restlessness, coldness of the integuments, dimness of sight, and stupor; about an hour after the meal he became speechless, repeatedly fainted, frothed at the mouth, and clenched his hands; vomiting ensued, with considerable relief, and subsequently he had frequent attacks of it, with purging, tenderness of the epigastrium, cramps, and tingling in the flesh; and from these symptoms he recovered so slowly as to be unable to work for five weeks. The only morbid appearance of any note in the body of the deceased was a number of irregular brownish-black patches on the inside of the stomach. No poison could be detected in the contents or tissues of the stomach; none could be discovered in the house except a corrosive-sublimate solution which the prisoner used for a gargle; and none could be traced into her possession. A variety of circumstances of a general nature, which are passed over here for brevity, as not strictly appertaining to the present view of the case, threw very great suspicion over the prisoner. The medical witnesses deposed, that poisoning could alone explain the medical circumstances; and Dr. Geoghegan was of opinion that death was owing to some vegetable poison, although he could not specify the particular substance. He suspected, however, that it was monkshood. In these views, when consulted by him before the trial, I entirely concurred. Considering the taste observed by the deceased at the time he ate the greens, the rapidity with which he was taken ill afterwards, and the very peculiar symptoms, unlike those of any natural disease with which physicians are acquainted, and agreeing with those which are produced by monkshood,—considering also that another individual, who partook of the same dish with him, was similarly and simultaneously attacked, and with a severity proportioned to the quantity he took, while other persons who ate the same food from a different dish, did not suffer at all,—it appears to me that poisoning was clearly established; and I also think that the general evidence brought home the charge of administering the poison to the prisoner. She was condemned and executed, and confessed before execution, that she did poison her husband, and that the substance she used was the powdered root of monkshood, which is well known as a poison to the peasantry of Monaghan under the name of Blue Rocket.
It is scarcely necessary to add, that great caution must be observed in applying the general principle here inculcated. But the opposite doctrine, that no charge of poisoning can be established without the discovery of poison in the body or in the evacuations, appears to me a great error, though upheld by no mean authority. Under that doctrine few criminals would be brought to justice, were they to resort to a variety of vegetable poisons, which in certain seasons are within the reach of every one.
Section IV.—Evidence from Experiments on Animals.
Evidence from experiments on animals with articles supposed to contain poison is more equivocal than was once imagined. But it
