This would, to us, mean that a missile had made this wound from within the skull to the exterior. To confirm that this was a missile wound, X-rays were made of that fragment of bone, which showed radio-opaque material consistent and similar in character to the particles seen within the skull to be deposited in the margins of this defect, in this portion of the bone.

Mr. Specter.

Then what conclusion did you reach as to what caused that hole reconstructed from the three portions of the late President's scalp?
Commander HUMES. We reached the conclusion a missile entered the left--the right posterior inferior portion-----

Mr. Specter.

Doctor, perhaps it would be helpful if you would refer to that as letter "A" and the exit as letter "B", so that the record is clear on those two points and perhaps it will be helpful to your description as well. And would you mark them as well, with a pencil?
Commander HUMES. That is not entry for the second.

Mr. Specter.

Exit for the second?
Commander HUMES. I will label 388 with the letter "A" to indicate our opinion as to the wound of entrance into the skull.
I will label as Point "B" the area of exit of a portion of the missile that entered posteriorly, I say a portion because a small fragment was seen in the position previously noted which was recovered.
However, we concluded that a very significant portion, perhaps the largest portion, made its exit and accounted for this very large defect for the multiple fractures of the skull and for the loss of brain and scalp tissue at this point.

Mr. Specter.

Will you describe at this juncture the damage which was inflicted upon the brain, please?
Commander HUMES. May I refer at this point to the gross description of the brain prepared separately?

Mr. Specter.

Certainly, Dr. Humes, if you prefer to do it in that order.
Commander HUMES. I believe you have that. It is the second portion of the report.

Mr. Specter.

Yes, sir. I can make that available to you here.
Commander HUMES. While that is being provided, when we reflected the scalp away from the badly damaged skull, and removed some of these loosened portions of skull bone, we were able to see this large defect in the right cerebral hemisphere. It corresponded roughly in size with the greatest diameter of the defect in the scalp measuring some 13 cm.

Mr. Specter.

May the record now show I am handing to you, Dr. Humes, an exhibit marked Commission Exhibit 391, and will you identify what that is, please, Doctor?
Commander HUMES. Exhibit 391 is listed as a supplementary report on the autopsy of the late President Kennedy, and was prepared some days after the examination.
This delay necessitated by, primarily, our desire to have the brain better fixed with formaldehyde before we proceeded further with the examination of the brain which is a standard means of approach to study of the brain.
The brain in its fresh state does not lend itself well to examination.
From my notes of the examination, at the time of the post-mortem examination, we noted that clearly visible in the large skull defect and exuding from it was lacerated brain tissue which, on close inspection proved to represent the major portion of the right cerebral hemisphere.
We also noted at this point that the flocculus cerebri was extensively lacerated and that the superior sagittal sinus which is a venous blood containing channel in the top of the meninges was also lacerated.
To continue to answer your question with regard to the damage of the brain, following the formal infixation, Dr. Boswell, Dr. Finck and I convened to examine the brain in this state.
We also prepared photographs of the brain from several aspects to depict the extent of these injuries.
We found that the right cerebral hemisphere was markedly disrupted. There was a longitudinal laceration of the right hemisphere which was parasagittal in position. By the saggital plane, as you may know, is a plane in the midline which would divide the brain into right and left halves.

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