The Dean.—“You have information here in this charge of murder.”
The Witness.—“You have information as to what was in the stomach.”
The Dean.—“And you are enabled to draw an inference.”
Witness.—“Of course: my inference is drawn by a sort of probability, but that is not an inference on which I am entitled to found any positive statement.”
The Dean.—“Well, let me put this question. Did you ever know any person murdered by arsenic having 88 grains of it found in his stomach and intestines?”
Witness.—“I don’t recollect at the present moment.”
The Dean.—“Or anything approaching to it?”
Witness.—“I don’t recollect, but I would not rely on my recollection as to a negative answer.”
The Dean.—“You are not, at all events, able to give an example the other way.”
Witness.—“Not at present. As far as my own observation goes, I can say that I never met with 80 grains in the stomach of a person who had been poisoned by arsenic. I can’t say what is the largest quantity I have found.”[111]