THE LEEDS POISONING CASE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 394, 16 August 1856, Page 8

THE LEEDS POISONING CASE.

Mr. William Dove, an independent gentleman of: i Leeds, lias been committed to York for the wilful .murder of his wife, who died on.the Ist March. On .a post mortem, examination, Dr. Morley (themedical gentleman, who had attended the unfortunate lady during her illness) and Mr. -Nunueley, surgeon, discovered traces of strychnine in the stomach and bowels :of the deceased. It was shown at the inquest that Dove had purchased strychnine about The time of his wife's illness) arid also that he* had administered medicine to her oh several occasions, and that, immediately afterwards, the patient was attacked with convulsions, twitchings, and the other phenomena resulting from the exhibition of strych- . nine. Mr.. Dove and his wife had not lived happily together, aud on more than one occasion he had threatened to "giveher a pill that would do for her." The inquest, which had been several times adjourned, was: brought to a close on the ,17th : March, and resulted in a,_verdict of wilful murder , against Dove. The. evidence adduced at the final sitting of the inquisi'.ion was highly important,1 and revealed some facts in relation to the contents of the deceased's stomach which corroborated and confirmed in a: :e narkable degree the scientific evidence previously', given. . ?.lessrs- Morle}' and Nunneley had subjected the contents of the late Mrs. Dove's stomach to the most' minute analysis ; and, after the severest chemical tests, had come to the conclusion that those contents contained strychnia, and that strychnia was the cause of death. In the case of arsenic or. laudanum, the medical testimony, founded upon careful chemical analysis, is'usually regarded as conclusive ; but owing to the opinions expressed by Professor Taylor, and others," in the Rugeley poisoning! case,.and from the fact that ■.comparatively few analyses have been made in the case of persons poisoned by strychnia! doubt has been ; attempted to be thrown upon the value of chemical analysis in discovering that" poison. Messrs. Morley and Nunneley^-with an amount of forethought, fperseverance, judgment, and skill, whicliTreSects upon them the highest credit as men of science,-—have met all possible objections, on the ground of the insufficiency of chemical analysis'; by instituting a series of experiments, •■" which have ; demonstrated by physiological, eifects the presence ; , of strychnia in the «tomach of the deceased lady. Those experiments are described in the following report, which was presented and read at the inquest on Monday:— '"'' ." ' ■ "■■■■-' ADDITIONAL BEPOST OS THE AKALYSIs OF THE STOMACH. As a further test of the presence of poison in the stomach, and one. which, as nearly as possiiile, would amount to demonstration, we determined to try, whether the spirituous . extract ohtai&ed from the contents of the stomsehj already shown, hy chemical tesis, to contain strychnia, possessed •really the poisonous properties of that substance. We selected, for experiment, two rabbits, two mice, and one guinea pig; and, as the most exact method of'acting upon such animals with small qaautities v of ppisoi., ,\ve applied it byinoculation through small openings, either info the t-e!lular tissue between the skin, or into one of the xorous cavities of the body; also in one of the mice, giving a portion by tha mouth. -In each of these five animala thus submitted to experi-' meat, the characteristic effects of poisoning by strychnia were produced. Upon three of them (;hs two mice and a vigorous rabbi.) death ensued respectively in tvo minutes,, twiiive ininutKS, and fifty minutes, from the first introduction of the poison. The symptoms preceedint' death were disturbed respiration, general distress, convulsive twitchingH or jerkings, titanic spasms, a peculiar "outstretching of the legs, and'genera! rigidity of the body, ; symptoms which are exactly those commonly produced by. strychnia. In xhe fourth animal, the rabbit, iht! symptoms were equally we:l marked and decisive; but, aithouch the animal lay for a time nearly dead,it afterwanis revived, ! and. eventual." y rsepvered. la the gniiiea pig tiie effects at I iirs: were much more slight. The. spasms were not so strong as to throv,- it ' down or entirely dfsable it ; but on the following day it also was found dead, with the mnsclen rigid, aud the hind legs estended, as if dead from the cfiects of the poison. ' • ' For the purpoaa of comparison, we conducted, at the isarae time, a parallel series of experiments on other animals, with ordinary strychnia. In . these animals the"symptoms were exactly tirniiarto those produced in the five acted on by iht poi=on extracted from the body of Mrs. Dove. They were, as a series, not more severe, and aot more rapidly fatnl. ' " ""■ The^e animal experiments