1024 
THE PHARMACEUTICAL JOURNAL AND TRANSACTIONS. 
[June 17,1871. 
as early as I could get, I met Dr. Boulton coming to 
Leven from Linley Hill. On asking him how Mrs. 
Harper was, his answer confirmed the opinion I had 
formed at seven o’clock that she was rallying. He re¬ 
turned with me to Linley Hill, hut unfortunately our 
favourable prognostics was doomed to be fallacious, we 
found Mrs. Harper gradually dying, and she expired a 
little before one. We administered stimulants and other 
remedies applicable to the case. On Saturday morning, 
by the coroner’s orders I proceeded to make a post¬ 
mortem examination on the body of the child Marian 
Taylor. I found oozing from the nostrils a thick brownish 
matter, and on proceeding to open the abdomen I found 
the peritoneum in a highly congested state. I exposed 
the stomach and intestines. I did not open the stomach, 
but removed it for the purpose of analysing the contents. 
I also removed the liver and a portion of the smaller in¬ 
testines, which, with the stomach, I placed in jars. The 
contents of the abdomen were in a congested condition 
throughout. I did not examine any other organ. On the 
Eriday morning, early, I inquired for the kettle in which 
the water had been boiled from which the tea had been 
made, and of which Mrs. and Miss Harper and Marian 
Taylor had partaken. It was brought to me by Eliza¬ 
beth Ash, the upper-girl. I found it to contain a small 
quantity of water, which I poured into a clean bottle. 
The kettle and bottle were given over to Superintendent 
Wright. I procured the fasces and last vomit of Mrs. 
Harper and locked them up. I took to Dr. Procter, of 
York, on Sunday, the 21st, in jars, the liver, stomach and 
portion of small intestines of Lily Marian Taylor, a little 
bottle containing water from the pump, a bottle contain¬ 
ing water taken from the kettle, Mrs. Harper’s last 
vomit, Mrs. Harper’s faeces, tho under-servant’s vomit, 
the upper-girl’s vomit, and a jar containing red lead in 
suspension. On Tuesday, the 23rd of May, I took to 
York, to Dr. Procter, the iron kettle, which I received 
from Superintendent Ixnight, a teacaddy containing a 
small portion of tea, a bottle containing water from the 
foldyard pump, some anti-smut powder, white crystal¬ 
line powder, and another packet of powder from the 
bacon-house. 
As soon as I arrived at Dr. Procter’s, on the Tuesday, 
he pi'oceeded to show me certain tests applied to about a 
teaspoonful of water, which was in the kettle, on my 
delivering it to him. The tests applied indicated fully 
the presence of arsenic. 
Mr. James Douglas Wright, Superintendent of Police 
at Leven, deposed : On the morning of Friday, the 
19th of May, from information I received, I came to 
Mr. Harper’s, where I was shown the dead body of Lily 
Marian Taylor. It would be between eight and nine 
o’clock in the morning. I made inquiries, and received 
from Mr. William Harper a bottle containing water, 
numbered 4. On a shelf in the front kitchen was a 
basin containing the vomit of tho under-girl, Bromby. 
In the servants’ bedroom I found the vomit of the 
upper-girl, Elizabeth Ash. A puncheon, containing 
water and a mixture of red lead, was handed to me by 
the charwoman, Mrs. Newman. A teakettle was handed 
to me by IJIr. John Harper the same morning. A tea^ 
caddy I found on a sideboard in the room. On the 22nd 
I took a bottle full of water from the foldyard pump. I 
took possession of a packet of smut powder from the 
saddle-room on the 19th, also a packet of alum powder 
from the saddle-room, and some powder taken from the 
bakehouse. These articles were locked up by me in a 
closet in the house as well as some ducks. On the 20th 
I delivered up to Dr. Calvert, by the directions of the 
coroner, several of those articles, and on the 28th I de¬ 
livered up others. On the 23rd I made a further search 
here, and found in a closet, in the front kitchen, a paper 
containing powder, numbered 16, and a tin canister con¬ 
taining some other powder. I also found a packet of 
anti-smut powder and other powders, a paper of horse- 
balls, a bottle containing liquid, a bottle containing 
consistency like paste, and a teapot containing sundry 
bottles. The latter I found in a bureau in the room. 
