ACCIDENTAL  POISONING.  507 
were  called  to  the  deceased  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after  the 
powder  was  taken,  no  search  ever  appeared  to  have  been  made 
for  that  paper  in  which  the  powder  was  contained,  and  not  one 
tittle  of  evidence  had  been  given  to  show  what  had  become  of 
it.  The  only  scientific  evidence  that  the  prosecutors  could 
bring  before  the  jury  to  show  them  that  strychnine  was  taken 
from  the  powder  dispensed  by  the  prisoner  was,  that  they 
found  traces  of  an  acid  called  meconic  acid.  He  did  not  say 
it  was  impossible  to  discover  even  a  minute  portion  of  such  an 
acid  as  that,  but  he  did  say  this,  and  he  thought  the  jury  would 
agree  with  him,  that  supposing  this  was  a  question  of  poisoning 
by  opium,  and  that  the  evidence  had  been  that  a  small  discol- 
oration took  place,  caused  by  so  small  a  quantity  that  figures 
would  not  represent  it,  they  would  have  to  pause  well  before 
they  arrived  at  their  verdict.  It  was  remarkable  that  the  de- 
ceased had  taken  strychnine  before  that  date,  and  it  had  not 
been  shown  them  when  he  discontinued  taking  it.  He  would 
now  pass  on  to  deal  with  what  he  considered  was  the  real  and 
substantial  evidence  on  behalf  of  his  client.  His  learned  friend, 
in  his  opening  remarks,  said  that  in  order  to  bring  the  evidence 
home  against  the  prisoner,  they  must  make  out  a  case  against 
him  of  gross  and  culpable  negligence.  He  (Mr.  Liddell)  would 
not  attempt  to  define  what  negligence  was,  because  he  believed 
it  to  be  impossible  to  define  it.  He  had  looked  through  a  great 
number  of  cases  upon  the  point,  and  had  read  many  books  upon 
the  point,  and  he  defied  anybody  to  give  an  accurate  definition 
of  what  negligence  was  in  that  case.  But  this  much  he  would 
say,  that  the  question  of  negligence  was  the  question  for  the 
jury,  and  the  jury  only  ;  and  he  should  submit  to  them  and  to 
his  Lordship  that  to  make  out  negligence  sufficient  to  justify 
the  jury  in  finding  the  prisoner  guilty  of  the  felony  of  man- 
slaughter, to  say  the  least  of  it,  it  must  be  something  more  than 
mischance.  Therefore,  as  he  put  it  to  the  jury,  the  point  that 
they  would  have  to  try,  assuming,  without  admitting,  that 
strychnine  was  given  by  the  prisoner  for  James's  powder,  the 
question  for  them  would  be,  did  the  evidence  show  that  his  con- 
duct was  the  result  of  gross  and  culpable  negligence,  or  was  it 
not  rather  proved  that  the  accident  was  the  result  of  mischance  ? 
Before  examining  the  evidence  adduced,  he  wished  to  make  a 
