Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1882-06-27
DEATH BY DROWNING.
Generally Accepted Theories I'm Re"
gard Thereto Exploded.

Philadelphia Special to the Globe Democrat.
An autopsy of drowning case just
made by members of the medical staff
connected with Coroners Janney's Of
fee explodes the theory Of the Malley
prosecution in reference to Jennie
Cramer's death, and is likely to lead to
revolution in that branch of medlco-legal
testimony which bears upon death from
drowning. The theory advanced by the
medical experts on behalf of the
Commonwealth, that the dead girl was
not drowned because there was no evil
dence of water in the lungs, is one that
has never been disputed, although fire.
quently members of the medical frater
nifty have been found doubling the
soundness of the proposition. Since the
Malley prosecution promulgated the old
theory, Prof. John Reese, the Coroner's
analytical chemist, professor of toxi-
cology in the University of Pennsylvania,
has given the subject considerable
thought and attention. Prof. Reese was
sought for by one of the attorneys for
the Malley boys for an expert in arseni
cal poisoning, but preferred to remain at
home. 1t is this, perhaps, that augment
ed the Professors interest in the medical
testimony. However, that may be, he
has been watching drowning cases very
| closely of late, and at last found what he
expected to.
On the evening of June IL, while pa
| trolling his beat at Delaware avenue and
Queen street, about half past 8 o'clock, a
Second District policeman observed an
old and decrepit woman in rags wander.
| ing aimlesslY along Delaware aveune.
She was clad in dilapidated calico dress
and scarcely anything more. Here feet
were bare, her gray hairs were unpro-
tected, and, to the surprise of the Of
| fcer, he found when he approached the
woman that she was sober. She told the
policeman that she wanted 10 go out
South street, and he took her to that
| thoroughfare, turned her head in the
right direction, and she started off west.
ward. The next morning very early her
body was found floating in the Queen
| street dock The verdict of the Cor
oner's jury was an unknown woman
| found drowned. 1t was impossible to
ascertain the old woman's identity, but
the evidence of drowning was undis.
puted. 1t being an opinion entertained
by the Coroner's physicians that the
length of time a body will remain under
the surface depends upon the quantity of
water taken internally, it was apparent
that this case was an excellent one to es
tablish or shatter that belief. On Friday
last Prof. Reese, accompanied by DR.. d.
Willis Cadwallader, who is also an at
| tache of the Coroner's office, and who is
also deeply interested in the subject, went
to the mOrgue and made a thorough ex-
| animation of the drowned woman.
Upon opening the body there was no
water whatever found in the lungs, nor
the slightest evidence of having been
there. Neither was there in the stomach.
There was a very slight congestion found
in the lungs, but from natural causes,
and the liver was considerably cirrhosed.
presumably caused by drinking. The
other organs of the body were compare
lively healthy. There were no marks of
abuse upon the body in any way, and no
evidence whatever of drowning. There
was not even anything in the gullet to in
dictate that water had passed the woman's
lips.
The physicians think that they
have discovered demonstration
of the falsity of the theory set
up by the Malley prosecution, and,
what is more important to them,
they feel that they are In position to
render some valuable aid to science
This one case convlnces DR.. Reese, be-
yond any doubt, that persons in jumping
overheard, especially from an eminence,
can come to death from suffocation or
shock, and without taking a drop of
water inwardly. The work begun by the
Coroner's physicians with such remarka-
bic developments will be continued, so
that repeated autopsies of drowning
cases may confirm or deny the medical
point raised by them. DR.. Reese said
that If his conclusions as to the cause of
death in the case of the woman found in
Queen street wharf had been drawn
from the autopsy alone, without any
other source of information, lie would
have pronounced it death from cirrhosis
of the liver, there being no evidence of
drowning about the internal organs.