Glasgow Courier. — 1858-02-25 (Glasgow, Strathclyde, Scotland)

LITERATURE.  TOR EAOLESHAM POISONING CANN. Report of the Trial of John Thomson, alias Peter Walker, before the High Court of Justiciary at Glasgow, 22d to 24th December, 18.57, for the Murder of Agnes Montgomery by Prosaic Acid, and subsequent administration of Prussic Acid to Agnes Stenhouse or Mason and Archibald Mason. With Introductory Observations, &c. By Huon COWAN, Esq., Advocate. Edinburgh: Thomas Constable & Co. The last few years have been remarkable for great crimes, and among these the crime of murder by secret poisoning has been painfully frequent. Unfortunately, in some cases a degree of romance has been thrown around the history of the case, which has had the effect of softening down its more abominable features, and rendering the narrative, so to speak, more presentable for the public perusal_ snore fit to take its place among the causes celebres of our criminal jurisprudence. The case of John Thomson, alias Peter Walker, eitich we have here very ably reported by Mr Cowan, is interesting chiefly to the toxicologi.t, and in some measure also to the psychologist. In other respects it is remarkable only as being among the lowest and most brutal in the catalogue of secret murders. The miserable criminal appears by his own confession to have thrice perpetrated the awful crime of murder, and to have attempted it in two cases more. In the first instance the victim was an unoffending child, and no other motive could be assigned for it save the unaccountable propensity of his ill-regulated mind and brutal nature to destroy life. Intellectually and morally, his constitution was %of the lowest, and it was so far fortunate that the clumsiness of his plans was such as to lead almost infallibly to his detection. One feature in the case is remarkable for the rarity of its occurrence, viz., the unusual length of time that the victim survived the administration of so large a quantity as three to four grains of anhydrous acid. Where large doses have been taken death has usually supervened in two to ten minutes, although in the case of the Parisian epileptics it ranged from 15 to 45 minutes. The evidence would seem to show that in the present instance at least fifty minutes must have elapsed. The learned counsel for the prisoner (Mr Moncrieff), in his very ingenious defence, did not fail to insist on this, almost the only tenable point in an otherwise desperate case. Another remarkable point was the discovery of the poison in the body seventeen days after death. Believing, as we ;do, that the surest preventative of crime is the certainty of detection, it is in the highest degree satisfactory to know, as in this very case, that the medico-legal means of attaining this end are so complete. The symptoms which prussic acid gives rise to are not per se so distinctive as in the case ef some other poisons, such as strychnine, but they are sufficient to attract attention; and we know that we can trust to the proper tests of its presence in the body in order to establish that fact. As regards the getting up of the case for the prosecution, one point appears to us to merit a remark. The post-mortem examination was conducted in a very creditable manner by the Des MlCinlay, and separate analyses of portions of the body and of the acid as supplied by the apothecary, were made by them on the one hand, and Dr. Maclagan on the other. Each of the analysts found the poison in the body, but there were discrepancies in their results, and especially as to the strength of the acid in the apothecary's shop. If the course Dow generally followed, we believe in England, had been adopted in this instance, that of employing a man like Christison, Taylor or Maclagan, whose ordinary business it is to make quantitative analyses, and allowing him to assume a competent assistant, differences like these might be avoided, and the ends of justice more surely attained. The whole report of the ease exhibits great intelligence and attention to the subject. The value of having such accurate records of important trials can scarcely be overrated.