Text corrections
DEEMING: PREHISTORIC MAN STORY OF A SKULL.
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) Saturday 25 January 1930, page 6
Article
The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956) Saturday 25 January 1930, page 6
Article
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| 2012-05-10 21:15:44.0 | anonymous | cold was at the back of the base as in | cord was at the back of the base as in |
| 2009-03-18 12:13:24.0 | user:public:jhempenstall | Huent remoial» of the rainuis of it inn nais Circuited m the Melbourne Oiol nfToidid in opportunity for n careful ex nninatioii of the skull ot 11 tilt i iel BIA lex Deeming the murderer winch vv is made bx the duector of the ins trilnn Institute of Anatomy (Piofc-»oi Sn Cohn M ickeiuic) xxho AXIS, istouishcel to luid that in Deeming bj uti cetra ordimij lapse of natme n piehistoin man of tho cal best pnnutixp tjpt known to ¡science bid bein bom io the mnetcinth ceiiturj The evidence of the remains proxe- that Dcemiiu was little less thin a dangeious minmi In Marilt 1892 tin body of i aroman yx is ! found undet a hearthstone embedded ni connut in a house in \\ indsoi The clime vv as traced to Doominc. w li i auder tin n une ol Baitoti few nison hid lle.1 to Southern Cu»s (\\ \ 1 xvheie be uns it-rested and whcnic In was bimnht b nk to Melbourne lu tin iniintmii tuquiin» ni-titutcd bv The Argus throut,lt its Lou don tcpresentitiye biought to light tin ÍTct tint Deeming bul ni* a murda ed his tv ile iiiil fottr childi en at Rimhill neal Lia ci pool m Lnt-hud The bodies had been dt-posid ot in a manner similar to that of hist victim nt Windsor These elis CIOSUIL* Deeming s callous and indifferent belnxioitr aftot hi» nne=t and the bru talitj of tin Ulmes amused populir feel mi deepl) The mtndeted vvoniau pioycd la be html} Mather with wlietn Di oniing hal lorn thioiiaih the leieniotn et mir nile in I nglan I He bul betomi engi"eel aftei the inurdei to t Miss Rounsevell and ii Southern Cio»s he ha. I ah euh proxulnl the lenient fei the disp>snl of her lindi , Deeming s li lal which listed ti iixi elixs axis begun liefcne the lite Mt Ins dei Hodges at tin end of \pnl 1S!)2 The evidence lift no possible doubt of Ills' guilt Hie otiK possible hope of ptoeiir tug a xpidict in his faxntn Ina in a. plei of instnitv x\ Inih xx a« not upheld despite evidente In Dr T W Ipimgthoipe and tin lite Di J "i T-isliboume Denmire, wn» an extnordinaul} glib liar and Dr Spinigtlinrpe hld the gleitest tltflicultj in uliving nt the tnilh The v-imtv ot "-he pii»onci ins nnmeasunblc and he tits pi iv eel nn ultu lnil of it mel se for Ins enmi lie putendeel that when he eli iti|.eil lils n nut he eli ingiel his identity Ile ad mitti 1 tint lie In nk W \lli uns-Hie n uno he hil used at 1 nnhill-h id killie] (lie women and ihildtcn time also (hit 1 letlcnck Deeming had 1 ilk 1 I linly Mather at Wintlsn but neitlui ot these ci une- I e nisi-le 1 loitld IK. alleged ii mist Bit ron Swanson the minc he hid issiimed in Western Austialii and lie aun onslv dissociatitl Inmsilt fiom the nts ol \\ illi-ims and* Deeming Dr fepi HIL, llioi pe s summing up of the life of Denn nig vv ib tint it bal bein an i\ti ivagin/a. binkiii bv lill ot tumis) at nitciv ils Hie Clown 1 ipt tin méditai w Unisses fu tin tleftnce stititlj to Hie tunis ot what is lnovxn is the MiNnughtun test nanielj ivhethei it the time the until w is romniitUd Decinin«, was aw ne of the nattne mid qiulitx of In- actions lins list vi as hil elown b) a committee of the House of Louis m ISH is determining guilt and ni 181)1 it had b« in i ciflu mod bv tin i ii toi i m 1 nil Com t Di »"piingtlioipe could not eon-lien ttouslj M i ii to the statt of Dtetu HIL, b mind it the time In committed the clime in cidu to ovuconn tin, Mi\million te»t Hi- p isi»tenic ni munt titinit. Ins own tom niton ot iii-uiiti bioiuht lum into eoulliit with the Couti and Mi Instilo Hotlgis sonnvvhat ib\u\tli tuiniuated Ins cvidinic Hie icidict of guilt) Avas t foulon ionilu»ioii and Heemmg w is sentotiied to de ith 1 J he cMinimliou of the H m lins bj Su Cohn Mukcn/ie levuileil some veil mtciestiiig leitiius Wb n mini fu»t is sumed the upiigbt posluic lils he id wits pined ou the spin ii column tow u d the back of the skull, siheie aI»o w is the open tug known as the foiainen 1111,41111111 tiiioui.li is huh the spinal cold 1 cubed the linn Tn 01 dei to ketp the lie ni fi0111 singing foi AS aid 1 broad bind it muscle vv is it Itched to the luck of the F1 nil wilclo it AVIS nichol ed to i tony tidi,e When the upiikbt postme of mail became iumlv estibhshed the spin ii column uni the foi mien uingnum Mond for« ntl to the eetitte of the bise of the skull vi line the beni bceime b ii meed md then usefulness hem., pissed, the