CHAPTER XV

THE RUGELEY MYSTERY

STRYCHNINE may very justly be termed a deadly poison. It is one of the active principles extracted from nux vomica, the singular disk-like seed of the _Strychnos nux vomica_, a tree indigenous to most parts of India, Burmah, Northern Australia, and other countries. Nux vomica was unknown to the ancients, and is said to have been introduced into medicine by the Arabians, but there is very little reliable record of it until the seventeenth century, when the seeds were used for poisoning animals and birds. Strychnine was discovered in 1818 by Pelletier and Carenton, and was first extracted from St. Ignatius' bean, in which it is present to the extent of about 1·5 per cent. Very soon afterwards it was extracted from nux vomica, which, being very plentiful, is now the chief source of the drug. It is extremely bitter in taste, and may be distinctly detected in a solution containing no more than one-six-hundred-thousandth part. For a considerable time after its discovery, the detection of strychnine in the body after death was a matter of great uncertainty, especially when only a small quantity had been administered; but now it is possible to detect the presence of one-five-thousandth part of a grain, and that even after some period has elapsed. It has been used for criminal purposes by several notorious poisoners, notably by Dove, Palmer, and Cream, but the symptoms produced are so marked and its presence clearly indicated, that detection now is almost certain.

Among the most celebrated trials of this century was that of Dr. Palmer, who was charged with the wilful murder of John Parsons Cook, at Rugeley, in 1855. A special Act of Parliament was passed in order to have this case tried in London, where it was brought before Lord Chief Justice Campbell, Mr. Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice Cresswell, at the Central Criminal Court, on May 14, 1856. The Attorney General, Mr. E. James, Q.C., with several other counsel, conducted the prosecution, and Palmer was defended by Mr. Serjeant Shee, Messrs. Grove, Q.C., Gray, and Kenealy.

The accused man was a country doctor, and had carried on a medical practice in Rugeley, a small town in Staffordshire, for some years. Then he went on the turf, and made his business over to a man named Thirlby, a former assistant. Shortly afterwards, he made the acquaintance of John P. Cook over some betting transactions. Cook was a young man of good family, about twenty-eight years of age, and was intended for the legal profession. He was articled to a solicitor; but after a time, inheriting some property worth between twelve and fifteen thousand pounds, he abandoned law and commenced to keep racehorses. Meeting Palmer at various race meetings, they soon became very intimate. In a very short time Palmer got into difficulties, and was compelled to raise money on bills. Things went from bad to worse--until he at last forged an acceptance to a bill in his mother's name, who was possessed of considerable property. In 1854 he owed a large sum of money, and in the same year his wife died, whose life, it transpired, he had insured for £13,000. With this money he bought two racehorses; but in his betting transactions he lost heavily, and then commenced to borrow money from Cook, whose name he also forged on one occasion on the back of a cheque. He insured his brother's life for £13,000, and very shortly after _he_ died, the amount being also paid to Palmer. This money soon went, and at length he had two writs out against him for £4,000.

In the meanwhile, Cook had been more successful than his friend in his racing ventures, and had won a considerable amount with a race-horse he owned called Polestar. Polestar was entered for the Shrewsbury races on November 14, 1855, and Cook and Palmer went there and stayed with some friends at the same hotel in that town. On the evening of the races they were drinking brandy and water together. Cook asked Palmer to have some more, and the latter replied, "Not unless you finish your glass." Cook, noticing he had some still left in his tumbler, said, "I'll soon do that," and finished it at a draught. On swallowing it he immediately exclaimed, "There's something in it burns my throat." Palmer took up the glass and said, "Nonsense, there is nothing in it," and called the attention of the others standing by. Cook then suddenly left the room, and was seized with violent vomiting. This became so bad that he soon had to be taken to bed, and appeared to be very seriously