She had put a little of it into his cup of tea; but that he never drank it; that part of the powder swimming at top of the tea, and part sinking at the bottom, she had poured it out of the window.
Extracts from the Evidence delivered on the Trial of _John Donellan_, Esq. for the Wilful Murder, by Poison, of Sir _Theodosius Edward Allesley Boughton_, Bart. at the Assizes at Warwick, on Friday, March 30th, 1781.
_Lady Anna Maria Boughton_, Mother of the deceased, Sworn—Examined by Mr. Howorth.
Q. Give the Jury an account of the physic you gave him, and the manner of its operation.
A. I asked him where the bottle was: he said it stood there upon the shelf. First of all he desired me to get him a bit of cheese in order to take the taste out of his mouth, which I did: he desired me to read the lable; I accordingly did, and found there was written upon it, _Purging draught for Sir Theodosius Boughton_.
Q. When you gave him the draught, did he make any, and what observations upon it?
A. As I was talking to him I omitted shaking the bottle: he, observing that, said, Pour it back again, and shake the bottle, and in so doing I spilt part of it upon the table; the rest I gave him. As he was taking it, he observed it smelt and tasted very nauseous; upon which I said, I think it smells very strongly like bitter almonds. I gave him the cheese; he chewed it, and spit it out. He then remarked that he thought he should not be able to keep the medicine upon his stomach. I asked him if he would have some water; I gave him some. He washed his mouth, and spit that out, and then laid down.
Q. Please to open that bottle, [giving Lady Boughton the genuine draught] and smell at it, and inform the Court whether that smells at all like the medicine Sir Theodosius took.
Q. Please to smell to this, [giving Lady Boughton the draught with the laurel water added to it.]
A. This has a smell very like the smell of the medicine which I gave him.
Q. What was the first observation your Ladyship made of any appearances upon Sir Theodosius after taking the medicine?
A. In two minutes, or two minutes and a half, after he had taken it, he struggled very much; it appeared to me, as if it was to keep it down; and made a prodigious rattling in his stomach, and guggling; and he appeared to me to make very great efforts to keep it down.