Insanity And Death From A...
The Times, 1824-09-04T00:00:00

On Thursday evening last an inquest was held at the Castle Inn, Birmingham, on view ofthc body of James Eades, whose dcath was attended with circumstances of an unusual nature. John Alcock, a painter, stated he had known the decemsed for fourtevn or fifteen years; he was the town crier, and dealt besides in dogs and pigeons. About nine weeks ago he had been bitten by a dog, as he was administering to it medicine; but he said it was his owrn fault, as he was warned not to go too near it; he further said he had been to a surgeon, by whom his finger had beLn scraped, and afterwyards burnt; at this time the deceased had two fingers of his right hand wrapped up. WVitness had met the deceased nearly every morning since in a spirit-shop, where each of them had a glass. The deceasea was frequently in a state of the greatest intoxi- cation, and was so as often as he could afford it. About five weeks ago, witness saw him nt the end of Union-street, when he corn- plained of being unwell; he said that people kept telling him he would go mad, and many, under that Impression, had refused to sit beside him, lest he should bite them, " but," said he, taking hold of witness's hand, '" If I do, Jack, I won't bite you." A few days after the death of a man in Thomas-street, from hydrophobia, wit. ness agai saw the deceased at the end of New-street ; he sceneed uncomfortable, and very much frightened ; he said to witness he could feel something in his hand more than usual; that the doctors had told lhinm he must have his hand cut off, but that he would lose his life before he would lose his hand. Notwithstanding this, the deceased kept up his old hiabit of drinking spirits. On Saturday rmorning last, witneBs met the deceased at Mr. Smith'g, Tamworth Arms, Roor-street; he wvas crying, and caught hold of his hand saying, " Jack, 'tis all over w ith rue, will you come and helrJ to car- ry me to my grave ?" Witness tried all in his power to conmfort him, and the next morning, between eight and nr.e o'clock, wit- ness called on him ; he was then in bed ; but his wvife sad he was getting better. On Moasday last he saw him again at his bed-side. He began to talk very incoherently; so much so, that witness thought he was completely out of his mind; lie said the rogues wanted to poison him; and then, lifting up his hand, he said. * How can I ossibly live ? I am part a man, and part a beast." Havintg said this, he threw himself violently on the bed, arid bean to beat his head with his hands; he continued very violent, and hia conversation and behaviour were that of a man raging mad. About 11 o'clock Mfr. Smith, of the Tamworth Arns, called; he became mere violent, and got out of bed, and snatched from the table what he supposed to be a razor, but it was onlv the end of a fan; with it he tried to make a violent cat at Mr. gmith; he had preViously triedf to wound witness with a pair of snufters; he also kept cry- ing out, " that he could see the dog that had bit him ;" and be- came comrpletely outrageous. Mr. Smith said he should be secured, and witness, under bis direction, pplied to Dr. Booth, who sent him to the workhouse tbr a atrret waistcoat; hiaving procured one, witness returned, andwassurprised to seehin down stairs with a snan of the name of Lewis, and his son; having inquired the rca- son, they told him he had been very quiet and comfortable talking to his wife: in a minute after, witness heard him making a violent noise, upon which he went upstairs to him, and found him parading the room, with a candle and candlestick in hin hand. At that mo- ment a child in a lower room began to cry, and he desired his wife to go toit, but not be long away; she wenit for that purpose; he came there, blew out the candle, and rushed tothe door; his son slipped [under witness's arm, and went down stairs to procure a fresh light and witness, by getting outside the door and puling it close vrevented the deceased getting out. In a momentafter, he hear the casement of the window fly back, but nothing fl. He went back to the room when tbe liFght was procured, and searcht- ed for the deceased. Not finding him, he went down stairs, and saw him running down the yard. There were thiTty or forty persons, amongst themn two watchmen, who had suffered the poor marl to run past them; the watchmen took to the streets for satety. Witness followed him, and wa9 told he had leaped over a wall into the premises of M5r. Allock, the butcher the wall was about six feet on the outside, andt but tltree feet higi On the other. Having procured a candle, he looked over the wall, and discovered the feet of the unfortunate man sticking straight tip out ot an Iron furmace or vat. lVitnrss, with the assistance of ethers, pulled