Licence: Public Domain Mark
Credit: Principles of forensic medicine / by William A. Guy and David Ferrier. Source: Wellcome Collection.
Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.
60/630 page 42
![witli minerals, tlie entire trunk of a human body, the left thigh, a hunting-knife, and a piece of twine of the sort used in the labo- ratory. Ou the left side of the chest a penetrating wound was discovered; and to this the death was attributed. These portions of a human body being found in a medical college, it might be alleged that they were parts of a dissected subject: but this was shown not to be the case, for the vessels were free from all trace of the preservative fluid always employed in that college. They contained neither arsenious acid nor chloride of zinc. It was further proved that the joints had been severed by a man having some anatomical knowledge, and some practice in dissection. The fragments of the body, when put together, fitted accurately. The third and fourth lum- bar vertebrae coincided; the right thigh, on being placed in apposition with the iDclvic portion, the bones, muscles, and skin, corresponded per- fectly; so also with the left thigh and pelvis, and the left leg and thigh. The fragments, therefore, belonged to the same body; and it was shown that there were no duplicate members or bones. By putting the parts together, and measuring them, they were found to be 57^ inches long; and adding three inches for the length from the outer malleolus to the sole of the foot, and ten inches from the crown of the head to the base of the sixth cervical vertebra, the length was brought up to 701 inches, the exact stature of Dr. Parkman, as proved by his passport. As to his age. Dr. Stone stated that, judging from the skin, hair, and general appearance, the body belonged to a person from 50 to 60 years of age, and that the amount of ossification of the arteries would indicate that he was nearly or quite 60 years old. Dr. Parkman was about 60. The question of sex was not raised, as the parts of generation were found attached to the pelvis. Thirty-five fragments of bone were found, and among these three which, when put together, made up the greater ]>art of the rio-ht half of the lower jaw, and enabled Dr. Wyinan to ascer- tain tliat the teeth from the coronoid process to the first molar, or bicuspid, were wanting. To obviate this defect, a dentist had been applied to, not long before Dr. Parkmau's death, to supply him with mineral toeth, These were fouud with the debris of the bones](https://iiif.wellcomecollection.org/image/b21965183_0060.jp2/full/800%2C/0/default.jpg)
