The New York herald., 1876-02-05

which can be settled by mere glance;
but between the blood OF and animals, where all
the corpuscles and OF the FORM differ
ing only IN size Professor Richardson 10 equally con-
hdent OF his power to distinguish round disks Of GER
tain animals aud "illustrates the principle which
guides him in discriminating blood disks Of animals
with round corpuscles by suggesting that the bodies
may be aptly compared to different sizes OF shot "
Thus for instance, the red globues OF mans blood
nearly twice the size Of those Of the sheep and four
times those OF the musk deer No shot is per-
haps double the magnitude OF No and quadruple that
OF No. g.
Hence 1t follows that while we might be in doubt
whether the shot dssected out OF the body Of a
wounded man a No. l or a No 2 we could have no
hesitation after measuring IL with gauge in declaring
II was too large for No and t0rtiOrt for No s,
precisely the corpuscles Of mans blood might be
confounded with that of monkey, but are seen at
TO be too large for those OF an a sheep"
"In conclusion / submit that the result of my
perments prove that we are now able by the aid Of
high powers Of the microscope and under favorable
circumstances to positively distinguish stains pro-
duced by human blooo from those caused by the blood
of any Of the animals just enumerated-pig OK red
deer, cat, horse sheep and the goat"
Here Is a clear case OF suppressto verf and an at
tempt made by the mere jingle of sentences to create
position, while well established facts carefully
withheld which would have been fatal TO the argu-
ments offered by the writer.
1t may be state that the corpusces of hu
man blood be distinguished from that of the pig
OK &c, but II IS also well established and authen
ticated act tnat there are great number o animals
the corpusces OF whose blood cannot be Disseminated
from those OF man by any process yet known, and
among such animals the dog the constant companion
of man.
1t would be easy dispose Of the argument OF the
'shots," but reutation is unnecessary, Professor
Richardson has since writing his article confessed
writing that he suppressed facts which known
him, and thus falsely stated the issue 'iest i'm
proper should oe made of them in the defence Of
criminals" {"
Now, Colonel Woodward OF Washington has written
reply 20 the paper by Professor Richardson, which
should be read by those interested in this subject and
he therein states, after the careful measure
ments specially made for the purpose of testing this
question: that the red corpuscles in the blood OF man
and in that OF the dog absolutely undstinguishable
To quote Colonel WOodward's words:-'I have
thus thu @ shown tna1 we are not usuhed' either BY
supposed TO favor the possibility OF doing So
in attempting TO distinguish between the blood Of
and that OF the dog by The measurement Of their
red corpusces and concludes with the expression OF
the opinion ''lf the microscopic summoned scien
thc expert TO examine suspected blood stains should
succeed in making out the corpuscles in such way
TO enable him TO recognize them to DO circular disks,
and TO measure them, and should find their diameter
comes within the limits possible for human blood, his
! duty in the present state Of knowledge is
/ clear He must of course in his evidence present
the facts actually observed, but he is not justified
to stop here. He has right to conclude his test-
mony without making II clearly understood by both
judge and jury, that blood from the dog and several
other animals would give stains possessing same
properties, and that neither by the microscope by
any other means yet known 70 science the expert
determine that stain IS composed OF human blood
and could not have been derived from any other
source. TINS course is lmpeIasSely demanded OF him
by common honesty, without which scientific experts
may become more dangerous TO society than the very
! criminals they are called upon 70 c9nyict"
In the reception Of evidence relating TO this subject
IL is clearly important that counsel should test the
qualifications OF the expert the extent OF his special
knowledge as a microscopic the quality of his instru
! ments and his method OF using them. For instance
he should stete the length Of time that be has
microscope and the name OF its maker the objectves
employed, who made them and when purchased The
date of their manufacture is important objects
be seen with modern l5 objective which formerly
I quired the employment OF 1-l6 The expert should
also be questioned respecting hts micrometer and his
ability 10 use II properly.
