Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1888-07-20
Expert Testimony

LDiIpis VIZ L HE ii SlNlAN A. - ~ L. \
GEON: At the inquest held over the /
body Of the supposed Mrs. Palmer, in
this place, lately. certain doctor
gave testimony of such profundity (?)
Of learning that it occurred to me that /
it would be valuable to the profession.
He says that he found the rings Of
the trachea softened or broken down."
aHd reasons that she Mrs. Palmer WGs
choked to death" can't see any other
way than by the hand" II am quoting
from his testimony aS published in the
Alma RECORD of February 10. 1855
Now, | claim that it is almost impossi-
ble for man, with his hands, to break
the rings of the trachea. | believe that
it occurs only when the rings of the
trachea are calciiied. Understand that
| am talking OF the trachea, and not of
the larylX. So Is deponent. The In
telnatioual Encyclopedia Of Surgery
gives only eleven cases in the whole
literature on the subject. Tidy, in his
Medical Jurisprudence, mentions
not case in which the rings were
broken. but does mention five cases III
which they were torn.
One may satisfy himself of the diff
Guilty of breaking Il trachea by trying TO
break the rings of the trachea of dead
dog, or by experimenting upon chick
ell S windpipe. Any force, furthermore,
sufficient to produce such an effect would
leave external marks. Tidy says. Vol
ume III, page 2G5, Given fractures of
the larynX. the application of enormous
force is indicated. | am compelled
to quote remarks about the iHy,r be-
cause the literature does not afford eX-
ampcS of such accidents in the tUcbcd.
But perhaps, after all, the witness
does not mean that the trachea was
broken, but rotted. Let MS assume that
that is his meaning. Now. you and
everybody else with good powers of
observation know that cartilage is sec
ond only to bone in indestructibility as
will witness the windpipe OF rOtting
fowl. The tissues around may have
been soft and SO may the membrane
between the rings, but not the rings.
He says that he found the left side of
the hyoid bone "loosened so that by a
little pressure it would pass under the
other side | do not know exactly
what he means by would pass under
the other side He had already said
that he found the head " twisted to the
left on shoulder" This would make
the maceration 60 on faster on the left
side, and the bone tcould become
loosened first in that side.
lie said, Il placed the lungs in water
to see whether there was blood in them;
if so they would sink" The blood, if
present. could be seen without that test.
and it is not possible for hGmorrage
so large to occur in the lung as to make
it sink. Understand me- am not talk
ing about the transudation of serum
into the lung. which. by its slowness,
might displace the air from the cells,
but of hRmorrage from violence The
specific gravity of water is 1000; of
blood, 1868: of lung. from 80 to 726
Gray, page s3l)-say an average of $50.
Blood is about one-twentieth heavier
than water; lung about half as heavy.
Will not that buoyancy of one-half
float a gravity of one-twentieth? The
lung would always contain sufficient air
to float itself and the blood. You can
not 10y any degree,of compression short
of crushing let SO much air out of the
lung that it will sink Lungs of unborn
or still-born babies will sink. because
they have never been inflated. So will
an PdematouS, collapsed. hepatized OF
tuberculous portions of lung. Works
on medical jurisprudence do not give
this mans test for pulmonary hGmor-
rage. 1t must be remembered, too.
that he is testifying with the evident
intention of proving that the deceased
came to her death by choking. This
alone would prevent the escape of all
from the lung.
He says, " think that the lung of a
person dying in natural way would
sink" OF all the foolish things that
ever heard of doctor or of a pro.
fessor saying, this is about the worst
Any boy in a grammar school ought tC
know better than that.
He says, " Did not see any blood OF
box or clothing" Had there beer
any blood on the body, it was so de
cayed that it could not he seem Any
man or woman ought to be able tC
teach this deponent that blood-stains
in garments or OH boards last for years
and every medical jurist can relate in
stances in which blood-stains have beer
identified as such by the spectroscope
long after they were made.
But here is the climax. lie says. .
found the upper portion of the bod!
very moist. while the lower portion wa