JAMA Revisited January 22, 1916
A Medicolegal Study of Blood Stains A question, not only of great theoretical but also of important medicolegal and practical interest, is the determination of the origin of blood stains on various articles. Chemical, biologic and immunologic research have been called on to aid in this study. Sutherland1 has recently reported the results of the examination of 6,566 articles suspected of being blood-stained in relation to 2,643 medicolegal cases. The question at issue in 1,650 of these cases was murder; in 284, assault; in 189, rape, and in other cases the questions involved practically every aspect of human life. The articles examined included the various body discharges—saliva, urine, feces, etc.—and virtually every form of animate and inanimate material. The determinations showed that various stains were due to the blood of such animals as the sheep, goat, ox, buffalo, dog, horse and pig, and various combinations. The stains on 6,566 articles were examined, and 1,380 were found not due to blood. One aspect of the question associated particularly with local conditions in India concerns the fact that 632 specimens of earth were sent for examination, of which 467 were blood-stained. The floors of most dwellings in India are composed of rammed earth, and as no rain falls over large tracts for many months at a time, the blood which is spilled outdoors is likely to remain and not be washed away. Of the 467 bloodstained specimens of earth, no opinion could be given as to the source in fifty-six specimens, because of the rapidity with which the elements of the blood are disintegrated by bacteria in the soil. Of 3,254 articles of stained clothing, 552 were not bloodstained. In 295 cases no opinion could be given as to the source
Editor’s Note: JAMA Revisited is transcribed verbatim from articles published previously, unless otherwise noted.
of the blood found on the garments, owing to the fact that the clothing had been repeatedly washed. The process of examination included the inspection of articles by daylight and artificial light; microscopic study of special specimens of the stain for the observation of possible undamaged erythrocytes; a spectroscopic study for the observation of bands due to blood constituents, and immunologic reactions to determine, if possible, the animal from which the specimen originated. The following is in brief the technic of the immunologic study: Antiserums are prepared by injecting a fowl with the serum of man or a domestic animal. Extracts of the stains are made with normal salt solution. The stain extracts are diluted so as to approach as nearly as possible the 1:1,000 dilution of normal serum. The diluted extracts are placed in tubes, down the side of which are allowed to run two drops of the antiserum. The first antiserum to be employed is an antihuman one. The tube contents are then viewed from time to time, and if a zone of reaction is seen in any one of them within twenty minutes, that tube’s content is noted as “positive” human. The same procedure is carried out with antiovin, antihircin and other antiserums. Numerous cases are described by Sutherland as illustrative of the great difficulty in obtaining the truth from witnesses as to the source of various specimens. These results are a further evidence of the practical, almost vital importance of some of the more highly technical researches of modern medicine. 1. Sutherland: Note on 2,643 Medicolegal Cases in which 6,566 Articles Suspected to be Blood Stained Were Examined, India Jour. Med. Research, 1915, iii, 205. JAMA. 1916;66(4):277.
Section Editor: Jennifer Reiling, Assistant Editor.
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(Reprinted) JAMA January 26, 2016 Volume 315, Number 4
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A Medicolegal Study of Blood Stains A question, not only of great theoretical but also of important medicolegal and practical interest, is the determination of the origin of blood stains on various articles. Chemical, biologic and immunologic research have been called on to aid in this study. Sutherland1 has recently reported the results of the examination of 6,566 articles suspected of being blood-stained in relation to 2,643 medicolegal cases. The question at issue in 1,650 of these cases was murder; in 284, assault; in 189, rape, and in other cases the questions involved practically every aspect of human life. The articles examined included the various body discharges—saliva, urine, feces, etc.—and virtually every form of animate and inanimate material. The determinations showed that various stains were due to the blood of such animals as the sheep, goat, ox, buffalo, dog, horse and pig, and various combinations. The stains on 6,566 articles were examined, and 1,380 were found not due to blood. One aspect of the question associated particularly with local conditions in India concerns the fact that 632 specimens of earth were sent for examination, of which 467 were blood-stained. The floors of most dwellings in India are composed of rammed earth, and as no rain falls over large tracts for many months at a time, the blood which is spilled outdoors is likely to remain and not be washed away. Of the 467 bloodstained specimens of earth, no opinion could be given as to the source in fifty-six specimens, because of the rapidity with which the elements of the blood are disintegrated by bacteria in the soil. Of 3,254 articles of stained clothing, 552 were not bloodstained. In 295 cases no opinion could be given as to the source
Editor’s Note: JAMA Revisited is transcribed verbatim from articles published previously, unless otherwise noted.
of the blood found on the garments, owing to the fact that the clothing had been repeatedly washed. The process of examination included the inspection of articles by daylight and artificial light; microscopic study of special specimens of the stain for the observation of possible undamaged erythrocytes; a spectroscopic study for the observation of bands due to blood constituents, and immunologic reactions to determine, if possible, the animal from which the specimen originated. The following is in brief the technic of the immunologic study: Antiserums are prepared by injecting a fowl with the serum of man or a domestic animal. Extracts of the stains are made with normal salt solution. The stain extracts are diluted so as to approach as nearly as possible the 1:1,000 dilution of normal serum. The diluted extracts are placed in tubes, down the side of which are allowed to run two drops of the antiserum. The first antiserum to be employed is an antihuman one. The tube contents are then viewed from time to time, and if a zone of reaction is seen in any one of them within twenty minutes, that tube’s content is noted as “positive” human. The same procedure is carried out with antiovin, antihircin and other antiserums. Numerous cases are described by Sutherland as illustrative of the great difficulty in obtaining the truth from witnesses as to the source of various specimens. These results are a further evidence of the practical, almost vital importance of some of the more highly technical researches of modern medicine. 1. Sutherland: Note on 2,643 Medicolegal Cases in which 6,566 Articles Suspected to be Blood Stained Were Examined, India Jour. Med. Research, 1915, iii, 205. JAMA. 1916;66(4):277.
Section Editor: Jennifer Reiling, Assistant Editor.
jama.com
(Reprinted) JAMA January 26, 2016 Volume 315, Number 4
Copyright 2016 American Medical Association. All rights reserved.
Downloaded From: http://jama.jamanetwork.com/ by a New York University User on 02/07/2016
421