heavy muscles md the bony tidge disappeared lbe»e chingos loot» pine slowly osti t lions aids of yens 1 sen 111 the now e\ttuct 1 ila ihtlne lis main in natisc the foi um n niviiuni w i» in the untie of the bysc as 111 moJein mm uni time w is ii) ti ne ii Mu bony ud"e at the bick of the si "11 It AVIS then foie willi lu little is(i iu»hmi nt Mut Sn tollu Mieken/ii discerní ed tint 111 Deeming « si ull the opening foi Ui< spin ii cold AVIS it the b iel ot the ln»c is 111 the antillfipoid lill lons nd"i it the bul» vv is ii o elenlv 111 evuleiie Jins hrwcsei, w is not ill Helund e ich eu then is i »mi]| bone piojeetun on tile si nil luown is the niu-toid piocess In moduli nun these point du citlv dr vv n w nd and shejith foivv u 1 lu the mist plimitive type ol man thcv «loped bid wini In lleeimivs si nil the mistend pioicsses nave biekwnd J he nell of the si nil is iKo distinctly smuau \ cist of the oldest lunn in idle known to science the Tisi »kuli when pi iced upon lleeinmgs ltts it bl e te ip Dei min,, h id al o the chaiacteiij)tle anthiopoid heavy bous stiuc tmc ot the binns J he cubic content ol the skull is iKo s-crv lis» uni there is no fiontil ties clopim ni show HIL, th it the bunn AVIS of i sen low and iniiiitisi ts pc J be skeleton of L)ccmiu" uko le- ve lied two s ei A distinct an 1 ty pu al untbio poid chnnctcustics J lie oriole at whieh the thie.li bones were »et in the bip »ml ets give lum the shimblnie. ipe bl e tviit th it was "-o notice ible in linn md lie ul»o li id imineiisels long urns which i cached to his knees Hie deductions to be ihavvn lu ni these estiaoidinaiA pecilhiuties ile tint Deeinuv ssis ti diei Util in icluom in He w is boin thou»nula of veil's too late loi the biologic ii en to ii huh be belonged md complied with modem m ni he vi is but one step in development ti oin the un tbiopoid suth i moi ii mil intellectual capacity to ni itch The Scientific Viewpoint Like Sn Cohn ifackeiuie Di ««pi mt, thoipe, who his iKo e\mimed the eist made ftom the skult is astoni»lied Deeming must bise been tut-illy lncipnbli of piecittiug any nioial piCLcpt His iiiind vi is ".oi el ned cmlv bv Ins muteual need WhaltAci he leepiued ho icquiied bj the most diiiet metiis If 1 illnig wuc the eisicst method of ittnnmcnt he lilli 1 His 1 now h dee of light ol wiong vv is símil ii to thit of i nt oi a dog winch li is no mot ii sense, but which realises ssiong doin^, be cause of foi mci punishment Just us an mun ii detected ni theft will use cimmiii, to evade punishment so Deenune, used his liiejici mdci of nminil miming lie w is not inpible of lemotsc foi his crimes und that f ictoi accounts foi Ins enlloii»ue«s The Trial | Recent removals of the remains of crimi- nals executed in the Melbourne Gaol afforded an opportunity for a careful ex- amination of the skull of Frederick Bayley Deeming, the murderer, which was made by the director of the Aus- tralian Institute of Anatomy (Professor Sir Colin Mackenzie), who was astonished to find that in Deeming, by an extra- ordinary lapse of nature, a prehistoric man of the earliest primitive type known to science had been born in the nineteenth century. The evidence of the remains proves that Deeming was little less than a dangerous animal. In March, 1892, the body of a woman was found under a hearthstone embedded in cement, in a house in Windsor. The crime was traced to Deeming, who, under the name of Barron Swanson, had fled to Southern Cross (W.A.), where he was arrested and whence he was brought back to Melbourne. In the meantime inquiries instituted by "The Argus" through its Lon- don representative brought to light the fact that Deeming had also murdered his wife and four children at Rainhill, near Liverpool, in England. The bodies had been disposed of in a manner similar to that of his victim at Windsor. These dis- closures, Deeming's callous and indifferent behaviour after his arrest, and the bru- tality of the crimes aroused popular feel- ing deeply. The murdered woman proved to be Emily Mather with whom Deeming had gone through the ceremony of mar- riage in England. He had become engaged after the murder to a Miss Rounsevell, and at Southern Cross he had already provided the cement for the disposal of her body. Deeming's trial, which lasted for five days, was begun before the late Mr. Jus- tice Hodges at the end of April, 1892. The evidence left no possible doubt of his guilt. The only possible hope of procur- ing a verdict in his favour lay in a plea of insanity, which was not upheld, despite evidence by Dr. J. W. Springthorpe and the late Dr. J. Y. Fishbourne. Deeming was an extrardinary glib liar, and Dr. Springthorpe had the greatest difficulty in arriving at the truth. The vanity of the prisoner was immeasureable and