Lusk Letter sent to George Lusk of the vigilante committee

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Elias,

If someone was prepared to do that once, someone who had access to such things (ie a med student), surely they would've continued after other murders, especially after the attention this letter ended up getting.

The next, and final, mutilation killing didn't get the saturation coverage in the press that Eddowes' murder had received, and official details about the Kelly murder were largely kept out of the public domain. The same had been true, to a lesser extent, of the Chapman murder - although some maverick papers carried more details than others. It was certainly widely known that Chapman's uterus had been removed, however - so why, then, didn't "Jack", or a student, send a portion of womb after that murder? I'd suggest that it may have something to do with the fact that pig and human uteri don't much resemble one another, whereas pigs' kidneys are not only more readily available, but are morphologically quite similar to their human equivalents.

[Elias]

Hi Elias,The next, and final, mutilation killing didn't get the saturation coverage in the press that Eddowes' murder had received, and official details about the Kelly murder were largely kept out of the public domain. The same had been true, to a lesser extent, of the Chapman murder - although some maverick papers carried more details than others. It was certainly widely known that Chapman's uterus had been removed, however - so why, then, didn't "Jack", or a student, send a portion of womb after that murder? I'd suggest that it may have something to do with the fact that pig and human uteri don't much resemble one another, whereas pigs' kidneys are not only more readily available, but are morphologically quite similar to their human equivalents.

Hi Sam,

Good point about the Chapman murder. But, while reports from different doctors varied on detail and conclusions on the kidney (like whether it was female, whether it was diseased etc) didn't they all agree that it was at the very least human?

Just on the point about the media coverage, isn't it safe to assume that word-of-mouth would've filled in all the gory details for anyone who wanted to know - which, judging by the crowds that gathered outside Miller's Court, was pretty much everyone.

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Elias,

But, while reports from different doctors varied on detail and conclusions on the kidney (like whether it was female, whether it was diseased etc) didn't they all agree that it was at the very least human?

Dr Openshaw opined thus, and we must respect his judgment. However, it still niggles me that he allegedly went on to say that it was female, taken from a woman aged 45, and that he apparently needed a microscope to form this opinion - none of which strikes me as particularly believable, and on which basis I can't help feeling that there's an element of press exaggeration here. I also can't quite dismiss from my mind the possibility that Openshaw, for all his skill, might have fallen foul of the broad similarity between pig and human kidneys.

Just on the point about the media coverage, isn't it safe to assume that word-of-mouth would've filled in all the gory details

Word of mouth may not have been good enough for a hoaxer bent on passing himself off as the "real" Jack. It just required one false rumour to be followed, and his deception would have been obvious.

[perrymason]

If anyone is still posting regarding the Lusk Letter "From Hell", does anyone have a comment or thought as to why Mr Lusk stuck the note and package in his drawer for a day roughly, before even telling anyone he had received it?

I personally agree with Elias...this of all the communications makes me wonder...and not because it had a kidney section. Thats sort of the "icing".

No name, no threats, no "I'm a blood thirsty madman" lines like some in Dear Boss and others. Simple, to a non-authoritative resident of the area, and just sharing the proceeds... if you will. Or the gate receipts to use another analogy. Two local men involved in the same game, but in different roles, and with much different objectives.

Even if there was no way to authenticate the kidney section as being from Kate Eddowes, it was believed to be human, and female, and taken from a body within the previous two weeks... from its arrival at Lusks, and preserved in a manner inconsistent with lab samples or student disections.

And just like the apron section on Sept 30th, there is only one killing being referenced for that "Double" night.

Best regards.

[Sam Flynn]

Hi Mike,

Even if there was no way to authenticate the kidney section as being from Kate Eddowes, it was believed to be human, and female, and taken from a body within the previous two weeks...

The latter two premises are very difficult to defend. For a start, there is preciousl little that distinguishes a female kidney from that of a male. That element, at least, of the press report sounds like utter twaddle.

preserved in a manner inconsistent with lab samples or student disections.

It wasn't. It was preserved in spirits of wine - a readily available substance used by people of all classes and of many trades, apart from lab technicians or medics - at least, not for the purpose of preserving samples.

