THE CON WAY CASE.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4308, 18 March 1901, Page 7

THE CON WAY CASE.

EVIDENCE OF THE GOVERNMENT PATHOLOGIST. The first witness at the inquest at Sydney on tho body c>f P. Conway, who died on board the Talune, was tho Government Pathologist (Dr Taylor), anti it was sufficiently gruesome to satiate the most morbid taste for details of what transpires in the morgue. Ho deposed that on going to the morgue ho-’ was handed a report on tho case by Constable Sloggett, and then examined the waistcoat of the deceased. In one of thcr pcck.’ts ho found what appeared to be a tea,spoonful of dirt, which he allowed ’ to. remain, till tho post-mortem was finished. li-ji then found it to have notaste. Tho body of deceased was that of a well-nourished, muscular man, apparently of the labouring class, and about forty-live years of age. .recomposition had commenced at the lower part of the abdomen. Rigor mortis was present in the jaw, and there was no expression of pain in the face. On opening the chest he found a slight decomposition of the lungs, which were congested. Tho heart wa.s largo, but the valves wore normal. The stomach contained a large quantity of meat in large pieces, unmasticated, with picklesi and chilis, which appeared to have been unmasticatcd. Both kidneys were diseased, showing evidence cf chronic affection. The middle membrane of tho brain was opaque, and tho brain and its membranes much congested. In the windpipe he found small particles of what appeared to be food adhering to its lining. The membrane was removed, an(l the stomach and its contents and portions of the liver, spleen 1 ' and kidneys were handed in a basin to tho morgue-keeper, who was directed to place tho organs in a jar and keep the n! pending instructions. At his request,: the police then brought three men irom. tho Talune, who were ship’s men, and he asked them certain questions. He: eoncludedjfrom what they told him, that death was not due to strychnine poisoning. After considering their evidence and all tho circumstances he cams to-' the conclusion that death resulted from an epileptic form of convulsions and asphyxia, and ho wrote a statement to that effect. On February 24 he had a visit from Detective-Sergeant McLean, who requested to know whether he jtuut the viscera of the deceased, which lie produced and .placed in a tin canister. It was locked, and he handed the detective the key. On the Saturday following, March 2, he was present when rho coffin was brought into the morgue and opened. He identified the body as th it of Conway. Shortly afterwards he removed the whole, of the - intestines, md placed them in a tin canister, having first labelled it. In a second jar ho placed portions of tho liver and heart ami one kidney. Ho afterwards sent these to the Government Analyst. In aply to the Deputy-coroner, witness stated that the post-mortem signs ho described were consistent with stychnino poisoning. Disease of the kidneys was quite compatible with a man being in fairly good health and feeling well. He might be quite unconscious of being in any way ill. At tho, time of making his ’first post-mortem he considered that the disease might have camsed convulsions, as men with that form of kidney disease were liable- to convulsions. The opacity of tbo middle membrane of the brain showed a condition of degeneration due to disease. He did not attach anv significance to the presence of particles of food in the windpipe, beyond that it was due to a fit. From the description given to him as to tho man's illness on the ship he had formed the opinion that unconsciousness wasf one of the symptoms of the illness of the deceased, and that ho had two fits. In reply to counsel for the Crown, Mr Taylor said he had a large experience of cases of strychnine poisoning, and the pathological appearance of the viscera of persons so dying, and as a rule there are none that are proof that such persons died from strychnine poisoning. Asphyxia was common in such cases. In the contents of the intestines he found, amongst partly-digested food, some' soft, pnipy-lookiug matter, which looked like fruit, but what kind of fruit he could not say. Replying to,Mr Moss (for Mrs Smith),, he said the statement that he wrote as to- the cause of death would, he thought, at tho time, he quite consistent with what ho saw, coupled with tho information received. _ He handed the viscera in the jar to Kearney, the morgue-keeper, which he saw -gain next day fastened, but not sealed. Fie could only say that the pulpy matter resembled fruit. The condition of the kidneys ought to cause convulsions, and death might follow, hut it would bo very unusual. The degeneration he referred to would only cause headache, and nothing more serious in itself. It was not his experience in cases of strychnine poisoning that the right side of the heart was generally full of blood. It was nearly always empty. He did not sew tho body up when he had made the post-mortem, and it was not sewn np before he left.