|
 |
 |
|
|
|
** This is an archived, static copy of the Casebook messages boards dating from 1998 to 2003. These threads cannot be replied to here. If you want to participate in our current forums please go to https://forum.casebook.org **
Medical technology during JTR's time
Casebook Message Boards: General Discussion: Medical / Forensic Discussions:
Medical technology during JTR's time
Author: Jay Swartzfeger
Sunday, 10 November 2002 - 03:19 am |        | Hi all,
I'm new to Casebook.org (and JTR in general) and find the subject fascinating!
I stumbled upon this site completely by accident. I'm currently writing a story about a series of murders, set in the US around 1870. As soon as I started writing, I realized I knew next to nothing about the time period and even less about medicine and forensics in that period. This site has been the most helpful so far and has helped me fill in a few blanks.
I still have a few questions, however. I'll keep them specific to JTR to keep it on topic:
1) With no electricity, how did authorities keep the bodies from rapidly decomposing? Ice blocks or another cooling method? Or did they simply take the corpses to the coroner's and hope they don't decompose too badly?
(the reason I ask is because the murders in my story will happen in a small town, and an investigator from a bigger city will take a few days to travel there. I'm not sure where the bodies will be stored during that time and how badly they will decompose during those few days).
2) Did they have any way to test for alcohol in the victim's system? Beside eyewitness accounts, could they determine if the victim had been drinking prior to the crime?
3) What was the general state of forensics during that time? I assume they knew about things like rigor mortis, lividity, etc. Did they take the temperature of the body? Could they do more advanced things like fingerprinting, toxicology, etc.?
If anyone could point me to info on medicine/forensics during 1860-90 or even general info on that time period I'd be very appreciative.
Thanks in advance! |
Author: Brian Schoeneman
Sunday, 10 November 2002 - 04:14 pm | | Jay,
Welcome aboard! You'll find quickly this is a great place to get information - we all love to talk. 
I've been doing some research for a paper so I can go into #3 the best right now.
Basically, for that time period, there were little or no advanced forensic tests to determine a suspect available. Dr. (later Sir) Francis Galton published his landmark study of latent fingerprints in 1892. Before that there were theories about fingerprinting, and the first recognized forensic use of fingerprints was by Henry Fauld in Tokyo in 1880. Galton created the modern identification system.
Plaster of Paris was begin used in the mid-1880s for use in creating molds of footprints for identification.
Photography was around, and it was starting to be implimented from about 1860 on. Pinkerton's Detective Agency in America invented the idea of a "mug shot" in the 1870s. In the Ripper killings, we have photographs of the victims at the mortuary, and one or two of one of the crime scenes.
There were some advances into identification of body, cause of death and toxicology.
Rudimentary dental comparisons had been in existence since the mid-fifteeneth century, but dental records were rare, especially for the poor. So while this was technically possible, it wasn't very common.
Spectroscopy was developed in 1859 by Robert Bunson (of the burner fame) and Gustav Kirchoff.
There were some tests for certain poisions, such as arsenic, by the 1870s. The first arsenic test was developed in 1836 by James Marsh.
You could test to see if blood was mammalian, but not human. Blood typing didn't come into play until 1901 when the first types were developed by Karl Landsteiner in Austria.
They did know about rigor mortis, livor mortis, etc. They could take body temperature, but the methods for determining time of death based on it weren't developed yet.
I'm not sure about the blood alcohol testing. I know that in the Ripper killings, examination of the kidneys and liver could tell if the victim had been an alcoholic, and I know that the first blood alcohol testing equipment was produced in the 1930's, but I'm not sure if they had the ability to test for alcohol in the system at that point.
Anyway, I'm sure others will be better able to answer your other questions. Hope this helps.
B |
Author: Jay Swartzfeger
Sunday, 10 November 2002 - 07:15 pm | | Brian,
Thanks *so much* for the helpful post! This fills in a few blanks and gives me a few more things to research. I'll keep digging to see what I can find... |
Author: Scott E. Medine
Monday, 11 November 2002 - 09:29 am | | Jay,
At the time of the killings, the thoughts on rigor mortis was largely different from what we know of it today. It was largely thought, at the time, that the effects of rigor did not appear until six hours post mortem, took another six hours to fully set in and another 12 hours to dissipate.
Today, we know differently. We know that rigor, like algor mortis and livor mortis, are largely affected by external forces such as weather conditions, activity prior to death and locale. In general, it is accepted that the effects of rigor mortis start to appear in one - two hours post mortem, can be fully advanced in four - six hours. Rigor will usually dissipate over the next 48 hours.
Because, of the beliefs of rigor at the time the time of deaths of some of the victims maybe off by as much as an hour. In the case of Mary Kelly, time of death maybe off by as much as six hours. What is interesting to note is that what we know about rigor, algor and livor mortis and time of death comes largely from the studies conducted at the Body Farm which is maintained bu the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. This forensic facility was the title of one of Cornwell books. It is ironic that she has ignored the forensic findings of the Body Farm as well as the forensic evidence that is readily available in the murders.
As far as alcohol in the body is concerned, at the time of the killings, the Doctor performing the post mortem would rely on the stomach contents.
Peace,
Scott |
Author: Jay Swartzfeger
Saturday, 16 November 2002 - 07:52 pm | | | Thanks Scott, this is very useful info. |
|
|
|
|
