English and Foreign.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VI, Issue 408, 1 October 1856, Page 7

English and Foreign.

PALMEE'S TRIAL. FOUBTH DAY. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. As,it was understood that the medical testimony would be opened this morning, May 17, the court was besieged long before the appointed hour by impatient crowds ; and all throughout the day hundreds of persons remained outside discussing the probabilities of. the case. Much anxiety was evinced concerning the state of the health of the jury,, which, it was feared, might suffer from confinement; for; if any one of. them were to break down it would quash the proceedings, which would necessarily have to be commenced de novo. - They had been taken out the previous morning and evening for a promenade in the Temple-gardens; and it was arranged that on Sunday they should be driven out to Woodford and allowed to exercise in Epping Forest. Lord Grey, Mr. Dallas, the American minister, and several of the Aldermen were present, and a large array of medical and scientific men. The appearance of the prisoner was considerably improved. He had a more cheerful air than on the preceding day, and on arriving in front of the dock he bowed to the judges, and then entered into conversation with his solicitor. Thomas Blizard Curling, surgeon at the London Hospital, stated- that he had particularity turned his attention to the subject of tetanus. There were two kinds—idiopathic tetanus and traumatic tetanus. The former is self-genera-ting ; the latter is produced by wound or injury. There are other diseases besides tetanus in which contractions of-the muscles occur. Had seen no cases of idiopathic tetanus, which is caused by exposure to damp or cold, or the irritation of worms in -the alimentary canal. Had seen 1000, but could speak positively to 40 or 50 cases of traumatic tetanus. He never knew it produced by sore throat or syphilis. The disease when once commenced was continuous. Its duration varied from 24 hours to three or four days, or longar. Never knew a case in which a man was attacked one day, and then had a 24 horn's* respite, and was attacked next day. [The witness _ described in detail all the symptoms of rigility...beginning in the jaws and extending t > the neck and muscles, of the abdomen.] Had h.ar I the evidence respecting Cook's symptoms. They did not belong to either form of tetanus. There were certain poisons that would produce tetanus—they were nu\ vomica, strychnia, and brushchia.

1. Mr. Sergeant Sheo cross-examined this witness with great ability, but did not shako his mam statement. The witness strictly confined his answers throughout to the knowledge he had acquired from his own personal observation. He never knew a case in which an adult died of convulsions, and that no trace of disease was discovered after death.

Dr. Todd, a physician of 25 years' practice, and a lecturer at King's College Hospital, was next examined. He entirely agreed with Mr. Curling's opinion. He had seen two cases of idiopathic tetanus. The symptoms were precisely the same as in traumatic tetanus.

The deposition of Dr. .Bamford, who was too ill to attend, was here put in, and read."lt entered into a minute detail of his attendance upon Cook, and the medicines he prescribed for him; and confii-med the statements as to the healthiness of the body after death. He was of opinion that deceased died of apoplexy, and he had certified to that effect.

Dr. Todd's examination was now resumed. He did not believe that Cook died of apoplexy or epilepsy. The poisons mentioned by Mr. Curling would produce tetanic convulsions. He thought half a grain of strychnia would destroy life ; most certainly a grain would. The effect would be convulsions of the spinal muscles, the head would be drawn hack and the trunk bowed in a remarkable manner, and the feet forced out of their natural position. There is a marked difference between a case where death ensues from strychnia and from tetanus. Sir Benjamin Brodie was examined by Mr. James. The spasmodic contractions in Cook's case were identical with those of traumatic tetanus, but the courses they took were entirely different. He never saw a case in which the same course of the symptoms arose from any disease. This witness confirmed the opinions already given by the previous witnesses. Mr. Daniel, eight years surgeon to the Bristol Hospital, concurred in the opinions of Sir Benjamin Brodie and the former witnesses. The course of the symptoms in Cook's case was different from any case he had ever seen. They could not be referred to tetanus, apoplexy, or epilepsy. Mr. Solly, surgeon to St. Thomas's Hospital, confirmed the medical opinions of the former witnesses. Dr. Corbett, a Glasgow physician, detailed the symptons of a woman who died from taking three quarters of a grain of strychnine in three pills. She had a retraction of the mouth, the face was suffused, the pupils of^ the eyes were dilated, the head was bent, the spine curved, the muscles were as hard as a hoard,the arms stetched out, and the hands clenched. Mr. Watson,surgeon to the Glasgow .-Infirmary, confirmed the above. Di\, Patterson testified to the preparation of the pills in this case. Caroline Hickson, nurse in the famiy of Mrs. Smith, in 1848, saw her mistress take a mixture supplied by Mr. Jones, of Eomsey. In a few minutes atlbar she was affected with spasms; her feet were clenched; she asked.to have her arms and legs held straight, they were drawn up and her feet were bent inward. She asked to be tinned over; they did turn her, and she died hi an hour from the time of taking the mixture. Mr. Taylor, surgeon, of Eomsey, who attended' Mrs. Smith, testified to the rigidity and contraction; the lady died before he arrived; there was a post-mortem examination, but no traces of disease were discovered. Charles Bloxham, who had been apprentice to Mr. Jones in 1848, remembered the prescription made up for Mrs. Smith. A mistake had been made. Strychnine was used instead of salacine. Mr. John Morley was also medical attendant in the last case; he used tests and discovered traces of strychnine, but no appearance of disease ; he inoculated animals with strychnine obtained from the stomach, and in all cases rigidity and convulsions ensued, and some of the animals died. He should not expect to find strychnine in'the stomach in all cases of death by strychnine; a dose sufficient to destroy life might te absorbed into the system. The Court then adjourned to Monday, when Dr. Taylor is to be examined.

