^w/v^Kj^r •'■•.r.^^zvt'JimXKi Jlii^i...;';:::.';..'. .: 'in W Q X *a: ELEMENTS OF MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. BY THEODRIC ROMEYN gggTC M. D. professor or materia medica and medical jurisprudence in the college of PHYSICIANS and surgeons of the western district of the state of NEW YORK, etc. etc. AND JOHN B. BECK, M. D. PROFESSOR OF MATERIA MEDICA AND MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE IN THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS, NEW YORE; ONE OF THE PHYSICIANS TO THE NEW YORK HOSPITAL, ETC. ETC. SIXTH EDITION, IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. II. PHILADELPHIA: THOMAS, COWPERTHWAIT, & CO. 1838. 1/ U (oOO JB313'e v. Z Entered, according to (he Act of Congress, in the year 1838, by T. Romeyn Beck ; in the Clerk's Office of the District Court for the Northern District of the State of New York. I I CONTENTS OF VOL. II. Chap. XIV. Persons Found Dead, - - 5 XV. Wounds on the Living Body, - 214 XVI. Poisons, - - - -276 XVII. Irritant Poisons, - - 320 XVIII. Irritant Poisons, (continued,) - 367 XIX. Irritant Poisons, (concluded,) - 516 XX. Narcotic Poisons, - - - 564 XXI. Narcotico-acrid Poison^, -.-".- rV~" - 621 ✓ XXII. Medical Evidence, -/^ - - 680 Catalogue of Books consulted, \v?^ " ,, V 704 ■) ERRATA. VOL. I. Page 79, note, for p. 29, read p. 52. 107, line 1, after would, insert not. 200, line 16, for some, read size. 484, last line of note, for 223, read 293. t VOL. II, Page 310,1st line of note, for p. 22, read p. 17 353, line 6, for and, read an. 390, line 3, insert jl. 6, insert ^\. MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE. CHAPTER XIV. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. Duties of the office of coroner—imperfect manner in which it is often executed— duties of medical witnesses. Frequency of sudden death independent of violence. 1. Medico-legal dissection. Preliminary directions. Examination of external le- sions—of the head—spine—thorax and abdomen. Distinction between natural appearances and the effects of violence. Haemorrhage—fluidity of the blood—ec- chymosis—effect of blows on the dead body—sanguineous congestions—wounds— pseudo-morbid appearances. Examination of the skeleton—cases. Whether the hair grows after death. Changes induced by death and putrefaction. Observations of Orfila on this—not to prevent medico-legal dissection. '2. Of sudden death from natural causes. From apoplexy—rupture of aneurisms or cysts—affections of the heart—haemorrhage—idiopathic asphyxia. Christison's remarks on latent diseases—directions for discriminating. 3. Of death from violent causes. Explanation of the term asphyxia—anatomical changes that accompany it. Whether death arises from suicide. A. Of persons dead from cold. Its effects—appearances on dissection. Death from drinking cold water, and its probable cause. B. Of persons dead from hunger. Appearances on dissection in man and animals. C. Of persons dead from lightning. Appear- ances. D. Of persons found burnt to death. Effects of burns on the dead and living body. Prajternatural combustibility of the human body—cases—theories to explain it. E. Of persons dead from wounds. Meaning of the word wound in legal medicine. Whether the wounds are the result of suicide, accident or homi- cide. Wounds from fire-arms—cases. Examination of the skeleton—cases in which murder was detected. Chemical investigations to ascertain the peculiarities in the blood of man and other animals. F. Of persons dead from noxious inha- lations. 1. Carbonic acid gas—modes in which it may be generated—symptoms and effects—appearances on dissection. 2. Sulphuretted hydrogen—effects—ap- pearances on dissection. G. Of persons found hung. Modes in which death oc- curs. Signs of strangulation by hanging—notice of the value of each—appear- ances on dissection. Whether the person found hung, has been suspended before or after death—case?. Whether the hanging is the result of suicide, accident or homicide—cases. H. Of persons found strangled. Whether this has been ac- tually the cause of death—cases—appearances on dissection. Of manual strangu- lation. Whether the strangulation is the effect of suicide, accident or homicide— cases. Strangulation detected long after death. J. Of persons found smothered. infants by accident—adults by accident, homicide or suicide—cases. Death from pressure in a crowd. K. Of persons found drowned. Modes in which death is produced. Signs that distinguish death previous to submersion, from death after it—examination of the relative importance of each sign. Effects of immersion on the dead body, and the changes produced by it—floating of the body—formation of adipocire—progress of putrefaction at various periods—cases. Whether the drowning was the effect of suicide, accident or homicide—cases. Death, even when it is the consequence of disease, is often an unexpected event. But if an individual expire under his own VOL. II. 1 2 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. roof, surrounded by friends and relatives, we are disposed to con- sider it as an ordinary dispensation of Providence,;and on3 t i i a Thp features oi tne which all of us are sooner or later doomed, lhe ieai case differ materially, when a person is found dead on tn g way, on the banks of a river, or in a lonely place. Indeed, n n be discovered to have paid the last debt of mortality, either in a sudden manner, or at a distance from his home, the laws ol civilized society demand an investigation of the cause, and ovei this investigation, the officer called a coroner, is appointed to pre- side. , It will readily be observed from the above remarks, that the office in question is an important one. The duty of the coroner extends to an examination of the circumstances connected with every case of sudden or suspicious death, and he is to make this with the aid of a jury, summoned by him for the purpose. Fu- ture proceedings are regulated by the verdict that they may pro- nounce. That the duties of this office are imperfectly understood, and often most negligently performed, hardly admits of a doubt. The individuals appointed are frequently unfit for the situation, both from habits and education, while the jury are too commonly de- sirous of hurrying through the investigation. It has been pro- posed to remedy the first difficulty, by selecting coroners from among medical men, and there is no doubt that the administra- tion of criminal justice might be promoted thereby.* Every in- quest involves a medical question, and even although the case may at the first glance appear so clear, and the facts so certain, as hardly to need a professional examination, yet before the trial is ended, there will often be extreme regret, that a medico-legal dissection had not been pursued. The medical witness has, however, several obstacles and dis- couragements to encounter in the performance of his duty. The power of the coroner and his jury to stop him in the progress of his examination seems unquestioned, at least it is constantly exer- cised, in spite of his remonstrances. " On a late occasion, one of these grave bodies declared that they would apply to the gover- nors of a London hospital to put a stop to unnecessary dissections and in many cases they have told an inspecting surgeon to stop * In England considerable efforts have been made of lalp tn n,™ .u , . pf medical coroners. ale to Procure ^ election PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 3 in the midst of his work, because they themselves were satis- fied:'* Again, no compensation is allowed to the surgeon for the dis- section, nor to the chemist for his analysis, while he incurs at the same time the high responsibility of deciding on the guilt or inno- cence of the accused. Certainly, no plan could be suggested more effectually to deter all and every medical man from en- gaging in these thankless investigations-! In my remarks on me- dical evidence, I shall offer some suggestions for improving this very imperfect portion of our criminal code. At present, con- ceding that the physician or surgeon is obliged to attend, when summoned, at these inquests, I will offer for his consideration some preliminary cautions. The first is, not to permit sudden prejudice to warp his mind. There is nothing more common among the populace, who crowd around the bodies of persons found dead, than to suspect that they have been murdered, and the idea, instead of being judi- ciously combatted, if untrue, is permitted to gain strength by re- petition. Against charges of this nature, the physician should always be prepared, and never allow them to have any influence over him. He should proceed to the examination of the body with a mind free from prejudice. He should also recollect, that sudden death is not an uncommon event, and that those who, at one moment, we see before us in the full enjoyment of life, may, at the next, be cold and inanimate. The secret, operating causes of this change may remain unknown to us, and we can perceive only its effects. In addition to this, there are many circumstances which may be the origin of the sudden decease, and to which the person affected has been for a time exposed, without any knowledge of their consequences. Of this nature, are the breath- ing of noxious gases, the use of improper aliments, or of un- healthy water. The passions, also, if highly excited, or a purely * Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 22, p. 190. t "On a trial of an indictment for manslaughter, the surgeon will be allowed only for his attendance on the trial, and not for his fee for opening the body by order of the coroner." 5 Carrington and Payne, p. 301. Rex v. Taylor. Our Revised Stat- utes of New York, (vol. 2, p. 742,) declare, that "it shall be the duty of the coroner to cause some surgeon or physician to be subpoenaed to appear as a witness upon the taking of an inquest," but does not notice the compensation. In France, the judicial officers, or those of the police are expressly ordered to subpoena medical men, to make the necessary examinations, in all cases of violent death, or where the cause of sudden decease is unknown. If circumstances render a disinterment necessary, the police officers must be assisted in that duty by a phy. sician or surgeon. (Code D'lnstruction Criminelle, articles 44 and 81.) PERSONS FOUND DEAD. accidental cause may respectively have induced the su death. And lastly, the destruction of life may have been caused by the person himself. All these possible circumstances should be recollected, before a case of this kind is referred to a criminal court, on the decision of a physician. The importance of medico- legal dissection is thus inculcated, not only by every sentiment of professional pride, but even by the dictates of common hu- manity. It is but a sorry excuse, after a suspected individual has lain for months in a jail, on the strength of his opinion, then to come into court and say, that he drew wrong inferences from external appearances, or on the other hand, to meet a brother practitioner, who invalidates his opinion, and demonstrates the crudeness and insufficiency of his investigations. In further noticing this subject, I shall consider it under the following general divisions. 1. Of MEDICO-LEGAL DISSECTION. 2. Of SUDDEN DEATH FROM NATURAL CAUSES. 3. Of DEATH FROM VIOLENT CAUSES. The subject of wounds generally, and of poisons, would pro- bably, in perfect strictness, belong to the present title, but as they are very extensive and important in their nature, I prefer con- sidering them in distinct chapters, and this separation will also allow us to notice their effects on the living body.* I. Of medico-legal dissection. Under this head, I propose to give general rules only for the examination of dead bodies, applicable to all the cases that may be supposed to occur. Every species of violent death requires an investigation peculiar, in some degree, to itself, and the minu- tiae of this will be more profitably noticed in succeeding sections and chapters-f I am also to suppose the reader acquainted with * 1 am obliged, from want of space, to omit a notice of the signs of rp-il a parent death. Some of them, however are briefly considered in the next YectioT' and for a more detailed examination, I must refer to my work on M^; i d ,° ' which I am now preparing for the press. Y 0" Medlcal Police, t The following are the principal authorities on this subject Marc's Tr»nci ,• of Rose's Manual. Mauchartius' Dissertation in Schleeel vol 1\»Z f.ralnfla]tlon anticipates the former in many respects. Chaussier £ M«r t W,h'~h lndeed and on Ecchymosis, &c. TheL tw'o dissertate" which IccuZ^f ^^ of his "Recueil de Memoires," were given as he state* tL P? £e &rcater Part the other to Dr. Rieux, for their re.pe^C«^Stt^lto DrJ ?ena'd' ™* to the catalogue, it will be seen thai they have been PuEei I"^ by ref°rring Fodcre, vol. 3, chap. 1. Mahon, vol. 2, p. 217. Dease's Rm £' £ #entle™n. . prudence. Paris' Medical Jurisprudence, vol 3 Dr John P f" °" MedlCal Juris" Supplement of Encyclopedia Britannica, vol 1 ' m art A™tomy, PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 5 ordinary anatomical dissection, and hence may be allowed to omit many things contained in elementary treatises on the science. Before proceeding to the dissection, and particularly if called before the body is removed from the place where it was found, it is proper to notice its situation and attitude, the state of the clothes, and the condition of the ground, whether it bears the marks of footsteps, and their direction. We should remark also, whether there are any indications of struggling, or any weapons left in the vicinity.* In our first general survey of the body, the following rules may be observed. 1. If death be apparently caused by a wound, the body should be first viewed, if possible, exactly in the position in which it was found. By moving it, the attitude of the extremities may be altered, or the state of a frac- ture or a luxation changed, since the internal parts vary in their position with one another according to the general position of the body. If it is absolutely necessary to remove it, it should be done with great caution. 2. The clothes should be re- moved, as far as is necessary, and it should be noted what compresses or bandages (if any) are applied to particular parts. 3. After these preliminaries, we must examine the colour of the skin, the temperature of the body, the rigidity or flexibility of the extremities, the state of the eyes, and of the sphincter muscles, noting at the same time whatever swelling, ecchymosis, wound, ulcer, contusion, fracture or luxation, may be present; also any fluid flowing from the nose, mouth, ears, sexual organs, &c, and indeed every thing varying from the natural state. The above cavities should be inspected, and particular attention must be paid to the state of the skin, so as not to mistake that bluish-brown tinge which indicates the commencement of putrefaction, for ec- chymosis. The distinction between these we shall presently ex- plain. From the period when the dissector commences, until he con- * A few illustrations will serve to show the importance of attending to these cir- cumstances, Mr. Jeffries was murdered at Walthamstow, in England, in 1751, by his niece and a servant. Here the perpetrators were suspected to be domestics, from the single circumstance of the dew on the grass surrounding the house not having been disturbed on the morning of the murder, which must have happened, had the murderer left the premises. Mr. Taylor, of Hornsey, was murdered in December, 1818, and his body thrown into the river. No investigation was needed to ascertain whether he had gone alive into the water, as the hands were found clenched and contained grass, which, in his struggle, he had torn from the bank. Again, the marks of footsteps measured and found to correspond with the shoes of the suspected person, have, in more than one instance, led to the detection of the guilty. (Pans, vol. 3, p. 38, 41.) PERSONS FOUND DEAD. eludes, there should be a clerk at hand to take down all the fee. he may from time to time communicate, and this should not delayed until the examination is completed, as many circum- stances of importance may then have escaped his memory. If there be an external lesion -present, it should first be examined, and its nature described-its length, breadth and depth—also whether it has been inflicted with a cutting, pointed, or round instrument—whether it is accompanied with inflammation or gangrene, and whether any foreign bodies are found in it, such as balls, or pieces of cloth. The scalpel should then be employed to trace its extent, but with judgment, so as not to render our re- searches useless, and to prevent a comparison of the external wound with the internal injury. The nerves and blood-vessels, and particularly the arteries that are wounded, should be named, as should also the viscera, if any are in that state. If there be a contusion without a solution of continuity, the injury found in the internal parts should be particularly noticed, such as extravasa- tion, rupture of vessels, &c. If the cause of death is a burn, its degree and extent should be examined, together with the state of the parts affected, whether inflamed merely, or covered with blisters—the fluid contained in these blisters, and the condition of the neighbouring parts, whether sphacelated or gangrenous. If a luxation or fracture be present, notice the surrounding soft parts —the nature of the injury, whether simple or complicated, and the phenomena indicating the progress of disease or of recovery. Having stated all these circumstances, it is next necessary to proceed to the dissection in a systematic manner, and the com- mon rule is, to commence with the examination of the abdomen. Chaussier, however, dissuades from this, and advises that it be the last, as putrefaction is there first developed, and the offensive odour may be in a great measure avoided, by previously noticing the other parts. In all our examinations, care must be taken, not " to make wounds while we are examining for them," and we must not desist because we suppose that the cause of death is perfectly discovered in one or the other cavity; all of them' should be in- spected. On viewing the head, the integuments, and all injuries done to them, are first to be noticed. In particular, if a wound appear to be inflicted by a sharp-pointed instrument, its depth, direction and connexion with the brain, should be minutely traced. The pre- PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 7 sence of inflammation, cedema or sphacelus, must also be remark- ed. These observations apply also to injuries from cutting in- struments. And in all of these examinations, the hair should be previously removed either by cutting or with a razor. We next proceed to lay the bones of the cranium bare. This is done by an incision from one ear to the other over the top of the head, and then another transverse to it, from the top of the nose to the occiput. On dissecting these flaps, we shall be able to discover whether any injury has been done to the hard parts. Search is to be made, if there be any fractures or fissures, taking care at the same time not to mistake irregular sutures for them; and for this purpose, they should be rubbed over with ink. The strength of these bones is also deserving of minute inspection, as they are not unfrequently so thin or soft as to render a blow, that under ordinary circumstances would only produce slight injury, very destructive. The fracture should always be followed throughout its whole extent. The skullcap may now be removed; and this requires to be done with extreme caution, lest we wound the dura mater. Dr. Gordon advises that this should be done by sawing through the outer table, and then breaking through the inner with a chisel and mallet. On the other hand, Renard directs that four holes be made with the trephine at proper distances, and through these openings, the cranium separated from the meninges, with the handle of a delicate scalpel. The saw is then to be used in the direction of the trepannings, and the skullcap is readily raised and removed. This, however, will not suffice in all cases, since many frac- tures occur in the occipital portions, and at the base of the brain. Here similar careful incisions are necessary with the proper ap- plication of the saw, to discover the extent of the injury. The membranes and the substance of the brain must now be carefully inspected. Let it be noticed whether any pus or blood is interposed between the dura mater and the bones, or whether it is detached or inflamed. So also of the other membranes, and the brain itself. All morbid appearances in structure deserve attention; and the state of the blood-vessels, the quantity of fluids present, and their situation, are highly deserving of attention. It should, however, be remembered, that an extravasation or an injury is not unfrequently found on the side opposite to which the 8 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. blow was given: and again, that death sometimes follows from blows on the head, when no internal lesion can be found on dis- section. It has been abundantly proved, that the connexion be- tween the brain and the viscera of the thorax and abdomen, is the cause of this, and the injury must in such instances be looked for in the latter. There are several sources of fallacy in the examination of the brain, which will be presently noticed. We should not neglect an examination of the base of the brain, since by this, fractures otherwise scarcely discoverable, have been found. I allude particularly to cases where injury has been inflicted through the orbits of the eyes.* The vertebral column must be viewed through its whole ex- tent, as to its being fractured, or dislocated, or contused. In any doubtful case, it requires strict attention, since injuries of it are often of a very complicated nature. Fodere quotes a case from Jaeger, of a person who was struck on the neck, by a loaded wagon, with such violence, that both his upper and lower extre- mities became paralytic. He died in eighteen hours after the accident. No external appearances of injury could be observed, although an examination readily indicated that the seat of the disease was somewhere near the sixth cervical vertebra, and ac- cordingly, on dissection, its spinous apophysis was found broken at its base, and separated from its body, while blood was extra- vasated to the amount of four ounces. In such and similar cases, it may be expedient to remove the whole of the cervical column, and which may be done by sawing off the transverse processes, and raising it from its position. All indications of inflammation, or of a want of mobility should be duly considered. In examining the neck, Chaussier and Gordon advise us, first, to make an incision from the chin to the sternum, then from the upper point, to cut along the margin of the lower jaw, to its angle, and from the lower point towards the clavicle. By con- tinuing the dissection, every part may thus be examined in suc- cession. If necessary, the jaw may be removed by a saw. We should inquire carefully, whether the neck bears any marks of external injury, or traces of ecchymosis, or pressure on it. Examine the great blood-vessels, whether they are filled with blood or empty, and the nerves, whether they are in their natural * Paris, vol. 3, p. 51, PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 9 state. The larynx, trachea, pharynx and oesophagus and their contents must be noticed in succession, removing or reverting the former when we have completed our investigation. If wounded, detail the extent, depth and shape of the injury, and particularly if the lesion is caused by fire-arms; its course, also, and the loss of the substance, together with the inflammation or suppuration (if any) existing, should be stated. On proceeding to the thorax, it should first be ascertained whether the injuries it has received are superficial, affecting the integuments and muscles merely, or whether they extend to its cavity. This cannot be determined satisfactorily, without an in- spection, and for this purpose " an incision is made through the integuments, from the top of the sternum to the pit of the stomach. The flaps are then to be dissected down to the ribs, and backwards about an inch and a half beyond the junction of the cartilages with the osseous substance of the ribs. Cut through these carti- lages close to their joining, beginning with the second rib and ending with the seventh. Pull forward the lower part of the sternum a little ; introduce a scalpel behind it, and detach the diaphragm and mediastinum ; then saw through it immediately below the connexion of the first rib. The cavity of the chest will thus be sufficiently exposed." The viscera require very careful examination. The lungs and their internal as well as external condition, the pericardium and its contents, the heart and its great vessels, the thoracic duct, all should be inspected. Remove the blood with a sponge, so as to ascertain the exact degree of colour that is present in the various parts, and in particular, attention must be paid to the degree of consistence, or fluidity of the blood. The importance of these directions will be presently explained. Lastly, as to the abdominal cavity ; its external covering forms a subject of inquiry. Every spot, swelling, or extravasa- tion should be noticed ; as also whether hernia be present, and whether there is any tumefaction of the part. The mode of opening into the cavity, needs hardly to be detailed. A crucial incision may be made, and if this be not sufficient, the pubal bones on each side may be removed with the saw. The condi- tion of the peritoneum then requires attention, and the presence or absence of fluid in the cavity. The organs peculiar to either sex should be examined, and also the various viscera contained 10 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. here-the stomach, mesentery, liver, spleen, gall-bladder, intes- tines, bladder, &c. &c. We should view each part as to me quantity of blood which naturally belongs to it; trace all exu - vasations, as to their quantity and nature : and particularly inqune whether the changes observed are the result of disease, or o sudden injury. Professor Mahon recommends the use ot a blunt- pointed bistoury in examining the intestines, as this may prevent injury during the dissection. Although I shall have occasion hereafter to notice the subject in detail, I must not omit to remark, that if there be any suspi- cion of poisoning, the whole of the alimentary canal, from the oesophagus to the rectum, should be carefully removed for further inspection. Dr. Gordon's directions may be followed for this purpose. He advises that a double ligature be applied at the very commencement of the jejunum, and the intestine divided be- tween the two threads; a similar ligature is then to be applied to the ileum, close to its termination in the colon, and the tube divided in the same manner. The root of the mesentery being now cut through, the whole jejunum and ileum are removed to- gether. A double ligature is next to be applied to the rectum as low down as possible; and being divided between the cords, it is to be removed with the whole of the colon. The oesophagus, stomach and duodenum, are then to be extracted together, taking care previously to tie a ligature round the top of the oesophagus. The mode of conducting the analysis of the contents of these parts, will find a place under the head of Poisons.* The above remarks do not apply exclusively to the stomach. If any viscus appears to require a more strict investigation than can be given to it in situ, it should be removed from the body after the general dissection; and I may add, that it is often of extreme importance to preserve those parts, on the appearance of which our evidence is founded. Thus in cases of supposed poisoning, the stomach and duodenum may be preserved in alco- hol, to meet any conflicting testimony, or to elucidate doubts; and Dr. Paris has well illustrated the value of this advice in its full extent, by referring to the preservation of the uterus in the case of Miss Burns. * How necessary it is to be very cleanly in these operations, is illustrated by the observation of Renard, (p. 116,) who states, that in one instance, the stomach was negligently laid on some fine white sand. At the subsequent examination, particles of this were found, and g»ve rise to an idea of poison by means of powdered gW PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 11 Having completed the dissection, the notes should be taken and reduced to order; and in preparing the report, or in giving testimony, it should be as plain and simple as possible, avoiding all those terms which are unintelligible to a court and jury. It is evident even from the brief notice that I have now given, how necessary an accurate knowledge of anatomy is in these doubtful cases, and how important it is not to mistake natural appearances for extraordinary occurrences, or the effects of dis- ease or death for those of violence. The ignorant are ever ready to make mistakes on these points, and we should be prepared to encounter them. A notice of the more prominent will therefore form a proper commentary on what has been said, in order to establish such distinctions as may be applicable in these investi- gations. Haemorrhage is supposed by many to indicate the existence of the circulation when it commenced; and accordingly, they deem its occurrence as prima facie evidence that life was present when the supposed violence was offered. Such an opinion, however, if adopted universally, must lead to dangerous errors. It is fre- quently observed by anatomists, on opening the bodies of those dead from apoplexy, or various forms of protracted or malignant fevers, that blood flows from the mouth, nose or ears. In these instances, however, it is of a dark colour, and evidently more fluid than in the natural state. Again, blood often flows also from incisions on the dead body, on altering its position; and this has unquestionably, in many instances, given rise to the idea of its occurrence when the murderer approached. In our re- marks on Persons dead from Wounds, some cases of this kind will be noticed. Haemorrhage, then, if observed, on the dead body, is of itself no proof, that a lesion has been inflicted on the living one. Still, the medical examiner must pursue the investigation in as minute a manner as possible, and particularly so, when the haemorrhage is internal. If effusions of blood are observed in the thoracic or abdominal cavities, all the blood-vessels should be looked to. A wound may be found in one of the smaller ones, or a rupture in the larger, and thus the cause and its occurrence during life are at once established. But haemorrhage may be wanting, and on dissection, the blood is found fluid in the heart and its large vessels, the spinal canal, 12 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. the lungs, or the brain. Is this to be deemed a proof of violent death? I apprehend not. All that can be said is, that fluidity is most common in such cases, as from narcotic poisons, lightning and the like; but it is also observed in sudden death from ordi- nary causes, and particularly in apoplexy, and even is occa- sionally not wanting in the usual forms of disease that come un- der the examination of the anatomist.* The reason of this diver- sity we cannot explain, but the fact is undoubted. " Although vital effusions," says Professor Christison, " are usually coagu- lated, they are not so always." On the other hand, "where blood flows from a body after death, or where a wound has been made after death, the blood is never found in a state of coagula- tion."f What I have now stated concerning blood and its effusion, will better enable us to discriminate between divers appearances that are frequently noticed on the dead body, and which are liable to be confounded. They have various names attached to them, according as they are supposed to originate from different causes ; and with an explanation of these, I shall introduce this intricate but important point. The term contusion is derived from the Latin word contundere to bruise or pound; and hence conveys a similar meaning. Ec- chymosis is a Greek term, and is equivalent to effusion or spread- ing of blood into the cellular tissue. It is present whenever the * This question was agitated not long since in London, in consequence of the late Mr. Brookes stating under oath, that he had never s-een the blood fluid after death from a natural disease. The case which gave rise to this testimony, and the subse. quent discussion concerning it in the London and Westminster Medical Societies, was that of an individual, who, after extreme intoxication, was found dead, and on dissection, a large quantity of fluid blood was observed in the brain and heart. It became a question whether strangulation or apoplexy had been the cause of death. The proofs in favour of the first were extremely slight, and only acquired importance in consequence of the above testimony. For an interesting discussion on this sub- ject, between many of the most eminent men in London, see Lancet, N. S. vol 4 p 48, 84, 119. On the fluidity of the blood after death, see Elliotson's Blumenbach, p. 13; Bostock a Physiology, vol. 1, p. 354. And for cases of its occurrence after or- dinary diseases, see Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 15, p. 186 Dr. Collins in his Treatise on Midwifery, mentions a'n instance of fatal puerperal fever, in which the blood was found fluid in all parts of the body. British and For- eign Medical Keview, vol. 2, p. 95. t Paris, vol. 3, p. 31. « It may not always be easy to distinguish internal hemor- rhage according as it occurs before or after death." The most discriminating cir- cumstanees, accordmg to Chnstison, whom I now quote, are the marks of compres- ^ourl^ot t^ From the fold of the elbow, to the top of the hand,......- - - - - - ; ; 1U,U-S The hand, measured in the palm, from the lower fold of the wrist, to the point ^ of the middle finger,..............""."."" '.'.,' %,' ' ' u'nfi From the top of the inside of the thigh, to the inside of the joint of the knee, jj.uo From the last, to the sole of the foot,...........- - - • - " " ".7 The foot, measured on the sole, from the posterior margin of the heel, to tne point of the great toe,.................."" The average height of the female, he considers to be about five feet five inches; and, of course, the length of the different regions is proportionably less.* It is very important to remember that the height of a skeleton is less than that of the individual during life, by about one inch: as for example, a person measuring 5 feet 8 inches, his skeleton will be 5 feet 7 inches. The weight of the skeleton of a middle- sized adult, ranges between 160 and 200 ounces; and that of the female a little lower, from 100 to 150 ounces.f In none of the osseous parts, is the distinction between the sexes more marked than in the pelvis. No less than six diffe- rences are pointed out by Dr. Blundell. " In the male, there is a certain roughness and bulkiness and weight, which strikingly contrast it with the lighter and smoother and more elegant pelvis of the female. In the male pelvis, the ilia or wings of the ossa innominata are more erect; in the female, more expanded. In the male, the brim is more rounded, though somewhat tending to an ellipse, the long diameter of which stretches from before backward; in the female, the brim, though somewhat rounded, is generally oval, and the long diameter lies between the sides. The male pelvis is deep, the female shallow; the male outlet is very small, the female very capacious. Lastly, in the male, the arch of the pubis is contracted; in the female, it is capacious, to make room for the ready passage of the head."t With regard to all the bones, indeed, the female ones are, * Supplement to the Encyclopedia Britannica, vol. 1, p. 255. t Ibid, on the authority of Soemmering. Craigie's Anatomy, p. 78. Dr Craijrie found a male skeleton measuring 5 feet 6 inches, to weigh 168 ounces' or 10* pounds avoirdupois. I presume that a skeleton anatomically prepared wil'l be nro portionably still less in height than what is stated above P Orfila, from a number of recent experiments, thinks we should add from an inch and a half to two inches, to the he.ght of the skeleton. (Exhumations, vo°2, p 380 ) t A comparative table of the dimensions of the pelvis of various human races by Dr. Vrohk, is given in the Bulletin dcs Sciences Medicates, vol. 9, p. 290. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 25 cceteris paribus, smoother and rounder ; the cylindrical more slender, and the flat thinner.* After this unavoidably general sketch, it may be useful to give some illustrations of the necessity of attending to the subject. An individual in one of the northern settlements of Upper Canada was suddenly missed, after having been seen to go into the woods. Diligent search was made, but in vain. About twenty years afterwards, portions of a human skeleton were dis- covered by some labourers ; and remembering the above circum- stances, they were taken to the deceased's friends. Anxiety was excited to ascertain by these, the age of the person ; and for this purpose, the lower jaw, from which all the teeth had fallen out, was selected. Great diversity of opinion arose concerning it, both on the spot and in London; but most of the medical ex- aminers pronounced it to be the jaw of an adult, and probably an aged one. On a more minute investigation, however, the permanent teeth were seen cased in their sockets, not one of them having appeared above the level of the alveolar process. It was evidently the jaw of a child.f In 1800, at the English Devon assizes, Thomas Bowerman was preferred to the grand jury for the murder of a bastard child, by pushing an awl into its head. The body had been dis- interred by order of the coroner ; and on the inquest, a hole was found on the side of the head near the ear, agreeably to the tes- timony of a witness. Mr. Sheldon, a surgeon of Exeter, hearing of this case, attended the grand jury. He examined the skull, and found that the supposed hole was the natural perforation of a vein; and in proof of this, pointed out a sort of enamel round the opening, which could not have been there if made by force or art. In further illustration, he exhibited several skulls, all having similar perforations, and each hole having a small chan- nel, and the rim or edge of the whole smooth and polished.} Eugene Aram, the recollection of whose case has been re- cently revived by the popular novel of Mr. Bulwer, was indicted in 1758, for the murder of Clarke in 1745. An accomplice in- dicated where the bones could be found, viz. in St. Robert's Cave near Knaresborough. The skull of Clarke was produced in court. " On its left side was a fracture, that, from its nature, could not have been made but by the stroke of some blunt instru- » Elliotson's Blumenbach, p. 412. t Lancet, vol. 10, p. 758. * Paris, vol. 3, p. 80. VOL. II. 3 26 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. ment, and could not be replaced but from within. Mr. Locock, the surgeon who produced it, gave it as his opinion that no such breach could proceed from any natural decay; that it was not a recent fracture by the instrument with which it was dug up, but seemed to be of many years' standing." Aram, in his celebrated defence, suggests that these might have been the bones of hermits or anchorites, and cited cases of caves or cells where such had been found. As to the fracture, he stated that in 1732, the remains of William, Archbishop of York, were taken up by permission, and the bones of the skull were found broken; yet no violence had been offered to him while living. Knaresborough also had a castle besieged during the time of the Parliament, and many were killed near it Notwithstanding the ingenuity and force of these remarks, he was convicted; and before execution, confessed his crime.* I will only add the following case, and I have no doubt that its interest will compensate for the necessary detail. A Piedmontese soldier, aged 46, named Bonino, had retired to a village near Montpelier. He disappeared in 1823, and it was reported that he had gone to Spain; but soon after it was whispered that he had been assassinated, by a girl with whom he lived and a person named Diamont, who had long been inti- mate with her and married her, nine months after the disappear- ance of Bonino. Two years more, however, passed before an investigation, when the authorities caused a search to be made, and a body was found in the garden of the suspected person. The only peculiarity recollected about Bonino, was that he had a sixth finger on the right hand, and a sixth toe on the left foot. On the 30th of April, 1826, (three years after his disappear- ance,) Dr. Delmas attended the disinterment, at the request of the magistrate, and it is his narrative which I am now giving. At the depth of eighteen inches, a human skeleton was found lying on its back; the head was slightly bent forward, and the lower jaw was separated from the upper. The arms were crossed on the breast. The ribs still retaining the form of the thorax were separated from the sternum, which was found lying on the opposite vertebra. Some black hair and a metal button were imbedded in a moist earthy matter, which covered the anterior *n ^tK^TI .RCtter' 1759',P- 355- For his defen<*. «* Paris, vol. 3 p 311. The whole trial lias been recently republished at Boston. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 27 surface of the sternum. The vertebral column unbroken, had re- tained its relations with the head and pelvis. The inferior ex- tremities stretched out, and on the same level as the trunk, followed the direction of the axis of the body, and inclined to- wards each other. The right foot, which alone we saw in place was still in the shoe, a little bent on the leg and inclined to its outer edge, the left had in digging been removed with the shoe, in which we found only a part of it. The head, removed from its position, was dry in the frontal region, while the occipital was still moist and lubrified by a fatty matter, among which some black hair was seen. On attentively observing the skull, a deformity was observed at the right exter- nal orbitar angle, but evidently arising from an injury long an- terior to death, since nature had produced a cure. Another lesion, but also of ancient date, existed on the left side of the coronal suture. The left temporal bone, however, attracted most attention. Its squamous portion, almost separated'from -the pa- rietal bone, was divided into three portions by three cracks, which proceeded from the circumference of the bone and before the external auditory canal, united to a fourth, which turning round the base of the zygomatic process, terminated in the gle- noid cavity. The form of this fracture, and the soundness of the zygomatic arch and mastoid process, induced us to suppose that it was made with a blunt instrument of small size. From the absence of any apparent operation of nature to effect a cure ; from the separation of the osseous pieces, and the oozing which took place through the different points of the fracture, we think it had taken place at a time very near death. Indeed it is evident that the injuries observed were the result of a violent blow, that must have brought on a cerebral commotion, which, without con- sidering other accidents, would instantly deprive the individual of the use of his senses and every means of defence. The shoes in which the bones of the foot were found, some pieces of woollen cloth surrounding the vertebras of the neck, metal and wooden buttons, a knife, of which the blade was folded in the handle and found at the left side of the breast, some frag- ments of cloth and velvet, all these inclined Dr. Delmas to believe that the body had been buried, covered with a part, at least, of its clothes. As to the time during which this body had lain, it probably 28 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. was three years, according to the descriptions generally given on this subject. This was confirmed by the absence of all gase- ous products—by the fetid odour being replaced by an odour of mouldiness, and by the remains consisting of earthy, friable, fatty brownish and black matter. The only soft parts found were vertebral ligaments, and these, as assimilating more nearly in composition to the nature of bone, ought of course to be the last to disappear. The bones were now all collected, and the examinations con- tinued on the subsequent day. The vertebrae, ribs and bones of the pelvis were articulated. The outlet of the pelvis was narrow, the width of the passages small compared with the depth, the de- scending rami of the pubis had their anterior face directed out- ward, with but a small separation. All these led to the opinion that it was the skeleton of a male. Next as to age. The complete developement of the bones, that of the processes to which the muscles are attached, the state of the teeth, being complete, with the exception of the fourth molar of the right side of the lower jaw, (which had been long out, as the alveolar cavity was ossified,) these induced -the witnesses to say that he had attained his 40th your. According to the com- parative tables of Professor Sue, his height was determined at about five feet five inches. The bones of the extremities were nearly complete, and the right foot, which was preserved in the shoe, was articulated. Some bones of the left foot were lost in digging. They found • only the os calcis, astragulus, scaphoid and cuboid, the five meta- tarsal and three phalanges. This prevented any articulation, and they were unable to ascertain whether any thing was pecu- liar. The head of the fourth metatarsal was rounded, extending outwards, and presenting a small articular surface, "which might have been produced by an extra articulation; but not having seen in what manner this bone was articulated with the first phalanx, we could not determine if there had been a sixth toe attached to it." Except some small bones of the carpus, all those of the right hand were found. The fifth bone of the right metacarpus at once attracted attention. Shorter and thicker than that of the other hand, its extremity towards the phalanx separated into two parts, one of which, truly articular, smooth, narrow, rounded PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 29 and prominent, had the direction of the axis of the bone, whilst the other corresponding to the cubital edge, formed with it an angle of about eight degrees—not continued so far as the first, it was equally smooth, and presented an articular surface, which differed from it only in its less rounded form. Having tried to articulate the first phalanx of the little finger, it fitted exactly upon the first articular head, and presented upon the side corre- sponding to the second, a depression, the obliquity of which was in relation with the direction assigned to the second surface. It was evident from this examination, that a sixth finger must have existed, although the bones could not be found. The left hand exhibited no peculiarity. The deductions made by Dr. Delmas, were that the individual, whose skeleton he had inspected, was a male, of the age of forty or upwards, that he had six fingers on his right hand and possi- bly a sixth toe on the left foot, that he had been murdered by a violent blow from a blunt instrument, which fractured the left temporal bone, and that he had been buried in his clothes. Dia- mont and his wife were tried and convicted, and before execu- tion, confessed to Dr. Delmas their guilt in the manner specified by him.* Some additional cases will be found in the works referred to below.f * This remarkable case, I have taken from the North American Medical and Sur- gical Journal, vol. 4, p. 176. That Journal, however, copied it from the Edinburgh Journal of Medical Science, who again translated it from the Ephemeridcs Midi- cales of Montpelier. It is also quoted in full by Orfila, (Exhumations, vol. 2, p. 360,) who while he allows due credit to Dr. Delmas for his successful investigation, makes the following objections to his deductions: The age is not at all certain, it might have been of a person aged 25 or 30, as well as one aged forty and upwards. It is equally impossible to fix the period since interment, with so much precision. And lastly, the facts presented do not positively prove that the fracture was inflicted be- fore death. t Annates D'Hygiene, vol. 15, p. 214. Examination of bones found in a cellar, by Dr. Boys De Loury. The most interesting facts ascertained here were that the bones (they were those of a male and female, each aged from 50 to 60 years) had probably been interred at least thirty or forty years previous. This appeared from their being entirely converted into phosphate of lime; every vestige of animal matter having disappeared, and from their falling into dust on the slightest pressure. Ibid, vol. 16, p. 375. Report by Dr. Valette. All the long bones had lost their epiphyses and they were quite small. It was hence the skeleton of a child. Many of the teeth of the upper jaw were wanting. Theincisives had been renewed and of these, three remained. The two canine, were still concealed at the bottom of the socket and the three larger molar teeth had come out. In the lower jaw were equally evi- dent marks of the second dentition, Dr. Valette was hence led to the conclusion, that the age of this individual was about eight or nine years, and from further cxa- 3* 30 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. The Hair is another part of the body which continues long unchanged, and its presence may hence aid us in identifying in- dividuals. It is frequently found in a perfect state on bodies buried a century or more, and indeed is seen but little altered on the mummy.' Whether it grows after death, is at present a disputed point with many. Dr. Good informs us that examples of this may be found in Heister and Camerarius, where not only the beard was found grown, but hair had sprouted forth from every part of the body. Many of the old writers mention such cases. Pariset and Villerme, in the French Dictionary of Medi- cal Sciences, both profess their credence in this occurrence; and the former relates of a father who preserved the remains of a much loved son for some time, and when he went to view them, the beard, which had been shaven after death, was so grown, that he could scarcely persuade himself but that it was a sign of life.* Bichat remarks, that it is a generally received opinion that the hair and nails grow after death; but while he concedes that we have but few well established facts, observes that he has certainly noticed a lengthening of the beard in one instance, where the head was submitted to maceration for several days.f On the other hand, we may quote as an unbeliever, the name of Haller, a host in itself. He conceived it to be only apparent and not real, and owing to a shrinking of the skin. " Among the older writers," says Dr. Bostock, " we meet with narratives, apparently well authenticated, where the hair is said to grow after death, and even to attain an extraordinary length; but upon whatever authority they may appear to rest, we may safely con- clude that there is some fallacy or inaccuracy in the statement."! If we turn to individual cases which might be supposed to settle the question, we find no corroborating proofs. It has been said that the hair of Charles the First of England, was found grown; but Sir Henry Halford does not mention this, and it certainly would not have escaped him. The body of Hampden was disinterred a century and half after his death—his hair was mination, that it was a male. No marks of injury were present. London Medical Grazette, vol. IB, p. 493. Medico-legal disinterment in India, (from the India Me dical Journal.) A man was supposed to have been murdered by beatine and a bodv was disinterred three months thereafter for the purpose of examination. Mr Cheek the surgeon, however proved the want of identity. The whole of the bones were found clean and free from periosteum, ligaments and cartilage, and in his opinion, this could not have occurred within the year. * Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, Articles Barbe and Poil ♦ Anatomie Generale, vol. 4, p. 825. % Physiology, vol. 1, p. 74. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 31 found in a perfect state of preservation, but nothing is said of its growth.* On the whole, I look upon this as a point which must have been long since settled by anatomists, from their own experience. Generally, I believe, they discredit it, except as to the beard, and its partial elongation ; and for this, we have a sufficient explana- tion in the opinion of Haller. I shall, however, presently quote a case, in which this growth after death was contended for. It will form a proper conclusion to this section, to notice the subject of Putrefaction, in its bearing on legal medicine. The earliest changes that take place in the body after life has departed, are coldness, stiffness and lividity. The last I have already noticed. Of the others I may remark, that their super- vention is far from being uniform. The bodies of the adult and the aged take them on sooner than those of the young, and again the nature of the disease has a manifest influence. But the im- portance of these phoenomena in doubtful cases deserves a more minute notice. It should then be understood as the most ordinary occurrence, that cadaveric rigidity does not supervene until the animal heat is somewhat dissipated—in other words, coldness precedes stiff- ness. And this stiffness commences in the muscles of the trunk and neck, then attacks the muscles of the upper extremities, and lastly those of the lower.f It dissappears- in the same order. Nysten states, that in proportion to the delay of its coming on, will be the length of its continuance and vice versa. Hence also the operation of different causes will vary the period of acces- sion. If death originates from acute inflammation of the sto. mach or intestines, from irritant poisons, from the inhalation of deleterious irritant gases, which exercise no specific influence on the contractile power of the muscles, as ammoniacal gas, chlo- rine or deutoxide of nitrogen, severe rigidity ensues and con- tinues for some time. But if death arises from a disease of a debilitating character, from the inhalation of sulphuretted hydro- gen, or indeed, in any case where there has been great exhaus- tion of the system prior to dissolution, the rigidity supervenes speedily and again disappears after two or three hours. * London Quarterly Review, vol. 47, p. 516. f Nysten is the authority for this, but Devergie observes, that it involves a contra- diction, since the trunk longest preserves its heat and therefore should be the last to become rigid, vol. 1, p. 63. 