Does it involve, ordinarily speaking, a mere locked jaw?--Yes, that is the common term. Locked jaw is one of the symptoms of tetanus. Every muscle in the body was affected in the same manner.
How would you express in ordinary English the general symptoms of what you call tetanus in one word?--Violent spasmodic affection of all the muscles of the body. That effects the immediate cause of death by stopping the action of the heart, and also the breath, from its effect on the diaphragm. It affects the respiratory muscles and stops respiration. It is that spasm of the respiratory muscles which causes the sense of suffocation. When death took place he was still upon his side. He remained in that position after death. I did not turn the body upon its back. The outward appearance of the body after death was very dark. As there was only one candle in the room, I could not make the observation I otherwise should have made. Both his hands, the left hand particularly, which I had in my hand, were clenched. I observed the clenching of the hands immediately the attack took place, when he threw himself back immediately after taking the pills Palmer brought over. When I was rubbing his neck I did not see the hands clenched.
Did you observe either before or at the time of death, or immediately afterwards, anything in the position of the head and neck?--Yes; the head was quite bent back.
When you say bent back, do you mean bent back into an unnatural position?--Yes; by spasmodic action. The body was twisted back like a bow; the backbone was twisted back.
By LORD CAMPBELL--When did you observe that appearance--immediately after death, or all the time?--Indeed, after throwing himself back, he was immediately drawn back.
Examination resumed--If I had placed the body at that time upon the back, on a level surface, it would have rested upon the head and heels. As his face was turned away from me, I did not observe anything immediately after or at the time of death about the jaw. After death I saw the jaw was not in its natural condition; it was all affected by spasmodic action. I spoke to Palmer about the laying out of the body, and left him alone in the room while I went downstairs to see Miss Bond. I returned in a few minutes and found Palmer with Mr. Cook’s coat in his hand. He remarked that I, being Cook’s nearest friend, should take possession of his effects. I did so, and took possession of his watch and his purse, containing five sovereigns and five shillings. That was all I could find. I did not find any betting book or any papers. After that, before Palmer left, he said something to me upon the subject of affairs as between Cook and himself. He said, as near as I can recollect, “It is a bad thing for me, as I was responsible for £3000 or £4000, and I hope Mr. Cook’s friends will not let me lose it. If they do not assist me, all my horses will be seized.” Nothing was said by him about securities or paper.