Report of the case of John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of George Parkman, before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts : including the hearing on the petition for a writ of error, the prisoner's confessional statements and application for a commutation of sentence, and an appendix containing several interesting matters never before published / by George Bemis.

  • Webster, John White, 1793-1850.
Date:
1850
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the case of John W. Webster, indicted for the murder of George Parkman, before the Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts : including the hearing on the petition for a writ of error, the prisoner's confessional statements and application for a commutation of sentence, and an appendix containing several interesting matters never before published / by George Bemis. 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.)

    107/662
    I began, in the usual way, with taking an impression of the Doctor's mouth ; — an exact fac-simile of his two jaws. This was done by applying soft wax, (beeswax,) in a piece of me- tal, to the lower jaw, and then pressing it down, till the wax became cold. After the impression was thus taken, it was oiled, and liquid plaster poured in, which hardened in about ten minutes, and produced an exact copy of the jaw; — of the surface of the jaw, where the teeth were wanting, and of the teeth themselves, or any stump, where such teeth, or stump, still remained. A like process gave an exact fac-simile, or impression of the upper jaw. [The witness here produced plaster-casts of an upper and lower jaw.] This, is the plaster- cast, [exhibiting it to the Court and jury,] of Dr. Parkman's lower jaw, taken from life. It had in it, as the cast shows, four natural teeth, and three roots, or stumps. The next step was, to obtain the metallic plate, fitting over the gum, and between the teeth, upon which to insert the ar- tificial teeth. This was done, by first getting up a trial-plate. The trial-plate is usually made of copper, or some soft metal, and is procured by making, what is called, a male and female metallic punch and die, from castings taken from the plaster- cast. These castings are, one, of zinc or brass, and the other, of a softer metal, —tin, or, tin and lead. The copper, from which the trial-plate is to be made, is put between these cast- ings, and, sufficient pressure being exerted upon them, an impression is produced, exactly corresponding to the shape of the punch, and that of the plaster-cast. This trial-plate is then put into the mouth; and if found to correspond exactly with the shape of the jaw, the interstices between the teeth, &c, it shows that the castings are proper to produce the gold plate, ultimately to be used as the basis of the set, or block. Here, is the trial-plate, accompanying the plaster-cast, which was fitted into Dr. Parkman's mouth, and found to correspond exactly with the shape of his lower jaw, teeth, &c. [Here, the witness produced a thin, indented strip of copper, exactly fitting to the shape of the lower jaw, as represented in the plaster-cast, with interstices for the admission of the natural teeth.] Dr. Parkman, had no natural teeth remaining in his upper jaw. Here, is the trial-plate, [producing it,] exhibiting the form of his upper jaw, and to which the gold plate, used for setting the teeth, exactly corresponded. Of course, it needed no perforations for the admission of the teeth, when applied to the natural jaw.