The Sun.
London, England, 1865-01-23 00:00:00

Remarkable Photographic Experiments.

The Florence correspondent of the Morniny Post, writing
on the 7th inst., reports the details of most remarkable
photographic experiments on the eye of a murdered per-
scn. It appears that on the 13th April, 2d June, and 22d
of August last year, three murders were committed in
Florence, in almost precisely similar circumstances, the
victims in each case being lodginghouse keepers. In each
case the corpse was discovered lying on the floor, with the
throat cut from ear to ear, a pool of blood below her head,
but only there—no marks of blood in any other part of the
room—and a pocket-handkerchief, the property of some
one unknown, close to her person. The trinkets and money
which she was supposed to have about her had disappeared,
as well as other articles in the house. As nu cries had been
heard by the neighbours, the conclusion come to by the
Florence police was to the effect that the murder had been
perpetrated, in all probability, by two assassins, who had
obtained admittance into when the house the poor woman
was alone, under the pretext of wishing to see and hire her
rooms ; that one of them had suddenly thrown a pocket-

handkerchief over her mouth and brought her to the
ground, and that, when thus held fast and her cries effec-
tually stifled, his accomplice had cut her throat. Such
was the conclusion come to by the police, and, in parti-
cular, by its chief officer—the Capo Commesso di Publice
Vigilanza, Leopoldo Viti—who, amongst other steps taken
by him in each case, applied to the higher administra-
tive and legal authorities on whom_ he was de-
pendent for permission to have the eyes of the.
murdered woman photographed—an application which,
in the belief that the granting it could lead to no
practical result, was twice refused. Suspicion meanwhile
pointed to a young man, Benjamino do Cossimo, who on
the occasion of the first murder suddenly disappeared from
Florence, and was known to have re-aypoared at the time
of the third murder. He was arrested, and in his possession
were found articles belonging to the last murdered woman,
Emilia Spagnoli, and a blood-stained knife, the blood
freshly shed. -lle now awaits his trial. Meantime the
application by the Chief of Police in the third case was
granted, and the experiments, with the results, are thus
reported by the correspondent :—Under the direction of
Marabotti, the examining judge, or Giudice d'lstruzione, a
series of photographic experiments have been carried on,
not for the special purpose of furnishing additional criminal
evidence for conviction (as the other evidence, with that
view, is believed to be superabundant), but in order to es-
tablish a general principle, or law, of universal or very fre-
quent application. Emilia Spagnoli was found lying on her
left side, her large, glazed right eye being turned upwards.
The eye was photographed immediately after her decease.
The photograph then taken has been reproduced in a
greatly magnified form, so greatly magnified as to allow the
lineaments of a human face, two inches in length, to stand
out distinctly from the same. When I mention that
Alinari, the first photographer of Florence, and indeed
possessing a European reputation, was the artist by whom
the work was executed, I need say nothing more as a
guarantee of the fidelity and care employed on the occasion.
From the tracing of the dint and nebulous outline, as actually
found on the eye, to the completed outline of the face executed
from that tracing by an artist who had never seen Benja-
mino do Cossimo, or any portrait of the man, and, again,
from that completed outline to the two photographs
of himself found in his possession at the time
of his arrest—the transition, whether viewed as an
artistic study or as a great question of medical jurispru-
dence, opens up inquiries of unsurpassed interest and im-
portance. lam not, indeed, prepared to affirm that the
first tracing in the series, as shown to me yesterday, by
the courtesy of the Judge of Instruction, Signor Marabotti,
at his official chambers, so completely resembles the photo-
graph of the living man, that were I placed in a jury box,
my verdict would be determined by the belief in their
identity, but of the following fact there cannot be the pos-
sibility of a doubt. Whatever there is of marked, promi-
nent, individual in that first nebulous profile has an exactly
corresponding feature in the likeness of the living prisoner.
A peculiar dilatation of the nostril, a depression in the
centre of the upper lip (Benjamino du Cossimo has lost
his two front teeth), an unusual elongation of the mouth,
a square but double chin, a certain massiveness about the
region of the cheek-bone, and the outline of a whisker, are
common to both. I purposely confine myself, in the pre-
sent letter, to a simple statement of facts—of the circum-
stances under which these murders were perpetrated, the
consequent photographic experiments instituted, and the
result obtained, of which I was myself yesterday an eye-
witness. There aro very distinguished anatomists—per-
sons, too, deeply versed in all the laws of optics—who
affirm that the whole thing is a mere freak of nature, to
which no importance whatever should be attached. .

I am happy to add that Signor Marabotti, with whom,
from his official position, the prosecution of those in-
quiries rests, has evidently brought to his task a spirit,
worthy in all respects of a countryman of Galileo. The
photographs, with all the accompanying and illustrative
details, have been transmitted not only to the medical col-
leges of Florence, but also to the medical colleges of
Naples and Milan;, and, by the authority of the Prefect
of Florence, Count Cantelli, a series of photographic ex-
periments will be instituted on the eyes of the patients in
the hospital immediately after their decease.

A SO3IEnSETSHIRt MYSTERY.—For the last few
days the good people of Yatton have discovered
that
a mysterious agency is at work in their parish, an d high
and low, clergy and laity, have as yet been unable to
ex-
plain the matter. On the road loading from Yatton to
Cleeve, and not far from Hollow Mead, is a detached
cottage, inhabited by a family named Beacham, and it
appears that a few nights ago one of the children, a little
boy, was heard by his parents, whilst in bed, making a
noise as if driving away a cat or a dog. He complained
that something was scratching at the bed clothes, and a
search was made for the intruder, but its whereabouts was
not apparent. On the following night the scratching was
continued, and now a loud rapping succeeded that was
plainly heard by all in the house. Puzzled as to the rea-
son of the noises, the Beachams mentioned the subject to
the neighbours, and they having visited the premises heard
the noise likewise, and, after a rigid investigation acknow-
ledged themselves unable to solve the mystery. As might
be expected, an affair of this nature soon spread through
the whole of the village, and crowds flocked together
to listen to the raps, which became louder and louder.
Nor was the excitement confined to the humbler class,
for the vicar of the parish, the Rev. H. J. Barrard,
and Mr. Hurd, amongst others, proceeded to the spot, and
d
having listened to the rappings and scratchings,
themselves in the dark as to the reason forthe disturbance.
On On Sunday, to crown the ghostly noises, shrieks
laughter were audible, while the raps continued unabated.
One One peculiarity in this matter is that the soundsiht,
and before
frequently heard in the morning than at night,
bwrieiaokflaissttentimtoe
tthheemeowttg villagers,
has been well
almost needless to add that the ballysitnos
gnagirsthl startlednde .
breathless is
file
d
is increased. Sometimes
of accounting for the manifestation
of raps resembling the
searched, and there being no other house near, the difficulty
there will be hoard a sharp seriest
and the scratching
will seem to be like
violent blows struck
with
boy with whom the matter com-
mencedclapping of hands, and thhoun
prevails constantly.
mingled feelings of awo,pity, and
is regarded with stoheutsosutinedsk,
dread, as in some
is, measure the cause of the uproar, and sure
enough where he m
ealthough narrowly watched, it would
Cease dtk k* " 13 •
a 1:10C Illg. rt.sto
idle to exclaim, e
be quite
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