it was all right. The symptoms he had de-
scribed were those which would result from the taking
of arsenic; in answer to a question he put to the pri-
soner she said that she had not had any arsenic in the
house for twelve months, but said that she used to keep
" the stuff " at one time for the mice. On the follow-
ing day he again asked the prisoner if she was sure she
had not had any arsenic in the house, and she said she
know she had not had any for several months, as during
that time she had kept a good house cat. Upon a
subsequent day a large pill or bolus was delivered to
him by Jeffrey, the policeman, and he gave that
also to Dr. Taylor. Witness analysed a portion of
this pill, and in his opinion it contained arsenic.
By Mr. HuasT—lrritant poisons were sometimes ad
ministered in medicine, and arsenic itself was given, but
never to a greater extent than a quarter of a grain, and
then always in solution. If a person were to die imme-
diately after the administration of such a medicine, the
arsenic, in witness's opinion, would not be discovered
in the body, from the smallness of the quantity.
By Mr. CREASY—The pill to which he referred was
nut such a one as would be made by a medical man. It
was a sort of irregular bolus.
Mr. Pocock was recalled—He said, I administered no
arsenic either to James or George Geering. I attended
George for several weeks, and gave him a considerable
quantity of mercury. He had, during most of the time,
as much as twelve grains of blue pill per day, which
would be equal to four grains of metallic mercury.
By the COURT—I am a member of the Royal College
of Surgeons.

Mr:buke, another medical gentleman from Hastings,
corroborated the evidence of Mr. Ticehurst with regard
t. the appearances presented by the bogies of the de-
ceased upon the post mor tem examination.
Dr. Taylor was the next witness. He deposed that
on the Ist of May he received some jars from Dr. Tice•
hurst, and analysed their contents afterwards. He then
proceeded to state that with regard to the organs and
viscera belonging to the deceased, the result of the usual
scientific tests to which he subjected them was the pro-
duction of arsenic, both in a metallic and crystalised
form. The whole quantity of arsenic which ho actually
discovered was seven grains; but a much greater quan
tity must have been taken, as the whole of the body was
. impregnated with the poison; and he could not attribute
the death, from all the appearances he observed, to any
other cause than the administration of arsenic. Witness
afterwards subjected the contents of the jar which con-
tained the viscera of George Geering to the same che-
mical process, and ascertained the presence of quick-
silver or mercury, but no arsenic; and he considered it
possible that, if the person had lived for some time after
the administration of the last dose of poison, the arsenic
might have been entirely expelled and have left no trace
in the stomach. From the appearances of inflammation,
however, that were presented, he had no doubt that the
death in this case was also the result of the administra-
tion of arsenic. Upon examining the viscera of James
he discovered the presence of arsenic, and that poison
was no doubt the cause of his death. Upon examining
the vomited liquid of Benjamin, he discovered that it con-
tained two grains of arsenic. lie likewise examined and
analyzed the pill or bolds that had been referred to, and he
found it was composed of arsenic, opium, and some Ye-
getable substance, probably linseed powder. The effect
of the mixture of opium with the arsenic would be to
deaden the pain and to check vomiting, but it would not
in any way prevent the deadly effect of the poison.
George Jeffrey, a constable belonging to the East
Sussex constabulary, deposed that he was stationed at
Guestling, and resided near the prisoner's cottage. On
the 24th April, he asked the prisoner if she had got any
arsenic in the house, as the mice bad gnawed his peas
in the garden. She told, him she had not had any
arsenic in the house for twelve months. He took her
into custody on the 26th, and she then said if she had
bad any arsenic she should have given it to him, but
she bad not had any for twelve months, and when she
did use it she used to burn what remained before the
children came down stairs. The 'witness then spoke
to finding the pill in one of the drawers, and also a
savings bank receipt book.
Mr. J. G. Shorter, clerk to the magistrates for the
Hastings division, deposed; that while the prisoner was
under examination upon the charge of feloniously ad-
ministering poison to her eon iogjanlin, with intent to