THE TRIAL--THE MEDICAL REPORT.
But, as if to spite him, the case dragged out to a great length. After
each witness had been examined separately and the expert last of all,
and a great number of useless questions had been put, with the usual
air of importance, by the public prosecutor and by both advocates, the
president invited the jury to examine the objects offered as material
evidence. They consisted of an enormous diamond ring, which had
evidently been worn on the first finger, and a test tube in which the
poison had been analysed. These things had seals and labels attached to
them.
Just as the witnesses were about to look at these things, the public
prosecutor rose and demanded that before they did this the results of
the doctor’s examination of the body should be read. The president, who
was hurrying the business through as fast as he could in order to visit
his Swiss friend, though he knew that the reading of this paper could
have no other effect than that of producing weariness and putting off
the dinner hour, and that the public prosecutor wanted it read simply
because he knew he had a right to demand it, had no option but to
express his consent.
The secretary got out the doctor’s report and again began to read in his
weary lisping voice, making no distinction between the “r’s” and “l’s.”
The external examination proved that:
“1. Theropont Smelkoff’s height was six feet five inches.
“Not so bad, that. A very good size,” whispered the merchant, with
interest, into Nekhludoff’s ear.
“2. He looked about 40 years of age.
“3. The body was of a swollen appearance.
“4. The flesh was of a greenish colour, with dark spots in several
places.
“5. The skin was raised in blisters of different sizes and in places had
come off in large pieces.
“6. The hair was chestnut; it was thick, and separated easily from the
skin when touched.
“7. The eye-balls protruded from their sockets and the cornea had grown
dim.
“8. Out of the nostrils, both ears, and the mouth oozed serous liquid;
the mouth was half open.
“9. The neck had almost disappeared, owing to the swelling of the face
and chest.”
And so on and so on.
Four pages were covered with the 27 paragraphs describing all the
details of the external examination of the enormous, fat, swollen, and
decomposing body of the merchant who had been making merry in the
town. The indefinite loathing that Nekhludoff felt was increased by the
description of the corpse. Katusha’s life, and the scrum oozing from
the nostrils of the corpse, and the eyes that protruded out of their
sockets, and his own treatment of her--all seemed to belong to the same
order of things, and he felt surrounded and wholly absorbed by things of
the same nature.
When the reading of the report of the external examination was ended,
the president heaved a sigh and raised his hand, hoping it was finished;
but the secretary at once went on to the description of the internal
examination. The president’s head again dropped into his hand and he
shut his eyes. The merchant next to Nekhludoff could hardly keep awake,
and now and then his body swayed to and fro. The prisoners and the
gendarmes sat perfectly quiet.
The internal examination showed that:
“1. The skin was easily detachable from the bones of the skull, and
there was no coagulated blood.
“2. The bones of the skull were of average thickness and in sound
condition.
“3. On the membrane of the brain there were two discoloured spots about
four inches long, the membrane itself being of a dull white.” And so on
for 13 paragraphs more. Then followed the names and signatures of
the assistants, and the doctor’s conclusion showing that the changes
observed in the stomach, and to a lesser degree in the bowels and
kidneys, at the postmortem examination, and described in the official
report, gave great probability to the conclusion that Smelkoff’s death
was caused by poison which had entered his stomach mixed with alcohol.
To decide from the state of the stomach what poison had been introduced
was difficult; but it was necessary to suppose that the poison entered
the stomach mixed with alcohol, since a great quantity of the latter was
found in Smelkoff’s stomach.
“He could drink, and no mistake,” again whispered the merchant, who had
just waked up.
The reading of this report had taken a full hour, but it had not
satisfied the public prosecutor, for, when it had been read through and
the president turned to him, saying, “I suppose it is superfluous to
read the report of the examination of the internal organs?” he answered
in a severe tone, without looking at the president, “I shall ask to have
it read.”
He raised himself a little, and showed by his manner that he had a right
to have this report read, and would claim this right, and that if that
were not granted it would serve as a cause of appeal.
The member of the Court with the big beard, who suffered from catarrh of
the stomach, feeling quite done up, turned to the president:
“What is the use of reading all this? It is only dragging it out. These
new brooms do not sweep clean; they only take a long while doing it.”
The member with the gold spectacles said nothing, but only looked
gloomily in front of him, expecting nothing good, either from his wife
or life in general. The reading of the report commenced.
“In the year 188-, on February 15th, I, the undersigned, commissioned
by the medical department, made an examination, No. 638,” the secretary
began again with firmness and raising the pitch of his voice as if to
dispel the sleepiness that had overtaken all present, “in the presence
of the assistant medical inspector, of the internal organs:
“1. The right lung and the heart (contained in a 6-lb. glass jar).
“2. The contents of the stomach (in a 6-lb. glass jar).
“3. The stomach itself (in a 6-lb. glass jar).
“4. The liver, the spleen and the kidneys (in a 9-lb. glass jar).
“5. The intestines (in a 9-lb. earthenware jar).”
The president here whispered to one of the members, then stooped to the
other, and having received their consent, he said: “The Court considers
the reading of this report superfluous.” The secretary stopped reading
and folded the paper, and the public prosecutor angrily began to write
down something. “The gentlemen of the jury may now examine the articles
of material evidence,” said the president. The foreman and several of
the others rose and went to the table, not quite knowing what to do with
their hands. They looked in turn at the glass, the test tube, and the
ring. The merchant even tried on the ring.
“Ah! that was a finger,” he said, returning to his place; “like a
cucumber,” he added. Evidently the image he had formed in his mind of
the gigantic merchant amused him.