The Sun.
London, England, 1858-09-25 00:00:00

POISONING

An inque.t, of which kei:el
cui adjournments, was coneliglei
tol on the body of Charles Hill,

whose death is proved for have z-----'eifilted froniThe
aantinistration of arsenic: The deceased IN ms a young
man of intemperate and dissolute habits, asad on the
evening of Monday, the 13th inst., visited several
publichouses, at which he treated a number of girls
of the town. He afterwards vent to the house of.
a girl named Harriet Ritchins, who was prei,s,nant-
by him, and there fell asleep. On awaking he
vomited twice, and was taken to his own house by
Ititehins. The next morning the deceased was
again seized with vomiting, and complained of pain
in the stomach. Mr. Furze, a surgeon, was called
in, and administered a powder, which, however, the
deceased did not retain, and at half-past 10 he died.
Having been on the day previously in his usual
health, his mother caused an inquest to be held, and
two girls named Ellen Coles and Maria Swift, in
whose company he was last seen drinking, and
Harriet Ititchins, the girl before mentioned, were
taken into custody. •
The following evidence was adduced yesterday :
Jane Hill, of Union-place, mother of the deceased,
deposed that her son was 23 years of age in Aug.
last. He was a mason's labourer, unmarried. Ile
was in perfect health on the day before his death,
which took place on Tuesday the 14th inst. He re-
turned home on Monday night at a late hour and
went to bed. Witness continued—He threw himself
on my bed. when he came in, and I went into his bed.
I thought he was the worse for liquor. I got
up the next morning at 6 o'clock and found my son
still in bed. I did not then see that there was any-
thing the matter with him. I went out to work,
and about halfpast 9 o'clock my little girl came for
me, and in consequence of what she tod me I has-
tened home. I found him very ill, and asked him if
he was fit to die. He appeared to me as a dying
man. He had vomited a great deal, and there was
froth about his mouth. His legs were naked, and
cold and white, like those of a dying man. At that
time I had no suspicion of anything wrong. I ran
to Mr. Furze, a medical man in the neighbourhood,
and he returned and saw my son, and gave him a
powder, which he took. My son complained of very
great pain in his stomach and head. • He said to
my daughter that if he got over this he would
never drink again. He died about half-past 10 in
the morning. I afterwards showed his body to Dr.
W. 11 Herapath. I may havec said soon after his
death that my son had poisoned himself ; and I
heard Mr. Furze say that he appeared as a person
who had been poisoned. He threw up the powder
that was given him. The contents of the utensil
were thrown away. At that time I had no suspi-
cion of my son having been poisoned.
Dr. W. B. Ilerapath was the next witness. He
deposed—l first saw the body of the deceased on
Thursday, the 16th inst. It was shown me by his
mother. 'there were no external marks of violence.
I discovered nothing to account for death by a
simple post mortem examination of the body until
I opened the stomach, when I found immense in-
flammation of the mucous membrane, chiefly over
the lesser curvature of the stomach. It contained
about 3oz. of fluid matter, chiefly, apparently, tea,
and some solid matter. The solid matter, examined.
by the microscope, gave evidence of vegetable mat-
ter, uncooked starch, and sand. The vegetable
matter was too much altered by the process of di-
estion to enable me to ascertain from what plant
it had been derived. I ascertained satisfactorily by
the microscope that no vegetable substance had
been the cause of death. The fluid and the solid
part of the contents of the stomach both showed
traces of arsenic when treated by Reinsch's pro-
cess. I here produce some copper gauze, covered
with metallic arsenic, produced from the fluid con-
tents of the stomach; and also a ring of arsenious
acid, produced by heating sonic of the copper gauze
already shown. The solid matter left undissolved
by the water gave evidence of similar arsenical
contamination, and showed the presence of arsenic
in minute quantity. I then treated the tissue cf
the stomach in the same way, and obtained un-
doubted evidence of a much larger quantity of crys-
tals of arsenious acid, of which I produce specimens.
I have since found traces of arsenic in the blood, in
the serum effused in the cavity of the chest, and in
the tissue of the liver. I have examined all myre-
agents and found that they are free from arsenic, so
that the arsenic produced must have been present in
the body of the deceased; and it is my opinion
that he died from the effects of arsenic, admi-
nistered in the solid form, and. readily soluble—
probably arsenious acid, or white arsenic. Butler's
vermin 'killer contains such a substance, slightly
coloured by some extraneous matter, the character
of which I cannot at present say. There is another
vermin killer also containing arsenic. I should say
the arsenic in this case was a small dose, and must
have been swallowed. some hours before death. The
principal part was probably ejected by vomiting.
The presence of whole uncooked starch grains I
think a strong point, because it might have been
the substance with which the arsenic was originally
mixed. Starch is usually found in the stomach.
Itcinsch's test is the most ready test ; it acts- inde-
pendently of organic matter, and therefore is the
one principally used. It requires fewer precautions
in its employment. It is merely a means of obtain-
ing the arsenious acid in a concentrated form
quickly, and prepares the way for other tests, which
are the distinguishing characteristics of arsenic. I
have carefully tested all the tests I employed, and
am satisfied that they were free from arsenic. The
symptoms described and the post mortem examina-
tion fully coincide with the idea that arsenic was
the cause of death.

