Palmer says in that letter that he had seen it in black and white. Cheshire states that he had not shown him the letter. However that might be, there can be no question that this was a highly improper letter for the prisoner to write; and speaking as the chief coroner of England, and being desirous for the due administration of justice and of the law, I have no hesitation in saying that it was not creditable in Mr. Ward to receive such a letter without a public condemnation of its having been written. You will say, gentlemen, whether the conduct of the prisoner in that respect—suggesting to the coroner the verdict which he should obtain from the jury—is consistent with innocence. The noble and learned lord then read the evidence of Ellis Crisp, the police inspector at Rugeley, who produced a medical book which had been found in the prisoner’s house, and in which the following passage occurred in the prisoner’s handwriting:—“Strychnia kills by causing tetanic fixing of the respiratory muscles;” and remarking that this was a book which was in the possession of the prisoner seven years ago, when he was a student, he said that there was nothing in it which ought to weigh for a moment against the prisoner at the bar. Having read without comment the evidence of Elizabeth Hawkes, the boarding-house keeper, with respect to the sending of game to Ward, of Slack, her porter, and of Herring, who spoke to the directions given him by Palmer as to the disposal of Cook’s bets, his Lordship called the particular attention of the jury to the statement in the evidence of Bates, that the prisoner had told him not to let any one see him deliver the letter to Ward. The next witness, he continued, is Dr. Curling, and now, gentlemen, you will be called upon to come to some conclusion with regard to the evidence of the scientific men respecting the symptoms of the deceased before death, and the appearance of his body after death. You will have to say how far those symptoms and those appearances are to be accounted for by natural disease, and how far they are the symptoms and appearances produced by strychnine. It will be a question of great importance whether, in your judgment, they correspond with natural, that is, with traumatic or idiopathic tetanus, or with any other disease whatever. [His Lordship read the evidence of Dr. Curling, and the examination in chief of Dr Todd, without comment, and directed the Clerk of Arraigns to read the depositions of Dr. Bamford. The depositions were accordingly read, and his Lordship then remarked,—] When this deposition was first given in evidence, Dr. Bamford was too ill to come into court; but he partially recovered, and on a subsequent day he was examined and gave the vivâ voce evidence which I will now read [The learned Lord here read the evidence, observing, with regard to the pills made up by Dr. Bamford, that the prisoner certainly had an opportunity of changing them, if he pleased; that circumstance deserved their serious consideration.] There is not, he continued, the slightest reason to impute any bad faith to Dr. Bamford, but it is allowed, on all hands, that the old man was mistaken in saying that the death was caused by apoplexy.
All the witnesses on both sides say that, whatever the disease may have been, it was not apoplexy; but he filled up a certificate that it was apoplexy, in compliance with a recent Act of Parliament which renders a certificate of the cause of death necessary. [The cross-examination of Dr. Todd was then read, and his Lordship pointed out that the case of strychnine seen by that witness bore a certain resemblance to Cook’s attack on the Monday night.] The next witness is a gentleman of high reputation and unblemished honour, Sir B. Brodie, one of the most distinguished medical men of the present time. [His Lordship read Sir B. Brodie’s evidence.] That distinguished man tells you, as his solemn opinion, that he never knew a case in which the symptoms he had heard described arose from any disease. He is well acquainted with the various diseases which afflict the human frame, and he knows of no disease answering to the description of the symptoms which preceded Cook’s death. If you agree with him in opinion, the inference is that Cook died from some cause other than disease. [The learned Judge then read the evidence of Dr. Daniel, who agreed with Sir B. Brodie, and of Dr. Solly, who also thought that natural disease would not account for death.]
Mr. Serjeant Shee wished to have the cross-examination of this witness read.
Lord Campbell: Certainly. I daresay it is very applicable.
Mr. Serjeant Shee read a part of the cross-examination:—
“Is not the risus sardonicus very common in all forms of violent convulsions?—No, it is not common. Does it not frequently occur in all violent convulsions which assume, without being tetanus, a tetanic form and appearance?—Yes, it does. Are they not a very numerous class? No, they are not numerous. Is it not very difficult to distinguish between them and idiopathic tetanus?—In the onset, but not in the progress. I think you say you have only seen one case of idiopathic tetanus?—I have only seen one. When you answered that question of mine you spoke from your reading, and not from your experience?—I did not know your question applied to idiopathic tetanus alone. Does epilepsy sometimes occur in the midst of violent convulsions?—Epilepsy itself is a disease of a convulsive character. I am aware of that; but you heard the account that was given by Mr. Jones of the few last moments before Mr. Cook died? Yes, I did. That he uttered a piercing shriek, fell back and died; did he not? Yes. Tell me whether that last shriek and the paroxysm that occurred immediately afterwards—would not that bear a strong resemblance to epilepsy? In some respects it bears a resemblance to it. Are all epileptic convulsions—I do not mean epileptic convulsions designated by scientific men as of the epileptic character—are they all attended with an utter want of consciousness?—No, not all. Does not death by convulsions frequently occur without leaving any trace in the body behind it?—Death from tetanus, accompanied with convulsions, leave seldom any trace behind; but death from epilepsy leaves a trace behind it generally.”
