A COMMENTARY UPON THE PRECEDING OBJECTS OF INQUIRY: (continued 2)

In pursuing the track of the alimentary canal we have to observe whether any marks of peritoneal inflammation present themselves; and whether any signs of inflammation in the muscular or mucous coats are visible through the transparent parietes of the intestine; and although no appearance of this kind can be discovered on the external coat of the bowels, we are not, on that account, to conclude that they have been free from inflammation; we must persevere in our dissection, and slit open the intestines in different parts, especially at the entrance of the ilium into the colon; the valve of the latter gut should also be inspected; nor should the rectum escape our attention, for its extremity is sometimes inflamed together with the stomach, while the intermediate portions of the canal are not in the least affected; this peculiarity occurs in many cases of poisoning, as those, for instance, in which colocynth or elaterium have been exhibited. An empoisoned clyster may have been administered; or, as in the case of King Edward 65II, a hot poker, or some other instrument thrust up the rectum. We should also in this part of the dissection, ascertain whether any intus-susceptio has taken place, a derangement not very rare, and frequently fatal; it consists in a portion of gut passing for some length within another portion, and dragging along with it a part of the mesentery; it may take place in any part of the canal, but it more usually occurs in the small intestines, especially where the ilium terminates in the colon; in the examination of infants an intus-susceptio is not unfrequently found, which had been unattended with mischief, and in which the natural peristaltic motion of the intestines would have easily disentangled them; but, in other cases, an unrelenting obstruction is established, inflammation follows, and life is soon terminated, as was exemplified in the case of the infant Princess Elizabeth of Clarence.

The liver may present several morbid phenomena, which, in a dissection instituted for the purpose of discovering the cause of death, ought not to be overlooked. It may also be found ruptured, an occurrence which may take place where little or no external injury can be perceived, as from a sudden fall, or from the application of strong pressure applied to the upper part of the abdomen, such as might be occasioned by the passage of a heavy carriage over the body. Morgagni relates several instances of ruptured liver, by mechanical causes, without any considerable injury of the integuments. In the Medical Transactions of the College of Physicians,^[35] a very interesting case is communicated by Dr. George Pearson, of a young man who fell with his right hypogastrium 66and epigastrium, upon the edge of a pail, which he held in his hand, as the sixth step of a ladder, upon which he was standing, suddenly broke; his death happened ten hours after the accident, and upon dissection, the right lobe of the liver was discovered divided, in an oblique direction, through its whole substance, from its extremity on the right side, to the border of the left lobe; the two portions being only connected by the vena cava, and the trunks of the venæ cavæ hepaticæ.

The author has been informed by Dr. Harrison that, while at Mantua, he saw a man who had received a kick on the right hypochondrium from a horse that he was shoeing; he did not complain of much pain at the time, but exhibited an anxious countenance, and was attacked with coffee-ground vomiting. He died on the following day, and upon opening the abdomen the liver was found ruptured, and the peritoneum inflamed.^[36]

The spleen may be brought into view for our examination by drawing the stomach towards the right side, when the one viscus will follow the other. This organ, like the liver, may be ruptured by violence; of which we have already cited an instance^[37].

The pancreas is to be seen by tearing through the great omentum, between the large curve of the stomach, and the arch of the colon. The anatomist will 67proceed to the examination of the remaining structures in the abdomen with a facility that renders any farther directions unnecessary; we have only to repeat that in cases of forensic interest, the inspection cannot be too minute. The appearance of the kidneys, although not generally an object of dissection, ought to be noticed, as it is frequently connected with the exhibition of poisons; like the other solid viscera too, the kidneys may be ruptured by external violence, and several instances are recorded of sudden death having been thus occasioned.

