Day 020 - 28 Jul 94 - Page 13
1 A. Yes.
2 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Where is that now?
3 MS. STEEL: Mine is just loose.
4 MR. RAMPTON: My Lord, it is tab P.
5 MR. JUSTICE BELL: Referring to that, can you answer the
question?
6 A. Yes. P 12 is a histogram which is labelled as fig.
7. This gives time to brain failure. In this context it
7 was time to loss of the brain to respond to a flash of
light, so we are measuring the electrical response to an
8 external stimulus. And that, as I say, is synonymous with
profound brain failure.
9
In the situation where a superficial cut in the back of
10 the neck is made, which includes severing the spinal cord,
we are talking about the fourth bar downwards, where it
11 says "spinal cord without breathing". So the time to
brain failure would be over three minutes. Now, that
12 would not be the time to loss of consciousness though.
13 Q. What would the time to loss of consciousness be, if you
can tell?
14 A. I cannot give you a precise estimate.
15 Q. The best estimate you can give?
A. I would not like to give one.
16 .
Q. Very well. Might the time to consciousness be as long as
17 three minutes?
A. No, it would be less than three minutes. It could be
18 in the range of, say, 20 seconds to as long as two
minutes; it could be within that range.
19
MS. STEEL: The recommendation that was based on 105
20 milliamps, you said that----?
A. That provided a 52 second period, 52 seconds, before
21 the first bird in that experiment regained apparent
consciousness.
22
Q. So you could have birds regaining consciousness before
23 they actually die?
A. In the situation -- is that what you are referring
24 to?
25 Q. Yes.
A. It depends on the time to consciousness after the neck
26 cut, if the animal -- plus the fact they had been stunned
before. It is a very complex situation to give a guess.
27
MR. JUSTICE BELL: It has been put to you it would be a
28 possibility. Obviously, there are variables. Is it a
possibility?
29 A. It is a possibility.
30 MS. STEEL: That is at 105 milliamps?
A. Sorry, are you referring to 105?
