Untitled

Bruce Herald, Volume II, Issue 51, 30 March 1865, Page 5

Friday, March 17. Andrew King, chief steward of the Titania, had never known any rats on board. About 18 months previously, Margaret Little had been a passenger in that vessel to Invercargill, and a few months after she returned. Nicholas Maloney, a constable, had been present at the exhumation of Mrs Jarvey's body, and saw. Drs. Hulme and Alexander open it, take out the liver anel stomach, put them, into jars and seal them up. These jars were afterwards placed in tins, soldered down, and placed in charge of witness, who conveyed them to Melbourne and delivered them, to Dr Macadam, together with certain documents. Dr Hulme, Provincial Surgeon, was next examined, aud gave evidence as to having disinterred Mrs Jarve} r 's body, together with Dr Alexander, and opened it, taken ont certain portions of the inside, and sealed thern up in jars. Mrs Jarvey was six. months gone in pregnancy. Dr Hulme then underwent a long and searching cross-examination as to the symptoms of puerperal convulsion, poisoning by strychnine, tetanus, and. hysteria. From the symptoms described by Miss Jarvey, he did not consider that deceased could have died from tetanus, puerperal convulsions or hysteria. He had never seen a person die of. strychnine, but he believed that the symptoms described were those of that poison, and could not be accounted for by any natural disease. Dr Macadam, Government Analyist, Victoria, was the next witness, and he deposed to receiving two jars sealed and soldered from Malony. They were opened 'in his presence. One was labelled "stomach with contents removed from the body of Mrs Jarvey, December 31st, 1864. Test fbr strychnine, and hydr. blcolor. (Corrosive sublimate.) The other was labelled " portion of liver removed at same time." He opened the stomach and submitted it and its contents to the process of analysis known as that of Stass — the standard process to detect strychnine.— -(The witness here described the process and. continued.) — A small portion of the residum, was heated npon platinum foil — a remarkably thin shin sheet of platinum; the result was traces of blackening, or carbonisation. A portion of the residum was dissolved iu alcohol ; and this alcoholic solution was spontaneously to evaporate upon a microscopic slide. The slide was placed under a most powerful microscope, and examined by polarised light. The appearances were those of strychnine. Another portion of the residum was treated with a few drops of sulphuric acid, and then a drop of a solution of bichromate of potash". A brilliant purplish blue or violet color was immediately developed. It is a color that begins as a purplish blue, passes to violet and ultimately to a rose tint. Another portion of the residum was acted upon by sulphuric acid, as before, . and .

then black oxyde of maganese added. The same colors, when the materials were drawn into. streaks by a glass rod;, were.observable. Sulphuric acid was applied' in the same manner to another portion ofr' the residum; two drops of nitric acid, added ; and a small portion of the binoxydeor red oxyde of lead. The same results as before were obtained, as regards color.. I. treated a portion of the residum purely with nitric acid, and the result was that a reddish or yellow-reddish soliuton, was. produced. Another portion of the residum, was treated with a drop or two of sulphuric acid to begin with, and then, a drop of the. ferride-C3 r anide of potassium. The blue, purple, and. rose tints were again developed.. I have named now eight tests ; theyshowed conclusively, the presence of; strychnine. Those tests exhausted the residum to which I have been referring. Having found the presence of strychninein so decided a manner, I subjected nearlythe whole of the remainder of the stomach, and its contents and the liver — reserving*only a very small portion for a special test . for opium, of which I found none — to an. entirely new and very severe process,, known as the modification of Rodgers andy Grirdwood's process. In this way also Dr.-. Macadam stated that he detected the pre-. sence of strychnine, and stated that therewas no other known substance whichwould give the same results as a whole when submitted to the same tests. Thesymptoms described by Miss Jarvey were.consistent with poisoning by strychnine.. By the processes he used,, all animal master was destroyed, and ail the eheniical. agents employed were quite pure.. In cross-examination Dr Macadam ad--mitted that he had left the materials he, was analysing for several hours duringthe process in charge of* his assistant. Dr Macadam underwent a very lon<>'and strict cross-examination, extending over the greater portion of Friday and! • Saturday as to his chemical, knowledgeand the possibility of mistake on. his-, part. He had not exulted at the result: of experiments made on dogs at Dr Hocken's or said that if the trial was. postponed, he would make it worse forthe prisoner. He had said that it thetrial was postponed he would ask leave - from the Government to bring down his; assistant, as he saw that a strong effort-, was to be made to crush, his evidence.. He had also said that if the case brokedown he presumed, the Governmentwould cause the bodies of. Jarvey's chil--dren to be exhumed. Elizabeth Ann Jarvey recalled,- stated:; I recollect the illness of my mother, in ; Tasmania, after the birth of my brotherArchibald. She was very much, de--pressed and melancholy. She was, occa-. sionally rather weak in. her mind; andI recollect her having' extraordinaryideas about ideas about demons coming'.to her and saying bad things. Edward Wm. Alexander, physician. and; surgeon, said he was acquainted with thediseases called traumatic and idiopathictetanus. He had seen several, cases of,* them in St. Helena, and had heard thesymptoms described by Miss Jarvey, and* the other evidence as to Mrs Jarvey V death. In. his opinion that death did not result from idiopathic tetanus.. Taking; the whole of the symptoms as detailed; . they were not consistent with those of any disease of which he ever heard. He ■ made the post mortem examination in= this case with Dr Hulme. He observedthe position of the hands and arms. The, hands were clenched, and they and: the: fore-arms were folded.over the belly. In his cross-examination Dr Alexandersaid that a. thoroughly experienced, man* , would; discover- the difference between-, death. and hysterical syncope. The lay--ing of a hand over the region of the heart,, with. a chemise between, the hand and.theflesh would not be such an»examination as; was calculated. to detect the faintest pulsa--tion of the -heart consistent with the main--tenance of life. Such an examination, would be negligent, if syncope was appre-. bended. The effect of opening a. vein. in 5 the arm of a woman in. a state of hysteri-.. cal syncope, and leaving the blood to Howall night, would: depend, upon. the state of" body and of health of the person, and thequantity of blood that flowed. It appears t to me that the quantity of blood.describedin this case is not sufficient to warrant theinference that Mrs Jarvey was. in a state, of hysterical syncope, and was. left to* bleed to death. I cannot say accuratelyhow much blood, a. healthy person, mig'hfc

