Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1890-03-13

"Taulbee's recovery was practically an i'm
possibility from the start" said DR.. Lamb this
morning to STAR reporter. "The result OF
the autopsy performed by me yesterday proved
that the course of treatment adopted by
his physicians was entirely correct. But the
case was quite hopeless. won't say that men
have never recovered from such wounds.
One man in 100000 possessed of vital
ity altogether extraordinary might pull
through under such conditions. but such case
would be a rare exception. The doctors were
right In not attempting to remove the ball. In
my opinion its removal would have only has
tened the patients death. Bear in mind that
it is not the wound itself which in such
the brain that supervenes The bullet,
entering below the left eve, splintered the
bone badly, and the conditions were immedi-
atey established for the creation of an abscess.
Inflammation set in, pus formed and the man 3
death was only matter Of days."
HOW IT WAS DONE.
"In what manner did you conduct your in
vestigaton of the case?'
"All autopsies in medico-legal cases are very
much alike. The first thing requisite is to
make a thorough examination of the exterior
of the body, making memoranda of any I'M
usual marks found upon it. In Taulbees case
the wound and the grains of powder embedded
In the conjunctlva membrane of the eyes were
noted; next the passages, as those of the nose
and throat, must be looked into, to make sure
that. there was no obstruction. A patient
chokes to death sometimes, and here is a aues-
ton of the cause Of death which is to be made
subject OF crOss-examination in court Of law.
After going through this performance intro
duced probe into the wound beneath the eye
to hnd ont its direction which was downward
and backward for about two inches. Then I
n nf he I'm -,
order to find out how things looked inside II
is very simple matter. All you have to do is
to remove the scalp by folding it away and use
the saw. The skull cap removed neatly took
out the brain and laid it aside. In full
view then was the whole interior of the skull.
which 1 could examine at my leisure, noting
the locality and extent of the fractures An
inspection of the brain itself showed the
presence Of pus caused by Inflammation. 1t only
remained now to make a thorough examine
tion OF the interior of the body-the thoracic
and abdominal cavities"
WHAT DIDN'T KILL HIM.
"Why should that be necessary? II was
nothing the matter with his thorax and abdo-
men that killed Taulbee"
ITO answer your question I'll refer you to
the old story Of the Irishman who, being asked
in court by the cross-examining attorney how
far the plaintiff in the case had tumbIed, re-
Plled that he had measured the dis
tance with tape line, and
that it was precisely 13J< feet The at
torney inquired for what reason he did such a
thing and the Irishman said that it was be-
cause he imagined that some i-n fool lawyer
would ask him that very question That is
exactly my case. shall be asked in court
what killed Taulbee, and it is necessary that I
should also know just what didn't kill him,
1t wouldn't do for me to have to
admit that didn't know whether he had heart
disease or net. So was obliged to inspect all
the vital organs and make sure that they were
sound. And now can go into court and swear
that there was only one possible cause of death,
namelv the pistol hall