By theAttorney-General: Supposing the stomach were acted on by other causes, I do not think sickness would be inconsistent with tetanus.
John Gay, examined by Mr.Gray: I am a Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, and I have been a surgeon to the Royal Free Hospital. A case of traumatic tetanus in a boy came under my observation in that hospital in 1843. The patient was brought in during the time he was ill. He was brought on the 28th of July and died on the 2nd of August. He had met with an accident a week before. During the first three days he had paroxysms of unusual severity. His mother complained that he could not open his mouth, and he complained of stiff neck. During the night he started up and was convulsed. On the following night he was again convulsed. At times the abdominal muscles, as well as those of the legs and back, were rigid; the muscles of the face were also in a state of great contraction. On the following (third) day he was in the same state. At two o’clock there was much less rigidity of the muscles, especially those of the abdomen and back. On the following morning the muscular rigidity had gone, he opened his mouth and was able to talk; he was thoroughly relieved. He had no return of spasms till half-past five the following day. He then asked the nurse to change his linen, and as she lifted him up in the bed to do so violent convulsions of the arms and face came on, and he died in a few minutes. About thirty hours elapsed between the preceding convulsion and the one which terminated his life. Before the paroxysm came on the rigidity had been completely relaxed. I had given the patient tartar emetic (containing antimony) in order to produce vomiting on the second day; it produced no effect. I gave a larger dose on the third day, which also produced no effect. I gave no more after the third day.
Cross-examined by theAttorney-General.—The accident which had happened to him was that a large stone had fallen upon the middle toe of the left foot, and completely smashed it. The wound had become very unhealthy. I amputated the toe. The mouth was almost closed up when I first saw him. The jaw remained closed until the 1st of August, but I could manage to get a small quantity of tartar emetic into the mouth. The convulsions were intermitted during the day, but the muscles of the body, chest, abdomen, back, and neck, were all rigid, and continued so for the two days on which I administered tartar emetic. Rigidity of the muscles of the chest and stomach would no doubt go far to prevent vomiting. The symptoms began to abate on the morning of the 1st of August (the fourth day), and gradually subsided until the rigidity entirely wore off. I then thought he was going to get well. The wound might have been rubbed against the bed when he was raised, but I don’t think it probable. Some peculiar irritation of the nerves would give rise to the affection of the spinal cord. No doubt the death took place in consequence of something produced by the injury to the toe.
Re-examined by Mr.Gray.—There may be various causes for that irritation of the spinal cord which ends in tetanic convulsions. It would be very difficult merely from seeing symptoms of tetanus, and in the absence of all knowledge as to how it had been occasioned, to ascribe it to any particular cause.
Dr.W. Macdonald, examined by Mr.Kenealy.—I am a licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh. I have been in practice for fourteen years, and have had considerable experience, practical and theoretical, of idiopathic and traumatic tetanus. I have seen two cases of idiopathic tetanus, and have made that disease the subject of medical research. Tetanus will proceed from very slight causes. An alteration of the secretions of the body, exposure to cold or damp, or mental excitement would cause it. Sensual excitement would produce it. The presence of gritty granules in the spine or brain might produce tetanic convulsions. I have seen cases in which small gritty tubercles in the brain were the only assignable cause of death, which had resulted from convulsions. I believe that in addition to the slight causes which I have named, tetanic convulsions result from causes as yet undiscoverable by human science. In manypost-mortemexaminations of the bodies of persons who had died from tetanus no trace of any disease could be discovered beyond congestion or vascularity of some of the vessels surrounding the nerves. Strychnia, however, is very easily discoverable by a scientific man. I rememberthe case of a woman, Catherine Watson, who is now present, and who was attacked with idiopathic tetanus on the 20th of October, 1855. [The witness read a report of the circumstances attending this case, the subject of which was a young woman twenty-two years of age, who, after going about her ordinary occupation during the day, was attacked with tetanus at ten o’clock at night. By the administration of chloroform the violence of the spasms was gradually diminished and she recovered. After her recovery she slept for thirty-six hours.] In that case there was lockjaw, which set in about the middle of the attack. It is generally a late symptom. I had a patient named Coupland who died of tetanus. It must have been idiopathic, as there was no external cause. The patient died in somewhat less than half an hour, before I could reach the house. I have made a number of experiments upon animals with reference to strychnia poison. I have found thepost-mortemappearances very generally to concur. The vessels of the membranes of the brain have generally been highly congested. The sinuses gorged with blood. In one case there was hemorrhage from the nostrils. That was a case of very high congestion. In some cases there has been an extravasation of blood at the base of the brain. I have cut through the substance of the brain, and have found in it numerous red points. The lungs have been either collapsed or congested. The heart has invariably been filled with blood on the right side, and very often on the left side also. The liver has been congested, the kidneys and spleen generally healthy. The vessels of the stomach on the outer surface have been congested, and on the mucous or inner surface highly vascular. The vessels of the membranes of the spinal cord have been congested, and sometimes red points have been displayed on cutting it through.
From apost-mortemexamination you may generally judge of the cause of death. I have in a great many cases experimented for the discovery of strychnia. You may discover in the stomach the smallest dose that will kill. If you kill with a grain you may discover traces of it. By traces I mean evidences of its presence. You can discover the fifty-thousandth part of a grain. I have actually experimented so as to discover that quantity. The decomposition of strychnia is a theory which no scientific man of eminence has ever before propounded. I first heard of that theory in this court. In my opinion, there is no well-grounded reason whatever for it. I have disproved the theory by numerous experiments. I have taken the blood of an animal poisoned by two grains of strychnia, about the least quantity which would destroy life, and have injected it into the abdominal cavities of smaller animals, and have destroyed them, with all the symptoms andpost-mortemappearances of poisoning by strychnia. Strychnia being administered in pills would not affect its detection. If the pills were hard they would keep it together, and you might find its remains more easily. I do not agree with Dr. Taylor that colour tests are fallacious. I believe that such tests are a reliable mode of ascertaining the presence of strychnia. I have invariably found strychnia in the urine which has been ejected. Strychnia cannot be confounded with pyrozanthe. After strychnia has been administered there is an increased flow of saliva. In my experiments that has been a very marked symptom. Animals to which strychnia had been given have always been very susceptible to touch. The stamp of a foot or a sharp word would throw them into convulsions. Even before the paroxysms commenced touching them would be likely to throw them into tonic convulsions.
