Litchfield enquirer., 1867-11-14

nao ufeene arrested at Utica. Hhither he had gone | l1oin west Cornwall, and where he had few days Deiore married an Irish woman named Hannegan. oeioee nnashiIg his examination of the stomach, ffofessor Barker sent up fer the Evsr. The body was again disinierred, the liver taken out by Dr. Sanford, and On the Sd of Juiy, carried by him to Professor Barker at New Haven. Professor Bar kcr testified that there had not been sufficient .ahen CT the parts brought him for examination shat there was strychnins in both organs, and that rom the symptoms sworp to, he had no doubt the death of the deceased i1ad been caused by strych- iiiie HIS testimony was in substance as follows I "I washed the stomaeh thoroughly with weak alcohol, and subjected tie solution thus obtained to the ordinary course Of analysis for the separa- tion of the alkaloids; before completing this pro- cess, wrote to Dr. Sanford, requesting the liver 1; ne s aealvered Y 1T on the Sd of July it was i d roiied n what appease~ to be piece of new oisacnea cotton ciotn, and was contained in ci- 5ar DoS wrapped III brown paper; commenced it's anaiyss af once, cutti'x it into small pieces and extracting with alcohoEas before. Upon the evap- oratlon ef the solutionin ehloroform, whether of the nladerla extfacsad From the stomach or liver, crystalline residue vas left. possessing an il- tenseiy bitter taste, d;ssolving in sulphuric acid without coloration, but developing upon the addi- ton Of crystal of biehromato of potassium the characteristic colors of strychnia In the case Of the liver, several eStractions with coroform were necessary t3 purify tho alkaloid but after each tAe coiors became successvcly moro distinct. Since the trial at Wesa Cornwall, have made flr- ther examination, confirming the results of for mer experiments.
 :" The symptoms produced by strychnia arc 3 feeling of general disquiet and physical discom- fort; great anxiety. daspondency, and fear of 3D. proaehing death g twitching of the muscles in- voluntarily and almost immediately, tho fixed te- tanic spas!n, in which the muscles of the body are firmly contracted, rigid and knotted, the greater strength or the d0rsal muscles throwing tho body into an arch, resting upon the head and heeis, (oplstsiosonos.) The paroxysm lasts three to ten minutes and is succeeded by a complete intermis- sion Of perhaps the same length, followed by sn- other attack. The patient usually retains con- ciousness until after several spasns and the mus clcs Of the head and nook the last to be affect cd. Death ensues rapidly, usually in the course of an hour, and takes place from one Of two causes from sufocation asphyxia, in which case the pa tient dies ia the spasn,s -or from exhaustion when
 
 the spasm the jaws arc fixed, and tSo person blows the saliva through the set teeth thus frotl- ing ct the mouth These symptoms appear in general, ln from ten fifteen minutes to half an hour after the poison has been taken. The short est case wac that of Dr. Warner. Death occurred in fifteen minutes. The longest case was from to hours 1.-the dose is sall ths patient may live loI- ger, and die from exhaustion. dosa of strychnia may be exhausted upon the organism, and the pa- tlent finger for days, and die from exhaustion. Poisons, to have their effect on the systom, must b. absorbed. Hence finding poison in the stom- ach is not in itself ,ny evidence of death by it. But if found in the blood or liver, it must have been absorbed and is likely to have exerted it's &C., ton. Now in the case of strychnia, the quantity given being small, and difused through the body, the amount obtained from single organ is quite minute. Reasoning, however from the nuanti- ty found ia tho present csso, the quantity taken must haye been sufficient to cause death in my opinion.
 ' From tho evidence the convulsions must have been tetanic in their character. Taking these te- tanic spasms in connection with the presence of abs orbad stryc1na in the organs exa ninej, there is no doubt in my mind thu: Ms Greene came to her death by the poison Of st.ychnia Tetanlc spasms may be produced by other causes than poi son. Tetanus may be idiopathic Or .traumatic. h the latter case it results from a previous wound 1 in the former from unknown cause. No disease that know Of terminates normally in tetanus Il The words ''convulsions" and s}asaas' used pop ularly, are vague. ConsuuptioH ,u!d not orlinari- ly terminate in convu3io1s, of taer the tonic or | P,,+ q oF develop tonic spasm. Shoull eS )ect a physician to discriminate readily between the ordinary conyu sons and tetanic spasTn. In the former the pa tent is unconcious and the contraction of the cIes is irregular, alternating rapidly with relaxa- ton; in the latter, there is consciousness; tho cles gre tense, fym and cramped, and complete interrniss;o1 ion follows only after some minutes The opishotonos is marked in the latter it is entirely absent in the former. Consider it of great impor- taace that the community should know tho mark ed character Of the symptoms produced by strych- nia. They are 80 clear and conclusive that they m ike detection almost certain"
 Professor Barker further testified that he had kexamined the Harrison Medicine, and found no strychnns in it.
 Greene was brought before Justice Gold on the 26th of June, and ordered into custody to await the results of the examination of Professor Barker. Having been brought to the jail in Ltchfeld, in which he was not locked up, however, he escaped on Wednesday evening and arrived at James koor- aback's in West Cornwall on the Tuesday following. He asked Rooraback if they had found poison in the stomach, saying he presumed they would. He wanted him to help him to escape into Massachu- setts but k. informed the officers instead. On their arresting Greene the next day, he cut his throat nearly killing himself. On the 29th Of Ju- ly, he was examined before the magistrate, and committed to jail for final trial before the Superior Court. While in jail, Greene once or twice at- tempted suicide, planned general escape of the prisoners, and confessed his crime to the negro Tallman, if the latter can be heieved-a matter which his infamous character does not render easy.
 The counsel for the Prisoner wore Warner and RoIlister for the State, Adams, Peet and sedg- wick
 l Greene's story in court was in some res pacts contradictory to that he had told out