he dis- played an utter lack of remorse for his crimes. He pretended that when he changed his name he changed his identity. He ad- mitted that Frederick Williams-the name he had used at Rainhill-had killed the women and children there, also that Frederick Deeming had killed Emily Mather at Windsor, but neither of these crimes, he insisted, could be alleged against Barron Swanson, the name he had assumed in Western Australia, and he vigor- ously dissociated himself from the acts of Williams and Deeming. Dr. Spring- thorpe's summing-up of the life of Deem- ing was that it had been "an extravaganza broken by lack of funds at intervals." The Crown kept the medical witnesses for the defence strictly to the terms of what is known as the McNaughton test, namely, whether at the time the crime was committed Deeming was aware of the nature and quality of his actions. This test was laid down by a committee of the House of Lords in 1843, as determining guilt, and in 1891 it had been reaffirmed by the Victorian Full Court. Dr. Springthorpe could not conscien- tiously swear to the state of Deem- ing's mind at the time he committed the crime, in order to overcome the McNaughton test. His persistence in maintaining his own conviction of insanity brought him into conflict with the Court, and Mr. Justice Hodges somewhat abruptly terminated his evidence. The verdict of guilty was a foregone conclusion and Deeming was sentenced to death. The examination of the remains by Sir Colin Mackenzie revealed some very interesting features. When man first as- sumed the upright posture his head was placed on the spinal column toward the back of the skull, where also was the open- ing known as the foramen magnum, through which the spinal cord reached the brain. In order to keep the head from sagging forward a broad band of muscle was at- tached to the back of the skull, where it was anchored to a bony ridge. When the upright posture of man became firmly established the spinal column and the foramen magnum moved forward to the centre of the base of the skull, where the head became balanced, and, their usefulness being passed, the heavy muscles and the bony ridge disappeared. These changes took place slowly over thousands of years. Even in the now extinct palæolithic Tas- manian native the foramen magnum was in the centre of the base as in modern man, and there was no trace of the bony ridge at the back of the skull. It was therefore with no little astonishment that Sir Colin Mackenzie discovered that in Deeming's skull the opening for the spinal cold was at the back of the base as in the anthropoid. The bony ridge at the back was also clearly in evidence. This, however was not all. Behind each ear there is a small bony projection on the skull known as the mastoid process. In modern man these point directly down- ward and slightly forward. In the most primitive type of man they sloped back- ward. In Deeming's skull the mastoid processes curve backward. The arch of the skull is also distinctly simian. A cast of the oldest human relic known to science, the Java skull, when placed upon Deeming's fits it like a cap. Deeming had also the characteristic anthropoid heavy bony struc- ture of the brows. The cubic content of the skull is also very low, and there is no frontal development, showing that the brain was of a very low and primitive type. The skeleton of Deeming also re- vealed two very distinct and typical anthro- poid characteristics. The angle at which the thigh bones were set in the hip sockets gave him the shambling ape-like gait that was so noticeable in him, and he also had immensely long arms which reached to his knees. The deductions to be drawn from these extraordinary peculiarities are that Deeming was a dreadful anachronism. He was born thousands of years too late for the biological era to which he belonged, and compared with modern man he was but one step in development from the an- thropoid, with a moral and intellectual capacity to match. The Scientific Viewpoint. Like Sir Colin Mackenzie, Dr. Spring- thorpe, who has also examined the cast made from the skull, is astonished. Deeming must have been totally incapable of ap- preciating any moral precept. His mind was governed only by his material needs. Whatever he required he acquired by the most direct means. If killing were the easiest method of attainment, he killed. His knowledge of right or wrong was similar to that of a cat or a dog, which has no moral sense, but which realises wrong-doing be- cause of former punishment. Just as an animal detected in theft will use cunning to evade punishment, so Deeming used his higher order of animal cunning. He was not capable of remorse for his crimes, and that factor accounts for his callousness. The Trial. |