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ALEXANDER WHISTELO. 599

have been called in to give their opinions, and they almost
unanimously declare that the defendant is not the father of
the child, as it would be a deviation from the course of na-
ture. Doctor Pascalis haa fortified his opinion by some very
able remarks; and Sir James Jay, a physician of great re-
spectability, and of the longest standing in the city, has
given a decided opinion to the same effect, and has partic-
ularly indicated the want of crisped hair as a conclusive cir-
eumstance against the testimony of the woman; and he has
been supported in his opinion by the president of the Medi-
cal Society, and several professors and other distinguished
physicians.

The only opinion which militates against the united voice
of the profession is that of Doctor Mitchill, and this is more
in appearance than in reality. That learned gentleman has
explicitly admitted that the offspring of the mother and the
defendant would, according to the ordinary laws of nature,
possess a color lighter than that of the father, and darker
than that of the mother; and that, on the presumption of
their being the parents, the appearance of the present child
would be an anomaly in the science of man, and a departure
from the usual operations of nature.

Tf, therefore, nothing farther appeared before the Court,
we would not hesitate to decide against the appellants; aa
we undoubtedly repose less confidence in the oath of the
‘woman, than in the opinions of the medical gentlemen who
have appeared here ag witnesses, corroborated by every ap-
pearance, and by our own observations; and it cannot cer-
tainly be expected that we would have recourse to the mirac-
ulous to bear out and support the testimony of the mother.
The rule in dramatic poetry will apply to cases of this na-
ture—

Nie Dens intersit nisi dignins vindiee nodus,
Tneiderit—
But the mother has reluctantly attested, and explicitly ad-
mitted, that she had connection with a white man aa well as

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