Report of the case of John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of George Parkman, before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts : including the hearing on the petition for a writ of error, the prisoner's confessional statements and application for a commutation of sentence, and an appendix containing several interesting matters never before published / by George Bemis.
- Webster, John White, 1793-1850.
- Date:
- 1850
Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Report of the case of John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of George Parkman, before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts : including the hearing on the petition for a writ of error, the prisoner's confessional statements and application for a commutation of sentence, and an appendix containing several interesting matters never before published / by George Bemis. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)
101/662
![is, wherever there was a spot, there would be a spattering of this green fluid ; and this was more abundant at the bot- tom, or towards the lower landing, than at the top. It had the appearance of having been spilt on each stair, separately, and then of having spattered back upon the sides above ; it did not seem to have been spilt at the top, and then to have run down. [The witness pointed out on the model, the local- ity of these spots, which had previously been called to the at- tention of the jury, on the view.] The nitrate of copper is a deliquescent salt, contracting moisture from the air, and will remain moist, and fluid, a long time. The taste is astringent, like verdigris, and caustic. I have been requested, to make some observations on the effect of this salt upon human blood, but have referred the subject to Dr. Wyman. I was at the College, on Sunday afternoon, I think, when a pair of pantaloons and a pair of slippers were discovered, with what seemed to be blood, on them. I told the officer who found them, to keep them, and hand them over to Dr. Wyman; as I considered the microscope the best means of discovering the actual presence of blood. I was there, af- terwards, when Dr. Wyman cut pieces from the pantaloons and slippers, which had spots on them, resembling blood, for the purpose of making the examination. The punch-pieces, or pieces of copper found in the ash-hole, which appear to have been originally refuse pieces, punched in making holes at the copper-smith's, are the same article as those found, new, in the drawers of the back room, up stairs. Those taken from the ash-hole, have, undoubtedly, been used for the pur- pose of making nitrate of copper, as they show the action of the acid, by their thinness, and still bear marks of its presence. [The witness here produced several of these pieces, of about the size of a quarter of a dollar, with the nitrate of copper still adhering to them.] I cannot now find the pearl shirt-button, though I am positive of having once seen it, before it went into Dr. Gay's possession. The quantity of gold which I found in the portion of the contents of the furnace, submitted to me, was 45.6 grains. Found by Dr Gay, 47. And in a piece brought to me by Mr. J. L. An- drews, secretary of the coroner's inquest, 81.05 Total, 173.65 gr's. 7*](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21163194_0101.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
