On the uncertainty of the signs of murder in the case of bastard children

On the uncertainty of the signs of murder in the case of bastard children is a social pathology work on Illegitimacy written by William Hunter, a Scottish historian, statistician, a compiler and a member of the Indian Civil Service.

Author's Forward:

In the course of the present year, one of our friends, distinguished by rank, fortune, and science, came to me upon the following occasion: In the country, he said, a young woman was taken up, and committed to jail to take her trial, for the supposed murder of her bastard child. According to the information which he had received, he was inclined to believe, from the circumstances, that she was innocent; and yet, understanding that the minds of the people in that part of the country were much exasperated against her, by the popular cry of a cruel and unnatural murder, he feared, though innocent, she might fall a victim to prejudice and blind zeal. What he wished, he said, was to procure an unprejudiced enquiry.