LordCampbell: As soon as the poison is swallowed? No; it would be after a certain time. The first symptoms of poisoning must have been developed.
Examination continued: I do not think rubbing them would give them relief. I think it extremely improbable that a man who had taken a dose of strychnia sufficient to destroy life could after the symptoms had made their appearance pull a bell violently. I have attended to the evidence as to Cook’s symptoms. To the symptoms I attach little importance as a means of diagnosis, because you may have the same symptoms developed by many different causes. A dose of strychnia sufficient to destroy life would hardly require an hour and a-half for its absorption. I think that death was in this case caused by epileptic convulsions with tetanic complications. I form that opinion from thepost-mortemappearances being so different from those that I have described as attending poisoning with strychnia, and from the supposition that a dose of strychnia sufficient to destroy life in one paroxysm could not, so far as I am aware, have required even an hour for its absorption before the commencement of the attack. If the attack were of an epileptic character, the interval between the attacks of Monday and Tuesday would be natural, as epileptic seizures very often recur at about the same hours of successive days.
Assuming that a man was in so excited a state of mind that he was silent for two or three minutes after his horse had won a race, that he exposed himself to cold and damp, excited his brain by drink, and was attacked by violent vomiting, and that after his death deposits of gritty granules were found in the neighbourhood of the spinal cord, would these causes be likely to produce such a death as that of Cook?—Any one of these causes would assist in the production of such a death.
As a congeries, would they be still more likely to produce it?—Yes.
Cross-examined by theAttorney-General: I am a general practitioner, and am parochial medical officer. I have had personal experience of two cases of idiopathic tetanus. What I have said about mental and sensual excitement, and so on, has not come within my own observation. In the case of Catherine Watson, I saw the patient at about half-past ten at night. She had been ill nearly an hour, and had five or six spasms. She had gone about her usual duties up to evening. She felt a slight lassitude for two days previous to the attack. It was only by close pressing that I ascertained that lock-jaw came on about an hour or two after I was called in. The case of Coupland was that of a young child between three and four years old. I was attending the mother, and saw the child in good health half an hour before it came on. It was seized with spasm, what I conjectured to be of the diaphragm, and died in about half an hour. I had seen the child asleep, but I did not examine it. I don’t know whether I saw the face of the child, but it was in bed; I judged that it was asleep.
Is that the same as seeing it asleep?—Sometimes a medical man can form a better judgment than a lawyer. Mr. Smith applied to me to be a witness in this case. I communicated to him the case of Catherine Watson, as resembling the case of Cook. I furnished my notes to be copied the night before last. I have been here since the commencement of the trial. I have been at all the consultations. I began the experiments for this case in January. I had made experiments before. That was eight or ten years ago. I then found out that strychnia could be discovered by chemical and physiological tests. I killed dogs, cats, rabbits, and fowls. The doses I administered were from three-quarters up to two grains. To dogs, the smallest quantity administered was a grain. In four cases, I killed with one grain, five with a grain and a half, one with a grain and a quarter, and two with two grains. I never killed a dog with half a grain of strychnia, and therefore never experimented to find that quantity after death. I have always found the brain and heart highly congested. The immediate cause of the fulness of the heart is, that the spasm drives the blood from the small capillaries into the large vessels. The spasm of the respiratory muscles prevents the expansion of the lungs. The congestion of the brain is greatest when the animal was young, and in full health. It does not depend upon the frequency of the spasms. I have seen cases of traumatic tetanus. I have had two in my own practice. One lasted five or six days, the other six or seven days, and the patient recovered. I have never seen a case of strychnia in the human subject. So far as I can judge, Cook’s was a case of epileptic convulsions, with tetanic complications. Nobody can say from what epilepsy proceeds. I have not arrived at any opinion on the subject. I have seen one death from epilepsy. The patient was not conscious when he died. I can’t mention a case in which a patient dying from epilepsy has preserved his consciousness to the time of death.
You have been reading up this subject?—I am pretty well up in most branches of medicine. (A laugh.) I know of no case in which a patient dying from epilepsy has been conscious. My opinion is Cook died of epileptic convulsions with tetanic complications.
By LordCampbell.—That is a disease well known to physicians. It is mentioned in Dr. Copland’s Dictionary.
Examination continued. I believe that all convulsive diseases, including the epileptic forms and the various tetanic complications, arise from the decomposition of the blood acting upon the nerves. Any mental excitement might have caused Cook’s attack. Cook was excited at Shrewsbury, and wherever there is excitement there is consequent depression. I think Cook was afterwards depressed. When a man is lying in bed and vomiting he must be depressed.
This gentleman was much, overjoyed, at his horse winning, and you think he vomited in consequence?—It might predispose him to vomit.
I am not speaking of “mights.” Do you think that the excitement of the three minutes on the course at Shrewsbury on the Tuesday accounts for the vomiting on the Wednesday night?—I do not. I find no symptoms of excitement or depression reported between that time and the time of his death. The white spots found in the stomach of the deceased might, by producing an inflammatory condition of the stomach, have brought on the convulsions which caused death.
