Re-examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL--Convulsions that take place in epilepsy are not at all of tetanic character. I say that Mr. Cook did not die from epilepsy, because there were none of the symptoms there. When a patient dies with epilepsy he dies perfectly unconscious. Ulceration of the brain from injury, a sudden injury to the spinal cord, irritation of the teeth in infants, all produce convulsions. But those convulsions in their progress are not similar to the convulsions of tetanus. There is no progressive movement and no appearance about the face or jaw of having tetanus.
Dr. ROBERT CORBETT, examined by Mr. JAMES--I am a physician in Glasgow. I remember a patient of the name of Agnes Sennet who died in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary on 29th September, 1845, after taking some strychnia pills intended for another patient. I saw her while she was under the influence of the poison. The symptoms I noticed were a retraction of the mouth, face much suffused and red, the pupils dilated, the head bent back, the spine curved, and the muscles rigid and hard like a board. She died about an hour and a quarter after taking the pills. There would be a quarter of a grain in each of the three pills she took.
Cross-examined by Mr. SERJEANT SHEE--The retraction of the angles of the mouth was continuous, but it was worse at times. I did not observe it after death. The hands were not clenched, but semi-bent after death. That semi-bending of the hand is a very common thing in cases of death by violent convulsions. Twenty minutes after taking the medicine she was attacked by the symptoms.
Dr. WATSON, examined by the ATTORNEY-GENERAL--I am one of the physicians in the Glasgow Royal Infirmary, and attended the case of Agnes Sennet spoken to by the last witness. I saw her about a quarter of an hour after the symptoms first began. She was in violent convulsions; her arms were stretched out and rigid; her feet and legs were also rigid. Just at that moment she did not breathe. That paroxysm subsided almost immediately, and fresh ones came on after a very short interval. They occurred at intervals until they destroyed her. She was about half an hour in dying. She seemed perfectly conscious during the time. At the post-mortem examination the spinal cord was quite healthy. The heart was contracted.