“Not entirely. I would rather say that the effects of arsenical poisoning were added to and mingled with those of old-standing disease.”
“Would you tell us briefly what abnormal conditions you found?”
“The most important were those in the stomach, which showed marked signs of inflammation.”
“You are aware that the death certificate gives old-standing chronic gastritis as one of the causes of death?”
“Yes, and I think correctly. The arsenical gastritis was engrafted on an already existing chronic gastritis. That is what made the appearances rather difficult to interpret, especially as the post mortem appearances in arsenical poisoning are extraordinarily variable.”
“What else did you find?”
“There were no other conditions that were directly associated with the poison. The heart was rather fatty and dilated, and its condition probably accounts for the sudden collapse which seems to have occurred.”
“Does not collapse usually occur in poisoning by arsenic?”
“Eventually it does, but it is usually the last of a long train of symptoms. In some cases, however, collapse occurs quite early and may carry the victim off at once. That is what appears from the housemaid’s evidence to have happened in this case. Death seems to have been sudden and almost peaceful.”
“Were there any other signs of disease?”