Examination of the uterus and its appendages.—In the case of a female the organs of generation should always be inspected; very important conclusions may be deduced from the discovery of an unimpregnated uterus. In the case of Miss Burns, to which we have so frequently alluded in the progress of our work, this part of the dissection was so incomplete as to occasion considerable dissatisfaction. The uterus and its appendages having been carefully removed from the body, we should proceed to expose the cavity of the former by an incision, from near the os tincæ to the fundus, and by a transverse section at the fundus, between the inner ends of the fallopian tubes. This organ is liable, amongst other diseases, to inflammation, ulceration, schirrus, tubercles, polypus, dropsy, and organised masses, or moles; upon which we shall offer such observations as appear to connect the dissection with questions of forensic interest. In an adult and unimpregnated female its length is about 2½ inches; its thickness, 1 inch; its breadth at the fundus 1½ or 2 inches, and at the cervix about 10 lines. Although it returns after parturition to its original size, it never becomes again so small as it was in the virgin. In women who have borne 68many children, the neck of the uterus is generally thicker, and more rounded; its orifice, or os tincæ, is always very gaping, and the lips more or less irregular, presenting generally one or more grooves, or chops, separated by what appear like tubercles. The os uteri may, however, be as regular in its figure in women who have borne children, as in others; and on the contrary, it may present in the latter, those irregularities which are more usual in the former; hence the inferences drawn from the state of this part, in cases where infanticide is suspected, or where parturition is supposed to have been concealed, cannot be received as being unexceptionable, although they will add to the weight of evidence, and assist us, in conjunction with other evidence, in attaining that high degree of probability, which practically amounts to certainty. The cavity of the cervix uteri undergoes also a change in form and appearance, which it is necessary to notice, although we are not disposed to assign very great importance to its indications. In women who have never borne children, the figure of the cavity may be said to resemble that of two cones joined bases to base, more capacious in the middle than at the two extremities; but, from the time of conception, that extremity of the canal, which opens into the vagina, is dilated; and, after parturition has once occurred, it is always found much wider than before, when it represents a cone with the basis towards the vagina, and the apex towards the fundus uteri. By a schirrous enlargement, the uterus may arrive at a very considerable size. Dr. Baillie has seen it as large as the gravid uterus at the sixth month; the cavity may also enlarge and contain a polypus, which is a very common disease at middle or advanced age; it has been defined “a diseased 69mass, which adheres to some part of the cavity of the uterus, by a kind of neck, or narrower portion.” An attempt was made on the trial of Charles Angus to explain the appearance presented by the uterus of Miss Burns, upon the supposition of an hydatid having been recently ejected from it, (see vol. i, p. 254.) Water has been known to have accumulated in very considerable quantities in the cavity of the uterus,^[38] in some cases to the amount of fifty, sixty, or even a hundred pints.

If a woman die from hemorrhage, or from any other cause in child-birth, the appearances that will present themselves on dissection have been thus clearly described by Professor Burns.^[39] “The uterus is found like a large flattened pouch, from nine to twelve inches long; the cavity contains coagula, or a bloody fluid, and its surface is covered by the remains of the decidua. Often the marks of the attachment of the placenta are very visible. This part is of a dark colour; so that the uterus is thought to be gangrenous by those who are not aware of the circumstance. The surface being cleaned, the sound substance of the womb is seen; the vessels are extremely large and numerous; the fallopian tubes, round ligaments, and surface of the ovaria, are so vascular that they have a purple colour. The spot where the ovum escaped is more vascular than the rest of the ovarian surface. This state of the uterine appendages continues until the womb has returned to its unimpregnated state. A week after delivery, the womb is as large as two fists; at the end of a fortnight, it will be found about six inches long, generally lying obliquely to one side; the inner surface is still bloody, and covered partially 70with a pulpy substance like decidua. The muscularity is distinct, and the orbicular direction of the fibres round the orifice of the tubes very evident. The substance is whitish. The intestines have not yet assumed the same order as usual; but the distended cæcum is often more prominent than the rest. It is a month, at least, before the uterus returns to its natural state, but the os uteri rarely, if ever, closes to the same degree as in the virgin state.”

