Rutland weekly herald. [volume] (Rutland, Vt.) 1859-1877, 1866-08-02

lneTt QuhTNT ptlOIc ouSi huu Iuuuu
Mrs. G. lying on the bed, supported by
Mr.. G. with his arm under her shoulders,
her head thrown back, her pulse a mere
| thread, and she suffering from a tonic
spasm. / called for mustard, thinking
might get simple emetlc effect. |
then asked Mr.. Giddings when she was
taken.-I should have said before, that
on the afternoon preceding, as | was
standing on the steps of the drug store,
Mr.. G. said, "Dr. Palmer, want pow
DER. "What for" said l. "My wife,"
"what kind 2" "Don't know" 81 hard.
ly know what to give you"--and then
my mind reverted TO my visit three
weeks before. took out this pocket
case, Showing it)-this phial, intended
for hydrarg, cum creta (mercury with
chalk was empty, and this for Dover's
powder contained very little. Both
these medicines l am constantly usiRg.
| slipped behind the desk in the drug
| store, filled these two bottles, and then
dealt out powder directing Mr.. G, to
give it to his wife before going to bed,
to be followed by a laxative the next
morning. The powder contained about
grains Of Dover's powder, and of the
mercury with chalk, 10 grains in all,
When got there that night, said to
Mr.. Giddings, what has your wife been
taking" lie said "thepowder. "Auy-
thing else 2" mo" | called for must
ard as before stated, and requested that
some one 90 for DR.. Hazeltou. | then
went into the bedroom where Mrs. Gid
ings was lying, and told them not to
| look for the mustard-she was dead. |
then went out, found Mr. G. with his
elbow resting on the window, placed
my hand on his shoulder and said, "Mr.
| Giddings, l am sorry for youths is
very hard-I think your wife must have
taken stTyChnine." | came to this con-
Clusion from the symptoms, which could
not have been produced by any other
medicine. To my remark that she must
have taken stIychnine, he said, "where
could she have got it ?" | replied, II
can't say" do not reCOllect any con.
versation with Mr.. G. about post NOR
TEN examination. | first requested Mr..
Sawyer to ask him to consent to it, and
on the evening previous to the funeral,
which / think was on Tuesday, | wrote
to consent to the examination. That
morning Daniel Sawyer came to me and
said Mr.. Giddings had given his consent
and wished to have the examination take
place Immediately after the funeral ser
vices at p. m. | notified Dr's Chaplin,
Story and HazeltOn who came. together
with many friends and relations and |
proceeded to make the examination. |
laid open the chest, and ligatured the
oritiCes Of the stomach. | had already
procured glass vessel holding quart,
together with a suitable cork, sealing
wax, etc. Before removing the contents
| took the glass vessel, and in the pres
ence Of DR.. Chaplin and others, washed
it out thoroughly, then deposited the
stomach therein, put in the cork and
with sealing wax, covered the cork thor
oughly. Then with a ring which | OBJ
tanned from Miss Redtield, signet ring
bearing the family coat of arms, / stamped
the wax all around the edge of the
bottle so that the cork could not be re-
moved without its being known. By a
vote OF those present the jar was then
placed in the possession Of ESQ. Fullam.
We made an examination of other or
gans, the heart, liver, lungs, intestines
and brain, and found them to be in
healthy state-nothin@ aside from the
stomach indicating disease. Mr.. Gid
dings made the remark at this time that
he did not suppose that the stomach was
to be taken away. He could not bear
the idea Of having the stomach taken to
one place and the body to another. Not
long afterwards Mr.. Giddings told ne
that some time previous, perhaps four or
eight months, he bought some strych-
nine, and as his wife had never seen any,
he showed it to her, and then carried it
up stairs locked it up in a trunk, and
put the key over the truck, as his wife
wanted it. She knew the strychnine
was there, and, said Mr.. G, am afraid
she may have taken some Of it.
l used the residue Of the medicine in
those two phials with no unpleasant
consequences. do not keep strychnine
in ny care-neyer carried grain in my
life
I think never bought strychnine but |
twice; once to kill your do, Mr.. Full |
lam, Daughter and once to kill rats.
On the discrimination Dr.. P.
stated that when he visited Mrs. G. three
weeks before her death, he said, "You |
may die in three weeks, but curvature |
of the spine will not shorten your days |
at all" He said nothing to her indi-
eating that she was liable to die soon.
He determines the bottles in his case by
their labels. In answer to the question,
what would be the consequences of an
overdose? DR.. P. said With that phial |
five times full you might get a Taxation. |
I, said he, should not hesitate to take |
that bottle full in your presence. Mr.. |
G. appeared to be deeply afflicted at the |
loss Of his wife. There was no appear
ance of anything feigned. Could not say |
positively whether it was four months |
or four weeks previously that he had
shown the strychnine to his wife. He
had lost young creature, and sprinkled
strychnine upon it, and destroyed the
phial. Never saw anything but the ut
most understanding unpleasant be-
tween Mr.. Giddings and his wife and
Alvah F. Sherman, Druggist, sworn:
On the shelf near the hydrmg. cum
Teta, there are Jayne's powders, and
n |