of Fish Oil. 287 



throw a doubt upon it ; for, in order to obtdin a verdict, there 

 should no doubt remain as to the sufficiency of the defence. He 

 would not, however, rest here : he would show that they really 

 had no case at all to bear them out. It was said that a great 

 quantity of gas escaped daily; but, if this were the case, the 

 whole of the oil must have gone off. The evidence of Mr. Aikin 

 was by no means conclusive ; for he could not say at what tem- 

 perature the volatile oil would be raised. But it was said, that 

 the gas went up and came down again. Why, if this were the 

 case, it must have caused a most noxious vapour, attended with 

 a most unpleasant smell. Yet neither May nor any of the other 

 witnesses found any such smell. Indeed, if it had existed, it 

 would have discovered itself long before the time the fire hap- 

 pened. Mr. Martineau had said, that a current of cold air 

 might have come down tlie chimney. This could not have been 

 the case ; for the fire was fed by external air, and not from the 

 interior of the building. This, therefore, was only a speculation. 

 It was true, if a fire was placed in a vent, fed from within, a 

 current might come down if the air in the room had become much 

 heated ; but this would not be the case if the fire were fed with 

 external air. Let the jury see how the case stood with respect 

 to the fire. There was no appearance, no smell which indicated 

 the combustion of inflammable vapour ; and, if any such existed, 

 some of it must have scattered about unconsumed, which would 

 emit an unpleasant smell. If it were consumed all at once, there 

 must have been an explosion, which would have been heard; but 

 no explosion was heard, nor was any one symptom noticed which 

 could indicate the presence of inflammable vapour. If the fire 

 had been caused by the vapour, it would have exploded, and set 

 fire to the parts about it ; but those who first saw the fire stated 

 that it was not in that part of the building where it would haTe 

 first appeared if it had been caused by the combustion of inflam- 

 mable vapour. Independently, then, of all speculation on each 

 side, and supposing that to be equal, let the jury look at the facts 

 sworn to. The place where the fire was seen, the colour, the 

 smell — all of these were circumstances against the case attempted 

 to be made out on the other side. He would now leave the case 

 in the hands of the jury, quite satisfied that tlicir verdict would 

 be a jus^t one. 



The Lord Chief-Justice immediately proceeded to address the 

 jury, and, after stating to them tlie various pleas which had been 

 put Tipon tiiis record, recapitulated the whole of the evidence 

 which had been adduced from the commencement of the trial. 

 Having finished the reading of his notes, he drew their attention 

 to those points on which, disentangled from the technicalitv of 

 pleadings, their jiidgeni'jnt was to be excreiscil. The hist (|iic--- 



lion 