TheAttorney-General.—But the gentlemen who made thepost-mortemexamination say that the stomach was not inflamed.
Witness.—There were white spots, which cannot exist without inflammation. There must have been inflammation.
TheAttorney-General.—But these gentlemen say that there was not inflammation.
Witness.—I do not believe them. (A laugh.) Sensual excitement might cause epileptic convulsions with tetanic complications. The chancre and syphilitic sores were evidence that Cook had undergone such excitement. That might have occurred before he was at Shrewsbury.
Might sexual intercourse produce epilepsy a fortnight after it occurred?—There is an instance on record in which epilepsy supervened upon the very act of intercourse.
Have you any instance in which epilepsy came on a fortnight afterwards? (A laugh.)—It is within the range of possibility.
Do you mean, as a serious man of science, to say that?—The results might.
What results were there in this case?—The chancre and the syphilitic sores.
Did you ever hear of a chancre causing epilepsy?—No.
Did you ever dream of such a thing?—I never heard of it.
Did you ever hear of any other form of syphilitic disease producing epilepsy?—No; but tetanus.
TheAttorney-General: But you say this was epilepsy; we are not talking of tetanus?
Witness: You forget the tetanic complications. (Roars of laughter.)
TheAttorney-General: If I understand right, then, it stands thus—the sexual excitement produces epilepsy, and the chancre superadds tetanic complications?
Witness: I say that the results of sexual excitement produce epilepsy.
Mr. BaronAldersonsaid he had heard some person in court clap his hands. On an occasion on which a man was being tried for his life such a display was most indecent.
Examination continued: I cannot remember any fatal case of poisoning by strychnia in which so long a period as an hour and a half intervened between the taking of the poison and the appearance of the first symptoms.
What would be the effect of morphia given a day or two previously? Would it not retard the action of the poison?—No; I have seen opium bring on convulsions very nearly similar.
What quantity?—A grain and a half. From my experience, I think that if morphia had been given a day or two before it would have accelerated the action of the strychnia. I have seen opium bring on epileptic convulsions. If this were a case of poisoning by strychnia, I should suppose that as both opium and strychnia produce congestion of the brain, the two would act together, and would have a more speedy effect. If congestion of the brain was coming on when morphia was given to Cook on the Sunday and Monday nights, it might have increased rather than allayed it.
But the gentlemen who examined the body say that there was no congestion after death?—But Dr. Bamford says there was.
You stick to Dr. Bamford?—Yes, I do; because he was a man of experience—could judge much better than younger men, and was not so likely to be mistaken.
But Dr. Bamford said that Cook died of apoplexy; do you think this was apoplexy?—No, it was not.
What, then, do you think of Dr. Bamford, who certified that it was?—That was a matter of opinion; but the existence of congestion in the brain he saw.
TheAttorney-General: The other medical men said there was none.
LordCampbell: That is rather a matter of reasoning than of evidence.
Re-examined by Mr. SerjeantShee: I have seen a great many children asleep, and can tell whether they are so without seeing their faces. In the case of the child who died of tetanus the mother had told me that it was asleep. Dr. Mason Good is a well known author upon convulsions. From my reading of his work and others I have learnt that there are convulsions which are not, strictly speaking, epilepsy, although they resemble it in some of its features. I also know the works of M. Esquirolle. From reading those and other works I know that epileptic convulsions sufficiently violent to cause death frequently occur without the patient entirely losing his consciousness. Epilepsy, properly so called, is sudden in its attack. The patient falls down at once with a shriek. That disease occurs very often at night, and in bed. It sometimes happens that its existence is known to a young man’s family without his knowing anything about it. Convulsions of an epileptic character are sometimes preceded by premonitory symptoms. It sometimes happens that during such convulsions actual epilepsy comes on, and the patient dies of an internal spasm. It often happens that if a patient has suffered from epilepsy and convulsions of an epileptic kind during the night, he may be as well next day as if nothing had happened, more especially when an adult is seized for the first time. In such cases it often happens that such fits succeed each other within a short period. I heard the deposition of Dr. Bamford. If it were true that the mind of the deceased was distressed and irritable the night before his death, I should say that he was suffering from depression. From what Cook said about his madness in the middle of the Sunday night I should infer that he had been seized by some sudden cramp or spasm. Supposing that there was no such cramp, I should refer what he said to nervous and mental excitement. There might be some disturbance of the brain. I do not believe that inflammation can be absent while spots on the stomach be present. About eighteen months ago I examined the stomach of a person who had died from fever, in which I found white spots. I consulted various authors. In an essay on the stomach by Dr. Sprodboyne, a medical man who practised in Edinburgh, I found mention of similar spots in the stomach of a young woman who had died suddenly.
Dr.Bainbridge, examined by Mr.Grove: I am a doctor of medicine, and medical officer to the St. Martin’s workhouse. I have had much experience of convulsive disorders. Such disorders present great variety of symptoms. They vary as to the frequency of the occurrenceand as to the muscles affected. Periodicity, or recurrence at the same hours, days, or months, is common. I had a case in which a patient had an attack on one Christmas night, and on the following Christmas night, at the same hour, he had a similar attack. The various forms of convulsions so run into each other that it is almost impossible for the most experienced medical men to state where one terminates and the other begins. In both males and females hysteria is frequently attended by tetanic convulsions. Epileptic attacks are frequently accompanied by tetanic complications.
