76 
TRIAL OF DR. PRITCHARD. 
for by the bile impregnated with the poison discharged into them from the liver. 7. 
That the period over which the administration had extended cannot be determined by 
mere chemical investigation, but must be deduced from the history of the case, with 
which I am unacquainted/ ” No. 3 was a report of analysis in the case of Mrs. Pritchard 
by Frederick Penny, professor of chemistry, Glasgow. His conclusions were :—“ 1. That 
all the parts of the body examined by me—namely, the stomach, liver, spleen, kidney, 
heart, brain, blood, and rectum—contained antimony. 2. That in the dried contents 
of the intestines the antimony was partly in a form soluble in water, and most likely in 
the state of tartar emetic or tartarized antimony. In the liver, kidney, and the other 
viscera, the antimony was deposited in a state insoluble in water. 3. That the contents 
of the intestines contained the largest proportion of antimony next the heart, then the 
liver, kidney, and spleen ; less in the stomach, and the smallest quantity in the rectum, 
brain, and blood. Not knowing the total weight either of the contents of the intestines 
or of the several organs here enumerated, I was unable to calculate the total quantity of 
antimony in these matters, either separately or conjoined. 4. That the contents of the 
intestines, the spleen, the heart, the blood, and the kidney contained mercury; but that 
none of this metal was present in the liver, stomach, rectum, and brain; that in all these 
matters the mercury was in a state insoluble in water, and this result is quite consistent 
with the known property of mercury to form insoluble combinations with animal sub¬ 
stances, even though it had been taken or administered in. a soluble form during life. 5. 
That the largest quantity of mercury was contained in the contents of the intestines, 
next in the spleen and heart, and extremely minute traces in the blood and kidney. G. 
That the presence of antimony and mercury in the contents of the intestines indicates 
that these metals were being passed from the deceased up to the time of death. 7. That 
no other metallic poison was contained in the matters examined. 8. That no aconite, 
morphia, or other vegetable poison, discoverable by chemical processes, was contained 
either in the contents of the intestines or in the stomach. 9. Not having detected any 
organic poison, either in the said contents of the intestines or in the stomach, it was not 
necessary to examine the other articles for such poisons, and more especially as the 
quantities of these matters received for analysis were too small to hold out any prospect 
or a successful result.” No. 4 was a report by Dr. Maclagan and Dr. Littlejohn, dated 
the 30th of March, on the post mortem examination of Mrs. Taylor, whose body was 
exhumed at Grange Cemetery, Edinburgh, that day, and the coffin-plate bore, “Jane 
laylor, died February 25, 18G5, aged 71 years.” The report concluded in similar terms 
to the report in the case of Mrs. Pritchard. No. 5 was the chemical report by Dr. 
Maclagan on the organs of Mrs. Taylor. The conclusions were:—“ 1. That Mrs. Taylor 
had taken a considerable quantity of antimony in the form of tartar emetic. 2. That, 
having regard to the absence of any morbid appearances sufficient to account for death, 
and to the presence in the body of a considerable quantity of a substance known to be 
capable of destroying life, her death must be ascribed to the action of antimony. 3. 
'That it is most likely that this was not taken in a single large dose. Had this been the 
case, I should have expected to have found some morbid appearances indicative of the 
irritant action of the drug. It appears to me more probable, from the amount found in 
tne body, that it must have been taken in a succession of doses, not great enough in¬ 
dividually to produce local irritant effects, but amounting in the aggregate to a large 
quantity. It is right, however, to add that a single copious dose, not large enough to 
pioduce marked local effects, might give rise to fatal depression of the system in a 
woman aged 71, whose heart was enlarged and somewhat dilated. 4. That from the 
fact that antimony was found copiously in the liver, was readily detected in the blood, 
and existed to the amount of a quarter of a grain in the stomach, some at least of the 
tari.ai emetic had been taken probably within a few hours before death. 5. That from 
meie chemical investigations I am unable to say over what length of time the adminis¬ 
tration ol the antimony had extended, supposing it, as I believe, to have been taken in 
a succession of doses. This can be learnt only from a consideration of the history of the 
case, with which I am unacquainted. No. 6 was Professor Penny’s report in the case of 
airs. laylor. He certified as follows:—“1. That all the articles subjected to analysis 
contained antimony. 2. 4 hat the dried contents of the intestines contained the largest 
proportion of antimony; next, the liver and stomach, then the blood, and in less quan¬ 
tity the heart, kidney, and rectum. 3. That part of the antimony in the contents of the 
intestines is in a form soluble in water. 4. That the kidney was the only article in 
