a person who had taken it in the quantity implied by drinking it from a bottle would, beyond doubt, be incapable of retaining in the hand the empty vessel. Instant prostration ensues, and the grasp of a bottle, after falling upon the floor, is an inconceivable occurrence. Besides, had such a dose of Prussic acid been taken, life would have been extinct much sooner. A considerable time must have elapsed, between the supposed poisoning and the moment of death. Every body knows how rapidly, how all but instantaneously, that medicine acts; yet, in this case, the patient lived for ten minutes and upwards after attendance arrived. What interval had previously elapsed, it is impossible to say; but Mrs. Bailey came unsummoned, and not in consequence of any alarm being given; so that twice ten minutes might have elapsed between the act of falling against the door and the entrance of the attendant.
The inference then would be, perhaps, that the dose was less powerful than is implied by other circumstances above alluded to; but even then there are facts remaining which it is impossible, or at least exceedingly difficult, to reconcile. She is found motionless, insensible, a bottle in her hand, and, as Mrs. Bailey has since stated to us, her handkerchief also. But, judging from the effects of Prussic acid upon animals, and reasoning as it is fair and just to reason, a moderate dose of that poison would infallibly produce in the human subject a spasmodic action, inconsistent with the retention of the bottle and handkerchief,—a violence quite opposed to the senseless and quiet appearances described.
The other witnesses, Emily Bailey and Mr. Maclean, merely depose that they found her "on the
