SHARK-ARM INQUIRY

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 79, Issue 158, 9 July 1935, Page 7

SHARK-ARM INQUIRY

COULD VICTIM HAVE LIVED? DOCTORS GIVE EVIDENCE Received July 8, 11.20 p.m. SYDNEY, July 8. Giving evidence in the shark-arm inqijiry, .Doctor A. A. Palmer, Government medical ofiicer, said his impression was that the arm found at Coogee had come from a dead body, although he could not say for certain. He could not concede that the person from whom the arm had been removed was still alive. According to German literature on the subject, a shark’s digestion was very slow, and there would be nothing unusual in an arm remaining in the shark for a week without being digested. Questioned by Mr. Evatt, counsel for Brady, Dr. Palmer admitted the possibility that the person from whom the arm had come could still be alive, but added that he would find it hard to conceive that the person could be alive. Doctor V. Al. Coppleson supported the view that the person from whom the arm had come was unlikely to be alive. Mr. Evatt: But a man has lived after an arm has been torn off by a machine. Dr. Coppleson; That is a different thing from a cut, because the arteries act in a different manner. Mr. Evatt: If he received immediate medical attention, could he five? Dr. Coppleson; Yes, provided the arteries were tied at once. Annie Holmes, widow of Reginald Holmes, gave evidence along the lines of her statements ar the coronial inquiry relating to Brady’s visits to her late husband. The inquiry was adjourned till tomorrow.