530 DETECTION OF BLOOD-STaINS BY THE MICRO-SPECTROSCOPE. 
tliG appearances of the heart were such as would result from aconite. It was also endea¬ 
voured to make out that aconite is sometimes given internally in cases of disease of the 
heart, and though the medical witness for the prosecution himself deemed it dangerous, 
he admitted that other medical men thought otherwise, and also that there was great 
variation as to the strength of the doses given. As a matter of fact, the medical witness 
stated that chemists did not go by the ‘British Pharmacopoeia,’ although they ought, he 
said, to do so. However, the medical witness, in conclusion, stated positively that a 
man labouring under disease of the heart could not take thirty drops of aconite with im¬ 
punity. Dr. Schweitzer, an analytical chemist, also proved that the bottle sent by the 
prisoner marked “ henbane,” contained “ strong tincture of aconite,” and stated that from 
three to fifteen drops of it would be a proper dose, and fifteen drops a strong dose, even 
supposing it a fit medicine at all in a case of disease of the heart. He, however, said 
that he was a “ chemist, and not a medical man. Dr. Harris, the medical man who 
had long attended the deceased, stated it as his opinion that the aconite was not the 
cause of death. This was the case for the prosecution. 
The .Lord Chief Justice thereupon put it to the jury whether they deemed it a case in 
which they could call upon the prisoner for his defence, or whether they would not rather 
say that it was a case in which they were not sufficiently strong or clear to warrant 
them in finding a party guilty of felony. They could not commit in such a case unless 
clearly and firmly satisfied that there had been a culpable degree of negligence, and that 
it had caused deatn. Now, as to the first point, there was no judge who would go further 
than he would in demanding from a chemist a great degree of care in sending out the 
powerful and dangerous drugs in which he dealt. But this was the case of a chemist 
put out of his ordinary course and not allowed by his customer to use his ordinary pre¬ 
cautions, but desiied to send the medicines in bottles which the customer chose to send 
for them. Moreover, it was the case of a chemist whose customer had dealt with him 
for several }’ears in aconite, and had only sent once or twice for henbane. No doubt the 
bottle in which the aconite was sent had upon it a label bearing on it the word “hen¬ 
bane,” and then, in smaller letters, “ thirty drops,” and it might be said that the prisoner 
ought to have read those words. But without saying that there might not have been 
evidence in a civil action, he should certainly pause before he concurred in a conviction 
for felony on that ground. Jhen, as to the second point—the cause of death—the jury 
must be satisfied, before they convicted, that the death was caused by the alleged negli¬ 
gence. But one of the medical witnesses for the prosecution stated that he could not sav 
that the aconite had anything to do with the death (though it might have accelerated it); 
the other stated that it had not. Under these circumstances, could the jury safely con¬ 
vict of felony ? 
I he jury, after a few moments consultation, returned a verdict of ]Sot Guilty , which 
was received with some applause. 
THE DETECTION OF BLOOD-STAINS BY THE MICRO-SPECTROSCOPE. 
The trial of Robert Coe for the murder of John Davies, at Aberdare, is remarkable as 
the first case in which the micro-spectroscope has been employed to furnish evidence of 
the presence of blood-stains. Jhe .following is Dr. Ilerapath’s evidence :_ 
Dr. Bird Herapath sworn: “I am a Fellow of the Royal Societies of London and 
Edinburgh. I practise as an analytical chemist and also physician. The hatchet pro- 
duced was given me by Mr. Wrenn, and I carefully examined it. On the metallic por¬ 
tion I did not find any marks upon which I could rely. I removed the handle and ex¬ 
perimented on thin slices of wood which I took from underneath the metallic ring. I 
examined those sections with a microscope, and found the majority of the stains were 
due to oxide of iron; some of them showed clotted blood; in some cases the woody por¬ 
tions had been infiltrated with the colouring matter of blood changed by the action of 
water. On some of the sections of the handle I found globules of blood, and by the 
micrometer I measured the size of those globules. I placed a section of the handle in a 
glass cell in which there was a fluid medium, and the blood-globules floated off into the 
cell, and by the nieasuiement of these I could determine the size of the globules therein 
