The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, the Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective's Greatest Cases

Home > Other > The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, the Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective's Greatest Cases > Page 25
The Science of Sherlock Holmes: From Baskerville Hall to the Valley of Fear, the Real Forensics Behind the Great Detective's Greatest Cases Page 25

by E. J. Wagner


  ignoring of, 134

  improper securing of, 83, 83–84 loss of, 89–90

  photographic, 208

  planted by criminal, 143

  rules for handling of, 77–78

  scars and tattoos as, 84

  toxicological, 48–49

  trace, 146–156

  exchange principle, 151–155

  executions, 6, 7, 63–64, 92

  expert testimony, 106, 131

  on ballistics, 129, 131

  on bloodstains, 182–184

  on crib death, 211–212

  on handwriting, 84, 85, 160–163 on poisoning, 52–54, 106

  eyewitness testimony, 96

  Fielding, Henry, 120

  “Final Problem, The,” 192, 195

  fingernail scrapings, 140, 148

  fingerprints, 100–110, 134, 166

  Fabian, Robert, 21, 22, 23–24

  Fall River, Mass., 177–185 Farren, Edward James, 68–70

  Faulds, Henry, 99–102, 103, 108 FBI, 145, 168

  Feehan, Ramos, 168

  Fenris (mythic great wolf), 24

  Ferguson, Robert, 201, 204, 206

  first murder solved by, 104

  fraudulent, 107

  Galton-Henry classification, 106 as unique, 103, 110

  firearms. See ballistics

  Fleming, James, 134–141

  Fleming, John, 134–141

  Fleming, Joseph, 134

  flies, 34, 35, 38, 39, 40

  folklore, 17, 18, 20, 22

  about insects, 34–35

  medical, 193–194, 195

  persistent belief in, 24–25

  about poisons and antidotes, 46 about vampires, 153–155, 201–203,

  213

  about werewolves, 187–188

  footprints, 133–145

  forensic science, 3–16, 106

  in ancient China, 33–34

  classic techniques of, 36

  famous father-son medical experts in, 59–60

  Locard’s Exchange Principle of, 151 Lyon laboratory training in, 107–108 medical myths and, 207–209, 211–212 naturalists and, 33–40

  observation of “trifles” and, 89 systematic reasoning and, 33

  See also specific aspects

  forgery, 158

  Fowler, Lorenzo, 192–193, 213

  Fraunhofer, Joseph von, 175

  Fraunhofer lines, 175

  French Revolution, 63–64

  Friedgood, Charles, 59

  Gaboriau, Emile, 91

  Gall, Franz Joseph, 191

  Galton, Sir Francis, 102–104, 105 Galton’s Details, 106

  Gates, Bill, 167

  geology, 146, 151, 156

  Gifford, Adam, 137–138

  Girardi, Renzo, 186

  Glaister, John, 28

  Goddard, Henry, 68–70, 120–123, 125,

  131

  Gohn technique, 6

  Gold, Frederick, 190

  Goldman, Ron, 90

  Goodman, Jonathan, 211

  Gould, Nathaniel D., 160–161

  Gourbin, Emile, 149, 150, 151

  graphology. See handwriting analysis grave robbers, 7, 10

  Great Black Dog. See Black Dog Greek mythology, 24

  Gresham Life Assurance Company, 68,

  70

  Gross, Hans, 99, 106, 132

  on crime scene standards, 77–78, 83,

  89

  on criminal disguises, 71

  on footprint evidence, 144

  on trace evidence, 146–147

  guiacum test, 170–171

  guillotine, 63–64

  gunshots. See ballistics

  “His Last Bow,” 39

  Hiss, Alger, 168

  Holmes, Sherlock, 1, 7, 125, 166, 167,

  Haigh, John George, 152–155 hair

  human vs. animal, 28

  postmortem growth myth, 203, 207 handwriting analysis, 157, 158, 168

  definitive work on, 167

  as expert testimony, 160–161

  inaccurate, 84, 85, 162–163, 164

  limitations of, 166–167

  hanging, 5

  Hare (seller of murdered corpses), 7 Harris, Carlyle, 57–58

  Harvard Medical School, 159–160 Hauptmann, Bruno Richard, 167 hawk moth, 39

  Hayward, John, 21

  heavy metal poison. See arsenic Heidemann, Hannelore, 188

  Heirens, William, 168

  hemoglobin. See bloodstains

  Henry, Edward Richard, 105–106 heredity of criminality, 197–198 Herschel, Sir William, 102, 103 hidden rooms, 86–89

