told to decide between this and that statement, and if they think this is true, they must find so and so; if that is true, the verdict must be so and so. In reality they have no very clear conceptions of any of the facts the judge has called to their attention. They go to the jury room in a dazed mental state, or possessed with some particular idea that has become fastened in the mind; some idea that has no logical support or sequence in the testimony which has been offered.
The following study of a case that was recently tried indicates conditions that are present far more frequently than would be supposed:
The case was murder, in which an intricate chain of circumstantial evidence pointed to one of three men as guilty. The jury was composed of five farmers, four mechanics, and three merchants. Nine of them were active muscle workers, living in the open air most of the time, and three were actively engaged indoors. The trial lasted eleven days. The jury were boarded at a hotel, and had no exercise except walking to and from the hotel to the court room three times a day. Four of the jury complained of dull headache. On the fourth day, five of the jury had attacks of indigestion, with pain and nausea. One had chills on the night of the same day, and was given quinine freely. Two men had attacks of what was called rheumatism, consisting of pain and stiffness of the muscles, and a physician was called. Eight suffered from insomnia and constipation after the fifth night. All suffered from bad feeling and dizziness while in the court room in the afternoons. Four had coughs and colds, for which rock candy and rye whisky were freely used. Several experienced extreme drowsiness in the court room. The arguments of counsel and the judge's charge occupied a day and a half. After the verdict and the discharge of the jury, four of them were confined to bed for several days. Here were twelve men, suffering from functional disturbances due to bad air, changed surroundings, and auto-intoxications, called to decide the issues of life and death.
In a case of murder and incendiarism, where the verdict of the jury was criticised severely, the following were the facts: The jury was composed of farmers, miners, tradesmen, and mechanics. Four of them were sufferers from cough and influenza; six complained of loss of appetite and headache; one suffered from malaria, so called; and one from a return of an old rheumatic attack. The trial lasted eight days, and most of the time the jurymen were practically sick—made so by the surroundings and changed conditions of living. The diet of hotels, consisting of rich meats and desserts in great variety, is usually different from the average food of the average jurymen, particularly of the working