FIFTH DAT. From the evening edition of the 'Globe' of Mon.lay, May If), we quote the day's proceedings, up to within an hour or two of closing the mails for Australia, at which time the trial was still proceeding]^ This extraordinary trial was resumed this morning, the court again being much crowded* The Earl of Denbigh, Lord Lyttelton, and the usual attendants were upon the bench. Lord Campbell and Mr. Justice Crcsswel! entered the court at 10 o'clock, but Mr. Baron Alderson was not present. The prisoner, on being placed at the bar, did not exhibit the same air of co-ifi fence which-he evinced I

in the course of Saturday. With his hands resting on the front of the dock, he inclined lorward, and listened attentively to the medical testimony.

Dr. Alfred Taylor, Professor of Chemistry at Guy's Hospitil, was the first witness called and examined by the Attorney-General: I am the author of a work on poisons and medical jurisprudence. Amongst other poisons I have turned my attention to strychnine, produced from nux vomica, which also yields bruschia, a poison different in strength and in some chemical qualities. (He described the proportions). I have seen the effect of strychnine upon animal life, but not upon the .Jiuman subject. I have tried its effects upon animal life some ten or twelve times, principally upon rabbits. The symptoms altogether have been very uniform, the quantity varying from one-half to two grain?. 1 have found half-a gain iv a solid state sufficient to destroy animal life. I have also administered it iv a liquid state. '"When given in a fluid state, it has begun to show its effects iv two or * three minutes ;in a soiid state, in the form of a pill or bolus, from six to seven minutes. The time in. which death takes place is influenced by the strength of the dese, and also by the strength of the animal. The poison is first absorbed in the blood, then circulates through the body, and especially acts upon the spinal cord, from which the action of the nerves and muscles proceed. The entire circulation of the blood through the whole system is supposed to take place once in every four minutes. The absorption is quicker, but that wil! depend upon the state of the stomach, aud when the poison comes in contact, it is on the surface of the inner coat of the stomach. I believe the poison must first be absorbed. The animal in five or six minutes after taking strj'chnine appears to suffer. It moves about activelj-, and when the poison begins to act it falls on its side and there is a trembling of the whole of the muscles of the body—a kind of quivering motion, arising from the poison producing involuntary contractions. There is then a sudden paralysis or fit; the fore-legs are stretched out, the hind-legs are also stretched, the head fails back, and the tail is drawn back in the form of a bow; the jaw is spasmodically closed, the eyes are prominent and protruding, and after a short rime there is a slight remission. The animal appears to lie quiet, thes'.ightest noise or touch reproducing another convulsive paroxysm. There is then a scream, as if the animal had suffered extreme pain—the heart beats violently, and, after a succession of these fits, t;;e animal dies quietly. The rigidity continues until after death, and the muscles are so contracted that, in some instances for a week af erwards, it was possible to hold the body out horizontally by the hind legs. In an animal killed the other da} T, the body was flaccid at the time of death, but it continues rigid after death. I have opened the bodies of animals so destroyed, and have found nothing in the stomach indicating any injury there. I have found in one or two instances congestion of the membrane of the spinal cord. .In other instances 1 have not discovered any departure from the ordinary course of things with respect to the spinal cord and brain. I think the congestion waa produced by the succession of fits which the animal had befote death. Observed the heart was congested, the right side especially. 1 have seen cases in the human subject some years ago, but I have not had much experience in those cases. I saw one case in the human subject last Thursday week in St. Thomas's Hospital, but it did not terminate fatally. I have heard the symptoms of Cook described, and the symptoms were the same as I have seen iv the auimals to which I administered strychnine. (The prisoner here made a note which he handed to his solicitor). One animal died in thirteen minutes, and another in sixteen. My experiments have been made with strychnine in a solid state. The symptoms commenced in seven miuutes, and the animal died in thirteen minutes; in the second case the symptoms appeared in nine minutes, and the animal died in seventeen minutes; iv the third the symptoms showed themselves in ten minutes, and the animal died in eighteen minutes ; in the fourth the symptoms began in nine minutes, and death in twenty minutes; in t'le fifth symptoms appeared in ten minute.*, death in twenty-three minutes. I think poison taken in pills would take longer to produce the symptoms, as it has to be broken up in order to come in ccntact with the mucous membrane before the symptoms are developed. The strength of the dose would intiuence the rapidity of the symptoms and the occurrence of death. (Dr. Taylor then described at some-length the tests to be applied for strychnine). I have endeavoured to try the strength of the strychnine in the animals. I did so in four distinct cas?s. In one case by the colour test, and in anoiticr there was a bitter taste, but no indication as iv the colour test. In the other two cases there was no indication whatever. I had given two grams i i one case where strychnine was discovered by ttie colour test, and one grain where there was a bitter taste, aud one grain in ihe one and half a grain in the other where no indications were discovered. It had been absorbed and changed in the b'ood. A physician in Canada once died from the effects of half-a-grain of strychnine in twenty minutes. After the post-mortem exanu-