the unfortunate man out. Ile was not then dead, but expired a few mninutes after- wards. Tihe vat was more than half full of blood and water ; when witness pulled the unfortunatte man out of tihe vat, a nurnber of per- sons, instead of lending a .eipiog hanid, kept calling out, " Come away--take care of yourself-you'll be bit." Ai r. Jotmn Ingleby, surgeon, knew the deceased ; on the 2d ofJtuly last he called upon him to have the flesh cut avay from one ofhits fingers whiclh had been bitten bye dog on theprecedinst day.TThe operation Was perfornied in thre usual way; hut the wound didnothealfora consider- able time, in coiiseqtienee of the deceased's intemperance, and Iis continuing to perform his office ef a bellman, which kept it in a con- siderable state of inflammation. The deceased called on him daily until the end of July, whien the wound had healed up at that tinse; the deceased had been unider no apprehension of beiag liable to tihe disease of hydrophobia, as he tised to say lie had been bitten so fre- quently, that he thought the bite of rio dog would affect him, whether mad or not, and lie merely acceded to have the bitten part removed fronn the solicitude of others. On Saturday, about two o'clock in the afternoon, the deceased applied to himii to have his fing-r re- nioved, and said, if wittnest would not rio it, he would apply to the hospital; witness told hinm it was perfectly unnecessary. The finger was then very mdisli contracted into the palm of the hand, and his hand and arnm were much swollen aild exceedingly painful. The impremsion on deceas d's misind that evening was, that lie must die, and he begged that he might not bc simiothered, but bled to deatl. Dr. Booth, aplrysician, was called to attend the deceased ; on approachring him with a fan, for the purpose of producing a draught of cold air, or with a pitcher of water-the usual tests where hydropho. his is suspected.-hc equally recoiled, but it struck witness very forcibly tnat li horror was to tire individual approaching him, and not to thc fin or water. He would not attempt to swallow, open hi8 mouth, or pay the least regard to any question whicih was put to him; itwas, however, evident that the draught of cold air,eitier from the window or the fan and the sight of the water fromu a pitcher, did not produce any convulsion, such as is caused inhydrophobia. Per- ceivitig this, wttness peevailed on him, after about an hour and a half, to swallow some water, which did not produce any convulsive action whatever; ihe next miorning a very material chlange for tire better rvas observed. He spoke calmly, ard said he felt the most excruci- ating pain in the bitten parts, and along the course of tlre rms anti neck: it was very evident he conceivea himself to be suf- fering under hydrophobia, nd perceiving this to be tire im- pression on the deceaseds mind, he had endeavoured to dis- sipate that Inipression, and to a certain extent. succeeded. The medical treatment of the nan was accommuodated to circum- stances, and he was kept as quiet as possible. Re continued pro. gresaively improving until Mlonday morning, at eight o'clock, at which time there appeared a remission of every symptom, and the use of his limbs end right arm was quite recovered. If tine disease of the deceased had bcen hydrophobia, that would not have been tire case. NWater was offered him repeatedlY to drink, which he swal- lowed without difficulty, totally free fromn the spasms that accom- pany that disorder. At three o'clock on Monday afternoon, s tomnxof insanity were but too perceptible; the deceased said>'plie barked like a dog ;" and v/hen witness told him that Ile doubted it, that it was a sud7den drawing in of his breatth, he proceeded to give a specimen,bu t it was nothing more tsian rkSr irnitation ; he then said he was oftwospecies,halfman and half beast, and that he was not fit to live, At nine o'clock the same evening, he was in an increased state of excitation, and with the greatest difficulty hc succeeded in composing him; the witness was of opisdion his disease was not hydrophoba but that be was suffering under a derangement of mind, of wpih the drcad of hydrophobia was the alaUucination.. I Mr. Ingleby further deposed, that he hsXd opened the he5d and body of the deceased ; the blood vessels of the head were stuch load- ed withl blood, and there was an adhesion of brains to the skull, bust this appeared to have been of long standing; the stomach pre- sentes a very mottled appearance, butt was not in the least in- flamed; th~e appearance of the lungs were 4pch 'Ls would arise from dteath by sufubeation. jAfter an able address frors the Coroner, she Jury, under hiri di- reotions, returned a verdict of-Accidental Death. INSANITY AND DEA7THF RO4 APPREHFNSIOAr i OP HYIDROPH.OBIA.