Ruth Morgan, wife of Philip Morgan, of 2,
Union-place, labourer, knew the deceased, and saw
him the evening before his death ; he was then ap-
parently well. Saw him again the following morn-
ing, about half-past 9 o'clock ; he was then appa-
rently dying. He complained of pain in his chest.
His sister, Mrs. Martin, was sitting by him holding
his head. He was vomiting ; his feet were very
cold. Mr. Furze, the surgeon, came, and said he
was dying. Witness remained there till he died,
which was at about half-past 10 o'clock. Nothing
was said about any one having poisoned him, or of
his having poisoned himeelf. What he vomited
wns neo7ly nll froth.

Joan»aThawkins,of 1, Union-place, widow, who
was present during the laA illness of the deceased,
confirmed the evidence of the last witness.

Ann Ritchins, mother of one of the girls in
custody, deposed that the deceased came to her
house on the evening before his death. He had
been drinking, and appeared merry. While he was
there he went asleep for about half-an • hour, and when
he awoke he was sick twice. Witness thought it
arose from the drink he had been taking. Her
daughter saw him home. While at her house he
sent for a quart of beer, but did not drink any of it.
A number of witnesses were then called, who
were in company with the deceased the evening
before his death at various public-houses. They all
swore that there was no ill-feeling manifested
towards him by any person, and that they had no
reason to suspect that he received any ill-treatment
from any one in whose company he was.
The coroner stated that through the activity of
the police he had been furnished with a list of 92
other witnesses who had seen the deceased the day
before his death, but he believed that their evidence
would not throw any further light upon the case.
The three girls who were last seen in company
with the deceased, and who had been ordered to be
detained in custody, should be called before the
jury, and after hearing this evidence it would be
for them to decide whether they would adjourn the
inquiry, or return their verdict upon the testimony
which
was before them.
At the request of the mother of the deceased, his
sister, Mary Ann Martin, was called. She deposed
that he had heard her brother sav he would never
have the girl Harriet Ritchins. *She saw him go
into a public house with her on the night before his
death, about 11 o'clock. At that time he was quite
lively, and was dancing about with Harriet Ritchins.
The next morning about half-past 8 o'clock (wit-
ness continued) I heard of his being ill, and went
to him ; he complainel of pain in his stomach, and
told me to send for a doctor. After repeating in
substance the evidence given by the mother of the
deceased, witness added :—I had no reason to think
at the time of his death that he had been poisoned;
I think now that he was poisoned, but cannot point
to any one as having been likely to have poisoned
him. I don't think he was likely to have done it
himself. No paper containing the remains of poison
or anything of that sort has been found upon the
premises. _ _ _

- Mrs. O'Reilly, a lodger in the house occupied by
the deceased's mother, was next called at Mrs.
Hill's request, but her evidence was immaterial.
Mrs. Hill recalled, stated that her son was very
irregular in money matters, and that she frequently
reproved him for it. From this circumstance, and
the girl being in the family-way, whom he said he
never would carry, he might have de'troyed him-
self. He was very weak in some things. She
had no suspicion of any one having il'- .vill towards
her son. He was subject to fits when young, which
had partially affected his head.
After hearing this evidence, the coroner asked.
the jury. whether they wished to have any more
witnesses called, or whether they desired an ad-
journment.
The foreman, after cm-mulling with his fellows,
stated that they were unanimous in finding that
the deceased died from the effec's of arsenic, but
how or by whom administered there was no evi-
dence to slow.
The three girls who had been in custody were
then liberated, and the inquiry terminated.