[perrymason]

..... It was preserved in spirits of wine - a readily available substance used by people of all classes and of many trades, apart from lab technicians or medics - at least, not for the purpose of preserving samples.

I just take issue with the correction Sam....I did say it was in a manner inconsistent with Labs or teaching hospitals specifically, because I believe they preserved tissues or organs in glycerine, and the section sent in had been kept "in spirits". I was debunking the medical student myth,.... if indeed authentic, and the package contents were from Kate.

If it was real, its less likely that it was from a man trained to preserve organs in glycerine.

Cheers Sam.

[Sam Flynn]

I just take issue with the correction Sam....I did say it was in a manner inconsistent with Labs or teaching hospitals.

A thousand apologies, Mike. I mis-read totally what you wrote. Must've been tired.

[Stewart P Evans]

Lusk Kidney

If anyone is still posting regarding the Lusk Letter "From Hell", does anyone have a comment or thought as to why Mr Lusk stuck the note and package in his drawer for a day roughly, before even telling anyone he had received it?
I personally agree with Elias...this of all the communications makes me wonder...and not because it had a kidney section. Thats sort of the "icing".
Even if there was no way to authenticate the kidney section as being from Kate Eddowes, it was believed to be human, and female, and taken from a body within the previous two weeks... from its arrival at Lusks, and preserved in a manner inconsistent with lab samples or student disections.

Lusk initially (and finally) believed the letter and kidney section to be a hoax which is why he at first didn't do anything with it but then decided to consult his fellow Committee members.

The result of the medical examination of the half kidney by Openshaw and Brown was that it was human. The embellishments of age and sex were 'press gilding' and were contradicted by Openshaw.

The kidney section was consistent with the idea of a medical hoax and this was stated at the time. Spirits of wine was a standard medium for preservation of such items.

Lusk's final opinion was that it was a hoax perpetrated by someone from the London Hospital.

[diana]

Inconsistent Use of Spelling Rules

I was an elementary school teacher in another incarnation. Here is my analysis of the phonetic and spelling errors.
Mr Lusk,
Sor
I send you half [Author is aware of the silent l in half] the Kidne [Even though this is a misspelling, author knows that an e at the end of a word can be long when it is not silent. Examples: me, be, we.] I took from one woman and prasarved it for you tother piece [author got “I before e except after c”, correct and thus avoided a common error] I fried and ate it was very nise [Author substituted s for sibilant c in nise but used sibilant c correctly in “piece” Why not “piese”?]. I may send you the bloody [Author recognizes that y at the end of a word can make the long e sound, but ignores the rule in “Kidne”] knif [This word is the most telling in the whole letter. Author recognizes the rule about silent k but ignores the much more common rule about silent e at the end of a word making the vowel in the middle long.] that took it out if you only wate [Author misspells the word but uses the silent e rule to do so. He ignores the silent e rule in “knif” and “whil”.] a whil [Author ignores the silent e rule in whil] longer
Signed [Author uses more complex less known rule that states that ign can be pronounced with a long i, a silentg and an n.]
Catch me when you can Mishter Lusk

[Cap'n Jack]

I think that we get to the smelly crutch of the business at hand.
Is it not true to suggest that Openshaw could have identified the kidney as male or female by simply weighing it, or even taking slices and then examining them under his Mikospoke?
Is it not true to suggest that he could have estimated the age of the victim from the damage to the kidney?
Is it not true to suggest that the kidney would have more likely been prasarved by a barman rather than a medical student?
Is it not true to suggest that the whole 'medical student' idea was brought about by this report in 'The Times' of the 22nd October 1888, which appears to damn any other victims to history as 'medical pranks'?

[Cap'n Jack]

And just to warn you, Sam:

'The mean value of kidney weight was 170 ± 31 g (166.4 ± 29.2 g in women and 177.5 ± 32.5 g in men). The kidney weight had a correlation with the donor's BMI (r = 0.43, P < 0.001) and with the CrCl on the 12th month (r = 0.31, P = 0.001). Using multiple linear regression, the kidney weight could be predicted through the BMI and donor's gender (R2 = 0.21; P < 0.01). The CrCl after 12 months had a significant correlation with the graft weight/recipient weight ratio and with the donor age (R2 = 0.22; P < 0.01).

