The Sun.
London, England, 1834-07-12 00:00:00

SINGULAR CASE OF MANSLAUGHTER.

For several days the• City of York has been in great ex-
citement in consequence of the death of Mr. Richard Ri
chardson, aged about 20 years, who had been ill of the
small-pox, and who it was very strongly reported, had had
his death considerably accelerated by taking Morison's Pills.
On Saturday week an inquest was held over the remains
of the unfortunate young man. The first witness, S. Rob-
son, said, he and the deceased were fellow-apprentices, with
Mr. Sowray, draper. He was taken ill on the 16th of
June ; I fetched a ss. 6d. packet of pills of Mr. Webb,
who attended him during his illness ; the pills he took
purged him violently ; he was also sick, and complained of
great pain in the stomach ; one day he took three doses of
ten, fifteen, and twenty each time. Several other witnesses
corroborated this statement. The deceased never came
down stairs but once from the 16th to the 27th, when
he died.
Mr. Joseph Spence, druggist, said he had examined the
pills, No. 2, and believed them to consist of about equal
proportions of gamboge and aloes. Three pills of No. 1,
weigh nearly seven grains. Mr. James Allen, surgeon, and
B. Wake, M.D. gave it as their opinion that the number of
pills described by the witness to have been taken by the
diseased, in the short period of his illness, were sufficient to
cause his death independent of the disease under which he
aboured. The inquest was adjourned till Tuesday, when
04r. Sowray, Richardson's employer, and with whom he
.ived, said the deceased had great confidence in the pills,
in consequence of having been cured of the cholera by
them, and believed if any thing could cure him they would.
Mr. Webb supplied the pills, and recommendedhim to take
them constantly. Webb attended him eleven days. Ho
took three boxes of pills at 3s. 9d. a box and one box of
powders. Never heard that deceased took three doses a
day of 10, 15, and 20.
Dr. Wake, on being further examined; deposed, that if
the strongest man in York was to take thirty. grains of
gamboge per day, which he knew Morison's pills to con-
tain, it would make him extremely ill, without having any
other disease. Each pill, as far as could be ascertained,
contained about one grain of gamboge, and one grain of
aloes, so that taking thirty pills per day, would take thirty
grains of each drug. The proportion of the other ingre-
dientsin the pills was too small to neutralize the deleterious
effects of the gamboge and aloes.—The proceedings were
again adjourned till Wednesday, when the Coroner, Mr.
John Wood, summed up, after which the jury retired. After
an absence of an hour and a half, they returned to have

the evidence of the medical men again read, when they
remained locked rp fbr some time longer ; after 7-bir:h they
again came before the Coroner, and said that they .were all
c.,:Tre,A on their .verdict excent one,. Tie Coroner sai(
tW(4'

)t.tlio.!a were agreed he could takotheir_verdiet.l

would prefer having it unanimous, and after hearing the
evidence of Dr. Belcombe, they once more retired, but the
refractory member declaring he would not give way, at very
near eleven o'clock they came before the Coroner, and re-
turned a verdict of Manslaughter against Joseph Webb, at
the same time stating it as their opinion that Mr. Webb
administered the pills not knowing that they contained any
deleterious drug.—York Courant.