A complete report of the trial of Dr. E. W. Pritchard, for the alleged poisoning of his wife and mother-in-law. Reprinted, by special permission, from the 'Scotsman' / Carefully revised by an eminent lawyer.
- Eminent lawyer
- Date:
- 1865
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: A complete report of the trial of Dr. E. W. Pritchard, for the alleged poisoning of his wife and mother-in-law. Reprinted, by special permission, from the 'Scotsman' / Carefully revised by an eminent lawyer. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by Royal College of Physicians, London. The original may be consulted at Royal College of Physicians, London.
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![old lady’s pocket were so applied to the lips, they produced the tingling benumb- ing sensation to a greater degree than the addition of live per cent, of Fleming’s Tincture of aconite to Batley’s Solution, although to a less extent than the addi- tion of ten per cent. Aconite, therefore, had been added to that tincture to the extent of from five to ten per cent.. Dr Penny thinks about seven per cent. The presence of aconite in that mixture is otherwise conclusively ascertained. It is conclusively ascertained by the fact, that the contents of the bottle killed small animals in precisely the same way as Batley’s with from five to ten per cent, of Fleming’s Tincture of aconite in it. So that the test of the sensation produced, and the test of the destruction of animal life, both together lead you to the con- clusion that the contents of that bottle taken from the old lady’s pocket consi.sted of Batley’s Solution, with from five to ten per cent, of tincture of aconite added. And there was antimony in it; that was ascertained, too, by the chemical analysis. Who put antimony—who put aconite into that bottle ? Here, again, you probably trace the finger of a medical man. It was not like a servant-girl between sixteen and seventeen, to find her way to the doctoi’’s repositories and put in a little antimony and a little tincture of aconite. It seems to have been skilfully done ; but it is done, and it must have been done before the old lady’s death; for it entirely accounts for that death, and there is no other way of accounting for it. Her symptoms were precisely such as would be produced by taking a considerable dose of the mixture to which these poisons had been added. Now, gentlemen, let us see how the prisoner behaves with reference to her ill- ness. You will remember from the short narrative which I gave you of the facts attending her death, that, although the old lady had complained of an inclination to be sick between six and seven, she had after that gone into the consulting- room and had written letters, and had left the consulting-room to appearance well enough and alone, and walked upstairs. She passed the servant-girl—I think, Mary M'Leod—on the stair about nine o’clock, and she was half-an-hour in the bed-room with her daughter before she left the room. And then she wants hot water to make her vomit. She complains only of the inclination to be sick even then, and has hot water brought to her twice for that purpose. And it is not tiU the bell has been rung a third time that the servant goes to the consult- ing-room to bring up the doctor, and, finding him there with a patient, he is de- layed some minutes, and goes i;p, and for the first time sees the old lady after the attack. That is the evidence. Dr Paterson is sent for, and the account he gives is very striking and very important—so much so, that I must take the liberty of reading a part of it to you. [The learned gentleman here read that ]3ortion of the evidence which referred to the prisoner’s account of Mrs Taylor’s attack and illness upon Friday night, the 21st February; and also extracts from the evidence of Mary Patterson and Mi’S Nabb, describing the finding of the Batley’s mixture bottle in the pocket of Mrs Taylor after her death.] He continued;—I think you will be satisfied that there is not proof for the statement which he made to Dr Paterson, that she was in the habit of taking a drop occasionally—meaning that she was in the habit of taking spirits ; that there was nothing to justify the expression that she was in the habit of taking a drop. There is no proof, and there is no reason to suppose there was any truth, in the statement he made that she (the old lady) had been indulging in liquor for a few days, and had also been taking an overdose of opium. It is certainly unfortunate for this—in other respects the most unfortunate of men—if he should prove to be innocent of the crimes with which he is charged—to have stumbled into the to’riblo eri’or of making these false statements. One of these was when the old lady was si ill](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b28407258_0103.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
