After this we had a consultation, to consider whether she was drowned or not drowned; and we were all of opinion that she was not drowned; only Mr. Camblin desired he might be excused from giving his opinion whether she was drowned or not; but all the rest of us did give our opinions that she was not drowned.
The grounds for this opinion were the absence of water from the lungs and intestines; and this was a sign which would show whether she had been drowned or not weeks after her death. In answer to Cowper he admitted that he had never seen a body opened which had been drowned six weeks. If a body had been drowned a fortnight, the bowels would be so rotten that it would be impossible to come near it.
John Dimsdale, junior, believed that the body had not been drowned, and signed a certificate to that effect after looking at the body; he believed it, because he found no water in the body. He had seen the child that was drowned the morning after it was drowned, and had found abundance of water in the body then.
Dr. Dimsdale saw the body after it was opened, and on finding no water in the thorax or abdomen, signed the certificate. Had the woman been drowned he would have expected to find water in the thorax.
Cowper—Is it possible there should be water in the thorax according to your skill?
Dimsdale—Yes, we did think there would have been, if she had been drowned.
He would have expected to find traces of it after six weeks.
Cowper—Pray by what passage does the water go into the thorax?
Dimsdale—It will be very difficult for me to describe the manner here; but we should have found some in the stomach and intestines.
Cowper—Pray, sir, how should it go into the thorax?