The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-20 00:00:00

trace means a small quantity ; but I do not use it i❑
that term now. The whole which we found was about
half a grain. That would not cause death. The tests are
used for antimony after obtaining the deposit by boiling the
animal matter. Nothing but arsenic orantimony would de-
posit upon the copper. We found no sublimate of arsenic.
We next used the test of sulphuretted hydrogen, and after
24 hours there was a deposit of a reddish colour, like sul-
phuret of antimony, and was soluble in hydro-chloric
acid. He then described the tests employed, which
produced a deposit, which, upon being dissolved in
hydro-chlorio acid, converted the black precipitate into
antimonial acid. Au inaccuracy in the long pro-
cess or badness of the instrument might affect
the experiment. The antimony which I found might
have been taken 3 weeks before. I should think anti-
mony gets quicker out of the body of an animal than a
man. lam acquainted with the works of Orfile. He
was one of the most esteemed chemists. He makes
mention of a dog in whose body after it had lived 4
months, was found to contain antimony, but that dog
took 45 grains. That was a large dose, and
mme of the dogs died who had taken the
dose. I never knew of a case of such a quantity being
taken. We cannot clearly tell when it gets out of
the body. I was first applied to about this body upon
the 21st of November ; it was by Mr. Warrington. I
did not know Gardner. I have not had any previous
cases at Rugeley. Mr. Stevens and Boycott brought in
the jar with the contents of the stomach. I wrote a
letter in answer, giving my opinion of the cause of
death. The letter was here read, and went on to state
that the contents of the stomach did not give the pre-
sence of either strychnia, prussic acid, or opium ; but that
the deceased might have died from the effects of anti-
mony. A man will vomit upon first taking anti-
mony—part will go out by the bowels and part by
the urine. Orfile inclines to the opinion that in from 4
to 17 hours it passes out from the urine. I believe I
was justified in coming to the opinion that Cook might
have died from antimony. The quantity found in the
uody does not always prove the cause of death. Any
antimonial preparation, taken judiciously or injudiciously,
might have given the results •f antimony which we
Arrived at. James's powder, or any such preparation,
might have left enough in the system. The accounts
which I received of Cook's death guided me in the
opinion I came to, that he, Cook, might have died from
the effects of antimony.
Mr. Sergeant Shee—Do you allow yourself to be di-
rected in the opinion you arrive at by hearsay statements?
—A man may die from many sorts of poisons. The
learned professor explained that an account of how a
man died would tend to assist and direct him in the
analysis!, het not.influence the opinion of such analysis
beyond guiding him in the conclusions dtsteitV that 'the.
symptoms exhibited by the deceased had been
caused by whatever poison might be traced. I was
not at the inquest on Cook at its commencement.
Some of the evidence was read over to me. Dr. Har-
land was being examined. I also heard Dr. Bamford,
Lavinia Barnes, and Elizabeth Mills examined, had
not experimented on the rabbits before I went to the in-
quest. Five of the rabbits r,,,were experimented on
25 years ago. I had a great objection to destroy life ex-
cept in extreme cases. My last experiments were made
after the inquest. I don't oonsider a rabbit an unfair
test ; dogs are not so good. They are not so dangerous
to handle. I think the rabbits as good as any animal, as
the poison is retained and the effects are visible. I
attended the inquest and suggested questions. They
were put to the witnesses. I remember Roberts being
examined, but I only paid attention to the medical part
of the case. I did not hear Roberts say strychnia had
been bought, but I knew it had been bought on the
Tuesday from Mr. Gardner's letter to me, and it was
with that knowledge, and after hearing some of the evi-
dence, that I gave my opinion.
Sergeant Shee-ad think, my lord, we ought here to
Gave the witness's depositions read.
The Lord Chief Justice —Very well.
The Clerk then read the evidence given by Dr. Alfred
Taylor at the inquest held on Mr. Cook.
Examination continued—l returned to town imme-
diately after giving my evidence, and the prisoner was
committed for wilful murder. I thought it my duty to
abstain from all discussion calculated to influence the
public mind. I wrote a letter to the Lancet contradict-
ing some statements that had been made.
The letter was here read. It was one complaining of
certain statements, and also
.misquotations that had
been made from his evidence.
The court adjourned for a quarter of an hour.
On the jury returning to their box,
The cross-examination► of Dr. Taylor was then pro-
ceeded with. The last portion of the letter was strictly
correct, and it was still his opinion. The mode in which
the result of this trial will affeet the accused is of minor
importance compared to the interests of 16 millions of
persons. He had no prejudice against the man, but he
had a duty to the community as well as to the prisoner
to perform. I never knew that a likeness or rather a
"caricature " of myself and Dr. Rees was taken for
the Illustrated Times. Ido not know anything of the
person taking the likeness. Mr. A. Mayhew called on
me with a letter from Professor Faraday, and I received
him as I should the professor himself. He did not tell
me until after the conversation had taken place that he
was connected with the illustrated Times. I think the
information was obtained in a very indirect manner.
