The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-04-07 00:00:00

time she called, that made me think she had been drinking
--►►othing else. She appeared to be much and sincerely dis-
tressed about her husband's illness. He vomited pieces of
carrots. They were not at ►►ll digested. He said he had had
a herring for his dinner. Ido not think the prisoner men-
ned her dream. The deceased was not a very• strong look-
ing man. lie looked delicate in the face. He was very sal-
low, and dark about the eyes. We have twitch-clocks (cock-
roaches) in great numbers in our houses. When the prisoner
came to me about the Savings' Bank, she said she was afraid
that her brother-in-law, Jackson, would take the money
from her. The prisoner's mother came on the Monday. She
could not read or write, and asked me to assist her at the
bank. She expressed great fear that if the money was not
soon put in her name, the Jacksons would get it. She wanted
money for the funeral expenses. She had a little money in
the house, but not enough to meet the expenses.
Re-examined.—lleceased was, I believe, in two burial
clubs. He told me there was a sum to be received from
each.

Mrs. Sarah Tone called :—I live in Walter-street, near
the deceased's—two doors off. I remember the night decea-
sed was taken ill. I heard the prisoners' voice in the street
that night. She was going to Mr. Hills, and asked me to
lend her Gd to get some brandy, for her husband was taken
very ill. She asked me, for God's sake, to go in, her husband
was so ill. When she came back with the brandy she said
she knew he was a dead man. About three weeks before
she mentioned a dream to me. She said she had been
dreaming a curious dream. I laughed. She did not then
tell me the dream. When she said he was a dead man she
said now Mrs, Tonge you laughed at me when I mentioned
the dream. I told her it was nonsense and asked if she had
any young person In the family, as it was a sign of mar
riage or some nonsense like that I went to the house
and sawthe deceased in the petty very ill. He said his
throat smarted after he had eaten the porridge. I assisted
him into the house. He could not get in himself. I advised
him to go to bed. My husband came in and carried him up
stairs on his back. He was then very sick and very sore.
My husband went out for a medical man. I remained till
three in the morning attending him. The prisoner was not
sober at the time when I went first there. Mr. Willis came
that night to see him, about nine. Deceased was very sick.
I did nut ask her, nor did any one in my hearing, tell her to
empty the tub. She emptied it every time it was used. On
the same night Mrs. Horsfield saw prisoner down stairs smok-
ing her pipe. She said, " Mrs. Hunter, where the devil is the
meal that made John Hunter ill." Prisoner said, it's there,
at the back of the fire ; if it has made him ill, it shan't make
any body else ill. I saw some of the meal on the fire partly
burnt. Other meal was got to make the deceased some
gruel. The fresh meal was got before the other was burnt.
It was brought by a girl. I did not see the prisoner sick at
that time. Deceased was a very steady man. The prisoner
used to keep herself neat and clean till the last six months.
She was given to drinking. When I saw her she was always
in liquor. I have known her four years. There was a great
change within the last six months. She became less tidy
and less clean. Deceased said he should like to see Mary
Ann Jackson, and I told the prisoner that. That was on
Saturday. Prisoner called me into the back room, and said I
don't like them, and they don't like me, and for that reason
I shall not send for her.
Cross-examined-1 went very little to prisoner's without
she sent for me. I never found them quarrel. They had the
reputation of living comfortably together. She went up
stairs with him, and assisted to make him comfortable in
bed. She did not take pains to make him comfortable dur-
ing his illness. The prisoner, when deceased was taken ill,
ran out and alarmed the street. She called out that he
would die. Deceased said the moment he tasted the por-
ridge he became ill. He said when he had taken a few
spoonfuls his throat smarted. Mrs. Hunter did not oppose
my husband in going for a doctor. He looked melancholy
and fatigued, and perspired. The vomiting was dark coloured.
Next day he said his stomach was very sick, but that he was
much easier than on the Previous night. I saw him on Sun-
day, and lie said his feet were very cold. His stomach was
still sickly, but a little easier. He did not vomit on the first
night after ten o'clock. She mentioned the meal being got
about three weeks since. (The witness's desposition before
the coroner was here put in. This was read by the Judge.
The witness had then said, " the prisoner was sober for any-
thing I know." Also, " I never saw anything against her,
and I always saw her tidy and clean. I have seen her only
once in liquor, and then she was not drunk.") No one told
me when I was before the coroner to tell all I knew about
the matter. The first time I was asked about the. meal was
three weeks ago. I forgot it when I was before the coroner.