The ovaria are susceptible of very considerable enlargement by diseases, so as to occasion the appearance of pregnancy, the most common of which is dropsy; in some cases the whole substance is converted into a capsule containing fluid, so large as to occupy nearly the whole cavity of the abdomen. There is one phenomenon, connected with the morbid anatomy of these organs, that deserves particular notice in this work, as being a subject in some degree connected with judicial enquiry—the change of these parts into a fatty substance containing hair and teeth! these appearances have been often regarded as imperfect ova, in consequence of impregnation, but it should be generally known that they take place without any intercourse between the sexes, and appear to depend upon causes very remote from those to which we allude.^[40] In our examination of the ovaria, it is essential to remark whether any corpus luteum be present; and upon this subject and the value of its indications, it will be necessary to offer a few remarks. The corpora lutea are oblong glandular bodies, found in the ovaria of pregnant animals; they have been regarded as the calyces, from which 71the impregnated ovum has dropped;^[41] they are largest and most conspicuous in the early state of pregnancy, and remain for some time after delivery, when they gradually fade and wither until they disappear. The phenomenon has been eagerly seized by the juridical physician as furnishing an indication of pregnancy; and, to a certain degree, the test may be admitted; but cases have occurred in which a corpus luteum has been found, where impregnation could not have occurred;^[42] it is probable that upon certain occasions extreme salacity may disengage an ovum, and thus produce the corpus luteum, although the former without sexual intercourse can never be developed in the uterus; but this is an exception to the general law of Nature, and the corpus luteum may still be regarded as a presumptive proof of pregnancy. Mr. Stanley, in a very excellent memoir, published in the Medical Transactions of the College, vol. vi, observes that “the corpora lutea in the ovaries of virgins may, in general, be distinguished from those which are the consequence of impregnation, by their smaller size.”

After all that has been said, our opinion in a case of supposed impregnation must, in the earlier stages, be formed from a review of all the circumstances appertaining to the condition of the uterus, ovaria, and fallopian tubes; and should these present such appearances as they usually assume in pregnancy, and 72the condition of the mammæ should at the same time agree with them, the proof is strongly presumptive; although it must fall short of the demonstration which the actual inspection of the ovum in utero can alone afford.

The external parts of generation ought also to constitute an object of inspection. We have already considered the degree of evidence which they are capable of affording upon the subject of virginity, vol. i, p. 203, 429. In examining the vagina, it will be necessary to observe whether any shining or gritty particles are discoverable, (see vol. ii, p. 222.) It is also possible that some hard body may have been introduced into the genital organs, for a felonious purpose; a trial for a crime of this nature took place at Durham in the year 1781, when Magaret Tinckler was indicted for the murder of Janet Parkinson, by having inserted wooden skewers into the womb, for the purpose of producing abortion; it appeared on dissection that there were two holes, in a gangrenous condition, which these extraneous bodies had occasioned, and to which the deceased had fallen a victim. East’s P. C. tit. Murder. Had these skewers been introduced after death, the appearances would have immediately denoted the fact, and could not be mistaken for the effects of inflammation and gangrene.

Having concluded our dissection, it will be right to preserve those parts, from whose condition or appearance any legitimate deduction can be made. In cases of poisoning, the stomach and intestines should be kept, for we may require them in our subsequent experiments. In the occurrence of eschars, perforations, and gangrenous, or inflamed patches, the anatomist should remove such appearances together with a portion of the surrounding sound parts, and he 73should carefully preserve them in alcohol, or in salt and water; and in cases where the state of the uterine system is involved in the inquiry, the uterus and its appendages, should be removed. In the case of Miss Burns, the witnesses must have experienced a considerable degree of satisfaction arising from a precaution of this kind, for they were thus enabled to obtain a confirmation of their opinion from the most eminent midwives in London.

After this service has been duly performed, the body must of course be committed to the grave; but should it not have been satisfactorily identified, the head ought to be preserved in spirits, in as natural a state as possible, that it may be recognised by the friends of the deceased. A curious instance stands on record, where this precaution led to the detection of the murderers. Catherine Hayes, and two accomplices, Billings and Wood, murdered the husband of the former, cut off his head, and threw it into a dock near the Horseferry, Westminster. The head was in a few days found, and exposed on a pole in St. Margaret’s Church-yard, and afterwards preserved in spirits, by which means the face of the deceased was identified, and the perpetrators of the crime discovered, for which they were executed at Tyburn in the year 1726.

EXAMINATION OF THE SKELETON.

It will appear in the course of the present inquiry, that the anatomist may be called upon to examine a part, or the whole skeleton of a person supposed to have been murdered; and his evidence upon such occasions will be of the greatest importance. Convinced of this fact, we are induced to offer the following observations.

