Mr. Baron Alderson: And yet leave an excess in the stomach?—That is my opinion.
The Attorney-General: Would the excess remaining in the stomach produce no effect?—I am not sure that strychnine could lie in the stomach without acting prejudicially.
Suppose that a minimum quantity is administered, which, being absorbed into the system, destroys life, should you expect to find any in the stomach?—I should expect sometimes to fail in discovering it.
If death resulted from a series of minimum doses spread over several days, would the appearance of the body be different from that of one whose death had been caused by one dose?—I should connect the appearance of the body with the final struggle of the last day.
Would you expect a different set of phenomena in cases where death had taken place after a brief struggle, and in cases where the struggle had been protracted?—Certainly. At the post-mortem examination of which I have spoken we found fluid blood in the veins.
Mr. Serjeant Shee: Is it your theory that in the action of poisoning the poison becomes absorbed, and ceases to exist as poison?—I have thought much upon that question, and have not formed a decided opinion, but I am inclined to think that it is so. A part may be absorbed and a part remain in the stomach unchanged.
Mr. Serjeant Shee: What chemical reason can you give for your opinion that strychnine, after having effected the operation of poisoning, ceases to be strychnine in the blood?—My opinion rests upon the general principle that, in acting upon living bodies, organic substances—such as food and medicine—are generally changed in their composition.
Mr. Serjeant Shee: What are the component parts of strychnine?
Mr. Baron Alderson: You will find that in any cyclopœdia, Brother Shee.
Mr. Serjeant Shee: Have you any reason to believe that strychnine can be decomposed by any sort of putrefying or fermenting process?