348 Science and Crime. | July, 
these pages his astounding revelations concerning the detection of 
blood in fabrics,* when he told us that he could trace the presence 
of the vital fluid months after it had been spilt, and after the fabric 
had been repeatedly washed with the view to obliterate the stains, 
we had the pleasure on the one hand of receiving communications 
from scientific men who at once appreciated the great value of the 
discovery, and on the other hand we were amused by the sceptical 
shoulder-shrugs of “the world,’ which would be “ very sorry to 
condemn a man to death upon such evidence.” 
Without here discussing the propriety of condemning a man 
to death on any evidence or for any crime, we have to point out the 
fact that “the world” is again, as it has often been and often will 
be, erroneous in its judgments on scientific matters; for largely if 
not entirely in consequence of the investigation by spectrum- 
analysis of the blood-stained wood of a hatchet-handle, a man at 
Aberdare has been sentenced to death for one of the most deliberate, 
cowardly, atrocious murders that the world ever witnessed. 
The crime in question, known as the “ Mountain Ash Murder,” 
was committed last September by a youth, aged eighteen, called 
Coe, the victim being another young man called John Davies, 
residing in the same locality, and the trial came off in March of the 
present year. 
It is unnecessary to pain our readers by the full details of this 
crime, which attracted considerable attention at the time; and we 
shall state as concisely as possible how scientific research succeeded 
in securing the conviction of the murderer. On a certain Saturday 
in September, the day on which he received his wages, the mur- 
dered man was last seen in company with the criminal who has 
since perished on the scaffold ; and from that time until the Ist of 
January nothing was heard of him. On that day a farmer, also 
called John Davies (the same name as the deceased), discovered a 
dead body in a wood in the neighbourhood of “ Mountain Ash,” 
the head being severed from the body, and lying at some distance 
from the trunk. He at once applied to the police, by whom the 
body was removed. It was already, to a great extent, decomposed ; 
but was identified as that of John Davies by his father; and here 
comes the first result of scientific acumen. The father recognized 
a portion of the clothing found upon the body; but this would 
hardly have sufficed in evidence. Young Davies had, however, had 
a back tooth drawn by Mr. Brown, a surgeon, two years before the 
murder ; and that tooth had been preserved by the unfortunate 
young man’s father. It was now inserted into the jaw of the 
corpse, and “it fitted as well as it could, considering the length of 
time which had elapsed.” 
* “On the Application of Spectrum-Analysis to Microscopical Investigations, 
and especially to the Detection of Blood-stains.” By H. C. Sorby, E.R.S. 
‘Quarterly Journal of Science,’ No. 6, April, 1865. 
