By the Attorney-General.—“Supposing the stomach were acted on by other causes, I do not think sickness would be inconsistent with tetanus.”
With reference to the existence of these granules, Mr. Oliver Pemberton, anatomical lecturer at Queen’s College, Birmingham, who was present with Professor Bolton when Cook’s body was exhumed, in January, for the special purpose of arriving at a more satisfactory decision on this point than had been effected at the first post-mortem examination, was called for the defence. He gave it as his opinion, in which Professor Bolton agreed, that the spinal cord was not then in a condition to enable him to judge as to what was its state immediately after death; the upper part, where it separated from the brain, being green from decomposition, and the other part, though better preserved, not soft enough for that purpose. This point was, therefore, left in a far from satisfactory position.
A Dr. G. Robinson, of the Newcastle-on-Tyne Dispensary, also supported the spinal granules theory, and considered that from his habits of life Cook was predisposed to epilepsy. He admitted, however, on cross-examination, that “he had never seen symptoms of epilepsy proceed to anything like the extent as in Cook’s case; never saw a body so stiff in epilepsy as to rest on its head and heels; nor such symptoms, except in tetanus, and that the extreme form of epilepsy was always accompanied by unconsciousness.” “The granules,” he thought, “were likely to have irritated the spinal cord, and yet no indications remain after death; they might have produced Cook’s death.”
Attorney-General.—“But do you think so?”
Witness.—“Putting aside the assumption of strychnia, I should say so.”
Attorney-General.—“Are not all the symptoms reported by Mr. Jones indicative of death by strychnia?”
Witness.—“They certainly are.”
Attorney-General.—“Then it comes to this, that if there were no other cause of death suggested, you should say it arose from epilepsy?”
Witness.—“Yes. Epilepsy is a well-known disease which includes many others, and the convulsions of that disease sometimes assume tetanic appearances.”