The Burton case / by W. Thornton Parker.

  • Parker, William Thornton, 1849-1925.
Date:
1887
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The Burton case / by W. Thornton Parker. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    three inches to the right of the left nipple and two inches to the left of the median line, on a level with the nipple. Having opened the chest, its contents were taken out and examined, and it was found that the ball had passed through the left ventricle of the, heart, entering near the base and emerging at the apex, which would probably result in instant death. Afterward the ball passed between the seventh and eighth ribs, impinging on the eighth rib in a manner likely to deflect it from its direct course. The rib was taken out, and the flesh near the point at which the ball passed it was assiduously and minutely ex- plored for an hour or more without success. As the ball was very small and the corpulence of the subject excessive, and as the finding of the ball could have no bearing on the object in view, it was concluded to be inexpedient to pursue the search further. ” At the first examination Maria Dorsey, the wife, testified that the last she had seen of her father was on the night before October 5; that Mr. Burton called them all downstairs and said that he had something very important to say to them. He was despondent and said he would not be long with them; he felt badly about leaving the family, especially’the younger daughter. He said he felt as if he had not long to live, probably not more than a few days at most. Mrs. Dorsey testified that she saw her father the fol- lowing morning just before she went into a neighbor’s “to fit on a dress;” that afterwards she went to the post-office, and then went right home again and went into the house by the front door, and thence through the dining-room to the kitchen and saw her father lying on the floor; called her sister and then ran for a neighbor, and then returned. She also testified that when she found the dead body of her father, her husband and her sister were upstairs. She left her husband sick in bed, and he did not come down- stairs until after the discovery of Mr. Burton’s lifeless body and her own return to the house. “We had