Cross-examined by theAttorney-General: Hysteric convulsions very rarely end in death. I have known one case in which they have done so. That occurred within the last three months. It was the case of a male. It occurred in St. Martin’s workhouse. The man had for years been subject to this complaint. On the occasion on which he died he was ill only a few minutes. I did not make apost-mortemexamination. I was told he was seized with sudden convulsions, fell down on the ground, and in five minutes was dead. There was slight clinching of the hands, but I think no locking of the jaw. The man was about thirty-five years of age. He was the brother of the celebrated æronaut, Lieutenant Gale. In many cases of this description consciousness is destroyed. It is not so in all. I have met with violent cases in which it has been preserved. I never knew a case in which during the paroxysm the patient spoke. Epilepsy is sometimes attended with opisthotonos. I have seen cases of traumatic tetanus. In such cases the patient retains his consciousness. I have known many cases of epilepsy ending in death. Loss of consciousness—not universally, but generally—accompanies epilepsy. I never knew a case of death from that disease where consciousness was not destroyed. I have known ten or twelve such fatal cases.
Re-examined by Mr.Grove: Persons almost invariably fall asleep after an epileptic attack.
TheAttorney-General: And after taking opium?—Yes.
Edward Austin Steddy, examined by Mr.Gray: I am a member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and am in practice at Chatham. In June, 1854, I attended a person named Sarah Ann Taylor, for trismus and pleuro-tothonos. When I first saw the patient she was bent to one side. The convulsions came on in paroxysms. The pleuro-tothonos and trismus lasted about a fortnight. The patient then so far recovered as to be able to walk about. About a twelve-month afterwards, on the 3rd of March, 1855, she was again seized. That seizure lasted about a week. She is still alive. The friends of the patient said that the disease was brought on by depression, arising from a quarrel with her husband.
Cross-examined by Mr.James: I do not know how long before the attack this quarrel occurred. During it the woman received a blow on her side from her husband. During the whole fortnight the lockjaw or trismus continued. In March, 1855, she was under my care about a week, during the whole of which the trismus continued.
Dr.George Robinson, examined by Mr.Kenealy: I am a licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians, and Physician to the Newcastle-on-Tyne Dispensary and Fever Hospital. I have devoted considerable attention to the subject of pathology. I have practised as a physician for ten years. I have heard the whole of the medical evidence in this case. From the symptoms described, I should say that Cook died of tetanic convulsions, by which I mean, not the convulsions of tetanus, but convulsions similar to those witnessed in that disease. The convulsions of epilepsy sometimes assume a tetanic appearance. I know no department of pathology more obscure than that of convulsive diseases. I have witnessedpost-mortemexaminations after death from convulsive diseases, and have sometimes seen no morbid appearances whatever; and in other cases the symptoms were applicable to a great variety of diseases. Convulsive diseases are always connected with the condition of the nerves. The brain has a good deal to do with the production of convulsive diseases, but the spinal cord has more. I believe that gritty granules in the region of the spinal cord would be very likely to produce convulsions, and I think they would be likely to be very similar to those described in the present case. I think that from what I have heard described of the mode of life of the deceased, it would have predisposed him to epilepsy. I have witnessed some experiments with strychnia, and have performed a few. I have also prescribed it in cases of paralysis.
By theAttorney-General: I have seen twenty cases where epilepsy has been attended by convulsions of a tetanic character. I have never seen the symptoms of epilepsy proceed to anything like the extent of the symptoms in Cook’s case. I never saw a body in a case of epilepsy so stiff as to rest upon the head and the heels. I never knew such symptoms to arise in any case except tetanus. When epilepsy presents any of these extreme forms it is always accompanied by unconsciousness. In almost every case of epilepsy the patient is unconscious at the time of the attack. In cases of epilepsy I have found gritty granules on the brain; and any disturbing cause in the system, I think, would be likely to produce convulsions. I believe that the granules in this case were very likely to have irritated the spinal cord, and yet that no indication of that irritation would have remained after death. I think that these granules might have produced the death of Mr. Cook.
TheAttorney-General: Do you think that they did so?
Witness: Putting aside the assumption of death by strychnia, I should say so.
TheAttorney-General: Are not all the symptoms spoken to by Mr. Jones indicative of death by strychnia?
Witness: They certainly are.
TheAttorney-General: Then it comes to this—that if there were no other cause of death suggested, you would say that the death in this case arose from epilepsy?
Witness: Yes.
By SerjeantShee: Epilepsy is a well-known form of disease which includes many others.
Dr.Richardsonsaid: I am a physician, practising in London. I have never seen a case of tetanus, properly so called, but I have seen many cases of death by convulsions. In many instances they have presented tetanic appearances without being strictly tetanous. I have seen the muscles fixed, especially those of the upper part of the body. I have observed the arms stiffened out, and the hands closely and firmly clinched until death. I have also observed a sense of suffocation in the patient. In some forms of convulsions I have seen contortions both of the legs and the feet, and the patient generally expresses a wish to sit up. I have known persons die of a disease called angina pectoris. The symptoms of that disease, I consider, resemble closely those of Mr. Cook. Angina pectoris comes under the denomination of spasmodic diseases. In some cases the disease is detectable uponpost-mortemexamination; in others it is not. I attended one case. A girl ten years old was under my care in 1850. I supposed she had suffered from scarlet fever. She recovered so far that my visits ceased. I left her amused and merry in the morning; at half-past ten in the evening I was called in to see her, and I found her dying. She was supported upright, at her own request; her face was pale, the muscles of the face rigid, the arms rigid, the fingers clinched, the respiratory muscles completely fixed and rigid, and with all this there was combined intense agony and restlessness, such as I have never witnessed. There was perfect consciousness. The child knew me, described her agony, and eagerly took some brandy-and-water from a spoon. I left for the purpose of obtaining some chloroform from my own house, which was thirty yards distant. When I returned her head was drawn back, and I could detect no respiration; the eyes were then fixed open, and the body just resembled a statue; she was dead. On the following day I made apost-mortemexamination. The brain was slightly congested, the upper part of the spinal cord seemed healthy, the lungs were collapsed, the heart was in such a state of firm spasm and solidity, and so emptied of blood, that I remarked that it might have been rinsed out. I could not discover any appearance of disease that would account for the death, except a slight effusion of serum in one pleural cavity. I never could ascertain any cause for the death. The child went to bed well and merry, and immediately afterwards jumped up, screamed, and exclaimed, “I am going to die!”
