SIR BERNARD SPILSBURY.

Shannon News, 1 May 1925, Page 4

SIR BERNARD SPILSBURY.

WIZARD OF CRIMINOLOGY. GREATEST MEDICAL DETECTIVE. Nowadays the scene of any difficult murder case is not complete without the familiar figure of Sir Bernaid Spilsbury, with his little black bag and his woman assistant. A charming, courteous man, whose singularly boyish-looking face beaes the grim nature of his work, is this wizard of criminology, who with scalpel and microscope, reveals Uie secrets of hidden crimes. Sir Bernard is a man who can deduce much where others would deduce nothing The smallest traces left by a murderer provide him with data that enable him to read the riddle ot a crime. His brilliant successes have brought him world-wide renown, and in England he has come to be regarded as a final court of appeal in determining the cause of a mysterious death.

Light of Science. Scotland Yard have found his aid invaluable in solving many of tne most baffling of murder mysteries. The darkest tragedies become clear when Sir Bernard examines them in the light of science. A stain or a human hair, conveying nothing to others, tell him much. From little things he is often able to forge the vital link in the chain of evidence which has completed the case for the Crown. Dr. Spilsbury began the career that was to bring him much fame as a pupil of Professor Pepper, the great Home Office expert of his day. ■ It was the Crippen case that first brought him from the obscurity of the pathological laboratory of St. Mary's Hospital into the limelight of crime investigation. Professor Pepper entrusted his young assistant with the task of making a microscopical examination of the remains that were afterwards proved to be those of Belle Elmore. Dr. Spilsbury found that a fragment of the remains bore the mark of an old operation scar, and that the flesh had been part of the abdominal wall, which clinched the identity of the victim,. and set the seal on Crippen's , fate ' For Ghiilt and Innocence. A score or other notorious criminals "have since listened from the dock to Spilsbury's deadly evidence, which has spelt their doom. George Joseph Smith (the brides-m----the-bath murderer), Seddon, Voisin, Armstrong and Patrick Mahon —to name but afew—all felt the weight of his .testimony; while his unrivalled knowledge and experience have often been of equal service in placing a perfectly innocent construction on what might otherwise have been regarded as a sinister mystery. Sir Bernard is, one of the three famous Home Office experts who constitute the most formidable combination in the world; against the concealment of secret crimes.

His two colleagues are Sir William Willcox,. senior.medical adviser of the Home Office, who is the greatest of all authorities on toxicology, and Mr. John Webster, official analytical chemist, who can detect the slightest traces of poison, and calculate the quantity to the thousandth-part of a grain. The Marsh Test, Sir Bernard is the post-mortem expert, the unrivalled authority on that often contentious question, the cause of death; but he is perhaps the most remarkable of the three, because he is able to double the roles of either of his colleagues.

His knowledge of poisons is almost as great as that of Sir William Willcox, while he is qualified, like Sir William, to undertake the task of chemical analysis.

It was he, in fact, who assisted Dr. Willcox, then official analyst, to make the tests for arsenic in the Seddon case. The case was of great importance from a scientific standpoint, because the traces of arsenic in 'Miss Barrow's exhumed body were so slight that a new method had to be adopted to calculate the quantity. For the first time the Marsh test, by which the slightest trace of the poison is deposited on a mirror, was used to estimate quantity, although the test had been employed hithero solely for qualitative purposes. The validity of the test was strongly challenged, but the .two scientists were able to carry conviction, and the test has since become standard # When Sir Bernard retired,'two years ago, from his regular work in the London coroners' courts, he explained that there was no training school, except experience, for his branch of medical science, and he felt he ought to make way for younger men.

It. seems absurd for Sir Bernard to lalk about making way for youth, for he is not yet'so, and looks nothing like his years. A leading West End actress described him the other day as th<* most handsome man in England, dwelling on his frank, humorous eyes, his firm chin and decisive mouth. In his Oxford days he was one of the best footballers at the University, and i.i these days he plays a very good game of tennis. His more serious recreation is chess. The Perfect Witness. Sir Bernard is remarkable not only for his scientific attainments, but for his impressiveness as a witness. He has been complimented over and over again by judges on the way in which lie has given his evidence. "The Perfect Witness'' he has been called. In the witness-box he is cool, courteous and authoritative. He never over-states his erase, and he never resorts to the favourite subterfuge of the less competent medical witness of sheltering behind technical terms or abstruse theories.

His is the rare ability of being able to impart his knowledge in plain, intelligible English. Even ivhen he is dealing with a contentious scientific subject he is able to make his evidence perfectly clear and understandable, and he carries conviction because he is always free from bias. Absorbed in His Work, All who have, seen Sir Bernard at work remark upon his air of complete

detachment. He becomes utterly absorbed in the task in hand that time has no meaning for him, and he seems to be quite oblivious of his surroundings.

Even -when he is engaged on the most unpleasant of examinations,' he never requires a smoke or a drink. He bends over his task, sometimes for hours on end. Ho is completely thorough in his methods. Nothing escapes his attention, nothing is too trival for him to pass by, and he allows no one to distract his attention until his work is done.

In his professional capacity he Confines himself strictly to the cold, scientific aspect of a case, but he is, nevertheless, keenly interested in the drama of crime, and I think I am right in saying that he regards the Crippen case, Ihe Armstrong case, and the Brides-in-the-Bath case at. the throe most fascinating of modern times. 'hi the latter case he made some experiments with hospital nurses to demonstrate that when a woman is submerged in a bath the rush of water up the nose, would rapidly cause death. He was thus able to show why Smith's victims showed no signs of having struggled. :i;&.L> Dramatic Moments. More than once there has been a touch of Grand Guignol drama about his evidence in court. When he A\ r as giving evidence in the Bristol 'Villa mystery, in connection with which a man named Cooper was accused of killing and burying his father, and was convicted of manslaughter, Sir Bernard produced the reconstructed skull of the dead man, mid handed it round the court, as he gave a description of how il had been shattered by nine blows. The widow of the dead man, who was watching the. scene from the dock, burst into tears, and almost collapsed. Sir Bernard lias a "black museum" of his own m his laboratory, which is ' now a I St Barfholiuew's Hospital. In this are 'many relics of his famous cases. Although Sir Bernard deals in such grim subjects—when he is not. investigating mysterious deaths, he is lecturing hospital students on anatomy, Mstlogy and -toxicology—he is anything but a morbid-minded man. He is of a retiring disposition, but a cheerful and entertaining companion to those who know him well. He is a bachelor whose (astes are of the simplest, and he iiltes nothing better than getting into an old tweed suit, and spending a day in tne country.—Atickland •Star."