Lord Campbell.—The jury have heard you read it. It is for them to say whether it is important in their view or not. Evidence is next given of various cases of tetanus arising from strychnine; it is for you, gentlemen, to consider how far the symptoms in those cases resemble the symptoms in this case, or how far the symptoms in this case resemble those of ordinary tetanus, idiopathic or traumatic. [The learned judge read his notes of the evidence given by Dr. Robert Corbett, Dr. Watson, Dr. Patterson, and Mary Kelly, witnesses examined to prove the symptoms in the Glasgow case, and then proceeded to call the attention of the jury to the testimony of Caroline Hickson, Mr. Taylor, surgeon, and Charles Bloxham, all of whom were examined with reference to the case of Mrs. Smyth, of Romsey. He then passed on to the Leeds case—that of Mrs. Dove, whose name had transpired so frequently in the course of the trial, that it would be vain to affect any reserve on the subject now. After reading the evidence of Jane Witham and George Morley, the learned judge observed,—] It is beyond all controversy that strychnia was not discovered in the dead body of Cook, but it is important to bear in mind that the witness Morley declares that in cases where the quantity of strychnine administered had been the minimum dose that will destroy life, it is to be expected that the chemist should occasionally fail in detecting traces of the poison after death. That case of Mrs. Dove’s is a very important one, because it is a case in which it is beyond all question that death was caused by strychnine, however administered. It is for you to determine how far the symptoms of this unhappy lady corresponded with or differed from those of Cook. You will remember that she had repeated attacks of convulsions. She recovered from several, but at last a larger dose than usual was given, and death ensued. With regard to the possibility of the poison being decomposed in the blood, that appears to be a vexed question among toxicologists, and Mr. Morley differs on the point from other and, I doubt not, most sincere witnesses.
The great question for your consideration at this part of the inquiry is whether there may not be cases of death by strychnia in which, nevertheless, the strychnia has not—let the cause be what it may—been discovered in the dead body. [The learned Judge then read the evidence of Edward Moore in the Clutterbuck case, where an over-dose of strychnia had been administered; and proceeded as follows:—] I have now to call your attention to the evidence of Dr. Taylor, but before doing so I think it right to intimate that I fear it will be impossible to conclude this case to-night. It is most desirable, however, to finish the evidence for the prosecution this evening. When that is concluded I shall be under the necessity of adjourning the Court, and asking you to attend here again to-morrow, when, God willing, this investigation will certainly close. [The learned Judge then proceeded to read his notes of Dr. Taylor’s evidence, and on arriving at that portion of it in which the witness described the results of his own experiments upon animals observed,—] There is here a most important question for your consideration. Great reliance is placed by the prisoner’s counsel, and very naturally so, upon the fact that no trace of strychnine was detected in the stomach of Cook by Dr. Taylor and Dr. Rees, who alone analyzed it and experimented upon it. But, on the other hand, you must bear in mind that we have their own evidence to show that there may be and have been cases of death by strychnine in which the united skill of these two individuals have failed to detect the presence of the strychnine after death.
Both Dr. Taylor and Dr. Rees have stated upon their oaths that in two cases where they knew death to have been occasioned by strychnine—the poison having, in fact, been administered with their own hands—they failed to discover the slightest trace of the poison in the dead bodies of the animals on which they had experimented. It is possible that other chemists might have succeeded in detecting strychnine in those animals, and strychnine also in the jar containing the stomach and intestines of Cook; but, however this may be, it is beyond all question that Dr. Taylor and Dr. Rees failed to discover the faintest indications of strychnine in the bodies of two animals which they had themselves poisoned with that deadly drug. Whatever may be the nature of the different theories propounded for the explanation of this fact, the fact itself is deposed to on oath; and, if we believe the witnesses, does not admit of doubt. With regard to the letter from Dr. Taylor to Mr. Gardner, stating that neither strychnia, prussic acid, nor opium had been found in the body, his Lordship said this letter was written before Cook’s symptoms had been communicated to Dr. Taylor and Dr. Rees; but they had been informed that prussic acid, strychnia, and opium had been bought by Palmer on the Tuesday. They searched for all these poisons, but they found none. The only poison they found in the body was antimony, and therefore they did not, in the absence of symptoms, attribute death to strychnia, as they could not at that time; but they say that it possibly may have been produced by antimony, because the quantity discovered in the body was no test of the quantity which might have been taken into the system.
As to the letter which was written by Professor Taylor to the Lancet, the learned Judge remarked: I must say I think it would have been better if Dr. Taylor, trusting to the credit which he had before acquired, had taken no notice of what had been said; but it is for you to say whether, he having, as he says, been misrepresented, and having written this letter to set himself right, that materially detracts from the credit which would otherwise be given to his evidence. Having concluded the reading of Dr. Taylor’s evidence, his lordship said: This is Dr. Taylor’s evidence. I will not comment upon it, because I am sure that you must see its importance with regard to the antimony and the strychnia. For the discovery of strychnia, Dr. Taylor experimented upon the bodies of two animals which he had himself killed with that poison, but in them no strychnia could be found. [The learned Judge next read the evidence of Dr. Rees, in commenting upon which he said: I do not know what interest it could be supposed that Dr. Taylor had to give evidence against the prisoner. He was regularly employed in his profession, and knew nothing about Mr. Palmer until he was called upon by Mr. Stevens, and the jar was given to him. He could have no enmity against the prisoner, and no interest whatever to misrepresent the facts. [Mr. Serjeant Shee reminded the learned Judge that the experiments upon the two rabbits were not made until after the inquest.] That makes no difference. If the witnesses are the witnesses of truth, there are equally cases where there has been the death of an animal by strychnia, and no strychnia can be found in the animal; if that experiment had been made this morning, the fact would have been the same.