Daily Kennebec journal., 1906-03-30
Regarding Effect OF the Bullet on the Power OF Mo-
tion, After Entering the Brain OF the
Late Young Charles N0rtiry.
Large Amount of Expert and Technical Evidence---
=-=Witness Will Probably Be on Stand All Day
Friday==-Mrs. Cooper More Cheerful.

The State put in n great deal Of val
| liable evidence Thursday in the trial OF
Mrs. Alice F. Cooper for murder, when
DR.. Frank n. Whittier, the bacteriolo-
gist from Bowdoin College, went on the
stand and as an expert explained the
! parts of the human brain and gave q
demonstration to the jury Of the parts
affected by a wound through the brain
such as young Charles d. Northy. Jr.,
is supposed to have sustained. Prof.
Whittier IS the chief medical expert
witness fer the government ana during
the four hours that he was on I'll"
stand it appeared that the State
brought out more valuable evidence
for the prosecution than has been given
during the whole preceding three days
and hall Of the week.
Prof. Whttier'S direct cXaminat ion
will be continued today, and he will
probably be turned over to Senior
Counsel Heath for the defence for the
purpose of crOSs-eXIminatiOn before
noon. and il is extremely doubtful if
ne is released from the stand until
Saturday.
The class of testimony given by this
witness is of the utmost Importance.
both to the defence and to the state.
The question of whether Charles
Northy, the alleged victim, was physi-
cally capable of material movement,
motion or locomotive power after the
entrance Of the bullet into the brain. or
whether he was instantly paralYZed
and incapacitated from even a musCu
lar contraction when he was shot, is
the paramount issue.
According to the theory Of the wit
ness Of yesterday. who bases his cal
culationS. it appears. upon his knoWl-
edge of the anatomy of the brain, his
archaeological researches and his sci
entific experiments. the internal cIp-
Sulos of the brain, certain third lor-
tons of which control the motor pow
ers of the human anatomy. were pune
turcd by the bullet which inflicted 4
wound that resulted in the death Of
young Northy.
True the witness has not 50 t"Gti-
fed, but the inference was drawn from
his explanation to the jury Of the pas
sage taken by 4 wire probe-like inStru-
ment. which to all intents and nur-
poses is supposed to represent the
course Of the bullet, according to the
States expressed opinion Of the char
acter Of the wound.
The all-important question then, to
be threShed out during the examination
Of the governments medical expert
witness is:
Can you swear that the bullet
punc.ured the right or left internal
capsules; and if so. which third was in
tho tQrinr thn middle the
posterior third"
The first two medical witnesses sum
moncd by the State. and who We're
subjected to a most searching and
thorough cross-eXamination, would nut
swear that the internal capsules were
injured by the bullet because the brain
had not been dissectcd. and as far as
they knew. the capsules had never
been seen by any living person.
1t now devolves upon the chief eX-
pert witness, the only recognized au
thority on the human brain and its
anatomy that the government has
called, to prove by scientific calcula-
tons. deductions and the result of eX-4
periments. that the vitality important
parts of the brain were severed
Such in few words is the present
status Of the case of state W. Mrs
Alice F. Cooper for the murder of !
Charles d. Northy, Jr. 1t must be un-
derstood that the whole defence and
the whole prosecution. does not rest
upon the evidence furnished by the
medical witnesses. but they play 4
largely important part in the case. and /
every inch in the direct and cross-ex- /
- y. ~, ,-tn t.-ity p
the trial, Prof. Whittier. is being fought
skillfully and without haste-for the
issue at stake is a great one:
"DiI the bullet sever either of the in
teriIal capsules of Charles Northy's
brain?"
Mrs. Cooper appeared to be more
cheerful yesterday and she passed a
fairly comfortable day, although at