By theAttorney-General: I consider that the symptoms I have described were those of angina pectoris. It is the opinion of Dr. Jenner that this disease is occasioned by the ossification of some of the small vessels of the heart. I did not find that to be the case in this instance. There have been many cases where no cause whatever was discovered. It is called angina pectoris, from its causing such extreme anguish to the chest. I do not think the symptoms I have described were such as would result from taking strychnia. There is this difference,—that rubbing the hands gives ease to the patient in cases of angina pectoris. I must say, there would be great difficulty in detecting the difference in the cases of angina pectoris and strychnia. As regards symptoms, I know of no difference between the two. I am bound to say that if I had known so much of these subjects as I do now in the case I have referred to I should have gone on to analysis to endeavour to detect strychnia. In the second case I discovered organic disease of the heart, which was quite sufficient to account for the symptoms. The disease of angina pectoris comes on quite suddenly, and does not give any notice of its approach. I did not send any note of this case to any medical publication. It is not at all an uncommon occurrence to find the hands firmly clinched after death in cases of natural disease.
By Mr. SerjeantShee: There are cases of angina pectoris in which the patient has recovered and appeared perfectly well for a period of 24 hours, and then the attack has returned. I am of opinion that the fact of the recurrence of the second fit in Cook’s case is more the symptom of angina pectoris than of strychnia poison.
Dr.Wrightsonwas re-called, and in answer to a question put by SerjeantShee, he said it was his opinion that when the strychnia poison was absorbed in the system it was diffused throughout the entire system.
By theAttorney-General: The longer time that elapsed before the death would render the absorption more complete. If a minimum dose to destroy life were given, and a long interval elapsed to the death, the more complete would be the absorption and the less the chance of finding it in the stomach.
By SerjeantShee: I should expect still to find it in the spleen, and liver, and blood.
Catherine Watsonsaid: I live at Garnkirk, near Glasgow. I was attacked with a fit inOctober of last year. I had no wound of any kind on my body when I was attacked. I did not take any poison.
By theAttorney-General: I was taken ill at night. I had felt heavy all day from the morning, but had no pain till night. The first pain I felt was in my stomach, and then I had cramp in my arms, and after that I was quite insensible. I have no recollection of anything after I was first attacked, except that I was bled.
SerjeantSheethen said, that he was now about to enter into another part of the case for the defence, and, probably, the Court would think it a convenient period to adjourn.
TheLord Chief Justicesaid that the Court had no objection to adjourn if the learned Serjeant thought it would be a convenient time to do so.
TheAttorney-Generalrequested that before the Court was formally adjourned a witness named Saunders, whose name was upon the back of the bill, and who was not in attendance, and who, he believed, had not made his appearance during the trial, should be called upon his recognizances. He added that he believed this witness was also subpœned on behalf of the prisoner, but he (the Attorney-General) intended to have called him for the Crown.
TheCourtdirected that the witness should be called upon his recognizances, and this was done, but he did not appear.
The Court then adjourned until ten o’clock on Saturday morning.
The Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice Cresswell took their seats at ten o’clock.
The interest felt in this extraordinary trial was by no means diminished, notwithstanding the tedious length, to which the proceedings have extended. The interior of the court was crowded in every part, crowds were collected outside, and numbers of persons who had considered themselves fortunate in obtaining orders of admission from the Sheriff, were ranged in long rows along the passages leading to the court, anxiously awaiting the only chance of admission, which was afforded them by some more fortunate brother spectator vacating his position.
The counsel for the Crown were, as on previous days, the Attorney-General, Mr. James, Q.C., Mr. Bodkin, Q.C., Mr. Welsby, and Mr. Huddlestone. Counsel for the prisoner, Mr. Serjeant Shee, Mr. Grove, Q.C., Mr. Gray, and Mr. Kenealy.
The names of the jurors having been called over.
Mr.Oliver Pemberton, lecturer on anatomy, of Queen’s College, Birmingham, and surgeon to the General Hospital of that town, was sworn and examined by Mr. Grove, Q.C. Witness said—I was present at the examination of the body of Cook after its exhumation in January, and closely examined the condition of the spinal cord. It was not, however; in such a condition as to enable me to say confidently in what state it was immediately after death. The upper part, where the brain had been separated, was green in colour from the effects of decomposition. The remaining portion, though fairly preserved, for the body had been buried two months, was so soft as to prevent my drawing any opinion of its state immediately after death.
Cross-examined by theAttorney-General: I saw the body the day after the bony canal had been opened. The opening of that canal would, to a certain extent, expose the cord, but the outer covering or dura mater was not opened, to the best of my recollection, until I arrived. I attended the examination on the part of the prisoner. Mr. Bolton, professor of Queen’s College, Birmingham, was also present on the occasion on the part of Palmer.
By Mr. SerjeantShee: Was there any difference of opinion expressed on that occasion by the medical men?
TheAttorney-Generalobjected to the question.
Lord Campbell decided that it could not be put.
Mr. SerjeantSheesaid that this witness brought to a conclusion the medical evidence on the part of Palmer.