  172, 175, 201, 206

  ballistic identification and, 119, 128,

  132

  Bertillon system and, 99

  blood analysis and, 169–170, 171, 174,

  185, 189

  on “brain fever,” 198

  on changed focus, 141

  Conan Doyle’s model for, 54

  on conjecture failures, 212

  crime scene details and, 8–9, 28–29,

  76–77, 80, 85, 87, 88

  on criminal type, 192, 195

  deductive skill of, 15

  disguises and, 61–62, 66–67, 70, 74, 75 dissecting rooms and, 9–10

  document analysis and, 157–158, 161,

  164, 165–166

  dogs and, 26–27

  eccentricities of, 2–3

  eclectic interests of, 133, 149

  on fact elimination, 15, 78, 195 first novel about, 58

  footprint tracing and, 142, 144 forensic autopsy and, 15

  insects and, 31–40

  observational skill of, 33, 88, 89, 98,

  119, 123, 157

  on over-confidence, 131

  phrenology and, 191, 192, 193, 201 physical identification and, 91–92, 94,

  133, 168

  poisons and, 41, 43–44, 51

  scientific reasoning and, 31, 39 superstition and, 17, 18–19, 26 tattoo expertise of, 93

  trace evidence and, 146, 147, 148,

  149–150, 151, 155

  on vampires, 153–154, 201–203, 206 home autopsy, 179, 189–190

  Hope, Jefferson, 58

  Hound of the Baskervilles, The, 17, 18–20,

  26, 29, 31, 32, 38, 161, 193

  Hugo, Victor, 65, 66

  human body

  beliefs about, 26, 142

  means of identifying, 91–110

  measurement of, 98–99, 103, 105, 168 See also cadavers; dissection

  hydrochloric acid, 53

  hyoscine, 72, 73

  hypodermic syringe, 45, 59

  identification

  ballistic, 123–132

  document authenticity, 157–168 footprint, 133

  physical, 91–110

  infanticide, 35–38

  infants. See children

  infection transmission, 15–16 insanity defense, 153, 154–155 insanity myths, 198–199, 200 insects, 31–40

  cadaver effects from, 34–39, 203 as crime witnesses, 33–34 Darwin study of, 32–33

  mistaken theories about, 34–35

  insulin, 45

  Isis (Egyptian goddess), 24

  Jabir ibn Hayyam, 45

  Jack the Ripper, 9, 27, 80–84, 206 James VI, King (Scotland), 159 Jeserich, Paul, 124, 185–186 Jews. See anti-Semitism

  Johnson, Wyatt, 38

  Jordon, Karl, 38–39

  Juke family, 197, 198

  juries, 59, 129

  Kelly, Mary Jane, 80–81, 83 Kendall, Harry, 73–74

  Kent, Constance, 204–206

  Kent, Francis Savile, 203–205 Kent, Samuel Savile, 203

  Kirchoff, Gustav Robert, 175–176 Kirk, Paul, 155

  Klinger, Leslie S., 132

  Kolletscha, Jacobus, 16

  Lafarge, Marie Capelle, 49–51

  Lambourne, Police Sergeant, 152 Landsteiner, Karl, 186

  Langmeir, Else, 188

  Larsen, Marie, 208, 209, 210

  larvae, 36, 37

 
; Latelle, Marie, 149–151

  Lattes, Leone, 186

  Laubach, Karl, 148

  Laurentian (ship), 74

  Laval, Angèle, 165

  Lebon, Joseph, 64

  leeches, 40

  Le Neve, Ethel, 72, 73, 74

  Leonardo da Vinci, 4

  Lestrade, Inspector, 8, 91, 155

  Letheby, Henry, 172–173, 174–175, 177 letters. See questioned documents Letulle, Maurice, 6

  Leverton, Mr., 155

  lie detectors, 197

  Lindbergh baby, kidnapping of, 167 Littlefield, Ephraim, 160, 162

  Littlejohn, Sir Harvey [Henry Harvey]

  Labrador Retrievers, 24

  Lacassagne, Alexandre, 5, 92, 93, 106, 124

  Lafarge, Charles, 49–51

  (son), 59–60, 127–128, 129

  Littlejohn, Sir Henry Duncan (father), 55, 59, 60

  Locard, Edmond, 165, 166, 168

  fingerprinting and, 106–107, 108 trace analysis and, 148–149, 150–151, 155

  Locard Exchange Principle, 151

  Lombroso, Cesare, 92–93, 196–197, 198

  London, 1–2, 7–8, 67, 68

  London Metropolitan Police, 69, 83,173. See also Scotland Yard

  Long Island Cave Mystery, 155–156

  “Lost World, The,” 68

  Louvre, 105

  luz bone, 26

  Lyon, France, 5, 106, 107–108,

  148–151, 166

  Macé, Gustave, 97

  MacLeod, George Husband Baird, 136 Madagascar, 32, 33, 39

  maggots, 34–35, 39–40

  magic, 25, 193

  makeup, 150–151

  mortuary, 15–16, 81–82

  moths, 32–33, 36, 37, 39

  Motter, Murray, 38

  M’pherson, Jessie, 134–141

  mug shots, 97

  Müller, Franz, 172–174, 177, 190 Muller lights, 177

  mummification, 25, 29

  “murder bags,” 22

  “Musgrave Ritual, The,” 198 myths. See folklore; medical myths

  Malpighi, Marcello, 102

  “Man with the Twisted Lip, The,” 68, 70, 71, 157–158, 164

  Mapleton, Percy, 190

  Marsh, James, 48–49

  Marsh test, 48–49, 50, 51

  Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, 158–159 masturbation, 199–200