74The stature of the human skeleton varies very considerably in different individuals; in the Museum of the College of Surgeons there is a male skeleton, the height of which is eight feet two inches; while we are informed by Mr. Wilson,^[43] that he has seen a perfectly well formed skeleton of an adult person which measured only thirty-five inches; and a dwarf was lately exhibited in London of a still less stature; but in this latter case, the head was disproportionably large. There may have been some individuals a few inches taller, and others a few inches shorter than these, but we have no authentic records of the human stature exceeding nine, or at most, ten feet. The size and dimensions of the human figure, notwithstanding the fables of antiquity,^[44] appear to have been much the same in all ages of the world. The Egyptian mummies of three thousand years standing, 75exhibit no difference in stature from the men of our own days; and we read that the Emperor Augustus was considered by the Romans as a person of middle stature, and his height is recorded as that of five feet, nine inches, of our measure.

In our general view of the human skeleton, two important problems present themselves for solution—the Age, and Sex, of the individual to whom it belonged. The skeleton of the fœtus, with which we shall commence our observations, is capable of furnishing more satisfactory data upon the subject of age than any examination of its softer textures, which are necessarily less evident and regular in their progress of developement. M. Beclard has deduced from his examination of above fifty fœtuses, the following calculations, which it may be important to record. After two months have elapsed from the period of conception, the skeleton is about 4 inches and 3 lines in length, that of the spine being 2 inches. At three months, the former is 6 inches, and the proportion of the spine as 2⅔ to 6. At four months and a half, it is 9 inches, and the spine 4. At six months it is 12 inches, the spine being 5. At seven months and a half, it is 15 inches, the spine 6⅓. At nine months, or at the period of birth, it is ordinarily from 16 to 20 inches in length; or, at a medium, 18 inches, and the spine is in the proportion of 7¾ to 18.

Ossification does not take place with equal rapidity in every bone; the ribs and clavicles are completely converted into bone long before birth, while the bones of the carpus, tarsus, and more particularly the patella, are not completed until some years afterwards; certain parts of bones are not formed until after birth, as the mastoid processes, and the projections 76of the frontal sinus; nor are the epiphyses consolidated with the body of the bones, so as to constitute apophyses, until many years. With regard to the general developement of the skeleton after birth, it may be observed, that the proportion of cartilage is in an inverse ratio to the age; reckoning from the twentieth year backwards, the younger the subject the larger is its head, compared with the trunk and limbs; the smaller the bones of the face, but the larger the fontanelles; the flatter is the lower part of the face; the larger the chest, in relation to the pelvis; the shorter the limbs; the larger the clavicles; the smoother and flatter the broad bones, but the rounder those that are cylindrical. (See Albert Durer on the proportions of the bones, Lib. 1.) The chemical composition of the bones, in relation to their phosphate of lime, and gelatine, varies also very materially at different ages. It may be stated that the quantity of the former substance deposited in the texture of bones, is in the direct ratio of the age; the bones of the fœtus are at first entirely gelatinous; at the time of birth, and during the first years of life the organic part superabounds; in youth the quantity of each constituent is nearly equal; in adults the calcareous earth forms almost two-thirds of their substance; and finally, by gradual accumulation in old age, its excess obliterates the organized parts; so that the skeleton of the aged person may be distinctly recognised; besides which, the sutures of the skull are generally lost, and the absorption of the alveolar processes again imparts to the face the physiognomy of the infant.

