Wharton had poisoned him. Whilst he was being persuaded into this
belief he sent for Mrs. Neilson, a prominent lady of Baltimore, with
whom both he and Mrs. Wharton were very intimate, and dismissing his
wife from the room had a private conversation with her. During this,
according to Mrs. Neilson's testimony, he stated that Mrs. Wharton
could not have poisoned him on the Saturday, because they had
exchanged glasses when he complained of the bitterness of the one
into which she had put the gentian. On the stand Mr. Van Ness flatly
denied ever having said anything of the sort. In a point of such
vital importance it is impossible to account for the contradiction by
"failure of memory."

Miss Neilson also contradicted Mr. Van Ness, and the act was in this
case especially impressive from the manner in which it was done. Miss
Neilson being on the stand, a dispute arose as to whether Mr. Van Ness
had or had not previously made a sufficient denial for contradiction.
To settle this, Miss Neilson left the stand: Mr. Van Ness went up and
took the oath. Then the question was put, "Did you say so and so?" He
answered, "I certainly did not." Miss Neilson returning to the stand
immediately after this, the question was put to her. The court-room
was in the deepest silence while in a low but audible voice she
replied, "He did say it." The testimony of these ladies was in no
degree shaken by a severe cross-examination.]

[Footnote 21: An essential symptom of tartar emetic poisoning is
purging as well as vomiting. Dr. Williams of course knows this. It
is a singular circumstance that whilst Mr. Van Ness stated that his
bowels were scarcely affected at all, Dr. Williams testified that
there was frequent purging. No remedies calculated to arrest purging
were employed by Dr. Williams, however, during the illness of Mr. Van