I can remember things better that occurred six years ago,
than six months.
Re-examined. Deceased was very ill at half-past six'
when I first went in. Deceased did not say anything about
the taste of the porridge. He screamed out when my hus-
band took hold of his shoulders to lift him up. I meant to
say that there was nothing but vomit in the pot that smelled
ill, when we asked the prisoner to take it out. There were
bluish marks on his face after he was dead.
(The jury here left the court for about twenty minutes,
under charge of a bailiff.)
Thomas Willis called.—l am a surgeon. At the request
of Mr. Harrison I attended his patient in November last.
On the evening of the 25th of November, about eight o'clock,
I went to deceased's house. Deceased was up stairs in bed.
Prisoner came into the room two or three times. Deceased
said he was sick and purged—he was sick to death. He said
nothing of the cause, or the porridge, in the prisoner's
presence. I asked her about the porridge. She said she had
thrown them out. She said the porridge was very good, made
from milk thickened with meal. The prisoner said he had
had a red-herring for his dinner. I saw an evacuation. It
was of a dark greenish colour, indicating absence of bile. I
took his complaint to be an attack of English cholera. He
appeared in a colapse sitting up in bed. The symptons were
those of cholera, or of the effects of arsenic, of which I had
no suspicion at the time. I prescribed a drachm of tincture
of opium, alkali, acid, &c. I also administered pills. I was
apprenticed in Yorkshire to a surgeon, and attended lectures.
The second day the symptoms were those of poisoning by
arsenic. The tongue was whiteish. The countenance
palid, and expressive of great anxiety. The faeces not very
offensive, indicating absence of bile. The prisoner said he
had come home well. If he had come home well at six, he
might have been in the state he was in when I saw him, from
cholera. I think he said the porridge tasted as if there was
pepper in it

Cross-examined.—l know something of cases of arsenic.
I thought deceased was suffering under cholera, and so
recorded it in Mr. Harrison's books. I thought it a very
severe attack. I thought the liver was disordered. I-believe
I said that the liver was slightly disordered, but I can't
swear positively to the words. There was the sour smell of
vomiting. It first occurred to me that it might be arsenic,
from the symptoms. His countenance was pallid, and indica-
tive of anxiety. I should select that expression even if I
did not think it was arsenic. There was nothing to induce
me to believe, from what I then saw, if I had heard nothing
further of the case, that it was other than cholera. A severe
bilious attack might, after a time, produce a painful sensation
in the throat.
Re-examined.—l have seen more severe cases of cholera
than that. I think the arsenic might affect the ducts of the
liver. The continuance of the symptoms on Monday induced
me to suppose there might be arsenic. If I had found diffi-
culty of breathing, &c., on Sunday, I should have sus-
pected poison. I have always found a reaction after the
attack of cholera. If there was not, I should take it as a
symptom of poison being taken. I never said his liver was
no bigger than a walnut. I anticipated his recovery. En-
glish cholera may arise from taking improper food, or eating
much fruit. I did not say he was sure to die. I said the
liver was disorded.

[The judge here said, that there was no chance of the case
being concluded this day, and the jury must make up their
minds to remain for the night in a state of seclusion.]
Mr. Harrison, surgeon, of Manchester, said, I first saw
the deceased on Saturday, the 26th of December. He was
in bed, in a state of collapse, almost pulseless, great diffi-
culty of breathing, no particular pain. Hearing from Mr.
Willis that he had suffered from cholera, 1 examined the ab-
domen, and expected to find pain. He had had great irrita-
tion in the rectum. I inquired of his wife about his general
health. Prisoner said he was a very sickly man, and quite
dope. I cannot say whether that was true or false. He
said he was better than on the previous night; the vomiting
and purging had entirely ceased. He was indisposed to speak
of his complaint. I never said anything about his liver. I
took it, from the representation of his wife, that he was very
sickly, that it was a violent attack of English cholera.
Acute gastutus, or inflammation of the coats of the stomach,
would have produced the same symptoms. Any irritant poi-
son would have produced these symptoms. I repeated Mr.
Willis's prescription, with one drop of Prussic acid in place
of the laudanum. On Sunday there was no improvement.
