F. Taylor
Mr. Francis Taylor, examined by Mr. Welsby—I am a surgeon at Romsey. I was summoned one morning to the house of Mrs. Serjeantson Smith. I arrived between eight and nine o’clock, shortly after she died. I saw the body then. The hands were clenched; the feet were contracted, turned inwards; and the soles of the feet were hollowed up. This appeared to have been from recent spasmodic action. The limbs were remarkably stiff. The body was still warm. The eyelids were totally adherent, almost to the eyeballs. I made a post-mortem examination three days after death. The contraction of the feet continued, but it was gone off somewhat from the rest of the body. No trace of disease was found. The heart was contracted and perfectly empty, and the blood was fluid. I analysed the medicine Mrs. Smith had taken. It originally contained nine grains of strychnia, and Mrs. Smith had taken one-third. As the truth was so apparent, only a very general examination of the stomach and bowels was made, but still sufficient to find traces of strychnia.
Jane Witham
Jane Witham, examined by Mr. James—In March last I was in attendance on a lady who died. I remember her taking some medicine, after which she became ill. She first complained of her back, and when I went to her I observed her head was drawn back, and I could not get at her back. She was in bed. I noticed she had twistings of the ankles, and her eyes were drawn aside and staring. She first complained of illness on the 25th of February, and she died on 1st March. She had several attacks, between each of which she got better. She generally complained of a pricking in her legs and twitching of the muscles in the hands, and she compared them to a galvanic shock. During the attacks she requested her husband to rub her legs and arms. The first attack was on the Monday, and she died on the Saturday about ten minutes to eleven at night.
(This case was that of Dr. Dove’s wife.)
Cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee—It was on the commencement of the spasms that she requested her legs to be rubbed. On the Saturday night she could not bear them to be touched. On that night the spasms were much stronger than on the other days. On the Saturday she did not speak but once or twice. During the interval of the spasms on the Saturday touching her brought the spasms on. She could swallow on each of the days except the Saturday, when her mouth was quite closed. After death her body was stiff.
G. Morley
Mr. George Morley, examined by Mr. Welsby—I was the medical attendant on the lady referred to by the last witness. I had been attending her for about two months before her death for a functional derangement. I saw her on the Monday before her death lying in her bed. I observed several convulsive twitchings of her arms. I saw her on the Saturday about the middle of the day. She was much better, and in a composed state. She complained of an attack she had had in the night, and spoke of pains and spasms, affections of the back and neck. I and another medical gentleman made a post-mortem examination on the Monday. We found no disease which would account for death. There were no abrasions, nor any wound or sore. The hands were semi-bent, the fingers curved, and the feet were strongly arched. We applied several colour tests to the contents of the stomach for the purpose of detecting the presence of poison. On each occasion we produced the appearance characteristic of strychnia. After the separation of the strychnine by chemical analysis we inoculated two mice, two rabbits, and one guinea pig with the stuff taken from the stomach. We observed in each of the animals more or less the effects usually produced by the poison strychnia—general uneasiness, difficult breathing, convulsions of the tetanic kind, muscular rigidity, bending backwards, especially of the head and neck, a violent stretching of the legs. In the case of the animals where death resulted the muscular rigidity continued without any intermission. There was an interval of relaxation, but immediately after death the muscles became very rigid, more so than at rigor-mortis. We afterwards made a similar series of experiments on some animals with strychnia itself, both in solid and liquid forms. The symptoms and the results generally were exactly the same as those I have described in the case of the other animals.
Cross-examined by Mr. Grove—I did not see the patient during any severe attack. I observed that when the animals were touched it brought on the symptoms. That is a very marked result. Directly they are touched they give a sudden start, and pass into a severe spasm. At the post-mortem examination the lungs were very much congested. The muscles generally were dark and stiff. There was a decided quantity of bloody serous effusion over the brain. There was a notable quantity, but not a large quantity, of serum slightly tinged with blood in the membranes of the spinal cord. The large spinal veins were very much congested, as were the membranes of the spinal marrow. We opened the head first, and that led to a great deal of blood flowing from the head. That would make it uncertain whether the heart was full or empty. The right sides of the hearts of animals that have been poisoned by strychnia are generally full. From one to two hours is the longest time in animals at which I have perceived the first effect of strychnia come on after it has been taken. I made experiments in conjunction with Mr. Nunneley, and my impression is that the interval has been as long as one hour. I discovered strychnia with all the tests I applied with more or less distinctness. I have detected strychnia in the stomach two months after death, and after decomposition had proceeded to a considerable extent.
G. Morley