  maternal death, 15–16

  Maybrick, Florence, 42–43, 59

  Maybrick, James, 42–43

  M’Call, Alexander, 136

  McWatters, George, 75

  measurements of the body, 98–99, 103, 105–106, 168

  medical jurisprudence. See forensic science

  medical myths, 191–213

  forensic acceptance of, 207–209, 211–212

  unpleasant treatments and, 199–201 medicine

  disguised woman physician, 75–76 doctor-murderers, 43, 45, 51–54, 57–58, 59, 71–74

  infection transmission, 15–16

  insects used in, 39–40

  Megnin, Pierre, 37

  mental defectives, 197, 198

  mercury poison, 43

  Merrett, Bertha, 125–130, 131

  Merrett, John Donald, 125–130, 131 Michalkovics (pathologist), 14

  microscope, 125, 149–150, 171–172, 175

  Middle Ages, 46, 194

  missing persons, 68–70, 109

  mites, 36, 37, 38

  M’lachlan, Jessie, 136–141

  Moenssens, Andre, 208

  Mona Lisa theft, 105

  monkeys, 108–109

  Montrose (ship), 73–74

  moon landing, 144

  Morgagni, Giovanni Battista, 4

  Moriarty, Professor, 192, 195

  Mormons, 68

  morphine, 57, 58

  Mortimer, Dr., 17, 18–19, 193

  nails

  postmortem growth myth, 7, 203 trace evidence from, 140, 148

  narcotic poisoning, 55, 72, 73 natural science, 31–40, 156

  “Naval Treaty, The,” 99, 198 Nesbit, John, 190

  Newton, Sir Isaac, 175

  New York City, 57–58, 75, 87 Nichols, Mary Ann (Polly), 81–82 nicotine, 56, 200–201

  nocturnal emissions, 199–200 Noguchi, Thomas, 145

  Nordic mythology, 24

  Norfolk, England, 17–20

  Norris, Charles, 210, 211

  “Not proven” verdict, 42, 130, 205

  observational skill, 8, 33, 88, 89, 98, 119, 123

  Old Bailey, 29–30, 42, 51, 174

  opium, 45, 55, 87

  orchids, 32–33, 38, 39

  Orfila, Mathieu Joseph Bonaventure, 48–49, 50, 51, 56

  Osborn, Albert S., 167

  oscillating surgical saw, 16

  Osiris (Egyptian god), 24–25

  Oxyrhynchus (mythic fish), 25

  Paillet, Maître, 50

  Paré, Ambroise, 46–47

  Parkman, George, 159–162 pathologists. See autopsy Perugia, Vincenzo, 105

  Pfaff, Emile, 28

  photography, 97, 99, 107, 208 photomicrographs, 185–186

  phrenology, 191–193, 201, 213 physical identification, 91–110 Pierce, R. V., 199–200, 202

  Pinkerton, Allan, 143

  Pinkerton’s American Agency, 155 plague, 194

  plant life. See natural science

  plant poisons, 56

  poison-pen letters, 164–165, 166 poisons, 41–60, 183

  famous murder cases, 50–58, 72–74, 204–205, 213

  historical, 43, 45–47

  See also toxicology

  Pompey (hound), 26

  Popp, Georg, 147–148

  poroscopy, 107

  postmortem. See autopsy; cadavers Potts, Helen, 57–58

  powder marks, 128, 129, 210–211 Pravez, Charles, 59

  precipitin test, 187, 189

  Price, David, 44–45

  “priest’s holes,” 87

  private detectives. See detectives “Problem of Thor Bridge, The,” 141 prostitutes, 80–83, 197

  Psychograph, 213

  puerperal fever, 16

  Purkinje, John Evangelist, 102

  questioned documents, 157–168 forensic tests for, 167

  typewriters and, 165–166

  Quetelet, Lambert Adolphe Jacques, 98 retinal image of murderer, 207–209, 211 rigor mortis, 5, 8

