Booth autopsy

[Houmes]

(08-20-2013 07:16 PM)J. Beckert Wrote:  

(08-20-2013 04:35 PM)Houmes Wrote:  Booth's possible death by suicide has often been a favorite talking point

Thank you for that Blaine, but what do you make of the difference in the autopsy reports? It seems Dr. Barnes had the ball exiting on the right side of the neck and Dr. Woodward had it exiting on the left. Or am I missing something in the medical terms that's distorting that for me?

If you look at my previous entry, I noted that Drs Barnes and Woodward both reported the bullet wound entry was on Booth's left side. This is incorrect, and you are correct in that their official reports disagree. Barnes actually wrote left and Woodward wrote right. But the reports are actually different in format, in addition. Dr. Barnes reported in a letter to Secretary Stanton dated April 27, 1865, and there is no notation of when Dr Woodward detailed his findings. His findings were in a medical case report (today they're just like this one, nice and succinct) appearing in The Medical and Surgical History of the Great Rebellion, published in 1870. I suspect their differences resulted from when the two reports were written and the conditions at the time of autopsy. This was a limited examination, just the leg and the neck, undoubtedly because it was a hot day, they were on board a ship with lots of people crowding around (including assigned sailors and soldiers), with everyone wanting to get a look at the assassin, plus the body was decomposing right in front of them. A decomposing body is unsightly, smelly, and starts leaking various fluids. Police officers I worked with used to light up a cigar to mask the odor. The body starts to bloat and turn quite dark, making it difficult at times to not only ID, but also initially detect injuries like a bullet wound. No wonder Dr May didn't recognize him at first.