Page:Medical jurisprudence (IA medicaljurisprud03pari).pdf/55

 external circumstances of the case; the locality of the water may be such as to account for the deceased having accidentally fallen into it, or its situation may at once preclude the possibility of such an event. The suspicion of the person having been violently thrown into the water by the hands of the assassin, will be fortified by the discovery of footsteps on the brink, and by the indications of resistance on the part of the deceased, as manifested by the appearance of bruises on the arms and other members of the body. In the case of Mr. Taylor who was murdered at Hornsey, in December, 1818, marks of footsteps, deep in the ground, were discovered near the new river; and on taking out the body, the hands were found clenched, and contained grass, which he had torn from the bank. If the person be found in the water tied hand and foot, there is a strong presumption that he was forcibly placed in such a situation; and yet there are two instances on record which afford very extraordinary exceptions to the truth of such a conclusion. The one occurred in the end of June, 1816, in the case of a gauging-instrument maker, who had been missing from home for several days. His body was discovered floating down the Thames; and on being taken out, his wrists were found tied together, and made fast to his knees, which were in like manner secured to each other. He had been in a state of mental derangement for two years. The cord with which he had tied himself was recognised as one that had hung from the ceiling over his bed, by which he used to raise himself up, having been confined to his bed for several weeks; he was a good swimmer, and it was presumed he had taken the precaution to prevent himself from swimming. The verdict was "found drowned." The other instance