decisively confirm our auulysis; ar.d, taking ihem into connection with ■ the anuly^ijj, and with the syrapt-uns observe 1 dating life, and with she appearances noted in the body after death, they afEmi, in O'jr opinion, the most complete proof that the death of Mrs..Uo.ve was from the poisonous eifoc:s of the strychnia, aud from no other cause. George Moeley. Thomas Nuxxkley, F.E.C.S.E. Few pen cms will fail to perceive at a glance the great value of these animal experiments. It is prenygerera'ly known that professor Taylor and others have in the Itugeley poisoning case declared that stnehnia cannot be detected in the stomach aftf-r the lapse of a few hours subsequent to death. J{ such were the fact, it would he a very deplorable one. It would be equivalent to. . saying to all wicked men who desired to get rid of those whom they regarded as rivais or enemies, " You have only to procure strychnia, and if once you can succeed in administering it unseen medical science is: altogether at 4bult: —detection is impossible. '' Immunity from detection would, there is too much

reason to fear, tempt many to crime who would otherwise be deterred by the fi-ar of punishment. The analysis of Messrs. Morley and Nunneley, however, by discovering the traces of strychnine in the stomach, had cut that temptation to crime—• immunity from detection and punishment—from from under the feet of the prisoner. Still there was in the minds of many some doubt lingering that, aficr all, the medical gentleman of Leeds —notwithstanding their high standing as analytical' chemists —might possibly be mistaken. I'hesu further experiments of poisoning inferior animals with the contents of the stomach of the poisoned lady, have removed those doubts and fears, and rendered the demonstration complete. There being no other evidence to offer to the jury, and the prisoner, Mr. Dove, the husband t f the murdered woman, declining to say anything, the Coroner summed up at. great length. He cited the evidence showing that the death of Mrs. Dove was preceded ,by convulsions and spasms, such only as strychnine could produce ; that strychnine was found in the stomach after death. Then.astotheparty by whom it was administered, he pointed out that, according to the evider.ee, these spasmodic attaks came on only after nndicine or other things administered by her husband, in which it was, therefore, presumed that he had mingled strychnine; and that the prisoner had procured, was in oossession of, and showed himself solicitous about the effects of strychnine upon the human frame, and appeared to attach aconsiderable importance to the fact that it was not traceable after death. In the course of his address to the jury, which occupied two hours and a half in its delivery, he readthJ principal portions of the evidence taken during the protracted investigation- The jury retired to consider their verdict at ten minutes past one, and remained locked up till a quarter before two o'clock, when they returned into court, and returned a verdict " That Harriet Dove has died from the effects of strychnine, wilfully administered b v her husband, William Dove." The prisoner, who had not exhibited any visible emotion when the verdict was delivered, was removed in custody of the gaoler, and was committed to York Castle to take his trial at the next Summer Assizes on the charge of wilful murder.— Newcastle Journal March 23. s The L-jeds strychnine case following so sharply that at Rugeley, again astonishes us at -the worse than' usele>sness of those English doctors, who, according to their own confessions, suspect people to be suffering from poison, and yet allow them to die without mentioning their suspicions. It would seem that the attendance of a medical man is no protection against domestic murder. Within three months],there have been the three cases—at Darlington, llugeiey, and Leeds—in which the medical attendants acknowledge that they suspected foul play, and yet did nothing to stop the foul play, and prevent it ending in frightful deaths. As between the public and the profession, that is a horrible state of things, and public opinion ought at once to be^ expressed in reprobation of the fatal silence evidently customary when family poisoning is bsing committed. Ihe moment that a medical attendant thinks that a poisoner is meddling with his patient, he ought to warn all by whom that patient is surronnded of his suspicion; for it would be better that the feelings ofj'riends were sometimes shocked, than this horrid'system of conjugal slaughter permitted to extend itself, with the connivance of that class of men which society looks to for protection. Poisoning by strychnine is the latest invention of the devil, and it awful to see the facility with which strychnine can be used in the presence of those whose duty it is to defend the otherwise defenceless from so cruel an agent of death. Observer.

