The Sun.
London, England, 1856-05-19 00:00:00

't'Aitrb labition

SUN OFFICE, Seven o'Clock.

THE RUGELEY POISONINGS.

TRIAL OF WILLIAM PALMER.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT (THIS DAY).

FIFTH DAY.

This morning there was more than usual excitement
outside the Court. Long before the hour at which the
Court sat, a large crowd had assembled outside to watch
the arrival of persons engaged in the proceedings. The
interior of the Court was also more crowded than be-
fore, mostly by the medical profession, it being known
that the proceedings would commence with the exami-
nation of Dr. Taylor.
Mr. Baron Alderson did not take his seat this morn-
ing, and Lord Campbell and Mr. Justice Cresswell alone
proceeded with the case.

The prisoner looked rather pale, and during the day a
strong nervous twitching of the lower muscles of the
face bespoke the intense anxiety which he endured.
Tho jury having reassembled,

The Attorney-General called Professor Taylor, who
having been sworn, said—My name is Alfred Swaine
Taylor. lam a Professor at Guy's Hospital, and a Fel-
low of the College of Physicians.

Lord Campbell—Let your statements be slow and
distinct.

The Attorney-General—You are I believe lecturer
upon medical jurisprudence at Guy'S Hospital l I am.

The Attorney-General—And author of a work upon
poisons ?—I am.

The Attorney-General—Have you atnong.t your
studies upon the nature of poisons turned particular
attention to that of strychnine ?—I have.

The Attorney-General—lt i, I believe, the produce
of nux vomica ?—lt is.

Attorney-General—And nux vomica contains, I be.
lieve, besides strychnia that which is called brucia ?—lt
does ; mix vomica contains about 12 of brucia to 6 of
strychnine, and the impure and not properly prepared
strychnine contains more or less brucia.

Attorney-General—So thet unless you know the
purity of the article, you may be misled as to the strength
of the strychnine ?--You may. •
Attorney•General—You have, I believe, tried various
experiments with strychnine upon animal life ?---tI have.
Attorney-General—Have you ever witnessed an in-
stance of its action upon a human subject have not.
Attorney-General—l❑ how many instances have you
tried its effects upon animal life ?—Ten or twelve.
Attorney-General—What class of animals?—Rabbits.

Attorney-General—Have you found the symptoms
produced uniformly the same ?—Yes.
Attorney-General—What has been the quantities you
administered I—From half a grain to two grains.
Attorney-General—Have you found half a grain suf-
ficient to destroy life?—Yes.

Attorney-General—ln what manner have you admi-
nistered it ?—Solid.

Attorney-General—And also liquid ?—Yes.
Attorney-General—Were the effects between that
which you gave solid and that given fluid different ?
They were.

