Cook, John Parsons, -1855; Palmer, William, 1824-1856 -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Murder) -- England -- London
Examination resumed--Will you do that having heard the evidence?--I
assume him to have been a man of very delicate constitution; that for a
long period he felt himself to be ill, for which he had been under
medical treatment; that he had suffered from syphilis; had disease of
the lungs; had an old-standing disease of the throat; led an irregular
life; was subject to mental excitement and depression; that after death
traces were found in his body which show this to have been the case;
there was found an unusual appearance within the stomach; the throat was
in an unnatural condition; the back of the tongue showed similar
indications; the lungs were in an emphysematous condition, that is, the
air cells dilated; in the lining of the aorta or large artery of the
body there was an unnatural deposit; and there was a very unusual
appearance in the membranes of the spinal marrow. These are the
indications which are unnatural in the post-mortem examination. I should
also state it is described by one of the witnesses that there was a loss
of substance of the penis. The symptoms on the root of the tongue and
the throat I ascribe to syphilitic inflammation of the throat. From
these symptoms I have described I should infer that his health had not
been good for long, and that his constitution was delicate. It was also
stated that his father and mother had died young, and that the brother
and sister were both delicate. That being the state of health of Mr.
Cook, he would be liable to nervous irritation. Excitement or depression
might bring it on. Exposure to wet and cold would have a greater effect
than on a healthy person. It is a condition of the constitution when a
convulsive disease is more likely to supervene.
What would you infer from the fact, supposing it to have occurred, that
three days before death he suddenly woke up in the middle of the night
in a state described as madness, for two or three minutes? I understand
that he had three attacks on succeeding nights, each occurring about the
same hour. Would you draw any inference from that circumstance?--Yes,
that they were of a convulsive character, in the absence of other causes
to account for it. Convulsive effects are extremely variable in their
forms and degrees of violence. It is not possible to give a definite
name to every convulsive attack. There are some forms of violent
convulsions, such as hysteria, in which the patient retains his
consciousness. It is stated that there are forms of convulsions,
epileptic in their character, in which the patient retains his
consciousness.
By LORD CAMPBELL--Have you met with any?--No, not during a fit.
[Sidenote: T. Nunneley]
But it is during a state of fit we are inquiring?--I have not.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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