Re-examined by the Attorney-General—I have given to the animals which I have killed from half a grain to two grains. The animals experimented on were cats, rabbits, and dogs. The strychnia, I think, acts on the nerves, but a part may be taken into the blood also and act through the blood. The poison is absorbed. We searched the stomach to find the presence of the strychnia. The strychnia which we found in the stomach would be that which was there in excess beyond that which had been absorbed in the system. The strychnia that has been absorbed into the system is sufficient to destroy life. The excess that remains in the stomach is inactive. I should expect to fail sometimes to find strychnia in the stomach if the minimum quantity capable of operating to the destruction of life had been administered. If death resulted from a series of minute doses of this poison, administered for a space of several days, it is my opinion that the appearances would be likely to be different after death from what they would, supposing death was produced rapidly by one dose.
Re-cross-examined by Mr. Serjeant Shee—Is it your theory that in the act of poisoning the poison is absorbed and ceases to exist as poison, as strychnia?—I am inclined to think so. I have thought much upon that question. I am not decided in my own mind.
What chemical reason can you give for your opinion?—My opinion rests on the general fact that organic substances acting on the human body, such as food or medicine, are frequently changed in composition. It is possible that strychnia may have been discovered in the blood and liver after effecting the operation of poisoning, but I do not know that it has.
Do you know whether strychnia can be decomposed by any sort of putrefying or fermentative process?—I have no fact to show that it can, and I doubt if it is.
E. D. Moore
Mr. Edward Duke Moore, examined by Mr. Huddleston—I was formerly in practice as a surgeon. About fifteen years ago I was attending a gentleman for paralysis, and had been giving him some very small doses of strychnia. Subsequently I made him up a stronger dose containing a quarter of a grain. In about three-quarters of an hour I was summoned to come back and see him. He was stiffened in every limb. His head was drawn back, and he was screaming, frequently requesting that we should turn him, move him, and rub him. His spine was arched. We tried to give him a mixture of ammonia with a spoon. He snapped at the spoon with a sort of convulsive grasp to take it. He was suffering about three hours altogether. He survived the attack, and was perfectly conscious the whole time.
Cross-examined by Serjeant Shee—He recovered from the spasms in about three hours, but the rigidity of the muscles remained for the rest of the day and part of the next day. He was completely recovered the next day after the attack, and the patient himself said he thought his paralysis was better.
Fifth Day, Monday, 19th May, 1856.
Alfred Taylor