After I detected the imposition I desired everything
connected with the Rugeley cases might be excluded.
I never said to a gentleman tamed Cook Evans, " I
will give them enough strychnine before I have done
with them." I never uttered anything so low or vulgar.
I most positively deny that I ever used the term, and
the person who has instructed you (Sergeant Shee) has
very much misinformed you. As regards the effect of
strychnia on the human frame, I don't think I ever
saw a single case, but I have a knowledge of the subject.
Cook was seized with tetanic symptoms after he sat up
in his bed. I cannot refer to any case in any book
where the symptoms exhibited by Cook are described.
Thebeating of the bedclothes by Cook would prove that
he was very uneasy from a sense of suffocation. The
tetanic symptoms occurred after the beating of the bed-
clothes. I have heard of one case of tetanus. The patient
had a fit like ague. I know of no case where the patient
screamed before the fit. I have never known a patient
scream when attacked by tetanus, but will in ordinary
convulsions. I cannot say whether a person affected
with tetanic spasms would be affected by the touch ;
animals would. I know of a fatal case from strychnine,
where a healthy young female had taken strychnine and
no effect produced for an hour. The case is reported in
medical jurisprudence. She took a grain and
a half. There is another case, not fatal, where
the patient was not attacked for two hours
after the taking the istrychnii. Dr. Christison reports
a case where death ensued in three hours and three-
quarters after the ingestion of strychnia. lam of opi,
then, that in that case the convulsions did not commence
until three hours afterwards. There is another case,
where a female took a very large dose in a state of solu-
tion, and was some time before she was attacked. Ido
not know of any fatal case where the symptoms have
menifetted themselves go long as nu hour atol ^ half
motel' the ingestion of the poison. The recovery
of Cook upon the night of Monday may be
attributed to the nature and quantity of the
dine. Ido not linow that he was Well in 00 abort A

time. In a case where half an ounce of nux vomica had
been taken, convulsions subsided in four hours and a-
half. ' It is not so strong as strycheine ; strychnine is
the agent. •
Sergeant Shee—Unve you known any other case
where, after strychnine has been taken, that the symp-
toms subsided so soon as they did in Cnek's case ?—I do
not ; neither do \I know any case where the paroxysm
subsided for so long a time as they did in Cook's case,
from -the Monday to Tuesday. I do not think that
the dose upon Monday had anything to do with
he atttack upon Tuesday. Ido not know of a
case where the -body lane been pliant after death.
The oeloured tests cannot be depended upon unless you
get strychnine in a tangible form.
By the Attorney-General—l have met with eiases in
my reading whore the heart was found empty after death
in a human subjeCt. I have met with three such cases.
I ascribe the emptiness of the heart to spasmodic action.
If the Paroxysms were severe and &heel expect to find the
heart empty: The rigidity after death in the cases I have
seen always affected the muscles of the back. The dura-
tion of time in which the symptoms would first appear
would vary according to the constitution and the absorp-
tion. One of the earliest symptoms of death by strychnine
is the feeling of suffocation. I have no doubt but that that
which I produced was antimony. Supposing antimony
was given to produce sickness, some would be thrown
off during the vomiting. I suggested some questions
to the coroner, because he did not pet such as 'would
enable me to form an opinion. It was not intentional,
but he did not appear to understand the medical bearing
of the case. I also observed that there was an omission in
taking down some of the answers. I referred to antimony
as the cause of Cook's death, as it was the only sub-
stance found in his body after death. I have been
misrepresented as to the possibilities of discovering
strychnia after death very much indeed. What I said
to the coroner was that strychnia absorbed by the
blood could not be extracted as strychnia.
Dr. Rees, lecturer at Guy's Hospital—l assisted Dr.
Taylor in the analysis. It has been very correctly
given. The antimony discovered might have bean ad-
ministered within a few hours or days of death. The
amount discovered was no test of the amount administered.
We failed to discover strychnia. The stomach was pre-
sented most unfavourably for analysis. The stomach
had been turned inside out, the mucous surface rub-
bing against the intestines. The contents, had there been
any, must have been mixed among the intestines. This
being the state of the stomach it was very difficult to
discover strychnia. I agree with Dr. Taylor that strych-
nia is absorbed before it causes death. I also
agree that it is only the excess that is found.
I have seen the experiments of Dr. Taylor
with the rabbits, and I assisted in , discovering
the strychnia after the death of the animals. We de-
stroyed four animals, and failed to detect it in three.
The symptoms of death resembled Cook's case. I have
heard the details of all the cases that have been detailed
during this trial, and they are analogous to the experi
ments I have produced in animal life.
Cross-examined by Mr. Grove—The strychnia was
administered by pills. The animal is thrown on its
hack, its legs secured by the hands, and the mouth
opened and the pills introduced. In the four
cases mentioned there was no sickness. In the
fifth case, which I did not see, a portion was
ejected. There was no great putrefaction in the sto-
mach of Cook when it was received.
