Wilmington daily commercial., 1875-05-06

DAYS PhocEEDIN6s-FuRrHER TESTIMONY.
flecsal 10 the Commercial
Dover, Del, May, 8.
The case OF Stout Us. Killen was continued in
the Superior Court, to-day.
DR.. John ID. Reese who occupies chair in
one Of the Philadelphia colleges, and who is IL
physician of thirty years practice gave it as His
opinion that the child was born alive, and also
that it was positively alive after it was excluded
from it's mother and after the umbilica cord was
severed, and that it had not the slightest defend
ence upon its mother. The beating of the heart
he said was the best sgn--it cannot beat from
any other cause than its own inherent vitality.
breathing Ii not necessary for the existence of
life, although it is 30 for its continuance Chill
dren have lived and died without breathing.
From a close examination | am of the opinion
that this child did breathe mperceptibly. The
DR.. then went on to describe the operations of
the lungs and heart, and also stated the general
ordinary functions of life, and raid that when
child ID born into the world even before the
cord is cut virtually all connection with the
mother is at an end. When the cord is cnt it is
absolute and final.
Being cross-examined by MIR. Comegys, the
Dr. said that life cannot be prolonged more than
two minutes without aeration of the blood, but
with the placenta adhering TO the mother it
might live short time. The circulation before
the formation Of the placenta is different from
that after birth. After the formation Of the
placenta it is called the foeta circnlation which
continues until respiration eets in. 1t is the
aeration OF the blood that produces the red or
arterial blood, and keeps up life. Without much
figure the child in the womb may be said to
breathe through its mothers lungs, ~ they
aerate the blood and this blood goes to tho child
through the placenta.
Dr. Edwin H. g. Shoemaker, OF Dover, being
sworn, said that he could not see how there
could be eviderces of vitality and then be death.
lie stated it RS his opinion that the child was
born alive, and had distinct, Independent life
that it would not have lived so long without i'm
perceptible respiration.
DIR. Isaac Jump deposed that from the testi-
miony OF Drs. Goodall and Page there could not
be any doubt in his opinion THAT the child was
born alive or that it lived by its inherent vtali-
ty. He says he always considered child alive
until it's heart ceases to beat. He also said he
had had similal cases, and had revived some I'M
der similar circumstances, while others have
died.
DR.. Thomas Cahall, sworn IL is my opinion
that the pulsatons were from the connection of
the placenta with the mother | consider them
the result of the remainder OF foetal life after
the cutting of the cord there will still be a
stimulus from the original cause as soon as
respiration takes place a new circulation is es-
taflished before this the lungs are hepatyzed,
or compressed after respiration the blood is
lighter in color in the arteries in the foetus the
color of the blood is dark decided change
takes place after respiration have attended the
delivery of several hundred children; when can
not establish respiration, call it stillborn, but
j
no change takes place i'll the child until pnlmonic
circulation takes place; foetal circulation, after
the cutting the umbilical cord might continue |
some minutes before the childs death; from
what was stated think the cnd lived from the |
foeta circulation from the mother; had it resnir-
ed / think it would have been observable a child |
that dies in the womb does not less die than one |
after birth.
Court here took recess aud on the reassem-
bling DR.. Pages certificate tlat the child was |
still born was presented.
Dr. Ezekiel W. Cooper sworn If by Drs |
Goodell and Pages Testimony you mean the
Child had vitality it WAS living child, if you
mean it had the full complex organization in ac-
tion it was dead ; | consider foetal life to begin
with the blood, and continue 30 long as nourish-
ment ls derived from the mother it ceases |
when respiration begins Go not think that the
cutting the cord will necessarily destroy foetal
llfe ! 1t may continue some time after after the
severance of the nmbical cord there could be
no aeritication of the blood except by respira-
ton if tho child never breathed it could not |
have Its blood oXydized except through
the placenta; if the heart lad been III ac-
tive beating. and the cord cut without ligature,
there would have been danger to the child from
bleeding F.; il only two or three drops of blood
were thrown out. would suppore the heart to
be very feeble do not think child alive az
nm organization, unless it breathed
Being cross-examined he said that before the
severance of tile nmbilical cord it ia foeta cir
culation think L havo lad cases as long as
this case have had many weldeyeloped chill
dren to die from exhaustion / believe the
child was born aliye;ia child may be born alive,
have circulation, and die without respiration.
DIR. w. Ii. Cooper sworn after the severance
Of the cord the evidence of life may have been
the lingering Pickering life it had from its
mother ; the placenta aerifies the blood before
respiration : the only change was dimnution
of the vital powers it might breathe and
still die of mal-formation, and SO if it did not
breathe | would say it died of asphyxia;
do not call it living unless in tho
full exercise of all its functions.
This closed the testimony in the case, and Mt
|. 40 Mr.. Salisbury began his address to the
Jury. reviewing the testimony in the case, and
sitting numerous authorities in support of the
PLAINTIFF claim. He said that it was evident
from the fact that the father had sent the
,hild by express, in the night time, un
attended by any one, that he did not regard it
IS having lived life of humanity while the cer-
ifcate of the physician that the child was still
1orn proves that such was the case.
Judge Layton will follow Mr.. Salisbury to-
morrow.