Page:Introductory lecture on medical jurisprudence - delivered in the theatre of the Royal Dublin Society, on Saturday, the 16th November, 1839 (IA b21916512).pdf/12

10 are conducted, the crafty criminal I fear frequently escapes detection and punishment. [Dr. Brady here briefly detailed some cases which have very lately occurred in England, and which went to sustain strikingly this conjecture—such as the case tried before Lord Abinger, and referred to in the article on "Insurances," in the last number of the Quarterly Review— in which it appeared that a young woman, with no other property but ten pounds a year, living in London with her brother-in-law, a person also of small means, had succeeded in effecting insurances on her life for two or three years, for so large a sum as £16,000. This took place in November. Some time in December she went to the theatre in perfect health, accompanied by the brother and sister-in-law—took some refreshments on her return—went to bed, from which she never rose. On a. post mortem examination, great effusion was found on the brain, caused by extraordinary violence of vomiting—the consequence, it was stated, of some powders given by her sister-in-law. The brother-in-law applied as trustee for the amount of two of the policies that had been assigned to him, but the offices having refused payment, he took the alarm, and went with his family to the Continent.]

At Paris, in 1832, the body of a man was found in the Seine, cut into four parts. Being placed in the Morgue, the medical inspector remarked that at the different sections the skin and muscles were much contracted, as occurs when a part is divided during life; and on further examination, he also found that the heart and blood-vessels were empty, and the system generally was drained dry. He was thence led to conjecture that the body must have been divided before life was extinct,' and furthermore, from the appearance of the incisions, and the absence of other injuries, that the individual had been in a condition that disabled him from making any resistance. This induced him to pay particular attention to the stomach; and by a careful analysis, he detected prussic acid in its contents. A clue was thus afforded to the murderer, who was soon after discovered. Some of this poison was found in his