T. Nunneley
Mr. Morley stated here the other day that in the experiments he made with you on animals killed with the poison, that after death there was an interval of flaccidity, after this rigidity commenced, more than if it had been occasioned by the usual rigor-mortis; you do not agree with him as to the statement of the fact?—I do not; it is a difference of opinion entirely.
You say you generally found the heart full?—Yes, the right side. The fact of the heart having been found empty in this case, amongst other things, leads me to the conclusion that it was not a death by strychnia poison.
Did you hear the evidence given here the other day of the post-mortem?—I did. I also heard this stated, “that the heart was contracted and empty.” I believe I was in Court when the gentleman who conducted it gave his evidence of the post-mortem examination of Mrs. Smyth, who died from the unfortunate administration of strychnia.
In those two cases does the fact of the heart having been found empty exercise any influence on your judgment?—Not unless I know how the post-mortem was made. If the post-mortem was commenced in the head, the explanation is given by Mr. Morley and myself in the case at Leeds. We had no doubt of the heart being full, the blood being fluid, but the head being first opened, and the large vessels cut, the consequence was that the blood by mere natural physical causes drains away.
Are you aware how the post-mortem was made in this particular case of Mr. Cook?—It is stated that the chest and abdomen were opened before the head.
What effect would that have?—If there were blood in the heart it ought to be there.
That would not make the difference. The head was not opened there in the first instance?—No; that is my explanation of it.
How do you account for the emptiness and contraction of the heart in Mr. Cook’s case?—The heart, if empty, is usually contracted. I cannot account, from the appearance of the body after death, for the emptiness of the heart, any more than it might be the usual effect of death. It varies very much, but, as a general rule in post-mortem examinations, we find, if the heart is empty, it is contracted.
If I understand you, the post-mortem appearance of Cook’s body, which you say differs materially from those you have seen after death from strychnia, were the emptiness of the heart, the state of the lungs, and the want of congestion in the brain. What do you say as to the state of the lungs?—The lungs are described as not being congested.