PROF GEO BACHMAN, Sworn In For The Defendant, 115th To Testify

Prof. George Bachman, witness for the Defendant in rebuttal, at the Trial of Leo Frank in the Fulton County Superior Court of Atlanta, Georgia, in 1913 (Testimony Portion From July 28 - August 21, 1913; Closing Arguments August 21-25, 1913)
Prof. George Bachman, chair of Physiology & Physiological Chemistry at the Atlanta College of Physicians & Surgeons, delivered the final, lethal blow to the State’s digestion timeline.

“4½ hours” is a myth

Bomar’s 4½-hour figure is only for well-chewed cabbage to leave the stomach.
Zero gastric digestion occurs on starch once free HCl appears; all further breakdown happens in the small intestine.

State’s Exhibit G = swallowed whole

No salivary digestion—pyloris slams shut on every solid leaf.
Solid chunks can block the pyloris for 7–8 hours or longer.
Liquid slips through; solids stay trapped.

32 degrees HCl = meaningless

HCl curve rises fast, falls slow; 32 degrees can appear any time on the ascending or descending slope.
No maltose proves nothing—free HCl kills salivary amylase instantly.
Formaldehyde wipes out pepsin & pancreatic ferments; no chemist can reconstruct timing.

Live proof

Poorly masticated cabbage looks identical after 45 minutes in a living stomach or 10 days in a corpse.
Bachman: “That cabbage could pass whole.”

Fear = total shutdown

Terror, anger, struggle can arrest digestion for hours—even in a healthy girl.

Cross-examination backfired.

Standard tables assume perfect chewing—Exhibit G is the opposite.
Starch lingers 3–4 hours; no maltose is normal once acid kicks in.
No expert can time death from cabbage + 32° HCl.

Bachman’s verdict:
“It’s a guess. No dependable opinion is possible.”
With one calm lecture, Bachman shredded the State’s 60-minute murder window, turned Harris’s “exact science” into junk, and handed the defense medical victory on a platter.