Littlefield, the janitor of the college, had become somewhat suspicious, and on numer ous occasions during the absence of WebМег had examined the laboratories. About three o'clock on Friday, after borrowing a strong crowbar from a neighbor, he went into the cellar and began to break through the wall of the private vault. About this time, some police officers appeared and as sisted him in his work. The well was soon broken through and the party saw lying upon the ground, parts of a human body consisting of the hip bones, the right thigh (from hip to knee) and the left leg (knee to ankle), together with towels spotted with blood, marked with Webster's initials, and similar to those used in his laboratory. The evidence was then deemed sufficient to warrant arrest, and three officers drove to the criminal's house in Cambridge and took him into custody. At first he seemed to take the matter very coolly, but finally became utterly prostrated, and after having been placed in a cell at the station, fell in what appeared to be a fit. As a matter of fact, on the day of the homicide he had pre pared a strychnine pill which had been con stantly with him ever since. Owing prob ably to the condition of his nervous system the action of the drug was defeated. On this day, an unsigned letter was re ceived by the city marshal which stated that "Dr. Parkman was took abroad the ship Her culean. One of the men give me his watch and I was afeerd to keep it and throwed it in the water right side the road at the long bridge at Boston." This had evidently been written with some blunt instrument. (A pointed stick with a wad of cotton tied over the end which had been dipped in ink was found in the criminal's room at the college.) This and another anonymous communica tion, likewise received by the city marshal, were, so the experts testified, in the disguised handwriting of Prof. Webster. That same night, a thorough investigation
was made of the laboratory and lecture rooms. In the furnace, fused indiscrimin ately with slag and cinders, there were found a great number of bones and some blocks of teeth with melted gold adhering to them. On Saturday, they discovered in a remote corner of the laboratory the tea chest with its contents. Placed in apposition the parts were found to resemble corresponding parts of Dr. Parkman, there being, of course, missing, the head, arms, hands, feet and right leg from knee to ankle. The remains indicated that the height of the person to •honi they belonged was five feet ten ami a half inches, the stature of Dr. Parkman. In the autumn of 1846, Dr. Keep, a Bos ton dentist, had made artificial teeth for the deceased, taking a mold which was still in his possession. Among the bones found in the furnace, were fragments of the lower jw and blocks of artificial teeth, which, when put together, fitted the mold. Now it was evident that the remains were not those of a subject for dissection, in that there had been no injection of preservative fluid. All cada vers were furthermore accounted for inde pendent of this by Dr. Ainsworth, who kept accurate record of them. The fragments, so the experts reported, had evidently been sep arated by a person of some anatomical skill, though it was quite apparent that they had not been dissected for anatomical purposes. A pair of trousers and slippers were also discovered which had on them small drops of blood, though whether of recent date or not it was impossible to state. . On Tuesday, March icth, 1850, the crimi nal was brought to trial in the Supreme Court before Chief Justice Lemuel Shaw and three associate judges. The evidence of fered by the defense was chiefly in the nature of testimonials to Prof. Webster's high char acter and standing. The defendant also pro duced six witnesses who swore that they had seen Dr. Parkman in various places in Boston after the interview at the college. The ex
