Answer.—“I do not.”
Question.—“As to the effect of poison would they not?”
Answer.—“I think a rabbit quite as good as any animal. The poison is retained, and its operation is shown. At the inquest I saw Mr. Gardner (the solicitor of Mr. Stevens). I suggested questions to the coroner. Some of them he put to the witnesses, and others they answered upon my suggesting them. Ten days before the inquest Mr. Gardner informed me in his letter that strychnia, Battley’s solution, and prussic acid, had been purchased on Tuesday; that was why I used the expressions to which you have referred. We did not allow that information to have any influence on our report.” [The witness’s deposition before the coroner was then read.] “Having given my evidence, I returned to town, and soon afterwards heard that the prisoner had been committed on a charge of wilful murder.”
Question.—“And that his life depended in a great degree on you?”
Answer.—“No. I simply gave an opinion as to the poison, not as to the prisoner’s case. I knew I should probably be examined as a witness on the trial.”
Question.—“Do you think it your duty to abstain from all public discussion of the question which might influence the public mind.”
Answer.—“Yes.”
Question.—“Did you write a letter to the Lancet?”
Answer.—“Yes, to contradict several mis-statements of my evidence that had been made.”