UNCLE TOM'S CABIN

Evidence resumed.
Dr. E. W. North sworn. "
(Cautionedby
KEY TO UNCLE TOM S CABIN. 97
attorney-general
to avoid hearsayevidence.)Was
the familyphysicianof Mrs. Rowand. Went on
the 6th January,at Mrs. Rowand's request țo
see her at her mother's,in Logan-street ; found
her down stairs,in sitting-room. She was in a
nervous and excited state ; had been so for a
month before ; he had attended her ; she said
nothing to witness of slave Maria ; found Maria
in a chamber, up stairs, about one o'clock, P. M. ;
to have been dead
she was dead ; she appeared
about an hour and a half; his attention was
attracted to a pieceof pinewood on a trunk or
table in the room ; ithad a large knot on one end ;
had it been used on Maria,it must have caused
considerablecontusion ; other piecesof wood were
in a box,and much smaller ones ; the corpse
was
lying one side in the chamber ; it was not laid
out ; presumedshe died there ; the marks on the
body were, to witness' view, very slight ; some
scratches about the face ; he purposelyavoided
; one largeblow could not account for it,as
the head was spherical ; no blood on the brain ;
the
making an examination ; observed
softening
the brain did not amount to much
no ;
injuries
in an
about the head ; had no conversation with Mrs.
ordinarydissectionwould have passedit
over ; anger sometimes producesapoplexy, which
the Gth the Januarylast," day before the in-
Rowand about Maria ; left the house ; it was on
quest; results in death ; blood between the scalpand the
bone of the skull ; it was
evidently a fresh extravasation
; twenty-four hours would scarcely have
made
any change; knew nothingof this negro
before; even after examination țhe cause of
death is sometimes
"
inscrutable, not usual,however.
knew the slave before,but had never
attended her.
Cross-examined." Mrs. Rowand was in feeble
health,and nervous ; the slave Maria was weak
and emaciated in sudden death of
appearance;
such a person, in such a state, from apoplexy or
action of nervous system, not unlikely ; her sudden
In "
reply. Mrs. Rowand could have raised the
pineknot,but could not have struck a blow with I
it ; such a piece of wood could have produced
(loath, but it would have left its mark ; saw the
fellowRichard ; he was quitecapable of giving
such a blow.
Dr. "
Peter Porcher. Was
called in by the coroner's
juryto examine Maria's body; found it in
the wash-kitchen ; it was the corpse of one feeble
and emaciated ; partlypreparedfor burial ; had
the clothesremoved ; the body was
lacerated with
stripes ; abrasions about face and knuckles ; skin
knocked off;passedhis hand over the head ; no
bone broken ; on request,opened her thorax,and
examined the viscera ; found them healthy; heart
unusuallyso for one of her age ; no particular
odor ; some undigested food ; no inflammation ;
removed the scalp,and found considerable extravasation
between scalp and skull ; scalpbloodshot ;
justunder the scalp, found the effectsof a single
blow,just over the right ear ; after removing the
scalp,lifted the bone ; no
rupture of any bloodvessel
; some softening
the brain in the upper
hemisphere ; there was considerable extravasation
under the scalp, the result of a successionof blows
on the topof the head ; this extravasation was
general,but that over the ear was a singlespot;
7
the butt-end of a cowhide would have sufficedfor
this purpose ; an ordinarystick,a heavyone,
would have done it ; a succession of blows on the
head,in a feeble woman, would lead to death,
when, in a strongerone, it would not ; saw no
other appearance about her person, to account for
her death,except those blows.
Cross-examined." To a patientin this woman's
condition, the blows would probablycause
death ; theywere not such as were calculated to
kill an ordinaryperson ; witness saw the body
twenty-four hours after her death ; it was winter,
and bitter cold ; no disorganization, and the examination
was thereforeto be relied on ; the blow
behind the ear might have resulted from a fall,
but not the blow on fche top of the head,unless
she fellhead foremost ; came to the conclusion of
a
; a singleblow would have shown a
distinctspot, with a gradualspreading or
succession of blows,from the extent of the extravasation
diffusion
In "
reply. Does not attributethe softening
the brain to the blows
death would not imply violence ; had ; it was
prescribed
slight, and imo-ht
have been the result
asafoetidafor Mrs. Rowand on a former
of age ; itwas some evidence
of
visit ; it is an appropriateremedy for nervous
impairment of vital powers by advancing age.
Dr. A. P.
disorders.Mrs. Rowand was not of bodilystrength
At Hayne." request of the coroner,
acted
to hankie
with
the pine knot so as
Dr. Porcher
to give ; a severe
was shown into an outhouse
blow,- Mrs. Rowand has five or six children țhe ;_ saw on the back of the corpse evidences of
elder of them largenough to have carried contusion ; arms swollen and
pieces
enlarged ; laceration
of
of the wood about the room ; there must have body; contusions on head and neck ; between
Seen a severe contusion, and much extravasation scalpand skull extravasation of
of bloodțo inferdeath from violence in this the blood,on
case ;
top of head,and behind the right ear ; a burn
on the hand
apoplexyis frequently attended with extravasation
; the brain presentedhealthyappearance
of blood ; there were two Marias in the family.
; openedthe body, and no evidences of disease
and broad and blunt instru-
in the chest or viscera ; attributed the extravasation
of blood to external injuryfrom blows,"
blows from a large ment
; attributesthe death to those blows ; supposes
they were adequateto cause death,as she
was old,weak and emaciated.
Cross-examined." Would not have caused death
in a
young and robust person.
The evidence for the prosecutionhere closed,
and no witnesses were called for the defence.
The jury were then successively addressed, ably
and eloquently, by J. L. Petigruand James S.
Rhett,Esqrs.,on behalf of the prisoner, and H.
Bailey,Esq.,on behalf of the state,and by B. F.
Hunt, Esq., in reply. Of those speeches,and
also of the judge'scharge,we have taken full
notes, but have neither time nor
them here.
His
space to insert
Honor, JudgeO'Neall,then chargedthe
juryeloquently and ablyon the facts,vindicating
the existing law, makingdeath the penaltyfor
the murder of a slave ; but,on the law,intimated
to the jurythat he held the act of 1740 so far still
in force as to admit of the prisoner's exculpation
by her own oath,unless clearly
oaths of two witnesses ; and that they were,
disprovedby the
therefore,in his opinion,bound to acquit,
"
-
althoughhe leftitto them,whollyțo say wheth-