32 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. From these facts, it will readily occur that rigidity may be delayed by keeping the body in a warm atmosphere, or more cer- tainly by immersing it in a warm bath, while cold will produce a contrary effect. In some cases of asphyxia, and particularly from hanging, or from the inhalation of carbonic acid gas, the animal heat being retained later than usual, the rigidity will be slower in its approaches. It must, however, be remembered that there is a spasmodic rigidity in some instances, following, or remaining after death while the animal heat remains or is but little impaired. This may be the result of nervous diseases as apoplexy, inflammation of the brain and its membranes, tetanus, &c, and also of intoxi- cation, and some of the forms of asphyxia. It is considered by some as apparently the result of a last contraction of the mus- cles—and it continues for an hour or more—coldness then fol- lows, and at last true cadaveric rigidity is present. The application of this in legal medicine is important. In the case of a person who dies asphyxiated, and when the limbs are stiff, while the heat is but little impaired, Orfila infers, that the death must have been very recent, and this spasmodic rigidity may thus in some instances be a guide as to the time when it occurred.* After a certain period,f these phoenomena are succeded by the occurrence of putrefaction, but many circumstances are found to develope or delay its progress. Heat, humidity, and the contact of air, accelerate it; and it is almost always rapid when from the * Orfila, Lecons, vol. 2, p. 194. Taylor's Med. Jurisprudence, p. 69. British and Foreign Med. Review, vol. 2, p. 425. I am indebted to this last for a proper view of this important point. Some cases, illustrative of its importance, are noticed in the section on strangulation. In a person who committed suicide, (in Feb, 1837) rigidity was complete one hour and a half after death, while the animal 'heat re- mained. Case by Dr. Handyside, Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. 49 p 221 t Devergie has given some rules for ascertaining the time since death, grounded on the progress of the above phoenomena, but they are evidently only approxima bonai, as many circumstances may interpose to delay their consecutive developement 1 will briefly state his deductions. r First period. Some heat remaining with more or less relaxation of the muscles • death may have occurred from two to twenty hours. ' Second period. The heat is gone, cadaveric rigidity is present; death has occur- red from ten hours to three days. Third period. All the parts are relaxed, the colour of the skin is natural; the to3g££° « electricity ,s applied ; death has happened from three thf°Zth Pert°d'e ThC 8iZeu°f t,he b0C!y *f increased by the developement of eas the abdomen is of a greenish colour ; death from six to twelve days 8 All these, however, suppose the body to have been unburied and exnosed tn „„ ordinary temperature. Vol. 1, p. 86. «uu"«ea ana expo&ed to an PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 33 presence of a typhoid disease, it appears to commence before life is extinguished. Interment, also, if made early, procrasti- nates it. Some species of earth have a similar effect. It is not, however, all degrees of heat, that accelerate it. If it be too high, it may even be prevented, owing to the rapid dissipation of mois- ture. In the rout from Tripoli to Mourzouk, Dr. Oudney often found the ground strewed with the skeletons of the unfortunate victims of the slave trade. The skin and membranous sub- stances were seen shrivelled and dry, and the thick muscular and internal parts were alone decayed. If the dry and hot air of the desert produces such effects, we can readily imagine how similar causes, although acting in a less powerful manner, may operate in different countries, at particular seasons of the year. Cold, on the other hand, is also well known to retard putre- faction. " Below 50° Fahr., the process is slowly performed, and at 32°, it is altogether suspended. The temperature most favourable to its perfection, is from 60° to 80° or 90°. This is the temperature of our summer, and hence at this time, putrefac- tion most readily goes forward."* This is a brief statement of the principal causes that accelerate or retard the process in question. It will, however, be under- stood, that several accessary ones may occasionally have an effect. And among these, there is none more deserving of re- membrance, than that pointed out by Mr. Alfred Taylor, viz. that there will be a material difference in the advance of putre- faction, according as the body is mutilated or entire. " Those parts," he observes, " which are affected at the time of death, by contusions, ecchymosis or extravasations of blood, become much more speedily decomposed than those parts which are in a nor- mal condition. If there be any solution of continuity, or loss of substance, accompanying these extravasations, the effect will be much more strongly marked." The correctness of this has also been verified by Mr. Taylor on bodies in the dissecting-room. Those in which incisions were made, advanced much more rapidly towards decomposition, than such as were left untouch. ed. The application of all this in legal medicine is obvious- " When the body of an individual who is suspected to have died * Dr. Beatty, Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, art. Persons found dead, vol. 3, p. 322. " Nous savons que tout etant egal d'ailleurs, la putrefaction s'empare plus lentement du cadavrc d'un individu mort par hemorrhagic, que de celui dont les vaieseaux sont distendues par le sang." (Orfila's Exhumations, vol. 1, p. 329.) 34 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. from external violence, is not seen until some time after dxs*°^ tion, the injuries will appear to be of a much more aggraya e nature than they ought to be considered by the medical jurist. I will now give the details of a case already referred to and which excited great interest some years since, in the United States. The leading points agitated were, the period when putre- faction supervenes, and the growth of the hair after death. Francis Baker, left Moore's tavern, in the town of - —, (Kentucky,) after having slept there, at about sunrise of the 2d of November, (Tuesday,) 1824. He proceeded to Doggate's and breakfasted in company with Desha and others, at an early hour. Baker and Desha left Doggate's at very nearly the same time. and were again seen together at a quarter of a mile from that tavern. Baker was not seen after this, until he was found a corpse six days after, (Monday.) His throat was cut, and there were five wounds on the side of his head, apparently from blows, as the skin was broken. There appears also to have been a wound on the breast, but concerning this there was some con- flicting testimony. The place where the body was found was a hollow, though not steep until you approached near to the body. One of the witnesses, on being asked whether the sun could shine on it, re- plied, that he did not suppose that it could ; it was his impression that the body was rather from the sun. The woods were tolera- bly thick around the place, there being a good deal of under- growth. The body was lying near a log; the thighs were next to the road, and the head down hill. Desha was indicted for his murder, and it became an important question to ascertain whether the state of the body was compa- tible with the idea of violent death inflicted six days previous. I shall endeavour to condense all the evidence on this point. One witness (Major Lacey) stated that the weather was as usual at that season of the year. Friday of the first week of November had a cold, rainy morning. Gen. Reed said that the weather was fine, and he did not think it was cold enough to have fire. J. Douglas was laying brick during the first week in November; at night, the mortar would freeze. It was too cold for him to commence work in the morning before breakfast It snowed on some of the last days of the week. Mr. Holt said * Taylor's Med. Jurisprudence, p. 90. Devergie, vol. 1, p. 156 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 35 that the weather was unusually warm for the season. Indeed, some of the members of the legislature apprehended much sick- ness from this circumstance. It rained on Thursday. Mr. Cole- man corroborated this testimony. Tuesday and Wednesday were fine days. " On Friday, it rained and snowed a little. On Saturday, we (the legislature) sat in the church; the members thought it too cool to be without fire; the chimneys which were erected to the church, dried very soon. Sunday was pretty cool. On the whole, I call it mild weather for the season." Question. Although the days were pleasant for that season of the year, were not the nights frosty ? Answer. I think it is probable there was frost; though the first three or four days was charming weather, the last of the week was somewhat colder. Mr. Janu- ary deposed that the nights were cool, as the workmen were obliged to cover their work at night. He heard them say that some scales came off that were frozen. The corpse was a little stiff when taken up; but after carrying it for some time, it became limber. It had no smell of putrefac- tion. On Tuesday there was no alteration in it, and but little on Wednesday. On Thursday it turned black, and was somewhat offensive. The wounds appeared to be fresh, and bled much, when Dr. John Drake examined them. The body was not swol- len when found; but on Wednesday, or shortly before it was in- terred, (which was on Thursday,) the abdomen and face were greatly swollen. A fire had been kept in the large room where the corpse lay. Dr. John Drake examined the body on Wednesday, after it had been washed and dressed. He thinks there were five wounds on the head, all severe, and generally two inches in length. There was a large wound of the throat, about four inches in length; another on the breast, and another on the shoulder. There were no symptoms of putrefaction about the body, and hardly any smell. Dr. Charles Scudder saw the body (probably) on Wed- nesday, and observed some blood or bloody water issuing from the wound. This, he stated, was such as would result after the corpse had lain for some time, and not as from a fresh wound. In answer to a question whether he inferred that the wounds had been recently made, he replied, that he did not examine those on the head, but that on the throat did not appear fresh. The discussion elicited by these facts, is not without interest. 36 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. Dr. Drake was asked, whether it was according to the animal economy, that the body of a man after death should be ten days without putrefying, unless it was frozen? Ans. If there was a discharge of much blood, as I suppose was the case with this man, it might. Quest. Would not the contents of the stomach produce putrefaction ? Ans. They would, unless there had been spirits drunk. Quest. Do you think that spirits would lie in the stomach of a dead man for ten days? (It appeared that Baker had drunk twice before leaving Doggate's.) Ans. I am not pre- pared to say, but I think it would have its effect to a certain ex- tent. Quest. Unless the body was frozen, did you ever know an instance of the suspension of putrefaction ? Ans. I don't know that I have, but I suppose there might be an instance. Quest. Would you suppose one would lie seven, eight or ten days in the woods, without attracting the buzzards? Ans. It would depend much on the season, and on the posture in which the body lay. Mr. Lacey deposed that he had known dead bodies, such as hogs, dogs, &c. to lay a considerable time at that season of the year, without becoming putrid. Gen. Reed, on the contrary, never knew any thing to lay that length of time, (eight or ten days) without exhibiting greater signs of putrefaction than Baker did. It was remarked, (he says,) the morning after the corpse was found, that he did not look as if he had been killed more than one night. Dr. Frazer stated that it was not unusual for a corpse, in eight or ten days after death, to become limber; and upon being moved, to discharge from the wounds, nostrils, &c. a part of the serous portion of the blood, inasmuch as a relaxation of the mus- cles, and a loss of the coagulable powers of the blood, were the first symptoms of putrefaction; that the length of time before any symptoms of putrescence can be discovered, depends much on the weather, whether cold or warm, and on the manner of death; as he had known bodies to lie throughout the winter, without ex- hibiting any symptoms of it; and as the process of putrefaction is much slower to commence in a body that has died from great loss of blood, than in ordinary cases of death. The counsel for the prisoner, of course, dwelt much on this ab- sence of putrefaction, as a proof that the death must have been recent. The judge (Shannon) himself inclined to this belief. " It is difficult to suppose (said he) that a body, at this or any season PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 37 of the year, could have remained that long, without exhibiting some symptom of putrescence: connect, also, that in two or three days after it was found, it did show such symptoms as in that time might naturally be expected." As to the other point, it would appear from the testimony on the inquest, that the beard was quite short when first seen, and had the appearance of being recently shaven. In the interval between Tuesday and Thursday, it appeared to have got a little longer. It was stated, at the same time, that the face had become swollen. The counsel for the prisoner appears to have taken it as a con- ceded fact, that the beard will grow after death. Mr. Rowan, an eminent advocate, said that the fact was tested in numerous in- stances of disinterred bodies. " An acorn, (said he,) after it has fallen, produces the oak. Cut down a buck-eye in the spring when the leaves are just budding, and they will grow until the sap which is up is exhausted: just so in relation to the beard." If this position was deemed correct, it furnished another proof against the supposed period of the murder. The medical wit- nesses, however, were far from agreeing to so positive an opinion. They conceded that, in some cases, the beard appeared to grow after death; but that this was owing to the collapse or shrinking of the flesh, which thus gave it a more prominent appearance.* * " Trial of Isaac B. Desha, for the murder of Francis Baker, held at Cynthiana, Kentucky, before the Hon. George Shannon: Reported by Robert S. Thomas and George W. Williams, Lexington, 1825." I am indebted for this pamphlet to the kindness of Dr. Daniel Drake, of Cincinnati. Desha was found guilty, but a new trial was granted on some legal grounds, and he appears to have escaped from the United States into Texas, where he died some years since. On his deathbed, he is said to have confessed the murder; but I have no authority for this except the news- papers. I find that this last statement is incorrect, but prefer leaving it, and adding the following, which is contained in a public letter of Mr. Kendall, Postmaster-General of the United States, dated June 8, 1837. It should be premised that the father of Desha was then Governor of the State of Kentucky. " The son was charged, and finally twice convicted of murder; the father held the pardoning power, and believed him innocent. There were circumstances, which justified a father in so believing. After the son had been a second time convicted, and a new trial had been a second time granted, the whole of the second jury, as I understood, and a part of the first, petitioned for his pardon. The first conversation I ever had with the Governor upon the subject, was introduced by him with a statement of these facts. He proceeded to say that his son had sent for him to the prison—had protested his innocence in the strongest terms—had declared his unalterable purpose not to live, unless he was acquitted by a jury, and had told him that if he sent to him a pardon, he would the next hour put an end to his existence. It was found impossible to pro- cure a third unbiassed jury, and the wretched man remained in jail from term to term. Finally, on that day of horrors, when Beauchamp was executed for the mur- der of Col. Sharp, after the suicide of his wife and his own unsuccessful attempt, VOL. II. 4 38 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. The presence of the putrefactive process is not, however, to deter us from the necessary examination. We have an efficient agent in the chloride of lime or soda to remove any unpleasant odour. And it should be sprinkled around the room, or on the table where the body lies, and not on the body itself, since it is found to change both the colour and consistence of the parts. Not unfrequently, indeed, a subcarbonate of lime has been formed on the surface, from the union of the liquor with the gases that are emanating. Although dissection may thus be pursued with advantage, and often to the elucidation of doubtful cases, yet this is precisely the period when disputes concerning the identity of dead bodies fre- quently occur. The characteristic features become lost, and we can only depend with safety, on such peculiar physical marks as may have been present. On a trial that took place some years since at Edinburgh, for stealing subjects where the body had been interred nine weeks before the recognition, Dr. Barclay, the ana- tomist, testified, that the longest time he ever knew, during which the features remained recognizable, was a fortnight. Yet a wit- ness swore particularly to the identity of the body.* For an accurate knowledge of the successive changes of the body in its progress to complete decomposition, we are indebted to the indefatigable labours of Orfila, and I will conclude this section with a short abstract of the more striking facts noticed by him. The epidermis is very rapidly destroyed. It separates from the surface; is converted into a greasy, reddish brown substance, and finally disappears. If, however, it has been detached during life, by an effusion of serum beneath it, it will then long resist putrefaction. The nails soften, and are readily detached. They lose their semi-transparency, and in process of time become dry. The hair strongly resists decomposition, and remains unaltered for years. The cutis is at first yellowish, but soon takes a green- young Desha cut his throat with a razor, severing the windpipe quite in two. In that awful moment, when he believed himself entering into eternity, he beckoned for pen and ink, and wrote a solemn protestation of his innocence, while his life-blood was streaming upon the paper. I saw it afterwards in the hands of his father, so besmeared with blood, as to be scarcely legible." * G- Smith's Forensic Medicine, 2d edit. p. 506. There must, however, be suffi- cient latitude allowed for the season and the nature of the ground in which the body has been interred. All I mean to urge is that grievous mistakes are often made from too great confidence. In the notes to the chapter on Age and Identity, several in- stances are given by Dr. Dunlop. ' PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 39 ish, reddish, and violet tint. At a later period, small sand-like granulations, consisting of phosphate of lime, form on it. It gradually dries, becomes darker in colour, and is covered with the greasy mould already spoken of. The subcutaneous cellular tissue dries on the anterior portion of the body, but becomes in- filtrated, soft and tender, on the dependent part. At a later period the adipose part of it begins to saponify, and is of a gray- ish white colour, and of the consistency of suet. This, however, is not invariable. Finally, what is not thus converted, becomes dry, brown, and is at last destroyed. The muscular tissue softens at first, takes a greenish tint, is gradually reduced to a jelly, and in fat bodies changes to soap; in others it dries. The aponeuroses and tendons preserve for a long time their brilliancy and firmness, but after a while become yellow and then brown. The tendons resist putrefaction longer than any other part. The ligaments and cartilages resemble the tendons in their changes. The last, however, before they disap- pear, become black and fragile. The bones and teeth are inde- structible by this process. The serous tissues become gray, and softened, then from blue to biack before they disappear. Orfila recognised the pleura, in a body interred in a thick coffin, and raised fourteen months after death. The brain does not putrefy so rapidly as might be supposed from what happens when it is removed out of the cranium. For several weeks after interment, if the weather be moderate, it preserves so much of its natural appearance, that we can trace its different parts. After this, however, it softens gradually to a thin greenish paste, at first in- tolerably foetid, but finally without this, and much diminished in bulk. The nerves remain permanent for many months. The eyes sink and rapidly decay. Nothing is then found but the fat peculiar to dead bodies. In not a single instance of disinterment did Orfila find a vestige of them four months after death. The lungs are at first congested in the manner we have al- ready described, and their structure does not alter rapidly. They finally become green, soft and shrunken, and lastly, dry and black. The diaphragm also decays slowly, and both it and the lungs have often on their surface the white granulations of phosphate of lime. The heart softens, grows gradually darker in colour, collapses, and is reduced to a few blackish filaments. The blood-vessels for two or three months after interment, contain 40 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. a certain amount of black blood, either fluid or coagulated. They also change in colour, and their respective coats are readilv separable. The stomach presents a great variety of appearances shortly after death. Much of this depends on the quantity ot blood accumulated in its vessels, and the comparative state ot health or disease in that organ during life. So also with the in- testines. In a short time, the mucous membrane of both becomes greenish and sensibly softened, then dark and black, and finally, the whole substance dries into membranes, which at last are converted into a moist black mould. The liver softens, forms granulations on its surface, then becomes blackish brown, and not unfrequently instead of drying is converted into a black sub- stance, resembling the grease of wheels.* The gall-bladder alters slowly. The other viscera soften soon, lose their texture, and are converted into the greasy matter already noticed. In all his examinations of disinterred bodies, every portion of the face was destroyed between the third and fourth month, al- though the bones still remained slightly attached by their articu- lations. The thorax rarely undergoes any change for the first three months. So also with the abdomen, except the change of colour in its integuments. After that, it collapses, and its pa- rietes become very thin. Orfila also observed, that the shorter the time between death and burial, the more slow will be the progress of putrefaction. So also in proportion to the depth of the grave. If buried naked, it occurs more rapidly than when clothed. Contrary to the received opinion, which assigns at least three years, he has in a majority of cases, found bodies reduced to a skeleton at the end of 14, 15 or 18 months, even when buried in coffins and wrapped in clothes. With respect to the fat or soapy matter, of which I have re- peatedly spoken, Orfila conceives that it. is never formed but in those parts of the body in which there exist fat and azotic mat- * Ollivier D'Angers and Chevallier, have recently discovered a peculiar substance produced from all or most of the soft organs, but particularly the liver, about three months after interment. It is a white, hard matter, in the form of irregular granu- lations, and disposed either in bands or zones. It is found on the surface or in the interior of the liver, and on the internal wall of the veins and arteries. On analysis it was found to consist of an ammoniacal salt, a fatty matter, muriate of soda and' traces of some other salts. It is thus evidently formed from the decomposition of the body and cannot be mistaken for poison. (Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Jour. vol. 40 p. 4oo.) ' * PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 41 ter. This is the adipocire of the older chemists, which according to Chevreul, consists principally of margaric and oleic acids, and ammonia. Nearly three years are necessary to convert bodies buried in earth into it, while in water, as we shall hereafter show, the transformation is much more rapid. The soil also, and the number of bodies interred together, have a striking effect in pro- ducing this change. If not fat, but dry and meagre, and lying in separate graves, saponification rarely occurs.* In some instances, margarate and oleate of lime, and carbonate or sulphate of ammonia are formed, owing, as Orfila supposes, to water containing the salts of lime, infiltrating through the earth to the bodies, f II. Of SUDDEN DEATH FROM NATURAL CAUSES. Sudden death from natural causes most commonly originates from one or other of the following affections: apoplexy; rupture of an aneurism or of a large vessel into one of the cavities; burst- ing of purulent cysts ; ossification of the valves of the heart; rupture of this organ: bursting of some blood-vessels into the air- passages, and idiopathic asphyxia. And of all these, the pas- sions, whether exciting or depressing, (but most commonly the former) are frequently the agents in producing the fatal termina- tion. Apoplexy is a disease which in some instances may be mis- taken in its early symptoms, and may terminate fatally in situa- tions which preclude any observation of the event. We should here attend to the conformation of the body—the large head, short neck and plethoric frame, to the posture in which the per- son is found, the food that he has recently eaten, the ligatures that surround any part; and, above all, to the appearances on dis- section. There is, however, a form of this disease, denominated simple apoplexy by Dr. Abercrombie, which is often fatal within the twenty-four hours, and leaves in the dead body no traces, not even congestion of the vessels within the head. Here, if there be no marks of injury, we are of course precluded from a charge of violence ; and it is only necessary to remember, that * Orfila's Exhumations, vol. 1, p. 22. t This is of course but a very brief analysis of the Exhumations Juridiqucs of Orfila. The parts relative to bodies found in water, I shall notice under the head of persons found drowned, and the state of the stomach and intestines under that of poisons. I must add, that I have been indebted to an excellent analysis of the first volume, in the North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 12, p. 42. 4> 42 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. persons seized with apoplexy may have fallen from a height, and thus wounded themselves.* The ruptures or burstings that I have enumerated, have some- times been indicated by premonitory symptoms ; but even if their previous history be unknown, dissection will explain their na- ture^ rp. Idiopathic asphyxia was first described by Mr. Chevalier. The patient often apparently in perfect health, becomes faint, and sud- denly expires. On dissection the heart is found flaccid, and all its cavities are empty of blood. Dr. Beatty relates a case that occurred to him of a healthy female in the ninth month of preg- nancy, who suddenly expired, after a very slight sickness and attempt to vomit. Every part was carefully examined, and he observes, that he had never seen a healthier condition of the or- gans. The heart, however, though sound, was flaccid, and all its cavities were empty, while its proper veins were much dis- tended with blood.J As examples of sudden passion hurrying these diseases to a fatal crisis, the following may be cited from Paris: " Dr. Gordon * Dr. Bright mentions several instances that came under judicial examination, in which the cause of death was shown to be apoplexy. In some of these, he found nothing but very slight effusion, and tumours in the choroid plexus. (Medico-Chi- rurgical Review, vol. 20, p. 7. t See Art. Rupture of the Heart, by Dr. Townsend, in Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, vol. 4. Rupture of the aorta, mistaken at first for poisoning, Lancet, N. S. vol. 8, p. 227. Also, a valuable essay on Rupture of the Heart, and the morbid appearances associated with it, by Dr. Halloweil, in Amer. Journal Med. Sciences, vol. 17, p. 74. Dr. H. states that there are no less than sixty cases on record : with a very few exceptions, death occurred instantaneously. Case of spontaneous rupture, by Dr. Mayer, (from Kleinert's Repertorium,) in British Annals of Medicine, vol. 1, p. 725. Watson on Homicide, p. 95, 96. Thurnam's cases of Rupture of the Heart. London Med. Gazette, vol. 21, p. 813. lb. p. 894, two cases by Mr. Curling; in one, death was instantaneous; in the other, the patient experienced great agony for twenty hours before he expired. i Chevalier and Wood's cases, Medico-Chirurg. Transactions, vol. 1, p. 157.__Beatty, Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, vol. 3, p. 325. The total want of blood in the heart, would not, however, appear to be invariable, as Professor Christison, quotes an un- doubted case from Rochoux, in which the auricles contained a large quantity of it. (Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 31, p. 242.) This is confirmatory of the remarks of Devergie, who in his observations on the modes in which death may. supervene, divides those originating in the heart into three kinds. 1. From syncope. In this instance, he observes, congestion in any particular organ is not to be looked for, but the blood is more or less generally dif- fused. 2. From a spontaneous or accidental rupture of the right side of the heart. Here, its contractions diminish or cease, less blood is sent to the head which also loses its power; thus less force is imparted to the inspiratory muscles. On examina- tion, the veins are seen filled with blood, and there is but little in the luncs brain and left heart. The chemical phenomena necessary to life have first ceased and then the mechanical. 3. When the left side is affected in a similar way Uie order is reversed—the mechanical first cease to act, and on dissection, the lurms and left heart are seen gorged with blood; the arteries are empty, while the riffht side of the heart, and the veins contain but little. Devergie, vol. 1, p. 54. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 43 Smith mentions the following case as occurring in one of the midland counties of England. In the course of an altercation between a man and his wife, the woman died, and a clamour was raised that the husband had murdered her. An inquest was held, a verdict returned against him, and he stood his trial at the following assizes. He was however acquitted, for it appeared in evidence that he had not even touched his wife during the quar- rel. The deceased was a person of extremely violent temper, and on opening her body, it was found that she had been labour- ing under suppuration of the liver, and that an abscess had burst into the cavity of the abdomen, in consequence of the agitation into which she had been thrown." Again, Baron Larrey de- scribes the case of a person who had been severely wounded in the thorax, in a duel, but was progressively recovering, when in the fourth month from the period of the injury, he died suddenly during a violent fit of anger. On dissection, the heart and peri- cardium exhibited traces of inflammation.* Dr. Christison, in a recent publication, has added some very valuable observations and useful cautions to this branch of our subject.f The facts, that " sudden death from latent causes fre- quently occurs, where collateral circumstances lead to a suspi- cion of violence, and that these are apt to prove suddenly fatal, from the operation of slight violence, or of circumstances inci- dental to violence, as anger, struggling and the like, and that the appearances they leave may present the same characters with those from death by violence," are so many strong circumstances to demand a careful examination. The principal diseases that he enumerates as often existing for a long time, without seriously incommoding the patient or alarm- ing his friends, are of the head, sanguineous apoplexy and inflam- mation of the cerebral membranes, or of the substance of the brain. As to the first, he remarks, that the presence of a clot in * Paris, vol. 3, p. 15. There is also a remarkable case related by Professor Mott, of sudden death in a female deserted by her paramour. She had been dissolute and probably intemperate, but was robust, and had not complained of any indisposition beyond slight rheumatic pains. She was dejected on going to bed, and in the morn- ing was found dead, without any appearance of suffering. On dissection, the left ventricle was found ruptured, and an abscess was also seen in its parietes. The pericardium contained a large quantity of coagulated blood, (Transactions of the Physico-medical Society of New York, vol. 1, p. 151.) A case of rupture of the duodenum without external injury, but originating in a fit of anger, is mentioned by Dr. Dupuy, in the Journal Medicale dc la Gironde, vol. 6, p. 147. t Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, vol. 4, art. Latent Diseases. There is also a good article on the causes of sudden death, in the London Medical Repository, vol. 27, p. 725, 44 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. the brain, particularly if it be plainly of some standing, would not of itself be enough to account for death. Inflammation of the membranes may proceed to such an extent as that consider- able effusions and even suppuration be present, without marked symptoms. And this circumstance is applied to a medico-legal case. A son, in a state of intoxication, was left struggling with his father, aged seventy, of passionate disposition, but in good health. Seven minutes after, the old man was found dead, on his back, with the mark of two blows on the nose and forehead, not particularly severe. On dissection, no fracture, extravasation or laceration could be found; but there was an effusion of half a pint of reddish serum in the ventricles, and also towards a pint of serum in the cavity of the pleura on each side of the chest. Some medical men ascribed death to the effusion, and the effusion to the blow. But undoubtedly this effusion could not have oc- curred in seven minutes, and was more probably the result of previous disease. Softening or ulceration of the substance of the brain is also frequently observed in those dying suddenly. Of the latent diseases of the chest, Professor Christison enume- rates pleurisy, peripneumony and organic diseases of the heart. Each of these may pursue its course for a long period, without exciting suspicion.* So also of ulcerations of the membranes of the stomach and intestines, chronic derangements of the viscera, extra-uterine conceptions of various kinds. Some deVelope them- selves sooner than others, but all have occasionally concealed their formidable nature until the last moment. In recurring to the fact, that all of these are most apt to prove suddenly fatal, under the operation of violence, and thus bring the case before a legal tribunal, Dr. Christison advises attention to the following sources of exculpatory evidence. 1. When the morbid appearances indicate that derangements of structure or function have been induced, incompatible with the continuance of circulation or respiration. As when a rupture of the heart produces a large effusion of blood into the pericardium. 2. When appearances are seen, which, although not incompatible, as we should suppose, with life, yet are known seldom or never to * Dr. Ollivier, of Angers has published some cases of sudden death depending on ^Z^Z^Z^^^ tW- inStanCeS« a Vi0^ fit of anffePrnreSd other, there was pulmonary s The cases (from the Arch Surg. Journal, vol. 44, p. 533 41.7? ti.— • V----- a ■ s c , ° insiances, a violent fit of aneer preceded .^"j^/r £e/m "' G'"'ra'") '" *™ '» «* Edinburgh MO. „„ PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 45 occur, except when death speedily follows. Of this may be mentioned, rupture of the gall ducts or gall bladder, or a recent perforation of the stomach. 3. Another description of evidence is derived from the symptoms immediately before death corre- sponding with the appearances discovered. 4. We can often decide, and particularly in cases of suspected poisoning, that the circumstances noticed will not bear out the idea. 5. It is not an unfrequent occurrence for sudden death from latent disease to take place during the early stage of convalescence from other diseases—from some unusual or violent exertion—or from some emotion of mind, and particularly anger.* III. Death from violent causes. This division of our subject may, with justice, be considered as the most important in the whole range of medical jurispru- dence. It is so, not only from the number but the variety of cases that come under examination. In commencing their in- vestigation, it is necessary to remark, that a particular term has of late years been much employed to express the peculiar mode of death that occurs in most of them. I refer to the word as- phyxia. As at present understood, it means " those cases of the cessation of the heart's action, which arise from a particular cause, namely, the interruption of respiration—or to speak more correctly, the interruption of the effect produced by that function on the blood." The phenomena of respiration are twofold—mechanical and chemical. To the former we refer the motion of the ribs and diaphragm in performing inspiration and expiration, and to the latter, the inspiration of oxygen and its results. Now, it is rather the popular idea to consider asphyxia principally in reference to the chemical changes induced. There cannot, however, be a doubt but that mechanical obstructions are equally efficient * On the first appearance of malignant cholera at Sunderland, a female attacked with it died in twenty-four hours. She had been engaged in a brawl the day before, and had received a slight wound with a fork. " This death occurred at an early period of the epidemic, when many influential persons, including some medical men, were loudly asserting that no unusual disease existed in the town. It was therefore very generally asserted, that the patient had died of the wound and of blows on the head and face, the marks of which, it was said, were so very obvious." The body was examined in the presence of medical men of both opinions, and the questions finally set at rest by a coroner's jury. (Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. 38, p. 124.) In the section on Strangulation, I shall mention some cases of accidental death, or rather of apoplexy mistaken for it. 46 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. agents. The following division of asphyxia, by Savary, and many other modern writers, will illustrate these ideas. 1. Asphyxia from mechanical impediments to respiration, as by compression of the chest and abdomen, and seen in cases of large quantity of ground falling on persons digging, &c.; by air enter- ing into the cavities of the chest or abdomen; by a wound of the diaphragm, with pressure of the abdominal viscera towards the stomach. 2. Asphyxia from want of power in the respiratory vessels, as from a division of the spinal marrow; from lightning; from cold; and from general debility, as in new-born children. 3. Asphyxia from want of air, by its rarefaction ; by suffocation; by submersion; by strangulation. 4. Asphyxia from want of respirable air. And lastly, 5. Asphyxia from irritating or delete- rious gases. While each of these causes has phenomena in some degree peculiar to itself, and which will be most usefully considered un- der its appropriate head, there are still some common to all, which may be here briefly indicated. The symptoms consequent on impeded respiration are more or less striking, as well as rapid in succession, according as the ob- struction to it is more or less complete. Among the earliest are a sensation of distress, and an effort to dilate the chest. The struggle is longer or shorter, according to circumstances, and convulsive movements accompany it, with suffusion of the face, swelling of the veins, protrusion of the eyes, &c. Torpor, before long, succeeds—often with a general relaxation even of the sphincter muscles. The heart, however, even now continues for a brief period to propel the venous blood it receives from the pulmonary vessels. This also ceases, and life is at the instant of departing. In more protracted cases, it has been noticed that there is less suffusion of the face, but a more extensive discoloration of the skin, on other parts of the body. On examination after death, these spots are found, and they are distinguished from those observed in dead bodies kept in one position, by being seen in all parts, and according to Dr. Roget, by having their seat chiefly in the mucous membrane of the skin! Rigidity generally occurs late, but is more strongly marked and continues probably longer than in other cases of sudden death The eyes are distended and the pupils prominent. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 47 A great accumulation of blood is observed in the pulmonary vessels, and in the right auricle and ventricle and their great veins, while the left auricle and ventricle are comparatively empty. The liver, spleen and kidneys, are gorged; the lungs distended, and the blood thick and dark-coloured, and but rarely coagulated. If the struggle has been violent, the vessels of the head are found full, particularly the veins and sinuses; and a section of the cere- bral substance exhibits an unusual number of red points, and this last is often accompanied with an effusion of serum in the ventri- cles. On the contrary, when the death has been easy, the vessels of the brain are often natural. These are the principal appearances noticed. There are others, which will hereafter be pointed out as peculiar to various causes. My limits preclude me from going into detail concerning the theory of asphyxia. In addition to a reference to authorities worthy of examination, I will only remark, that the earliest opinion entertained was, that the cessation of the motion of the heart in these cases was owing " to some mechanical impediment to the transmission of the blood through the lungs, arresting its course, and preventing its access to the left auricle. But the ex- periments of Goodwyn and others have sufficiently proved that no such mechanical obstruction exists, and that even after the fullest expiration, the air remaining in the air vesicles of the lungs distends them sufficiently to permit the blood to circulate freely through them." Hence originated the opinion that chemical changes take place in the blood. It can no longer be converted from venous into arterial blood, and in this state is deleterious to the organs to which it is sent. To Goodwyn and Bichat, we are indebted for this theory. The blood is supposed by the latter to act on the brain, and through it on the whole nervous system. Whenever then this in its venous state reaches the brain, the loss of sensibility takes place, and not before. Hence also the con- vulsions that occur. The effect of this now poisonous fluid is ex- tended to the capillary vessels of the lungs. They transmit less and less blood, until finally the action of the heart ceases, leaving the right side full and the left nearly empty. Among later experimenters on this subject, are Edwards, Williams, Kay and Alison. Dr. Williams, from his investigations, deduced the following conclusions: That the passage of blood through the lungs is obstructed on the suspension of respiration, 48 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. while its circulation through the other parts of the body is con- tinued ; that this obstruction is not mechanical, but arises from the deprivation of pure atmospheric air; that this obstruction or interruption to the motion of the blood through the lungs, is one of the principal causes of the emptiness of the arteries after death; and finally, that the immediate cause of the cessation of the ac- tion of the heart, is a privation of its natural stimulus, arising from the interruption of the movement of the blood through the lungs. The experiments and inquiries of Dr. Kay have led him to the following deductions: That the circulation is arrested after re- spiration ceases: because from the exclusion of oxygen and the consequent non-arterialization of the blood, the minute pulmonary vessels which usually convey arterial blood, are incapable of con- veying venous blood, which then stagnates in the lungs. The functions of the muscular organs cease in asphyxia, because the circulation is thus arrested in the lungs, and as a result from these opinions, he infers that venous blood does not possess any noxious quality, but is simply less nutritious and stimulating, than arterial blood. The latest investigations on this subject have been made by Professor Alison of Edinburgh, and the following is a brief ab- stract of them, as presented to the British Association for the Advancement of Science, at its meeting in Dublin in 1835. Dr. Alison considers it well established by the experiments of Drs. Williams and Kay, that in ordinary cases of asphyxia, the circulation of the blood is brought to a stand, not in consequence of the venous blood penetrating either the nervous or the muscu- lar textures of the body, but in consequence of its gradually fail- ing to penetrate the lungs, and not being delivered to the left side of the heart, in sufficient quantity to maintain effective actions there. Hence the admission of air into the lungs in respiration, is in some way or other, a powerful auxiliary cause of the circu- lation through these organs, and if withdrawn, the contractions of the right side soon become ineffectual in propelling the blood through the lungs. The question then occurs, as to the manner in which the ac- tion of respiration affords this auxiliary power to the circulation through the lungs. The doctrine of Haller was, that the actions of respiration are a merely mechanical auxiliary to the circula PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 49 tion, and that asphyxia depends simply on the blood stagnating in the lungs, in consequence of the suspension of the natural alter- nate contractions and expansions of their substance. And as the subsequent theories of Goodwyn and Bichat have both been shown to be erroneous, it is not surprising that the opinion of Haller should have been revived and advocated. The best method of bringing the theory to the test of experi- ment, is to ascertain what occurs in an animal breathing a gas which contains no oxygen, where the mechanical change is going on, but the chemical is suspended. Dr. Alison, therefore, thought that by confining an animal in azote, not until it became insensible, but until its respiration became laboured, and then taking it out and killing it instantly, he might have an opportu- nity of ascertaining, whether the blood fails to make its way through the capillaries of the lungs, even while the mechanical actions of respiration are going on with full force. A rabbit was accordingly thus confined, and then killed by a blow on the head. It never inspired afterwards, but was strongly convulsed. On opening the chest, Dr. Alison was surprised to find that the right side of the heart contracted, although feebly, and that the movement of the blood towards the right side of the heart by the great veins likewise continued to a certain degree. The right side of the heart was distended with blood, and the left comparatively empty and motionless. It would thus appear, that the circulation fails equally, and is obstructed at the same spot, although the movements of respira- tion continue, if oxygen be not inspired, and that air, or a gas containing oxygen, is possessed of a peculiar efficacy in promoting the flow of blood through the lungs. In what way then, are we to suppose that the inspired air acts on the circulation 1 If we suppose it to act as a stimulus to the capillaries of the lungs, the theory is open to objection, inasmuch as it has not been proved that these vessels are capable of con- traction. On the other hand, if we believe it to cause relaxation or distension, it certainly operates differently from what it does on every other vessel exposed to it. Dr. Alison, therefore, comes to the conclusion, that the motion of the blood through the lungs is partly determined by causes which are independent of any impulse from the solids containing the blood. And he suggests that it may be caused by something analogous to what Purkinje VOL. II. 5 50 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. has discovered of currents visible in the air-passages of animals, and « that their real cause is more accurately expressed by the terms used by a recent French author, who ascribes them to a jeu £ attraction et repulsion between the living fluids and the air In further noticing this subject, I shall arrange my remarks under the following subdivisions: A. Of persons found dead from cold. B. Of persons found dead from hunger. C. Of persons found dead from lightning. D. Of persons found dead from burns. E. Of persons found dead from wounds. F. Of persons found dead from noxious inhalations. G. Of persons found hung. H. Of persons found strangled. J. Of persons found smothered. K. Of persons found drowned. The subject of poisoning, as I have already stated, is so exten- sive, that I shall postpone it to a distinct chapter. I may also premise that in many medico-legal cases, a most difficult question often arises, after all doubt is removed as to the immediate cause, and that is, whether death is owing to suicide or homicide. I shall have occasion to notice this under most of the subdivisions, and will now only direct the reader's attention to some preliminary inquiries. The moral history of the individual, should if possible, be ascer- * Edinburgh Med. and Surgical Journal, vol. 45, p. 103. I refer those who are desirous of studying this subject, to the following authori- ties: Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, vol. 2, art. Asphyxia, by Savary. Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, art. Asphyxia, by Dr. Roget. Copland's Dictionary, art. Asphyxia. Mr. Brodie's views, in Paris's Medical Jurisprudence, vol. 2, p. 16. Godwyn, Kite, Kay, on Asphyxia. Williams, in Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 19, p. 524; Kay, in do., vol. 29, p. 37; and in North of England Med. and Surg. Journal, vol 1 n 453 Lancet, N. S. vol. 14, p. 315, 387. > P- • Reviews of Kay, in Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, v. 42 p 216 Medico-Chirurg. Review, v. 25, p. 92; and London Medical Quarterly'Review' v. 3, p. 46. ' Review of Roget, in Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 39 p 394 Goodwyn's answer to Bichat, Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal vol' 34 p 74 Thomas on Asphyxia, in Lancet, N. S. vol. 9, p. 814. ' ' Hodge on Sedation, American Journal of Medical Sciences vol 10 p 104 chtrurgrc:&fwEtr2d2, °PnLhe Influence of Physical Agents on' L'ife' Me*co- Taylor's Medical Jurisprudence, vol. 1, chap. 1. On Asphyxia Du^gfisonAmeriCan Cyd°pedia of Practical Medicine, art. Asphyxia, by Professor PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 51 tained, his disposition of mind and his worldly condition. The insane, we know, are very prone to commit suicide, and there- fore any circumstance tending to establish a disordered state of mind, deserves notice. It is proper to ask, whether the individual has met with any losses or disappointments, whether he has been solitary in his habits, and whether any of his family or connexions, have an interest in his death. It is sometimes said, that apart from the influence of fanaticism or insanity, suicides will gene- rally select a certain and easy mode of death, but this is too broad an assertion for all cases. In some, however, the mode itself is presumptive either for or against.* The season of the year may have some effect, and in very many instances, dissection developes some chronic affection of long standing, which may have had its influence. Thus Mor- gagni found in the brains of maniacs an extraordinary hardness, and Durande and Fourcroy, along with this condition, observed an induration of the liver, and calculi in the gall-bladder. Esqui- rol and Osiander mention scrofula, affections of the genitals, or- ganic diseases of the heart, chronic enteritis, &c. as especially predisposing to the commission of suicide. Each case, however, has its peculiarities, and demands a close and deliberate examination-! A. Of persons found dead from cold. Death from exposure to cold, if it happens at a distance from towns or dwellings, is generally characterised by circumstances * " In France, the proportion of suicides to homicides is nearly as five to three; consequently, if a dead body be found in France, without any evidence appearing for the cause of death, there is much greater probability of the deceased having fallen by self-violence, than by the hands of an assassin. If it appears that the deceased has died by suffocation or strangulation, the probabilities for suicide are so greatly in- creased, as in the absence of other evidence, to justify a verdict." Foreign Quarterly Review, vol 16, p. 108. Ainer. Edit. I have strong doubts whether this is an accu- rate deduction, as it purports to be, from the remarks of Quetelet. At all events, unless hanging be included under the general term strangulation, the probability is certainly, in the instances specified, directly the opposite. t The following case (from Hecker's Annalen,) in addition to several others, that I shall notice particularly, under Wounds, will serve to show the difficulty that some- times happens in discriminating. A Silesian butcher caught his wife in the act of adultery. The effect was to drive him into a state of distraction. He dashed his head several times against the wall, but finding this ineffectual, took a cleaver and struck himself violently on the fore- head with the edge of the instrument until he fell dead from the loss of blood. It is supposed that he must have inflicted at least one hundred wounds on himself. This was done in the presence of several persons, but suppose his dead body had been found with these marks of injury upon it, and no countervailing evidence, would not murder have been suspected ? (London Medical Repository, vol. 28, p. 83.) 52 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. not to be mistaken. It may, however, occur in populous places, and is then more liable to misconstruction and suspicion. The common and early effects of severe cold are sleepiness, stupor and numbness. The individual is unwilling to be roused from this state, and has no apprehension of its fatal consequences. In the march from Moscow, where, however, the French soldiers laboured under the combined effects both of hunger and cold, the insensibility and disposition to sleep often came on while they were walking. And although able to continue this for a short time, yet they could not be made to understand any thing ad- dressed to them. Beaupre remarks, that the muscles of the trunk were the last to lose the power of contraction. The pulse was small and insensible, and there was a quiet delirium present.