Henry Matthews, examined by Mr.Grove: I am inspector of police at the Euston-square Railway Station. I was stationed there on Monday, 19th November last. At two o’clock in the afternoon of that day a train left London which would stop at Rugeley. No train after that hour stops at Rugeley. The express train left at five in the afternoon; it is due at Stafford at 8.42 p.m.; it did not arrive till 8.45. The distance from Stafford to Rugeley by railway is nine miles. I do not know the distance by road. The shortest and quickest mode of getting to Rugeley after the two o’clock train, would be by the five o’clock express to Stafford, and thence by road to Rugeley.
Joseph Foster, examined by Mr.Gray: I am a farmer and grazier at Sibbertoft, in Northamptonshire. I kept the George Hotel, at Welford, in that county, up to Lady-day last. I knew the late John Parsons Cook for many years previous to his death. I have met him at various places, in the hunting field, at dinners, and elsewhere. I have had opportunities of judging of his health. I think he was of a very weak constitution. I form that judgment from having been with him on several occasions when he suffered from bilious attacks. Those are the only circumstances upon which I formed that opinion.
Cross-examined by Mr.James: I knew Mr. Cook for ten years; he hunted regularly for the last two years in Nottinghamshire. He kept sometimes two and sometimes three horses. I have known him to hunt three days a week when he was well. I knew Mr. George Pell. There is a cricket club at Welford. I do not know whether Cook was a member of the club. I have seen him there. I saw Cook for the last time at Lutterworth, about the middle of October last. I last knew him to have a bilious sick headache about a year and a half ago [laughter].
Lord Chief JusticeCampbell: I most strongly implore that there will be no expression of any sensation evinced at the answers given by any of the witnesses.
By Mr.James: I saw Cook at my own house when he complained of suffering. He did not hunt on that day. He came to my house to meet the hounds, but did not go. He was dressed in his hunting dress. I could not swear I did not see him next within a week afterwards in the hunting-field.
By LordCampbell: I never saw Cook sick on any other occasion, except about seven years previous at Market Harborough, at the cricket match, after dinner.
George Myatt, saddler, examined by Mr.Gray: I was at Shrewsbury races on the day when Polestar won. I was at the Raven Hotel on the evening of that day, Wednesday. I saw Cook and Palmer there about twelve o’clock on the night of that day. I was waiting in the room at the hotel when they came in. I considered Cook was the worse for liquor. They proposed having a glass of brandy and water each before they went to bed. Each of us had a glass of brandy and water. When Cook commenced to drink it he made a remark that he fancied it was not good. He drank part of it off, and said he thought there was something in it. He then gave it to some one near him to taste. Cook proposed to have some more, and Palmer said he would not have any more except Cook drank his up. They had no more brandy and water, and Palmer and I went to bed. I slept in the same room with Palmer. The brandy was brought in a decanter, and the brandy which I had was poured out of the decanter, I don’t know by whom. I did not leave the room during the time when Palmer and Cook came in to me until we went to bed. I did not see anything put into the brandy and water, and I do not think anything could have been put in without my seeing it. Palmer and I went into the bedroom and left Cook in the sitting-room. I slept in the same bedroom as Palmer. When I went to bed I locked the door, and Palmer did not go out of the room during the night. When Palmer got up in the morning, he asked me to go and call Cook. I did so. I went to Cook’s bed-room door, rapped at it, and he told me to come in. I went in, and he told me how ill he had been during the night, and that he had been obliged to send for a doctor. He asked me what it was that was put into the brandy and water, and I told him I did not know that anything had been put into it. He asked me to send for the doctor, meaning Palmer. I did so. I next saw Cook when he came in to his breakfast. Palmer was in the room. Palmer and I breakfasted first, and Cook came in directly after we had finished, and had breakfast in the same room. On the evening of that day Cook, Palmer, and myself, left for Rugeley, having previously dined together at the Raven. We started for Rugeley about six o’clock in the evening. We travelled by the express train from Shrewsbury; Palmer paid for the three railway tickets. On the way Palmer was sick, and both Cook and he said they could not account for the circumstance of their being sick. Palmer vomited on the road between Stafford and Rugeley. We left the train at Stafford, at the junction. We then got into a fly to proceed to Rugeley, there being no train for that place. It was on the way to Rugeley that Palmer was ill and vomited. Palmer said he could not account for it unless it was that Cook had some brass vessel which he had drankout of, or that the water was bad. There had been a great many people ill during the Shrewsbury races. I heard several people speak of their having been ill who could not account for it. The distance by road from Stafford to Rugeley is about nine miles.