Fudge.—When our wounded, lying on the the field incapable of resistance, were ruthlessly stabbed by the Russians, too often in such a manner as natto put them out of their pain, but to give them the utmost possible misery before death, we were told that the cruelty would never be forgotlon. When respect was claimed for ceitniu buildings at Sebastopol on tlie score of their being hospitals, while in fact they were magazines, we were lold, that dishonour would ever "attach to the Russian name. When the -Hango massacre was committed, it was agreed that the infamy was; indelible. Bah! It wns all fudge. Hear Lord Palmerston upon Sir R. Ferguson's motion respecting the British graves'in the Crimea, ■<■■■ " I really cannot anticipate that there will be the slightest <lifilculty in obtaining from the Russian Government an assurance—if, indeed, such an assurance can bo necesbary—that the monuments which record the fall, of our brave countrymen who have sacrificed their lives in the Crimea shall receive that respect that among all civilised nations euoii memorials invariably command. (Hear! hear.)' Whatever we may think of bur Russian adversaries/we must do them the justice to admit that they have carried on war with all the courtesy which becomes a groat country. (ChiierK.) Their treatment of the gallant force which surrendered to them at Kars has been most, humane and generous. (Ronewed cheers.) That noble garrison received every consideration which ihe magnanimity of the victors

could prompt; suid therefore tboru is no ruuson to sunn -. thiit those who have known so well how to trcit the /, ■ c will bo wanting in duo rcspeut toward:, the (lend. (Cl>ou'"^ General Mouruvieff fully deserves what j s s;iid ol' Mm, but ho is a noble exception to the general conduct of (he smnibarhariaus, and h<> cannot redeem the infamy of Hango, or of the murder of the unresisting wounded at Inkerinann. There are British graves at llan.<- 0 with an inscription over them rHntino- t fj e circumstances of the massacre. Will those'who in LordPalmeiston's words, "hive known so •• well how to treat the living, he wanting \ n !> dm' respect towards the dead ?" .Whenever pence is made, what a glorious sacrifice of tmi'h will be offered up on the altar of Fudge. How Russia will he beslavered and beslobbered, and honest memory snubbed.— Examiner.

The ( Literary Gazette ' says—Madrid papeis inform us of the melancholy /act that the •Albambra is falling, before the destroying hand of time. The inhabitants of Grenada were awakened- in the dead of the night by a \ om [ crash like a clap of thunder, followed by what seemed an earthquake. Thousands itched into the streets, and it was soon discovered that tlio noise proceeded from the fall -)f one of the largest walls of the Alhainbra, that which joins the tower "bsPicos" v/ith the gate "■ de Hierro." A strict examination was made of the ruins, which resulted in the discovery that one of ihe towers and the fortress itself are thieatened with a similar fate. Workmen are employed in restoring the palace. ■ A'democratic organ anuounces the formation lof a new politic al parly, which is to comprise , Earl Grey, Mr. llicardo, the Peelites, and the j Manchester school, ther-jhall'ot being insisted on by the'hist named section, and " the pill beiii"swallowed even by Sir Jas. Graham without a veiy wry face." Fire at Mr. Scott Hu^sell's Shipyard, Millwall—On Wednesday afternoon a fire broke out on the shipbuilding premises of Mr. Scott Russell, Millwall, Poplar. The efforts of the workmen to_ extinguish .the flames on their first outbreak being ineffectual, expresses were sent off for the engines, a strong force of which, together with the j t*o steam floats, were soon on the spot, under the ■ direction ofMr. Braidwood. Notwithstanding the most active exertions of ihe firemen, the whole of the workshops connected with the mills, the joiners' and planers' houses, as well as the mills themselves, ■*ere totally destroyed, with' their contents! The loss is very heavy. The origin of the disaster is not known. This makes the third serious conflagration which has taken place in the yard since 1854. The leviathian ship, now building was, fortunately, not injured. Opinions of Macaulay's " History."