The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-10 00:00:00

CORONER'S INQUEST.

The examination of witnesses in the adjourned inquest
on the body of Michael Aungier, found dead in a cab on
Saturday morning last, was resumed yesterday at two
o'clock, at the Grapes public-house.
Charles Pearson, the servant boy in the employment
of Mr. Paccard, was then sworn, and gave his evidence,
which was to the same effect as that which we reported
in The Sun of Saturday.
The servant girl, the cabman, and the policeman,
were also examined, but their evidence furnished no ad-
ditional information.
Charles Jones Snitch was then sworn, and deposed as
follows :—I am a surgeon, residing at No. 33, Brydges-
street. On the morning of Saturday last, at about a
quarter past five o'clock, I was called to the station-
house, and I saw a man, then placed on a stretcher,
quite dead. The body was just warm, so that I should
judge, from his having been exposed to the cold air,
that he might have been dead about an hour, his hands
being perfectly cold, and the trunk only warm. The
pupils of the eyes were dilated. It was useless to try
any means to restore him, such as bleeding, &c., and
I therefore made no attempt. Having received your
warrant for the postmortem examination, with an
analysis of the contents of the stomach, I proceeded
to execute it on the Sunday afternoon, assisted by Mr.
Brooks. The following is the result of that investiga-
tion :—" Externally the body presented no marks of
violence. It was intimated by a gentleman present
at the examination (Mr. Coates, I believe) that he
thought he perceived a red line round the throat ; but,
upon examination, it proved to be nothing more than
the usual appearance of accumulated blood, probably
arising from the position in which his body had been
placed in the cab. On removing the calverium or skull-
cap, the following appearance presented itself :—The
blood-vessels of the outer covering of the brain were
distended with congested, that is, congealed blood, the
membrane adhering very firmly to the bones of the
skull. The blood-vessels in the brain were in the
same gorged and distended state. On removing a por-
tion of the brain, a quantity. of water (it might be about
two ounces) was seen in the ventricles, the na-
tural quantity being but a drop. There was
also a slight rupture of some of the minute vessels, and a
few drops of blood effused. The chest was next exa-
mined. The heart, small in size, but perfectly healthy,
was somewhat flat, the lungs gorged and distended with
congested blood. The external surface of the stomach,
the small and large intestines exhibited the blood-vessels
in the same full and distended state as those of the brain,
being charged with congested blood. The liver looked
perfectly. healthy, and proved so on examination, from
which I infer that the man could not be a drinker. The
contents of the stomach were entered into a bottle. The
internal condition of the stomach was next examined,
and its coats were found to be particularly thin, and that
more so in some parts than others. The blood-vessels ex-
hibited the same full state as the other organs. Its
whole complexion indicated some degree of inflammation.
It was next washed, and the water deposited in another
bottle. These two bottles I carried to a gentleman of
the name of Wonfor, who has made scientific chemistry
his study. This gentleman has submitted the contents
of the stomach (the quantity in it being about a pint) to
various tests. The following is the result of his observa-
tions:—‘ I have submitted the contents of the two bottles
to a careful examination, and do not discover the existence
of any poisonous matter. But the ingesta consist of rum,
beer, and animal matter. I have submitted my results
to Dr. Pereira, and it is his opinion that no poison has
been given.' Under such circumstances, I can come to
no other conclusion than that the deceased died from a
state strongly bordering on apoplexy; but whether
caused by the excess of spirits, wine, or malt liquor, or
whether the result of his age, lam not able to say. If
unaccustomed to drinking, that would be very likely to
lead to such a termination."
In reply to a question from a Juryman, Mr. Snitch
further stated, that if the party had been drinking to ex-
cess, his death would have been accelerated by his being
driven about in a cab.
In reply to a question from a Juryman, Mr. Brooks
stated that he was of opinion, after his examination of
the body of the deceased, that his death' might have
been caused by excess of drinking alone.
The Jury, after a short deliberation, returned a ver-
dict to the effect, that the deceased Michael Aungier,
had been found dead in a cab on Saturday morning; and
that his death appeared to have been caused by exces-
sive drinking, and accelerated by his having been driven
about in a cab, where he fell. They would leave it to
the friends of the deceased to take any proceedings they
might think fit against Messrs. Paccard and Rennet, with
whom the deceasad had passed the night.