Conclusion. The kidney weight can be estimated using the donor's gender and BMI.'

[Sam Flynn]

And just to warn you, Sam:

'The mean value of kidney weight was 170 ± 31 g (166.4 ± 29.2 g in women and 177.5 ± 32.5 g in men). The kidney weight had a correlation with the donor's BMI (r = 0.43, P < 0.001) and with the CrCl on the 12th month (r = 0.31, P = 0.001). Using multiple linear regression, the kidney weight could be predicted through the BMI and donor's gender (R2 = 0.21; P < 0.01). The CrCl after 12 months had a significant correlation with the graft weight/recipient weight ratio and with the donor age (R2 = 0.22; P < 0.01).

Conclusion. The kidney weight can be estimated using the donor's gender and BMI.'

No need to warn, AP, as I'm always interested to learn new facts - and I'm sure Openshaw would have been fascinated to learn this too. If only he'd had access to this sort of research back in 1888 he might have availed himself of it, although I doubt it would have helped him for a number of reasons.

Firstly, the parameters of "166.4 ± 29.2 g in women; 177.5 ± 32.5 g in men" contain such a wide degree of variation that it's quite possible that a woman could have a kidney more than 50g heavier than a man's. Secondly, this research tells us that one would need to know the donor's body mass index in order to draw any inference from the weight of the organ. Finally, this research was presumably carried out on fresh, living kidneys due for transplantation, whereas all poor Thomas "Horlicks" Openshaw had to work with was a mere portion of dead tissue that had been pickled in absolute alcohol for days before being sent across London wrapped only in a cardboard box.

[Cap'n Jack]

No worries, Sam, I'm quite sure that Openshaw was aware of the fact that male kidneys were heavier than female kidneys, and that this had no relation whatsoever to body mass.
I'll leave you to clutch at straws whilst I drink me brandy through 'em.

[Sam Flynn]

No worries, Sam, I'm quite sure that Openshaw was aware of the fact that male kidneys were heavier than female kidneys.

AP - the sample you gave above shows, without any fear of contradiction, that a male kidney could be fully 50g lighter than a female's. It also shows that a kidney's weight is related to the donor's gender AND their body mass index taken together. The multiple regression technique used is a means of finding correlations where one has to take more than one variable into consideration - in this case, gender, body mass index and weight of kidney - where a simple relationship between pairs of variables does not exist. In other words, it would be invalid to say "If a kidney weighs 172g, then it must have come from a man" - because 172g falls comfortably within the range given for female kidneys.

The notation "166.4 ± 29.2g" means that, in this sample, a woman's kidney on average weighed 166.4 grammes, but some weighed 29.2 grammes less than that, or 137.2g, whereas some other female kidneys weighed as much as 195.6g - which is way over the average of 177.5g for a male kidney.

Likewise, "177.5 ± 32.5g" for a male kidney means that some male kidneys were found to weigh as little as 145g - which is much less than the average weight of 166.4g for a female kidney.

One needs the other datum (i.e. body mass index of the donor) in order to make any reasonable assumption as to the donor's gender. The additional parameter is needed, if you like, as a "tie-breaker" to guard against drawing an incorrect conclusion as to the owner's gender. Taking a single datum in isolation (i.e. the mass of the kidney) would be no good at all, especially when the variation is around 30 grammes either way, which is what we have here.

[Cap'n Jack]

Sam, there is plenty of information out there showing that there is a real difference in the weight of male and female kidneys, of course there is the always the exception to the rule, but I would have thought that any surgeon in the LVP would have weighed the kidney first to determine the sex of the individual concerned, and made his decision on the normal sequence, before perhaps hesitating over his decision because of the exceptions to the rule.

'This is supported by the same kidney to body weight ratio of female kidneys in ... underlining the difference between kidneys of female and male origin. ...
pt.wkhealth.com/pt/re/kidn/fulltext.00005489-199905000-00039.htm - Similar pages