—Dr Hugh . iller thus concludes his elaborate and searching articles in the ' Witness ' on Macaulav's recent volomes :—" Such traversities of history cannot survive the age in which they were written. No literary excellence, 110 airs of philosophic impartiality, no sneering pretensions to more thnn ordinary research, and much more than common so«-aeity, no silver-tongued press or golden-tongued exchequer, can long save them from the fate that awaits the illomened productions of learning supplying the lack of principle, of eloquence leaning on fables, and of talent in league with error. Say what you will, people will distrust the whole representations of an historian who has been convicted of wilful and studied exaggeration. We have heard, though we cannot vouch for the truth of the story, that Thomos Carlyle, when exorting a friend to amuse himself, after hard study, with light reading, and being asked what works iie would .recommend, replied, ' Why Thackray's last novel, or Macaulay's last volume, or any other of the best works of fiction.' » Effects of Fashionable Bonnets.—An eminent medical gentleman in London, writing to a friend says :—< I have to lament the great increase, amongs the female" part of my practice, of ticdoloureuxin the forehead, lass of sight, rind great suffering in the ear, induced, I firmly believe, from the present absurd fashion of. dressing" Hie neck instead of the head. During the post month I have been in attendance upon two lovely girls, with licdoloureux in the forehead, and,several others with similar complaints. It is high time that the frivolous bonnet of the present day should be done away with. *.■;-,. The Qijeeti has been pleased to confer the honour of knighthood upon Lieut.-Colonel Hu^h Lyon Playfair, H.E.I C.S. Provost of St. Andrews; also upod William Macarthur, Esq., of Camden Park, New South Wales. ' : ■ ' It is stated that Dr. Redman, a missionary, has verified the existence in Africa of an immense sea. without outlet, twice as largi as the Black Sea. between the equator and ten degrees south latitude, and between the 22nd and 30th meridian; 'it is called Ukerewe, or Inner Sea.

The Wallaohian Government' have conceded to Messrs. Haiber, or Vienna, the line, from Ors'fjva to Jbraila, or some oilier port, for ninety--nine years. The terms are thought to be very unfavourable... lor the Government, and it is complained' that the time for receiving tenders was too short, as agents of' English and' Belgian houses would have made offers/ It is reported here that the allies are to commence the'evacuation of Turkey within 40 days, after ratification of peace, and all the. troops are to have quitted within six months."'This i? not credited in our best informed circles. . ■.■; „ ; . . „ This Sound Dues,—The 'English Cabinet lias rejected the capitalisation of the »Sound Dues','proposed to her by Denmark, but it has declared its readiness' to .'examine' any fresh proposition on the subject. The Danish Government has hitherto abstained from putting forward any other proposal. Russian' Baltic PitoviNCiss.—Hamburg, Thursday, 10ih April.—We learn from Si. Petersburg'that the Emperor hasjust confirmed all the Regulations made by his predecessor in favour -of the Baltic Provinces, guaranteeing on his imperial-word to preserve them, intact, without the-'least alteranpn. •-...'.■■ ■ .'■ The llussian"Baltic Squadron.—The small Kussian Squadron fitting out in the^ Baltic is intended to bring the Dowager Empress to Stettin. Her Majesty'will pass the ensuing winter in Sicily, after spending1 the summer in Germany. The political purpose.of' the Czar's journey to Finland was to assure^the Fmlanders of the restoration of certain' privileges which the late Emperor Nicholas deprived ' them of during the' War. '■'•' ■'" The French expedition' to' :Mad:igascar would, it was said, be an extensive"one,'part of the Crimean troops'taking part. The converting'p;ir lor the whole of that large islaud. into a French empire is stated to be the object. A terrible disaster is recorded in the New York papers. The American ship 'Jo fin Ratledge with ''emigrants, bound from Liverpool to New York, ran on to an iceberg on the voyage, and was so injured that she was subsequently abandoned. The crew 35 in number, and the passengers 120, took to the boats. A storm came on. Up to the latest dates, only one man hud been rescued alive, named Nye. The boat he was in contained 13-personsVof whom 12 perished by cold and exposure, and Nye himself was neaily 'frozen when picked up by the ship Gehnania. and had been two days without food. Henry Selfe Selfe Esq., of the Oxford Circuit, political agent for this province, lias been appointed mrttropoika'» police -'magistrate, in the place of Mr. Hard wick, resigned. - ji* Sir Henry Pottinger, of - Eastern" celebrity, died at Malta on the 18th, aged sixty-seven. There is a 1 talk of Sir E. Lyons being sent as Minister to Constantinople soon after the peace is filially concluded. ~" 'l ;• ' :. It is a curious coincidence that the number of the 'Moniieii? announcing the birth of the Imperial Prince, and heir'toNapoleon's throne, contains a decree ordaining• the -withdrawal from circulation of all the coins bearing the effigy of Liberty. ■ ; ■ '/, Crime is rife in England : in Liverpool the annual report of Captain Greig^ head ■of the police, states'that.! there 'is nothing4 in the state of crime to afford ground for.