* It is evident that the effects of extreme cold, are to contract the external capillaries, and thus drive the blood to the internal parts, and some explain the constant tendency to lethargic apo- plexy, to the determination to the head that is thus induced. According to Mr. Brodie, the effects of cold, are 1. To lessen the irritability and impair the functions of the nervous system. 2. To impair the contractile power of the muscles. 3. To cause contraction of the capillaries, and thus lessen the superficial cir- culation, and stop the cutaneous secretion. As to the mode of its operation he imagines, that " it probably destroys the principle of vitality equally in every part, and does not exclusively disturb the functions of any particular organ."f We have but few accounts of dissection in these cases. Dr. Ivellie of Leith, examined the bodies of two persons found dead after a severe storm, on the night of the 3d of November, 1821. There was nothing remarkable in the external appearance of either. But little blood flowed on dividing the scalp. The dura mater was congested and suffused, and its sinuses loaded with black blood. The pia mater was turgid and congested. In each, also, between three and four ounces of serum were found in the ventricles and at the base of the brain. Not onlv did the appear- ances in the head thus correspond in these two individuals (a male and female,) but even the stomach and small intestines were precisely similar. The stomach was of its usual pale colour, the * Beaupre on Cold, translated by Dr. Clendennino- Larrp„'a « • i ™ p. 78. Any thing that weakens the nervous sy tern as h'LJ"T* ™*moln> renders the individual insensible to the effects of cold nunSer' intoxication, &c. t Paris, vol. 2, p. 61. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 53 small intestines were deeply coloured from a general and minute injection of their vessels. The liver was congested. Dr. Kellie does not deem the effusion of serum a post mortem production, and inclines to the opinion that it was produced in the short interval between their exposure and death. Its occur- rence in both, is certainly a forcible argument in favour of this supposition; but it may, as in a former case, have been existing previous to the accident. Our author states that he could find but one recorded dissec- tion on this subject, and that is by Quelmalz, in the 6th vol. of Haller's Disputationes. Here " the vessels of the brain were turgid with blood, and in the ventricles was an effusion of serous lymph."* Other authorities, as Rosen, Cappel and Martin, (but all uniting in the same statement,) are, however, quoted by Kay and Copland. The absence of any marks of injury is a guide in cases of this kind, especially when other circumstances point to the cause in question. " When a person is found dead from the effects of ex- treme cold, there are no marks of external violence, nor internal suffering. The body lies as if in a deep and calm sleep, without any external appearances to guide us as to the cause of death, except perhaps a swelling of the extremities, which has come on prior to death."f As a supplement to this division, I must say a few words on sudden death from drinking cold water, although 1 am not sure, but that its appropriate place is under that of sudden death by apoplexy. Dr. Rush was the first writer who distinctly noticed it. He states, that during the warm weather of summer, but seldom unless the heat is above 85°, as many as four or five per- sons have died in a day, from drinking a large quantity of cold * Edinburgh Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 1, p. 84. There is also a case of recovery from the effects of cold, given by Dr. Kellie, in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 1, p. 302. t Dunlop's M. S. Lectures on Medical Jurisprudence. Dr. Ozanam of Lyons, mentions the following case, as another mode in which cold may cause death. A cruel stepmother, after a long course of ill treatment by beating and starvation, took her daughter aged eleven, on a cold morning in December, and forced her to enter a barrel filled with water. Although extricated by a servant after some time, she was again replaced by the brutal mother, and in it she died. On the trial for this crime she was condemned to imprisonment for life. This refined species of cruelty, remarks Dr. Ozanam, presents a new subject for inquiry in legal medicine. There was no submersion, nor the ordinary effects of cold, nor any internal lesion, but an actual assideration, (a word which I confess I do not understand,) produced by the external application of cold. (Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 6, p. 207.) 5* 54 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. water. The symptoms induced were dimness of sight, muscular weakness, so that the patient suddenly falls down, difficult breath- ing, rattling in the throat, suffused countenance, livid extremities, imperceptible pulse, and death, all in the course of some five or ten minutes. Others again were seized with spasms, and died in them. The fatal consequences at the season in question, are not, ac- cording to Dr. Rush, restricted to cold water alone, as he has known punch, beer, or toddy, drunk under similar circumstances, to produce equally fatal effects. It has, however, been strongly questioned, whether the cold water is so important an agent in producing these effects, as was supposed. It is urged that the heat of the body varies but little at any time; that farmers during harvest, constantly drink water drawn from wells, which is decidedly colder than the water in cities, and yet these effects are unknown in the country. Again, Dr. Dickson of Charleston, South Carolina, a city in the " fervid south," states that such cases are unknown there. He has never heard of one during the whole period of his practice, and yet ice and iced waters are in constant use. An English traveller, speaking of Naples, observes, " It surprises some strangers to see that the Neapolitans, at the hottest time of the day, and when they are in a state of the most profuse perspiration, from the effects of work, or of walking in the broiling sun, will stop be- fore one of these temples and take off a large glass full of the coldest water at a draught and with impunity. But this they all do daily in the hottest weather several times in the course of the day. We believe, also, that few foreigners live long at Naples, without doing precisely the same thing and with just the same impunity."* Many physicians are hence inclined to believe that a state of commencing apoplexy is present, induced by the heat of the sun or isolation, as it is called; by the exhaustion from severe labour! for it is generally labourers who are attacked; and by the pre- vious irregular habits, since some, though not by any means all, have been intemperate^ The drinking of a large quantity of • Penny Magazine, 1834, p. 348. t Mr. Russell, surgeon of the 73d Regiment, however in „ n,„ j u <• London College of Physicians, March, 1836 on coZt £ '";a. PaPer re*d before the tions made b} him in* India, on this'diseaseXln 5ir£ ' ™~r J0™ ^T brain was healthy; there was no accumulation or con- •" cas/?°f ^section, the tually a deficiency. The lungs, l«^^'Ja^^^^^ ^ PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 55 cold water at once, when these symptoms are impending, and the patient already feels a- great degree of muscular debility, probably has a decided effect in instantly developing the disease. Cold also to the stomach, in these cases, may sometimes act like a blow in suddenly paralyzing the powers of life. The rapidity with which the bodies of persons thus dying, pass into putrefaction, and the season of the year, have prevented us from deriving any information by means of dissections. The publicity and alarm that is excited, is generally sufficient to ex- clude the idea of violence.* B. Of persons found dead from hunger. The crime of permitting or causing individuals to die from hunger, is no doubt rare in civilised countries. Instances have, however, happened; and an account of the appearances observed after death is therefore proper. The body is much emaciated, and a foetid, acrid odour exhales from it, although death may have been very recent. The eyes are red and open. This appearance is uncommon from other causes of death. The tongue and throat are dry, even to aridity, and the stomach and intestines, are contracted and empty: this last mark has been repeatedly noticed. Haller dissected the body of a person who destroyed himself by hunger, and found the organs in question entirely empty ; not the least vestige of faeces was to be seen in the intestines. The gall-bladder is puffed with bile, and this fluid is found scattered over the stomach and intestines, so as to tinge them very extensively. The lungs are withered, but all the other organs are generally in a healthy state. The blood-vessels are usually empty.f through their entire extent, while blood was also accumulated on the right side of the heart. He supposes death to arise from the obstructed condition of the lungs. Lon- don Med. Gazette, vol. 18, p. 71. * The following are all the authorities that I have been enabled to collect on this subject: Rush on the disease occasioned by drinking cold water in warm weather, in Medi- cal Inquiries and Observations, vol. 1, p. 181, 2d edition. Dr. Higginson, in Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 3, p. 289. Dr. Watts, in New York Medical and Surgical Register, p. 81. Prof. Dickson, in American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 3, p. 262. Prof. T. D. Mitchell, in North American Medical and Surg. Journal, vol. 10, p. 379. Dr. Brewster, in Chapman's Journal, N. S. vol. 2, p. 98. Dr. Bartlett, in Boston Medical Magazine, vol. 3, p. 86, 174. Most of these writers concur in considering the phenomena as altogether those of apoplexy. New York, Philadelphia, Boston and Albany, seem to be the places in which most of these sudden deaths occur. t Fodere", vol, 2, p. 276; vol. 3, p. 23], who quotes the observations of Morgagni, Redi, Valsalva and Haller. 56 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. Prof. Horner, in consequence of some observations made by him, is of opinion that the substance of the brain in these cases becomes many shades lighter than natural, showing the destitu- tion of red blood. This is confirmed by a case below.* There is, however, some distinction to be taken between the effects of death from fasting, or from hunger. The former is slower in its progress, and consequently may occasionally pre- sent appearances different on dissection. An Italian writer has recently endeavoured to designate these, and mentions as among the peculiar results of death from hunger, inflammation of the stomach and intestines, and a rapid tendency to putrefaction.f Of the two, however, the last is more frequently mentioned than the first. Collard de Martigny's experiments on animals tend to eluci- date this subject. He starved dogs and rabbits, and the effects were excessive emaciation, and a diminished size and colourless state of the muscles. The heart and large vessels contained but little blood, and the lungs were empty; the viscera generally pale, but the gall-bladder large and distended with limpid, green- ish vellow bile; the stomach contracted, as were also the intes- tines, which last were tinged with bile. In three cases only, out of eighteen, did he find any marks of inflammation in the diges- London Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 15, p. 510. Case of death from spon- taneous abstinence, by Dr. Desgenettes of Paris. Here the lungs were sound, but the gall-bladder and stomach were in the state described above. American Cyclopaedia of Practical Medicine, art. Abstinence, by Dr. Hays. He quotes the case of a prisoner, who, in two months, starved himself to death at Tou- louse. The brain was paler than usual; the lungs nearly natural; oesophagus con- tracted, but not the stomach, which contained a little fluid ; the lower portion of the small intestines red, softened, and highly injected ; large intestines natural, and con- taining faecal matter; the gall-bladder much distended with black thick bile; the muscles much attenuated. In Kelsey's case, (related by Dr. McNaughton, in the Transactions of the Albany Institute, vol. 1, p. 113,) who lived for fifty-three days on water alone, the stomach was loose and flabby, and the mesentery, stomach and intestines extremely thin and transparent; the gall-bladder as in all the preceding cases. Case by Dr. Sloan. London Med. Gazette, vol. 17, p. 264, 389. An individual was confined for twenty-three days in the Kilgramie Coal works, Avrshire He survived three days after being discovered and extricated. His bowels acted only once when in the pit, but he made water freely. He had no stools during the last three days, except from injections, which brought away very black and foetid matter His intellect was perfect until his death On dissection, the brain and its membranes were found healthy, but there were fewer marks of blood-vessels than usual The omentum had almost disappeared. The stomach and intestines were healthy, and the gall-bladder was distended with bile. J * Horner's Pathological Anatomy, p. 360. t American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. I, p. 472. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 57 tive canal. The quantity of fibrin in the blood was sensibly di- minished. He does not seem to have examined the brain.* Dr. Duncan, whose authority on all subjects connected with the science is of great value, remarked, in a clinical lecture de- livered not long before his lamented death, that " it was a matter of notoriety, when persons in health were deprived of their usual food, or when animals were starved for experiment, that the in- testines were found inflamed and ulcerated; this circumstance has also been remarked in some recent cases of criminal trials for wilful murder by starvation."! As several of the signs enumerated are characteristic and pe- culiar, they will serve to exclude the other causes of violent death. But there will be more difficulty in discriminating it from death through natural causes. The duty of the medical jurist in these cases, according to Mr. Taylor, consists 1. In determining that there has been no other probable cause of death. 2. In stating how far the pathological condition of the body coincides with the general evidence in favour of death from starvation, and 3. In not giving an opinion merely from the appearances of the body, if the general evidence should not support the presumption of death from starvation.^ In 1768, the daughter of a notary at Nevers, in France, aged fifteen, died of an unknown disease. She had been already bu- ried, when it was rumoured abroad that her father had caused her death by hunger. The information laid before the judge was of such a nature, that he directed the arrest of the parent, and the disinterment of the body. This was twenty-four hours after the burial. The report of the medical examiners was as follows: The whole body is extremely emaciated. The skin is very thin, and its colour livid; an unpleasant odour is exhaled; the eyes are open and red; contusions and excoriations appear on various parts of the body; and the anus and vagina are covered with small white worms in great quantity, and these parts, and particularly the first, are much excoriated and dilated. On'ppen- ing the body, the stomach was seen in a healthy state, containing a wine glass full of serous, greenish bile; the pylorus was con- * North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 7, p. 196,221, (from Magen- die's Journal.) t Lancet, N. S. vol. 6, p. 449. t Med. Jurisprudence, p. 244. 58 PERSON'S FOUND DEAD. traded; the duodenum, together with the right side of the ileum and jejunum, was inflamed; the gall-bladder was swelled with bile, and the intestines were entirely empty. The remainder of the viscera, together with those of the thorax and head, were in a healthy state, except that the right lung was a little withered. The report concluded by giving an opinion, that the girl had died in a state of extreme weakness and languor, but it assigned no cause. Public opinion continued to implicate the parents, and they sought a defender in the celebrated Petit, from whom an answer to the following questions was requested: 1. Whether the facts stated above were sufficient to prove that the child died from hunger? 2. Whether there was any circumstance to indicate that a length of time had elapsed between the death and burial 1 To both these, he answered in the negative, and for the follow- ing reasons: Extreme emaciation is rather a proof of long ill- ness, than of starvation; because it is very common for persons of a tolerable degree of fatness, when they refuse food, to die be- fore they lose much flesh. The emptiness of the intestines was more indicative of colliquative diarrhoea from long disease, than of any other cause. The state of the gall-bladder proved, (in Petit's opinion) nothing on one side or the other, nor did the ex- coriations, while the natural state of the stomach was an argu- ment against death by famine, since in such cases, that organ is observed to be much contracted. Finally, the worms might have been present in the parts for some time before death, nor was the smell of the body by any means so offensive as to indi- cate putridity of long standing. On these grounds, though un- willing to assign a cause of death, he was decidedly of opinion that famine had not induced the fatal termination.* On the trial, it was conclusively proved, that the parents had been guilty of mal-treatment, and though after the opinion of Petit, their lives could not be affected, yet the father was sen- * In former editions I used or rather adopted the remark of Foder<5, that in this case, PAit appears rather as the advocate of the accused than the impartial invest gator of truth. On further reflect.on, and principally in consequence Ke anTmad versions of Mr. Taylor, I am disposed to cancel much of this censure StiMhe case comes very nearly under the rules of Mr. Taylor as already « lu PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 59 tenced to the galleys for life, and the mother to perpetual banish- ment.* " Starvation is rare as an act of homicide, but it must not be supposed that the law implies by this, the absolute privation of food; for if that which is furnished to a person be insufficient in quantity, or of improper quality, and death be a consequence, malice being at the same time proved, then the offender equally subjects himself to a charge of murder.f C. Of persons found dead from lightning. As to death by lightning, it may be remarked, that it is usually distinguished by a variety of appearances. Sometimes the vis- cera are destroyed, without any external mark being present; while in others, there is nothing but a small hole. Again, there will be great external injury observed: but the most common accompaniments are discoloration of the skin, generally in the form of streaks. These are of a red colour; and it has been re- marked, that they are peculiarly to be traced in the direction of the spine. Others again receive wounds, or the integuments are extensively burnt, and blisters form.J The bodies of those killed in this manner, are generally, but not always flaccid, and the blood is, on the authority of John Hunter, said to be fluid. We have, however, too few dissections to warrant a positive statement. As to the cause of death by lightning, two theories have been maintained. John Hunter supposed that there was an instanta- neous and total destruction of the vital principle in every part of the body, and consequently that the muscles are relaxed and inca- * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 223. In addition to the references on this subject, I may quote, Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, art. Abstinence, by Dr. Marshall Hall. Copland's Dictionary, art. Abstinence. A case by Mr. Griffith, London Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 43, p. 99. Percival's Essays, vol. 2, p. 260. Lancet, N. S. vol. 2, p. 158; vol. 3, p. 486. Dr. Ogston's Case of Melanosis of the Stomach, Edin. Med. and Surg. Jour. v. 38, p. 259. A case by Mr. Tomkins, in which the morbid appearances strikingly correspond with those given in the text. Lancet, N. S. vol 21, p. 904. t Taylor's Med. Jurisprudence, p. 247. \ In illustration of this, I may refer to the following. The case of Mr. Boddington and his lady, both struck by lightning in England. The injuries received by her, were actual wounds, while his were only burns. (London and Edinburgh Philoso- phical Magazine, vol. 1, p. 191.) Very extensive burns, with a raising of the epidermis. (Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 41, p. 493.) The epidermis nearly destroyed, and the hair burnt, a French case. (Lancet, N. S. vol. 6, p. 910.) Two German cases, one with livid streaks, and the other, extensive burns. (Lancet, vol. 7, p. 255, 445.) Extensive blistering of the skin. (New York Medical and Surgical Register, p. 55,) Case by Professor Stevens. 60 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. pable of contraction. Hence their flaccidity, the fluidity of the blood, and a rapid tendency to putrefaction. Mr. Brodie, on the other hand, concludes from his experiments that this does not take place; but that in a majority of cases, the effects of light- ning are expended chiefly in disturbing or destroying the func- tions of the brain. He found the heart acting in an animal appa- rently dead from an electric shock. In this way also, he explains the many symptoms imitating apoplexy or affections of the head, which arise from injury of this nature.* In making up an opinion in a doubtful case, much depends on the place and situation where the body is found. If a person be dead in an open place, or under a tree, shortly after a thunder storm, with the ordinary appearances now enumerated, we may attribute his death to lightning; and particularly so, if any metallic substances about him are found melted, and his clothes torn or burnt, while dissection exhibits nothing adverse to the idea.f D. Of persons found burnt to death. The same circumstances to which we have directed the atten- tion of the examiner in previous sections, are to be noticed in cases of this nature. Dissection, if it be practicable, must not be omitted. There is an instance related by Fodere, which presents a most instructive lesson. In 1809, a wretch murdered several indi- viduals with an axe, and then set fire to the house. The medical officer did not deem it worth while to examine the bodies, and certified that their death was owing to the fire. Meanwhile an individual was discovered murdered about one hundred paces * Thus Dr. Macauley, (Edinburgh Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 1, p. 360.) found apoplexy to succeed, with all its external appearances, and in two other cases epilepsy. Mr Godfrey Surgeon of the Cambrian: (London Medica and Phy ca. Medical Sciences vol. 13, p.54,) and ^t^n^S^^SSiX °f p. 137 ; vol. 33. p. 366; vol. 34, p. 118;'vol. 36, p.444 Kol 48 86 P> ?ll "S? vol. 52, p. 515 ; vol. 62, p. 131; vol. 63 p 177 o-) ' ice ' P^o ; vo • 51' P- 38 vol. 77, I 61,130 ; vol. 80, p. 29 There is also an W ^'-P' 493 ; V°K 71' P" 42 brated death of Richman,'.?St. Petersburgh vol 49 o eT 7 T^? °J^ °de roff, will be found in Dr. Granville's Travels to 4 pi" I' ^not«er b^ Lomonos was only . red spot on his forehead the let were SS /g ' \2' P> 112' Then not burnt. g ere b,ue' and one shoe was torn, bu PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 61 from the house, and suspicion being excited, the bodies were dis- interred. It was found that the flames had only burnt the flesh superficially, and that the marks of the axe were still distinctly visible.* So also in the State of Maryland, a few years since, a ruffian murdered a whole family, and then fired the log house in which they lived. On the body of the father, however, a fracture of the skull was found; and in consequence of a bed from the upper room falling on the mother, her body was so far uninjured as to exhibit three incised wounds, one of them penetrating the sto- mach. The murderer was detected, by finding on him articles of dress belonging to the family. Apart from the possibility of such cases, it not unfrequently becomes necessary to ascertain whether the burning has happen- ed during life. A person may have been strangled, and the clothes subsequently fired, to present the appearance of accidental death. A case bearing on this point, occurred, some years since, to the late Dr. Duncan in Scotland. A husband and wife, living on bad terms, were heard to struggle ; and after a short time, the neighbours were alarmed by a strong smell of fire. All attempts to enter were for some time fruitless, owing either to the real or pretended deep sleep of the husband. At last, on obtaining ad- mission, the body of the female was seen burning on the hearth. On examination before the coroner, the abdomen was found re- duced to a cinder, but on the face and extremities there were marks of reaction; some spots were red and inflamed—others scorched to a hard and transparent crust, but surrounded with distinct redness ; and " a great many blisters filled with lymph, perfectly different from those produced on the dead body, which are not filled with a fluid, but with air or vapour. In short, we found (says Dr. Duncan) appearances exactly similar to those of fire on a living body; and therefore we reported, as our unani- mous opinion, that the deceased was burnt to death." As there was no proof that the prisoner had been the cause, he was found not guilty; and it is indeed possible (although there were some suspicious circumstances against him,) that this may * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 18. Dr. Dunlop (MS. Lectures) mentions a similar case oc- curring at Glasgow, in 1809. A man murdered his wife, and then set fire to her clothes. There were, however, marks of external violence, sufficient to convict him. VOL. II. 6 62 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. have been a case of preternatural combustibility, as I shall here- after describe it. Such indeed is Prof. Christison's opinion—a part of the clothes were unburnt; the chair from which she had fallen was entire, and yet the abdomen was nearly destroyed. However this may have been, the present case appears to have led Prof. Christison to perform an interesting series of experi- ments, in order to ascertain the criterions by which a burn in- flicted during life, may be distinguished from one produced after death. From his observations, it follows, that "the only effects of burns which appear immediately after the injury, and remain in the dead body, are, first, a narrow line of redness near the burn, not removable by pressure; and secondly, blisters filled with se- rum : that the former is an invariable effect, but that the latter is not always observable when death follows the burn in a few minutes." In order to meet the inquiry which readily suggests itself, " whether these appearances can be produced or imitated imme- diately after death, while vitality still lingers in the body, or to use Bichat's phrase, while organic vitality survives the extinction of animal life ?" Prof. Christison performed several experiments. In a stout young man who poisoned himself with laudanum, a very hot poker and a stream of boiling water were applied to the skin of the chest, and inside of the arm, one hour after death. On the next day, no blisters or redness were visible on or near the burns. At the parts burnt with scalding water, the cuticle appeared as if ruffled, and could be very easily rubbed off, but there was not a trace of moisture on the true skin beneath.' At the parts burnt with the poker, the whole thickness of the skin was dried up, brownish and translucent, but entirely free of red- ness or blistering on or around them. In another case of poisoning where the patient was comatose, heat had been applied four hours before death, and again was applied half an hour after it. The body was examined In thirty- eight hours Some of the spots burnt during life, presented a uniform blister filled with serum; and even where the cuticle was gone, and the true skin dried, there were drops of erit Ind a so particles of the same fluid dried by evapc^:^^ of them, also, there was more or less scarlet redness, and th's redness was not diminished by pressure. Some of the Sp0 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 63 burned after death were charred on the surface, and not elevated : two presented vesications, but the blisters were filled with air; the cuticle over them was dry and cracked, and the surface of the true skin beneath was also quite dry. On the white parts of the skin, there was no adjacent redness, and the lividity which occurs in dead bodies was immediately removed by moderate pressure. These and other experiments with similar results, led Prof. Christison to the conclusion, that the application of heat to the body, even a few minutes only after death, cannot produce any of the signs of vital reaction mentioned above; and he concludes his observations by remarking, " that, as far as the preceding ex- periments gO, a line of redness near the burn, not removable by pressure, and likewise the formation of blisters filled with serum, are certain signs of a burn inflicted during life."* As the medico-legal cases on this branch of my subject are far from numerous, I will here add the details of one which recently occupied some attention in France. On the 10th of July. 1834, at 4 A. M., Ursula Lambert Beren- ger, was found dead in her room. The body completely naked, lay in the fire-place. The head reclining on the left temporal region, was in the centre of the hearth ; the rest of the body was without the fire place. The head and neck were burnt almost to a cinder. The left arm was little injured, but the right was so disorganized by the action of the fire, that the phalanges of the fingers were nearly detached. The abdomen was much distend- ed, the epidermis detached in several places, and phlyctosnae full of a red serum, occurred here and there. The rest of the body pre- sented nothing particular, except the effects of a passing burning substance. The blisters were also noticed on the left knee. No scratching or wounding was observable on the knees, insteps or any other part. The husband had been on bad terms with his wife; he cohabited with another female, and it appeared that recently he had en- deavoured to strangle her. Suspicion of murder was, therefore, natural. From the testimony of Dr. Seguy, the medical examiner, the following facts are obtained. * Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 35, p. 320. 64 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. The fire appears to have been small, the remains of it (two stumps) were still to be seen. Near it was an earthen ware coffee-pot, turned over. No other marks of struggle or disorder were manifest about the room. After removing the body to a more convenient position, frag- ments of the chemise, in which alone she had been dressed, were found under all the parts of the body immediately in contact with the floor, such as the elbow, hip, and left knee. The remaining articles of clothing were on a chair near the bed. The left arm was found bent, and the hand on the precordial region. The right, also, was bent, and in front of the chest, so that the right hand touched the left clavicle. The legs were half bent. The face was completely carbonized; the ears horny; the skin black and dry, except at the left temporal region, where there was a quantity of hair enveloped in an enormous mass of coagulated and sodden blood. This led to an examination of the ashes, and they were found moist at the place where the head had lain. The tongue was shortened and shrivelled. The in- teguments on the neck and arms were hard, cracked, and of a black colour. So, also, those of the breast, back, and shoulders, but of a less black colour. The other parts were not marked with a red circle, nor were any blisters to be seen, except those already noticed. On examining the brain, no indications of external injury were perceived. Strong adhesions of the membranes were present, and the sinus of the dura mater was filled with black blood. The convolutions of the left lobe of the brain were covered with sod- den blood, and the portion of it at the temporal region and the base of the brain was reduced to a bouilli, while the correspon- dent part only exhibited a full injection of the vessels. The left lobe internally was hard, brownish, and covered with a number of deep red spots. The right was natural, but its internal sub- stance was extremely red. The ventricles contained a bloody serum. The lungs were hepatized, gorged with blood, and the bronchia? contained a reddish mucus. The stomach and intestines, though much distended with gas, were natural. In testifying on the facts of this case, Dr. Seguy advanced the opinion, that Mrs. Lambert had sunk under apoplexy. The man ner in which this was caused was more difficult to be solved PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 65 He does not suppose that it happened from compression of the vessels of the neck, (strangulation.) But if not thus, was she seized with syncope, while preparing tea for herself, and did she then fall into the fire, or did she cease to live before she was placed on the fire 1 By applying Dr. Christison's proof of burns inflicted during life, it will be seen, that there was no redness or blisters around the neck or chest, while the latter occurred on other parts. Again, admitting that syncope or even apoplexy supervened at the moment when she fell into the fire, some vital action or exer- tion must still have been made, which would have produced some disorder around the fire-place, or at least some excoriations on the knees and feet. These were, however, wanting. In favour of death before the burning—are the possibility of a rupture of blood-vessels in the head, causing compression—the engorgement of the lungs and their hepatization—the want of vital action around the burns, and the certainty that there had been no vital resistance, and that the head had not been displaced from its original position. On the other hand, are the possibility of sanguineous effusion from the action of fire—the presence of blisters—and the possi- bility that these and other vital phoenomena could not be de- veloped in the other parts of the body in consequence of the pro- longed action of the fire. Dr. Seguy inclined to the idea of murder (that she had been the victim of two crimes)—that the apoplexy was not a natural one —that hemorrhage succeeded it, and finally, when pressed for a direct and positive answer, he gave it as his opinion, that the in- dividual was dead before her body was submitted to the action of fire. Dr. Accarie, another medical witness, denied that strangula- tion could produce apoplexy, but that it caused asphyxia, owing to the want of vital air. He deemed it possible that the deceased had died instantly from apoplexy while in the supposed position, and cited analogous cases. In such, apoplexy is frequently un- accompanied with convulsions, and consequently no effort will be made. It is evident that the chemise was burnt while she had it on, and Dr. A. supposed the fire to have commenced at its bot- tom, thus explaining the blisters and redness on the abdomen and left knee. This, he presumes, caused violent agitation, and apo- 6* 66 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. plexy was the result. Hence the absence of those marks on the upper parts, since life was extinct. As to the rigidity ol the limbs, he remarks « La rigidite cadaverique le manifested autant plus tard que la mort a et£ plus rapide: c'est le cas de lapo- plexie." The blood soiling the hair of the left temporal region, and the quantity found, prove that it had issued out before the burning commenced, since the ears did not escape its destructive action, and in cases of apoplexy, it is well known that the blood often issues from the ears, nose, mouth, and eyes. The absence of all excoriation on the knees, proves that there has been neither contest nor resistance. The inflation of the abdomen is, doubtless, owing to the action of the fire, and to commencing putrefaction. The adhesion of the membranes of the brain, their sanguineous injection, the fulness of the sinus of the dura mater, the presence of blood in the convolutions of the brain, resembling a clot, the bloody serum in the ventricles, the interior hardness of the left lobe, and the many red spots in the medullary substance, all these being the result of chronic or acute inflammation of the brain and consequent congestion, may be attributed to foudroy- ante apoplexy, rather than to the action of fire alone, or to stran- gulation first and then fire. Indeed, the violent action of caloric produces different effects. Bichat in his experiments with boiling water, to which he submitted a human head, found such a con- traction of the dura mater, that the brain, which did not harden, burst it. Esquirol says, that in strangulation, the head sometimes exhibits no marks of strangulation, and the lungs and heart are empty of blood. Dr. A. accordingly arrived at the following conclusions. 1. That death did not result from strangulation. 2. That the internal ap- pearances in the brain are owing to apoplexy, and that the com- bustion caused a roasting {coction) of the effused blood. 3. That it is highly probable that Berenger died of apoplexy. A third physician, Dr. Girodet, was called to explain the dis- crepancies between the two witnesses. He asserted that stran- gulation sometimes produced rupture of the blood-vessels of the brain, and also said, that a blow, for example, the traces of which PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 67 might have been destroyed by fire, could have caused the apo- plexy. Dr. Seguy relied much on Dr. Christison's proofs of burning during life. Dr. Accarie on the other hand, undervalued them, remarking that the red circle must be effaced after death, as happens in erysipelatous patients, where the redness disappears when the individuals die. The jury found the husband Berenger guilty, but with extenu- ating circumstances, and he was condemned to ten years' impri- sonment at hard labour. Dr. Leuret, the reporter of this case, in his comments, observes that several modes of death are nearly equally admissible. 1. JVatural Death. It is possible that apoplexy may have seized her when near the fire, and that she fell on it, and that the com- bustion, supposing it continued after her death, may have de- stroyed the parts which contained the red circles produced during life. The presence of blisters on the parts touched by the burning chemise, show the action of caloric on the living skin. The experiments of Christison, however, are not invariable. Dr. Leuret has seen large blisters filled with a reddish serum, to form in large number on a body twenty-four hours after death. He applied a chafing-dish of charcoal to the legs of an infiltrated (dropsical) body. The epidermis hardened a little, became ele- vated, and below it was an abundant collection of reddish serum. On applying the chafing-dish to other parts, the same result oc- curred. He repeated the experiment on bodies not infiltrated, and no blisters arose. But as Dr. Seguy does not say that this body was infiltrated, and as indeed he remarks, that on the even- ing of her death, this female was in good health, Dr. L. allows that the blisters on the abdomen were the result of burning during life. 2. Death by Strangulation. We cannot affirm or deny it. The heart and blood-vessels were not examined. It is possible, but it is not proved. 3. Death by Blows on the Head. Under this supposition, the body must have been thrown into the fire, before the complete extinc- tion of life, and the assassin desirous of obliterating all marks of wounds, would place the stricken side on the fire. 4. Death by Cerebral Congestion or Syncope. If we admit this kind of death, we must ascribe the sanguineous effusion to the 68 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. action of fire on a body still warm. Bichat's experiment is not applicable. He used boiling water, while this was the direct action of fire. Dr. Leuret, in his experiments, was not able to produce any thing analogous to the present case, on the supposi- tion now under consideration. In conclusion, he observes, that the absence of all external marks of violence, are presumptive evidence in favour of its having been a natural death.* There is another question that may arise in cases where per- sons are found burnt to death, which is alike interesting and cu- rious ; and that is, Can there be such a thing as preternatural combustibility of the human body ?f Several cases are recorded of this nature. It is stated in the Transactions of the Copenhagen Society, that in 1692, a woman of the lower class, who for three years had used spirituous liquors to such excess that she took no other nourishment, having sat down one evening on a straw chair to sleep, was consumed in the night time, so that next morning no part of her was found but the skull, and the extreme joints of the fingers; all the rest of her body was reduced to ashes.J The Countess Cornelia Bandi, of Cesena in Italy, aged 62, and in good health, was accustomed to bathe all her body in cam- phorated spirits of wine. One evening having experienced a sort of drowsiness, she retired to bed, and her maid remained with her till she fell asleep. Next morning, when the girl entered to wake her mistress, she found nothing but the remains of her body in the most horrible condition. At the distance of four feet from the bed, was a heap of ashes, in which the legs and arms were alone untouched ; between the legs lay the head. The brain, together with half the posterior part of the cranium, and the whole chin, had been consumed; three fingers were found in the state of a coal, and the body was reduced to ashes, which, when touched, left on the fingers a fat, foetid moisture. A small lamp which stood on the floor, was covered with ashes, and contained * Annates D' Hygiene, vol. 14, p. 370. t In a former edition, I used the term spontaneous combustion, to express this nhe nomenon; but as that takes for granted what is denied by many, I hlnnekrlldlhc present appellation, the correctness of which, I believe will n t S k who have examined the accumulated testimony on thesubSet 7 "* t Coxe s Emporium of Arts and Sciences v„| i „ ki /• ' PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 69 no oil; the tallow of two candles were melted on a table, but the wicks still remained, and the feet of the candlesticks were cover- ed with moisture. The bed was not deranged; the bedclothes and coverlid were raised up and thrown on one side, as is the case when a person gets up. The furniture and tapestry were cover- ed with a moist kind of soot of the colour of ashes, which had penetrated into the drawers and dirtied the linen. This case is related by Bianchini, and confirmed by other writers.* Grace Pett, the wife of a fishmonger of the parish of St. Cle- ment, Ipswich, aged about sixty, had contracted a habit, which she continued for several years, of coming down from her bed- room every night, half dressed to smoke a pipe. On the 9th of April, 1744, she got up from bed as usual. Her daughter, who slept with her, did not perceive that she was absent till next morning, when she awoke. Soon after this, she put on her clothes, and going down into the kitchen, found her mother stretched on her right side, with her head near the grate. The body was extended on the hearth, with the legs on the deal floor, and it had the appearance of a log of wood consumed by a fire, without apparent flame. On beholding the spectacle, the girl ran in great haste and poured over her mother's body some water, to extinguish the fire. The foetid odour and smoke which exhaled from the body, almost suffocated some of the neighbours who had hastened to the girl's assistance. The trunk was in some mea- sure incinerated, and resembled a heap of coals covered with white ashes. The head, the arms, the legs and the thighs, had also participated in the burning. This woman, it is said, had drank a large quantity of spirituous liquor, in consequence of being overjoyed to hear that one of her daughters had returned from Gibraltar. There was no fire in the grate, and the candle had burnt entirely out in the socket of the candle-stick, which was close to her. There were also found near the consumed body, the clothes of a child, and a paper screen, which had sus- tained no injury from the fire. Her dress consisted of a cotton gown.f Le Cat relates the following case, which was communicated to him by M. Boinneau, cure of Plurguer near Dol. It occurred * Lair, p. 162, who quotes the Annual Register for 1763. See also Philosophical Transactions, vol. 43, p. 447. T Philosophical Transactions, vol 43, p. 463. 70 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. in 1749. Madame De Boiseon, eighty years of age, who had drank nothing but spirits for several years, was sitting in her elbow-chair before the fire, while her waiting-maid went out of the room for a few moments. On her return, seeing her mistress on fire, she immediately gave the alarm, and some persons having come to her assistance, one of them endeavoured to extinguish the flames with his hand, but they adhered to it, as if it had been dipped in brandy, or oil on fire. Water was brought and thrown on her, yet the fire appeared more violent, and was not extin- guished till the whole flesh had been consumed. Her skeleton, exceedingly black, remained entire in the chair, which was only a little scorched; one leg only, and the two hands, detached them- selves from the rest of the bones. It is not known whether her clothes had caught fire by approaching the grate, but she was in the same place in which she sat every day; there was no extra- ordinary fire, and she had not fallen.* By a letter from Gen. William Shepherd, it appears, that on the 16th of March, 1802, in one of the towns of the state of Massachusetts, the body of an elderly woman disappeared in the space of about one hour and a half. Part of the family had re- tired to bed, and the rest were gone abroad. The old woman remained awake to take care of the house. Soon after one of the grand-children came home and discovered the floor near the hearth to be on fire. An alarm was given—a light brought, and means taken to extinguish it. While these things were doing) some singular appearances were observed on the hearth and con- tiguous floor. There was a sort of greasy soot and ashes, with the remains of a human body, and an unusual smell in the room. All the clothes were consumed. The fire had been small.f * Lair, p. ] 68. t Coxe's Emporium of Arts, vol. 1, p. 326, who quotes from Tilloch, vol. 14, p. 96. The same case is also mentioned by Fodere, vol. 3, p. 208. I have cited the cases in the text, not so much with reference to their peculiar features, as their geographical position. There is a case respectively from Denmark, Italy, England, France, and America. Several other instances are on record, to which I refer the reader for fur- ther details. They are, vol1"64rary340UeS' ^^ fiftj' ^ C°Ventry'(Eng,) Wilmer> Philosophical Transactions, 2. An anonymous case by Vicq-d'Azyr, of a woman aged fifty years 3. A case by Henry Bohanser, of a female at Paris. 4. The wife of Sieur Millet, at Rheims, in 1725, related by Le Cat nal'deMelictne^^ " ^ " Pr°VenCe' rdated b? Muraire' » ™ff^, in the Jour- 70L^1: M°S„eThUarS' ^ Cae"' " 1?82' rekted b* Meri,lc> a •«'*«»». - the PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 71 Some deductions are drawn from these cases, by Drs. Lair and Marc, which it is proper to mention. 1. The subjects were 7. Two anonymous cases of females at Caen. All these are mentioned by Lair. 8. An anonymous case of a female at Paris in 1779. Foder6, vol. 3, p. 207. 9. The Priest Bertholi, in 1776, in Italy. This is a very remarkable case, and some particulars mentioned by Battaglia, the surgeon who attended him, may with propri- ety be added in this place. Bertholi was travelling about the country, and at evening arrived at the house of his brother-in-law. He immediately desired to be shown to his apartment, and when brought to it, requested that a handkerchief should be placed between his shirt and shoulders. This was done, and he was left to his devotions. A few minutes had scarcely elapsed, before a noise was heard in his room, and the cries of the priest were particularly distinguished. On entering the room, he was found extended on the floor, and surrounded by a light flame, which receded as they approached, and finally vanished. On the next morning, M. Battaglia was called and examined the patient. He found the integuments of the right arm almost entirely de- tached from the flesh, and between the shoulders and thighs the integuments were in- jured. There was a mortification of the right hand, and this, in spite of scarification, rapidly extended itself. The patient complained of burning thirst, and was horribly convulsed; he passed by stool putrid bilious matter, and was exhausted with conti- nual vomiting, accompanied with fever and delirium. On the fourth day, after two hours comatose insensibility, he expired, and a short time previous to his death, M. Battaglia observed with astonishment, that the body exhaled a most insufferable odour—worms crawled from it on the bed, and the nails had become detached from the left hand. The account of the patient was, that he felt a stroke like the blow of a cudgel on the right hand, and at the same time, saw a bluish flame attack his shirt, which was immediately reduced to ashes, the wristbands in the meanwhile remaining totally untouched. The handkerchief between the shoulders and shirt was entire, and free from any trace of burning. His breeches were also uninjured, but though not a hair of his head was burnt, yet his cap was entirely consumed. There had been no fire in the room, except that the lamp, which had been full of oil, was now dry, and its wick reduced to a cinder. Fodere, vol. 3, p. 210. London Medical Repository, vol. 1, p. 332. 10. A female at Paris, in 1804, aged sixty-eight, related by Dr. Vigne. Fodere, vol. 3, p. 216. 11. A female in France, aged 28, communicated by Dr. Prouteau, in Leroux's Jour- nal de Medecine. New England Journal, vol. 4, p. 194. 12. Mrs. Laire, at Saulieu, in 1808, aged 60 years. Ballard, p. 414. 13. Ignatius Meyer, aged 48, in the village of Waertelfeld, bailiwick of Schwalen- berg in Germany. This occurred on the 17th of January, 1811. Meyer was a very intemperate man. The parts of the body under the bed-clothes were not affected. This case is related by Dr. Scherf of Detmold. London Medical Repository, vol. 3, p. 239. New York Medical Repository, vol. 18, p. 87. 14. Mrs. P----, aged 90, and her servant aged 60, at Nevers in France, on the 15th of January, 1820. Case by Dr. Charpentier, London Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 45, p. 347. 15. M. Vatin, at Beauvais, (France,; aged upwards of 60. This happened in Ja- nuary, 1822. He was corpulent and intemperate. Related by Drs. Colson and Le- large in Journal Compliment. Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 19, p. 653, vol. 22, p. 233. American Medical Recorder, vol 6, p. 764. 16. Margaret Heins, at Hamburgh, January, 1825. This case somewhat resembles Bertholi's. From Hecker's Annalen. Edinburgh Med. & Surg. Jour. vol. 26, p. 215. 17. Mrs. Soret aged 57, in December, 1825; occurred at Rouen, and related by Dr. Hellis. Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 9, p. 544. 18. A case of combustion of both hands, from attempting to extinguish the clothes of a brother, which were on fire. A blue flame continued for several hours over the par's, and it required constant immersion in water to extinguish it. Dr. De Brus, in Archives Generales for March, 1829. Edinburgh Med. & Surg. Jour. vol. 32, p. 227 72 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. nearly all females; and they were far advanced in life. The Countess of Cesena, was 62, Mary Clues 52, Grace Pett 60, Ma- 19. A female, at Lexington, Kentucky, November 15,1829. Case by Prof. Short, Transylvania Journal, vol. 3, p. 143. . _ . 20. Four cases in Ireland within the present century ; two m Dublin, one at Lim- erick, and the other at Coote Hill, county of Cavan. All were females and intempe- rate. Related by Dr. Apjoin. Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, art. Combustion, spontaneous. , .-,, , 21. The case of Jane Lappiter, an aged woman, very temperate, occurring at Chel- tenham, (England,) a few years since, is related by Dr. Newell, in Midland Medical and Surgical Reporter, vol. 1, p. 248. A portion of the bones and the whole of the viscera were reduced to ashes. The fire extended to within about three inches of the ancle joint, and yet neither the shoe, the stocking or the skin and flesh below was injured. 22. For the following American case, we are indebted to the researches of Wm, Dunlap, Esq. of New York. Finding a brief reference to it in his interesting His- tory-of New York, I wrote.to him for the particulars, as well as the authority on which he stated it. In his reply, he furnished me with the following from Holt's New York Journal of Jan. 3, 1771, and Gaines' Mercury of Jan. 7, two Newspapers at that time published in the city of New York. Hannah Bradshaw, aged about 30 years, had lived about a dozen years in the city. She was a healthy, hearty-looking woman, remarkably industrious, and neat in her person and manner of living, but bore a bad character with respect to chastity and sobriety. On account of her robust appearance and bold behaviour, she had obtained the name of Man of War Nance. She resided in an upper room, which had no con- nexion with the rooms below, occupied by a family. On the evening of the 31st of December, she desired a young woman who worked for her, and was going home, to come again early the next morning, and about 7 o'clock the same evening, another acquaintance parted from her, at which time she seemed to have drank a little too freely. She was neither heard nor seen of again until the next morning, when the young woman returned to her work, after knock- ing and calling, and having waited until past eleven o'clock, this person by the aid of a man who lived below, got in through a back window, and opened the door. On looking within a screen, which went quite across the room and was fitted to reach the ceiling, she discovered the mutilated remains of Hannah. The body, or rather the bones, were lying near the middle of the floor, wherein a hole of about four feet in diameter was burnt quite away, and the bones were on the ground, about a foot beneath that part of the floor. The flesh was entirely burnt off the bones of the whole body, except a small part on the skull, a little on one of the shoulders, the lower part of the right leg and foot, which was burnt off at the small almost as even as if cut off and left lying on the floor. The stocking was burnt off as far as the leg and no farther. The bones, some of which were black, and others white, were so thoroughly burnt as to crumble to dust between the fingers. The bowels remained unconsumed. One of the sleepers which lay under the shoulders was burnt almost through; part of the head lay on the planks at the edge of the hole, and near it was a candlestick, with part of a candle in it, thrown down, but it did not appear to have touched any part of the body or to have set any thing on fire. The tallow was melted off the wick, which remained unscorched by the fire, as also the screen, which almost touched the hole. The leg of a rush-bottomed chair, and about half the bottom were burnt so far as they were within the compass of the hole on the floor, and no further. The ceiling of the room, which was whitewashed plaster, was as black as if covered with lampblack, as also part of the walls and windows; and the heat had been so great as to extract the turpentine from the boards and the wainscot. After all these operations, the fire went entirely out, so that when the body was found, not a spark remained. ChLg. Sw^vll.