The Ottawa free trader. [volume] (Ottawa, Ill.) 1843-1916, 1860-05-26
Science Aiding Justice.


The facts embodied in the following n;
rration, i'll connection with recent mul
der trial, show the value of scientific a,
quirements and are of exceeding interes
to large class of our readers:
| traveller was found dead in his bed
one morning, at a country tavern, Hi
| throat was cut at the side the instrumen
having pierced the carotid artery; tn
victim had been for some time wasting
away by disease. The landlord was one 0
the most influential and highly esteemee
persons in the neighborhood, was exten
sively and well connected, and had a larg,
and interesting family. Having been seei
! very late at nj 2ht passing through the hal
into which the travellers door opened. the
! suspicious Of certain persons were aroused
and upon being taken into custody, pen
knife was found in his pocket, with -appa
rert blood stains on the large blade, anG
something similar on the ivory handle
The knife was placed in the hands of al
| expert physiological chemist, for examina
ticn The stain was foun1 to be of blood
and not Of iron rust or paint, as it con
tained albumen and animal fiber The
blood on the ivory handle contained
large amount of iron, that on the blade
comparatively lite As human blood
centalns ten times as much iron as that OF
animals, it seemed certain that the knife
III question could not have entered a hu
man body; still there was a doubt, be
cause in slow diseases there is great def
cit OF iron in the blood, which deficit is q
not unirequent cause of death.
But as the blood on the ivory handle
had the full amount of iron for man in
vigorous health, 10 seemed to show that
there were two different kinds of blood,
one human certainly, the other possibly SO.
Hence another mode of inquiry was pro
posed. The blood OF animals and men
crystalizes, but in different forrns-that of
man represented by perfect square
heightened cube called prismatic; that OF
animals. by the cube, tetrahedal, or seve-
r.l-sidod hexagonal This analysis entire
ly removed the doubts connected with the
proceeding, for it demonstrated that the
blood on the blade was that Of lower ami
NAL, and that Oh the handle was certainly
human
4 third line Of inyesti cation was pursu-
ed. -Alfthe inner surfaces of the human
body are covered with glairy look ing flu
III called "mucus, which is differently
constituted, according TO the part Of the
body from which it Is taken. A. observed
through microscope, that which Is found
abou, the upper part Of the throat pre-
seEts the appearance of 4 pavement of
bricks Of square pieces, hence II l. called
" tcsselated The mucus form some other
parts is conical, looking like pavement
made Of round pieces, fiattened. y third
kind, coming from the intestiues, seems
hairy, cilliated, waving as the tops of long
grass under the influence OF the wind
Examining the blood on the handle, which
was now known TO bc that of Il human be
ing, it was found not TO present the pave
inentlike appearance, but IT did clearly
show the wavy lines; il could not, there
fore, have come from the throat and as
the traveller had no wound except that on
the throat, and the blood on the blade
was clearly animal blood and nst human
no part OF the blood on the knife could
have been that of the unfortunate traye-
Ter. and therefore the landlord wls dis
charged, when he gave the following state
meut
Some DAYS ttfore, VII. out hunting he
killed several squirrels. and stopped to cut
u switch with a knob at the root, on which
TO string his game; the knife slipped as he
cut upwards and il penetrated the alb
dOmcn. IN his haste he wiped the knife
clean with some leaves. closed the blade.
and in attempting TO put it into his pocket
II fell on the ground. he picked tup and
directed his steps homeward In few
minutes one of the squirrels slipped OFT
he pierted it through with his knife. strung
il on the switch. and had not used the
knife since. This was plausible. and he
showed the wound. not Yet entirely heal
ed but this could easily have been made
10 answer an object The physiologist
therefore proposed as mere matter of Gu
rious interest TO examine the blood on
the blnde and also that on the handle
That on the handle was wayy, cilliarv,
with the largest amount of iron, showing
that il must have beeen from man of ro-
bust health, and the mucus from the alb
domen j, always cilliary and never tesse-
lated Again. the blood adhering 10 a
knife penetrating a living body coagulates
that entering a body already dead new
cr does The blood on the blade. already
shown TO be that of a mere animal, WAS
now found to be incoa culable Hence.
that on the blade was shown to be the
blood of a mere auirnal already head; that
on the handle was the blood of a man in
vigorous health, and could not have come
from the throat. and almost certainly came
from the abdomen. When the knife tell
on the ground, the handle touched some
OF the leaves with which II had Just been
wiped Thus the chain OF evidence for the
landlords innocence was unbroken and
perfect. The real culprit was subsequent
IL found, tried and executed, confessinc
his guilt.
1t is certain that, in the progressive
march Of science and art, the unchange-
able laws of nature will be better under
stood-correcting the errors and fallacies
of human judgment; and the testimony of
Science will thus aid Justice in forming
her opinions and enabling her to give her
decisions wih her eyes oprn.