■congratulation. There was an increase of 8,578 in the number of apprehensions 'duving : tiie year. Twelve peisohs had lie'eii committed upon charges of murder. There.'wa!s' also a marked increase in the number of apprehensions from drunkenness: ;; ' .'; .'-V^- "; \ ■ , •,'.."■:; The 30th of March, significantly observes a Government print, was the date of the taking of Paris.in 1814, and it would' be difficult to make a'better transformation o'" that' unfortunate anniversary than by making it that of the signature of-the treaty of peace. An Englishman in very, reduced circumstances, who is a staunch advocate of Louis Napoleon, wrote him a letter of; congratulation (on the impulse of the momeni) the first day the "birth"of the Imperial Prince'--'was'''announced,; and, in return fur his good wishes, received the grant of a peusionof 2,000f., per annum.- - --(: On Tuesday, after the reception on the occasidii of the birth 'of the Prince Imperial, a grand dinner was given at the Tuileries. At the dessert, the Emperor caused the glasses to "be'fiiled,'' and tlieii said-1—" Gentlemen^ I propose the health of two'irien whom I esteem and love, Marshal Canrobertand.Marshal Bosquet!" It may be imagined the sympathy with

which this toast whs .received, and with what j emotion, the two, new. .marshals , thus ..learned their iio'.niu.iiioi]. General .Bosquet transmitted by telegraph tlie intelligence of his elevation' to his mother in the following- terms : —" Marshal Bosquet to his mother ; Pray for the Emperor." An estimate of Mr.'Gye's loss by the fire lias been.prepared by.the surveyors of the Phoenix. It amounts to £32.740, the office being rest ponsible for only £B,OOJ. It is reported tha the Queen has offered to head a subscription list for the rebuilding of Oovem-gardeu Theatre, with a contribution of £1,000. The theatre stood in theparish of St. Paul, Covent-gavden. The'parish is a small one, anil the theatre was very highly rated. .In consequence of the destruction of the edifice, the parochial rates have been proportionately increased: upon the, other inhabitants, and the new assessment is nearly double 'the wild one. , .■■■;;; i: .. ; ,-...<■ i Air. Ingram, the new member for Boston, was originally a bookseller in that town, where he '' invented" Parr's Life Pills,-..which had, as they still have, an enormous,-.sale, rivalling Morrison or any of the other quack medicines. How great the sale may be inferred from the fact that.he afterwards sold the proprietorship for an annuity of £500 a year, which continues to be'paid. Going up to , London, he . boyght the-llllustmted London. Neivs," which had just been started. ■ , ! The Legislative Assembly of Nova Scotia has placed 150 guineas at the, disposal of the 'Government- to present a sword to. General William*, who is a native of that province. In order to enhance the gift in the estimation of the-gallant officer, it has been, determined that, it shall be made entirely of materials produced in his native country. The Acadian Iron Company has furnished the steel, and the order is already in jr. cess of execution. ! The Trieste Gazette has an account of a new Ethiopian . kinndo!!i, which one Theodore,, v native Christian, is. founding by conquest, and in which neither slavery nor polygamy will have place. At the Stafford assizes; March 14th, Samuel Cheshire, the postmaster of Rsigeley, was found guilty of a misdemeanour in unlawfully opening a postle ter directed to Mr. Gardner, solicitor, at Ilngeley, on tlie sth of December last. Sentence was deferred. In the course of the day the grand jury found true bills against William Palmer for the murder o'i'J. P. Cook and Ann Palm<T, but threw out the bill for tlie murder of Walter Palmer. They also found two true bills against Alice Gray for perjury. Palmer is to be tried at the May assizes. The proprietors of the Morning Chronicle have made aii.arrangemnnt by -which the" forms" of their paper are to be taken to pieces immediately after publication, remade up in four pages instead of eight ; and this abridgement of the original paper is sold at a penny, under the title of the Morning News, within an hour after the publication of the Chronicle, and in the same building; anything more suicidal has perhaps never been known, in the history of the press.