^Vp.^r' " ^ ^^^ °f Avdon' ^^ ^dico" for2a W Hmp' ^ ™\ 7' v* W'l%^ed 65" They had both indulged to excess, I, in nlftv T' Spint dnn« "?', Thcy were fou,,d dea°. and partially consumed; as in all the former cases. British and Foreign Med. Review, vol. 3 p. 507 from PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 73 dame de Boiseon 80, and M. Thuars more than 60. 2. Most of the individuals had for a long time made an immoderate use of spirituous liquors, and they were either very fat or very lean. 3. The combustion occurred accidentally, and often from a slight cause, such as a candle, a coal, or even a spark. 4. The com- bustion proceeded with great rapidity, usually consuming the entire trunk, while the extremities, as the feet and hands, were occasionally left uninjured. 5. Water, instead of extinguishing the flames, which proceeded from the parts on fire, sometimes gave them more activity. 6. The fire did very little damage, and often did not affect the combustible objects which were in contact with the human body at the moment when it was burn- the Journal des Connoissances Medico-Chirurgicales for Sept. 1836. Medico-Chi- rurgical Review, vol. 30, p. 500. 25. Maria Bally, in Paris, aged 51. This case occurred in December, 1829, and was examined and is reported by Devergie, vol. 2, p. 278. 26. Theresa Lemaitre, in Paris, on the 15th of Dec. 1836. She was 60 years old, and very intemperate. Related by Dr. Patrix, in Lancette Francaise (British and Foreign Medical Review, vol. 4, p. 222.) The case of Professor H. of the University of Nashville, as related by Dr. Over- ton, has been referred to this head, but the facts stated will hardly warrant it. He was walking on a cold day, when he felt pain in his left leg, and on applying his hand, it grew worse. On looking at the spot, he saw a light flame as large as a ten cent piece. By pressure, this was extinguished, but a superficial injury of the skin" was found, resembling an abrasion from violence. His drawers composed of silk and wool, were burnt through, exactly over the abraded skin, but the pantaloons were not effected. The wound healed slowly. An explanation of this is given, by stating that Prof. H. wore a pair of new draw- ers, on the material of which, some paint had been dropped. Western Journal of Med. and Phys. Sciences, vol. 9, p. 78. Transylvania Journal, vol. 8, p. 595. " The following is the latest, and consequently best authenticated, case on record. "After this, it is to be hoped that we shall hear nothing more of the excess of in- credulity on this subject, which M. Fodere asserts is the great bar to philosophical discovery in the present age. " Another case, which occurred in the neighbourhood of Bordeaux, in September, 1822, has been related in the last volume of the Nouveau Journal de Medecine; but though the particulars were sworn to before a magistrate, our readers will not be at a loss to discover good reasons for doubting its authenticity. A sober, healthy black- smith was returning home in company with a girl one very hot afternoon, when he suddenly felt an acute pain in the right index, and was astonished to behold it burn- ing and smoking. He rubbed it against his thumb to extinguish the flame, but the flame, caught both the thumb and middle finger. He then rubbed them on his trow- sers, but burnt two holes in them ; next, he thrust his hand into his pocket, and set it on fire too; and finally, he happened to touch the fore and middle finger of the left hand when these caught fire also. In vain did he plunge them into a bucket of water; they continued to burn. In vain did he stick them in the mud ; the virtue of the mud was not more potent. At last, a devout female reminded him that faith saves us ; he dipped them in holy water, and the flames were speedily extinguished. Since the well known story of the priest Bertholi, (see Fodere's Med. Leg. vol 3, p. 210,) this is the only instance of alleged spontaneous combustion, where the sufferer has been seen during life. The most amusing of the whole story is, that the relator doubts none of the circumstances, except the efficacy imparted to the water by its sanctification."—Dunlop. VOL. II. 7 74 PERSONS FOUiVD DEAD. ing. 7. The combustion of these bodies left as a residuum, fat foetid ashes, with an unctuous, stinking and very penetrating soot. 8. The combustions have occurred at all seasons, (but most fre- quently in winter) and in northern as well as southern coun- tries.* As to the cause of this remarkable phenomenon, various opi- nions have been promulgated, which I shall very briefly state. Lair and others suppose that there is an alcoholic impregnation of the body, and that the actual contact of fire is necessary to produce it. To this, it is replied, that there is no proof of such a saturation of the organs, and if it were so, it would not, judging from comparative experiments, render the body combustible. Julia Fontenelle immersed pieces of meat for a length of time, in alcohol, but on firing it, their external surface alone was scorched. Another theory, supported by Maffei, Le Cat, Kopp, and others, refers the combustion to the agency of the electric fluid. Marc, however, appreciating the weakness of such an opinion, has en- deavoured to fortify it by supposing that inflammable gases mav accumulate in the cellular tissue, and thus render the body pre- disposed to this state, and in a system charged with ideo-electri- city, the slightest inflammable substance may commence the com- bustion. The gas he deems to be hydrogen and its compounds, and thus explains why water often fails to extinguish it, and why, also, contiguous substances are so seldom injured, the heat re- quired for its inflammation being low. It is difficult, however, on this hypothesis, to explain the rapidity of the combustion, and the complete reduction of the body or its parts to ashes. Julia Fontenelle, after expressing his disbelief in either of the above. refers it to an internal decomposition, and the formation of new- products, which are highly inflammable. If to this, we add the opinion favoured by Professor Apjohn, that phosphuretted hydro- gen may be generated in the system, an explanation is presented, which will almost justify the term in common use, of spontaneous combustion. I must, however, refer the curious reader to the references be- low, and proceed to point out how these cases differ from the effects of ordinary combustion, f * Lair, p. 171. Fodere, vol. 3, p. 217 , p. 104, cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, Art. Combustion, sponta- PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 75 We are authorized in asserting, both from the history of ancient nations who employed this mode of sepulture, and the narratives of the martyrs and others burnt to death, that large quantities of fuel are needed to convert the body to ashes. It is necessarily sloiv in its progress, and the heat required being high, would extend itself to surrounding substances. The combustion also, in ordinary cases, would often be incomplete, and particu- larly so as to the bones. Again, if the body be not wholly un- consumed, there will be blisters, scars, &c. on various parts. How strikingly this differs from the phenomena mentioned above, I need scarcely urge. The empyreumatic odour, and the moist and sooty matter resting on the furniture and walls, are wanting; and if Fontenelle be correct, a still more remarkable distinction occurs. In these cases of preternatural combustibility, the hair, the most combustible part in the human frame, is never burnt, while the liver and spleen are always so. The application of these distinctions in medico-legal cases, is manifest; and there is one instance on record, which justifies the notice that I have taken of the subject. The case is related by Le Cat, and is that of the wife of the Sieur Millet, at Rheims. She got intoxicated every day, and the domestic economy of the house was managed by a handsome young female. This woman was found consumed on the 20th of February, 1725, at the distance of a foot and a half from the hearth in her kitchen. A part of the head only, with a portion of the lower extremities and a few of the vertebras, had escaped neous, by Dr. Apjohn; Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 39, p. 416. American Medical Recorder, vol. 5, p. 489, where the alcoholic theory is defended by Dr. Thomas D. Mitchell; and Transylvania Journal, vol. 7, p. 128, where it is opposed by Dr. Caldwell. A dissection by Dr. Bally is deemed corroborative of the opinion advanced by Marc. He attended a case of typhus, accompanied with general emphysema; and after death, gas was found in large quantities in the cavity of the peritoneum, and even the ves- sels of the pia mater contained air. This gas, from whatever part it was extricated by puncture, took fire on bringing a candle to it, and burnt with a blue fliime. (Ed- inburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 36, p. 221.) Devergie, however, denies the applicability of this phenomenon. He insists that it is altogether a post mortem appearance, and may be witnessed daily on the bodies of persons drowned during the summer, which have become emphysematous, vol. 2, p. 295. The existence of oil in the serum of the blood, first noticed, I believe, by Professor Traill, and nearly altogether in persons intemperate, has also been supposed to illus- trate the combustibility of the system. See Traill in the Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. 13, p. 375; Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol 24, p. 421; also Dr. Adam in Transitions of the Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta, vol. 1, p. 74. Dr. B. G. Babington (Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 16,) appears to have detected an oil us constantly existing in healthy blood. 76 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. combustion. A foot and a half of the flooring under the body had been consumed; but a kneading trough and a tub, which were very near the body, sustained no injury. M. Chretien, a surgeon, examined the remains of the body with every juridical formality. Jean Millet, the husband, being interrogated by the judges, declared, that about eight in the evening of the 19th of February, he had retired to rest with his wife, who, not being able to sleep, had gone into the kitchen, where he thought she was warming herself; that having fallen asleep, he was awak- ened about two o'clock by an infectious odour; and that having run to the kitchen, he found the remains of his wife, in the state described in the report of the physicians and surgeons. The judges formed an opinion that he had conspired with his servant to destroy the wife, and he was condemned to death. On appeal, however, to a higher court, this decree was reversed, and it was pronounced a case of human combustion ; but his health and for- tune were irreparably destroyed, and he died in a hospital.* E. Of persons found dead from wounds. The observations already made in the section on medico-legal dissection, and the necessity of considering the subject of wounds on the living body in a distinct chapter, will necessarily contract the remarks that I have to make under this head. I must again urge the importance of a medical examination in all these cases. An instance mentioned by Fodere, will show how culpable any neglect on this point may become. A dead body was found in the fields, in the arrondissement of Trevoux, during the month of May, 1811. The surgeon, deterred by the putrefactive smell, reported generally that he had discovered no marks of violence. Meanwhile some ditchers, on interring the body, remarked that, on the fall of a handkerchief which covered the head, the bones of the cranium detached themselves, and the brain issued out. The imperial attorney ordered a special exa- mination of the head, and it was found that the deceased had * LT' Py167' DuPuylren would seem to have been a sturdy disbeliever FTp n, *erts that frequent y when dissecting, he put the debris of th^utabodyn the" fire at evening, and they were all consumed in the morning ATt«V * v. imagines that being all fat, and in a state of insensiE from dmnV "^ ^ clothes take fire, and the carbonic acid thus producedincrease?,hJ^ ^ ^i" the skm being burnt, the fat melts and runs L, and thusthllr^/f'V W. * goes on. Without derogating from his acknowledged talent/r mi 0™esl™cil°n Dupuytren was a better surglon and anatomist thacLmiet ' HiTr I ^ ^ tamed in the North American Medical and Surgical JouTnal' vo7 10 pm *" ^ PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 77 received three blows with a cutting instrument, which separated the parietal bones from the skull. The assassins, after commit- ting the crime, had replaced these, and secured them with a handkerchief bound very tight; they were afterwards discovered and punished.* It is important to understand that in legal medicine, the term wound is used in a much more comprehensive sense than in sur- gery. In the latter it means, strictly, only a solution of conti- nuity ; in the former, injuries of every description that affect either the hard or the soft parts ; and accordingly under it are comprehended bruises, contusions, fractures, luxations, &c. In this sense, then, the term wound is to be understood in this work. The important question to be decided in every case of persons found dead from wounds, is, whether the wounds are the result of suicide, accident, or homicide. Besides noticing the surface of the body, and ascertaining whether ecchymosis or suggillation be present, we should pay great attention to the following circumstances: The situation in which the wounded body is found, the position of its members and the state of its dress, the expression of countenance, the marks of violence, if any be present on the body, the redness or suffusion of the face. The last is important as it may indicate violence, in order to stop the cries of the individual. The quan- tity of blood on the ground or on the clothes should be noticed, and in particular, the probable weapon used, the nature of the wound and its depth and direction. In a case of supposed sui- cide, by means of a knife or pistol, the course of the wound should be examined, whether it be upwards or downwards, and the length of the arm should be compared with the direction of the injury. Ascertain whether the right or left arm has been used; and as the former is most commonly employed, the direc- tion should correspond with it, and be from right to left.f * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 72. t " By observing this law of nature, murder by another person, instead of felo de se, has been detected, as by the discovery of the impression of a bloody left hand upon the left arm of the deceased. So the murderer, Patch, was convicted, paftly by the proof that the loaded pistol must have been discharged by a left-handed per- son, and that Patch was left-handed." (Chitty's Medical Jurisprudence, p, 37.) " In Patch's case the evidence went to show that the murder was committed by means of a pistol shot by a left-handed man. Sergeant Best in a conference with the prisoner before the trial, pressed him to say whether he was left-handed, but he protested that he was not: yet, on the trial, being called to plead and to hold up his 7* 78 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. When a wound is alleged to have been committed by acci- dent, we may inquire into the probability of this by comparing the stature of the body with the person who caused the accident,. and thus ascertain whether the wound could have been received in its existing direction.* The place where the accident has happened, and a comparison of the instrument with the injury inflicted, may also give useful light. It must not, however, be concealed, that occasionally eases occur, in which, either from the want of exact testimony, or from the nature of the injury, the medical witness will be much perplexed in forming a decided opinion. I allude now particu- larly to those instances, in which the effects of a fall, or other accidental injury may be supposed to be the results of violence and vice versa. At the Perth Circuit Court, (Scotland,) in April, 1836, Mary Finlay was charged with murdering her husband,, by striking him with a poker on the legs, dashing the house door violently against his person, and beating him to the ground,, whereby his leg was broken, and he died in consequence, about a fortnight afterwards. It appeared that the deceased was intemperate. He was struck, while lying on the floor, twice across the shin with a heavy poker. A witness after this assisted him in undressing, and saw blood on the leg. But he refused to go to bed, and limped towards the door, when she heard him cry out that his leg was caught between the leaves of it. He was shortly after dragged in by the witness and the prisoner, and she now ob- served the bone to protrude. A surgeon proved that he died of the injury and subsequent delirium tremens. There was but a slight swelling about the hand, he answered not guilty, and held up his left hand." (Dr. A. T. Thomson London Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 6, p. 454.) Again, as to the direction of the wound. A few years since, in England, the body of a farmer was found lying on the high road, with the throat cut. The pockets had been rifled. The surgeon who examined the wound found that the knife had been passed in deeply under, and below the ear, had been brought out by a semi- circular sweep in front; all the great vessels of the neck, with the oesophagus and trachea having been divided from behind forwards. The nature of the wound ren- dered it improbable that it could have been self-inflicted, and further served to de tect the murderer, who was soon after discovered. He proved to be a butcher and was tned and executed. The cut here had been made as in slauehteS sheen from behind forwards. Taylor's Med. Jurisprudence, p 345 SlauSntenn£ sheeP' * Two men of different height fought a duel some years since at Marseille* with swords, on a public walk. The weapon of each reached the heart „rVh ?L ..? same moment, and they fell dead together. On examining .h,[, h 1 °„ "" at th! given by the small mZ was found fo be directeSZhefow ^f^iSt the larger from above downwards. (Fodere, vol. 3, p. 196.) y PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 79 wound, and no ecchymosis on any part of the limb. On disinter- ment, both bones of the legs were found broken. Professor Syme, on examination, stated his opinion to be, that a fall could not have caused this fracture, but that a blow might. It was possible that there had been a fracture first, without dis- placement, and the crush at the door might have caused the re- maining injury. Prof. Lizars on the other hand, considered the injury to be the consequence of a fall. If from a blow, he should have expect- ed bruises or ecchymosis to be present. He also thought that the fibula might have been broken after disinterment, and con- sidered it impossible that the deceased could have walked fifteen feet with a broken tibia. Amidst this discordant medical testimony, the jury judiciously grounded their verdict on the conceded blows with the poker, and being found guilty of this only, the prisoner was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment. Professor Syme in his comments on the above testimony, ob- jects to the opinion, that the fibula was subsequently fractured. If so, we must believe, that the broken end of the tibia could project three or four inches through the wound, while the fibula remained sound. He also quotes a case, where the wheel of a carriage passed over a female's leg and produced a compound fracture of the tibia. Yet there was no ecchymosis in the neigh- bourhood of the wound, immediately after the injury, or at any- time subsequent. But the skin over the knee and lower part of the thigh was discoloured, and in the course of a few day.' sloughed.* In another case, the occipital and temporal bones were found broken; the lambiodal suture separated to such a distance, as to allow the handle of the scalpel to be passed into the opening, and the petrous portion of the temporal bone shattered, and splin- ters of it driven into the substance of the brain. The question, in the absence of positive testimony was, whether the subject, a female, had'received these fatal wounds from a fall backwards down a flight of stairs on a stone pavement, or whether they * London Medical Gazette, vol. 18, p. 180, 187. Edinburgh Medical and Sur^i- cal Journal, vol. 46, p. 254. As to the objection, that persons with a fractured tibia could not walk a few steps, Prof. Syme asserts, that in several subsequent cases of compound fracture, the patient actually did walk, and this power even remained in an instance of fracture of the thigh bone. NO PERSONS FOUND DEAD. were produced by a blow of a hammer or some similar instru- ment, used by the husband in his occupations ? The possibility of either seems to have been allowed.* It has at various times been a subject of anxious discussion, whether there are any proofs to be drawn from the nature of the wound, discriminative of the injured individual falling on the weapon, or of it having been thrust into him. This question was put to the medical faculty of Giessen under the following circum- stances : On the 29th of November, 1685, at night, J. Schefier of Arheilgen, was found dead in the city of Giessen. The exami- ners discovered a wound in the right side, two fingers' breadth below the nipple and between the second and third ribs. It pene- trated through the muscles, the superior lobe of the right side of the lungs, the pericardium and the vena cava, to the left side of the lungs. The accused said that the deceased had rushed on his sword. The companions of the latter were throwing stones, and with his drawn sword he ran forward to the prisoner, and falling, met his fatal wound. The fiscal on the other hand denied the possibility of this. The deceased was not thrust through the body, but the wound was inflicted on the right side, a position in which he could not have been placed unless he had run side-ways. The medical faculty of Giessen on being consulted, answered in favour of the prisoner for the following reasons : The deceased was drunk and in a great rage, and the motion which the French call the passade, might have inflicted the wound while he was rushing with great fury on his antagonist.f Fodere quotes another case from Kopp illustrative of this ques- tion. " A miller was assassinated at his own door by a butcher, who pretended that he had no intention of killing him, but had only threatened him with his knife, in consequence of some mal- treatment which he had received: that the miller renewed the attack, and in attempting to pursue him, made a false step and had * British Annals of Medicine, vol. 1, p. 185. + Valentini's Pandects, vol. 1, p. 240. In the London Medical and Physical Jour- nal, vol. 31, p. 467, an anonymous correspondent remarks, that in the account of the late trial of Major Gordon for the murder of a private soldier, by holding in his hand a sword, on which the deceased fell, it is stated that Messrs. Snowden and Blake gave medical evidence, and they deposed that from the appearance of the wound, they would take it upon themselves to declare, that it must have been inflicted by the body falling upon the sword, and not occasioned by a thrust of the weapon. The writer solicits information as to the mode of discriminating between these. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 81 fallen on the weapon. A single external wound which led down- ward to two wounds of the left ventricle of the heart, separated from each other by an interval of two lines, showed that the ac- cused had employed the same method to destroy his victim as that used by the butchers in Germany to kill cattle; that is after having driven the knife into the heart, they withdraw it some distance and replunge it, so as to make a second internal wound. Thus the direction of the wound compared with the respective statures of the two adversaries, (the butcher being much smaller than the miller,) proved that the blow had been inflicted obliquely from above downwards, viz: While the miller was sitting at his door, and not by a fall after getting on his feet, in which case the wound must have taken an opposite direction."* Stephen Vide to was, in July, 1825, tried at the court of oyer and terminer for Franklin county, (New York) for the murder of Mrs. Fanny Mosely. It appeared that Mrs. Mosely had been married to a worthless individual in Canada. Shortly after her union, he brought her from her parents, under pretence of visiting his, to a tavern at the town of French Mills, and there deserted her, taking with him, all her property. In this destitute situation, she applied herself with assiduity to the tailoring business, and finally accumulated some hundred dollars, with which she purchased a small farm. In March, 1824, she went to reside at the house of the pri- soner's father. The family then consisted of his father and mo- ther, a brother and sister, the prisoner and the deceased. The house consisted of two ground rooms, one called the kitchen in which the old people slept, and the bed-room at the west side of the house. In this last there was one window at the west side, and another at the north end, a little east of the centre. At the north-east corner of the room stood the bed of the prisoner, with whom the brother slept, and at the north-west corner, that of the deceased with whom the sister was a bed-fellow. The heads of both beds were to the north, and there was a space of about one yard between them, in which a screen or curtain was usually hung. It was also shown, that the bed of the deceased was more than one foot lower that the bottom of the window. In January, 1825, the prisoner asserted that he had seen armed * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 196. I am indebted to Dr. Beatty for this reference, which es- caped me in the previous edition. S2 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. Indians about the house in the night time, and he supposed that they harboured hostile designs against him. Under this pretence, (for no other person had seen them,) he borrowed a pistol and two guns and provided himself with ammunition. On the 1st of February, the brother and sister were both ab- sent from home, and of course the prisoner and deceased were left alone. The prisoner asserted that he was watching during the night, from the apprehension of an attack, and sat up in bed, with his gun lying across his lap. While thus employed, a gun was suddenly thrust through the north window and discharged at Mrs. Mosely, who was then asleep. He immediately fired his gun out of the same window, but saw no one. Such was his account. It was found on examination, that the ball entered the back of the deceased near the spine, a little above the left hip, and passed out near the left breast, nearer to the head than it entered. She died of the wound in two hours. The win- dow, consisting of fifteen lights, had six broken in the lower sash. The broken sash and almost all the fragments of glass icere on the outside of the house. The ball was found in the covering over the deceased. Mrs. Mosely mentioned before her death, that she lay in bed with her head to the north, her face to the west, and her body bent forward considerably. On dissection, the lowest rib was found cut square off, at an inch or an inch and a half, from the spine. There was, therefore. no glancing. The lower lobe of the left lung and the heart were perforated by the ball and shot. The examining physicians placed the body in the position above described, on the bed, and then placed persons on the outside of the house, to ascertain whether a ball from a gun would reach her as stated by the prisoner. It was found that she must have lain in a most unnatural posture, in order to be reached, namely, that of a person vomiting. Her account was very different. It also appeared on the trial, that the prisoner had purchased arsenic, and probably given it to the deceased, whose health had for some time previous been in a declining state. Videto was found guilty and executed, asserting, however, his innocence to the last. The solution of this case remains to be given. It is the usual sequence of seduction and murder. On the dissection of the body, PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 83 the murdered female was found to be pregnant. This fact was known to the district attorney, but from a regard to the feelings of the relatives of the murdered person, it was not brought in testi- mony. Videto confessed that he was the seducer, to Judge (now Chancellor) Walworth, before whom he was tried, a few days after his conviction.* Not only the course of the wound is thus to be noticed, but some attention should be paid to the known comparative strength of the parties. In a recent case in England, a feeble old man aged upwards of seventy years, was accused, on the testimony of a very suspicious witness, of having killed an individual aged twenty-four, by two or three blows on the head with a common stick. On dissection, the skull was found broken into thirty-five pieces. I do not know the result of the accusation; but several experiments were performed on the dead body, distinctly proving that, even with a loaded stick, such extensive injury could not be affected after nine or ten blows.f We must also recollect, that cases like the following may occur. In 1808, during a quarrel among some drovers at an inn in France, one was wounded with a knife on the face, hand, and up- per part of the thorax near the right clavicle. When the riot ended, the injuries were examined, and found to be superficial and slight. They were washed, and an hour afterwards, the wound- ed individual departed for his home. He was, however, found dead the next morning, bathed in blood. Dissection was made, and the left lung and pulmonary artery were found cut. The surgeons deposed that this was the cause of death, and that it must have been inflicted after the superficial wound on the thorax, which was not bloody, but surrounded by ecchymosis. Such proved to be the fact; on his way home, he had been robbed and murdered.f Again, an intoxicated individual was severely beaten, but was able to walk a mile and a half, to call on his physician, Dr. Davat. He did not speak, but continued in one position; allowed his com- rades to tell the circumstances; and when they left, followed them, without staggering or receiving any assistance. This was at six in the evening; after which, he continued with them until * For a perusal of this trial and the additional facts mentioned, I am indebted to the kindness of Chancellor Walworth. t Midland Medical and Surgical Reporter, vol. 2, p. 358. X Chaussier, Recueil, p. 139. 84 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. nine, when he fell, and became comatose, and continued so in spite of medical assistance, until one o'clock, P. M., the time of his death. The body was examined in forty-eight hours after. There was no ecchymosis, scratch, or contusion on the surface of the body. Although, however, the scalp appeared perfectly natural, yet on cutting into it, the cellular tissue was seen infiltrated with black blood, and two large fractures of the parietal bone were discover- ed; blood was also collected between it and the dura mater. The viscera were healthy, but there was a longitudinal laceration of the diaphragm, two inches and a half in extent; and the herniated portion of the stomach was also ruptured, and had discharged its contents into the thorax. Small clots of blood accompanied the effused aliments. The question immediately arose, whether the deceased had sustained these lesions when he was seen by Dr. Davat in the evening, one hour after the injury. As to the fractures of the skull, there could be no doubt but that they were the consequence of blows; but could the diaphragm be thus ruptured, and the patient survive nineteen hours 1 Was it not rather owing to a fall without violence ; or, as Dr. Davat supposes, occurring either immediately previous to death, or possibly directly after it ? At all events,, so far as experience extends, we may doubt whether such rupture of the diaphragm and stomach are compatible with life beyond a brief period. On the trial, the accused had the benefit of these douots; and although found guilty, was only sentenced to seven years' im- prisonment.* When a person is found dead at the foot of a precipice, or appears to have fallen from any height, we should naturally ex- pect, that fractures, irregular wounds and contusions, would be present. But along with these, we may happen to find incised wounds, regular in their form and bearing the marks of being inflicted with a cutting instrument. If not made after death (and we have already explained the appearances by which this may be ascertained,) they are either the work of the individual him- self previous to his fall, or he has been attacked by assassins. In 1819, at Castellane, in France, a labourer conducting an o * |EdiniU!£h S'Ca' -anf *urPca] Journal- vol. 43, p. 499, from the Archives Gt- rales. Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 26, p. 529. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 85 ass loaded with wheat, was found dead at the foot of a high pre- cipice aside the main road. The ass also had fallen, but was still living. The wheat was scattered along the face of the rocks. The body exhibited a number of irregular wounds and contusions; the under jaw and clavicle were fractured and one of the subclavian arteries was wounded. The prevailing opinion now was, that the ass had stumbled over the rocks, and the conductor in attempting to recover it, had fallen and thus lost his life. But presently, a bonnet not be- longing to the deceased was discovered and it was then recol- lected, that a neighbour of furious temper had been on bad terms with him. This led to a more minute examination. On the back and side of the head, three or four incised wounds were observed, perfectly regular in their shape, without any marks of contusion between them, or any jagging of their edges. Other wounds of this description were found on the chest, but the arms and hands were uninjured—there being only a slight excoriation on one finger. The inference was irresistible that the deceased had been mur- dered previous to falling down the rocks. These could hardly have caused several wounds so regular in their shape, and so closely resembling each other. And again, a man struggling for life would certainly, in this situation have contused and wounded his arms and hands. The murderer, for so he proved, was con- demned and executed.* Madmen and suicides, it must be remembered, often inflict the most painful and extraordinary wounds on themselves. In sus- pected cases, we should ascertain the previous history of the deceased, his state of mind, and worldly situation. The counte- nance should also be noticed. In suicides, it is usually haggard, the eyes are sunk, and this physiognomy continues while a spark of vitality remains in the body. Those, on the contrary, who are the victims of assassination, have a degree of paleness and fear imprinted on their visage.f These directions, though they may appear minute, are not- withstanding important, in consequence of the difficulty of the subject, and the fact that there is scarcely any description of wound which may not be inflicted by an individual on himself. Some, however, may be excepted, as when a person has been * Poilroux, Med. Legale Criminelle, p. 97. t Foder6, vol. 3, p. 181 to 188. VOL. II. 8 86 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. wounded by a small and sharp-pointed instrument in the spinal marrow, and generally indeed all wounds from behind. Fire-arms are frequently used as an instrument of death, and here some inference may be drawn from the nature of the wound. If the ball has passed through the body, it is probable that the murderer was near, or that the individual inflicted it on himself. We cannot, however, rest much on this fact, since a great deal will depend on the strength of the charge and the resistance offered by the parts of the body. The direction is of more im- portance. " It may be taken for granted," says Dr. Smith, " that if the weapon has been introduced into the deceased's mouth and there discharged, it has not been done by another."* Conceding the great probability of this, it must also be recollected, that a suicide may inflict a wound on himself from behind. A man at Paris, after some years of insanity, shut himself in his chamber, from which was shortly heard the discharge of a pistol. On en- tering the room, he was found barely alive, with a wound behind the right mastoid apophysis, and the occipital bone fractured and broken. He survived two hours, and on dissection, the ball was found lodged in the cerebellum. It was evident that the pistol had been fired with the right hand placed behind the head, and probably the head was inclined to the left.f An examination of the entrance and exit wound is also impor- tant, in enabling us to determine the direction. " That made on entering is smaller, and has its edges inverted and depressed, while the latter is much larger with ragged, everted and uneven edges—a circumstance depending upon the direction in which the force is applied to the skin, as well as upon the diminished velocity of the ball.J When flat bones are perforated by balls, the same difference in the size and appearance of the two open- ings is to be observed. A trial, in which the defence rested upon * A case of this nature is related by Devergie, which also deserves notice for its attendant circumstances. The pistol was introduced into the mouth and discharged. The ball lodged in the brain, and no mark of external injury could be discovered on the dead body. The hands were perfectly clean, the lips untouched by the powder and the countenance calm, nor was it until the jaws were forced open, that the ex- tensive destruction of parts was discovered. Devergie, vol. 1, p. 306. t Case by Dr. Dance. Orfilu's Lecons, 2d edition, vol. 2, p.'543 X Dupuytren fired through several boards placed at the distance of two or three inches from each other. The exit hole in the first board was much larger than the entrance one; the entrance hole in the second board, larger than the corresponding one in the first, and so in an increasing ratio. Hence, if two men are wounded by the same ball, unless its velocity be greatly diminished, the wounds of the one last struck, will be the largest. Devergie, vol. 2, p. 79. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 87 the difference between the wounds, took place a few years ago in Kent, and is recorded by Dr. Gordon Smith. An officer in the preventive service was indicted for the murder of a man who was shot in the night, under circumstances of a suspicious nature as to his pursuit at the time. There was no doubt that he was in company with a party of smugglers, and came by his death accidentally. He was retreating before the prisoner, who trip- ped, and in the fall his gun went off. It seems that, on the other hand, several shots were fired by the smugglers on their retreat, and that the deceased was killed by one of them. This appeared from the testimony of a navy surgeon, who examined the body. He found the wound in the upper part of the groin much smaller than that in the lower part of the buttock, which was twice or three times the size of the former, and was ragged and uneven. Frag- ments of the bone were likewise felt at the hinder opening, but none in the cavity of the pelvis. From these appearances, he gave his opinion that the ball had entered in front, and had come from his own party."* In a French medical journal, there is stated the following case, as occurring a few years since. An old man was fired at from a deep ditch on the road side, during a thick fog, and killed on the spot. A near relative, who was successor to his property, and whose menaces and conduct for some time previous were of an alarming nature, was suspect- ed of the murder and arrested. It was proved that a few minutes before the murder was committed, he was seen very near the fatal spot with a fowlingpiece in his hand. On inspection by the surgeons, it was found that death had been occasioned by two balls, one of which cut the aorta across and the other passed through the ileum. The hole in the ileum was perfectly circu- * Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, art. Persons dead from wounds, by Dr. Beat- ty, vol. 4, p. 561. Another instance is given in the English state trials. Richard Annesley was tried for the murder of Thomas Eglestone, a poacher. The prisoner was in company with the game-keeper, and he asserted that his gun had gone off accidentally, in at- tempting to secure the deceased. It appeared from the evidence of the surgeon, that the direction of the wound was upwards, and consequently the fowlingpiece had not heen levelled from the shoulder. The jury brought in a verdict of chance medley. Paris, vol. 2, p. 126. In a duel fought at Paris in 1827, with pistols, the person killed was much taller than his antagonist, yet the mortal wound was obliquely downwards. Suspicion was excited, and an investigation made by Breschet, Denis and Pressat. The ball was found to have struck the clavicle obliquely, and in consequence of its resistance, to have thus deviated. They added in their report, that they had witnessed many ana- logous cases. (Briand, 2d edition, p. 298.) 88 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. lar, and when accurately measured, was found to be eight lines in diameter. The calibre of the prisoner's fowlingpiece, (the only arms in his possession,) was found to be only six and half lines in diameter. This circumstance at once set the prisoner at liberty. Some time after this, however, an old officer committed sui- cide by means of a cavalry pistol. The ball perforated the pari- etal bone, traversed the brain, &c. The hole where it entered was perfectly circular, and when accurately measured, was found not only greatly to exceed the calibre of the pistol, but in fact, to admit, without much force, the barrel of the pistol itself.* We have recently been favoured with some remarks by Baron Dupuytren on this subject. He observes, that when the gun has been discharged close to the wounded part, the opening by which the ball enters is smaller than that by which it makes its exit, but if at a distance, so that the ball is nearly spent, then the reverse will be observed. The canal made in the former case will be conical. The hole made by a ball in clothes is always smaller than that in the skin.f It is hardly necessary to remind the young surgeon that balls frequently take remarkably circuitous routes.J The following observations of the late Professor Staughton will also throw considerable light on this subject. After stating that Dr. Hennen is the first who noticed that balls will course along concave as well as convex surfaces, as, for instance, be- tween the pleura costalis and the lungs, he proceeds to point out the striking difference between the effects of a musket and a rifle ball. " The motion of a musket ball, independently of its pro- jectile course on its own axis, is at right angles with its direction. Hence when a musket ball strikes the flesh, the hole made is arv i824CO"ChirUrSiCal ReViGW' ^ 5' P' 5°4' fr°m the GaZeUt de Sanie of Janu- vo! 25,nd°29f6diCal Quarterly Review' voL 3' P- 133- Medico-Chirurgical Review, When the fire-arm has been discharged very near to the person injured, the wound often resembles a burn in many respects. It has a red or dark appearance coaVu at ed blood mixed with powder or powder-dust, is observed on the^dges a„d the sk^' around it is filled with particles of unexploded powder. Devergief vol 2 p 88 93 t The most singular instance is that mentioned by Dr Hennpn • «h» v! n . t' the breast and lodged in the scrotum, the man standing erect in the ranks W times the tortuous course of the ball may be traced bv a duskv 1 r* fc.u .k?" is not always present. The inference is obvious,incasesof wounds L^" nounce an injury fatal until we are sure that the ba"l has penetrated ?Dr Vt Thomson, London Medical and Surgical Journal, vol 7 p 325 ) ( PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 89 smaller, to all appearance, than the ball itself. The barrel of the American rifle, on the other hand, is grooved, not in a longitudi- nal direction, as the French and German rifles, but in a spiral manner. The ball is forced down so tightly that as it passes out, it is under the necessity of following the course of the spiral groove. This imparts to it a motion on its own axis, corres- ponding with the direction of its course. Besides, the whole ball follows a spiral direction, forming in its progress a hollow cylin- der, if I may be permitted the expression. Hence the ragged hole, which our hunters know so well, is always much larger than the ball. Hence the rifle ball, at full momentum, does not, like the musket ball, remove a cylinder of muscle and bone, but by its rotary motion, tears the flesh and shatters the bone. Hence, too, unless the ball is nearly spent, it never glances."* Collateral circumstances will also throw some light on cases of this nature. Two have lately happened, the one in England, and the other in France, where the wadding was examined, and discovered to have been torn from paper found in the possession of the murderer.f Again, a man was found shot, and his own pistol lay near him, from which circumstance, (and no person having been seen to enter or leave the house of the deceased,) it was concluded that he had destroyed himself; but on examining the ball by which he had been killed, it was found too large ever to have entered that pistol: in consequence of which discovery, suspicion fell upon the real murderers.J Authors have also men- tioned the discoloration of the fingers from the combustion of the powder in the pan, as a mark of suicide, but a crafty assassin might also have recourse to it.§ Again, it is a common remark, says Orfila, that the presence of two or more mortal wounds in various parts of the body, is a decisive proof of homicide, on the presumption that an indivi- dual having already inflicted one on himself, has not the strength to produce the second. Although correct as a general rule, it * Western Journal of Medical and Physical Sciences, vol. 4, p. 380. t Smith, p. 280. { Ibid, p. 280. § Such of my chemical readers as are curious on the subject, I will refer to the Annates D'Hygiene, vol. 11, p. 458, where an account is given of Mr. Boutigny's experiments to determine the period which may have elapsed after the discharge of a piece of fire-arms. There is a translation of the same, by Mr. Fisher, from the Journal de Chimie Medicale, in the Philadelphia Journal of Pharmacy, vol. 6, p. 207. See also Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 1, p. 501. 8* 90 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. must be taken with exceptions, and particularly so if the first wound be not of a nature to produce instant death. A deter- mined suicide may, in the few moments of existence, repeat the blows on himself. The following instance is given by our author, on the authority of Dr. Vingtrinier of Rouen. Mr. G. was found dead in his chamber, with two pistols, one near his body, and the other on the bed, at the distance of six paces. An inquest proved that the first pistol was fired when he was on the bed ; that it had broken two ribs and wounded the lung. In spite of this se- vere injury, Mr. G. had gone into a neighbouring room, obtained the other pistol, and discharged it through his head. This pro- duced instant death.* In connexion with the subject of fire-arms, we must also recol- lect that death may result from their discharge when loaded with shot, and it would seem that the appearances presented are in some respects different from fire-arms loaded with ball. A recent communication by Professor Lachese, of Ager, has materially added to our knowledge on this point. In one case where an individual was instantly killed at the dis- tance of six inches by a gun which was supposed not to be loaded, there was found an oval wound ten lines by thirteen in the right side of the neck, but on examining it internally, it was ascertained to be much larger, and filled with splinters of bone and fragments of the tissues. There was another small wound just below the scapula. On dissection, the subclavian artery and vein, the carotid and internal jugular, the lower part of the larynx and the upper part of the trachea with portions of some of the vertebras, and the ribs were all seen to be injured, and some grains of shot had traversed the upper portion of the lung. The shot and wadding were found in the back part of the neck, within a space of about five inches in diameter. The extensive injury produced in this, and a similar judicial case, induced Prof. Lachese to perform a number of experiments with guns thus loaded, and also with powder only on the dead body. I will not go into a detail of these, but content myself with a statement of the results deduced by him. Notwithstanding (he observes,) the difference that must exist between the physical properties of the living and the dead tis- * Orfila's Legons, 1st edition, vol. 1, p. 717. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 91 sues, and the variations that might have been induced in these experiments by the quality of the fire-arms employed, and the quantity and quality of the powder and of the projectiles, yet as he employed only the fire-arms that are in common use, as well as the different kinds of shot, powder and wadding, he thinks he is justified in drawing the following conclusions. 1. Whatever some authors may have assumed to the contrary, a discharge from a gun loaded with shot, so near as to make but one hole, does not produce injury of the same kind, as that which results from a ball properly so called, but it causes infinitely more serious and extensive wounds. 2. In order that a discharge of powder shall penetrate into the cavities, and make an external wound like that produced by shot making but one hole, the gun must be of great calibre, be heavily charged, and there must be less than six inches distance between its muzzle and the body wounded. 3. To produce with a gun loaded with shot, a single round aperture, the gun must be fired at ten or twelve inches distance at the most. At from one foot to eighteen inches, the aperture will have its edges torn by a greater or less number of shot, and some of them will pass inwardly—while at three feet, there will be no central wound, and from that to still greater distances, the shot will scatter over a larger space, in proportion to the distance, the goodness of the fire-arm, and the smallness of the charge. 4. If, instead of being discharged on the naked body, as until now, we have supposed, the firing takes place on a body covered with clothing, the same effects may take place, but not at the same distances. In proportion to the thickness and consistency of the dress, the distance must be diminished.* * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 15, p. 389. Dunglison's American Med. Intelligencer, vol. 1, p. 111. In the chapter on Wounds on the living body, some additional re- marks on injuries by fire-arms will be found. I will here only add a case related by Dr. Graff, of a young man aged fifteen, who received a discharge of small shot' in the thorax and abdomen, at the distance of about forty-eight paces. He fell, but soon afterwards got up and ran for about six hundred paces, when he again fell, exhausted. Several wounds were discovered, from one of which, between the first and second ribs, florid blood issued. He died in 38 hours. On dissection, the sixth intercostal artery was found torn through, a large quantity of extravasated blood was seen and an opening was traced from the external wound into the substance of the right lung, but no foreign body could be discovered, nor was there any commu- nication by which it could have passed out. I forbear to state the differences of opinion that arose among the medical inspectors, as the case was referred to the Medical College of the Grand Duchy of Hesse—who showed conclusively, from the 92 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. The narrative of a few cases will form a proper commentary on the above remarks. I commence with one that was undoubt- edly accidental. On the 8th of February, 1792, S. D. aged about thirty years. and of a robust constitution, became intoxicated at an inn near Morges in Switzerland, and in a room heated very warm by a German stove. At eleven o'clock at night, he left this place quite drunk, in order to return home, which was at the distance of half a league. The weather was cold, and the ground covered with snow. The next morning this man was found dead at the side of a ditch, within a small distance from his dwelling. A report soon circulated that he had been assassinated, and a medical man who saw the body, asserted the certainty of it. The supposed murderer was already pointed out, when Dr. Desgranges, who then resided at Morges, was ordered to inspect the body. No traces of injury were found, nor indeed any contusions, until in turning the head from the left to the right side, an oblique wound, about three quarters of an inch externally, was discover- ed, situated below the under jaw, and nearly at the top of the larynx. On introducing the little finger into this aperture, its size internally was found greater than its external appearance in- dicated. Its depth was about one inch, and extended to the oeso- phagus and top of the trachea. The clothes of the deceased were stained with blood, as was also the snow on which he lay. As the wound which presented itself did not resemble any in- flicted by ordinary instruments, Dr. Desgranges was led to the opinion, that the injury was caused by a kind of auger, which the deceased had taken with him from the tavern, and which he had held under his arm, with the handle backwards. This was found lying at the side of the man, covered with clotted blood The truth of the conjecture was confirmed by opening the wound and putting the auger into it, when it was found to apply com- pletely. On further dissection, it was ascertained that the left previous good health of the deceased, and the absence of all mmwj u there could have been no aneurismal enlargement or absces, „f\h S cha"8es< that that the shot had passed from above downward,andha .££ ,nte"°*tal artery- it had not inflicted the wound, as the Tfkction „ n? ** WaS,?