By the Attorney-General—The presence of antimony
was clearly shown.
Professor Brandt—l am professor of chemistry at the
Royal Institution. I was net present at the analysis
of the liver and spleen of Cook, but I had a report sent
to me for my opinion. I was present at Guy's Hospital
on the 3d of May. We then examined, in the first
place, the action of copper upon, a weak solution of an-
timony. We found that thereigas no action until the
solution slightly acidified by the acid and heated. The
antimony was then deposited, and I am enabled to state
that the deposit was antimony.
Cross-examined byMr. Greve—The case which I have
just alluded to was one made of emetic tartar for the
Tt is 7hat is called Rich's test in reference
to arsenic. I only know‘of three substandietr are
thrown down. They are arsenic, antimony, and I believe
bismuth. Mercury will deposit without the application
of heat, as well as with its application.
By the Attorney-General—The tests applied were the
proper tests. I have no doubt but that antimony was
present.

Professor Christison, of Edinburgh University, said—
I have, amongst other poisons, turned my attention to
strychnia. In my opinion strychnia is absorbed in the
blood, and by its action on the nervous system proves
fatal. I have seen its action on the human body, but
not fatal—it was through an overdose being taken. I
have frequently seen experiments on frogs, cats, dogs,
and one wild boar. I first directed my attention to this
poison (str3chnia) in 1820, in Paris. It was discovered
two years before that date, in that city. The doses in
most of my experiments have been very small doses—in
some cases a sixth of a grain. The poison has been in-
jected into the cavity of the chest by a small incision.
A sixth part of a grain killed a dog in two minutes. I
have administered it occasionally into the stomach. A
rabbit was used. Tim animal died, but I cannot now
recollect the time. I have seen one of the experiments
made by Dr. Taylor. He gave about three-
quarters of a grain, but a very small quantity
was not swallowed by the animal, and the
symptoms in those animals, were, speaking generally, a
slight tremor and unwillingness to move ; then fre-
quently the animal jerks its head backward, and soon
afterwards all the symptoms of tetanus came on that
have been so often described by previous witnesses.
Occasionally there is a remission of the symptoms.
From the time of the giving of the poison to the coming
on of the first symptoms 12 minutes will elapse. Death
generally takes place in about 25 minutes. The jaws
and neck are affected first, and then the trunk
and extremities. I have observed differences in
the same species of animals. Some die in one con-
tinuous paroxysm ; but that is uncommon. I have
commonly found a resumption of the symptoms
before death, and the animals very generally die quietly;
the rigidity is gene, and the body is flaccid ; the ri-
gidity comes on again soon after death. I have
opened the bodies after death, and could never
trace any effect of the poison in the stomach,
or upon the spinal cord and brain. I never could
satisfactorily find anything to trace to poison. The
hearts of some animals I have not found empty, others I
have. In cases of overdose by people, I have seen
there was a fixing of .the retraction of the head, a
grinning expression, a slight stiffness of the
arms, great alarm in the patient, no convulsions
of the lower limbs. It would take longer in a large
than a small subject. In the case of the wild boar, it
was injected into the breast, a third of a grain ; it died
in about ten minutes. Nux vomica will sometimes
not take an effect for an hour ; it would operate
slower in the solid form, and protract the appearance
of the symptoms ; it might be mixed so as to protract
its operation with a resinous substance, or anything diffi,
cult of digestion. Some resinous substances are used for
making pills. Absorption would take place as soon as
the substance of the pill began to be broken down or
digested. We cannot, with our present knowledge,
fix the precise time when absorption commences. When
we give it to an animal we take care that it has
fasted, that it may the more readily take effect, and give
it in a soluble state that it may soon take effect. I have
seen many cases of tetanus from both causes. Ordinary
tetanus and tetanus from strychnine do not differ, but
the course is different. Ordinary tetanus proceeds more
slowly, and in certain forms it proceeds without any inter-
mission. There are short ones in that from strychnine.
I heard the description of Cook's case OR Monday and
Tuesday, and I should refer it to strychnine or to the Ig-
natius bean, snakewood, and two other plants of the same
class as nux vomica, all of which yield strychnine. As long
as one can make any observation upon the sensibility it
remains in the animal up to the final spasm which de
prives it of consciousness. In animals the heart will
contain blood, but it differs in the human frame, but
that will depend upon the circumstances of death. When
it is spasm of the heart it will be emptied. I
should not expect to find strychnia after death
unless the excess of the dose taken was great.
Vegetable poisons are more difficult to detect
than others. I know of one that cannot be detected.
Attorney•General—Wo will not hear it named.
Witness—l consider that the state of the stomach in
Cook's UN was tot at all favourable to analysis, and
there must have been a good deal in the stomach to
have found it ender those circumstanees: -
Cross-examined by car. Grove—Uy first experiment,
were wade before the coloured tots were used. I tried

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