Commander Humes. Yes, sir.
Senator Cooper. What would be the relation of the bruise at the apex of the pleural sac to such a line?
Commander Humes. It would be exactly in line with such a line, sir, exactly.
Senator Cooper. What was the character of the bruise that you saw there?
Commander Humes. The bruise here, photographs are far superior to my humble verbal description, but if I let my hand in cup shaped fashion represent the apical parietal pleura, it was an area approximately 5 cm. in greatest diameter of purplish blue discoloration of the parietal pleura. Corresponding exactly with it, with the lung sitting below it, was a roughly pyramid-shaped bruise with its base toward the surface of the upper portion of the lung, and the apex down into the lung tissue, and the whole thing measured about 5 cm., which is a little—2 inches in extent, sir.
Senator Cooper. What would be the—can you describe the covering around the apex of the pleural sac, the nature of its protection. My point is to get your opinion as to whether some other factor, some factor other than the missile could have caused this bruise which you saw.
Commander Humes. A couple of ways we might do this, sir. One with regard to temporal, it was quite fresh. When examined under the microscope, the lung in this area had recent hemorrhaging in it. The red blood cells were well-preserved, as they would be if it happened quite recently before death, as was the red blood cells where they had gotten out into the lung tissue near there.
The discoloration was essentially of the same character as the discoloration in the muscles adjacent thereto, which would roughly again place it temporally in approximately the same time since bruises change color as time goes by, and these appeared quite fresh.
This is with regard to time—I don't know whether that is the right parameter in which you wished to study it, Senator.
Senator Cooper. My question really went to this point: Considering the location of the bruise at the apex of the pleural sac——