The male and female skeleton may be said to differ, not only in the whole combination, or in the general impression, from a comparative survey, but also in 77the form and properties of the individual parts. The bones of the female are generally smaller, more delicate, and the muscular impressions, and asperities are less distinctly marked on them. The articulations are smaller, and the shaft or body of each cylindrical bone is more slender in comparison with the articular ends; the frontal sinuses are smaller, and the superciliary arches less prominent; all the bones of the face are more slender; the figure of the alveolar circle is more elliptical in both jaws; whereas in the male it is more circular. The differences, however, are in many cases very equivocal, since they may occur in the male as well as in the female skeleton; in the former, where the individual has had a feeble constitution, and never used active exercise; while in the latter, hard labour will frequently confer upon her bony structure the masculine contour which we have described as generally belonging to the male skeleton. The only decisive marks, therefore, by which a female skeleton can at once be distinguished, are to be found in the structure of the pelvis, and arise from the obvious cause of the female possessing a proper frame to become a mother. The pelvis of a female, at and below the linea innominata, formed by the lower part of the inside of the ileum, and ridge of the pubes, is much more capacious, from side to side, than in the male. The entrance or brim of the cavity is also more oval, the greatest diameter being from side to side. In the male it is more triangular, and the greatest diameter at the brim is from the fore to the back part; there is not much difference in the breadth of a male and female pelvis, belonging to individuals of nearly the same height, if measured from the anterior part of the spine of the ileum to the corresponding 78part of the opposite side; the difference in breadth is chiefly confined to the basin-like part of the cavity. The symphysis pubis is broader in the female, and the angle underneath it is much more obtuse, the space between the descending rami of the pubes is consequently larger. The sacrum is broader, less curved, and turned more backwards; this also adds to the capacity of the cavity. The os coccygis is more moveable, and much less bent forwards so that it does not project so much into the pelvis. The tuberosities of the ischia are farther distant from each other, and from the os coccygis; and as these three points are farther asunder, the notches between them are consequently wider, and there is of course a much greater space between the os coccygis and pubes; and lastly the whole pelvis is less massy, but more capacious and shallow in the female structure.^[45] There are, moreover, some striking peculiarities to be discovered in the structure of the thorax, which if not equally satisfactory with that derived from a comparison of the pelvis, deserve serious attention. The whole thorax is shorter in the female, larger above as far as the fourth rib, narrower below; more moveable, less conical; more convex in front; more distant from the pelvis, the interval between the last rib, and the os innominatum being greater; less prominent anteriorly, so that 79when the trunk is supine, the symphysis pubis is the highest point in the female, whereas in the male subject, the thorax is the most elevated; the sternum is also shorter in the female, ending at the plane of the fourth rib, while it reaches to the plane of the fifth in the male; the clavicles are likewise less strongly curved, so that the scapulæ are thrown backwards; the female scapulæ are, moreover, smaller, slenderer, flatter, and have acuter angles than those of the male.

We have been thus minute in our endeavour to establish rules for discriminating between the male and female skeleton, because it has been a question of judicial inquiry. The supposed difficulty of ascertaining the sex of a skeleton constituted a principal feature in the celebrated defence of Eugene Aram for the murder of Daniel Clarke, and which, on account of its extreme ingenuity, has been introduced at length in our Appendix, p. 311.

In examining detached and isolated portions of the skeleton, we must take care not to mistake natural fissures and foramina for the effects of violence; we have already observed that the sagittal suture has been pronounced to be a fracture. But the most extraordinary illustration of such an error that can be adduced, is that presented to us in the history of a case that occurred at Exeter, and which the author of this work is enabled to present in an authentic form through the kind assistance of his friend, Wm. Tucker, Esq. of Coryton, Devonshire, a gentleman, who has been too long known, and too universally respected, as an active and upright magistrate, to render any panegyric necessary on the present occasion.

80 The Case of Thomas Bowerman.

Devonshire.——At the Devon Assizes in March, 1800, a Bill was preferred before the Grand Jury against Thomas Bowerman, for the Murder of Mary Gollop, a Bastard Child of Sarah his Wife, by another man, previous to her marriage, at the parish of Uffculme, in the said County.

Mary Gollop lived with her mother, the wife of Thomas Bowerman, in Bowerman’s house, at Uffculme, and had been often noticed on account of the ill treatment she was known to experience from Thomas Bowerman. About Michaelmas, 1797, being then about fourteen years of age, she was reported to have died suddenly in her father’s house, and she was accordingly buried on the first day of October, 1797, in the church-yard of Uffculme.

In January, 1800, Thomas Bowerman was committed to the Devon Bridewell, at the suit of the overseers of the poor of Uffculme, on a conviction for having ran away and left his children chargeable to the parish of Uffculme. His wife was at that time dead, and Elizabeth, one of his children, about twelve years old, had been removed to the parish workhouse, and was there maintained at the expense of the parish. Elizabeth Stark, the mistress of the workhouse, in a conversation with Elizabeth Bowerman, mentioned to her, that on her father’s return from Bridewell, after the expiration of his sentence, she would be sent to her father’s house to be by him maintained and clothed. Elizabeth Bowerman burst into tears, saying she could never again live with her father if he did return, as she was afraid he would murder her as he did her sister. She then stated that her father killed her sister, Mary Gollop, by pushing an awl into her head. She saw him do it, and he made her mother and herself wipe up the blood, and said he would serve her the same if ever she told of it.