AS the stains OF blood are usually submitted for
examination IN dried state, some solvent must bc
employed, and the witness should be closely questioned
on that subject because corpusces changed both
In form and size when in contact with liquids foreign
to their nature.
! Much depends upon tho liquid used Water renders
the corpuscles very transparent and family visible
only by their outline their size will be increased and
some may assume oval form, while others will be
seen ~ fragments in consequence Of their having burst
Dilute acid acts nearly the water but is
rapid IN its action, while solutions of neutral salts act
exosmotically, rendering them smaller, more attened
and producing wrinkles and folds and granular appear
ances in the enveloplng membrane.
II recommended that solution OF bichloride of
potash be employed, which has remarkably slight
action on the corpuscles and by dgesting the blood
stain in solution Of this salt and placing II under
bell glass Tor some hours the red corpusces can be
detached with a cames hair pencil and be examined !;
the smaller corpuscles, which the Oldest show the
strongest tendency to maintain their original shape
AS staining 10 sometimes employed, that will also be
proper subject OF inquiry and will further test the
knowledge of the expert
Will close my advice to counsel by one more hint and
that is 70 inquire in what number the corpuscles wcro
found-if in large quantities merely a few because
IN the latter case quite possible they be spores
OF fungi which closely resemble the red corpuscles
Of blood that they cannot be distinguished from them
Croton water, nnd, abounds in such organisms, and
stain from raspberry which had been washed out
with Crotou would undoubtedly present forms that
might be mistaken for blood corpusces, but they would
not be found in great numbers
Lastyan observation of Professor Richardson forces
me 10 discuss a point which / believed previously
needed no examination Professor Richardson states =
'Ordinary in criminal the microscopst called
upon to determine whether particular specimen
human, distinguished from all other kinds of blood
but TO discriminate simply between the blood corpusces
<, a
sheep and establish disproye the defendants
story as to how his clothing or other articles became
stained with blood"
Surely the Professor is in in making such
statement Probably in case where the prisoner had
volunteered statement as 10 the nature of the stain
an expert might in the FIRST instance be asked
II the stain was such as the accused represented,
but such question would certainly be followed by
another, which would undoubtedly be, "Is the stain
that OF human blood? ~ The Jury would require nfor
nation absolutely what had caused the stain and
not what had not done so, and although judicIous
cross-examinaton might endeavor 10 draw from the
witness confession that the stain might be what the
accused stated II TO be, the prosecuting counsel would
hold him 10 tho single statement that the stain was
absolutely that Of human blood If the witness will
ing TO swear to such fact.
The Professor dsdains the caution OF Taylor who
states there certain methods of distinguishing
microscopcay chemically the blood Of a human
being from THAI OF animal when IL has been
dried upon article OF clothing and of Virchow and
Bracke, that no microscopist hold himself just-
lied IN putting IN question mans life on the uncertain
calculation OF blood corpuscles ratio Of contraction
OF drying" For himself he ''would remind those who
uea OF mans lie 10 nang upon
sucn seemingly Insignificant circumstances as a differ
ence in size OF blood corpuscles' ''of the excessively
trivial amount OF arsenic, too small TO be estimated by
the most delicate balance being sufficient TO bring out
the crime OF murder -
apprehend that the true value of medical evidence
relating to blood stains Is placed upon sound
and satisfactory footing which, far from imperilling
the cause OF justice will Ia future, by rendering such
testimony reliable mako IL proportionally ef-
iective; but whatever results, the truth must be
told.
Goss an esteemed naturalist and microscopic,
fha in xvlt. rfcar
ried the conviction OF man who without the micro
scope testimony, would have escaped" On that trial
no direct evidence produced and the verdict
turned upon stain found upon knife belonging to
the prisoner The expert swore that n was human
blood, and possibly was correct but consider what in
justice could be done II such evidence was always ac
cepted as conclusive Suppose a commits mur-
der, and nnding susDicion nxcd upon him plunges a
knife the property OF another person. into stray dog
and allows the blood TO dry upon the bade he then