There was a pressure on the cheat, and he was restless. He
did not mention to me that he had cramps. I considered him
in danger. I told his wife so, She did not seem to be much
alarmed about it. She was always in the room, and did no-
thing particular to excite any remark. I ordered a blister to
the stomach, and a bottle of water to his feet, which I found had
been done. I also ordered a mustard bath, and afterwards an
aperient draught, and a mixture of tincture of opium, potass.
&e• On Monday morning he was sinking fast, and evidently
dying. I ordered him half a drachm of carbonate of am-
monia, &c„ with lemon juice. A message came that he had
suffered from cramp ; that the knees were drawn up, and
that he died. The prisoner did not at any time press me
on the subject of his illness. On Tuesday morning she
came to me with Mrs. Street. She was in great excite-
ment, and I smelt liquor, but she was not intoxicated. When
I first went to deceased her breath smelt strong of liquor. On
On Tuesday she wanted to get me to sign a certificate to get
his money at the bank. She said his relations and she had
been quarrelling, and wished to take the money, and do with
it as they pleased. She wished to get it out immediately. I
refused to have any thing to do with it. I made a post
mortem examination along with Mr. Harrison, on Tuesday
evening. On view of the body everything appeared perfectly
healthy. On making the usual incision in thejabdomen, we
found every thing externally quite healthy in appearance.
The incision was made from the pit of the stomach to the
bladder. On reflecting the integuments, and laying open the
intestines as far as the rectum, considerable inflammation
presented itself, particularly in the stomach_ (Witness de-
zc.i ',bed the appearance technically.) Great corrugation of
the bladder. The nucleus membrane of the stomach was
considerably inflamed, particularly in the upper part. The
contents of the stomach were gone—nothing left but a coffee-
coloured fluid and a small piece of potatoe. I examined the
stomach carefully. The mucous coat was highly inflamed in
distinct patches, and destruction of a portion. The destruc-
tion are well marked in several parts, and highly inflamed.
The edges of the patches had a distinct termination to each
abrasion. The patches were dark red. The paches could
easily be scraped off with the finger. These patches pro-
ceeded from some foreign irritating body causing inflamma-
tion. The same appearance was in the duodenum, but in a
less degree. I examined carefully with Mr. Dyson, and nei-
ther could detect anything. I don't think any combination
of disease would have produced the same result. The symp-
toms of poison are so anomalous that it is dangerous to give
a positive opinion. I am confident, taking the symptoms
before death, that no disease could have produced those ap-
pearances, which were quite sufficient to account for death.
Those were quite such appearances as arsenic would pro-
duce. If arsenic had been taken, and purging and vomiting
supervensd, the pain would not be so urgent as in the first
degree, by reason of the vomiting and purging carrying off
the arsenic. If I had known the deceased to be well, and
immediately after taking something to eat, cholera might
come on, but milk porridge would not have produced
the symptoms that have been stated. Suppose the poison
were given in solution, and went into the system, the pain
would thereby be diminished, as if it were vomited. The
liver was healthy. The intestinal canal was inflamed. In
ordinary cases nature does not support inflammation
in two places at once, if arising from common disease.
Nausea is a usual attendant before vomiting in cholera. In
taking arsenic vomittin,g might come on in twenty minutes.
If a large dose were given at a time, vomiting, I should say,
would not be immediate, but in twenty minutes. An imme-
diate burning of the throat. Sickness might come on in
a few minutes, twenty minutes, or an hour. If the stomach
were empty, vomiting would likely come on earlier. Look-
ing at the body alone, without adverting to the other symp-
toms, I would say that the deceased did not die of cholera.
From the symptoms I saw, I am enabled to decide this point
with more certainty. I have seen Asiatic cholera. In the
first instance I thought it an aggravated case
of English
cholera. I was sent to Newcastle by the magistrates of
Manchester to watch the progress of the cholera there. I was
four years connected with the Manchester workhouse
. I was
nine years engaged as medical inspector of the factories. In
cholera the abdominal vessels are distended with venous or
arterial blood. The destruction in the centre of each patch,
as in the stomach of the deceased, is not observable in cases
of cholera. It is usual in irritant poisons. The effusion in
cholera is chiefly mucus, but not coffee-coloured. In cases
of arsenic grutnous or sanguiverous. In eases of inflammation
arising from cholera, there are generally premonitory aymp-