CRIME AND THE DOCTOR.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3383, 18 July 1927, Page 7

CRIME AND THE DOCTOR.

Gruesome though the details of murders may be to the general public to the pathologist they are matter of fact affairs which must be pieced together by scientific and logical procsses, so that the cause and manner of death may bo decided on.

In cases where the identity of the deceased person, is not known, the observations of the expert pathologist on the external appearance of the deceased are of the highest value. The police take charge of the clothing and personal belongings, and register fingerprints. They also make note of all laundry marks, and other written matter. Tattoo marks', superficial cuts, tears and stains are carefully noted by the pathologist. The sex, apparent age, height, color of hair and eyes, complexion, number of teeth (with particulars of fillings and dentures, if any), the shape of the head, eyes, nose, ears, mouth, cheek bones, chin, forehead, hands, arms, legs and feet, together with warts, moles, and scars, are facts which may disclose the position in life, the occupation, or the nationality of the victim. The general appearance of the body and the state of decomposition help in deciding the probable time of death, as some organs disintegrate much more slowly than others.

' Bruises, being due to the loss of blood under the skin, may have been caused by injuries suffered either before or after death. Their presence, extent, nature, age, and position are of great importance in deciding whether they have been self-inflicted or otherwise. Death from strangulation by throttling or hanging leaves a bruise definitely distinct and totally different from the mark which is produced after death and made to mislead the examiner. Murderers sometimes try to make their foul work appear to be the result of suicide, by placing a weapon in the hands' of a victim, but the difference in the “grip’’ undeceives the practised pathologic . Open wounds are of special interest. Their size, nature and position help to decide the question of suicide or murder (accidental or otherwise), and the direction of a stab wound as ascertained by passing a probe has before now been the deciding factor in criminal prosecutions. Gun-shot wounds must be carefully scrutinised for scorching or burning of the skin and clothing, the point of entrance and exit of the bullet serving to show the direction from which the charge has been fired. Every internal organ is thoroughly examined for signs of disease, since it must he established in a charge of murder that death could not be attributed to any natural causes. The mouth, throat, air and food passages, linings of the stomach and bowels, are scrutinised for traces of inflammation, which may be caused by instruments or the action of poisons, while the contents of the food canal are submitted to chemical tests for the presence of minute particles of deadly metallic substances. It is the nature of these drugs to retain their chemical composition long after the organs which contained them' have decomposed beyond recognition. Though the anatomical parts may have been cut into sections in the most inexpert manner, and be found in differing and distant places, it has been possible from the existence of separate parts and the marks thereon to build up the history of a crime with such accuracy as to declare the probable age. sex ami height, so as to establish the identity of the victim and to bring to justice the person who committed the crime perhaps many .months previously.