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due to low levels of oxygen in the blood], there was sand in the hair but none in the nostrils or mouth. The scalp, skull and brain werenormal, except that small vessels not commonly observed in the brain were easily discernable with congestion. There was congestion of the pharynx, and the gullet was covered with a whitening of the superficial layers of the mucosa with a patch of ulceration in the middle of it. The stomach was deeply congested, and there was a superficial redness, most marked in the upper half. Small haemorrhages were present beneath the mucosa. There was congestion in the second half of the duodenum continuing through the third part. There was blood mixed with the food in the stomach.
    Both kidneys were congested and the liver contained a great excess of blood. The heart was of normal size and normal in every way. It gave the impression that it was the heart of a man in good physical training. The reason why I say that is that the muscle was quite tough and firm. Both lungs were dark with congestion. The heart, if anything, was contracted.
    The spleen was strikingly large and firm, about three times normal size.
    The points to which I gave consideration in my summary was the acute gastric haemorrhage,extensive congestion to the liver and spleen, and congestion to the brain.
    There was food in the stomach. I would say that food had been in the stomach for up to three or four hours before death. It is difficult to give an opinion on that because if the person is in a state of anxiety, then digestion may be suspended.
    I made microscopic examination of the diseases, and there is pigment in it, though I cannot say of which disease. It does not resemble malarial pigment, and I can only keep an open mind on the matter. The blood in the stomach suggested some irritant poison, but on the other hand nothing detectable in the food to my naked eye to make a finding, so I sent specimens of the stomach and its contents, blood and urine for analysis.
    So far, what the learned doctor appears to be saying is that there was some poison present but that he observed no poisonous matter – leaves, herbs, toadstools, berries, dyes, ground glass – in the stomach contents. Those contents are interesting precisely because they are there. Irritant poisons, even alcohol, usually announce themselves by violent vomiting, until the person has thrown up the entire contents of their stomach and are just vomiting bile. One recalls the dreadful wines of one’s youth– I particularly have it in for Yalumba Autumn Brown Sherry but other contenders are Blackberry Nip, Cold Duck and a certain chianti derived from vines grown on the cold, polluted side of a Tuscan hill, which turned the lips purple. One starts throwing up and continues to eject liver, lights and everything one has eaten since primary school, including breast milk. Since Somerton Man had the remains of a pastie still in his tummy, there is no way he died of an ordinary irritant poison, not with all that starch and potato and pastry in his belly.
    The final verdict was that he died of heart failure, which is like saying ‘he died because his heart stopped’. This was said to be caused by poison, whether self-administered or given with homicidal intent by another person or persons unknown could not be determined. Having said as much (or as little), the Coroner adjourned the inquest sine die – that is, for another day, when hopefully someone might be able to tell him something helpful.
    Then again, suggested my learned friend and a senior scientist Vanessa Craigie – I have been boring my friends to death about Somerton Man for months – what about blue-ringed octopus or snake venom? Death, in fact, by natural causes?
    What an interesting idea. Dad was always going on about Adelaide snakes and I unashamedly sponged on her for introductions. And got Nick Clemman, a senior scientist at The Threatened Fauna Project at the Departmentof Sustainability