nation of Mr. Cook the stomach and intestines were delivered for analysation. I experimented upon them, with a view of seeing whether there was any poison in them. We sought for various poisons —prussic acid, oxalic acid, morphia, strychnine, veraticat, the poison of tobacco, hemlock, arsenic, mercury and antimony. We only found small traces of antimony. The parts were the most unfavourable for the detection of strychnine that could possibly be ; and the stomach was completely cut from end to end; all the contents were gone, and a fine mucous surface, upon which any pioson, if present, could be found, was lying in contact with the outsides of the intestines, all crowding together. There was feculent matter on the surface of the mucous membrane. If any poison had been present we should have expected to have found it in the contents of the stomach, and on the mucous membrane. Other parts of the body were sent to me— the liver, spleen, and two kidneys, also small bottle pf blood, unlabelled. We analysed all. In the liver and kidneys, we searched for mineral poison, and discovered antimony in one-eighth part of the liver. We analysed the left kidney and spleen, and they all yielded antimony. The longest period I have known antimony to be found in the human blood, after a person lias ceased taking it, has been eight days. I have known antimony to appear as early as IS hours after being taken: it was not a large dose, and did not cause death : it was administered as a medicinal dose. It is often given in minute doses with impunity, and it may be given so as to produce symptoms' which would infallibly destroy life. I heard the evidence as to the deceased's vomiting at Rugeleyand Shrewsbury. Vomiting would be likely to hurt the spine. I should think the antimony was given to Cook within two or three weeks prior to his death -, it was impossible to say •with certainty. What was found in the liver might have been given within eighteen hours before death. A large quantity might cause a sensation in the throat. In the course of our analysis we did not find any trace of mercur\-. If a few grains of it had been taken recently before death, I should expect to have found some irr.ees of it in the liver. If a man had been taking mercury for any disease before death, should expect to find some trace of it It is slow in passing through the body, and if it had been given within two or three weeks, I should expect to find some trace of it. If it had been within a few hours, should expect to find some in the liver. If half a grain had been given for four days "before "death, and it bad not been thrown up by vomiting, should expect to find some trace of it in the liver. I attended to the evidence in the case of Mis. Smith, Agnes Si'tiet, and another lady (whose deaths from strychnine were detailed on Satnrdav) The "symptoms in the case of Mr. Cook?s death appear to have been of the same character as the symptoms which were distinguished in those several cases. Ido not know any other cause than strychnine to which Cook's death may be reserred. Dr. Taylor then underwent a very lengthened cross-examination by Sergeant Shee, first as to the tests applied: Ihe antimony I discovered must have been taken within three weeks before death. It does not depend so much upon the extent of the dose, to destroy life as the mode of giving it. I was first applied to, in this case, ou the _ Ist of November, by Mr. Warrington. (The learned sergeant read a letter from Dr. Taylor to Mr. Gardner, stating that strychnine, prussic acid, or opium had not been found, and expressing an opinion, in the absence of any other cause, that the deceased mio-lit have died from the effects of antimony). That was my inference at the time ; the antimony found in the body, was not sufficient to cause death, but the quantity found in a dead body is no criterion of the quantity administered. It is absorbed in the blood, and soon passes from the person. Before we proceed with an analysis it is desirable to know the symptoms. There are 100 poisons which will destroy life. I attended the coroner's inquest on Mr. Cook. I think I went there on the l l4th of December. I experimented upon 5 rabbits of the 10 about 25 3-ears ago. I considered the fact was established by what I did sufficient to justify me in writing as I have done in my book on strychnia. I have a great objection to destroy an unnecessary amount of life when I have established the fact. I think rabbits are preferable to dogs and cats to make experiments upon. (Ihe deposition of Dr. Taylor before the coroner was read.) I thought it prudent to abstain from anything which might lead to public discussion. I wrote a letter to the Lancet, correcting some mistakes which had been made. (The k-tter was read.) Although the learned professor was cross examined at considerable length, his evidence was in no way invalidated. Dr. George Owen Ilees, Professor Brand, and Profe?scr Christison were then examined. They generally confirmed the opinion of Dr. Taylor, that no natural disease would produce such symptoms as those which presented themselves in *Mr. Cook. Professor Christison said that they were very similar lo those cases in which death was produced by strychnine.

The Attorney-.ieneral thought that he would fdiish the case for the prosecution by two or three o'clock next day, and it was arranged th-.t Serjeant Shee should commence his address on Wednesday.