lose without sufferring death — possibly three quarts or four. Three quarts would be a fifth of the whole quantity in the body. If I am to assume that Mrs. Jarvey was in a low state of health, a less quantity of blood would account fbr death. Whether the mattrass would absorb two or three quarts of blood, would depend upon the material of which the mattrass was formed; it would be so to a very great extent. If there is stout close woven ticking, a larger quantity would run off it to the floor than would go through to the mat- , trass. I remember what Mrs. Sly said (about the napkin on the floor being saturated with blood; but unprofessional person*, as a rule, talk of napkins as being 'saturated' or ' ileluged ' with, blood, when the patient has only lost a few ounces. As to the matter of the hcemorrage, there is nothing more fallacious fhan to take the estimate of inexperienced persons, or of persons who have not had a great deal of experience. Dr. Macadam was recalled, and a longchemical cross-examination took place. Dr- Hocken also underwent along medical examination, but his evidence will be best, understood by passages quoted below from His Honor's summing up: Several witnesses were also called to prove that Jarvey was on intimate termwith Margaret Little. On Tuesday morning Mr. Smith commenced his defence. His speech occupied six hours in delivery. The following extracts from it will explain the line of defence adopted : — Pie would prese.it the evidence of the witnesses under three aspects — First, That no strychnine was found in the stomach; Second, He would suppose that strychnine did find its way into Mrs. Jarvey "s stomach, and Dr. Macadam did find strychnine. Ist, there is no reliance to be placed on Miss Jarvey's tbscription of the symptoms before her mother's death., because by her own admission she was not at the time in a fit state to observe symptoms with any degree of accuracy. 2nd, there is nothing in the evidence to shew j that what the coroner thought on the 28th Sept. to be a sufficient reason to account for the death of Mrs. Jarvey — viz. a fit to which she was subject in Tasmania. — should not be considered equally reasonable now. 3rd, that Mrs. Jarvey's death may have resulted from puerperal convulsions. 4th, that death may have resulted from idiopathic or traumatic tetanus. sth, that Mrs. Jarvey's death might have resulted from her having been bled while in a stare of hysteric syncope, or suspended animation, and from the wound having been left open all night, thereby causing a great loss of blood. Under the second and third aspects he won hi contend that death happened, through pure accident. In his remarks on Dr. Macadam's evidence, he said that gentleman had made many glaring mistakes in his analyses, am! by alluding to the fact that the assistant had had permission to enter the laboratory at all tunes They did not know what experiments that assistant might have made, or what accidents might have occurred to the contents of the s:oVnach while undergoing digestion. The taking of the two. grain doses of quinine would account for the bitter taste, in crystilization, and also the formation of the different colors. He had therefore negatively disposed of the presence of strychnine.' He then referred, to- the medical _ evidence. He blamed Dr. Hardy for not" having made a more critical examination of the deceased, and for having- left the wound in the arm open, thus allowing it to bleed all niirht. Was it not therefore a reasonable hypothesis that s^he died from loss of blood whilst in an hsyterie syncope ? and on that doubt alone they would be justified in acquiring the prisoner. Tim "second aspect of the case he would take was, either there was, or there was not, strychnine found in the stomach of the deceased. The learned counsel then commented on the purchase of the poison at the chemists, and explained how it was that the poi-on had been laid on board tlie ship; and he. spoke very strongly on the evidence of Robinson, the owner of the Titania, and on that of the first and second steward's. Alluding to the alludged findin_- of strychnine in "the stomach of the deceased, the counsel said that it might be accounted for in several ways, a;id he made the supposition that the prisoner, having procured the poison at the chemists, might, after having laid some of it on board ship, through carelessness have

