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.)
108/662
![After the trial-plates were obtained, the gold plates were then made, and fitted into the Doctor's mouth. The impressions, or fac-similes, of the two jaws, separately, being thus obtained, the next step, was to get their relative position, when in connection; or something, which should show, how they fitted together. For this purpose, wax was again applied to both his upper and lower jaw, and he then closed his mouth, so as to leave an impression of his two jaws upon different sides of the same piece of wax. Plaster was then run into the two impressions, and pains taken, before the moulds separated, to mark their relative position, by means of an articulation, as shown in the moulds exhibited. [The witness here produced a second mould, or cast, of Dr. Parkman's mouth, showing a repre- sentation of his upper and under jaw, as when the two were shut together. It consisted, like the other, of two pieces, re- presenting the upper and the lower jaw, but which fitted to- gether by means of the articulation, or coupling, spoken of, in one absolute position.] The relative connection of Dr. Parkman's jaws, (as shown in this model,) was a peculiar one. The receding of the up- per jaw, and the projection of the lower one, were strongly marked ; showing an unusual length of chin : differing, how- ever, in conformation, from that of others, who have merely a prominent chin. The next step, after obtaining a fac-simile of the jaws in the way spoken of, was to fit on the teeth to the plate, of the right length. The teeth, themselves, and what was to con- stitute an artificial gum, were made of the proper material, in a soft mass, like clay, and put into moulds, to bake or harden. Before baking, we have to make an enlargement, to allow for shrinking. The shape of Dr. Parkman's lower jaw, ren- dered this difficult. The teeth were then baked in a muffle, not exposed directly to the fire. The teeth, in the case of the upper jaw, where there were no natural teeth remaining, were, at first, made all in one set; which, before baking, was cut into three blocks, by separa- tions behind the eye-teeth. The lower teeth, also, consisted of three blocks, that were not made whole, at first, in conse- quence of the natural teeth. Of these lower blocks, the larg- est, or longest, was that, on the left side; the next largest, that, on the right side ; and a smaller block, of two or three teeth, in front, completed the set. All these three blocks fitted to one plate, and went into the mouth, together. The three upper blocks, were, also, all on](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21163194_0108.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
