382 A Century of Science 



law students enjoy reading reports of law cases ? 

 I remember that, when I was about ten years old, a 

 favourite book with me was one entitled " Criminal 

 Trials of All Countries, by a Member of the Phila- 

 delphia Bar." I read it and read it, until forbid- 

 den to read such a gruesome book, and then I read 

 it all the more. One of the most elaborate reports 

 in it was that of the famous case of Captain Donel- 

 lan, tried in 1780 on a charge of poisoning his 

 wife's brother, Sir Theodosius Boughton, a dis- 

 sipated and diseased young man, who died very 

 suddenly one day. A post-mortem inspection 

 showed spots in the intestine, which three ordinary 

 country doctors ascribed to poisoning by laurel 

 water, while Sir John Hunter, one of the greatest 

 authorities in Europe, testified that they might 

 equally well have ensued upon death from apo- 

 plexy. The judge, Sir Francis Buller, saw fit, in 

 his charge, to reckon this as the testimony of three 

 experts against one ; and thus the jury were driven 

 to a verdict of murder, though it was not proved 

 that any murder had been committed. Captain 

 Donellan, who lived in his brother-in-law's house, 

 was a man of blameless life, an amateur chemist, 

 much given to fooling with odorous liquids and 

 hissing retorts. It was proved that he had been 

 distilling laurel water, and one or two other sus- 