Cross-examined by Mr.James: I have known Palmer all my life. He deals with me for saddlery. I have not been in the habit of going to the races with him, but I have gone now and then. I was at Shrewsbury races with him. I never was at Doncaster with him. I was there once with a gentleman named Robinson. I was at Wolverhampton races in August last. I went with Palmer. I did not sleep in the same room with him at Wolverhampton. I did not stop at the same hotel with him. I stopped with my brother-in-law in Wolverhampton. I believe I was there a couple of days. I did not dine or breakfast with Palmer. I was at Lichfield races with Palmer in September. Lichfield course is within ten miles of Rugeley. I did not sleep at Lichfield. I did not either go to Lichfield or come home with Palmer. I believe I have never slept in a double-bedded room with Palmer anywhere but at Shrewsbury. I never did. I never was at Worcester in my life. I paid my own expenses to Shrewsbury. Palmer paid the expenses of my living at the hotel at Shrewsbury, and the fare back. He has never paid my expenses at any other races. If he has paid any expenses for me, I have deducted them from his bill. I dare say I went to some races with him the year before; I think two or three, but I can’t call to mind how many. I had an interview with Palmer in Stafford Gaol. I was with him a couple of hours. I should think that that was a month or five weeks ago. I cannot say when it was that I saw him. I cannot say whether it was before or after Stafford Assizes. Mr. Smith said he was going, and I thought I should like to see Palmer. I have stood half a sovereign or a sovereign with him occasionally. I know what “putting on” a horse means. I did not bet at Shrewsbury. I did not back Cook’s mare, Polestar. I have stood a sovereign with Palmer on a horse. The first time when I saw Cook at the Raven on the Wednesday evening was as near twelve o’clock as possible. I had not been dining with Palmer. I had dined at home, at Rugeley. I arrived at Shrewsbury about eight o’clock. I went to the Raven. I knew the room which Palmer generally had, and I went up to see if he was there. That was between eight and nine o’clock. I went there direct from the railway station. I saw Cook at the door outside. He asked me what brought me there. I told him I was come to see how they were getting on. I found that Palmer had gone out, and I then went into the town. I was away about an hour, and then returned to the Raven. I went into Palmer’s sitting-room. Palmer was not there. I waited in the sitting-room till he came. There was a man named Shelley there. He was a betting man. I waited about a couple of hours before Palmer came in. I think he came in about twelve o’clock, but I can’t say exactly. He came in with Cook. I saw that Cook was the worse for liquor. He was not very drunk, but I could see that he was the worse for liquor. The brandy and water was brought in directly. The brandy was in a decanter. I believe the water was on the table, but cannot say. I should say the brandy and the tumbler were brought up together. I don’t remember Mrs. Brooks coming. I don’t remember Palmer being called out of the room. I remember a gentleman coming in. I know now that he was Mr. Fisher. Before Fisher came in, Palmer had not left the room. That I will swear. Palmer never left the room until he went to bed. I swear that positively. I was close to him the whole time. When Fisher came in, Cook asked Palmer to have some more brandy and water. Palmer said he would not have any more unless Cook drank his. It was evident to any one that Cook was the worse for liquor. Cook said, “I’ll drink mine,” and he drank it at a draught. Directly after he drank it he said, “There’s something in it.” He did not say, “It burns my throat dreadfully.” He said the brandy was not good. I will swear he did not say, “it burns my throat dreadfully,” or anything of that kind. He gave it to some one to taste. I believe it was Fisher, but will not swear. I can’t say whether it was Palmer or Cook who gave it to Fisher to taste. I believe there were only four persons in the room at the time. I can’t say whether any other person came into the room before we went to bed. Cook had emptied the glass as nearly as possible; there was a little left in it. I can’t swear whether Palmer touched the glass or not. I believe he did taste. I believe Palmer said he could not taste anything that was the matter with the brandy and water, and he gave it to Fisher. I don’t recollect Fisher saying, “It’s no good giving me the glass—it is empty.” I can’t swear whether he said so or not. I should think we remained in the room twenty minutes after that. Cook did not leave the room before we went to bed. Palmer and I went straight up to bed. We left Cook in the sitting-room. I did not hear that night that Cook had been vomiting and was ill. I took one glass of brandy and water. We had one glass each. The water was cold. On the following day I dined with Palmer at the Raven. Mr. Cook served me with what I had to eat. During the first two days of the inquest I was at home at Rugeley. I did not go to the inquest.
Re-examined by Mr.Grove: I was not subpœned for the Crown; I was examined, but notsummoned. The deputy-governor was not present all the time I was with Palmer at Stafford. He went out once, but another officer came in. Palmer did not say a word about this case. There was an officer present the whole time.
TheAttorney-General: I wish to ask the witness whether he did not tell Mr. Gardner, when he was asked about the brandy and water, that he knew nothing about it?
TheLord Chief Justice: There is no objection to that question.
Witness: I never spoke to him about brandy and water at all.
TheAttorney-General: Did you meet him at Hednesford, where Saunders lives?—Yes.
TheAttorney-General: Did you not tell him there that you could recollect nothing about brandy and water?—No.
TheAttorney-General: Had you no conversation at all?—I had with Mr. Stevens.
TheAttorney-General: Did you not say, in Mr. Gardner’s presence, that you could recollect nothing about the brandy and water?—I did not.
TheAttorney-General: Were you not examined by Mr. Crisp and Mr. Sweeting before the inquest was held, and did you not tell them that you knew nothing about the brandy and water?—No, I did not.
TheAttorney-General: You swear you did not tell them anything about it?—Yes.
John Sargent, examined by Mr. SergeantShee: I am not in any business or profession. I am in the habit of attending almost all public races in the kingdom. I knew the late Mr. Cook intimately, and also the prisoner Palmer. I received a letter from Cook during the Shrewsbury races. I was subpœned on the part of the Crown. I have not had any notice to produce that letter. I have not got it. I have searched for it, but I had sent it to Saunders the trainer. I have made application to Saunders for it. The application was by letter. I received a letter in answer. I have seen Saunders since. I have done everything I could to get Cook’s letter. I have not a copy of it, but I know what its contents were.
The Court decided that the contents of the letter could not be received at that moment, as Saunders perhaps might attend before the conclusion of the day.
Examination continued: I was not at Shrewsbury, and only know what Cook stated in his letter. Shortly before Cook’s death I had an opportunity of noticing the state of his throat. I was with him at Liverpool the week previous to the Shrewsbury meeting. We slept in adjoining rooms. In the morning he called my attention to the state of his throat. The back part of the throat was a complete ulcer, and the throat was very much inflamed. His tongue was swollen. I said I was surprised, on seeing the state of his mouth, that he could eat anything. He said he had been in that state for weeks and months, and now he did not take notice of it. That was all that passed respecting the sore throat on that occasion. He had shown his throat to me previously—at almost every meeting we attended. On the platform at Liverpool, after the races, he took a gingerbread cayenne nut by mistake. I saw him take it. He did not know it was a cayenne nut. He told me afterwards that it had nearly killed him. He did not state more particularly then the effect which it had produced on him. I know that Cook was very poor at the Liverpool meeting. That was the week before the Shrewsbury races. He owed me £25, and gave me £10 on account, and said he had not sufficient to pay his expenses at Liverpool, but that I should have the balance of £25 at the Shrewsbury meeting. Cook and Palmer were in the habit of “putting on” horses for each other. They did so at the Liverpool meeting. I put money on at Liverpool for Palmer, and Palmer told me that Cook stood it along with him. I heard Cook, a short time before his death, apply to Palmer to supply him with “black wash.” I don’t know whether it is a mercurial lotion. I never saw Cook’s throat dressed by anybody.
