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i
gether eo as to be unserviceable. I repaired them; don't remember exactly
what time this-
was.
Dr. JEFFRIES WYMAN called-Have been.Professor of Anatomy in Harvard
College. On the
2d December, 1849, an arrangement was made, that I should attend to the
anatomical examina-
tion of the bones found; my attention was called, though not specially, to
the fleshy.por-
tions of the remains found; the box which is now exhibited contains the
fragments of bones found
in the furnace, &c. The diagram which I hold is a representation of the
parts found in the vault
of the privy. My opinion was, on seeing the chest or thorax, that the parts
had been taken out
by a physician, as an ordinary post mortem examination; the manner in which
the sternum was
separated from the ribs seemed to corroborate this opinion; thought the
separation of the thigh
bones from the joints seemed to indicate a knowledge of the location of
those joints; noticed that
there was a great coincidence between the parts when placed in opposition;
saw nothing which
would not warrant the idea that the parts found were the parts of one and
the same body; my
anatomical-knowledge extends to all parts of the human body; don't know how
difficult it may
be to separate the head of a person from his body with a knife; a blow or
stab, inflicted between
the sixth and seventh ribs, near the nipple, might cause blood to flow
inwardly, except that
coming from the separation of the skin; if a person were first struck in
the head and then stab-
bed, and the blood should flow inwardly, it would be easy to remove that
blood by opening the
body; it would require some care. I made a microscopic examination of some
of the spots on the
stair-case, near the lower landing, and was satisfied that they had not
been made by blood; I
saw on the walls drops of what I supposed to be nitrate of copper; first
saw this on Sunday; was
afterwards told by some of the physicians that they were drops of nitrate,
of copper; I. made an
experiment with nitrate of copper to see if it would destroy the globules
of blood, so that they
could not be detected by the microscope; found that the action of the
nitrate of copper was not
immediate, but in a few hours I found that the globules were destroyed, and
could not be detect,
ed by microscopic examination; my opinion is, therefore, that nitrate will
dislodge the globules
in blood, beyond the power of mjFroscopic action. A pair of pantaloons and
slippers were brought
to me from the laboratory, and were supposed to have upon them some drops
or splashes of
blood; I discovered that these spots were made by blood; don't know what
the red. substance on
the slippers is; it looks like Venetian red, and is similar to what was
found on the floor of .the
laboratory.
[Here the slippers and pantaloons were exhibited to the Jury.]
There are indications which satisfied me that the blood did not fall down
upon the pantaloons;
I came to this conclusion from the fact that the drops or splashes are
flat, and were not in the
elongated form which drops of blood would manifest when falling along a
perpendicular surface.
The blood drops are on the left leg of the pantaloons ; the .name of Dr.
Webster is on the lining
of the pantaloons; the paper which I row exhibit was given to me by one of
the officers in the
laboratory.
Am satisfied that the bones which I exhibited constitute the main portional
of the right half of
the' lower jaw of a very old subject; the teeth are all missing; three
large grinders of the right
jaw are missing,. and their sockets, filled up, indicating a person
advanced in years; there is a
great resemblance between the form of the bones of the jaw when placed in
opposition, and the
plaster cast made by Dr. Keep; among these parts of bones I do not find any
duplicate; they are
all fragments of the bones. of one anal the same body; on each side.of the
jaw of a well-developed
subject, there are eight teeth, viz. : two incisors, one cuspid, one
bicuspid, and four molars; the
three molar teeth or grinders were absent in the parts of the jaw
discovered.
[Here Dr. Wyman exhibited the bones taken, with the slugs, from- the
furnace, to the Jury,
telling what part of what bone he exhibited-illustrating his remarks by the
use of the diagram:
shown on the next page.]
DR. WYMAN'S REPORT.
The following is Prof, Wyman's eatalogue of the fragments of bones found in
Dr. Webster's furnace--
referred to in his testimony given to-day.
Catalogue of the fragments of bones taken from the ashes of the furnace in
Dr. J. W. Webster's labora-
tory atthe Medical College in Grove-street, and first seen by me Dec. 2,
1849 (Sunday).
The list of fragments of bones given at the Coroner's inquest is subjoined.
The present catalogue
includes the parts there enumerated, as well as others which were
determined subsequently to the Coroner's
inqnest.
The numbers which follow the names in the Coroner's list, are those which
designate the same parts in
the present vatalogue..
The figures on the skeleton will b® found to correspond with those in the
column. The white parts in the
out illustrate what is wanting to make a perfect skeleton; the black parts
are those which were found in
PibŁ' W.'s laboratory.
No. on Coroner's list. No., on new list. No. on Coroner's list. No. on new
list.
1. Fragments of cranium, 7 8. Right Astragaluo, 24
2. Fragments of the orbit of the eye, 1 9. Right Os Calcis, 23
3. Two fragments of the lower jaw, 11 1.0. Fragment of the Atlas, 12
.1: Fragments of a humerus, 14 11. Cervical vertebrie (boy united with
a. Tip of the oleeranm process of the the Atlas, since detached), 12
Ulna, 15 12. Phalanx of a toe, 3o
6. Terminal phalanx of a finger, 19 13. Fragments undetermined, 36
7. Fragments of a Tibia, 21
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