put the remainder in his pocket, ami through mistake might have given it to his wife instead of quinine. It was as lawful fbr the jury to take that supposition as the theory forced upon them. Another supposition was made by the learned counsel, that a mistake might have been made bv the chemist. Another hypothesis he advanced that the husband had on Sunday changed the clothes he had worn on Saturday, and on Monday the wife, whilst brushing his clothes, had, through the curiosity natural to her sex, searched the pockets, that she had then found the powder and had tasted it, and that it did not take effect until some rime after her husband's return home. The motive assigned for his client's conduct, was that of making away with his wife for the avowed purpose of taking the woman he had known for some months as his housekeeper, hut in realitv to have criminal connection with her. The learned counsel dwelt long and forcibly on the fact of the prisoner bringing his wife and family over here after his long acquaintance with Miss Little. Had he not loved them he would noc have gone to the expense of bringing them here. The learned counsel became towards the close of his address very affected even to tears. On Wednesday morning His Honor commenced to sum up, and spoke for eight hours in doing so. We have only space for the following brief extracts : — Not merely is the Crown ' bound to prove the case, but there must lie absolutely exI eluded (he supposition that such a thing raitv have arisen, but such a reasonable supposition as would press itself on the minds of the jury, and lead them to entertain a doubt." I will go somewhat further, and I will say this — If the ingenuity of counsel can present to the jury a reasonable hypothesis to account, ior death — I shall come to that more particularly when I touch on the various hypothesis brought forward by the prisoner's counsel — if such au hypothesis is presented by counsel, it is not absolutely necessary to prove that hypothesis, if it be reasonable according to the whole of the circumstances of the case, as ncccunting for death. All that- is cast upon counsel for the prisoner in a case of this description is this — To establish in the minds of the jury such V reasonable doubt as will shake their be lief in the case made by the Crown in favor of the guilt of the prisoner. If that reasonable doubt be once established in the minds of -the jury, then thev are bound to give the prisoner the benefit of the doubt and to say that he is Not Guilty. I must slijrhtlv explain the nature of that reasona>le doubt. There perhaps is no case that ever is brought before a court of justice, in which the jury may not, in the progress of tbe inquiry, be arrested by a doubt, or by doubts upon this or that portion of the evidence. It is not that sort o! trifling doubt that is meant when it is said that ' the prisoner is to have the benefit of a doubt;' but the meaning is this — That if, after having weighed careful! v every portion of the evidence — having sifted it by every s .ggestion of doubt which counsel can submit, or which occurs to the mind of the jury themselves — after having gone through the whole in this wav, and after .having determined what thev shall reject, and what they shall retain — if at the end of tha' process a reasonable doubt exists in the minds of the jury of the guilt of the prisoner, then they are bound to give the prisoner the benefit of that doubt Amongst the many points of cross-examination to which Dr ?>lacad--im m as subjected, there was one as to the division of analysis, as to which he undoubtedly hesitated. But it seems to me that the most that was shown was that Dr Macadam was somewhat defective in logical knowledge, and in the theory of nomenclature. The real evidence of Dr Macadam might be put into six or eight lines, Its substance is this — That he submitted the stomach of the deceased to chemical analysis, and that no doubt was left on his mind that he discovered strychnine. Thar is the real evidence he gives — that is what you have to consider. All the rest was meant to test his accuracy in coming to that conclusion — it hud no other piu'jiose whatever Dr Macadam s;ivs that he can defect the difference in taste between strychnine and quinine; Dr Alexander says that, lie, for himself cannot.. The ob.serva.tion to be made upon this is, that there is such a thing as a training of the taste, just as there is a training of the ear musically or of any other sense; or that because one man has

not. an acute sense of taste it is not to be inferred that another man, who says he has it, has it. not. The perception of the difference of taste between strychnine and quinine any be real, although not to be described iii words There are few of us who would not defect the difference between the taste of orange-peel and lemonpeel, and who of us could accurately put into words a description of that difference. Language is not sufficiently minute to enabled to be done. I have no objection to your trying to decide for yourselves the difference between the taste of quinine, and that of strychnine, if Mr Smith wishes it You will recollect it was said oy the medical witnesses that the symptomsof death by poison could be distinguished from those of tetanus by disease. Dr llocken said there was no distinguishing them after they had set in; reference has frequently been made to the case ot a negro, who is reported by medical writers to "have died from traumatic tetanus in twenty minutes. From the circumstances recorded there seems a strong suspicion that the case has been misreported, but assuming it to be true, although it is doubtful if it ever occurred, it is probable it may never occur again. It. is not absolutely impossil>l«, Uut it is improbable. No man can say death may not ensue in five minutes after the attack, although every medical man is quite justified in saying that it was an iinprobabili y .\oti have a dutv which you owe to. society as well as to the prisoner, and if you delibe- j rately come to a conclusion against the prisoner, it is yonr bounden duty to find him guilty without regard to consequences. Your duty to society requires it at your hands. U\ on the other hand, vou find any reason to doubt his guilt, you will give him the benefit of that doubt. His Honor also commented strongly npon Dr Macadam's carelessness in allowing his assistant to have charge of what he was analysing, and also in speaking of r.he case in the way he admitted having done. The Jury remained locked up during whole of Thursday being unable to agree.