Cross-examined by Mr. James: The black wash was not to be drunk [a laugh]. The application was made to Palmer at the Warwick Spring meeting in 1855. Cook was at Newmarket. I lived in the same house with him there. He was at nearly all the race meetings last year. His appetite was very good, and that surprised me. The cayenne nut is made up for a trick and mixed with other gingerbread nuts. Cook got one of those. I have tasted them. Some of them are stronger than others.
Jeremiah Smith, by Mr. SerjeantShee: I am an attorney at Rugeley. I am acquainted with the prisoner, and was acquainted with Cook. I saw Cook at the Talbot Arms on Friday, the 16th of November. He was in his bedroom. I saw him about ten o’clock. I was present at his breakfast. A small tray was put on the bed. He took tea for breakfast, and had a wineglass of brandy in it. I dined with him at Palmer’s house. I am not quite positive that I had seen him between breakfast and dinner. We had a rump-steak for dinner. We had some champagne at dinner. We drank port-wine after dinner. He had three bottles altogether, and Cook took his share. Cook, myself, and Palmer dined together. We left the house about six in the evening. Cook and I left the house together. We went to my house, and afterwards to the Albion Hotel, which is next door. We had a glass of cold brandy-and-water. Cook left me there. He said he felt cold, and warmed himself at the fire. He said he had borrowed a book, and would go home and read it in bed. That was between seven and eight o’clock, but I can’t say exactly. In the afternoon, after dinner, we were talking about racing. I asked Cook formoney—for £50. He gave me £5. When he was taking the note out of his pocket-case, I said “Mr. Cook, you can pay me all.” He said, “No; there is only £41 10s. due to you.” He said that he had given Palmer money, and would pay me the remainder when he returned from Tattersall’s on the Monday. On the night following (Saturday night) he was not well, and I slept in his room. It was late when I went; I should think about eleven or twelve o’clock. I had been at a concert during the early part of the night on which Cook was unwell. He had got some toast-and-water, and was washing his mouth. He was sick. There was a night chair in the room before the fire. I saw him sitting there. He tried to vomit, but whether he did so or not I cannot say, for I did not get out of bed. I went to sleep about two o’clock. I slept until Palmer and Bamford came into the room in the morning. I lay still in bed, and heard a conversation between the doctor and Cook. Bamford said, “Well, Mr. Cook, how are you this morning?” Cook said, “I am rather better this morning. I slept from about two or three o’clock, after the house had become quiet.” Bamford said, “I’ll send you some medicine.” I don’t recollect any further conversation. I know Mrs. Palmer, prisoner’s mother. She sent a message to me on Monday, and I went to her and saw her. In consequence of what had passed, I went to look for the prisoner to see if he had arrived. That was about nine o’clock. I saw Palmer at ten minutes past ten. He came from the direction of Stafford, in a car. He said to me, “Have you seen Cook to-day?” I said, “No; I have been to Lichfield on business;” on which Palmer said he had better go and see how he was before he went to his mother’s. Palmer and I went up to Cook’s room together. Cook said, “You are late, doctor, to-night. I did not expect you to look in. I have taken the medicine which you gave me.” We did not stay more than two or three minutes, and I think Cook asked me why I did not call earlier. I said I had been detained on business. Cook said Bamford had sent him some pills, which he had taken; and he intimated that he would not have taken them if Palmer had come earlier. Cook told Palmer, that he had been up talking with Saunders, and Palmer said, “You ought not to have done so.” Palmer and I left the room together, and we went straight to his mother’s.
The distance of Mr. Palmer’s house from the Talbot Arms is about four or five hundred yards. We were there about half an hour. We both left together and went to Palmer’s house. I entered with him. I asked him to let me have a glass of grog, but did not get it. I then went home. After dining with Palmer on Friday, I invited Cook and Palmer to dine with me on the next day, Saturday. Cook sent me a message, stating that he was not well and could not leave his room. I ordered a boiled leg of mutton for dinner, and sent part of the broth from the Albion by the charwoman—I think her name was Rowley. Previous to Cook’s death I borrowed £200 for Cook, and negotiated a loan with Pratt for him for £500. The £200 transaction was in May. I borrowed £100 of Mrs. Palmer, and £100 of William Palmer, making together the £200 to which I have referred. I knew that Palmer and Cook were jointly interested in one horse, and that they were in the habit of betting for each other. When Cook’s horse was going to run, Palmer “put on” for him; and when Palmer’s ran, Cook “put on” for him. I have seen Thirlby, Palmer’s assistant, dress Cook’s throat with caustic. I think this was before the races at Shrewsbury. I have some signatures of Cook’s which I know to be in his handwriting. The two notes with instructions to negotiate the loan of £500, I saw Cook sign. [The notes were put in.] One of them is signed “J. P. Cook,” the other “J. Parsons Cook.” I knew from Cook that he was served with a writ. I do not remember that I received any instruction to appear for him.
The letters put in were read by Mr. Straight, the Clerk of the Arraigns. The first was without date, and signed “J. Parsons Cook,” Monday. The following is a copy of the letter:—