Being in Williamsport, Pa., in the month of May, I was invited
by James Armstrong, Esq., prosecuting attorney of Lycoming
County, and Mr. Lloyd, high sheriff of said county, to examine
the head of a William Miller, who was then in prison awaiting
his trial for the murder of a German pedlar by the name of
Hoffman. On entering his cell, I found a good looking, not to
say a handsome young man, about twenty years of age, in irons,
exhibiting no peculiar marks of intelligence, yet a vacuity
of expression, a mysterious, reserved appearance, with a
countenance somewhat downcast but rather sullen. On proceeding
with the examination, I found it one of the most painfully
interesting cases that had ever fallen under my observation.
The developments and their combinations struck me at once
as extremely unfavourable; and, upon this account, I took
particular pains to obtain precise and accurate admeasurements.
They were taken in the presence of the above named gentlemen,
before the trial, and in the absence of all knowledge
concerning the prisoner’s _real_ character, except that he was
charged with murder.
It is to _these measurements_, rather than to any statements
of my own, that I wish to call particular attention. They
are as follows, including the integuments. The allowance
generally made for these, is two-eighths of an inch; but, as
his integuments were unusually thick, three-eighths of an inch
should be deducted in the present case. This will give very
accurately the measurements of the skull itself.
_Measurements of the Head_