° Proof that Each of these objections had been Ur»e£ Iff f " Wdl .unde'8tood- .erring of noticed the smallness *&*J^^n^ SZT"?"1' '*■ SLKSfif,"-1 (British ^^^^^^tt^^Z PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 93 carotid had been wounded, and that hence the immediate cause of death had been the haemorrhage from it. These facts seemed to decide the question as to its being an accident, and it was also supposed, that in endeavouring to remove the auger on which he had fallen, he had moved it round, and thus made the internal wound larger than the external.* In 1813, some excitement was caused in England on account of the sudden death of Sellis, a servant of the Duke of Cumber- land, and the simultaneous injury received by his Royal High- ness. Sir Everard Home published a declaration on this subject, which seems to indicate that Sellis committed suicide, after attempting the life of the Duke. " I visited the Duke," says Sir Everard, " upon his being wounded, and found my way from the great hall to his apartment, by the traces of blood which were left on the passages and staircase. I found him on the bed still bleeding—his shirt deluged with blood, and the coloured drapery above the pillows sprinkled with blood from a wounded artery, which puts on an appearance that cannot be mistaken by those who have seen it. This could not have happened, had not /the head been laying on the pillow when it was wounded. The night ribbon, which was wadded, the cap, scalp and skull, were ob- liquely divided, so that the pulsations of the arteries of the brain could be distinguished. While dressing these wounds, a report came that Sellis was dead. I went to his apartment—found the body laying on its side on the bed, without his coat and neckcloth —the throat cut so effectually, that he could not have survived a minute or two. The length and direction of the wound was such as left no doubt of its being given by his own hand; any struggle would have made it irregular. He had not even changed his posi- tion—his hands lay as they do in a person who has fainted—they had no marks of violence upon them—his coat hung upon a chair, out of the reach of blood from the bed—the sleeve, from the wrist to the shoulder, was sprinkled with blood quite dry, evidently from a wounded artery, and from such kind of sprinkling, the arm of the assassin of the Duke of Cumberland could not escape."f * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 190. The case was communicated by Dr. Desgranges. Renard (p. 109,) remarks that the lungs of those who die from wounds, are seldom found gorged. t Edinburgh Annual Register, vol. 6, part 2d, p. 19. Smith, p. 284. Paris, vol. 3, p. 33. London Atlas Newspaper of June 24, 1832. Taylor's Med. Jurisprudence^. 352. It may be proper to add that medical jurists are very far from admitting the correctness of Sir Everard Home's deduction. 94 PKKSONS FOUND DEAD. Arthur, Earl of Essex, was committed to the Tower on the 10th of July, 1683. This was during the reign of Charles 2d, and at the time when his brother James, Duke of York, was sup- posed to have great influence in the government. On the 13th, (the same day that Lord William Russel was tried and capitally condemned,) the Earl was found dead in his chamber, with his throat cut. A coroner's jury was summoned, but before they were empannelled, the Earl's body was taken out of the closet where it lay, and stript of its clothes. These were carried away and the closet washed. And when one of the jury insisted upon seeing his clothes, the coroner was sent for into another room, and upon his return, told the jury it teas my lord's body, and not his clothes, they were to sit upon. Before the jury, two surgeons, Sherwood and Andrews, deposed as to the wound. Sherwood stated, that the aspera arteria (the trachea) and the gullet, with the jugular arteries, were all divided. Andrews said, that the throat was cut from one jugular to the other, and through the windpipe and gullet into the vertebras of the neck, both jugular veins being divided. The verdict of the coroner's jury was in the following words:—That with a razor, " the Earl of Essex gave himself one mortal wound, cut from one jugular to the other, and by the aspera arteria and the windpipe to the vertebres of the neck, both the jugulars being thoroughly divided: and of this he died." One Laurence Braddon shortly after, formed the opinion that the Earl of Essex had been murdered, and (as he afterwards stated,) conceived it to have been accomplished by individuals who were allowed to pass by the earl's keepers. These mur- derers, he supposed were set on by the Duke of York, afterward James the II. He was tried for a misdemeanor in suborning wit- nesses to prove this, and was found guilty and fined £2,000. After the revolution, in 1690, he published a pamphlet entitled " The Earl of Essex's innocency and honour vindicated," which contains some additional particulars. The closet was about three feet two inches wide, and there was no blood higher than the floor. The instrument itself was a French razor four and a quarter inches in its blade, and no spill or tongue at the end. Hence it must have been held by the blade, and it would seem difficult to inflict so large a wound with it. A surgeon is stated to have suggested to the coroner's jury, that PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 95 the notches in the razor were made by my lord against his neck bone. Lord Essex was right-handed, and the razor lay on the left side. Two witnesses swore that the neck of his cravat was cut in three pieces, and there were five cuts on his right hand. Bishop Burnet is of opinion, that the earl committed suicide. He observes, that " when the body was brought home to his own house, and the wound was examined by his own surgeon, he said to me, it was impossible that the wound could be as it was, if given by any hand but his own. For except he had cast his head back and stretched up his neck all he could, the aspera arte- ria must have been cut.'' Both the jugulars and gullet, he adds. were cut just above the aspera arteria. The reader will notice the discrepancy between this account and the statement given under oath by the surgeons before the coroner's jury. This subject was also agitated for some time before a com- mittee of the House of Lords, and several physicians and surgeons who were examined by them, declared " that they would not positively say that it was impossible for my lord to cut his throat through each jugular vein, the aspera arteria and gullet, to the very neck bone, and even behind each jugular vein on each side of the neck, (as some judicious surgeons who had viewed the throat had reported it to be cut,) but this they would be very positive in, that they never saw any man's throat so cut which was cut by himself. And they did then further declare, that they did believe, that when any man had cut through one of his jugu- lar veins and the gullet and windpipe, and to the very neck bone, nature would thereby be so much weakened by the great effusion of blood and animal spirit, that the felo de se would not have strength sufficient to cut through and behind the other jugular, as my lord's throat, by surgeons who saw it, was said to be cut." No report was, however, made by this committee. Lord De- lamere resolved to draw it up himself, but before he had com- pleted it, parliament was prorogued, and afterwards dissolved, and consequently all further proceedings were stopped. Modern historians have generally concurred with Bishop Bur- net, in deeming this a case of suicide. They dwell much on the earl being subject to fits of deep melancholy, and being accus- tomed to maintain the lawfulness of suicide. Such is Mr. Hume's opinion, while Mr. Hallam, (in his Constitutional History,) founds 96 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. his belief on his unwillingness to think that Charles and James would have caused so detestable a murder to be committed on one towards whom they had never shown any hostility, and in whose death they could have no interest. And yet in subsequent pages of his work he informs us, that James (for Charles was never accused of any agency, direct or indirect, in the transac- tion,) approved of Jeffries' cruelties, and that he assisted at the tortures in Scotland.* No one at all acquainted with this subject, will deny its intri- cacy. Chaussier, in commenting on the question whether the wounds are caused by suicide or homicide, quotes two cases from Ambrose Pare. One was of an Englishman, who was robbed and wounded with a dagger, and left for dead at Vin- cennes. He was found in his shirt, with the trachea and oeso- phagus completely divided. Pare brought the trachea together, and dressed the parts so that the patient could articulate. He named his murderers, who were taken and executed, and died some three days after. In another case, a maniac inflicted a precisely similar wound on himself in the night, besides stabbing himself in various places. He was found thus in the morning, and his servant was arrested on suspicion. He also was so far recovered as to be able to con- fess that he had done it himself. Now here were two cases of wounds precisely alike; yet one was suicidal, and the other not. The collateral circumstances hence became very important; the one in a public, exposed place ; the other in his bed, with his night clothes uninjured, and in a disturbed state of mind.f * The authorities from which I have drawn the above narrative, are, The Trial of L. Braddon, in Hargrave's State Trials, vol. 3, p. 855. The Earl of Essex's innocency and honour vindicated, by L. Braddon, ibid. vol. 3, p. 899 to 934. The Republic of Letters for August, 1735. uSome passages sent by a person of honour to the author of the Republic," &c. Burnet, vol. 2, p. 212 and 234; and Smith, p. 282 and 283. There is also another pamphlet by Eraddon, (published in 1725,) reprinted in Howell's State Trials, vol. 9, p. 1229. v Hallam's Constitutional History of England, American edition, vol. 2 n. 617; vol. 3, p. 92, 435. ' v Braddon in his last pamphlet says: "Queen Anne, upon her first coming to the throne, struck me out of the civil list, because, as her majesty then said, I had thrown blood in her father's face." But if innocent, why was not the parliamentary investi- gation completed. t Chaussie-, p. 473. Two cases of suicide from cutting the throat with a razor, are S.lve.n 'n }*}* Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 4, p. 408, 414. In the first, related by Marc, the individal passed from his bed-room to the window of another adjoining, and there PERSONS FOUND DEAD. U7 On the 30th of March, 1826, between 6 and 7, P. M., a female was found dead in her cellar, with the throat cut. This must have occurred very recently, as she had been seen at 5 o'clock in the kitchen with her husband. The cellar was dark, deep and difficult of access, and it communicated with a small interior one. The body was found lying on its back, the head resting on the wall, and the feet directly at the entrance of the smallest cellar- The left hand was bloody up to the wrist. It lay on the left breast and near the hand apparently as if just slid from it was a razor, bloody and open at right angles. The right hand lay on the ground, and near it was another razor also open and bloody, but the hand itself was only spotted with blood. The clothes in front from the neck downwards were very bloody. The soles of the shoes were also stained with blood, but the upper parts had few or no stains of it. In the small cellar, in front of the feet of the deceased, and about four feet from her, were her neck and pocket handkerchiefs, both bloody and near them, the ground was soaked with blood to the extent of about two square feet. In quantity it was esti- mated at about a pound. In the same cellar, on the left side ot the wall, at the height of three feet, four inches, were many spots of blood, apparently the sprinkling from a wounded artery. Spots of blood were also seen on the wall, near the opening of the small cellar, at the height of two and a half feet. committed the act. There was no suspicious circumstance present; the wound was from left to right; but an aged physician, called in immediately after, had, in his agitation, stepped into the blood, and thus made footsteps to and from the bed of the deceased. This, with those who afterwards came, and were ignorant of the cause, produced suspicion. , In the other instance, by Devergie, the individual inflicted no less than three wounds before he could destroy himself, and they were two inches in depth, three inches and three lines in breadth, and exactly one foot in circumference. The nar- rative is accompanied with a plate, and our author justly observes, that were not the circumstances known, its infliction might with great probability have been ascribed to violence. The following case also, which has been communicated to me by my nephew,. Dr. Charles Sewell of Montreal, as occurring not long since in Lower Canada, might well lead us to doubt, had not the general testimony been perfectly satisfactory as to its being one of suicide. A gentleman aged 67, not suspected of insanity, in a lu- crative employment, but suffering under domestic trouble, dismissed his carriage and servant at a short distance from his country residence. He put off his coat and vest, laid them on the turf, and on them, his hat containing his neckcloth and gloves. He made six slight gashes on the left side of his throat, and then appears to have gone on his knees, and bound the razor firmly to his hand with a handkerchief. There were two large gashes ©n each side of his throat. He must probably have died instantly. The trunk had fallen forwards, as the head was in the mud, but he was on his knees, when found, and both hands were applied to the throat, one of them cut by the razor, which was still lashed. VOL. II. 9 98 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. No part of the dress was disordered, nor were there any marks of violence on the body, beyond the wounds of the neck. On removing the corpse for further examination, but little blood was found under the neck. There were two wounds of the throat, one in front, below the lower part of the larynx and in extent four inches. The thyroid gland was completely divided, and there were several cuts into it. The cricoid cartilage was cut, and there were marks of several gashes into the trachea; one at its upper part, an inch long, and another transversely just below, which completely di- vided the trachea and opened the right carotid at its internal side. The lower part of the trachea was retracted about an inch. The second wound was only through the skin, a little to the left, and below the first. On further dissection, the lungs were seen filled with black blood, and the trachea and bronchia? obstructed by blood partly coagulated. The left side of the heart was completely empty. Dr. Reme, the examiner in the first instance, inclined to the opinion of suicide, and supposed that she had inflicted the mortal wounds while on her knees or sitting, and that afterwards raising herself and taking a step or two, the blood from the artery had sprinkled the wall, while a portion of it, at the same time, passing into the trachea produced suffocation, and she fell back dead in the situation where she was found. Such was also the opinion of two other medical men, who were required to examine the disinterred body eight days afterwards. They supposed that dif- ferent razors had been used for inflicting the two wounds, and that the repeated cuts in the trachea were the result of a want of re- solution. Notwithstanding these opinions, there were still circumstances sufficient to warrant a suspicion against the husband, and the Court of Assizes at Rheims required a report on the above fact? from Messrs. Boyer, Antoine, Dubois, and Adelon of Paris. Agreeing with the previous examiners as to the cause and mode (asphyxia and haemorrhage) of death, they differ decidedly from them as to the person inflicting the injury, and declare that in their opinion, it is most probable, that the wounds were the effects of homicide. The grounds of this opinion are deduced from the position of the body, the position of the razors, the num- PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 99 ber of the wounds of the neck and their direction, depth and situ- ation. The mortal wound, they assert, was given in the interior cel- lar. There was the great mass of blood, and there the blood from the artery sprinkled the wall. Now this wound was of such a nature, that syncope must follow, where it was inflicted, and instead of falling backwards, if on her knees or sitting, she would fall forwards. Yet the body is found out of the small cellar, six feet from the pool of blood and lying on its back. But it is urged that she must have walked some steps, because blood is found on the soles of her shoes. No marks, however, of these steps were observed. Again, on the supposition of syncope following suicide, and then falling backwards, certainly some marks of contusion of the head should have been present, but these were wanting, while the outstretched position is very different from the demi-flexed state usually observed in those dead from syncope. Situation of the razors. For similar reasons, the razors should have been found near the pool of blood. They fall immediately from the hands of a person inflicting a mortal wound on himself. That Dame C. should retain both these razors in her hands, and not drop at least one near the mass of blood, seems almost an impossibility. Suicides also, and in particular, female ones, would hardly employ these instruments with the blade at right angles, but rather throw it out to its full extent. As to the plu- rality of wounds, they remark, that generally, although not in- variably, a single wound only is inflicted in cases of suicide. while here were repeated cuts into the cricoid cartilage and thy- roid gland, and hackings of the trachea. It seems improbable that this female could have inflicted all these on herself.* The situation of the wounds, also contradicts the probability of suicide. Self-murderers usually make the incision immediately under the chin, but in this case, it was at the lower part of the larynx. Even if we attach no importance to this, the direction at least is extraordinary. It is not transverse, nor a little ob- lique, each of which are common, but it is so obliquely perpen- * Leuret in a note observes that suicides frequently infliot repeated wounds on themselves. In one instance, he knew seven wounds to be given with a knife, and in another, several deep gashes were made in order to open the jugular, yet after all these, the individual walked rapidly to his chamber, and there completed the self- destruction. 100 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. dicular, that the eight first rings of the trachea are not only di- vided, but their anterior portion is separated from the posterior. Now the eighth ring of the trachea is concealed behind the sternum, and it is difficult to conceive how a suicide could cause the razor to penetrate thus deep, and particularly as Mrs. C. is supposed to have made this with her right hand. On moving it, the right clavicle would of course be raised and render approach still more difficult. Many of the divided parts are also hard or cartilaginous and need considerable force to divide them. Lastly it is remarkable that the right hand, used in inflicting the mortal wound should have received so little blood in comparison with the left. Such was the argument on which the reporters grounded their opinion of the probability of murder rather than suicide being the cause of Mrs. C.'s death. The result of the case is not given. Adelon, in a subsequent review of the facts, and which accom- panies the narrative, inclines still to his original opinion, although with a diffidence becoming its uncertainty, and he candidly re- marks, that a satisfactory solution is among the most difficult problems in medical jurisprudence. He concedes that a satisfac- tory answer has been given to one objection. The carotid artery was opened inwardly, and necessarily the jet of blood from it would cover the left hand much more than the right. I have been thus particular in presenting the details of this interesting case, as it furnishes a model for similar investigations, and indicates many points of inquiry which might otherwise escape the attention of the medical witness.* I proceed now to give some cases of undoubted homicide, and the first that I shall relate, is taken from the notes of Sir John Maynard, an eminent English lawyer, and is stated by him to have occurred in the fourth year of Charles I. It happened in Hertfordshire. Jane Norkott was found dead in her bed—her throat cut, and the knife sticking in the floor. Two females and a man slept in the adjoining room, and they deposed, that the night before, she went to bed with her child, her husband being absent, and that no person after that came into the house. The coroner's jurv gave a verdict" of felo de se. But a suspicion being excited against these individuals, the jury, whose verdict was not yet * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 15, p. 394 to 435. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 101 drawn up in form, desired that she might be taken up; and ac- cordingly, thirty days after her death, she was taken up, and the jury charged them with the murder. They were tried at the Hertford assizes, and acquitted, but so much against evidence, that Judge Harvey let fall his opinion, that it were better an appeal were brought, than so foul a murder should escape unpu- nished ; and accordingly, an appeal was brought by the child against his father, grandmother, aunt, ard her husband Okeman. The evidence adduced was, " that she lay in a composed manner in her bed; the bed-clothes not at all disturbed, and her child by her in bed. Her throat was cut from ear to ear, and her neck broken. There was no blood in the bed, saving a tincture of blood on the bolster whereon her head lay, but no substance of blood at all. From the bed's head, there was a stream of blood on the floor, which ran along until it ponded in the bend- ings of the floor. It was a very great quantity, and there was also another stream of blood on the floor at the bed's foot, which ponded also on the floor to a very great quantity, but no contin- uance or communication of blood of either of these two places from one to the other, neither upon the bed—so that she bled in two several places; and it was deposed, that on turning up the mat of the bed, there were clots of congealed blood in the straw of the mat underneath. The bloody knife was found in the morn- ing sticking in the floor, a good distance from the bed; but the point of the knife, as it stuck, was towards the bed, and the haft from the bed. Lastly, there was the print of a thumb and four fingers of a left hand. " Sir Nicholas Hyde, chief justice. How can you know the print of a right hand from that of the left, in such a case? Witness. My lord, it is hard to describe; but if it please the honourable judge to put his left hand upon your left hand, you cannot possibly place your right hand in the same posture; which being done, and appearing so, the defendants had time to make their defence, but gave no evidence to any purpose." The jury brought in all guilty except Okeman, and they were executed, but made no confession.* * Hargrave's State Trials, vol. 10, appendix No. 2, P< 29, The above, however, are not the only remarkable circumstances in this case. " Because the evidence," says Sir John Maynard, "#was so strange, I took exact and particular notice, and it was as follows : An ancient and grave person, minister to the parish where the fact was committed, being sworn to give evidence, according to custom, deposed, ' That 9* 102 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. Whether these were the guilty persons or not, it is certainly proved most incontestably that the female was murdered. In several cases of late years, medical witnesses have been the body being taken up out of the grave, thirty days after the party's death, and lying on the grass; and the four defendants being present, were required each of them to touch the dead body. Okeman's wife fell upon her knees and prayed God to show tokens ofher innocency. The appellant did touch the dead body, whereupon the brow of the dead, which before was of a livid and carrion colour, (in termmis, the verbal expression of the witness,) began to have a dew or gentle sweat arise on it, which increased by degrees, till the sweat ran down in drops on the face; the brow turned to a lively and fresh colour; and the deceased opened one of her eyes, and shut it again, and this opening the eye was done three several times. She likewise thrust out the ring or marriage finger three times, and pulled it in again, and the finger dropped blood from it on the grass.' Sir Nicholas Hyde, chief justice, seeming to doubt the evidence, asked the witness, Who saw this besides you? Witness. I cannot swear what others saw; but, my lord, (said he,) I do believe the whole com- pany saw it, and if it had been thought a doubt, proof would have been made of it, and many would have attested with me. Then the witness, observing some admi- ration in the auditors, spake further,' My lord, I am minister of the parish, and have long known all the parties, but never had occasion of displeasure against any of them, nor had to do with them, or they with me ; but as I was minister, the thing was wonderful to me: but I have no interest in the matter, but as called upon to testify to the truth, and this I have done.' [This witness was a very reverend person, ;is I guessed, of about seventy years of age. His testimony was delivered gravely and temperately, to the great admiration of the auditory.] Whereupon, applying himself to the chief justice, he said, 'My lord, my brother here present, is minister of the next parish adjacent, and I am sure saw all done that I have affirmed.' Therefore that person was also sworn to give evidence, and did depose in every point—' the sweating of the brow—the change of the colour—thrice opening the eye—the thrice motion of the finger, and drawing it in again.' Only the first witness added, that he himself dipped his finger in the blood which came from the dead body, to examine it, and he swore he believed it was blood. I conferred after- wards with Sir Edward Powell, barrister at law, and others, who all concurred in . the observation; and for myself, if I were upon oath, can depose that these deposi- tions (especially the first witness) are truly reported in substance." (Ibid. p. 29.) In the trial of Standsfield for the murder of his father, a similar charge was brought. It is stated, that when the son was assisting in lifting the body of his father into the coffin, it bled afresh, and defiled all his hand. The opposite lawyers observe, that " this is but a superstitious observation, without any ground either in law or reason. Carpzovious says he has seen a body bleed in the presence of one not guilty, and not bleed when the guilty were present." They assign, as a cause of the bleeding, that the surgeons had made an incision about the neck, and the motion of the body in removing it, caused the fresh hemorrhage from that part. (Hargrave, vol. 4, p. 283.) The bleeding of a dead body was noticed, even by the New England pilgrims. Thatcher's Indian Biography, vol. 1, p. 158. On this subject, see Metzger, p. 328, and Valentini Novella?. Appendix 3. De stillicidio sanguinis in hominis violenter occisi, cadavere conspicui, an sit svfficiens pr&sentis homicida indicium. Within a few years, however, a great mass of learned and curious information, has been collected by Mr. Pitcairn, in his " Crimi- nal Trials in Scotland, from 1488 to 1624." The trial which led him to this inves- tigation, was the remarkable one of the Mures of Auchindrayn in 1611 for murder, in which occurred "the ancient and almost universal superstition, that the body of a murdered person bleeds at the approach, or at least at the touch of the murderer" Mr. Pitcairn, (vol. 3, p. 124) in his notes, gives many interesting illustrations of the origin of this mode of ordeal, as well as cases in which it is stated to have been em- ployed. In the Fair Maid of Perth, by Sir Waller Scott, the reader will also find a descrip- tion ot the ceremonial that accompanied the touching, and which was admirably calculated to excite the fears of the criminal, if actually present PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 103 successful in detecting, not only murder, but also its manner, by an examination of the dead body, even when in a state of putre- faction or decay. I have already noticed some of these in a previous section, and will now refer to a few others. A man named Beaugouin was murdered, cut in two, and his remains thrown into the Loire. The upper part was found at some distance and interred. On being taken up, fifteen days after, Dr. Ouvrad found that the cartilages between the third and fourth lumbar vertebrae had been cut. The lower portion exhi- bited several wounds of the abdomen. Dr. Ouvrad came to the conclusion, that either an anatomist, or a person conversant in such disarticulations, had committed the act. There was, how- ever, no doubt of this being murder, and he therefore supposed that a butcher was the criminal. Such proved to be the fact. Within a short time, the murderer was taken and executed.* In 1814, an individual named Augustus Dautun was mur- dered in Paris. His body, cut into four or five parts, was found at various places in the Seine, the head had contusions on it, and there were wounds in the chest. The various portions were carried to the Morgue, and a model in plaster was taken of the bust. Through these means the body was finally recognised. Dupuytren was the principal examiner, and his reports are well characterized by Marc as models. The most striking circum- stances by which the identity of the body was ascertained, were the existence of a wart on the upper lip, and an examination of the bones of the thigh, by which he proved that the individual had been lame. " He must in his infancy have had disease of the two articulations of the thigh, with the pelvis. This disease, though of old standing and cured, must have left a remarkable deformity about the lower part of the trunk, and the individual in walking, must have probably been lame—or certainly there was an unpleasant balancing of the body on the lower limbs." All these circumstances had actually been present.f The wound in the chest was found to have penetrated to the heart; it was larger within than at the surface, and indeed a second wound was discovered in the aorta, two inches higher * Orfila's Exhumations, vol. 2, p. 336. Several additional cases are related, where Iraclures were found on the dead body. t He further completed the proof of lameness by examining the palm of the hand. This was found hardened, as if from the constant use of a crutch. Devergie, vol. 2, p. 930. 104 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. than the other. From these circumstances, they supposed that a second blow had been given with the dagger before withdraw- ing it, and merely by altering its direction. A brother, Charles Dautun, was ascertained to be the mur- derer. He implicated Girouard, a companion in debauchery, as an accomplice, but this was denied, and Girouard escaped appa- rently from the want of decisive testimony. Dautun was found guilty and executed. On the trial, Dupuytren was asked if any marks on the dead body could indicate whether the murdered person had been attacked by one or more persons. He replied by begging the court not to give to his conjectures more weight than they de- served. All he could say was merely probabilities, but it appear- ed to him, that a plurality of persons had been engaged in the murder, and for the following reasons. When a man is struck, his first act is to present his hands as a defence against the blow. Now in this case there was not the slightest mark of injury on them. The same person that inflicted all these wounds could not at the same time have held them. Again, the wounds on the head must have preceded those on the chest. These were mor- tal, the thorax containing four pounds of blood. While the hands were held, might not the head have been interposed to prevent the wounds in the chest ?* In a case of homicide by cutting the throat, the facts adduced to prove it were, the inability to find a cutting instrument near the body, the number of cuts on and about the neck, some verv deep, and some along the chin. The posterior part of the head was also wounded. And even admitting that the deceased him- self could inflict all these wounds, it involyed the absurdity of his being obliged to shift hands—some could alone be made by * Causes Cclebres du XIX. Siecle, vol. 1, p. 400. Annales D'Hygiene vol I p 464. London Med. Gazette, vol. 19, p. 213. Zerah Colburn, in the memoirs of 'his life, states that he was in Paris, and saw Dautun led to execution. He mentions the mode of his detection, which I do not find in either of the above reports " In the teeth of the dead body, tightly compressed, was a piece of human flesh, appa- rently torn out in the dying struggle. After some time, Dautun was gambling; at the Palais Royal, and becoming angry, threw a glass at the waiter. It was shivered into pieces, and a fragment was carried into Dautun's wrist, under the cuff of his coat. The spectator* wished to examine the injury, but he obstinately refused. At last, suspecting something mysterious, they pushed up the sleeve by fbree.and there beheld a scar recently healed, as if made by the tearing out of flesh. The landlord had been at the Morgue and seen the plaster model. He therefore delivered him to the legal authorities as probably the murderer. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 105 the right and the others by the left hand. From the presence of wounds of the hand, it is probable that there was some struggle.* The remains of an individual named Ramus were, in 1832, found either in the Seine or in drains. They were collected as usual at the Morgue, and examined. It was ascertained that the body had been cut into four parts. Beyond this, however, it did not bear any marks of severe injury. A few superficial wounds only appeared on the face and eyelid. The skin and mus- cles were much retracted at the various sections, and particu- larly at the top of the thigh ; the blood-vessels were completely empty; the heart was collapsed, and so light in colour that it seemed to have been washed. The lungs were empty, except of a little serosity and air. Now, from the absence of wounds, it was evident that Ramus had not been in a condition to offer much resistance; and accord- ingly, on proceeding to analyze the contents of the stomach, the presence of prussic acid was unequivocally established. I shall hereafter detail the experiments. It was, therefore, a probable supposition, that while labouring under its effects, the head had been cut off. That this was done during life, seemed evident from the bloodless state of the vessels. The division of the other parts must have been made at the same time, or imme- diately after death.f The particulars of what is commonly styled in England, the Edgeware Road murder, also deserves a place here. Early in January, 1837, the headless and legless trunk of a female was found in the Edgeware Road, London. The head had been severed above the sternum, and the fifth cervical vertebra was sawn through, leaving only about the tenth of an inch of that bone. The legs were cut off immediately under the hip joint. There were no marks of violence on the body, except a super- ficial cut on the right side of the abdomen, two inches above the groin, and about an inch and a half in length. There were no marks present of medical treatment—she had not been bled or blistered recently. On opening the body, the viscera were found completely emptied of their blood, there was no congestion in the lungs— * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 8, p. 371. t Ibid, vol. 9, p. 338. Lancet, N. S. vol. 12, p. 243. Subsequently, M. Lelut has noticed the same retraction of the skin, muscles, arteries, and nerves in persons beheaded by the guillotine. Devergie, voh 2, p. 184. 106 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. no coagula in the heart-no blood flowed, nor were there any bleeding spots in the liver or spleen when cut into. All these organs were healthy. The stomach was about a third part filled with fluid and half digested matter. Chyme was observed in the lower bowels, and the lacteals were filled with chyle. Dr. Hun- ter Lane examined the contents of the stomach and intestines, but could find nothing deleterious in them. From the above circumstances, Mr. Gird wood, the medical examiner, inferred that the age of this person was between thirty and forty, and her height, (judging from the measurement of the spine,) probably five feet eight inches. From the bloodless state of the body, he supposed that mutilation must have taken place shortly after death, and further, that her death must have been sudden, and in all probability not preceded by disease. Even if it had been apoplexy, still the throat must have been cut very soon after death, in order to account for the bloodless state of the viscera. Shortly after this the head was found in the canal, near Mile End, seven miles from the former place. It corresponded with the body. The face was very much bruised and wounded. The left under jaw was fractured, and the right coronoid process was also broken. Around the right eye was a broad ecchymosis, ex- tending downward as far as the end of the nose. The cheek under the eye was puffy, and the eye itself was wounded and ruptured, and all the humours had escaped. There were several wounds on the cheeks, mouth, right eye and scalp, which had no ecchymosis around them. The brain was healthy, but empty of blood. Lastly, after an interval of some weeks, the legs were found in a parcel at Camberwell, also seven miles distant from each of the above places, (so that the murderer must have traversed twenty-one miles.) They were readily identified as belonging to the same person, and presented only slight indications of commencing decomposition. There was scarcely any discolor- ation, but there was a gash under the right knee, not ecchymosed. These repeated examinations and the publicity given to them finally led to the discovery of the murderer, and the name of his victim. She proved to be a Mrs. Brown, who was shortly to have been married to her destroyer, Greenacre. What had been asserted from a review of all the facts noticed, proved to PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 107 be correct by his confession. She came to see him, and they quarrelled, he struck her with a rolling-pin and she fell down either dead or insensible, in about an hour afterwards, he dis- membered the body and removed its parts to the different places where they were found. The medical testimony of Mr. Girdwood and Mr. Bartwhistle in this case is highly creditable to them, and the opinions they advanced, particularly as to the wounds inflicted during life and after death, evince accurate discrimination. It is almost need- less to add that the murderer met his deserved doom.* I will only add a case of murder by fire-arms. C. D. residing in the same house with his sister-in-law, sud- denly disappeared. After a course of judicial researches, his body was found buried in a cemetery, wrapped in ten folds of linen, and with his clothes on, covered with blood. In his left side were two round holes, distant about five inches from each other. The medical examiners reported that one of these pene- trated from side to side, so as to take off a part of the right breast, and on pursuing the dissection, the ball was found to have entered at the last true rib of the left side, to have passed the stomach, of which it wounded the upper part, and to have pierced the duodenum with a wound five inches long, and finally to have passed out at the first false rib of the left side. Corre- sponding holes were found in the clothes and shirt, and they there- fore gave it as their opinion, that these wounds had been inflicted by fire-arms, and were the cause of death. On this, the sister- in-law of the deceased was arrested, as the clandestine burial, together with the wrapping up of the body, led to doubts, con- cerning her innocence. Mr. Pelletan, and another surgeon, whose name is not men- tioned, were consulted on the case. They agreed, that no doubt could exist as to the cause of the death being a wound from a fusee ; but they at the same time affirmed, that the deceased might have inflicted it, either voluntarily or involuntarily on himself, and that another person could not have done it without being in * London Med. Gazette, vol. 19, p. 551, 584, 587, 748; vol. 20, p. 128, 137. Lon- don Atlas, Newspaper of April 16, 1837. It is also worthy of mention that in this murdered female, the external organs of generation were not larger than those ot a child nine or ten years old, there was no hair on the pubis, the labia were preter- naturally small, the vagina not more than two inches long, while the uterus was wanting, and in its place, was found a small triangular cartilaginous membrane, without any cavity. 108 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. an ambuscade, with his knee-on the ground, and the deceased walking. From these circumstances, they were of opinion that the sister-in-law was not the murderer, if murder had been com- mitted. On this decision, we may remark with Fodere, that it seems difficult that a wound inflicted in this manner, and nearly in a horizontal line, could have been caused by suicide; while again, the sister-in-law, though not the actual murderer, might, not- withstanding, have been an accessary. She was, however, ac- quitted.* In connexion with this subject of this section, it is sometimes of great importance to ascertain whether spots found on offensive weapons, clothing, or articles of furniture are those of blood. Modern chemistry has attempted to solve the problem. The earliest experimenter was, I believe, Lassaigne. He ob- served that ordinary rust could be distinguished from that pro- duced by blood on iron or steel instruments, by dissolving the latter in distilled water. The salts and a portion of the colouring matter are taken up, while the rust is precipitated. Heat or the acids coagulates the solution, and by evaporating and calcining in a platina spoon, chloride of sodium, subcarbonate of soda, and phosphate of lime are obtained.f Chevallier recommended the use of muriatic and sulphuric * Pelletan, vol. 1, p. 306. Fodere, vol. 3, p. 199. The following incidents occurred at Bordeaux in July, 1835. An individual aged more than sixty, of good property, cheerful temperament, and with scarcely any causes of chagrin, dined with his only son, and with whom he was on excellent terms. They were both free drinkers of wine, and after dinner the son threw him- self on his bed, which was adjoining that of his father, and slept. He was awaked by the discharge of a pistol. The father was found to have blown away his face, and part of his skull. He was sitting in an arm-chair, the left elbow on it, and in the right hand, was held a discharged pistol, which rested on the inside of the right thigh, in such a manner that the slightest motion would cause it to fall to the ground. There was a large quantity of blood in the arm chair and on the floor. A suspicion of parricide was soon engendered. The son might be desirous of en- joying his father's property, but in particular, the position of the pistol was deemed ambiguous. Ought it not by its own specific gravity alone, to have fallen to the ground, after the infliction of the death wound, and was it not possible, that if mur- der had been committed, it had been placed in its present place ? The medical examiners rebutted this idea by stating that contraction of the fingers often remained for a time after death, particularly, when, as in this instance, the weapon must have been firmly held. Having thus disposed of the most important circumstance, they concluded from the absence of any marks of violence, the rela- tive condition of the parties, and the temporary insanity often induced by intoxica- tion, particularly in summer, that this was a case of suicide. Annales D'Hvffiene vol. 15, p. 467. s t Anderson's Journal, vol. 2, p. 466, from Revue Medical. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 109 acids, and potash, as reagents. By the two former, iron rust Is: altogether dissolved; but they only partially dissolve the other. The insoluble parts give all the products of animal substances. Potash dissolves both, but the liquid of the iron rust is colourless, while the other is brown.* Orfila, with his characteristic industry, also examined the sub- ject. Among the tests proposed by him, is exposure to a heat of from 77° to 86° Fahr. If the spot on arms be of blood, it will come off in scales, but there will be no alteration if it be rust. Water dissolves the blood, but not the rust. The colouring mat- ter may also be treated by heat and the acids, as above directed : and he adds that it is different from all other known colouring matters, since it is not changed by ammonia; chlorine also turns it green, and a large quantity decolorizes it altogether; but on adding infusion of galls, there is a dark red precipitate. Strong nitric acid also detroys the colour of the stain caused by blood. When the stain is on clothing, this should be dipped in distilled water until the fluid is charged with it. The same experiments are then applicable-! These experiments, however desirable in their results, did not receive universal consent. Raspail, another French chemist, an- nounced that all the indications thus obtained from true blood, might be procured from a mixture of whites of eggs and infusion of madder.J Barruel, in his experiments on the colouring matter of the blood, found that on treating it with strong sulphuric acid, an odour peculiar to the animal from which it was obtained, was distinctly perceivable. It is only necessary, he says, to put a few drops of blood into a cup, and add the acid to the amount of one-third or one-half of the other, and the odour will be evolved. This he styles the aromatic principle of the blood. In the male it has the odour of perspiration; in the female, the same, but much weaker. In the horse, the odour of its perspiration or of horse-dung. So also with the ox, sheep, dog, and even birds. * Journal de Chimie Medicale. t North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 5, p. 458. Edinburgh Me- dical and Surgical Journal, vol. 29, p. 216. Orfila Lecons, 2d edition, vol. 2, p. 564. t Brande's Journal, N. S. vol. 3, p. 497. I find also the following remark in the British and Foreign Med. Review, (vol. 5, p. 175.) u Alizarine, the red colouring principle of madder, one of the most com- mon red dyes, is not, according to our observation, changed by ammonia." VOL. II. 10 110 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. This test, then, he deemed conclusive, and applicable to all doubt- ful cases.* Other chemists, however, do not appear to have the same acuteness of smell as Barruel, and we may well doubt with Wedekind, whether it would be safe to ground grave charges on a sense so variable, and where the certain detection of it is on many accounts very difficult.f F. Of persons found dead from noxious inhalations. A vast proportion of the gases, discovered by modern che- mists, are irrespirable. Few of them, however, are spontaneously generated, and their noxious power must of necessity be ex- tremely circumscribed. We shall notice such as have proved destructive to life, under the head of poisons. But there are some which may be produced under ordinary circumstances, or are occasionally the results and accompaniments of peculiar situa- tions and occupations, and of these, the most remarkable, are carbonic acid gas and sulphuretted hydrogen gas. It must, how- ever, be understood, that in many instances where they prove deleterious, other poisonous substances may co-operate in causing the result. This fact, in conjunction with the comparative fre- quency of injury from them, fully justifies a notice in this place. 1. Carbonic acid gas maybe generated in various ways: 1. When a number of persons have remained during a long time in an apartment, or any other place where the air is not renewed. They mutually vitiate the air, and produce, by the process of respiration, the poison in question. The most striking and melan- choly instance of this occurred at Calcutta, in 1756. When that place surrendered to Shujah Dowla, he thrust one hundred and forty-six Englishmen into the black hole, at Fort William, a place * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 1, p. 267. In two cases referred to him by the magis- trate, he successfully pursued this examination and pronounced one to be the blood of a sheep. See Annales, vol. 1, p. 548; vol. 10, p. 160. t Numerous papers on this subject are contained in the Annales D'Hygiene. Vol. 2, p. 217, the objections of Raspail, with a reply by Leuret; vol. 2, p. 221, Morin's experiments on the blood of Fish ; ibid. p. 479,Courbe, he confirms the experiments of Barruel, but objects to their application in legal medicine; vol. 11, p. 205, Baron De Wedekind, (from Henke's Annals,) he repeated the experiments with similar re- sults, but remarks as stated in the text; vol. 1, 443, Chevallier; vol. 5, 467, Denis; vol. 9, 226, Lecanu, he found a great uniformity of results in experimenting on the blood of man and of fish. An extract from Raspail, pointing out his objections, may also be found in Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 25, p. 371. See also Bulletin des Sciences Medicales, vol. 13, p. 126; vol. 14, p. 106. A Medico-legal examination, by Orfila, Barruel and Chevallier. Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 14, p. 349. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. Ill only eighteen feet by fourteen, and having only two apertures through which air could be admitted. They remained here from eight in the evening, until the next morning, when only twenty were alive. A somewhat similar instance happened in London, in 1742. Twenty persons were forced into a part of St. Martin's round-house, called the hole, during the night, and in consequence, several died.* Individuals, in a state of suffocation from this cause, are seized with an unsupportable thirst. A copious per- spiration is present, and great pain in the chest, difficult respira- tion, and intense fever follow. They lose their strength, and fall into a deep lethargy, to which death soon succeeds, if aid be not speedily given.f 2. The fumes of burning charcoal, consist in part of this substance. According to Orfila, the air when char- coal begins to burn, contains in the 100 parts, 14 of carbonic acid gas, 20 of atmospheric air, 52 of azote and 14 of carburetted hydrogen. But when the charcoal is in a state of perfect ignition, the air evolved in the 100 parts, consists of 42 azote, 46 common air and 12 carbonic acid. The correctness of this analysis is doubted by Devergie—first, because it shows less of carbonic acid when the charcoal is in full combustion, than when merely igniting, and secondly, because the presence of carbonic oxide is wanting—a product which, from the nature of the substances acted upon, we should at least imagine to be present in some proportion. However the actual proportions may be, these experiments at least prove, that a small quantity of carbonic acid diffused through a close room may prove deleterious. It is difficult to say how little will cause death. Dr. Thomson in his lectures remarks, that thirty per cent, in the air proves instantly fatal.J I need hardly state how frequently this proves to be a cause * .Smith, p. 206. " A parcel of drunken constables took it into their heads to put the laws in execution against disorderly persons, and so took up every woman they met, till they had collected five or six-and-twenty, all of whom they thrust into St. Martin's round-house, where they kept them all night with doors and windows closed. The poor creatures who could not stir or breathe, screamed as long as they had any breath left, begging at least for water: one poor wretch said she was worth eighteen pence and would gladly give it for a draught of water, but in vain ! So well did they keep them there, that in the morning four were found stifled to death, two died soon after, and a dozen more are in a shocking way." (Horace Walpole's Letters to Sir Horace Mann, vol. 1, p. 169.) The keeper of the round-house was tried, but acquitted of wilful murder. t Orfila's Directions, p. 170. t Orfila's Toxicologic, 3d edition, vol. 2, p. 474. Christison, 3d edit. p. 748. De- vergfie, vol. 2, p. 504. Dr. A. T. Thomson's Lectures, in Lancet, N. S. vol. 20, !> 921. 112 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. of death. Persons on going to bed, leave pans of it burning in their apartments, and in the morning are found lifeless* 3. Car- bonic acid gas is contained in the exhalations from lime kilns,f and cellars, or places where wine, beer, or other liquors are in a state of fermentation. Hence the danger of sleeping near the former, and the necessity of ventilating the latter. 4. This gas is frequently produced in wells, marshes and mines. In the latter, however, a different substance is also generated, called the fire- damp, or carburetted hydrogen gas, which is no less deadly. But the frequency of fatal accidents to persons descending wells, is to be ascribed to carbonic acid. 5. In some rare instances, the effluvia of plants, which evolve carbonic acid and nitrogen during the night, have proved fatal. Dr. Paris refers to a case of this kind, where a gardener watching for the safety of a pinery, was found dead in the morning in the green-house.J 6. Lastly, I may mention, if not already enumerated, that the smoke from burning wood or anthracite coal may prove deleterious, in a great de- cree from the same cause.§ * A large number of cases of this description is quoted by Dr. Dobson, in an essay contained in Percival, vol. 1, p. 328. See also Philosophical Transactions, vol. 52, p. 454. t "June 19, 1813. This morning two lads were found senseless on a brick kiln in St. George's Fields. The eldest was recovered by medical assistance, but the other was lifeless. It is supposed that they had resorted to the kiln for the sake of warmth, and having fallen asleep, were suffocated by its fumes." (Edinburgh An- nual Register, vol. 6, part 2, p. 64.) \ Paris and Fonblanque, vol. 2, p. 49. § Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 32, p. 345. Case by Mr. Watson, of the workmen at the Wanlockhead mines from the wood of a flue taking fire. Some of the symptoms are referable to the effects of sulphurous acid gas, which see under Poisons. Lancet, N. S., vol. 5, p. 154. Case by Dr. Schenck, of two persons dead from the smoke of a forge. Edinburgh Mcdico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 3, p. 543. Dr. John Gairdner on the deleterious effects of the smoke of coal, as illustrated in the cases of six individuals subjected to its influence. A coal fire had been kept up during the night, and the smoke produced by it had passed down another chim- ney into the bed-room, the door of which was, however, open. They awoke with dizziness—-a reluctance to rise—stupefaction of mind and a desire to return to sleep. When thoroughly roused, headache succeeded, with vomiting or sickness at the stomach. They gradually recovered by the next day. Christison, p. 692. Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 13, p. 442, A recent case by Devergie of one individual dead and several dangerously ill from the gas issuing from a smouldering beam that was heat- ed by the flues of a kitchen chimney. The individuals attacked were in an upper room; on removing the boards and giving access to the air, the beam took fire. The common council of New York, not long since, were seriously affected by the ?as proceeding from burning anthracite. I will add to these the following curious case. On the 12th of May, 1650, some forgemen at Leipsic were drinking in a chamber, where a child, twelve years old, was asleep. They amused themselves with passing a half extinguished candle un- der its nose. The child awoke, but again fell asleep, and they continued this course tor half an hour. It was shortly after seized with convulsions, or epileptic fits, and died in three days. The parents complained of this to the magistrates, who con- sulted the Faculty of Medicine. They answered that the fumes of a candle were PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 113 It seems to be now generally acknowledged, that the action of carbonic acid gas is narcotic. The experiments of Collard de Martigny are very interesting on this point. Animals are rapidly killed in an atmosphere of it, and even when diluted with com- mon air, they died in two or three minutes. Yet when a lighted candle was afterwards introduced under the bell glass used for the experiments, it burnt lively. This circumstance will explain why accidents have sometimes happened to persons descending into wells, after ascertaining that combustion could be supported. In an experiment on himself, the body was enclosed in an at- mosphere of this gas, with due precautions for the maintenance of breathing, and the symptoms were those usually observed from breathing it. Animals treated in this way died after some time.* Sir Humphrey Davy attempted to breathe the pure gas, but found it impossible; the glottis was closed from the irritation pro- duced. D'Arcet, visiting the place at Montpensier, in France, where carbonic acid gas issues from the ground, as at the Grotto del Cano in Italy, attempted to ascertain its effects, but they were so sudden, that having moved towards it on his hands, he instant- ly fell flat and would have expired, had he not been drawn back by his guide.f The earlier symptoms, so far as they can be ascertained, are a sense of weight; uneasiness or pain in the head; ringing in the ears; giddiness; a great disposition to sleep; a rapid loss of strength, so as to be unable to continue upright; great difficulty of breathing. The senses no longer exercise their functions, and there is a partial or total loss of sensibility. In advanced stages, the breathing is occasionally stertorous, and froth issues from the mouth. Coma is perfectly established, interrupted briefly, in some instances, by delirium, and in others by slight convulsions. But the last are generally wanting. If they are discovered, after the gas has had its full operation, their bodies present the following appearances: the head, face and neck are swollen; the eyes are propelled from their sockets, but preserve their brilliancy often for two or three hours after death; identical with the vapours from charcoal and lime, and would produce the same de- leterious effects. (Valentini's Pandects, vol. 1, p. 195.) * Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 29, p. 215. His experiments are also given in full in American Medical Recorder, vol. 13, p. 296. t Journal Royal Institution, vol. 2, p. 201. 10* 114 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. the tongue is protruded, swollen, and inclined to one side of the mouth; the jaws are firmly closed; the face is livid, the lips are of a dark blue colour, the abdomen is inflated, and sometimes violet-coloured discolorations are seen even on the anterior parts; the body preserves its warmth for a length of time and sometimes indeed is warmer than natural, while the limbs remain flexible for some hours.* These phenomena particularly the latter, succeed each other more rapidly in summer than in winter. These appearances are not, however, invariable. The counte- nance is sometimes pale, and generally bears few marks of suffer- ing. In the case of Dr. Schenck, already quoted, there was an extreme tranquillity of features, and the face was pale—no great flexibility of the limbs, and no unusual tendency to putrefaction. On dissection, the blood-vessels, and particularly those of the head and lungs, are found filled with blood, and it is principally accumulated in the right side of the heart, and in the veins lead- ing to it. The blood itself is black, and so fluid, that it is dis- charged readily from the smallest incision. Effusions of serum, tinged with blood, are found, particularly in the ventricles of the brain, and in the bronchiae, while the muscles are so soft as to be torn by the slightest exertion. The epiglottis is said to be raised, and in some instances, sooty matter has been found in the nostrils ;ind trachea.f * Struve, p. 52. Belloc, p. 184. The discolorations noticed above are not confined to the mucous tissue of the skin, but pervade its whole thickness. On cutting into it, Devergie found a number of small red points, produced by the blood settling there, vol. 1, p. 85. Dr. King in Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 7, p. 180. History of three cases. Here the fingers and toes were curved, and the nostrils dilated. Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, art. Asphyxia, by Dr. Roget. London Medical Repository, vol. 27, p. 468. London Medical Gazette, vol. 15, p. 601, This is a remarkable case of suicide In Paris. The external appearances correspond exactly with those given above; but it is probable, from the signs of sickness of the stomach, and the presence of urinary and faecal discharges, that there must have been some suffering. t Portal, in Medical Commentaries, vol. 3, p. 254. Belloc, p. 184. Dr. Babing- ton's case of exposure to the vapour of burning charcoal, in Medioo-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 1, p. 93. Orfila's Toxicology, vol, 2, p. 347. Larrey, vol. 2, p. 128. Dr. Bright's Dissections in Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 20, p. 4, of two sailors suffocated on board of a vessel. I presume these are the same mentioned in the Lancet N. S., vol. 1, p. 553, as occurring at Guy's Hospital. The vessels of the dura mater were filled with blood, and the sinuses gorged with it in a fluid state. The heart and its vessels were in a similar state, and the mucous lining of the bron- chiae beautifully injected.—Christison, p. 712. He refers to a case by Mertzdorff, where in addition to the usual appearance, there was a general diffusion of blood between the arachnoid and pia mater. Alfred S. Taylor, Lecturer on Medical Ju- risprudence, London, on the phenomena of suffocation from carbonic acid, copied in the American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. I, p. 219, PtTsONS FOUND DEAD. 115 The larynx and trachea are usually injected with blood and of a rose colour. As a variation from the ordinary appearances, it may be men- tioned, that Renard, in three cases, found the right side of the heart empty. Although the causes which produce death in these cases are often evident, yet dissection should never be omitted in any sus- pected case. It may aid us materially. The loss of irritability in the muscles is also strikingly greater from this cause of death, than is ever seen in cases from drowning, hanging, &c. and it is therefore worthy of particular attention.* We should notice whether any marks of injuries are present, which may excite doubt. Theplace^the circumstances under which the body is found, the noxious material that has been inhaled, all deserve investigation, and may lead to the truth. Four days after death, the body of the wife of Amouroux was discovered in her chamber. There was a sanious fluid flowing from the mouth, and although this was in February, 1836, yet decomposition was much advanced. The epidermis separated readily on the slightest effort. The face was enormously dis- tended and of a blackish green colour, as were also the arms and hands. The body was of a livid green. No marks of external injury could be found on it. On dissection the lungs were seen gorged and their tissue softened by putrefaction. So also with the liver. The stomach was healthy, and no deleterious substance could be detected. The conclusion of the examiners therefore, was that she had died from asphyxia caused by the burning of charcoal. It appeared by the statement of her husband, that they had mutually agreed to destroy themselves through the above means—that their apartment was well calculated for the purpose, being close and admitting no currents of air-—that after lighting the charcoal, he placed it between himself and his wife both lying on the floor—that his wife soon became affected and died in three hours—but it produced no injurious result on himself Shortly after her death, he drank copiously of water, but renew- ed the charcoal fire and persisted in his attempts for several days * Orfila remarks, that if the body of a person suffocated by a non.respirable gas, or by strangulation, be cold or stiff, we may be certain that more than twelve hours have elapsed since death. 116 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. in order to destroy himself in this manner. The rapidity of putrefaction in the body of the female was doubtless owing to the high temperature thus kept up without intermission. Such was his defence and it was asked whether, supposing the above statement to be correct, it was possible for the husband to escape the injurious effects of the carbonic acid. To this the medical examiners replied in the negative. All the reports were finally committed to the inspection of Devergie, and the judge required of him answers to the following questions. Does the complete state of putrefaction in which this body was found four and a half days after death, support or negative the idea of its being caused by asphyxia ? In reply, he remarks, that as stiffening of the- limbs always precedes putrefaction, this last would probably occur later in death from inhaling carbonic acid, than from other causes—as Nysten had observed, that the stiffening of the limbs, which, in ordinary cases, lasts only twenty- four to thirty hours after death, continued in one, thus asphyxi- ated as long as seven days. He was also enabled to make ob- servations on two cases at the Morgue. The body of a male destroyed by asphyxia from charcoal, did not exhibit the com- mencing marks of putrefaction, until the eighth day—nor was it until the 35th, that a green colour was observed on the inferior extremities. The trunk itself seemed to dry rather than to soften, and no gas was developed under the skin. Shortly after, the bodies of a male and a female both destroyed in the same man- ner, a month previous, were brought to the Morgue. Each ex- hibited the same tendency to desiccation, particularly about the face, arms and hands, but there was no emphysema of the cellu- lar tissue, nor any softening. The skin was yellowish, and in a few points green. From these facts, and also from the antiseptic effects of car- bonic acid gas on meat confined in it, as shown by Hildebrand, Devergie is of opinion, that in this kind of death, putrefaction is retarded rather than promoted. Another question was, Whether the livid appearance of the skin so common in the asphyxiated, ought not to have been present in this case, although putrefaction was so much advanced ? Here the answer is in the affirmative, and Dr. Devergie remarks, that for the space of eight years during which he has observed bodies at the Morgue, he has PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 117 always seen this present. How long it may continue before the change into green occurs, is not determined, but the period must be more extended in winter than in summer. It was also inquired whether females or males would resist the influence of carbonic acid the longest. The statistical facts on this point are few and unsatisfactory. It appears, however, that in Paris, more females than males have been recovered from its effects. Would a person lying on the floor be more readily affected than in a more elevated situation ? No experiments have been made on this point, but the following circumstances deserve considera- tion. Although the specific gravity of carbonic acid gas is much greater than that of atmospheric air, and therefore descends; yet Mr. Dalton has shown, that a lighter gas cannot be in con- tact with a heavier one, without mixing with it. Again, the levity of carbonic acid is increased in this case by the elevated temperature that was kept up. The result must have been, that the chamber was filled with ascending currents of pure heated carbonic acid, and descending ones of the same more and more vitiated, but colder. As Amouroux and his wife were both on the floor, it follows that they were not in the most favourable position for the rapid extinction of life. The crime with which Amouroux was charged, is not expressly stated, but I presume, it was murder. Whatever it may have been, he was found guilty and condemned to hard labour for life.* 2. Sulphuretted Hydrogen Gas. This is the principal nox- ious substance exhaled from privies and common sewers, and it has proved destructive to many. Chaussier appears to have been among the first to notice its rapidly fatal effects, whether inhaled or injected into the cellular tissue or rectum. According to the experiments of Thenard and Dupuytren, the gas, even when mixed with a large quantity of * Annates D'Hygiene, vol. 17, p. 201. London Med. Gazette, vol. 20, p. 238. The following remark by Dr. Christison, (3d edit. p. 749,) deserves to be added in this place. " An observation worthy of note, as at times supplying the only rational explana- tion of the discrepant effects of the poison on several individuals simultaneously and to appearance alike exposed to it, is that in a close apartment the gas abounds most in the lowest part by reason of its high density, but that where a current from with- out is directed through the room, as for example from below a door towards a fire or stove, the situation where least effect is produced may be exactly that which in other circumstances is the most dangerous, namely, on the floor." 118 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. atmospheric air, is a very powerful poison. A proportion of l-300th was sufficient to kill a bird in very little time. l-800th produced death in a dog, and a horse was killed in an atmo- sphere containing 1-250th part of it. Nysten and Broughton have verified these results, either by a repetition of the experi- ments, or by injecting it into the veins.* •• When the exposure has lasted but a short time, the sufferer experiences a general uneasiness, accompanied with nausea and sickness; his respiration becomes irregular, but not difficult, and his pulse much agitated; the skin is cold, general convulsions, almost tetanic, take place, and the muscles of the chest and face are particularly affected." The abdomen is often tumid, and re- covery is preceded by vomiting up a bloody froth. Severe colic pains also are common. " In cases where an individual has been long exposed to the action of this gas, all power of motion and sensation is lost; a frothy saliva, tinged with blood, flows from the mouth; the lips and face are livid, the eyes are shut, and void of all brilliancy; the pupil fixed and dilated; the pulse is small and frequent, and the respiration short and difficult, and apparently convulsive; the action of the heart becomes disordered and violent, and the ex- tremities are in a state of relaxation. To this succeeds an agita- tion more or less excessive, the muscles are attacked by alternate spasms and convulsions, and the body is curved backwards, while the individual appears to suffer from acute pain."f Delirium occasionally occurs, and in one instance mentioned by Dupuytren, the eyes were open and red. This, however, has been ascribed to the presence of hydrosulphuret of ammonia, which is frequently found with sulphuretted hydrogen in sewers. J In one case where death followed, and dissection was per- * Coxe's Medical Museum, vol. 3, app. p. 29, Exp's. of Dupuytren. Christison, p. 693, 698. Brande's Journal, N. S., vol. 7, p. 16. Sulphuretted hydrogen does not appear to be deleterious to man in an equal ratio. It has been found by accurate observation, that the workmen employed in the com- mon sewers of Paris work without inconvenience in an atmosphere containing one part of sulphuretted hydrogen in 100 of atmospheric air, and that they constantly breathed from 25 to 90 thousandths of this gas. Air found on analysis to contain 3 per cent, of sulphuretted hydrogen, had been breathed for several minutes by the per- son collecting it. (Annales D'Hygiene. vol. 2, p. 144.) t These quotations are from Orfila's Directions, p. 167. They are derived from Halle's Recherches, Paris, 1785. See also a case by Dr. Howard. Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 2, p. 401. t In the Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, vol. 43, p. 305, Art. Plomb des Fos- ses, the occurrence of ophthalmia and coryza is expressly ascribed to the hydrosul- PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 119 formed forty hours after death, the head and trunk were already putrid, the skin bluish, and elevated by gas. The blood con- tained in the various cavities was black and fluid. The brain was greenish and tender. The bronchiae were of a red colour, and the posterior parts of the lungs were gorged with black blood, but that organ was generally crepitous. The stomach presented traces of recent irritation, and the intestinal canal was greenish. The liver, of a greenish black colour, was in a state of conges- tion. All the viscera exhaled the smell of putrid fish, and several of the persons present at the dissection, were subsequently affect- ed with lassitude and stupor, sleeplessness and violent colic* Experiments on animals have presented similar results.f G. Of persons found hung. I need hardly apprize the medical reader, that there is an inti- mate resemblance between the principal physiological phenomena, observed in persons hung, strangled and smothered. I shall, there- fore, in this section, consider these in detail, and hereafter confine myself to what may be deemed peculiar to the other kinds of death. We understand by the term hanging, the suspension of a per- son by a cord or some other ligature around the neck. The rapidity of death from it, evidently depends much on the manner in which the cord is adjusted, the texture and strength of the in- tervertebral ligaments, the fulness of the blood-vessels, and the strength of their coats. All these circumstances, with that of the weight of the body, and the height and suddenness of the fall, will render a shorter or longer space of time necessary to destrov life-J * New England Journal, vol. 8, p. 279. Account of three cases extracted from the Nouveau Journal de Medecine, for April, 1818. t Orfila's Toxicology, vol. 2, p. 374. + Dr. Plott in his history of Staffordshire, quotes a patent roll of the 48th year of Henry the 3d, in which it is stated that Inetta Balsham having been convicted of harbouring thieves, was sentenced to be hung, and accordingly was hung, but re- mained alive from nine until the next morning. A free pardon was therefore granted her. Dr. Plott suggests, that her life was probably preserved, on account of the larynx being turned to bone, " as it happened in the case of a Swiss, as I was told by the Rev. Obadiah Walker, master of University College, who was attempted to be hanged no less than thirteen times, yet lived, notwithstanding, by the benefit of his wind-pipe, that after his death, was found to have turned to a bone." {Professional Anecdotes, London, 1825, vol. 3, p. 180.) " Governor Wall was long in dying, in consequence of which, a particular exami- nation of his throat took place, and it was found to have been owing to an ossified portion of the trachea, resisting a portion of the rope." (Dr. A. T. Thomson's Lec- tures, London Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 7, p. 418.) 120 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. The manner in which death occurs in these cases, is far from being perfectly understood. Sufficient, however, is known to authorize us in asserting, that there is considerable variety. The first to be mentioned is apoplexy (not necessarily accom- panied with rupture or extravasation) produced by pressure on the large blood-vessels that go to the head. Though this has been occasionally doubted, yet we have proof sufficient, both in the external appearances, and on dissection, to warrant us in say- ing, that this does happen. The compression prevents the return of the blood by the veins, and although it cannot obstruct the cir- culation by the intervertebrals, yet its effect naturally is, to cause an extreme congestion of the vascular system of the head, and of the brain particularly. It would not seem, however, in cases of recovery, to be attended with an ordinary consequence, viz. para- lysis. Fodere has collected some curious cases in illustration of this. Thus, Wepfer saw both a man and woman who survived hanging. The latter recollected nothing, and the former stated, that on the application of the cord, he felt no pain, but sunk, as it were, into a profound sleep. Morgagni, also, mentions that an individual who had recovered under similar circumstances. informed him, that the first sensation was flashes of light before his eyes, and that he then sunk into the same sleep. Our author also quotes a case on the authority of Lord Chancellor Bacon. A gentleman took a fancy to ascertain whether those who were hung, experienced any pain, and actually performed the experi- ment on himself. He immediately lost all consciousness, and the event would have been tragic, had not a friend entered in time to cut him down.* In fatal cases, as we shall presently show, the brain exhibits all the ordinary appearances of apoplexy. Another immediate cause of death, and about which, there is hardly any dispute, is suffocation, or exclusion of air from the lungs. The following experiment by Dr. Munro, senr. of Edin- burgh, strikingly illustrates the correctness of this opinion. " A dog was suspended by the neck with a cord, an opening having been previously made in the trachea below the place where the *.Fodere, vol. 3, p 134. He however, mentions that there were individuals living at Marseilles who, dunng the French Revolution, were hung and their 1 ves sa ed and deaS. ' *" Wb° *' * *"* ^ WWe affeCted with a "nP"S '"»e ears PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 121 cord was applied, so that air could pass into the lungs as freely as in ordinary respiration. After hanging in this state for three quarters of an hour, during which time the circulation and breathing went on as usual, he was taken down and appeared not to have suffered materially from the operation. The cord was then shifted from above to below the opening made into the tra- chea, so as totally to prevent the ingress of air into the lungs, and the animal being again suspended, was in a few minutes completely dead."* In connexion with this, or possibly with both these causes of death, the injury produced by compression of the nerves of the neck, must not be overlooked. That it aids in producing the fatal termination can hardly be doubted, after recurring to the experiment of Mr. Brodie. He " passed a ligature under the trachea of a guinea-pig, and tied it tight on the back of the neck with a knot ; the animal was uneasy, but nevertheless breathed and moved about. At the end of fifteen minutes, the ligature was removed ; on the following morning, however, it was found dead."f After considering apoplexy and suffocation as two of the immediate causes of death, it is the opinion of some of the latest writers on the subject, that in many instances, they unite in pro- ducing the fatal termination.;}; To these a third is to be added, consisting, in addition to the compression, in a laceration of the trachea or larynx, or a luxa- tion or fracture of the cervical vertebrae, from a rupture of the ligaments of the neck. The celebrated Louis, inquired of seve- ral executioners, how they saved the lives of some criminals', while others were irrecoverably dead ? It was answered, that in the latter case, they caused a laceration of the trachea and a luxation of the first cervical vertebra from the second, by plac- ing the knot of the cord under the neck, and then giving a rotary motion to the body at the moment when the ladder was taken from under its feet.§ This luxation chiefly occurs in heavy per- * From Curry, quoted by Dr. Roget. art. Asphyxia in Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine. + Paris, vol. 2, p. 44. t I refer particularly to two very valuable dissertations in the Annales D'Hygiene, and both translated from Henke's Zeitschrifl. One by Prof. Remer of Breslau, enti- tled materials for a medico-legal examination of death by strangulation, vol. 4, p. 166, and the other by Dr. Fleichmann of Erlangen, on the various kinds of death in strangulation, vol. 8, p. 412. I shall have frequent occasion to refer to these. § Fodere, vol. 3, p. 141. Dorsey's Surgery, vol. 1, p. 207. VOL. II. 11 122 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. sons, or where they may have fallen from a height upon the end of the rope, or where attempts have been made to hasten death by increasing the weight of the body. And the rapidity of the result is well illustrated by accidents where the vertebrae are injured. The above statement evidently explains the great diversity in the phenomena, observed of late years, on the bodies of those who die from hanging. This subject, indeed, has attracted peculiar attention, and all variations from received accounts have been carefully noticed. I will commence by mentioning such as have been most gene- rally deemed signs of strangulation. The mark of the cord is evident around the neck, forming a livid, depressed circle; the face, chest, shoulders, and occasionally the arms and hands, are swollen and livid; the countenance is distorted; the eyes open, red, or protruded ; the tongue is sometimes wounded by the con- vulsive motions of the jaws, and thrust out of the mouth; the fingers are bent, and the hands nearly closed. De Haen, from his observations, added, that a bloody mucus often issues from the mouth and nose.* In some instances, an ecchymosis is dis- tinctly seen on the shoulders, and extending upon the breast. Of late years, there have been added to the external signs, the semi-erect condition of the penis, and the emission of semen. The fasces and urine are also sometimes expelled at the moment of death. It is further stated, that in females executed, a bloody discharge from the uterine organs has been noticed. How variable all or most of these are, remains to be stated; and unless we can explain this diversity in connexion with the various causes of death, the subject must remain extremely intricate. The mark of the cord around the neck, has generally been deemed a common occurrence in death by strangulation, and hence its presence was greatly relied upon. It was known in- deed, and is so stated by De Haen and Fodere, to have been sometimes wanting. This, however, was thought to be a very rare occurrence; was not much discussed; and was explained when noticed, from the suddenness of death in these instances. The following case, that occurred to Esquirol, succeeded in at- tracting marked attention to its presence or absence. An insane * De Haen, vol. 4, p. 338. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 123 female at the Salpetriere, was seen to hang herself on a tree in the garden. An attendant immediately hastened to her, and cut down the body; but all attempts to restore life proved fruitless. The features were composed and natural; the skin not disco- loured or ecchymosed. There was a double mark on the neck, as the rope had been twisted twice around it; but there was only a simple depression, without any change of colour. In three hours after, there was no change; in seven hours, the mark of the rope had a light brown tinge, but without any ecchymosis. None indeed occurred: and on dissection, the cellular tissue beneath was found dry and compressed, so as to form a brilliant white band a line and a half in breadth.* Since the publication of this case, the absence of ecchymosis has been noticed by other observers. Dr. Klein, a German, in fifteen cases of suicide by hanging, could find none on the neck.f Dr. Remer, however, was enabled to examine no less than 102 medico-legal reports of persons dead by hanging, and all occurring in Silesia. Of these, 89 presented a distinct and well marked ecchymosis; in one, the skin was shrunk, and resembled parchment; in two others, the skin was excoriated; in one, putrefaction had advanced too far to permit an examination; and in nine, it is expressly stated that the bruised condition was wanting. He also adds, that the ecchymosis was not confined to those who were suspended from some height, but equally occurred in such whose knees or feet were in contact with the ground. After recognising these facts, he next inquires whether a satis- factory explanation can be given, why this mark is present on the neck in some cases and not in others ? It has been suggested that its absence may be owing to the comparative softness of the article used for hanging. But even a handkerchief and a cra- vat cannot in the ordinary sense be deemed such, since they are twisted and folded, so as to become hard, or at least take that character, by the pressure of the body. In four cases where handkerchiefs were used, there was ecchymosis; in two others there was none. * Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 19, p. 487. f Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 4, p. 168. Orfila, Lecons, 2d edition, vol. 2, p. 363, the cord, and where the vein!are subjected to little pressure. Here of course, there will be less lividity. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 129 who have been executed, we most frequently meet with the red and tumefied countenance, though there are exceptions even in these. This course of reasoning may explain the fact noticed both by Fleichmann and Esquirol, viz., that if the body be cut down immediately after death, the face will appear natural, but if this be delayed for some hours, the internal congestion produces Uvi- dity and tumefaction in the face and the parts above the cord.* The paleness of the face is, hence no proof that death has not occurred from hanging. We find also in many cases of apoplexy, an absence of similar congestion.! The presence of bloody mucus, or froth issuing from the mouth or nose, is not by any means constant. In some instances, as in that of the Duke of Bourbon, it is seen, while in many exe- cuted it is wanting.J The fingers are frequently found flexed, and sometimes the convulsive contraction has been so great, that the nails have sunk into the flesh of the palm of the hand. As to the appearances on dissection, they must of course vary with the cause of death, and they will be more or less distinct according as it is least complicated. In those dead from apoplexy, the brain will be gorged with blood, its vessels distended, and sometimes there will be extrava- sation, while the right as well as left ventricle of the heart will contain blood. When an individual expires from suffocation, cerebral conges- tion will be wanting, but the lungs will be engorged, and filled * Devergie, vol. 2, p. 383. This author cautions us against taking too much as our standard, the appearances observed on the executed. In many instances, the struggle, the mental sufferings, and the fall closely assimilate their condition to that of the person who has been murdered by hanging. There evidently must be, in most cases, some difference between these, and such as have committed suicide. " When death takes place from asphyxia caused by compression of the larynx or trachea, and without compressing the great blood-vessels of the neck, the counten- ance remains pale and the head exhibits few of the signs of cerebral congestion." Watson on Homicide, p. 135. \ Dr. Dunbar of Virginia, in stating some galvanic experiments on an executed criminal, mentions that the neck was found dislocated, the first and second vertebrae being separated so far from each other as to admit the end of the little finger. The face however was natural. (Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 1, p. 245.) X I copy the following from a newspaper, and cannot therefore vouch for its au- thenticity. It however teaches a useful lesson. A man in one of the eastern states was convicted of murdering his wife by strangulation : a physician deposed that in all such cases the tongue protruded, and there was foaming at the mouth ; on this a respite was given, until another medical man present at a recent execution, testified that neither of these had occurred in the latter instance. 130 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. with air.* The left side of the heart will be empty, while the right and its vessels contain more or less of fluid blood. Of the cases examined by Remer, nine appeared to have died from apoplexy, six from suffocation, nineteen were too imper- fectly dissected to permit a classification, and the remaining sixty- eight appeared to have sunk from the mixed effects of both, as already explained. In some, the marks of both are completely developed, while in others, one seems to predominate. Thus we find the blood accumulated in the brain, and occasionally even extravasated, while the lungs also are gorged, and the right ven- tricle filled and the left empty. Here impeded respiration has interrupted the return of blood to the heart, and its congestion on the brain continues until the last pulsation, and it is this last pulsation which empties the left side of the heart. Again, there may be an incomplete apoplexy, or in other words, only a certain degree of congestion, with complete suffocation. Dr. Remer, however, noticed but one of this description. Of the next variety he mentions thirteen cases, and this is complete apoplexy with incomplete suffocation. The lungs contain air and blood, but the head dies first, and its effects extend down- wards. Here the death is so rapid that the blood continues fluid.f * Mr. Taylor states that the distention of the lungs with air is far from being uni- versally seen in death from hanging. In animals hung, he has frequently met with these organs in a collapsed state. " I have also," he adds, " observed this in an ex- ecuted criminal, and in a case of suicidal hanging." Med. Jurisprudence, p. 167. t As the appearances noticed in the text may appear somewhat arbitrary in their division and their peculiarities, I have subjoined such cases as I have been enabled to collect, for the purpose of comparison. In Guyon's, (already referred to,) the blood- vessels of the head contained but little more than usual; those of the lungs were gorged, the right auricle also empty ; the cervical vertebrae uninjured. In Mary Caen, executed at London in 1826, the rope had caught between the thyroid and cricoid cartilages and separated them; death occurred instantly; appearances natural; no congestion in the external veins of the head, and those of the dura mater but slightly distended ; some effusion in the ventricles, and the blood altogether fluid. (Lancet, vol. 9, p. 688.) In Amusat's case, suicide by suspension, and where the most remarkable circumstance noticed, was that the epiglottis was thrown back, and as it were turned on itself; congestion is not mentioned, but a serous effusion ; the bronchia? were gorged ; the lungs also and the right auricle contained only a small quantity of fluid blood mixed with air. (North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 7, p. 205.) In Esther Hubner, executed at London in 1829, there was congestion of the vessels of the dura mater, and bloody serum oozing from some of the torn vessels of the bone itself; the longitudinal sinus was almost empty, but the other sinuses were full, the veins of the plexus choroides were full, but the arteries empty ; the substance of the brain exhibited numerous bloody spots; considerable effusion between the arachnoid and pia mater, and in the ventricles. (Dr. Bright, Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 20, p. 3.) A case of suicidal suspension at the Salpetriere, in December, 1834: the individual, a female, hung an hour and a half; the face pale; the furrow which was in front of the os hyoides, was yellowish like parchment; the skin strongly adhering to the subcutaneous tissue, but no ecchymo. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 131 Besides the appearances described in the preceding pages, there are some others occasionally observed, which deserve a brief notice. In the case of Dr. Amusat, already referred to, and which was suicide by suspension, at the point corresponding to the stricture around the neck, the middle and internal coats of the carotid were found ruptured, precisely as when a ligature has been applied to it. Devergie supposing, and correctly, that this, if constant, would be a valuable proof of suspension during life, made several dissections to ascertain whether it was always present; but out of thirteen he only noticed it in one. It was accompanied with a bloody infiltration into the cellular coat of the artery, but without ecchymosis in any of the adjacent parts. The cord consisted of two packthreads knotted together, and the neck was compressed circularly. Dr. Devergie requested Dr. Lenoir of the Salpetriere, to sus- pend dead bodies with the finest possible materials, and he accordingly did so in twelve cases,—but, although they were in several cases hung, as soon as possible after death and the legs pulled with some force, no lesion of the arteries could be dis- covered.* In a case of suicidal suspension, along with the usual cerebral congestions, Dr. Prus found the upper and middle lobes of the right lung affected with vesicular emphysema ; and at one part, the air had escaped from some ruptured cells under the pulmo- nary tissue, and formed three bladders of air, each nearly an inch across.f Flaccidity of these organs has, on the other hand, also been observed. In two cases of Dr. Fleichmann, this was seen very strikingly; and I observe it also noticed by Dr. Rhinelander, in his account of the dissection of Le Blanc, executed in New Jersey, in 1833. The face was livid; the mark of the rope was below the cartilages of the larynx, and very deep; the superficial veins were greatly distended with dark fluid blood, sis; the substance of the cerebrum injected, and the brain firm; very little blood in the lungs, and more of it in the left cavities of the heart than in the right. (By Dr. Gras, Boston Medical Magazine, vol. 3, p. 617, from London Medical Gazette.) * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 2, p. 196. t Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 22, p. 516. In all cases of persons hung, it is important to remember that the engorgement, if present, will be greatest at the de- pending part, at their base and diaphragmatic face, according to Renard. This, however, should be noticed very early, since if the blood continue fluid, a very short continuance of the body in the horizontal posture will induce the usual appearance. 132 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. while the carotids and internal jugulars were empty ; the lungs were in a state of collapse, and the right auricle and ventricle were empty. Dr. Fleichmann explains this occasional collapse by suppos- ing that death occurs at the moment of making a powerful expi- ration.* The same variety that occurred between the condition of the internal and external vessels of the head in Dr. Rhinelander's case was much insisted upon by the late Dr. Kellie, of Leith. In his elaborate paper on congestions of the brain,f he even doubts whether the apoplectic state occurs in these cases, and mentions three examinations of persons executed, where the veins external to the cranium were fully distended, while but little change was seen internally. He mentions also, that Dr. Monro has repeatedly observed a peculiar softness in the brain of persons executed. Lastly, the base of the tongue is usually of a high red colour and this frequently extends to the mucous membrane of the larynx and trachea, and sometimes even to that of the bronchise. Froth in the trachea is a very rare occurrence.! * Dr. John Davy states, that in his experiments on animals, strangled by a liga- ture on the trachea, but a very small quantity of air was found in the lungs. (Edin- burgh Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 3, p. 444.) t Ibid, vol. 1, p. 131. X Devergie, vol. 2, p. 404. I insert at this place, the interesting observations of Dr. Flint of Boston, made on five persons (pirates) hung at the same time (in 1835) in that city. The cord used was nearly three-fourths of an inch in diameter, and they fell four feet and a half. In Nos. 1, 2 and 3, the knot was placed just below the occiput. In 4 and 5, it was drawn, as usual to the mastoid process. Nos. 1 and 2, died almost instantly with a slight shudder. No. 3, with rather more marked convulsive motions. Urine was passed about four minutes after the fall of each of these and in one of them, the faeces. In No. 5, the struggles were severe and continued for five minutes. The bodies were examined four hours afterwards. The limbs were somewhat rigid and the fingers flexed and bluish. The cord in every instance was found above the thyroid cartilage, where it was imbedded in the integuments, but in none, was there any ecchymosis. The face was neither swollen nor distorted, except in No. 5. The mouth and eyes were closed—there was no protrusion of the tongue, nor frothing at the mouth. The cornea? were clear, and the pupils somewhat dila- ted—except in No. 5. Here they were somewhat contracted and the conjunctiva suffused. No. 4, had attempted to kill himself just before the time of execution, and besides dividing the external jugular, a branch of the superior thyroid artery and most of the fibres of the mastoid muscles, he had opened the trachea in two places. The wound was dressed and the marshal was advised to place the noose on the bandage, so as to compress the tube at its division. He was in a state of syncope when the drop fell and died speedily. "In the convulsive efforts at respiration after the fall, the air was heard at the distance of several feet, rushing through the wound in the trachea. Dissection was only permitted in this case. The lungs were perfectly healthy, PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 133 In every suspected case, two questions may present themselves for solution by the medical witness. 1. Was the individual suspended before or after 'death, or in other words, has he been previously killed in some other way. and then placed in this situation to avoid suspicion 1 The materials for a proper answer to this, are to be drawn from a careful examination of the facts stated in this section. It is useless to conceal that the marks are far from uniform, that great diversity exists between them, originating unquestionably from (which has been too much overlooked,) the various ways in which death may be caused. We find, however, that in a ma- jority of cases certain signs are quite constant, and if one or more of these be absent, we should ascertain, if possible, whether this is not owing to some peculiarity as already laid down. An ecchymosis along the mark of the cord is allowed, even by those who question its frequency, to be a very decided proof of suspension during life; but if it be absent, unless collateral cir- cumstances aid us in our investigation, the difficulty of solution will be increased. I make this remark, because Orfila unequivo- cally states, that in twelve experiments on the dead body, some immediately after death, others after six, eight or eighteen hours, the depression made by the cord, and the skin under it as well as the subcutaneous cellular tissue, presented precisely the same appearances as they do from suspension before death.* Devergie also produced the parchment-like appearance of the skin and subcutaneous cellular tissue on the dead body. He con- siders it as purely a physical process of desiccation; the fluids being driven out by pressure, the laminee of the dermis bein£ except being distended with slight interlobular emphysema. The heart was rather empty—there was a little fluid blood in the right ventricle, and a small coagulum in the left. There was no congestion or extravasation in the brain. The cervical ver- tebrae were not dislocated, nor their ligaments ruptured. Dr. Flint considers Nos. 1, 2 and 3 to have been genuine cases of death by as- phyxia, while No. 5 died apoplectic. He also remarks, that besides the above cases, he has observed in several others, some of whom were suicides, that the countenance was composed, and exhibited no marks of distortion. Boston Medical Magazine, vol. 3, p. 738. * Lemons, 2d edit. vol. 2, p. 381. Marc, however, doubts whether this state can be exactly produced on the dead body. (Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 5, p. 178.) Orfila is so positive,, that he considers the presence of ecchymosis as very uncom- mon, and imagines that the brown colour of the furrow has been mistaken for it. Devergie agrees with this,, and altogether distrusts the statement of Remer that so many cases (89) exhibited a well marked ecchymosis. These cases,, he remarks, were only reported to Dr. Remer, and the term ecchymosis, is well known to be used in a loose manner by many observers. VOL. H. 12 134 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. brought closer together, and a rapid evaporation of the remaining moisture being favoured by exposure to the air. In this process, the violet colour of the lips of the furrow already noticed, and caused by the blood being driven into them from the part under pressure, may also be produced on the dead body soon after death. On the living one, however, owing to the usual cerebral congestion, the upper lip will be deeper coloured, and broader than the lower.* We cannot, however, do wrong in particularly examining the form and situation of the mark around the neck, and pursue its dissection carefully. If it is at the bottom of the neck, unless the position of the body favour this, there is a probability of strangu- lation, since, if suspended, the cord would slip to the upper part of the neck. It may happen that a person has been strangled and then suspended. In this case, we should expect to find two distinct circles on the neck, each characterized by its peculiari- ties.f The congestion of the venous system, the excited state of the seminal organs, and the livid condition of the countenance, &c, all are favourable to the idea of the presence of life, but we must not forget that other modes of violent death may produce them. Let the probability of these last be satisfactorily disproved, and the proof gains weight.J The presence or absence of luxation, or fracture of the verte- brae, is not to be greatly relied upon, as it may have been pro- duced by force subsequently applied, such as pulling at the feet. The inference, if any, is, however, in favour of its being caused during life, if accompanied with the usual marks of lesion.§ * Devergie, vol. 2, p. 394. It is doubted whether exposure to the air is absolutely necessary to produce the desiccation in question. "We have found the skin in a semicorneous state, even an hour after death, and when the cord had not been re- moved." British and Foreign Med. Review, vol. 2, p. 420. t The existence of two impressions on the neck is, however, only strongly presump- tive not positive proof of murder. Esquirol reports the case of a female lunatic, who hung herself, and on whose neck, two distinct impressions were seen, one circular and the other oblique. The cord had been twice passed around the neck, while the body was at the same time partially supported. Taylor's Med. Jurisp. p. 177. X An opportunity is also offered in cases that may hereafter occur, of verifying the opinions of the German writers that I have quoted. If the signs, both external and internal, correspond with the apparent cause of death, and the position of the cord, the inference must be strong in favour of the presence of life. § Orfila Lecons, 2d edit. vol. 2, p. 388. It is proper to state that this author doubts whether, in the present state of our knowledge, we can go beyond probability in an- swering this question of suspension before or after death. If so, moral circumstances deserve a more careful investigation than ever. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 135 Devergie, after reviewing the signs which we have enumerated, is disposed to place the greatest reliance on the following cir- cumstances, as proof that the suspension or strangulation has occurred during life. The violet colour of the lips of the furrow —and particularly the lower one. This is of some value, as he could only produce it on the dead body within a very few hours after death. Bloody excoriations of the skin, and ecchymosis in the subcutaneous cellular tissue and muscles. These carry with them the idea of life, and cannot be caused on the dead body— section of the carotid artery—the presence of semen—and frac- ture of the os hyoides, or rupture of the larynx or vertebras. Unfortunately some of these are quite uncommon, and again se- veral have occurred from other modes of violent death. Particular attention must be paid to the dissection of the neck, and I therefore subjoin our author's directions. Make two inci- sions, an inch above and an inch below the furrow. Carry these sufficiently back, then unite them by perpendicular cuts, and dis- sect the skin carefully from behind forwards: then detach the cellular tissue separately, so as to ascertain its peculiar appear- ance. Watch closely whether any ecchymosis be present in either. Then remove each muscle in order, and mark its condi- tion. Lastly, remove the carotid artery, and open it throughout its extent. The condition of the vertebrae, larynx and the inter- nal organs.of the chest must also be ascertained, as in all other medico-legal dissections.* Wounds, effused blood, and marks of violence, are to be judged of according to the rules already laid down. One or two cases will serve to illustrate the present question. A female aged 50, at Mantes, (in 1683) was found suspended from a beam in a barn. The face was not discoloured, no froth issued from the mouth or nose, the tongue was natural, there was no change of colour around the shoulders, nor was the neck marked by the cord. It was determined to examine the body minutely, and a short investigation discovered a small wound, directly under the right breast, which, on being pursued, was found to have penetrated through the heart, and produced an effusion of blood in the thorax. It was evident that she had been thus murdered.f * Devergie, vol. 2, p. 402. Vol. 1, p. 278. t Dcveaux, quoted by Fodere, vol. 3, p. 153, 136 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. In 1811, a female in France aged sixty, large and fat, was found suspended by a handkerchief from a tree in the garden. The height of the branch from which she hung was eight feet seven inches, and its distance from the trunk three feet six .inches. The tree did not give off branches until at six feet from the ground. Near the tree was a common ladder seven feet long, and on applying it for the purpose of mounting, it was found impracti- cable to reach the point of suspension. The bark was slightly rubbed above, but below was untouched and covered with moss. The heels of the body were two feet six inches from the ground. The head bent a little forward and the hands were half closed. The face was pale, and not tumefied. The eyelids natural and partly open, the eyes sunken and dull, the lips dry and not swol- len, the jaws closed and the tongue approaching them. There was no froth in the mouth or nose. On the neck where the handkerchief had been, there was a semicircular depression of a little more than an inch in breadth, extending upwards. The colour of this was a light violet. On the lower part of the neck near the left clavicle, was a slight ex- coriation. The other external parts were natural. On dissection a tumour was found in the occipital region, and when this was cut into, a fracture of the bone was seen, two inches long, accompanied with extravasation of blood. The lungs were soft, slightly engorged on their posterior part, and the right cavities of the heart were filled with fluid black blood. The neck presented no ecchymosis or engorgement in the tis- sue under the parts where the handkerchief had been placed. The tissue under the excoriation just below, was however ecchv- mosed. The medical testimony in this case was, that death had not resulted from suicide, nor indeed from hanging ; but that the in- juries stated preceded the suspension.* 2. The second question is, whether the individual has hung him- self, or has been hung by others ? The presumption in all cases of suspension, is favourable to the idea of suicide, since hanging is a difficult mode of perpetrating murder, unless the strength of the parties be greatly dispropor- * Chaussier, Recueil, p. 376, PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 137 tionate, or the assailants be numerous and powerful. And ac- cordingly we find that in a vast majority of cases, it is an act of suicide. It must however be understood, that there are instances in which a decision is very difficult, as the marks left either from homicide or suicide may be precisely similar. We should first ascertain whether suspension took place before or after death; and next, the immediate cause of death as before stated. The instrument of death, that is, the cord, should be comparedwith the furrow that it has made, so as to ascertain whether the diameter of the neck be much diminished by it. All the circumstances which indicate strangulation, are so far against the idea of suicide.