Attorney-General—How long was that given in a
fluid state before it took effect ?—A very few minutes.
Attorney-General—And how long that which you
administered solid ?—That which I gave solid in the
form of a pill or a roll did not produce any effect from
six to seven minutes.
Attorney-General—Do you find the time of its taking
effect influenced by the strength of the dose ?—Yes, and
also by the strengthrof the animal.
Attorney-General—How does it operate upon the sys-
tem to produce the symptoms ?—First by absorption in
the blood. It then; circulates through the body, and
especially acts upon the spinal cord.
Attorney-General—Suppose absorption to have taken
place, how long is it circulating► through tiro body ?
The supposed circulation of the blood is once in from
three to four minutes. Through the whole system it
would be about four minutes. The circulation in the
blood of a rabbit is quicker. The absorption in a rabbit
would be quicker. The rapidity of the absorption also
depends upon the state of the stomach receiving it as to
whether there is much food to prevent its coming in
contact immediately with the coats of the stomach. I
think it must be first absorbed before it will act upon
the nervous system.
Attorney General—Describe the symptoms which it
produces—The animal for the first five or eight minutes
does not appear to suffer, bat runs about as soon as the
poison acts. It suddenly falls on is side, and is seized
with a trembling of the whole of the body.
Attorney-General—What first causes the trembling ?
—A. general motion of the whole muscular system, aris-
ing from the poison producing an involuntary contrac-
tion. Upon this taking place, the fore arid hind legs are
stretched out with the head drawn back, and the body is
bent in the form of a bow. The jaws are closed and the
eyes are prominent, and protruding after a short time ;
there are slight remissions of symptoms, and it then ap-
pears to be quiet. The slightest noise or touch pro-
duces convulsions or spasms, and the animal shrieks or
screams as if suffering great pain. The heart beats very
violently during the fits, and after a succession of those
fits it dies quietly. Sometimes it does not die quiet, but
appears to die during one of these spasms of the heart.
Attorney-General—What are the appearances after
death I—ln some instances, they appear to dif-
fer, but in general the animal is in a strictly rigid
state throughout. In one instance the animal
was so stiff after death that you could hold it horizon-
tally by taking hold of its hind legs, as I now bold this
book (taking up the Testament). It remained in that
state for a week. In the case of an animal killed the
other day by strychnine, it was flaccid at the time of
death, but became rigid about five minutes afterwards.
The witness, in answei• to other questions, said—l
have opened the bodies of animals thus destroyed, and
found no appearance of the stomach, being congested
and in one or two eases, found congestion of the mem-
branes more than duo to the gravitation after death.
The congestion, I think, is due to the succession of fits
the animals had. In three out of the five cases I found
no abnormal change. The heart in all the cases has
been congested.

By th.' Lord Chief Jastioe—The right side more
especially.

By the Attorney• General—l have seen, years ago,
a case of orditary tetanus, but I have not had much ex-

perience. Isaw a, case of tetanus in the human subj .ct
last Thursday week, in St. Thomas's Hospital. It did
not end fatally; the person recovered. I have heard the
symptoms of Mr. Cook described. Those symptoms ap-

peered to me precisely the same as those which appeared
in the animals I have described. The animals have died
at variable periods. One died in 13 minutes an I one in
17. Symptoms appeared more rapidly when the strych-

nine bad been given in a fluid state. De&h takes place
in about 17 minutes. The experiments I have made
lately have been confined entirely to solids. Tee symp
toms appeared in the first case in 7 minutes, and
the animal died in about 13 minutes. I❑ the nest
casesymptoms appeared in 9 minutes, and death occurred
in 17 minutes ; in the third, 10 minutes and died in 13
minutes; in the fourth, in 12 minutes and died in 22
minutes ; in the fifth, in q 0 minutes and died in 23
minutes. The poison would take longer to act on the
human subject. The pill aructure would require to be
broken up in order to bring the /3014011 in contact with
the mucous membrane of the stomach. In the case of
the rabbits I have destroyed, I have administered the
poison in the form of pills. I don't think we can draw
any inference between the death of the annuals and th.
human subject, because the circulation and absorption
are entirely different. There would be a difference
between one human subject and another. The

strength of the dose would also make a dif:

ference. In the experiments nil le upon the ani-

male I have reproduced the strychnia•

The prin.

cipie of extraction consists in putting the stomach
and its contents in alcohol mixed with a email quantity
of sulphuric acid to dissolvA the strychnia, We then

get sulphate of strychnia, if any be discovered. Having
got the sulphate of strychnia, the liquor is filtered and

gently evaporated, and then an alkali added—carbonate
of potass. It combines with the sulphuric acid, and so
produces the strychnia, if present.
_Besides this mode

of ascertaining the presence of strychnia, there are other
tests. Strychnia has a strong bitter taste. Another

test is that strychnia is nearly soluble in water ; it
is soluble in acid and in alcohol. It is precipitated
Loy acid when it has been dissolved in them.
1Y44 colour test is applied . to the evaporations.
mixture of strong sulphuric acid and hi-chromate of
potase produces a blue colour changing to a violet, then
purple, and passing to a red. These colouring tests are
very fallacious. When we have separated strychnia
in its crystaline state, we have recagnised the crystals
by their form and their chemical qualities. You may
produce all foe symptoms by introducing strychnine into
3 punctured wound; it operates iu that case more quizkTy.