VALUE OF STAINS AND DIFFERENT IMPRINTS.
In the same manner that a very small portion or fragment of the human body may suffice to establish the corpus delicti, so will minute remains or traces, as finger-marks, footprints, and other material surroundings, even smells or traces of perfume, be of great assistance to justice in determining the identity of both culprit and victim, and at the same time throw light on the attendant circumstances of the deed. The traces of a bloody hand or foot, smears of tar or paint, the various spots or stains found on fabrics, instruments, etc., may involve questions of great nicety the relativity of which is apparent, especially in criminal trials. Newspapers have familiarized the public with many cases of the kind, in which medical experts have demonstrated blood and other stains with sufficient accuracy and positiveness to satisfy a jury. The Cronin case is a notable instance.
Imprints made by finger-tips are known to be singularly persistent. In four specimens of inked digit marks of Sir William Herschel, made in the years 1860, 1874, 1885, and 1888 respectively, though there was a difference of twenty-eight years between the first and last, no difference could be perceived between the impressions. The forms of the spirals remained the same, not only in general character, but in minute and measurable details, as in the distances from the centre of the spiral and in the direction at which each new ridge took its rise. Sir William Herschel has made great use of digit-marks for the purposes of legal attestation among natives of India.[595] The extraordinary persistence of the papillary ridges on the inner surface of the hands throughout life has been a theme of discussion by the Royal Society,[596] and Mr. Galton has devised a method of indexing finger-marks.[597]
The IMPRESS OF A NAKED FOOT covered with blood may serve to direct the investigations of justice. In a criminal affair in France, where eight individuals were implicated, comparative experiments upon the identity of the foot, made with a view to determine to which of the individuals ought to be attributed the bloody footprints found near a wardrobe, it was shown that a degree of recognition could be established on reproducing the footprints with defibrinated blood. From the eight imprints of the left foot of each individual, impregnated with blood, measures and comparisons could be made, thus helping to establish the difference or the resemblance with those found near the wardrobe.
Imprints thus obtained may be looked upon as a kind of documentary evidence, but too much importance should not be attached to them as articles tending to prove criminality. The futility of such evidence is shown in the varying sizes of different impressions of the foot of the same person—first in rapid progression, secondly by standing, and third by slow advance. The results appear less sure in the case of footprints made in mud, sand, dust, or snow. Nevertheless many facts relating thereto may be noted with great certainty. The question has been mooted as to whether or not the impress left upon the soil gives always the exact dimensions of the foot that has made them. One side has contended that the footprints are a little smaller, while the other refutes this opinion and thinks that they are a little larger. The consistency of the soil, which does not seem to have entered into the discussion, doubtless accounts for the small differences that have given rise to this discrepancy of opinion. The outline of the sole of the foot and the relative position of the toes are more or less neatly designed as the ground is more or less wet or soft. The means employed for taking impressions of foot or other tracks in mud, etc., show considerable ingenuity on the part of those who have elaborated the subject. To discover foot-marks in mud, powdered stearic acid is spread over the imprint and a heat of at least 212° is applied from above. By this means a solid mould may be taken of the imprint. These researches have been extended to the exact reproduction of imprints left upon snow by pouring melted gelatine upon the imprint previously sprinkled with a little common table salt, which rapidly lowers the temperature of the snow about fifteen degrees and permits the mould to be taken without too much hurry. The study has been extended to the configuration of the plantar imprints in tabetics, but it does not appear so far to be of much medico-legal value.
The question may arise as to the length of time since the imprints were made. This would, of course, depend upon many circumstances, as weather, temperature, and the like. It is a fact that in Greenland footsteps in snow have been recognized many months after they were made. A few summers ago, on an arctic expedition, I climbed Cape Lisbourne, Alaska, in company with another person. The ground being thawed in many places, our feet left very decided imprints in the mud. A year afterward I visited the same spot, and on again making the ascent was astonished to recognize the footsteps made the year before.
Circumstances sometimes direct expert attention to vestiges of other animals. The tracks of a dog or of a horse may become the object of a medico-legal inquest. The books record a case in which it was necessary to ascertain whether a bite had been made by a large or a small dog. This question was settled by producing the dogs and comparing their teeth with the scars. Persons familiar with border life know the importance of trails and the minute observation that is brought to bear on them by the experienced frontiersman. In following cattle-thieves and murderers, while with the Fourth United States Cavalry on the Rio Grande frontier, I have known the peculiarity of a horse’s footprint in the prairie to tell a tale of great significance.
Observation in this respect may extend to such apparently trivial objects as the tracks of wheels, as those of a wagon, a wheelbarrow, or a bicycle, or to the singular imprints left by crutches or a walking-stick. The imprint left in the ground by a cane usually occurs in the remarkable order of every two and a half or every four and a half steps. Investigation of such circumstances may result in material facts that may be of great assistance in establishing the relation of one or several persons with some particular act.
DEFORMITIES AND PATHOLOGICAL PECULIARITIES.
The existence of deformities or injuries is so apparent in serving to establish identity that it seems almost superfluous to mention them, except for the purpose of deciding whether the wounds were made during life or after death. In the matter of gunshot wounds on persons who took part in the late Civil War, many of whom unfortunately belong to the vagrant class and are often found dead, their wounds sometimes afford excellent means of identification. In many instances the multiple character of these wounds is almost incredible. When on duty at the Army Medical Museum, in connection with the preparation of the “Medical and Surgical History of the War of the Rebellion,” I saw a man who was literally wounded from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot, the scars being fifty-two in number.