A handy-book of forensic medicine and toxicology / by W. Bathurst Woodman and Charles Meymott Tidy.

Date:
1877
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A handy-book of forensic medicine and toxicology / by W. Bathurst Woodman and Charles Meymott Tidy. 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.

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    the dress. In some cases, as of gun-shot wounds, the several layers might be removed together, by cutting round and outside the openings in the various articles of clothing, by a similar manoeuvre to that recom- mended in the case of wounds. In the Schleswig-Holstein war, Mr. L. S. Little found a Dane wounded by a bullet through seventeen different layers of as many garments. The poor man had apparently worn all his wardrobe, just as the father of the Poet Coleridge is said to have worn the relays of shirts with which he was furnished by his wife ! The clothes should be preserved under lock and key, with an appropriate label or inscription. In the case of Rynwick or Pen wick Williams, tried in July, 1790, well known by the appellation of “ The Monster,” for assault- ing Ann Porter, spinster, the indictment set forth that he did “tear, spoil, cut, and deface her garments, viz., one silk gown, value 20*.; a pair of stays, value 5s.; a silk petticoat, value 5s.; one other petticoat, value 5s.; a linen petticoat, value 5s.; and a shift, value 5s.” It would appear that Miss Porter received a wound on her hip, for Mr. Tomkins, a surgeon who attended her, deposed, “ that the wound was made with a sharp instrument, which appeared to be the same that had injured the clothes. He had examined the clothes, all but the shift; the first part of the wound was only through the skin, the middle part was at least three or four inches deep, and then it ran about three inches more through the skin only—the whole length of the wound was between nine and ten inches. Part of the blow was below the bow of the stays, if not, it would probably have pierced even the abdomen. The blow or wound must have been with great violence.” It is somewhat strange that the prisoner, who was tried a little later for eight other similar assaults, and convicted on four, should not have been tried for the wounding. The object probably was to save his life. He was tried under an Act passed in the 6th of King George I., against cutting and defacing of garments, &c., and Mr. Justice Buller, though he said this was the first case tried under the Act, said also that it was notorious such cases were very common. N.B.—Although a shot or knife wound must usually traverse clothes to reach a covered part, yet fatal injuries may be inflicted, and leave no mark on the dress. See Illustrative Cases. D. The surroundings of the wounded •person shoidd be carefully examined. We have before advised you to make a rough sketch of the position of the body in the case of murder. See Fig. 1, page 7, and Taylor, loc. cit, vol. i., p. 491. But if called to a wounded person, even if you have no time to make a sketch, you should note carefully the position in which he is. If there are bystanders, inquire if the person or corpse have been moved. Examine the surrounding furniture and the floor for marks of a struggle [disordered or broken furniture], and for spots of blood. It might be well in many cases to cut out the marks of blood with a sharp knffe if on wood, and to scrape them off or dig them up if on stone, bricks, or earth. If the stains are on bedding, [linen sheets, or blankets, towels, &c.], these articles should be taken away entire and examined at leisure. In giving evidence on such matters it is best to confine yourselves to simple matters of fact. In an instance recorded by Dr. Taylor, a medical witness said that there were evidences of a severe struggle. On being cross-examined, however, it appeared that a broken glass and an overturned chair wore almost the only facts on which he based this assertion. In the case of Reg. v. Gardner, the sweeps wife