INQUEST.

Globe, Volume XXI, Issue 1801, 28 November 1879, Page 3

INQUEST.

The adjourned inquest on the bodies of John Downey and Henry Arthur Penny, twin sons of Mr Penny, waiter at the Somerset Hotel, Ashburton, was held yesterday morning at Mr Baldwin's Central Hotel, Ashburton, before Dr. Trevor, coroner. John Henry Pratt, sergeant of police, sworn, said—On Saturday, 22nd, I received from James Downey Penny, the father of deceased, one bottle milk, two feeding bottles containing milk, one bottle which had traces of milk in it, two bottles which I was informed contained aniseed, one wineglass, one cup and some sugar. Some portions of the bodies of deceased children I also received from Dr. Ross, and forwarded the whole to Professor Bickerton for analysis. I have this day received a telegram from Superintendent Broham, stating that Professor Bickerton had been unable to discover poison in the portions of the bodies of deceased forwarded, or in the milk or other articles forwarded.

William G-ray Roes, sworn, said—l am a duly qualified medical practitioner, residing in Ashburton. I was called to see deceased children on Saturday, November 22nd, at 6.30 a.m. Mr Penny, who called me, said, when he came for me, they were both dead. They were the children on whom I afterwards made a post mortem examination. When I arrived, one of the children was in the cot they both occupied, the other being in the mother's arms. _ Both were dead. They were warm, and, in my judgment, had been dead about an hour, or less. Their limbs were rigid, hands clenched, and the body of the smaller and weaker one already beginning to be disooloured. This child had small quantities of bloody_ froth exuding from the mouth and nostrils. I noticed no other appearances respecting the bodies. The food bottles in the cot were neither of them touched. I examined a bottle containing solution of aniseed that one had partaken of. It was a very weak solution. I also examined the bottles that had contained the milk the children had had the previous night. They were empty, and there was no particular odour or taste except that of tour milk I also examined the cot where the bodies had been lying for the night. The impression of their bodies was well marked. I also examined bed-clothing covering the children, and relative position of the bodies. There was nothing to show in any of these things how the children came by their death or to excite suspicion of any foul means having been used. There were no marks of violence on the bodies, or of any struggle, the cot and bedclothes appearing as if the children had been quietly taken out of bed. On the same day, some eight hours after I £rst saw them, I made a post-mortem examination of both bodies. The signs in both bodies were much alike, the only difference being such as would naturally exist between a smaller and a stronger child, the congestion and discolouration being, as a natural consequence, more developed in the smaller and weaker child. Both bodies were well nourished and without a single mark of violence anywhere. They were cleanly and well cared for; the limbs were still rigid ; the lips wore blue ; the eyes natural, and also the pupil of same. The nails were not livid, but of the natural pink tint; the thumbs were turned in strongly. On opening the bodies I found the right side of the hearts'empty and flaccid; the left thoroughly contracted and also empty. The blood in the arteries leading to and from the heart was very dark and fluid. At the base of the heart, under the pericardium, were many extravasations of blood of the size of millet seed. The pinus gland was intensely congested, and also had extravasations of this size. The lungs were congested in parts, but for the most part healthy. In the lungs were also minute extravasations under the pleura. There were about three drachms of serum in the pericardium, and about an ounce in oaoh pleural cavity. The liver, spleen, and intestines were all healthy. The kidneys were for the moßt part exsanguine and the urinal bladder empty. The stomachs were both healthy throughout, and were half full of partly digested food, possessing the_ natural smell and appearanoe. The brain was intensely congested superficially, but the brain substance itself was natural. The ventrioles were full of serum. The throat was slightly congested, the windpipejaod gullet clear. I gave

the stowachsy with the : r contents, the spleens, and portions of the livers and lungs, to Constable FsMfflef to take to Professor Bickertca for analysis'* They were properly sealed in the bottles. Appearances led me to suspect poisoning by strychnine, and it was for that reason I forwarded part of the bodies to Christchurch for analysis. The other cause of death with which pest mortem appearances would agree is sudden suffocation. Strychnine produces death sometimes by suffocation by its action en the muscles' of the thest. I cor • eider the most probable cause of death suffocta tion. The cavse I consider must have been rapid. I think the evidence of the mother that they were all right at 330 on the morning of their death is probably correct. I cannot account for their death by suffocation if it occurred. There was enough air in the room to prevent it, also the coverlet was thin, and not heavy, and had it fallen accidentally on the faces of the children would probably have not produced suffocation unless done purposely. The post mortem appearances were hardly in accordance with suffocation in some respects. I should not have expected to find the right heart empty, and should have expected the face would be congested first, instead of the extremities. The signs of death by suffocation are, however, uncertain. There were no marks of fingers on the throat or about the lips or nostrils. The thumbs were not so rigidly turned in as in a case of death by convulsions. By Police—From appearance of thumbs and eyes and bodifs generally Boon after death I should not have thought the children died of convulsions. Had they taken strychnine it could not have failed to be found in the stomach, or the liver or spleen. By a Juror—Had suffocation been caused by a pillow, or any such soft substance, the signs would have been similar. In many well-known criminal capes, such as Buike and Hare's, the signs ofjdeath by suffocation were mistaken for the signs of death by natural causes.

Constable Farmer deposed to taking articles entrusted to him by Dr. Ross to Professor Bickerton in safety. Dr. Trevor, tho coroner, deplored that the cause of death had not been properly cleared up. The medical evidence pointed to death by suffocation, but there was no evidence to show how it occurred. This was bad for the father, mother, and the public generally. Children were often accidentally suffocated by their parents by overlaying them, or, more frequently, by the bedclothes being wrapped too closely round them. Again, cats and dogs had been known to smother children by lying on them; but the evidence of the mother clearly did away with either of these suppositions. There was really no certain medical evidence as to the cause of death, and he thought they would be forced to return an open verdict. After adjourning for eonsultation, the jury agreed to an open verdict to the effect that there was no evidence to show how the children of Mr Penny, found dead on November 22nd, had come by their death.