The mountain Democrat., 1863-02-21
science Aiding Justice.

1 ltiAit otiNN halS NdlNO WI ENAN'h'bS
requirements, and are Of exceeding inter-
est tU large class of our readers,
A traveller was found dead in his bed,
one morning, at q country tavern. His
throat was cut at the side, the instrument
having pierced the carotid artery; the
victim had been for some time wasting
away by disease. The landlord was one
of the most influential and highly esteem
ed persons in the neighborhoOd, was ex-
tenSivcly and well connected, and had
! larsE m interesting family. Having
been seen, very late at night, passing
through the hall into which the travellers
door opened, the suspicious Of certain
persons were aroused and upon being
taken into custody, a penknife was found
in his pocket with apparent bloodStainS
on the large blade, and something similar
on the ivory handle. The knife was
placed in the hands Of an expert physio
logical chemist for examination. The
stain was found to be Of blood, and not of
iron-rust or paint, as it contained alhumen
and animal fibre. The blood on the han
die contained large amount Of iron, that
on the blade c0u r *. :..:;t&y Miie. As
! bHnan 0cO0I IUG1IainS ten times ~ tG0ch
| iron as that Of animals. it seemed certain
that the knife in question could not have
entered human body; still there was q
| doubt, because in slow diseases there is u
great deficit Of iron in the blood, which
deficit is not unfrequcnt cause OF death.
But as the blood on the ivory handle
had the full amount Of iron for man in
vigorous health, it seemed to show ~
there were two different kinds of bio5Cl
| the one human certainly, the other posi-
bly, SO. Hence another mode of inquiry
was proposed. The blood of animals and
men chrystalizes, but in different fornS-
that Of men repr eSented by a perfect
square heightened cube, called priSmatic;
that of animals by the cube, tetrahcdul,
or severalSided hexagonaI. This analysis
removed the doubts connected with the
| preceding one, for it demonstrated that
the blood on the blade was that of lower
animal, and that on the handle was Ger
tainly human.
\ third line Of investigation was pur-
| sued. All the inner surfaces Of the hu-
man body are covered with a glairy-look
| ing fluid called "mucuS," which is differ
emily constituted according to the part of
the body from which it is taken. As OBJ
served through microscope. that which
is found about the upper part of the
throat presents the appearance Of a pave
ment of brick or square pieces, hence it
is called tcsselatcd." The mucus from
other parts is concal, looking like pave
ment made Of round pieces ilattened. \
third kind, coming from thr intestincS,
seems hairy, ciiatrd, waving like the tops
of long grass under the influence Of the
wind. Examining the blood on the han
die, which was now known to be that Of
a human being, it was found not to pre-,
sent the pavementlike appearance, but it
did clearly show the wavy lines; it could
not, therefore, have comc from the throat,
and as the Traveller had no wound excerpt
that on the throat, and as the blood on
the blade was clearly animal blood and
not human, no part Of the blood on the
knife could have been that Of the unfortu-
nate traveller, and therefore the landlord
was discharged, when he gave the follow
ing statement:
Some days before, while out hunting, he
killed several squirrels, and stopped to
cut a switch with knob at the root, on
which to string his game; the knife slip
ped as he cut upwards, and it penetrated
the abdomen. In his haste he wiped the
knife with some leaves. closed the blade,
and in the attempt to put it in his pocket
it fell on the ground he picked it up and
directed his steps homeward In few
minutes one of the squirrels slipped off;
he pierced it through with his knife and
strung it on the switch, aud had not used
the knife since. This was plausible, and
he showed the wound, not yet entirely
healed; but this could easily have been
made 10 answer an object. The phy>iol
ogist therefore proposed, as a mere matter
OF curious interest, to examine the blood
on the blade, and also that on the handle
That on the handle was wavy, ciliary,
with the largest amount of iron, showing
that it must have.been from a man in rO.
bust health, and the mucous from the alb
domen is always ciliary and never tesS+l-
ated. Again, the blood adhering tn
knife penetrating a living body cnagu-
lates; that from body already d, all never
does. The blood on the blade. already
shown To be that Of Il mere animal. was
now found to bc incoagulrble Hence,
that on the blade was shswn to be the
blood of a mere animal already dead; that
on the handle was the blood Of man in
vigorous health, and could not have come
from the throat, and almost certainly came
Fl iom the abdomen. When the knife fell
on the ground the handle touched some
Of the leaves with which it had just been
wiped. Thus the cham of evidence for
the landlords innocence was unbroken
and perfect. The real culprit was SubSe-
quently found, tried and executed, con-
Tossing 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 with her eyes open.- Halls
Journal of Health.
THE Power OF SEA-WAvEs. Tho force
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