  Ripper murders. See Jack the Ripper roaches, 37, 38

  Robinson, Bertram Fletcher (“Bobbles”),

  Ra (Egyptian god), 24

  railway murders, 172–174, 177, 189 Randall, Joseph, 121, 123

  “Red Headed League, The,” 93 Redi, Francesco, 34–35

  Regulation of Railways Act, 177 “Reigate Squires, The,” 122, 128, 195 Reign of Terror (France), 63–64 Reinsch, Hugo, 51

  Reinsch test, 51, 52–53

  reptile poisons, 43, 45

  “Resident Patient, The,” 8

  18, 19

  Rojas, Francisca, 104

  Rokitansky, Karl, 5–6

  Rothschild, Walter, 38–39

  Roughead, William, 140

  rubber gloves, 190

  Rugen island, 187–189

  Rutzen, Sir Albert de, 85

  Saillard, Madame, 36

  St. Clair, Neville, 68

  St. John’s Dogs, 24

  Sandyford case, 134–141, 142

  Sanson, M., 63

  “Scandal in Bohemia, A,” 61–62 scars, 94

  Schenthauer (pathologist), 14

  Schneider, Albert, 89

  Schreyer, Johann, 11–12

  scientific method, 98, 196–197, 211 Scotland Yard, 21, 27, 74, 204, 205

  crime-scene “murder bags,” 22 fingerprint division, 104, 106

  See also London Metropolitan

  Police

  secret passageways, 86–87

  sedatives, 57, 58, 59, 183

  Semmelweis, Ignaz, 15–16

  Set (Egyptian god), 24–25

  shooting deaths. See ballistics

&nbs
p; Sign of Four, The, 15, 89, 146

  “Silver Blaze,” 75, 78, 85

  Simpson, Keith, 154, 155

  Simpson, Nicole, 89–90

  Simpson, O. J., 89–90

  skin cells, 150

  Smethurst, Thomas, 51–54

  Smith, George G., 161

  Smith, James, 109

  Smith, Madeleine, 42, 204–205, 213 Smith, Sir Sydney, 125, 127, 128, 130,

  143–144

  Söderman, Harry, 87, 92, 107–108, 144,

  148, 164

  sodomy, 28

  Sohier, Edward, 161

  Solymossy, Esther, 12–15

  spectroscope, 175–176, 177, 185

  Spilsbury, Sir Bernard, 73, 129, 131 spontaneous generation theory, 34 Spooner, Alec, 22

  Spurzheim, J. G., 191–193

  Stamford, 203

  Stapleton, 19–20, 32, 38

  star orchid, 32, 39

  Stas, Jean Servais, 56

  Stephen, Fitzjames, 42–43, 59

  stillborn infants, 11–12, 35–36

  Stoker, Bram, 202

  Stride, Elizabeth, 82–83

  Stryker, Homer, 16

  Stryker saw, 16

  Stubbe, Herman and Peter, 187–188 Study in Scarlet, A, 1, 2, 31, 91, 158, 166, 212

  corpse description, 8–9

  crime scene clues, 76–77, 79–80, 85 footprint tracing, 133

  hemoglobin test, 169–170, 172 poison use, 41–42, 43, 47–48, 58 U.S. publication of, 58

  Utah locale section of, 68

  suffocation signs, 5

  suicide, 145, 210

  murder disguised as, 126–130,

  210–211

  staged as murder, 132

  sulfuric acid, 152, 153

  Sung T’zu, 33–34

  superstitions. See folklore

  Sûreté, Brigade de la, 65, 78, 96, 120, 166

  surgery, 7

  Syrphidae (hover flies), 35, 39

  Tichborne Claimant, 94–96, 101–102,

  206

  Tichborne, Lady Henriette Félicité, 95 Tichborne, Sir Roger, 94–95

  Tidy, Charles Meymott, 5, 12, 28, 94 on blood analysis, 171–173, 175 on footprints, 141–142

  on postmortem hair/nail growth, 207 time of death, 5, 8, 36, 37

  Tisza-Eszlar, Hungary, 12–15

  tobacco smoke, 200

  Topinard, Paul, 142

  toxicology, 7, 42, 45, 48–52

  as new science, 48

  public distrust of, 52, 54, 56

  trace evidence, 146–156

  track marks. See footprints

  tuberculosis, 202, 203

  Tukey, Francis, 159

  Tulle, France, 164–165

  Turner, 198

  Turner, Ann, 21

  Twain, Mark, 213

  twins, identical, fingerprints of, 110 typewriters, 165–166, 168

  Tanner, Dick, 173, 174

  Tardieu, Ambrose, 5, 170

  tattoos, 92–94, 95, 109

  Taylor, Alfred Swaine, 7–8, 28, 52–53, 156, 176, 177

  Teofania di Adamo, 47

  Tessnow, Ludwig, 188–189

  Thorwald, Jürgen, 124, 201

  Uhlenhuth, Paul, 186–187, 189 undercover agents, 75

 

‹ Prev