WEST J TJCKLAXO POISONING CASE (SPECIAL TELEGRAPHIC DESPATCH from or OWN correspondent DURHAM Thursday The trial of Mary Ann Cotton was resumed this morn-mg at the Durham Assizes before Mr Justice Archibald the court was again crowded with people anxious to witness the propeas of the case Mr Russell QC conducted the prosecution and Mr Campbell Foster detruded The first witness called was Dr Scattergood of the Leeds College of Medioine to whom the stomach and viscera of the deceased' s body had been forwarded for analysis The stomach contained nothing in the shape of food except a minute bit of onion skin bat on applying the best scientific tests for analysis he found it contained arsenic There were traces of the same poison in other parts Taking the whole oontent of the stomach at forty drachms there would be in that organ alone about 26 of arsenic The appearance of the body pointed to repeated dees of the poipon rather than to a large dose at any one time Still in addition to the quantity he had named these must he a good allowance made for the poison ejected from the body by vomiting purging and other causes From two to three grains of arsenic would be sufficient to kill an adult and about half that quantity would cause the death of a child such as the deceased Prom the appearances he had seen from the absence of disease isdnom the finding of arsenic in the stomach fie had come to the clear and undoubted opinion that the deceased died from poisoning by arsenic If a person became possessed of soft soap and arsenic the two substance could he easily separated by immersion in warm water At the close of Dr Seatiergood's examination in chief a discussion was raised as to the admissibility of collateral evidence hearing directly on other charges that would be made against the prisoner and the Judge decided to receive it la cross-examination Dr Scattergood said that he bwl frequently heard of green wall papers being injurious to health owing to the arsenic which they diffused into the air bnt had never heard that their mjurions effects had resulted in the death of any one The floating particles were inhaled by persons in the room and caused injury to health bnt the quantity so diffused from the surface of a wall paper was very small He had heard the evidence on the previous day when Mrs Dodds said she put as much soft soap and arsenic on a bedstead in Mrs Cotton's boose only six weeks before the death of the deceased as would contain about Rn) grains of arsenic If that was so and the mixture became dry by exposure to the atmosphere or by absorption in the linen of the mattress it would be likely to fall lo the floor in a powders 1 state It would not however rise in such quantities as to cause death by inhalation but if a child was playing in the room and dropped batter and bread on the floor there might be a ehaace of some particles of the powder being eaten Tbs symptoms of poison by inhalation would come out gradually and the effects would be sore eyes coughing and irritation of the air-tubes : but it would not be found in the stomach Absorption of poison through the skin might enable it to get into various organa hat in this case also it would foil to get into the stomach In fact no theory of this kind would account for the poison found in the contents of the stomach as it must have gone down through the gullet In re-ex animation Dr Scattergood said that notwithstanding all the suggestions of the learned counsel for thff defence he had heard nothing to change his opinion that the present was a case of arsenical poisoning fne evidence the admissibility of which had been signed was then taken It was principally of a medical character and was given by Dr Kilburn and Dr Scatter-grad who spoke to the symptoms which had been manifested during the illness of Joseph Nat trass the lodger Frederick Cotton and Robert Robson Cotton and three ther persons whose death the prisoner was charged with having caused The symptoms Lad not all been identical in the judgment of Dr Kilborn The game witness said be bad bad no suspicion till the death of the child Charles Edward in July He gave a certificate in regard to Nat-traas that he hail died of enteric fever Nattraas had had some disease of the kidneys bnt that would not have harried him off so rapidly as he did die He thought the infant Robert Robson Cotton was suffering from teething and in his case he gave a certificate that he had died from convulsions caused by teething Dr Scattergood spoke of the result of the analysis of the several bodies and the finding of arsenic in greater or less quantity in each The Judge intimated that he had expected Mr Russell would produce evidence as to possession and dealing with poison at a period closer to the time of the boy's death than six weeks He thought that was rather remote Mr Russell replied that he considered the case did not hang upon the proof of possession of poison at all bnt it was for the jury to consider what opportunities prisoner had had of obtaining it and of administering it and on those questions he thought circumstantial evidence could not be stronger Another witness who had spoken to the possession of poison would have been called but she had been confined on the previous day Mr Foster asked the judge to strike out all the extrinsic evidence that had been given as not having proved what Mr Russell wanted tc show : bnt The Judge held that it should be retained as it showed that other persons had died in the house under similar circumstances and that evidence went to meet Mr Foster's hypothesis that death was accidental or that it had been the result df natural causes The case was then adjourned till to-morrow it being understood that although Mr Foster did not call wit-it would still occupy four or five hours