Can you tell me a single case of a patient seized with tetanic symptoms by strychnia poison sitting up in his bed talking?--He was seized with the tetanic symptoms after he sat up in his bed.
Do you know of a single case of the symptoms of poison by strychnia commencing or exhibiting themselves during any time of the paroxysm by the operation of beating the bed?--There have been only about fifteen cases altogether; I have not heard of a person taken ill in bed before.
Is not the beating of the bed well known under the name of malasaux; is it not a very common symptom of ordinary convulsions?--No, I do not think it is the case, not to my knowledge. I have not a case of a person sitting up in bed and beating the bed.
Have you known any instances in which the patient has screamed before he was seized with the fit?--No. That is common in convulsions not occasioned by strychnia poisoning. In many cases they scream very soon after the spasm sets in; the pain felt is very severe.
This is before the convulsions begin?--No, I have never known that. I have known cases in which they speak freely, but not after the paroxysm has commenced; I do not remember a case at the present time.
Can you tell me or refer me to any one case in which the effect of the strychnia affection or paroxysm in a fatal case has been as long after the ingestion of the poison as in Cook’s case on Tuesday night?--Yes. In a case communicated to the _Lancet_ of 31st August, 1850, p. 259, by Mr. Bennett, one grain and a half of strychnia, taken by mistake, destroyed the life of a healthy young female in an hour and a half, which is remarkable, as no symptoms appeared for an hour.
May I take it that is the longest period which has elapsed between the ingestion of the poison and the commencement of the symptoms on record?--No, I think not.
Do you know a single case in which the symptoms have manifested themselves as long as an hour and a half after the ingestion of the poison?--No, I do not.
Do you know any case of strychnia poison in which the patient has recovered from a paroxysm in as short a time as Mr. Cook did, he being well before the morning?--I do not remember any, but I can conceive in medical practice such cases.
