Cook, John Parsons, -1855; Palmer, William, 1824-1856 -- Trials, litigation, etc.; Trials (Murder) -- England -- London
Dr. Rees and I have compared the analysis to-day. We have sketched
a report, which will be ready to-morrow or next day. As I am going
to Durham Assizes on the part of the Crown, in the case of _Reg._
v. _Wooler_, the report will be in the hands of Dr. Rees, No. 26
Albemarle Street. It will be most desirable that Mr. Stevens should
call on Dr. Rees, read the report with him, and put such questions
as may occur. In reply to your letter received here this morning, I
beg to say that we wish a statement of all the medicines prescribed
for deceased (until his death) to be drawn up and sent to Dr. Rees.
We did not find strychnia nor prussic acid or any trace of opium.
From the contents having been drained away, it is now impossible to
say whether any strychnine had or had not been given just before
death. But it is quite possible for tartar emetic to destroy life
if given in repeated doses; and, as far as we can at present form
an opinion, in the absence of any natural cause of death, the
deceased must have died from the effects of antimony in this or
some other form.
Was that your opinion at the time?--It was. That was all we could infer
from the chemical analysis.
[Sidenote: Alfred Taylor]
Have you not told me to-day that the quantity of antimony that you found
in Cook’s body was not sufficient to account for death?--Perfectly so;
but what was found in Cook’s body was not all he took. We found
antimony, and we could not account for its being there. I wrote to know
whether antimony had been given as a medicine, and I considered, as
people had died from antimony, it was necessary to have information of
the symptoms connected with the man’s death, which I knew nothing about
at the time; finding antimony there and no explanation, I put it as the
only hypothesis to me to account for death.
Had you any reason to think any undue quantity had been administered to
him?--I could not speculate on that from the quantity there, for I did
not know at all what quantity he had taken, and whether it had been
prescribed medicinally.
May not the injudicious use of quack medicines containing antimony, such
as James’ powder or other mixtures, have accounted for as much antimony
as you found in the body of Mr. Cook?--Any antimonial preparation would
account for it. I knew strychnia was bought before we sent in the
report. Mr. Gardner gave the information in a letter in reply to that
which has been read that strychnia, prussic acid, Batley’s sedative of
opium, had been bought by the prisoner. After giving my evidence at the
inquest I returned to town. Soon after I knew that the prisoner had been
committed on the charge of wilful murder.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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