* From an examination of fifty-two cases of suicide by suspen- sion or strangulation, Devergie found that ecchymosis was no- ticed in three only, and in a fourth, there were some small ero- sions and blisters in the furrow. He therefore supposes, that in suicidal hanging, ecchymosis is very rare. Whether its presence is presumptive proof in favour of violence may however still admit of a doubt. The presence of luxation or fracture of the vertebras is an indi- cation of homicide, and for the reason that we most frequently meet with them in persons executed, and then, as I have already stated, often in consequence of some additional force applied by the hangman.f But it may also happen as suggested by Belloc, when a suicide precipitates himself from some height, or even when the body is heavy and has descended with some force against the cord. These are, however, exceptions, and their ex- istence may be ascertained by proper examination. A case of this description occurred to Dr. Ansiaux of Leige, in the person of a female who hung herself from a beam in the barn. She had mounted by a chair. On dissection the intervertebral liga- * Fodere observes, that in suicide that portion of the cord which surrounds the neck, is relatively longer than in homicide, where the constriction will be more vio- lent. The skin will also in this case be more drawn up towards the chin. (Vol. 3, p. 159.) Mahon remarks, that in assassination, the neck is sometimes so compressed, that the diameter of the circle described by the cord, is not more than two or two and a half inches. He saw a female who had been hung, in whom the integuments alone resisted the cord; the vertebrae, muscles and larynx were separated, and the diameter of the circle was about two inches. (Vol. 3, p. 49.) It is, however, doubted, and I think justly, by Male, (p. 235,) whether this should be considered a conclusive proof of homicide. Much of the tightness of the noose must depend on its situation. 1 Also by leaping on the shoulders, as is practised at the Cape of Good Hope, or pulling the legs. (Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 39, p. 397.) 12* 138 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. ments between the first and second vertebras were found rup- tured.* Wounds and marks of violence on the body, are generally to be deemed proofs of homicide. But there may be suicides who injure themselves previous to suspension. De Haen records a case, of a person, who, while hanging, inflicted several wounds on his face. These, however, we should not consider as the cause of death. A still more remarkable case is mentioned by Ballard, of a young ecclesiastic, who cut his throat partially, and then hung himself in the vestments of his office, which he had ar- ranged for this purpose.f Dr. Male has also suggested that wounds may possibly be accidental, as when a person by swing- ing himself with violence, breaks the rope and wounds himself by falling upon some article of furniture. The following case occurred to him: " An apprentice boy in my neighbourhood, working alone in an attic, tied one end of a rope loosely round his neck, whilst his master was from home, probably without any intention of destroying himself, and twisted the other round the projecting part of the top of the door, the planks of which were irregular and somewhat divided; a small stool, on which he stood, slipped from under him, when he fell forwards, striking his temple against the corner of a box, which cut him to the bone. He lay along the floor, his head and shoulders only elevated a few inches above it. The cord not being tied had nearly run its whole length, and then caught within the planks of the door, in which state he died. The wound was magnified by popular ru- mour into many, and vengeance was denounced against the in- nocent master, who was accused of having first killed, and then suspended the boy. On examination, the mark of the cord was found to extend from ear to ear, the vessels of the brain were turgid, the thyroid cartilage broken, the nails blue, and the hands firmly closed. From this and other important circumstantial evidence, the coroner's jury were convinced that the charge was unfounded."! The situation of surrounding objects, the state of the dress, the place and posture of the body, the appearances of the hands * Belloc, p. 173. Orfila, Lecons, 2d edit. vol. 2, p. 381. Remer is strongly in fa- vour of luxation being considered a proof of murder. Orfila is at best doubtful, and rather disinclined to rely much on it. t Ballard, p. 409. % Male, p. 182. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 139 and nails, whether they bear any mark of resistance, all deserve attention. George Hebner, a tailor, was found hanging to the top of a bedstead, in the garret of a house of ill-fame, in Dean Street, London, kept by a widow Hughes. His hands were tied behind his back, and his handkerchief drawn over his face. The rope around his neck was fastened by what is termed a sailor's knot. These circumstances indicated homicide, and they led to the de- tection of a sailor, Ludman, who, with Mrs. Hughes, was found guilty and executed.* The state of mind of the deceased, his previous history and situation in life, all may aid us in forming an opinion, and parti- cularly so, if a predisposition to insanity is found to exist. We should not rely much on the cast of countenance. Although every thing on it indicative of fright or horror, is so far in favour of violence, yet we must remember that the suicide at the mo- ment of the mortal pang, may experience similar feelings. A curious case of an attempt at homicide by hanging, occur- red in 1827, in the Scottish Courts. Marion Brown, a woman aged 69, twisted a small rope three times round the neck of her husband, older than herself, while he was asleep, and fastened it to a beam in the room in such a manner, that when the neigh- bours entered, he was found lying on the floor with the head raised about a foot from it. He was quite insensible, his face livid, and it was some minutes before he could be roused. He deposed that he teas not aware of any thing that passed during the attempt to hang him. The prisoner was proved to have been intoxicated, and was only sentenced to imprisonment.f " If the person be not elevated from the ground or floor at all, while the cord is not so tight about the neck as to strangle in this posture, and no other cause of death can be discovered, there can hardly be a possibility of doubt as to self-murder. A few years ago, a man aged 75, destroyed himself at Castle Cary, by fixing a cord round his neck while sitting on the bed-side—lean- ing forward till his purpose was accomplished. His wife, who had for years been bed-ridden, and therefore not likely to have been fast asleep, was in the room during the transaction, and knew nothing of what was going on.J * Paris, vol. 3, p. 44. t Syme's Justiciary Reports, p. 152. X Smith, p. 278. 140 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. Among the multiplicity of cases that have come before legal tribunals, I will only select five for consideration. A young man, eighteen years of age, and named Bartholo- mew Pourpre, was found dead and hanging to a tree, at seven o'clock in the evening of the 12th of August, 1736. A surgeon, who examined the body, certified that he had been strangled. His father had married a second wife who was on very ill terms with the young man, and had produced frequent quarrels and threats of murder between them. Suspicion was therefore ex- cited, but its probability was destroyed by the idea, that a father would not murder his son, and also, from the circumstance that he was fifty-two years old, and his son eighteen, and in full health and vigour. On this reasoning, the father was acquitted, and the son was deemed to have hung himself. An order having, however, been made to prepare a statement of the suicide, and the cause being carried up to the parliament of Aix, the attorney-general discovered such facts in the statement of the surgeon, as led him to believe that Pourpre had not de- stroyed himself. It was mentioned not only by him, but by other witnesses, that the mark of the cord, instead of being at the upper part of the neck, was at its lower part, just above the shoulders; and secondly, that the teeth were knocked in and bloody. On dissecting the integuments, no alteration or ecchy- mosis was found on the upper part of the neck, but under the skin just above the clavicles, there was a circular and deep- seated ecchymosis, the muscles were livid, and the trachea was red, with some rupture of its fibrous fascia. The parliament, from these facts, decided that the father had strangled him, and had put his foot on the mouth of his son, either to prevent his cries, or to hurry on the strangulation. The suspension, they declared, was subsequent to his death. Whether the father was guilty or not, we must at least say with Fodere, that two facts are well established in this case: 1. That the son had been strangled before being hung; and 2. That the strangling had been done, not by himself, but by others.* Marc Antoine Calas, was the son of John Calas, a merchant of Toulouse, aged seventy years, of great probity, and a Protestant. This son was twenty-eight years of age, of a robust habit, but melancholy turn of mind. He was a student of law, and becom- * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 152, cited from Louis. Chaussier, p. 439, PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 141 ing irritated at the difficulties he experienced, (in consequence of not being a Catholic,) concerning his license, he resolved to hang himself. This he executed by fastening the cord to a billet of wood placed on the folding doors which led from his father's shop to his store-room. Two hours after, he was found lifeless. The parents unfortunately removed the cord from the body, and never exhibited it to show in what manner his death was accom- plished. No examination was made. The people, stimulated by religious prejudice, carried the body to the town-house, where it was the next day examined by two medical men, who, without viewing the cord, or the place where the death had been con- summated, declared that he had been strangled. On the strength of this, the father was condemned by the parliament of Toulouse, in 1761, to be broken on the wheel. He expired with protesta- tions to heaven of his innocence. Reflection, however, returned when it was too late. It was recollected that the son had been of a melancholy turn of mind— that no noise had been heard in the house while the deed was doing—that his clothes were not in the least ruffled—that a single mark only was found from the cord, and which indicated suspension by suicide—and in addition to these, that the dress proper for the dead, was found laying on the counter. Voltaire espoused the cause of the injured family, and attracted the eyes of all Europe to this judicial murder. The cause was carried up to the council of state, who on the 19th of May, 1765, re- versed the decree of parliament, and vindicated the memory of John Calas.* The Duke of Bourbon, (otherwise called the Prince of Conde,) the father of the unfortunate Duke D'Enghien, was residing at the Chateau de St. Leu, in the seventy-fifth year of his age. On the evening of the 26th of August, 1830, although much depressed with the result of the " Events of the Three Days," he entertain- ed a party and went to bed at midnight, leaving directions that he should be called at 8 A. M. The key of the door of his apart- ment was, according to custom, in the hands of Sieur Le Comte, who locked it, but the Duke himself closed the inner bolts. At the appointed time, the signal was made, but no answer being returned, it led to alarm, and finally to breaking open the door. * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 167, from the Causes Celebres. See also Grimm's Historical and Literary Memoirs, (from 1753 to 1769,) vol.2, p. 41, 117 and 166. 142 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. On entering the room and opening the shutters, the Duke was found dead, hanging from a curtain-rod attached to the top of the window. A chair was displaced on opening the shutters. The height of the rod from the floor was six and a half feet, and attached to it were two white linen pocket handkerchiefs tied together. The noose formed by them, suspended him. The tongue projected out of the mouth; the visage was pale; froth issued from the mouth and nose; the arms hung by his side, and were stiff; the fingers closed; the toes of his feet touched the floor, the left heel being elevated three inches, and the right, one and a half; the knees were half bent. His night dress appeared natural and undisturbed, and the bed was as if a person had lain in it. On further examination, no ecchymosis was seen around the neck, but a distinct depression, most marked on the left side, where the knot of the handkerchief had been situated; blood also flowed from the urethra. These were the facts elicited in the inquests made by the physicians first summoned, and all within a few hours after death. The circumstances, however, of this case, and the high rank of the individual, rendered a more extensive inquiry necessary; and accordingly a commission, consisting of Drs. Marc, Marjolin and Pasquier, was appointed, and they acted on the 28th. The ad- ditional facts reported by them, I will now state. The face continued pale, and the back and the depending parts of the body were livid, as is usual in corpses; the depression made by the handkerchief is between the os hyoides and the upper third of the thyroid cartilage, passing upwards and backwards, and terminating at the mastoid process. The skin under it is dry, hard like parchment, and of a yellow colour. There was a very slight excoriation, three lines in diameter, just below the furrow; also a slight ecchymosis about an inch below the posterior part of the elbow, and one or two excoriations on the front of the legs. All these last are ascribed to contact with the chair and wain- scoting, while in the act of stepping off. On dissection, no ecchymosis was found in the parts under the furrow, but they were hardened and thickened; the external jug- ulars contained but little blood, the internal ones very full of fluid black blood; the carotid had a little serous blood; there was no PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 143 contusion or lesion on the external integuments of the head; the dura mater adhered and its vessels were engorged; there was some serum in the ventricles, and the substance of the brain was soft. All the other parts of the head were healthy. The carti- lages of the larynx were sound; the tongue swollen and livid; the mucous membrane of the bronchia? injected and red, and a bloody froth in all their divisions; the lungs crepitant, dark-coloured and filled with blood, while both sides of the heart were equally empty; semi-erection and an emission of semen. Dr. Marc, from whose account I have taken the above facts, proceeds to consider the case under the two questions which I have previously noticed. That the hanging occurred during life, is, in his opinion, es- tablished by the absence of any other lesion that will account for death; by the condition of the tongue—of the genital organs —of the blood-vessels; by the fluidity of the blood—the state of the bronchiae, and the lungs and heart. Even the appearance of the furrow is no evidence against it, since that is known to be present in many instances. But, secondly, was this a case of suicide or homicide? From the state of parties, this became a debated question; and indeed some physicians, as Dubois and Gendrin, gave it as their opinion, that the duke might have been murdered. The position of the body touching the floor with its toes; the ecchymosis just below the mark of the cord; the assertion, that from a previous injury to his right hand, his fingers were injured, while from a fracture of the collar bone, the left arm was so weakened that he could not raise it above his head; the state of his mind on the evening of his death; all were urged in favour of the probability of violence. The excoriations on the arms and legs might be equally the act of the murderer dragging the body to the place of suspension. To these presumptions Marc replies, that if murdered, the mark of the noose would have been more parallel with the lower jaw. It is hardly possible that assassins would have given it that direction on which they could apply least force. They would also select a cord or a rope in preference to a cravat or handkerchief, as producing the desired object much sooner. Beside, the mark did not extend around the ivhole neck. All these are difficulties, even supposing the prince was asleep, when strangled; but if awake, there must have been more striking marks of resistance. That 144 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. on the neck was evidently caused by the cord, and on the other parts, by striking against the chair or window. They were ob- long in form, and in each case on the front side. As to the state of the shoulder from fracture of the collar bone, Dr. Marc re- marks, that nothing was discovered to warrant this assertion. On the contrary, it was notorious the duke was an accomplished sportsman. That the position of the body is not inconsistent with the idea of voluntary suspension, is incontestably proved by several cases, either seen by himself or derived from other observers. In one, a man was found suspended to a cross rope going between two beams, by means of a cotton handkerchief. This was in a barn ; the feet were supported in a heap of grain, and the knees bent forward so much that they were but a few inches from the grain. In another, a prisoner was found hanging to the bar of a window, so low that he was nearly sitting on the ground, and he had pre- viously tied his hands together. In a third case, a prisoner hung himself in his cell, which was arched, and so low, that in the highest part, a man could not stand erect: yet he hung himself from the grating of the roof, and was found almost sitting down, with his legs stretched out before, and his hips within a foot and a half of the ground : in the fourth, a girl of the town suspended herself from the supporter of the little shelf in the cell. It was so low, that she was obliged to stretch her legs and rest, with one on her heel, and the other on her toes, in order to accomplish her purpose. Again, a female was found stretched at the foot of her bed, the body laying on the floor, and the head and shoul- ders supported by the cord attached to one of the posts of the bedstead.* In these cases, the probability is that pressure on the blood- * Besides these, which are only a portion of Marc's cases, others may be found in Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 11, p. 472. A boy in Connecticut, some years since, by way of euriosity hung himself in a similar way. There is also an additional in- stance quoted by Dr. Bell in his Eclectic Library, from the Archives Generates. A boy, on being reprimanded by his father, and ordered to his room, hung himself by a nail in the wall five feet two inches above the floor. The feet were four inches from the floor, resting on a piece of plank, and the knees only four inches above this plank. The face was pale, the lips livid, tongue swollen and protruded from the mouth. The mark of the band used (a cravat,) was unaccompanied by any sub- cutaneous or inter-muscular ecchymosis, but. the skin was red in front, and on the right side, there was abrasion of the epidermis. The brain was injected throughout. The cervical vertebroe were uninjured. Eclectic Library, p. 33. It is evident, that in many of these cases in consequence of their position, the mark of the cord must be horizontal. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 145 vessels produces very early a loss of sensation and nervous power, and the individual is deprived of ability to prevent, even if he were then desirous, the fatal catastrophe. As to the moral circumstances attending this case, Dr. Marc dwells much on the apprehension excited in the duke by some remarks made at the evening party, concerning the state of feel- ing in Paris against the exiled family. The fragments of a writ- ten paper were also collected on the hearth, in which he spoke of suicide. There is, however, a great contrariety of statement as to the deportment and state of mind of the deceased. A third opinion has gained ground, and certainly seems to me not at all improbable, and that is, that the death by suspension was owing to accident. The Duke was a veteran libertine; even at his advanced age, he had his mistress (the Baroness de Feucher) living in the palace with him. It is a known practice with persons of this description, to cause themselves to be half hanged in order to arouse their dormant generative powers, and several have lost their lives from not being taken down in time.* Is it not possible that this might have been the cause of death ?f Sarah M. Cornell, an operative (as the term now is) in one of the cotton mills at Fall River, Rhode Island, left her home on the evening of the 20th of December, 1832, in good health and spirits; and on the morning of the 21st, was found dead, sus- pended to a stake. Her cloak was hooked together nearly its whole length, only one hook being loosened about the centre of the chest. Her calash was on her head, and her hands gloved. Her shoes not on her feet, but stood about eighteen inches from the body, and there was a little mud on one of them. Her toes touched the ground, the heels being nearly perpendicular. The knees approached nearly to the ground, and the clothes were smoothed back as far as they would reach under her legs. The cord, which consisted of hemp, small in size, and taken twice round the neck, was attached to the stake about six inches from * Fatal cases are mentioned in the London Medical Gazette, vol. 9, p. 609 ; and Lancet, N. S. vol. 9> p. 49. t The authorities consulted in this case, are: Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 5, p. 156. Medico-Legal examination of the cause of the death of the Prince of Conde by Marc. —London Med. Gazette, vol. 9, p. 485, 608.—Albion newspaper of February 11, 1832. I have followed the narrative of Marc in this case, principally because it is the only one that I have been enabled to examine. The facts in favour of the idea of murder, are, however, well enumerated in the artiele last referred to, in the New York Albion newspaper. VOL. II. 13 146 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. its top. Its length, from its fastening on the stake, to the neck of the deceased, was short of six inches. Her calash was so far back on the right cheek, that the face rested against the stake, and in consequence was distinctly marked by the pressure. The cord was described by a witness who had followed the seas, as a clove hitch; two loops, one passing under, and the other over. And he also added, that it must be drawn at both ends horizon- tally in order to tighten it. The knot was at the right side. The countenance was pale ; and on dividing the cord, the strings of the calash were found under it. A deep horizontal in- dentation was found to extend exactly around the neck; and this was so marked, that the neck below it measured eleven and a half inches, while at the mark, its circumference was only ten and a half. It passed round the neck above the thyroid carti- lage, an inch and a quarter below the tip of the ears on both sides. When the head was erect, the mark was higher at the back of the neck than it was in front. The tongue protruded slightly. Several females, who prepared the body on the same day that it was found, for burial, deposed that there were marks as of the print of fingers passing upwards on the abdomen ; that there were bruises on the legs, but the worst one was on the back of the hip. There were scratches on the knees, with some dirt. One knee had the appearance of being stained with grass, and one witness (a female) indeed swears that she picked grass from it. The vagina was bloody, so that her linen was stained; the fasces evacuated and flattened. The right arm was raised up- wards, quite stiff, under the cloak. A coroner's jury was summoned. A physician who appeared before them, inclined to the idea of suicide, particularly as he PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 147 was aware of her pregnancy from previous consultation with him, and also by noticing the fulness of the abdomen. A verdict of suicide was accordingly brought in, and she was interred on the 22d, the same day on which her body had been found. Suspicions, however, arising, the body was taken up again on the 24th, and a further examination made by medical men. The indentation on the neck looked like parchment; the stomach was healthy; the lungs gorged with black blood ; the abdomen was livid and discoloured, but they do not speak of the marks of fin- ders. They observed, however, the scratches and bruises on the knees and legs, and the discoloration of the former as if by grass; the contusion above the hip was also noticed. At the same time the uterus was examined, and a foetus found; the os tineas was open and dark, but the rest of the uterus was healthy; the membranes were not ruptured.* A subsequent examination of the body was made on the 26th of January, but the facts elicited were of but little importance, as it is impossible, from the evidence, to discriminate between those which may be deemed the result of advancing putrefaction, or of injury during life. Such are, I believe, all the important circumstances that make up the medical testimony in this case. It remains to consider it in reference to the questions already proposed. Was the female suspended ichile living ? In answer to this, I would premise the remark that death was evidently caused by strangulation, using that word now in its most extensive sense. The absence of any other injury sufficient to account for it, the mark of the cord, the condition of the lungs, the faecal discharges, and the condition of the vagina, if we determine to explain that without the idea of an attempt at abortion, all unite to render this opinion probable, and indeed certain. But in agreeing to this, we have only approached to the difficult part of the subject. The horizontal mark extending all around the neck—the deep in- dentation it had made, combined with the position of the body, and the peculiar character of the cord, all render it doubtful whether hanging was the immediate agent. Add to this, the marks of injury on various parts of the body, which, at all events, are not incompatible with the idea of previous violence. Pro- * The facts relative to the foetus and its probable age, I have noticed in a previous chapter. Sec vol. 1, p. 268. 148 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. fessor Channing, whose able replies, during an examination of at least three hours, cannot be too much commended, in answer to the question, replied that he thought the mark might be horizon- tal, «if the body were nearly on the ground, and suspended from above. In such a case, the body falling forward, the mark of the cord on the back of the neck, or the side nearest the place from which the cord was suspended, would not be apparent at all. I knew (says he,) an instance of suicide of this kind; there was very little oblique pressure in that case; the mark was di- rectly across the windpipe, and but little appearance elsewhere." In further support of the idea of hanging during life, the ab- sence of two marks around the neck, the calmness of the counte- nance, the inability to discover any indications of struggling in the stack-yard, and the impossibility to strangle a person with a cord so near the ear, were urged.* On the other hand, the state of the clothes, the shortness of the cord, just long enough to go round the neck and fasten to the stake, the probability that the pressure of the body on it would have altered the mark from its horizontal position, to one tending upwards, were dwelt upon to establish the idea of murder. And in connexion with this, the idea has been advanced, that the marks of violence, and particularly those on the female organs, being indicative of a struggle, she may have been in a fainting fit, when strangled and suspended. The character of this female was decidedly bad. She had in- dulged in habits of incontinence for years, and was now preg- nant. So far her helpless and (if her charge as to the paternity wras false,) desperate condition, is favourable to the idea of sui- cide. Seduction, however, and murder too often follow each other.f I commenced the examination of this trial with strong preju- dices against the accused—prejudices, however, founded on a perusal of the testimony as published in our newspapers. After * On this trial, Dr. Channing testified that he had seen some fourteen cases of people hung, and in most of these, the countenance was pale. Dr. Dunn, of New- port, confirmed this from the observation of four cases. t I have examined the following pamphlets in stating this case: Report of the trial of E. K. Avery, for the murder of S. M. C, by Benjamin F. Hallet, Boston, 1833. A Report of the same, published by Marshall & Brown, Providence. Stric- tures on the case of E. K. Avery, by Aristides. Vindication of the result of the trial of E. K. Avery. A manuscript communication from Dr. Graves of Baltimore, has aided me, and also an Analysis of the case in Boston Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. 8, PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 149 a careful and deliberate review of all the facts, with reference to the present work, I will only say, in the language of Professor Walter Channing, (in a communication with which he was kind enough to favour me,) that " every point is surrounded with dif- ficulty." It is not by any means certain, from the medical testimony, and that alone I desire to consider, that Miss Cornell was mur- dered. Lastly, a man was found hanging to a cord which had been fastened to a nail in the ceiling of a room. There was in the anterior and upper part of the neck, a deep wound, and through this wound, the cord passed. A ladder was placed against the wall, near the body. Coagulated blood was observed on the cushion of the toilet table, the drawer of which had been left open. Bloody linen was also seen. In a room below stairs, the marks of a bloody hand were visible on the drawer of another table, which contained several bundles of small ropes. No blood could, however, be found on the stair-case between the two rooms. The door of the apartment in which the body was found, was locked in the inside, and the window closed. Drs. Degranges and Gergeres were required by the procureur du Roi, (King's attorney,) to examine whether this was a case of murder or suicide. The lock had been broken, in order to effect an entrance into the room. On entering it, blood was seen in many places, on various parts of the door, on a cushion, napkin, and handker- chief. There was not the slightest indication of a struggle. The body was clothed in its usual dress, although this was spotted with blood. Before the toilet table was a clot, weighing, as was supposed, about a pound. On undressing the body, no mark of external injury could be discovered. The fingers were contracted, and the nails blue. The depending parts were livid, as the loins, hams, and behind the neck. Faeces had been passed, and a furrow of blood, pro- ceeding from the wound, passed down the breast and abdomen. The countenance was slightly red, the eyelids closed, the tongue, brownish and hard, projected about an inch out of the mouth. The wound in the neck was found to extend from one angle of the jaw to the other. It seemed to have been made by several 13* 150 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. attempts, indicated by different angular shreds, which hung from the lips of the main wounds, and by several linear wounds which onlv divided the skin. The main incision passed through the mus- cular mass under the jaw, and penetrated the pharynx. The rope, on the right side had torn open the end of the wound about an inch. This was manifest from its ragged state, compared with the clean cut of the other part. Beyond the wound, were two furrows, in which the skin was brownish, hardened, and as if burnt, and below them, was a slight extravasation of blood into the cellular tissue. The two furrows extended circularly, from below upwards to the mastoid apophysis, and arriving at the pos- terior part of the head, united into one at the occipital bump. Throughout their extent, they were surrounded by the soft parts in a swollen and engorged state. On dissection, the sinuses of the dura mater, and the vessels of the brain were found engorged, but there was no luxation of the cervical vertebra?. The stomach was healthy, as was every other part. The only artery wounded, was the right superior thyroid, with some small branches. The opinion of the physicians was in favour of suicide. The circumstances, however, to a person unacquainted with medico-legal facts were very suspicious. To be able, after such a wound, to fix a ladder, to mount it, to attach a cord to the ceiling, &c, certainly appeared improbable, and hence the idea of murder readily arose. But the individual had been dejected for some time, there had no noise been heard, the room was locked on the inside, the window closed in the same manner, the room, as well as his clothes were in perfect order, and no marks of violence appeared on the body. It was further manifest, that death had not been caused by the haemorrhage. It had however modified the signs of death by strangulation. The ecchymosis under the furrow is ascribed to the length of time during which the body had been suspended, probably seven or eight hours. The cord must have been passed below the thy- roid cartilage, as the wound was directly over it, and this ex- plains why the tongue protruded so little. It is further suggested, that the suicide probably placed the handkerchief found at the foot of the ladder, on the wound, to staunch the blood, at the mo- ment of his ascending.* * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 14, p. 410, from the Bordeaux Medical Journal. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 151 After these sheets were sent to the printer, I received the tenth number of the British and Foreign Medical Review, containing a notice of the Experiments and Observations of Dr. Casper, (of Berlin) on hanging. A brief abstract will, I doubt riot, be acceptable to the reader. The principal object of these experiments was to determine whether any evidence of hanging during life could be obtained from the impression by the cord on the neck The result was in correspondence with that obtained by Orfila, viz: that ecchymo- sis is far from being a common occurrence,and of course as a consequence, its non- production is not to be deemed as a proof of hanging after death. The following case was communicated to the author by Dr. Hinze of Waldenburg, in 1826. A young man, in a fit of drunkenness hung himself with a stout cord. He was cut down in half an hour and efforts were made to revive him. The cord had merely produced a superficial mark on the neck, without any appearance of ecchymosis. Signs of returning animation having manifested themselves, the medical attendants continued their efforts for several hours, but without success. At this period, how- ever, when life was about to become again extinct, the mark on the neck became deeply ecchymosed and this condition was verified the next day on dissection. Death was owing to sanguineous apoplexy, Dr. Casper performed eight experiments on the dead human subject. In the first, a man, an hour after death from typhus, was suspended by a double cord passed above the larynx. In about 24 hours, the body was cut down and examined. Around the neck between the larynx and os hyoides was a double parallel mark about three lines deep, of a brown colour with a slight tinge of blue. There were traces of cada- verous ecchymosis about the body. The whole appearance was such that any indi- vidual not acquainted with the circumstances, would have supposed that the deceased had been hanged while living. Some spots on the right side of the neck were strong- ly coloured. The skin of this part was hard like leather, and in patches slightly excoriated. There was no extravasation of blood in the cellular texture, but the muscles of the neck beneath were of a deep violet colour. The large vessels of the neck were not congested. In the two next cases—a young man aged 23, suspended an hour after death from phthisis—and a man aged 70, two hours after death from dropsy, each by a double cord, and the bodies examined on the following day, the appearances were similar. There was a double depression around the neck, and of a yellowish brown colour without ecchymosis. The cutis was as if burnt and like parchment, both when felt and cut. There was no blood extravasated in the cellular tissue beneath. Again, thirteen hours after death, a cord was drawn very tightly around the neck and above the larynx of a man dead from apoplexy. Six hours afterwards, a soft impression easily removed by pressure was perceptible on the con- stricted part. There was no colour, nor was there any change whatever in the skin.—Scarcely any impression was made on the neck of a female with a double cord applied six hours after death and examined the next morning. In two suc- ceeding experiments, the double cord applied as before, twenty-four hours after death left aslight double depression, but there was no alteration of colour, nor any change in the skin either on the surface or beneath. Lastly, a small cord was tightly drawn and secured around the neck of a child, a year and a half old, the day after death. Twenty-four hours afterwards, it was found that a small bluish-coloured mark had been produced by the constriction. This mark although very superficial was still visible enough to strike the eye. There was no trace of extravasated blood on cut- ting into it. It thus appears that when suspension is made within two hours after death, the 152 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. appearance of the skin will be similar to what occurs when persons are hung alive, but not at the end of six hours. The result in the intermediate period has not yet been determined. Dr. Casper has collected, principally from various medico-legal reports, a statisti- cal account of 106 cases of hanging, 77 males and 29 females. The means of sus- pension were, a cord in 51 cases ; handkerchiefs, bandages, stockings, in 25 ; un- known, 30. In sixteen cases out of nineteen, it was found that the use of a handker- chief did not prevent the formation of a visible mark around the neck, and on the whole the author thinks that the article used for suspension has but little influence on the local changes produced. This however is doubted by his English commenta- tor, who suggests that a hard ligature like a cord is more likely to produce ecchy- mosis and excoriation, as well as to leave a more visible depression on the neck, than a soft material like a cravat or handkerchief. The exact site of the ligature is also deemed of little consequence either in respect to the formation of a mark by the cord, or to the manner in which death takes place, i. e., whether by apoplexy or by asphyxia. In regard to the position of the ligature, it was found to be between the os hyoides and larynx in 59. On the larynx or thy- roid cartilage in 9. Position undetermined in 38. The local changes in the mark itself were as follows: Accompanied by ecchymosis and subcutaneous extravasa- tion, 21. Of a yellow colour, without ecchymosis or extravasation, 50. Unknown, 35. Thus out of 71 cases of hanging during life, only 21 were accompanied with true ecchymosis in the depression produced by the cord, or in the ratio of two to seven. The white or colourless depressions were mostly met with in fat subjects. The time during which the ligature remained around the neck of the individual hung, was observed to make no difference as to the production or nonproduction of ecchy- mosis by it. When it was removed sooner or later after death, ecchymosis was sometimes found and at other times not. In the 106 cases, death took place from apoplexy in 9, suffocation 14, both condi- tions 62, neither 5, unknown or unexamined 16. The mark was not ecchymosed as well when the vessels of the brain were empty, as when they were congested. And in no instance of the apoplectic cases was blood effused on the brain; there was merely more or less congestion in the sinuses and vessels. This then should be understood as the meaning of the term apoplexy in these cases. It is caused by an obstruction to the circulation in the brain, and on this depends the lividity of the countenance, for when the circulation of blood is impeded in the chest before the cerebral obstruction takes place, the face of the hanged per- son will not be livid. In some instances, Casper found it extremely pale. Out of 77 cases, the emission of semen or rather of the liquor prostaticus occurred in nineteen. Evacuation of the faeces in four cases out of 106. Casper found a vas- cular and congested state of the female organs of generation but once in twenty-nine cases. Erection of the penis probably occurs frequently, but the examination should be made soon. In nine cases mentioned by Guyon, traces of this erectile state were perceived an hour after death. The inferences drawn from the above facts and experiments need hardly to be re- capitulated. The most important is, that the mark produced by the ligature is not to be depended on as an evidence of hanging during life. It may be produced a short time after death. Dr. Casper applied this to the case of a female accused of infanti- cide. The child had evidently respired, and the medical examiners ascribed its death to strangulation, by the band of straw found around its neck. The depressions caused PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 153 by each straw were whiter than the rest of the surrounding skin, and the little folds or elevations of skin between the straws were red. On cutting into these red spots, it was found that in some of them the discoloration was owing to true ecchymosis in the cutis. The female was found guilty and sentenced to be whipped and confined for life. Dr. Casper, however, whose opinion was called for, on an appeal from the sentence, declared that it could not be positively assumed, that the child was living when the ligature was placed around the neck. This might have been done within the hour after death. In consequence of this declaration, a mitigation of punishment followed. I agree, however, with the gentleman commenting on this case, that this is wresting the case altogether from the jury. It is at best, stretching the result of our author's experiments to, if not beyond their legitimate limits, since in the sub- jects hung within an hour after death, there was no semblance of ecchymosis. Two cases are mentioned as occurring to Dr. Casper, where hanging was resorted to by a murderer in order to conceal his crime. One was of a boy found hanging. A round ecchymosed mark of the size of a shilling was seen on the larynx, with se- veral impressions on the surrounding skin. There was neither depression nor ecchy- mosis in the course of the cord around the neck. The boy had been first strangled, and afterwards hung. In the second case, a man aged sixty was found suspended to a hook in the door, so that the nates were only nine inches from the floor, and his legs were stretched out at full length. The cord by which he was suspended, was from two to three feet long, and was loosely passed around his neck. The furniture of the room was in great disorder. Some marks of dried blood were seen on one part of the floor. The right side of the head and face of the deceased was in several parts ecchymosed and excoriated. A circular impression had been produced in the neck by the cord, but there was no extravasation beneath. A little above this, was a strongly ecchy- mosed mark extending round about one half of the neck to the occiput. In the skin beneath this, blood was found extravasated. The medical opinion given was, that the deceased had been murdered previous to suspension, and evidence subsequently produced confirmed this. (British and Foreign Medical Review, vol. 5, p. 615.) H. Of persons found strangled. I have already, in the previous section, indicated the difference between this species of murder and hanging, and indeed were it not for the sake of regularity, they might be considered together. The following distinctions are, however, to be noticed. In strangulation, strictly considered, the distinction consists in the murdered not being suspended. It is a more common, and probably a more violent mode of murder than hanging, and we should therefore expect that the mark of the cord, ligature, or whatever may be used, would be more distinct. The diversity that occurs in the external appearance is to be explained in a similar manner as those seen from hanging. The instrument of murder "varies considerably, from a cord to the application of the hands. The simplest form is probably the bow-string, as practised by the Turks. Here the ligature is 154 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. applied round the neck and drawn so tight as to interrupt at once the alternate entrance and exit of air by the wind-pipe.* But in ordinary cases, death is not so rapidly produced. There is more or less of struggling; and I apprehend that in by far the greater number of cases, suffusion and distortion of the face will be seen —depending, however, on the length of the conflict. It may also be, if the cord is removed some time previous to the inspection of the body, that the lividity of the face and other signs of turgescence about the head may have gone olf from the fluidity of the blood, and the position of the head. The mark of the ligature will generally form a horizontal dis- coloured circle round the neck and towards the lower part. The dislocation of the vertebrae is not to be expected, though there may be fractures of their processes, and in all probability, injury to the cartilages of the larynx.f The appearances on dissection will not vary materially from those stated in the previous section, except that in cases of manual strangulation, they will not be so distinct, since the im- perfect closure of the wind-pipe has allowed respiration and cir- culation to go on for a longer time.J The same questions are to be considered here as in the former section. Was the deceased actually strangled, or was the rope fas- tened around his neck after he was dead ? There are instances on record, where injuries have been inflicted on bodies strangled, to avert suspicion of the true manner in which they were killed. I commence with one, which, even at the distance of a century and a half is still a vexed case. It acquired an importance from its connexion with the distracted state of England on religious subjects, in the reign of Charles II., and the supposed murder was attributed to the agency of the Catholics. I discard this idea altogether. The Popish Plot was engendered in fraud, and no eredence can with justice be given to any of its perjured inventors. I will state the case simply as it comes down to us, from the narrative of eye-witnesses of the testimony and respon- sible observers. Sir Edmundbury Godfrey, an eminent magistrate in London, was, on the 12th of October, 1677. found dead in a ditch, nearly a mile out of town. His sword was thrust through him, but * Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 39, p. 396. t Smith, n. 224. X Beatty ut antea, p. 333. v PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 155 there was no blood on his clothes or about him. His shoes were clean. His money in his pocket. His neck, which was open, without any thing on it, had a mark all round, an inch broad. It was also dislocated. The breast was marked with bruises. This is the statement of Bishop Burnet, who went to see the body. Subsequently, several individuals were tried in the court of King's Bench, for publishing letters importing that Sir E. God- frey had murdered himself. Though a case of libel, they en- deavoured to defend themselves by calling witnesses to prove the truth of the fact, and this the chief justice (Pemberton) allowed to the fullest extent. The medical testimony is as fol- lows. Two wounds were found on the body, within an inch and a half of one another. One went no farther than the bone. having struck on a rib, and the other through his back. When the sword was drawn out, blood followed. The neck was very flexible. The face was bloated, and the eyes bloodshot. The upper part of the breast was much discoloured. And Mr. Lazin- by, a surgeon, deposed to the marks on the neck as being very distinct, with a swelling above and below them. It is urged in opposition to these striking facts, that Sir E. Godfrey was of a melancholy temperament, and laboured under a great depression of spirits ; that he probably destroyed himself under the operation of this feeling, and that the mark around the neck might be owing to the tightness of the collar.* Philip Standsfield was tried and found guilty, in 1688, of the murder of his father, Sir James Standsfield, of New Milns, in Scot- land. This atrocious parricide appears to have been a man of vicious and debauched habits, and on extremely ill terms with his parent. He cursed him, and repeatedly swore that he would * Hargrave's State Trials, vol. 2, p. 759 to 791 ; vol. 3, p. 505 to 518. Burnet, vol. 2, p. 42. Smith, p. 225. Hallam's Constitutional History of England, American edition, vol. 2, p. 574. Edinburgh Review, vol. 53, p. 39. Compare with these Lingard's History of England. The Reviewer in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgi- cal Journal, vol. 22, p. 191, observes that the proof of strangling in this case is quite inconclusive, and animadverts with perfect justice on my introduction of the testi- mony of Oates's gang. In the present narrative, I have omitted this altogether, but I am still inclined to consider the case as one of strangling. See Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 1, p. 34. " Indeed, we must say that after having read and weighed all the evidence now extant on that mysterious subject, we incline to the opinion that he (Godfrey,) was assassinated." Edinburgh Review, vol. 61, p. 159, Amer. edit. 156 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. take his life. The father was murdered by strangulation in his bed-chamber, at the dead of night, and the body was afterwards taken, and carried to some water hard by. In the morning it was discovered lying on the top of the water, which was only five feet deep, and not a running stream, and although Philip was desired to delay the funeral, yet he caused it to be immedi- ately interred. Suspicions were, however, excited, concerning the cause of death, and two surgeons were sent for from Edin- burgh, by order of Sir John Dairymple, the King's advocate, to examine the body. They (James Murehead and James Crau- furd,) had it dug up, and on inspection, found the following ap- pearances, which I shall give in their own words. " Having, with all possible exactness, viewed the corpse, we observed the face a little swelled, and inclining to a dark reddish colour, some fullness of some capillarie veins in the pallat of the mouth to- wards the uvula, as also a large and conspicuous swelling, about three inches broad, of a dark red or blue colour, from one side of the larynx round backwards to the other side thereof; we observed the jugular veins on both sides the neck very large and distended, and full of blood; there was a large swelling under and betwixt the chin and cartilago scutiformis; there was also a little scratch below the left mandibula, which had rankled the cuticula, and made some little impression on the cutis. Having made incisions from the chin down about the larynx, and cross upon the swelling of the neck, we found a greater laxness and distance, (as we think) than ordinary, betwixt the cartilago scu- tiformis and os hyoides; we found the tumour on the neck con- taining bruises, like dark or blackish blood ; the jugular, when cut, bled considerably, especially that on the left side. " Having opened his breast, we found the lungs distended to the filling up of their capacities, but free of water; his stomach, liver, &c. were all in good condition; we found no water within the corpse; the corpse had no smell at all; the breast, belly, privy parts, &c. were all well coloured; there was no swelling in his belly, nor any thing but ordinary to be seen on his head." This report was submitted to the deaconry of surgeons at Ed- inburgh, and they state, " that though it is not usual to declare more than matter of fact," yet they, in obedience to his lordship's commands and inquiry, whether these symptoms import drown- ing or strangling, reply, that they indicate external violence, and PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 157 such as could not be caused by drowning simply. On that part of the report, which details the appearances found on opening the breast and stomach, they observe that a body, when drowned, is generally found to have much water in it. As this was not pre- sent in the deceased, as the lungs were distended, but free from water, and as the other circumstances mentioned in the report, indicated violence, they decided that there were just grounds to think that he was not drowned. The college of physicians were also consulted, and answered that there was sufficient reason to believe that Sir James had been strangled, and not drowned. Spurway, a person present at the dissection, proved that when surgeon Murehead was moving the cap from the head, the eyes opened, and the eyelids were much swollen and very red. The defence set up was, that Sir James had drowned himself, and in reply to the argument that no water was found in the body, it was urged, that when a man commits suicide in this way, he will keep his breath, and thus prevent the ingress of the water. Various conjectures were also advanced in the plead- ings to account for the swelling of the neck, but did not prove satisfactory, and the parricide was with great justice condemned and executed.* I shall adduce another case, to show the facility with which a person may be murdered in this manner. Dr. Clench, a physi- cian in London, was called out of bed by two persons, on the night of the 4th of January, 1692, who desired him to visit a friend who was not well. He entered a hackney coach with them, and drove about several streets in the city for an hour and a quarter. The two individuals then left the coach, and sent the driver on an errand. When the coachman returned, he found Dr. Clench sitting on the bottom of the coach, against the front seat, with his head against the cushion. Thinking him in liquor, he shook him, but obtained no answer. He then called the watch, and they found him strangled by a handkerchief in which * Hargrave's State Trials, vol. 4, p. 283. In Mr. Lockhart's Life of Sir Walter Scott, (vol. 1, p. 151, Amer. Edit.) 1 find a remark of Sir Walter on this case. "It was believed at the time (he says) that Lady Standsfield had a hand in the assassination, or was at least privy to her son's plans, but I see nothing inconsistent with (he old gentleman's having committed suicide. The conviction appears very doubtful indeed." I bow with due reverence to such an authority, but I cannot avoid adding that the marks of violence were somewhat unequivocal. VOL. II. 14 158 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. a coal had been placed, and then the coal applied directly over the windpipe.