Trial of Professor John W. Webster : for the murder of Dr. George Parkman in the Medical college, November 23, 1849. Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk, March term. Present Chief Justice Shaw, Associate Judges Wilde, Metcalf and Dewey. Counsel for the Commonwealth - Hon. John H. Clifford, George Bemis. Counsel for the Defence - Hon. Pliny Merrick, E. D. Sohier / Stenographic report, carefully revised and corrected.

  • Webster, John White, 1793-1850
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Trial of Professor John W. Webster : for the murder of Dr. George Parkman in the Medical college, November 23, 1849. Supreme Judicial Court for Suffolk, March term. Present Chief Justice Shaw, Associate Judges Wilde, Metcalf and Dewey. Counsel for the Commonwealth - Hon. John H. Clifford, George Bemis. Counsel for the Defence - Hon. Pliny Merrick, E. D. Sohier / Stenographic report, carefully revised and corrected. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    wiil destroy (he gIol)ii!es iu blood beyond the power of microscopic action, A pair of panta- loons and slippers were brought to me from the laboratory, and were supposed to have upon them some drops or splashes of blood. 1 discov- ered diU 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 (ound on the fl.ior of ttie laboratory. [Here the slippers and pantaloons were exhib- ited to the jui v.] There is an indication which satisfied m3 that the blood did not fall down apon the pantaloons. I came to this conclusion from tbe'laci thai the drops or splashes are flat and were not in the elongated form which drops of blood would manifest when falti »g aloiif' a perpendicular sill face; the blood drops are on the left leg of the pantaloons; the name of Di Webster is on the lining of the pantaloons; the paper which I now exhii)it was given to me by one of the officers in the laboratory; there is a drop of blood. Here Dr. Wyman exhibited the bones taken ■^ritti the slags from ihe fari;ace to the jury tel- ling what part of v/hat bone h exhibited illus- trating hisremarks by the use ot the diagram, alltided to ia another part of our report. Are satisfied that the hones which I exhibited con- siilat9_the main portions of the right half of the lower jaw of a very old subject tlie teeth are all missing, three large grinders of the right jaw are missing and their sockets filled up indica- ting a persotj advanced in years. There is a great resemblance between the form of the bones of the jaw, when placed in apposition—and the plaster cast made by Dr. Keep. Among these parts of bones 1 do not find any duplicate; they are all fragments of the bones of one and the same bodv; on each side of the pxvi of a well developed subject there are 8 teeth, viz :—2 incisors, 1 cuspid, 1 bicuspid, and 4 molars; the three molar teeth or grinders were absent in the parts of the jiw discovered. Cross examination. I have examined the brick taken up from the laboratory floor, on the suspicion that some l)lood had percolated the crevices between them; did not find any blood on them; there was none on the mortar; did not examine the sand; I saw a hole between the ribs of the chest or thorax; the flesh was torn near the pole, which might have been caused by cutting the cartilage of the sternum; a drop of blood falling from the heiijht of three feet, and striking a vertical surfice, would trickle dov/n, and would not be splashed as it is on the pantaloons. After the first 48 hours^ the blood woald assume a dark broww Ime- af- ter which, it would not chanse. ev«n zi\r .r/^>i;_ The hue of the blood on tfie pantaioons antl slippers was somewhat obscured by being on a dark ground. Dr. Wynaaa'g Repert« The following is Prof. Wyman's catalogue of the fragments of bones found in Dr. Webster's icmace—referred to in his^testimony, giiren on Thursday. Catalogue of the fragments of bones taken from the ashes of the furnace in Dr. J, W. Webster's laboratory, at the Medical College in Grove street, and first seen by me December 2, 1849 (Sunday.) The list of fragments of hones given at the Coroner's inquest is subjoined. The present catalogue includes the parts there enumerated as well as others which were determined subse- quently to the Coroner's inquest Tbe numbers which follow the names in the Coroner's list, are those which designate the same parts in the present catalogue : No en Coroner's list. No. on new list. 1. Fragments of cranium, 7 2. Fr gmentd of the orbit of the eye, 1 3. Two fiagmeiits of itie lower jaw, 11 4. Fragmei ts of a humtrus, 14 5. Tip of the olecranon process of the Ulna, 15 6. Terminal phalanx rf a finger, 19 7 Fr^igments of a Tibia, 21 8. Ri-:lit Asiragalus, 24 9 Right Os Cakis, 23 10. Fragment of the A las, 12 11. Cervical vertebra (body united with the Atlas, since detached), 13 12. Philanx ot a toe, 30 13. Fragments undetermined, 35 ^e-examination: received the fragmants Jan. 24th, 1850. Names of the bones identified, and the cha- racters by which tliey were determined. Those about which a question existed, are marked as doubtful. No. 1. Frontal, bone—Outer angle of the or- bit, left side—on this may be seen the outer portion of temporal ridge. Part of the cavity of the orbit. Supraorbital notch Part of the frontal sinus. (This is No. 2 of the Coroner's list.) No. 2. Temporal bone—Petrous portion of the left side. Internal auditory foramen. Jugular fossa. Carotid canal. Fenestra ovalis. No. 3. Temporal bone—Digastric fossa of the left side with a poniou of the ad- ditamentum of the squamous ja- ture. No. 4 Spherodial bone—Base of the great wing on the right side. Foramen rotund um. Foramen ovale. Spheroidal sinus. Midian canal. Suture. 7 No. 5. Temporal 6one—Mastoid process. Mastoid cells. No.. 6. Parietal bones. Two tables. Vascular canals. Glands of Sacchioni. No. 7, Two fragments of tlie Occipital bone— a Occipital protuberance. b Left lateral portion, with lateral sinus. Tlipsp fragments are continuous portions No. 7a. Fragments of cranium not deter- mined — some of them indicate fracture previous to burning. N. B.—A few of these were found during the second search of the ashes made at tlie Mar- shal's office. (No. 1 of tlie Coroner's list.)