- ■'•.'•■•■ - " ,■• .".-■»■ ■■>. , ■ .-., . . ... The Sardinian government has moved a body of troops to the frontiers of Parma. Fears are entertained of further disorders in that quarter. <■ .•Cor.oNTzATiON.in Turkey:—Divers qiMiimii. nieationsjf'rom the East point to English colonization in Turkey under,"the new laws recently promulgated by the Porte. It is said that companies for tlie pnrohasj of land are forming. If this idea should, as is most probable, be acted upon to any considerable extent, and if French enterm'ize should follow in the wake of the English, the Ottoman Empire will he indebted to the West, for something more than mere deli, verance from the fangs.of Russia. Mahome= tanism as a dominant system will theu be,—i:i fact it already is,-—at an end. Orders have been received from England to collect in the Crimea all the bodies that can be fouud of the officers of the Guards, and have them interred at Cathonrt's-hill. Five hundred and twenty-eight Mormon emigrants, on their way to the Gre;>t Salt Lake City, arrived at New York oil the 16 th. ult., from Liverpool. Extracts from the Diary of an English Detective in Italy, July 11th.—Tluse Italians' call their commissioner of police .' the intendeiity.' Saw him and the head of the passport office— another queer name— ' the Questory.' Supposing G. and H.[to be still here, had the register of all he hotels and lodging houses examined. Me and Jrc c went about disguised.gl sported barnacles, and wjre a false black beard and inoustarshers—shouldn't have known myself a Frenchman- Telly-

'grafted to all parts. Searched the registers of all the steam-boats and the dilygences. No good came of it. Found out a reading-room at last whare G-2 and H. used to go to ; proprietor's name Gammoiiio, or something like it. Couldn't get nothing out of hm, though it was plain he was in the secrfL Had Mr, Gamrnonio up before the Intendenty ; only my trouble for my pains. No news of any sort for three days.— 19th. —Went' with Jack to the post office. He told me of an uncommon good dodge. In'this here ,Ittaly there ain't one of the clerks can read English nairies, and they give you a bundle of letters to pick ; and choose from. Saw one with London post marks, addressed to Gray. Paid for and took it. Writer, a lawyer in the City; sharp fellow know him well. He says; " CioL counsel's opinion : no use attempting to eoine hack ; a loiig voyage the only safe thing ; go to Naples by all means, or as much farther as you like, never send your address forward at any place, but give instructions to have all letters to be sent to ——,' meaning a clerk in his own office. When I'd read tins letter I had it sealed up and put in the post again, leaving Jack to watch who came for it. No success—2oth—Got acquainted at the table dole with ' a very pleasant gent,-a shevvaleer who spoke quite good English. Tjld him alt about the scamps, and,how I was after .'em. He presented me, as he called it, to the topsawyer of tiie messages—the coach office that is— who said that G. and H. had been there ever so many times asking for a'paekage from Nobchattle— but he hadn't seen 'em now for five or six days. Two letters had since come for Mr. Hardy. I persuaded .him to let me have 'em. One was from the young lady'that got hold of my coat-tails at Madam's, telling him of the search we made there, and describing little Jack as a Jew, which he's not unlike one. Uncle Tomm and Uncle John was the names she gave to G. and H. and said how the trunks had been sealed up and the 'shariimingdefer shaj'es taken, and a good deal more that was very sweet, and showed pretty clearly how matters stood in that quarter. This leter was signed, ' Cristine Idalette'—a dodge for her own name. The other letter was from Madam, and said what a lot of crying they had had since their friends had been obliged to cut." — BcnUe/ifs Miscellany. Our national anthem of " God save the King," composed in the time of George I, has always been, considered of English origin ; but on reading the amusing " Memoirs of Madame de Cfequy," it appears to have been almost a literal translation of the cantique, which was always sung by the 1 demoiselles de.St. Cyr when Louis XIV entered the chapel of that establishment to hear the morning prayer. The words were by il. de Brinon, and the music by the famous Luily : — " Grand Dieu, sauve le Roi! Grand Dieu, venije le Roi! Vive le*Roi ! "Que toujours glorieux, Louis victorieux! Voye ses emiemis ;; Toujours soumis! ." Grand Dieu, sauve le Roi! Grand Dieu, venge le Roi! Vive le Roi ! " It appsars to have been translated and adapted to the House of Hanover by Handel the German composer.