George Herring—I knew Mr. Cook. I was at Shrewsbury Races last November, staying at the Raven, and saw Cook each day. I saw him with money on the Wednesday. He was counting up a lot of Bank of England and other notes. I could not say how many there were, but there were a considerable number. He showed me his betting book, containing entries of bets made at the races. On Monday, 19th November, I received a letter from Palmer asking me to call upon him at 7 Beaufort Buildings at half-past two that day. I called, and he said he wished to see me about settling Cook’s account, as the physician had advised Cook not to go out that day, it being damp. Palmer had a paper in his hand, and read out from it a number of items which he asked me to take down. I did so, and I have here the list I made. He said—“Receive of Ingham, £350; Barr, £300; Green, £140; Morris, £200; Nelson, £30; pay yourself £6 and Shelley £30.” I said that made it £984, and he said—“That is what Cook makes it; if I give you £16 it will make £1000; out of that pay yourself for my bill.” I said, “I know no difference between the two bills”; he said, “Pay Padwick £550 and Pratt £450, making £1000.” He asked me to send cheque for the last two at once. I refused to do so, as I had not received the money. He wished me particularly to pay Pratt the £450, as he said it was for a bill or joint-bill of sale on the mare. I had an account of £45 against Palmer, while he had one of £40 against me. He settled this £5, along with the £16 to make up the £1000 previously spoken to, by a Bank of England £50 note. I do not know the number of the note. Before he left he pressed me to send the cheques to Pratt and Padwick immediately before the closing of the bank. He said, “When you have settled this account write down word to either me or Cook.” I replied, “I shall certainly write to Mr. Cook,” because I thought I was settling Mr. Cook’s account. He said, “It does not matter which.” I asked him if I addressed the letter, “Mr. Cook, Palmer, Rugeley, would that be correct,” and he said “yes.” I received all the money at Tattersall’s on Cook’s account, except £110 of Mr. Morris, who only paid £90 instead of £200. I sent a cheque for £450 to Pratt from Tattersall’s. I wrote a letter to Cook from Tattersall’s. The next day I received a telegraphic message, which I gave to Captain Hatton on the coroner’s inquest. In consequence of this message I wrote a letter the same day to Cook.
(Evidence was given to show that Herring held three bills of exchange, each for £200, on which Cook and Palmer were jointly responsible to him. He received £200 from Cook on one bill; another £200 bill he deducted, as instructed by Palmer from the £1000. The third bill he paid himself for by not paying Padwick as Palmer instructed him. Besides these bills Herring held a fourth for £500 drawn by Palmer on his mother, and endorsed by him and Cook. It was proved that this acceptance was not in Mrs. Palmer’s handwriting.)
Fourth Day, Saturday, 17th May, 1856.
The Court met at ten o’clock.
George Bate
George Bate, examined by Mr. James—I am a farmer, and was in the employment of the prisoner during September, October, and November of last year. I was engaged to look after his horses, and received no stated salary, sometimes two sovereigns and sometimes one sovereign a week. I remember in the month of September, 1856, being in the company of Mr. Cook and Mr. Palmer. Something was said by one of them to me about an insurance being proposed on my life.
Mr. Serjeant Shee objected to this evidence, and his objection was sustained.
T. B. Curling
Mr. Thomas Blizzard Curling, examined by the Attorney-General—I am a Fellow of the College of Surgeons, and surgeon to the London Hospital. I have published a work on the subject of tetanus. Tetanus signifies spasmodic affection of the voluntary muscles of the body. There are two sorts of tetanus, idiopathic and traumatic. Idiopathic tetanus is tetanus originating, as it were, as a primary disease, without any wound. Traumatic is from a wound. During twenty-two years I have been surgeon to the London Hospital. I have never seen a case of idiopathic tetanus. I have seen over fifty cases of traumatic tetanus. Traumatic tetanus first manifests itself by a stiffness about the jaws and the back of the neck; rigidity of the muscles of the abdomen usually sets in; a dragging pain at the pit of the stomach is almost a constant attendant of spasm of the diaphragm, and in many cases the muscles of the back are sensibly affected. Then the spasms, though continuous, are liable to aggravation in paroxysms. As the disease goes on these paroxysms become more frequent and more severe. When they occur, the body is drawn backwards; in some instances, though less frequently, it is bent forwards; then, in an acute case, a difficulty in swallowing is a very common thing; a difficulty in breathing also during the paroxysm, a choking sensation. The disease may end, supposing it be fatal, in two ways; the patient may die somewhat suddenly of suffocation, owing to closure of the opening of the windpipe, or the patient may be worn out by the severe and painful spasms, and the muscles may relax and the patient gradually sink and die. Traumatic tetanus is generally fatal, and the locking of the jaw is an almost invariable symptom. A symptom very characteristic of the disease is a contracted condition of the eyelids, a raising of the angles of the mouth, and a contraction of the brow. The lower extremities are sometimes affected, and sometimes the upper; the muscles affected are chiefly those of the trunk. I have never heard of traumatic tetanus being produced from sore throat or from chancre. A case of traumatic tetanus which ends fatally takes from one day to four days, or longer, before death ensues. I never heard of a case in which a man would be attacked one day and then have twenty-four hours’ respite, and be again attacked the next. The symptoms of the death of Mr. Cook, given by Mr. Jones, the surgeon, were not consistent with any form of traumatic tetanus I ever heard of. There was the sudden onset of the fatal symptoms; in all cases that have fallen under my notice the disease has been preceded by the milder symptoms of tetanus. The symptoms given by the woman Mills as to the Monday night were not those of tetanus. The sudden onset and rapid subsidence are not consistent with what I call the true form of tetanus. The poison, nux vomica, produces tetanic convulsions.
Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee—Any irritation of the nerves proceeding to the spinal cord might produce tetanus. I agree with Dr. Watson in his “Lectures on the Principles and Practice of Physic,” that all the symptoms of tetanic convulsions may arise from such slight causes as the sticking of a fish bone, the mere stroke of a whip lash under the eye, from the cutting of a corn, from the bite on the finger by a tame sparrow, from the extraction of a tooth, from the operation of cupping, and simple things of that character. Idiopathic tetanus would not be so likely to bring the patient to the hospital as a sudden wound leading to traumatic tetanus. A syphilitic sore would not be likely to lead to tetanus.