Dr. Taylor has been questioned about some indiscreet letter which he wrote, and some indiscreet conversation which he had with the editor of the Illustrated Times. Against Dr. Rees there is not even that imputation, and Dr. Rees concurs with Dr. Taylor that in these experiments the rabbits were killed by strychnia; that they did whatever was in their power, according to their skill and knowledge, to discover the strychnia, as they did with the contents of the jar, and no strychnia could be discovered. As to the antimony, he corroborates the testimony of Dr. Taylor. Antimony is a component of tartar emetic, tartar emetic produces vomiting, and you will judge from the vomiting at Shrewsbury and Rugeley whether antimony may have been administered to Cook at those places. Antimony may not have produced death, but the question of its administration is a part of the case which you must seriously consider. His Lordship then read the evidence of Professor Brande, of Dr. Christison, a man above suspicion, who said that if the quantity of strychnia administered was small he should not expect to find it after death, and of Dr. John Jackson, who spoke to the symptoms of idiopathic and traumatic tetanus as he had observed them in India, which, concluded the evidence on the part of the Crown. Having thus gone through all the evidence for the prosecution, his Lordship intimated that he should defer the remainder of his charge until the following day; and the Court was therefore (at eight o’clock) adjourned till ten o’clock to-morrow (Tuesday) morning.
TWELFTH DAY, May 27.
The opening of the Court this morning presented the same extraordinary scene of excitement which was witnessed yesterday. The Court was filled immediately after the opening of the doors, and throughout the day long the Old Bailey was thronged with persons anxious to learn the progress of the summing up, or to obtain admission into the Court.
The prisoner exhibited no marked change in his appearance. Occasionally he listened with attention to Lord Campbell’s charge, and passed notes to his counsel; but for the most part there was much of apparent indifference in his demeanour.
The Lord Chief Justice, Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice Cresswell, took their seats on the bench at ten o’clock.
His Lordship commenced this morning by observing, that at the adjournment yesterday evening, he had laid before the jury all the evidence for the prosecution, and certainly this evidence presented a serious case against the prisoner. It appeared that in the middle of November last the prisoner was involved in pecuniary difficulties of a most formidable character, and from which he could not have possibly extricated himself without the most extraordinary means. At this period, the prisoner accompanied the deceased to Shrewsbury races, where the deceased won a large sum of money, and where, it was alleged, the prisoner formed the design of getting possession of the deceased’s property. Before and after the death, the prisoner took steps to collect all the money due to the deceased, and resorted to a device for securing the horse Polestar, which also had belonged to the deceased. In fact, had the plans of the prisoner, as developed in the evidence, succeeded, he would have become possessed of all the deceased’s property; and hence it could not be said that he would have derived no benefit from the death of his friend, nor could it be urged that the balance of advantages was in favour of his wishing the deceased to live; hence there was a strong motive for the committal of the crime imputed to the prisoner; and with this knowledge in their possession, it was for the jury to determine whether the symptoms of the deceased justified the conclusion of the scientific evidence for the prosecution—that death was the result of poisoning by strychnine.
It was true that no strychnine had been found in the deceased’s stomach, but in point of law there was no necessity that it should be found to justify the conviction of the prisoner, if there were other and sufficient evidence to satisfy the minds of the jury that such a poison had been administered. Well, now, there were two instances in evidence where, beyond all question, strychnine had been administered, and yet no traces of it could be found after death, while another portion of the evidence went to show that the body could be so prepared by antimony and similar deadly drugs, as entirely to destroy all traces of strychnine after it had run its fatal course. Now, in this case, there was the strongest proof that antimony must have been administered to the deceased immediately before death; and coupling that circumstance with the evidence of the medical men who had described first the symptoms of the deceased, and secondly, the symptoms usually observed in strychnine poisoning, it would be for the jury to say whether the prosecution had succeeded in bringing the charge of murder home to the prisoner. There were individual acts of the prisoner proved in evidence, which the jury might very well consider in arriving at their final conclusion, such as the fact of his having purchased or obtained strychnine from two different persons just previously to the death; the fact of his having attempted to bribe the post-boy to upset the jars, the fact of his having got the post-master to open Dr. Taylor’s letter; and lastly, the fact of his having tampered with the coroner to procure a verdict which would have amounted to an acquittal of the charge which was then, as now, hanging over his head.
These were the main features of the case for the prosecution, and having duly weighed and considered them, it would be for the jury to say whether they brought to their minds an irresistible conviction of the prisoner’s guilt. On the other hand, numerous witnesses had been called for the defence, and it remained for him to go through their evidence with the same care and patience with which he had gone over that of the prosecution. Like the evidence of the prosecution, the evidence for the defence partook of a moral and medical character. Those who had been called to give the latter evidence were men, of high honour, of unsullied integrity, and profound scientific knowledge, and it was only due to them to say, that in coming there they appeared to have been only actuated by a desire to speak the truth, and to assist in the due administration of justice. This evidence his lordship then proceeded to read over, commencing with Dr. Nunneley. Commenting upon that gentleman’s evidence, his lordship observed that Dr. Nunneley seemed to have displayed an interest in the case which was not altogether consistent with the character of a witness. He differed very much from some of the witnesses examined for the prosecution, particularly in reference to rigidity being produced by strychnine after death, and it would be for the jury to determine to which side they attached the most weight in these matters.
The next witness in order was Dr. Herapath, a gentleman who had directed much attention to the operation of poisons. His lordship having read Dr. Herapath’s evidence, observed that it differed from that of the prosecution in a leading particular, inasmuch as it went to affirm that where death was occasioned by strychnine, its traces were always discernible in the body, but on cross-examination the witness admitted that he had before expressed an opinion that Cook died of strychnine, and that Dr. Taylor had not taken the proper means to find it.