A review of the case, the people agt. Rev. Henry Budge : indicted for the murder of his wife, Priscilla Budge, tried at the Oneida, New York, Circuit Court, in August and September, 1861 : containing an examination of the medico-legal questions involved in the case, a review of the positions taken by the medical witnesses for the defence, an extended discussion of the positions assumed by the medical witnesses for the prosecution, with cuts and tables for illustration, letters and opinions from various eminent American and foreign medical jurists, together with copious abstracts from the evidence adduced, and the judge's charge in the civil action of Henry Budge agt. Caleb Lyon for libel, tried at the Herkimer Circuit in October and November, 1961 / by John Swinburne.

  • Swinburne, John, 1820-1889.
Date:
1862
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A review of the case, the people agt. Rev. Henry Budge : indicted for the murder of his wife, Priscilla Budge, tried at the Oneida, New York, Circuit Court, in August and September, 1861 : containing an examination of the medico-legal questions involved in the case, a review of the positions taken by the medical witnesses for the defence, an extended discussion of the positions assumed by the medical witnesses for the prosecution, with cuts and tables for illustration, letters and opinions from various eminent American and foreign medical jurists, together with copious abstracts from the evidence adduced, and the judge's charge in the civil action of Henry Budge agt. Caleb Lyon for libel, tried at the Herkimer Circuit in October and November, 1961 / by John Swinburne. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the National Library of Medicine (U.S.), through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the National Library of Medicine (U.S.)

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    would seem more like the commencement of a surgical incision, where the proper precaution was not exercised-r-as to holding the instrument perpendicularly and plunging it in before com- mencing the incision; the skin on the left, at the angle of the cut, seemed stretched and wounded, probably from the cutting of the muscular fibre behind it, and from the forcible inclination of the.head backwards and to the right. Now upon this statement of the condition of the body, body- clothing, bed and bedding, conditions of the room, locus in quo of the body, the almost bloodless condition of the surroundings, the entire absence of spirts and spatters of blood, the positive evidence, as to all of the blood having been spilled by gravita- tion, the stains of blood, from a bloody hand, when hers were not bloody in a position where it could be wiped off, on adjoining objects, the entire absence of a condition indicative of convul- sions in the bed, undisturbed body clothing, a condition which always accompanies death by hemorrhage, either in the sitting, or recumbent position. The entire absence of blood anteriorly on the neck, or in the direction of the long axis of the arteries ; also the same on the anterior part of the body and night-dress, the continuous bleeding of fluid blood from the wound, 22 hours after death, and of its continuance, notwithstanding its being stuffed with cotton batting, sewed up, compressed and bandaged, instead of the wound being dry, and all the blood about the clothes as it would necessarily be, in death from hemorrhage— the position of the head, when found, chin elevated, so as to 'stretch the muscles, and turned to the right being in the same posi- tion as it was when the cutting was done—the small amount of blood lost (not exceeding a quart) as evidenced in the bed and surroundings—the almost bloodless condition of the hands and wrists—the saturated, or soaked spot of blood, 6 by 14 inches, on the upper sheet in front, while the clothing with which it was in contact was unsoiled—the almost bloodless condition of the razor, and its position under the fore-arm—the character and extent of the cut, involving, as it did, the bone, and last but not least, the condition of the lungs at the time of death weighing respectively 12£ and 17 ounces, and probably much more, and leaving portions of the superior part of right lung apoplectic, while the adjacent parts were congested, instead of which, they should have weighed (on the supposition of death by hemorr- hage) 4T5o°o and 5^\ ounces, respectively, and there should not have been the flow of fluid blood described, from the cut, 22 hours after, nor should there have been any effusions in the cavity of the pleura. The chewed tongue is also important, as indicative of convul- sive action. This would be inconsistent with the convulsions after throat cutting, and hemorrage, because—1st. Animals do not chew their tongues when slaughtered; 2d. The convulsive movements are always present in the extremities, and last 'from