Cook, John Parsons, -1855; Palmer, William, 1824-1856 -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Murder) -- England -- London
Now, we shall see that none of those symptoms which were spoken to on
the day of the inquest by Elizabeth Mills and Mr. Jones may not range
under one of these forms of tetanus, the idiopathic or traumatic. The
idiopathic mingling in all directions with general violent convulsions
is not to be distinguished from them, inasmuch as convulsions have
constant tetaniform appearances; and the meaning I take it of that is
this, it is true, as Dr. Watson says in a passage which I called to the
attention of one of their witnesses--it is true that in four cases out
of five traumatic tetanus begins with a seizure of the lower jaw,
unless, as Sir Benjamin Brodie tells us, it may begin, as it did in two
cases which he attended many years ago, in the limbs. He told us so when
he was here; it began there before it attacked the jaw; but generally
trismus or lockjaw is the first symptom. But there is a fifth case in
which it is not, and Mr. Curling told us that that was about the
proportion--four out of five; so that even traumatic, or that kind of
tetanus which sets in after a wound, does not always begin with some
affection of the jaw or neck. Now, gentlemen, having gone so far, and
having endeavoured to satisfy you that the symptoms which were spoken to
by those two witnesses on the depositions may be the symptoms, as I
think--that is to say, as I am told, having no experience of my own in
the matter--that these symptoms are rather referable to that violent
description of general convulsions than to any form of tetanus, let us
go to the question, whether or not the symptoms are consistent with what
we know of tetanus produced by strychnia, because if we are satisfied on
a full inquiry that they are not consistent with the symptoms
unquestionably produced by strychnia tetanus, then the hypothesis of the
Crown entirely fails, and John Parsons Cook cannot have died of
strychnia poison.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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