These I locked up in the kitchen closet, the key of 
which I have yet. On the 24th, I was shown by Mis 3 
Harper the first and second vomits of Mrs. Harper on 
the lawn. I took up the sods, and placed them in a tin 
canister. I also, at a distance of eight or ton paces from 
these vomits, took up some of the sods and earth on the 
lawn, which I also placed in a tin. On Monday, the 
29th May, I handed to Dr. Procter, of York, several of 
these articles. On Friday morning, the 19th, I searched, 
the female servants’ boxes, but found no packages in 
powder of any description there. I have since made 
inquiries at Beverley, Driffield, Leven and the neigh¬ 
bourhood of all chemists relative to the sale of any 
arsenic, but cannot hoar that any has been sold at any 
of these places recently that was likely to have been got 
by any of the servants about here. 
Mr. John Robert Harper stated that on Friday morn¬ 
ing, the 19th ult., he gave tho kettle, from which the 
water had been taken for tea, to Superintendent "Wright. 
Witness got it from the boiler top in the front kitchen. 
He got hi3 tea in the kitchen, on hi3 return with his 
father from Beverley fair, about eight o’clock on the 
previous night. He took tea alone, and the water used 
was from a small kettle. The other kettle was near the 
fireplace then, and was in the same position the next 
morning. 
Henry Dunn, of Leven, bricklayer, deposed that on. 
Thursday, the 18th of May, he was working at Linley 
Hill. About a quarter to six o’clock he came from up¬ 
stairs, where he had been working, into the kitchen, and 
sat down to tea. The child was sick then. He drank 
from half to three-quarters of a- cup out of a basin, and 
as it was nasty he did not sup any more. He had not 
got above two or three hundred yards from the house 
when he was taken sick, and vomited three or four times 
before he got to the Llall G-arth, where he got a drink of 
water. He then went to Leven and got two emetics at 
the druggist’s shop. He went home with them and took 
them both, one about an hour after the other. He 
vomited until about one o’clock in the morning, when, 
he felt somewhat better, and by the leave of Dr. Calvert, 
who had attended him twice, went to bed. 
By Mr. Harper: Before I started to go home the 
upper-girl, Ash, asked me when I was near the pump, if 
I had drunk any tea. I said yes. She then asked me 
if I thought it was pump water that made it nasty. I 
said I did not know, but if I had got more I should have 
been sick then. She appeared to think I was more 
frightened than hurt. 
Thomas Matthew Gilbert deposed that he was shep¬ 
herd to Mr. Harper. On Thursday night, the 18th ult., 
he went through the yard to see the sheep, about a 
quarter to seven o’clock, and saw the under-girl, Bromby, 
vomiting at the swine tub. Witness asked her what was 
tho matter, and she said she was sick, but she did not 
know what with. She had only had cold water from the 
pump. He went into the back kitchen, and the groom 
said to him that they were all sick, but did not know 
what with. Witness then went and sat down to his 
supper in the front kitchen. Miss Harper sat by the 
fireside, and the charwoman had the little girl on her 
knee. He asked them what the matter was, and one 
of them said they were all sick with the tea. Witness 
told them that if they thought there was any poison in 
it, they had better send for the doctor. Miss Harper 
wrote a note, and sent the groom for the doctor. 
This concluded the evidence, and the jury, after a 
short deliberation, returned a verdict of “ Wilful Mur¬ 
der” against some person or persons unknown, the de¬ 
ceased having been in their opinion feloniously and with 
malice aforethought poisoned by the administration of 
arsenic, but by whom administered there was no evi¬ 
dence to show. 