81Mrs. Stark remonstrated with Elizabeth Bowerman on the incredibility of her story; but in spite of all admonition, she persisted in asserting the truth of her statements, repeated without variance the particulars of the case, and pointed out the part near the ear where the perforation had been made. On the prevalence of this report, in the month of February, 1800, it was judged expedient by the parishioners to consult the Coroner, who ordered the disinterment of the body of Mary Gollop, and held an inquest, by whom the skull was inspected, on which was found a small hole of the size of an awl on the side of the head near the ear, in the place that Elizabeth Bowerman had pointed out.

The Jury thereupon returned against Thomas Bowerman a verdict of Wilful Murder.

The circumstances of this case excited the attention of the late Mr. Sheldon, then living in Exeter. He obtained access to the skull, and on viewing it declared his opinion that the hole in the skull, supposed to have been made by an awl, was a natural perforation, and had not been effected by an awl or any other instrument; and as proofs of his position, he pointed out a small bed or channel leading from the hole, which he said was made by the passage of a vein, and a sort of enamel round the hole, which could not have been there if made by force or art. In further illustration of this truth, he produced a dozen or more human skulls having on them similar perforations variously situated, and each hole having a small channel, and the rim or edge of the hole smooth and polished.

Mr. Sheldon attended the Grand Jury at the said assizes on the investigation of this charge: before whom it is presumed he gave the same testimony. The Grand Jury returned “No Bill” against Thomas Bowerman for the murder of Mary Gollop.

Another question of forensic interest has arisen upon this subject that requires some notice. Whether 82there are not bones in the structures of inferior animals, that so nearly approach those of the human species in figure and appearance as to admit the possibility of their being mistaken for them, by the superficial anatomist? It must be admitted that there does exist a similitude in the skeletons of different animals, of which the common observer cannot derive the least notion from the shape of the parts they sustain, or from the general aspect of their external form. Bats, for instance, appear to have wings, but an attentive examination demonstrates that they are real hands, the fingers of which are merely somewhat lengthened; still, however, it is the bones of quadrupeds that can alone be mistaken for those of man, and of these the cylindrical ones are the most likely to mislead us; for example, the Humerus varies little in its form, except perhaps in the proportional length of the bone, and the elevation of its spines: the Ruminantia, in general, have the great tuberosity very high, and the linea aspera very prominent. To Cuvier we are much indebted for the marks of discrimination by which we may determine to what genus of animal the isolated parts of a skeleton belong; and his researches have changed the opinion regarding the character of many organic remains. Most of the labourers in the Gypsum quarries about Paris are firmly persuaded that the bones which they contain are, in a great part, human remains; but, after having seen and carefully examined many thousands of them, Cuvier unequivocally declares that not a single fragment has ever belonged to our species. Another similar discovery has been made by this illustrious anatomist, in the history of the extraneous fossil bones from the island of Cerigo, and deposited by Spallanzani at Pavia as human 83remains, but of which he affirms there is not one that ever formed a part of the human skeleton; the same tact, if we may so express this peculiar merit of Cuvier, enabled him to decypher the “Homo Diluvii Testis” of Scheutzer, and to restore it to its true genus, the Proteus.

We shall close our remarks upon the fallacies by which the bones of quadrupeds have been mistaken for those of man, by the interesting account of the remains which were found by Belzoni in a sarcophagus in the second pyramid of Egypt, and for a detailed relation of which we are indebted to Captain Fitzclarence, in his overland route from India. These bones were believed to be no other than the remains of King Cephrenes, who, according to Herodotus, is supposed to have built the pyramid, and to have been buried in its cavern; unfortunately, however, for the antiquarian’s conjecture, Mr. Clift, of the College of Surgeons, has satisfactorily proved that the bones in question are not human, but belong to an animal of the genus Bos.

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