SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 134, 8 June 1934, Page 8

SUMMARY OF FINDINGS

SIXTY-ONE HUMAN BONES. PATHOLOGIST'S CONCLUSIONS. A summary of the results of his pathological tests was given by Dr. Gilmour towards the end of his evidence yesterday afternoon. He said that of the bono exhibits that had been examined by him, 01 pieces were of human origin. Of these, 55 were from the skull and 52 were derived from the vault of the skull. He could distinguish them as skull bones quite easily from their structure. consisting of an inner and outer plate of hard bone, with spongy bone in between.

Witness placed these bones as human for the following reasons:—They agreed in thickness with the typical human skull; they agreed in the curvature, which was quite distinctive compared with that of all animals; there were well-marked impressions for the blood vessels. On the inside of the skull were small depressions known as pacchionian pits.

His Honor: Were all of the CI bones found by you to be human, burnt bones?— Yes, sir, every one of them. His Honor: The animal bones found— were they burnt?— All those we could definitely identify as animal bones were luiburnt except the fish bones. Pits of Some Importance. These pits were also of some importance in determining the age of the individual. They were not present at birth, and they gradually deepened with the advance of years. The depth of the pit in this case would suggest an individual in middle life. There was also the piece of skull bone known as tlie petrous bone, continued Dr. Gilmour. It was typical in every way with the human petrous bone, agreeing in size and in various markings. The last piece, part of the left cheek bone, agreed in all respects with the typical human cheek bones. "Are there any characteristic vertebrae bones?" asked Mr. Meredith. "Yes," said the doctor, "the most characteristic is the atlas. This is determined by the erect posture of man and it accordingly differs in sheep or the four-footed, animal where the head is carried forward. The right elbow joint is very characteristic. Man and the anthropoid apes are the only animals capable of rotating the forearm. The rotating movement is produced by the rotation of the radius on the humerus. We have both these in the exhibits and the head of the corresponding radius closely fits the corresponding piece of

humerus. Another characteristic bone is a piece of. liecl bone. The heel is only well developed in man and anthropoid apes and is better developed in man than in apes." Age and Sex Indications. Asked whether there were any indications by the bones of the age and sex of the individual Dr. Gilmour said there was definite indication as to age, the bones being that of an adult. Tha depth of the pacchionian pit in the skull bone would indicate a male in middle life. The bones which had been found gave no definite evidence of sex, but the attachments of the muscles were strongly marked and they were therefore probably male. The radius was that of a well-developed adult. "I have here the atlas of a human being, that of sheep, a pig and a dog,"' said Dr. Gilmour, in giving a demonstration to the jury. He said tha sheep's atlas differed with that of the human in that the sheep's was deeper and of bigger structure. The same could be said of a pig's atlas and a dog'.; atlas. Mr. Meredith: How do they sit?— They arc horizontal and quite different to the human. Piece of Human Ear. Dr. Gilmour said that amongst the other skull bones there were three with special characteristics and one of these was the petrous bone containing a piece of the internal human ear. There could be no mistake about that. Owing to the large size of the skull the bone wa> larger than was found in the animal skull. Witness brought several petrou* bones for comparison and showed the jury that the jjetrous bone of the human as compared with the petrous bone of th" gorilla differed, while he also showed how it differed entirely in every respect from the petrous bono of the sheep and pig. The horse and ox were similar to the pig and sheep and not similar in any way to the human.

Dr. Gilmour also demonstrated that the human internal occipital protuberance was definitely larger than in the gorilla, sheep or pig skulls.

Dr. Gilmour said that in his opinion the bones had been burned recently. Most of them were so fragile that they would not have stood exposure from the weather. None of them showed signs of weathering. The broken surfaces were freshly broken. One could not say how old the bones were. There was no impregnation of dirt with the exception of cow manure 011 some of them. The presence of charred matter on the surface of the bones indicated that they were not bare bones.