* The coachman had heard no noise while driving the carriage.f It must, however, not be forgotten that strangulation is some- times effected by other means, than a cord, ligature or handker- chief. It may be performed by the hand, and in this instance, instead of a circle round the neck, the discoloration will be par- tial, the bruises will be of an indistinct form, or the positive marks of fingers may be traced.J In 1763, a man named Beddingfield, was murdered in England, and the charge was laid against his wife and man servant. The medical testimony was very unsatisfactory, as no dissection had taken place, but it was proved, that there were marks about the neck resembling those of fingers. A contradictory account was, however, given of the number; one surgeon said a thumb and three fingers, the other, a thumb and four fingers, while another evidence, who also saw the marks at the inquest, spoke of two only, " which looked as if the blood was set in the skin." The defence was, that the deceased had fallen out of bed, in a fit of apoplexy, and was found lying on the floor on his face, with one hand round his neck. I am far from thinking that this could have been mistaken, if a proper examination had been made. The discrepancies in the testimony, and the omission of dissection, might, however, have led to subsequent doubts, had not one of the condemned persons confessed that he had strangled Beddingfield, by seizing his throat with his left hand, while asleep, and that though the deceased struggled violently and made some noise, yet he soon accom- plished his purpose.^ Sir John Dinely Goodere, in 1741, was forced by violence on * " There are a caste of robbers in Upper India, who strangle their victims by means of a cummerhand, (a long piece of cloth worn round the waist,) in which a knot is cast, and thus, from the softness of the cloth, leaves little or no mark ; they generally throw the body into a tank or well, and putridity in that country advances so rapidly, that in 24, or at most 48 hours after death, nothing can be found by which the cause of death could be traced." Dunlop. Dr. Dunlop probably refers to the Thugs, a fraternity of murderers by profession. An account of them is given in the 64th vol. of the Edinburgh Review t Hargrave's State Trials, vol. 4, p. 495. * These marks are occasionally very slight. A young officer was strangled in his bed by a soldier. The surgeon of the regiment could only find one small spot, which the murderer afterwards confessed he had produced by violent pressure with his thumb. Metzger, p. 379. § Smith on Medical Evidence, p. 290. Paris, vol. 3, p. 30. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 159 board the Ruby ship of war, commanded by his brother, Capt. Goodere, and lying in the port of Bristol. In the night he was strangled by two assassins in the employ of his brother. One of them confessed, that the other fell on Sir John, as he lay in bed, took hold of his throat with his hand, (his stock being on,) and so strangled him with his stock. They then put a rope with a noose in it, round his neck and drew it tight, to insure the cer- tainty of the murder. In accordance with this, Mr. Dudgeon, the surgeon's mate, of the Ruby, swore, that there were some marks on his neck, which looked like the scratching of nails, while blood came out of his nose and mouth.* " On opening the bodies of those who are murdered by manual strangulation, the usual appearances of this kind of death may not seem so conclusive as in other cases, from the person making continued resistance, and the functions of respiration and circu- lation going on in some measure for a longer period than when they are interrupted at once, as in the instance of drowning or the effectual application of a cord."f In the case of a woman who had been strangled per manum by two men, Littre found the tympanum of the left ear lacerated, and from it flowed about an ounce of blood; the vessels of the brain were unusually turgid; red blood was extravasated in the ventricles, and also on the base of the cranium; the lungs were greatly distended, and their membrane very vascular. Not more than an ounce of blood, however, was contained in the right ven- tricle of the heart, and it was fluid and frothy, like that of the lungs.;}; In a case of murder by manual strangulation, detected with great skill by Dr. Paris, patches of extravasated blood were seen on the throat, with abrasions, corresponding to the nails. On the chest, also, bruises were noticed. On dissection, the brain was found excessively turgid with blood, but all the other organs were healthy. The murderer, previous to execution, confessed that he had strangled his victim with a pocket handkerchief, but from the difficulty of completing it, he was compelled to press his knees upon the chest.§ John Nuttal was convicted of the murder of his pregnant mis- * Hargrave's State Trials, vol. 6, p. 816, 831. It is insinuated that Capt. Goodere was insane. See Croker's Boswell, vol. 1, p. 332. t Smith, p. 229. t Fodere, vol. 3, p. 139. § Paris, vol. 3, p. 29. 160 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. tress, at Lancaster, (England,) in 1817. She was found dead in a well; there were bruises on the forehead, chin, knees and arms. On the neck there were marks of four nails, one under the right ear, and another under the left jaw, and they had penetrated very deep, and were very distinct; connected with the nail marks, were those of fingers. The brain exhibited an effusion of blood; the dura mater was turgid; the vessels of the pia mater were, in many places, ruptured. The lungs were shrunk or collapsed, and there was no water in them or the stomach. There was a great accumulation of blood in the heart.* Mrs. Getter was strangled, near Easton, (Pennsylvania,) on the night of the 27th of February, 1833, by her husband. She was strong and robust, with a short thick neck, and a broad ex- panded chest. The next day, an examination was made. The countenance was full and bloated: the lips tumid, and of a dark bluish tint; the tongue slightly livid, but did not project beyond the teeth; the mouth was filled with froth, and the vessels of its lining membrane greatly distended ; the jaws nearly closed; the eyes prominent and half open, and turgid; the ears and temples of a dark colour, owing to engorgement of the veins. On the right side of the throat was an indentation, as if made by a thumb or finger nail; it extended into the true skin, and was about half an inch long, and the twelfth of an inch in width. There was also an abrasion of the upper part of the larynx. On dissection, the veins of the neck bled very profusely; both carotids were empty. Beneath the muscles on the left side of the neck, towards the upper part of the larynx, was a slight extrava- sation of blood, corresponding to the external mark. The wind- pipe was filled with frothy matter, and its lining membrane thoroughly injected; the diaphragm was arched; the lungs of a deep black colour, and filled with dark venous blood mixed with froth; the auricles and ventricles of both sides were filled with black blood, and the coronary vessels were much injected; the bladder was empty and contracted. All the other parts were healthy. The brain was not examined. Regretting this omission, Dr. Gross was induced to perform some experiments on animals, for the purpose of ascertaining its state. Dogs and rabbits were * Remarkable Trials, vol. 6, p. 241. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 161 the subjects, and they were strangled by the hand. In the for- mer, the urine and faeces were discharged almost immediately after pressure was made. The external appearances corre- sponded to those observed in the human subject. The blood-ves- sels were in a similar state, but the lining membrane of the air- passages was white in two cases out of three. The lungs were not in every instance congested, but the heart was distended in each case. In the brain, the vessels of the dura or pia mater were injected; the cerebral substance was darker than usual; and in one instance, there was a slight extravasation of blood at the base of the brain, and an injected state of the membranes of the spinal column. In no case was there any blood in the ven- tricles of the brain, or any extraordinary congestion of its ves- sels.* Mr. Watson gives us a case of a wife, murdered by her hus- band. There was discoloration and swelling of the front part of the throat, and on examination, it was found to contain extra- vasated blood. This ecchymosis extended from the lower jaw about three inches downwards, on each side of the trachea, and it also existed in the substance of the left side of the thyroid gland. The membrane lining the trachea was redder on one side than on the other for more than three inches. The lungs were dark-coloured and much congested. The heart was empty. All the other viscera were healthy.f I will only add the following from Devergie. On the 25th of January, 1831, Mrs. Duval was found dead in her chamber. There was an enormous wound of the throat in front, dividing all the parts down to the vertebras, but the carotids and jugulars were uninjured. The superior thyroid artery had, however, been divided, and it was evident during life, since coagulated blood, in the form of jets was largely deposited on the adjacent parts. On further examination, the following additional lesions were dis- covered—a fracture of the left lateral bone of the os hyoides—a transverse section of the thyroid cartilage with a vertical fracture of its left portion, and a double fracture of the anterior part of * Dr. Gross in Western Journal Med. and Physical Sciences, vol. 9, p. 25. Dr. Gross very properly cautions the medical examiner not to mistake the effects of apoplexy, hysteria, epilepsy or intoxication, for those of manual strangulation. In each of the above diseases, persons suddenly seized with fatal symptoms, may, in their agony, apply their hands to the throat, and thus produce marks on it. The nature of the case, however, will generally explain these, if a cautious inspection be made, t Watson on Homicide, p. 1SJ9, 14* 162 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. the cricoid cartilage. There were some slight contusions on the body. The internal organs were healthy, the right side of the heart was empty, and the left gorged with blood. Now here was a case, which at first might appear to be suici- dal, yet it was impossible but that the injuries in question, must have been inflicted previous to cutting the throat, and the medi- cal examiners accordingly gave it as their opinion, that manual strangulation had been first attempted, and then the murder was completed with a cutting instrument.* As to the question, Whether the strangulation is the effect of suicide, homicide or accident ? it may be observed, that it would appear extremely difficult for a person to destroy himself in this way, since the hands lose their strength the moment compression begins. Cases, however, are so numerous, where the object has been completed, and where no reasonable doubt can exist as to the cause, that we cannot deny its possibility. All marks of vio- lence are, however, of course, proofs of homicide; and the circu- lar mark itself is prima facie evidence, unless contradicted by sufficient testimony. As illustrations of the remark just made, I may mention several well authenticated cases. The following were communicated by Dr. Desgranges of Lyons, to Fodere, in 1811 : A man was found in a hay-loft, strangled by a handkerchief, which had been tight- ened with a stick. The judicial tribunal consulted the Society of Medicine, whether this was a case of possible suicide. The Society replied, that it was possible; and Dr. Desgranges ob- serves, that in a person who is firmly determined to destroy himself, it might be accomplished by producing several rapid revolutions of the stick, and in this way tightening the handker- chief effectually. In another case, an old man in the hospital used the handle of a pot as the instrument for tightening the ligature. He was found lying on the bed, with his face turned to the mattress; the chin was cut by the pieces of the pot; the head was dark-coloured, the face swelled, the lips thickened, and a sanguineous saliva issued from the mouth.f * Devergie, vol. 2, p. 169. t Fodere, vol. 3, p. 173: "A navy surgeon, a friend of mine, related to me the case of a Malay, who, on board of a man-of-war in the East Indies, had made repeated attempts to commit suicide, and at last succeeded by the means alluded to in the text. He tied a hand- PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 163 In 1834, an insane female strangled herself at the Hotel Dieu, by tying a handkerchief round her neck from behind forwards, and taking a knot, and then returning it and making a second one. She was seen alive in her ward an hour previous, and was found inanimate, with her head hanging out of the bed. The eyes were much injected; the mark of the ligature was deep, ecchymosed, and partially excoriated. What adds to the interest of this case, is the fact that the right hand wanted four of its fingers. It is well asked, whether the presumption would not have been almost irresistible of murder, if this female had been thus found in a solitary place, instead of the open, frequented ward of an hospital 1 Dupuytren, in remarking on it, observes, that in these cases, strong proofs are often derived from the pos- ture and features of the deceased.* All who are acquainted with the eventful history of Bonaparte, and who is not 1 must recollect the sudden death of General Pichegru. This distinguished soldier was confined as a state prisoner in the Temple. On the 5th of April, 1804, he was as well as usual, and at ten o'clock in the evening the keeper locked the door of his prison and took the key. The General was heard to cough during the night, but at seven o'clock, when they came to light the fire, he was found dead on his bed. A commission was appointed to examine the body, among whom were several medical men. They found, twelve hours after death, a circular mark around his neck about two fingers wide, produced by a black silk cravat strongly knotted, and through which a small stick had been passed. This stick was used as a tourniquet to produce the strangulation. They also remarked that one end of the stick lay under the left cheek, where, by an irregular motion of the body it had caused a slight scratch. The face was ecchy- mosed, the jaws .fixed, and the tongue held between the teeth. The body was swollen, the extremities cold, and the muscles of the hands and feet strongly contracted. From these observations, and taking into view the position of the body, they were of opinion that General Pichegru had strangled himself. kerchief round his neck, and with a small stick, twisted it several times, and then secured it behind his ear to prevent its untwisting. Jealousy was the cause assigned for the act." Du.nlop. * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 10, p. 152. London Medical Gazette, vol. 12, p. 126. Similar cases are related in Annales, vol. 8, p. 429 ; London Medical Repository, vol 28, p. 317. 164 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. The next day a medical dissection was ordered. The dura mater was injected and slightly adherent. The blood-vessels of the brain filled with blood. The other portions were healthy. So also were the viscera, except that the lungs were gorged and the stomach reddish. The oesophagus was healthy except at the mark of the handkerchief. The examiners repeated their opinion of its being a case of suicide. Chaussier very justly condemns the palpable deficiencies in these reports. The appearance of the eyes is not noticed, nor the position and attitude of the body. We are not informed at what part of the neck the mark was, whether the inferior or the superior, or how deep, or of what colour. As to the dissection, it is superficial, notices points which are of no importance, and slurs over the most important subject of inquiry, viz: the state of the neck. I apprehend that no one can read this statement, and it con- tains all the medical facts we have on this historical case, with- out inclining to agree with Chaussier, that although the medical witnesses might be justified in declaring it a case of strangula- tion, they had no grounds for pronouncing it suicide. Still this is within the range of possibility, if we credit the narratives already given.* There is another class of cases that may be mistaken for either suicidal or homicidal strangulation, and these lead to grievous * Chaussier, p. 279. I subjoin the statement given by one, who, if Pichegru was 1 murdered, might probably have directed the commission of the crime. "He was ying, (says S a vary, Duke of Rovigo, in his memoirs) on his right side ; he had put round his neck his own black silk cravat, which he had previously twisted like a small rope ; this must have occupied him so long as to afford time for reflection, had he not been resolutely bent on self-destruction. He appeared to have tied the cra- vat, thus twisted, about his neck, and to have at first drawn it as tight as he could bear it; then to have taken a piece of wood of the length of a finger, which he had broken from a branch which yet lay in the room, (part of a fagot, the relics of which were still in his fire-place;) this he must have slipped between his neck and his cra- vat, on the right side, and turned round till the moment that reason forsook him. His head had fallen back on the pillow, and compressed the little bit of stick which had prevented the cravat from untwisting. In this situation, apoplexy could not fail to supervene. His hand was still under his head, and almost touched this little tourniquet." 41 No human eye (says Sir Walter Scott,) could see into the dark recesses of a state prison ; but there were not wanting many who entertained a total disbelief of Piche- gru's suicide." The defective state of the reports, and the evident reluctance of the medical men to pursue the investigation, appear to me most mysterious, if this was a case of suicide. Under other circumstnnces, French medico-legal examiners rather err in the opposite extreme—in being too diffuse and minute. Bonaparte, however, when at St. Helena, steadily denied that Pichegru had been murdered. " The very uncom- mon mode of his death (he said) proved the contrary," PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 165 mistakes. I refer to instances of apoplexy, occurring in unusual positions of the body, where a strong pressure is necessarily ex- erted on the neck, and phenomena of strangling indeed, both external and internal, are more or less developed. Several well ascertained cases of this description, where no doubt could exist as to the cause, are mentioned in the journals ;* others again have been made the subject of legal investigation. In a recent instance in France, two individuals were sent to the galleys for the supposed murder of an intoxicated person by strangling; nor was it until after a long revision of the case, and the production of the positive opinion of Fodere, Marc and others, that the case presented not a single feature beyond that of ordinary apoplexy, that the sentence was reversed. The physicians who examined the body, and who deposed on the trial, gave a similar opinion ; yet popular prejudice was sufficient to condemn the accused.f A somewhat similar case happened some years since in New York. Frederick L. Teige, a man advanced in years, and who, a few weeks previous, had arrived in this country from Switzerland, was found dead in New York, on the morning of Saturday the 28th May, 1825. He lay in a gutter on his face, and underneath his face, which did not touch the earth, in consequence of the narrowness of the gutter, was a puddle of congealed blood, ex- tending from ten to fourteen inches. On raising the body, fresh blood was observed on the nose and face, and indeed some dropped from the face, while in the act of lifting him. The right hand lay upon his back, and the right foot was drawn up. The body lay at the foot of a declivity of about twelve feet, and the bank was composed of very loose sand. No marks of struggling, * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 2, p. 440, 447. t Ibid. vol. 7, p. 568, 615. The deceased individual when last seen was extremely intoxicated. His body was found stiffened, but still so warm, that many disbelieved that life was extinct. The face was downwards, reclining on the breast, and the trunk and inferior ex- tremities rested on the end of the toes and the right knee. It appeared, indeed, says one of the medical counsel, as if the deceased, finding his inability to return to the erect posture, had forced himself backwards and upwards on all fours, and in this position was struck with apoplexy. The absence of all marks of violence, the very early period at which the body was discovered, and the presence of spasmodic rigi- dity, (see page 32 of this volume,) all render it probable, the cause of death was accidental. Another case, in which the presence of spasmodic rigidity was insisted on, in order to relieve the prisoner from the charge of murder, is that of Robert Reid, of Edinburgh. The medico-legal examination was evidently very imperfect and this of course led to great diversity of opinion. The details are given in Watson on Homicide, pages 70, 266. And the remarks of the late Dr. Fletcher on the trial are published in Ryan's London Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 8, p. 65. 166 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. such as breaking away the sand were noticed, and there was no sand on his back. His hat lay somewhat on the hillock, and there were marks of five or six steps on the bank, of one person. The coroner stated that around the neck of the deceased, and between his vest and shirt, there was a loose green cord. The neck cloth was very tight, as also the shirt-collar—so tight in- deed that the witness could scarcely introduce his finger between the neck and collar, and after unbuttoning it, he could not have buttoned it again. None of the clothes were torn, nor was the cravat out of place. On the neck, the marks of a thumb and three fingers were visible, but he could not say whether they were of the right hand or the left hand. Dr. Graves, who examined the body in the first instance, stated that there was a slight wound on the left temple, and an abrasion of the skin on the top of the nose, while on the right side of the head, the skin was rubbed off to the extent of a dollar. The skin was also rubbed on the right and left side of the throat. On removing the skullcap, a large quantity of serum was disco- vered. Drs. Francis and Anderson, who subsequently made an exami- nation, found the countenance very turgid, the eyes protruded, the tongue pressed firmly against the teeth, and on the neck a strong mark, distinctly visible, and nearly as low down as the collar of the shirt. The jugulars were distended and the neck swollen. The right side of the heart was engorged, and also the lungs. The larynx, in its internal surface, was discoloured, owing to the effusion of blood. No marks of injury appeared on the body. It was proved on the trial, that the deceased was a stout, ath- letic man, of a large neck and full frame; that he had been for years in habits of gross intoxication; that he had been drunk every day of the week of his death, and extremely so, on the Friday evening at 10 o'clock, preceding the Saturday morning when he was found dead. Two of his countrymen who had come over with him in the same vessel, were charged with his murder, but the evidence against them was so slight, that the jury acquitted them without leaving their seats.* The grand medico-legal question in this case evidently is, Whether death was caused by accident or design ? I incline to * New York Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 5, p. 432. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 167 the former opinion: from the habits and make of the deceased, from the external appearance and position of the body ; from the extreme tightness of the shirt-collar acting on this state and po- sition of body; and from the absence of other marks of injury. Among the doubtful circumstances, however, are the mark of fingers on the neck; but it is possible that these may have been made by the deceased himself, in an effort to unbutton his collar. The appearances, on dissection, will of course apply to either supposition, while the blood was evidently discharged from the nose. It is an interesting inquiry, whether proofs of strangulation can be found on the dead body some time after decease or interment. In the instance of a child of eighteen months, first strangled and afterwards thrown into the water, the body examined ten days after death, was found far gone in putrefaction ; but on the fore part of the neck, over the windpipe, was a softish furrow, with a hardened ridge both above and below.* But the most remarkable instance, is one that has recently been investigated in France. I copy the leading details from a London journal; but the whole case is given in the Annales D'Hygiene. " In the year 1821, a widow lady of the name of Houet residing in the city of Paris, disappeared; and certain persons, Bastien, Robert, and Robert's wife, who had taken the house, No. 81, Rue de Vaugirard, were suspected of having made aWay with her. A judicial inquiry was pending ever since, in the Court of Assize; but the accused, for want of evidence, had been set. at liberty. Not long ago, however, some information was obtained touching a body said to have been buried for about eleven years in a par- ticular garden. An investigation was accordingly set on foot; and by dint of patient and ably directed research, such satis- * Syme's Justiciary Reports, p. 266. I add the following in this place, merely as a historical curiosity. " March 16, 1814. On opening a vault at St. Maryport church, Bristol, the workmen discovered, very deeply concealed, a coffin of great antiquity. It is generally supposed that the corpse it contained was the body of---- Yeoman, sheriff of Bristol, in 1643, when the city was surrendered to the parliamentary army by Prince Rupert. Mr. Yeo- man was hanged in Wine-street, opposite his own house, by order of Fairfax, for his attachment to the royal cause. The body was in the highest state of preservation, handsomely accoutred in the costume of the day, with gloves similar to those which the sheriffs at present wear. And there were considerable tumours visible in the neck, which inclined several medical gentlemen, who inspected the body, to be of opinion that they were occasioned by strangulation.'" (Edinburgh Annual Register, vol. 7, Chronicle, p. 30.) 168 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. factory evidence was procured of the identity of the remains, and of the manner of the death, that the prisoners were convicted, and condemned to the galleys for life. " The first part of the inquiry—the juridical examination—was conducted by M. Boys de Loury. After excavating different parts of the garden for about five hours, one of the workmen hit upon a hollow spot, in which there were bones. The greatest care was taken to uncover them with the least possible disturb- ance; they were evidently those of a human body, reduced al- most to a perfect skeleton. A drawing was made of the parts in situ. The figure reposed on the left side; the head was bent for- ward on the neck; the vertebral column was curved; the right fore arm was raised, so that the bones of the hand nearly touched those of the face. The pelvis was turned obliquely upwards, rest- ing on the left haunch. The thigh bones were raised considerably, and the legs were crossed beneath them. The colour of the re- mains generally, was between an ochre and a brown; and when the earthy matter was removed from some of the long bones, the uncovered parts were found to be of a deep red colour. " The grave was four feet deep, funnel shaped, measuring five feet and a half in length at its upper part, but at the bottom, only two and a half; its greatest breadth was about two feet. Some limestone had been placed over the body, so as to form a sort of vault. Having made these general observations, the parts were next examined. The skull was small and lengthy in its shape; it seemed, by the way, from the position of the head, that the body had been thrown into the grave head foremost. The parie- tal bones were very yielding; the sutures were well knit; the teeth white, and had been used with care; three molars wanting, and one of the incisors carious. A small quantity of light-coloured or ruddy hair was found, having some gray mixed with it. " The state of the neck was particularly striking: the third, fourth, fifth and sixth cervical vertebrae, as well as the right clavicle, were held together by a blackish mass, in the composi- tion of which there could not be recognized any tissue. This mass was surrounded at its lower part by several twists of a cord, two lines in diameter; the cord was in a very decayed condition, and no knot could be found upon it; its direction was exactlv horizontal. " Among the bones of the left hand was found a gold ring, of PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 169 small diameter, carved in facettes; and several small, well formed finger nails were also discovered. The pelvis, from its shape and proportions, could only be that of a woman. Some portions of cloth, probably part of a stocking, was found near the legs; but upon exposure to the air, it rapidly crumbled to dust. " Other reporters, MM. Orfila, Marc, Barruel and Chevallier, were afterwards added to M. Boys de Loury; and three or four elaborate documents were drawn up, of the first of which we give the result. " From the preceding facts, we feel ourselves justified in con- cluding: 1. That these bones are those of a human skeleton. 2. That the skeleton is that of a female. 3. That this female had attained the age of from 60 to 70. 4. That her stature was about 4 feet 8 or 9 inches (nearly 5 feet English.) 5. That the hair of the female, which was of a bright blond colour in youth, was mixed with gray at the time of her death. 6. That the hands were small. 7. That during life, the bones had never suffered any injury. 8. That this woman died of strangulation, and that the act was, to all appearance, homicidal. 9. That the body must have lain for several years in the earth. " The prisoners, who had been long suspected, were at length brought to trial, (nearly twelve years after the murder,) and have been condemned for the remainder of their lives to forced labour. They had a narrow escape of the guillotine; only for some miti- gatory circumstances which induced the jury to recommend them to mercy, they would have been executed."* J. Of persons found smothered. Smothering is the covering of the mouth and nostrils in any way, so as to prevent the free ingress and egress of air. It hap- pens most frequently with children, either as an accident or a crime—and in the former case, from overlaying them, as it is called. This occurs from a pillow, bolster or bed-clothes coming in contact with their face in such a manner that their struggles cannot remove it. In a case of a child six months old, which died from being wrapped up too closely by the parents, who were' taking it into the country to nurse, the integuments of the chest, arms and head, * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 11, p. 117. London Medical Gazette. VOL. II. 15 170 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. were of a dark hue. The mouth was open and fingers bent The veins of the heart gorged with blood. The left lung natural, but the right one bright red. The trachea and bronchias filled with a reddish froth. The brain turgid, and its vessels in every part, even in the substance of the brain, filled, while three drachms of serum were found between the tentorium and cere- bellum.* Adults, in a state of intoxication or debility, may also be de- stroyed by getting into a posture which prevents the transit of air to the lungs, and then being unable to extricate themselves. Thus Dr. Roget speaks of persons being buried completely under a mass of earth that has fallen upon them, and he mentions the following remarkable instance in which life was nearlv lost from inattention to the requisites for respiration. " An athletic black, of pugilistic celebrity, had been selected, from the fine form of his chest, and well marked expression of his muscles, as an aca- demic model. It was wished to obtain a cast of his body, but this being attempted at one operation, and in one entire piece, as soon as the plaster began to set, he felt on a sudden deprived of the power of respiration, and to add to his misfortune, was cut off from the means of expressing his distress. His situation, however, was fortunately perceived just in time to save his life, by breaking his bonds and releasing him from the extreme peril in which they had placed him."f In the previous edition, I made the following remark. " Smo- thering will seldom be used as an instrument of homicide, since a moderate degree of resistance can generally prevent its effec- tual application." I am sorry to add that it has, notwithstanding, of late years, and with the use of aids to prevent all resistance, been made the means of murder. I refer to the case of the notorious Burke and Hare, who, in 1828, thus killed several per- sons at Edinburgh. From the testimony of accomplices, it appears that the deceased (Margery Campbell,) while in a state of intoxication, was struck down to a sitting posture on the floor; that Burke threw himself on her, kept her down by the weight of his body, and covering her mouth and nose with one hand, while he applied the other under her chin, held her thus for ten or * London Medical and Physical Journal, December, 1827. A case of inflammation of the lungs in a youn? infant mistaken for criminal suffocation, is given in Annales D'Hygiene, vol.7, p. 621. t Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, vol. 1, p. 177. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 171 twelve minutes, till she was dead. The body, examined two days after death, presented the following appearances. The joints flaccid; features composed, red, and rather more turgid than natural; lips dark; conjunctivas of the eyes, even in the horizontal position of the body, much injected with blood ; a little fluid blood on the left cheek, apparently from the nostrils; tongue not protruded; the scarf-skin under the chin much ruffled, and the surface of the true skin dry and brown when denuded, but without blood or surrounding ecchymosis ; the integuments every where free from lividity, except on the face; no injury or effu- sion about the windpipe or cartilages, but the os hyoides and thy- roid cartilages farther apart than usual, in consequence of stretching their interposed ligament. The internal organs very healthy, and particularly the lungs. The right side of the heart and its veins filled with very fluid and black blood. There were other injuries present, particularly in the spinal canal, but these had been inflicted after death, in consequence of forcibly doubling up the body to enclose it in a box. I have no- ticed them in a former page. On the trial, Professor Christison testified, that from the une- quivocal marks of violence in the contusions; from the absence of any appearances of natural death; from her being seen alive and in good health a few hours before, and from the blood on the floor where the body lay, the probability of death from vio- lence was strong; but he declined a more positive opinion. In his subsequent remarks on the case, he has well remarked, that there is a mistaken idea prevalent, that the signs of suffocation are very obvious and characteristic. " It ought to be distinctly understood by every medical man, that such appearances are very far from being always present." And the reason is mani- fest, since the mode of procuring death is such as to leave few or any indications, particularly if the murdered person has been pre- viously rendered insensible by opium or alcohol. And in pro- portion to the rapidity with which death is induced, will be the absence of all external or internal signs. There is no opportu- nity, says Dr. Roget, for the accumulation of blood in the venous system. The body accordingly will present no discoloration of the skin, no turgescence of the veins, no engorgement of the pul- monary vessels.* * Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. 31, p. 236. Syme's Justiciary Reports, p. 371. 172 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. In death by smothering, then, circumstantial evidence must he the principal, if not the only, means of ascertaining whether the event has been produced by crime or by accident. Death from pressure in a crowd belongs to this division of our subject, but we have not had, until lately, any minute examina- tion of the phenomena occurring. At the Champ de Mars in Paris, no less than twenty-three persons lost their lives on the 14th of June, 1837, from this cause. Among these were 11 men and 12 women, and the ages of the sufferers varied from 8 to 75. All of them, men and women died standing, so that more than one corpse was borne along in this attitude by the crowd. Dr. Ollivier of Angers, who examined the bodies states that in all, without exception, the skin of the face and neck was of a uni- form violet tint, spotted with blackish ecchymosis. In nine, there was infiltration of blood under the conjunctiva of the eye. In four, there was sero-sanguineous froth running from the mouth and nose. In four, blood flowing from the nostrils. In three, blood flowing from the ears. In seven, fractures of the ribs. In two females, the sternum was fractured. There was no mark either of strangulation or wounds, although several bodies bore marks of being trodden under feet after death. The cause was evidently asphyxia, produced by violent and continued pressure on the chest and the violence of this may be estimated by the fact, that in one-third of the cases, the ribs were fractured. Sixteen bodies were opened. In all, the blood was black, diffluent, and filling all the large veins which enter the heart. The pulmonary tissue was mostly of a reddish brown, and in three quarters of each lung, posteriorly, there was a considera- ble accumulation of black and liquid blood, but there was no ecchymosis either on the surface or in the substance of the lungs, except in one case. In all the cases where the conjunctiva was raised by infiltrated blood, and in those where blood had flowed from the ears, the vessels of the pia mater and of the substance of the brain were gorged with blood.* Dr. Gordon Smith adverts to a mode of suicide said to be practised by negroes, which is that of doubling the tongue and swallowing it down into the fauces so low as completely to choke * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 18, p. 485; London Medical Gazette, vol. 20, p. 569 ; British Annals of Medicine, vol. 2, p. 18. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 173 the individual.* Dr. Horner of Philadelphia, however, besides questioning the possibility of doing this, denies ever having heard of it, although he has passed many years of his life among a negro population.f I find the following in the Rev. Dr. Walsh's notices of Brazil, confirmatory of the common opinion. " The wretched slave in Brazil often anticipates the result of chastisement, by inflicting death upon himself in an extraordinary manner. They have a method of burying their tongue in their throat, in such a way as to produce suffocation. A friend of mine was passing through the carioca, when a slave was tied up and flogged. After a few lashes he hung his head apparently lifeless, and when taken down he was actually dead, and his tongue found wedged in the oeso- phagus, so as completely to close the trachea." While on this point I must not omit noticing a remarkable case mentioned by Dr. Wagner, as occurring in Austria in 1833. " A criminal who had been shut up alone in a dark dungeon, when visited by his keeper not long after, was found lying dead on the floor. It was thought that he had a fit of apoplexy, and a vein was opened, but to no purpose. It was for the first time noticed that he had a foreign body in his mouth, and it proved to be a piece of woollen cloth two ells long and a quarter broad ; a shawl in fact, which the wretched man had thrust into his throat."J I may add that in some suspicious cases, tumours pressing on the organs of respiration, or foreign bodies found in the trachea or oesophagus, have explained the accidental cause of death.§ * Smith, p. 231. t American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 2, p. 182. I find the following re- marks quoted from Mr. Crosse's retrospective address. " Many authors have men* tioned this swallowing of the tongue; I knew one instance where it could be done at will without any serious inconvenience. This occurred in a lad, who in the playful period of his recovery from fever, was asked to show his tongue, and presented his open mouth, with no tongue visible, As soon as his mouth was shut, he asserted that his tongue was in its right place, and proved it to be so; there was such facility in retroverting the tongue into the pharynx, that he frequently repeated the trick after- wards. The only other recent instance I have found related, is somewhere recorded on the authority of Magendie. Yet M. Bland (in Art. Langue in Diet, de Med. et Chi. rurg. Pratiques,) follows Boyer in denying that suoh a displacement can be thus pro. duced, and places the accounts of slaves suffocating themselves by tongue swallow- ing, among the romances of our science." London Med. Gazette, vol. 19, p. 912. X Dr. Cummin, in London Medical Gazette, vol. 13, p. 973. § " The smothering which is probably most directly fatal, is that which takes place when in great crowds, children and delicate persons are so crushed by multi. tudes of human beings, as in theatres, or in cases of alarms of fire, that no time is left to allow the chest to expand in those individuals who are trodden under foot." (Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 39, p. 398.) 15* 174 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. K. Of persons found drowned. The observations that have been already made on the nature of asphyxia, will obviate the necessity of again entering on it, except so far as the phenomena have strict reference to the pre- sent cause of death. It is evident that the subject is an intricate one, and it is equally so that too little attention has been paid to the various modes in which death is produced. This will explain why, although a fa- vourite inquiry with physiologists, its facts have been disputed and its characteristics doubted. Dr. Desgranges of Lyons, was, I believe, the person who first (in 1790) suggested that there were distinct modes of death ope- rating in the drowned, and his division has received the sanction of Fodere and Marc* He was induced to make it from observ- ing turgescence of the countenance in some cases, and its pale- ness in others. One of the modes he denominates asphyxia by suffocation. This is probably the most common, and occurs when a person in full possession of his faculties, is immersed. After ineffectual strug- gles, some water enters the trachea and bronchise, mixes with the air contained in them, and forms the frothy mucus so com- monly perceived. It is probable also, that from the convulsive action of the glottis and muscles of the throat, some water is taken into the stomach. The contest cannot however continue long, the blood is determined to the head, and as it is not decar- bonized, its venous qualities operate on the brain. The lungs are unable to perform their functions, and the body falls insensible to the bottom of the water. It is in these cases that we should ex- pect to see a lividness of the countenance, although this, as we shall see, is not invariable.! Another mode of death is termed nervous or syncopal asphyma, and it is well illustrated in a case related by Plater. A female convicted of infanticide, was condemned to be drowned. She fainted on being immersed into the water, and remained there a quarter of an hour. On being drawn out, she recovered her senses.J Thus fear, or coldness of the water, or a blow on the * Marc, p. 165. Fodere, vol. 2, p. 296. Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Jour- nal, vol. 19, p. 620. t Roget ut untea, p. 173. X Marc, p. 165. This punishment was in compliance with the ancient provisions of the Caroline code. The criminal was put into a sack and sunk into the water. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 175 head in falling, or absolute intoxication, may suspend as it were the vital functions, and throw the nervous system into a state of inaction. Here of course, there will be no struggle, and we can only expect to find the marks of simple asphyxia, such as paleness of the face and body, owing to a spasm of the cutaneous vessels; the presence of a little water, but no froth in the trachea, and the internal organs but little differing from their natural state. Dr. Marc has added a third to these, which he styles asphyxia from cerebral congestion, and refers to it such cases as are mark- ed by an apoplectic habit, or where persons fall into the water, when in a state of intoxication, or with a full stomach.* In many instances, the first and last are, in his opinion, united, and suffocation and apoplexy, according to circumstances, act, reciprocally, either as the essential or aggravating cause of death.f After this outline of the probable modes of death, I need hardly state, that in legal medicine, the leading question, in every case is, Whether there are any marks that distinguish death by sub- mersion, from death previous to submersion ? Or in other words, Whether a person was thrown when alive, or after death, into the water 1 I shall arrange my remarks on this in the following order: First, state the ancient doctrines ; secondly, those most com- monly received at the present day. It will then be necessary to comment on the different marks, and to show how far their value is disputed, and to endeavour to fix a proper estimate on them. In connexion with this, I shall afterwards consider the effects of continued immersion on the dead body, and the changes pro- duced by it. Some medico-legal cases will form a proper con- clusion. I. Ambrose Pare has stated in a few words, the ancient opi- nion on the subject. He observes, that a surgeon will find the following appearances on the body of a person who has been thrown into the water, while living : The stomach and intestinal * We may also add to this, drowning in marshes, or stagnant canals or streams, where deleterious gases are disengaged. t Devergie arranges the modes of death as follows : 1. From asphyxia ; 2. Syn- cope ; 3. Cerebral concussion, as when a person falling headlong into the water, strikes on a stone or other body, and immediiitely dies; 4. Apoplexy ; 5. A mixed Btate in which the functions of the brain, heart and lungs, are suspended nearly at the same time. He allows, however, that the third and fourth are extremely rare, having seen only one case, and even that bore merely presumptive appearances, vol. 2, p. 320. 176 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. canal are filled with water; a glairy mucus issues from the nose, and sometimes there is a bleeding from it; there is a frothy appearance about the mouth, and the extremities of the fingers will be found excoriated, as if, in dying, they had grasped the sand, or some other hard substance. On the contrary, those who have been thrown, when dead, into the water, will have no tumour in the stomach or abdomen, since all the passages to them were closed by the absence of inspiration; the nose and mouth will present none of the appearances mentioned above, nor will there be any excoriation of the fingers.* These rules were considered orthodox until the commencement of the eighteenth century, and Deveaux reports several cases which were decided according to them. II. I believe I shall be correct in stating, that the following marks mostly laid down by Dr. Marc, are recognised by the great body of modern physiologists, as deserving of peculiar attention. The value attached to each is to be presently mentioned. Signs that a person has been drowned while living. As to the external appearance of the body, 1. The eyes are half open ; the pupils much dilated ; the skin is remarkable for its paleness, originating in a spasm of the cuta- neous vessels ; the tongue approaches to the under edges of the lips; and these, as well as the nostrils, are covered with a frothy mucus. Occasionally when the paleness is wanting, the head will be bloated, the face red, and all the symptoms which denote a determination of blood to the brain will be present. 2. There is excoriation at the end of the fingers, and dirt or sand found under the nails. As to the appearances on dissection, 3. A greater, or less fulness of the blood-vessels of the brain, according to the violence and length of the struggle. 4. The right side of the heart, and its vessels, filled with blood; the left either empty, or not containing more than half that in the other side. 5. The epiglottis, according to some, is found elevated. 6. The diaphragm depressed into the abdomen. 7. The blood in a permanently liquid state, and oozing from the body on the least touch of the scalpel. * Quoted by Fodere, vol. 3, p. 80. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 177 8. A watery froth, which is bloody, found in the trachea and bronchia?; to which is added, by late experimenters, the presence of a small quantity of water in the lungs. 9. Water is occasionally found in the stomach. 10. The fulness of the bladder, and the reddened state of the viscera. On the other hand, the signs that denote death previous to sub- mersion, are, 1. The presence of lesions which could not be inflicted under water, such as the marks of ecchymosis, or of a cord around the neck; wounds from fire-arms, or the traces of poisons. 2. The absence of the external characters mentioned above. 3. The absence of water or foreign substances in the trachea and stomach. 4. The lungs being in a state of collapse, and not gorged with blood; the abdomen flat, and the diaphragm in a state of natural tension. 5. The blood in a coagulable state.* It is indispensable if we wish to arive at satisfactory conclu- sions, to ascertain how long the body has remained in the water —how long since it has been drawn from the water—whether it has been placed with the face downwards or in the usual posi- tion, and particularly whether much friction has been used. This last will sometimes produce a state of the skin resembling burns. According to Devergie, if the friction has been carried so far as to excoriate and the body be left exposed to the air for twenty- four hours, the skin of the parts thus operated on, will take the appearance of parchment. It is doubtless, from inattention to these points, that there is still so much uncertainty about this important subject. The nu- merical method, however, as we shall hereafter see, is doing much, and doubtless, will do more, to resolve all the doubtful points. III. In proceeding to review the marks of death by submer- sion, I regret to state, that many of them singly have been shown to be of little value. It is their union which must guide us in forming an opinion. I have already explained the supposed causes of the variety in the external appearance and mentioned in what instances, » Marc, p. 172 to 182. Orfila, as hereafter quoted. 178 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. paleness is most frequently seen, and when fulness and discolora- tion. Possibly, in a majority of instances, if the body be very soon removed from the water, the face and skin generally will be pale. This at least is the result of the observations of Dr. Og- ston, whose labours on this subject cannot be too much com- mended.* In the first six cases, examined by him within six and a half hours after death, and after short periods of immer- sion, the surface was pale. So also Mr. Watson, in three cases seen by him, where the bodies were removed after a very few minutes from the water, observed the face to be pale and col- lapsed. Two of these were suicidal and the third accidental.f He however states explicitly, that in such as die gradually, or after a struggle, the face will be livid. In all the remaining cases of Dr. Ogston, there was more or less of swelling and dis- coloration. It is however to be recollected, that after a body has remained for some days in the water, it takes on very rapid changes, after exposure to the air, particularly if the weather be warm. The features soon become livid and bloated, if not so * Dr. Ogston has applied the numerical method to the cases seen by him. (Edin- burgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 47, p. 54, 428,) and I cannot do justice to his researches, without presenting a brief tabular view of their leading circumstances. I will confine myself here to the following points—the period of the year at which the drowning occurred—the length of time that the body remained in the water, and the length of time of its subsequent exposure to the air before it was examined by him. I shall then in the text refer to each case, by its number, for its peculiar appearances. Some of them will also be considered when noticing the changes cha- racteristic of various periods of continuance in the water. Season. Time in the Water. Time in the Air. 1. Summer. 2 or 3 minutes. 20 minutes. 2. Spring. 5 do. 20 minutes. 3. Winter. 3 do. Half an hour. 4. Summer. 1 hour. 20 minutes. 5. Autumn. 4.i do. Half an hour. 6. Winter. 6 do. Half an hour. 7. Summer. 6 do. One hour. 8. Winter. 7 do. 2£ hours. 9. Summer. 8£ do. Half an hour. 10. Autumn. 10 do. 45 minutes. 11. Summer. 7 do. 8 hours. 12. Spring. 11 do. 7 hours. 13. Autumn. 19 do. Half an hour. 14. Autumn. 6 do. 39 hours. 15. Summer. 2 do. 3 days and two hours. 16. Autumn. 80 do. Half an hour. 17. Summer. . 7 days. Two hours. 18. Winter. 27 do. One hour. In cases 5, 9, 10, 12, 14, 16, 17 and 18, dissections were made. t Watson on Homicide, p. 151, PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 179 already, and this alteration extends to all the exposed parts. For this reason it is not commonly observed on the back. Orfila is disposed to ascribe the paleness of the skin, to pro- longed immersion rather than to the kind of death. He states that in those who have lain long in the water, the integuments of the legs will become indigo-coloured and then brownish, on ex- posure to the air, while the, rest of the body is very white—but the moment it also reaches the air, it is successively changed to brown or green, beginning at the chest. Of course, a still longer continuance in the water, will with advancing putrefaction, cause abrasions of the skin, which must not be mistaken for the result of injuries.* But even if the countenance be bloated and livid, we must re- member, that this is not uncommon from other causes of death. Fothergill suggested as a characteristic in these instances (when from drowning) that the eyes are found half open and the pupil much dilated, but this last may have been owing to the use of narcotics, and thus death may have preceded drowning. The same remark applies to the other external signs that I have men- tioned, as froth at the mouth, protrusion of the tongue, &c. &c. They accompany spasmodic diseases, or they result from other means of violence. If, however, we are satisfied that either of these causes cannot have operated, the value of the signs is in- creased. There was a marked degree of placidity and calmness of the features, in every instance witnessed by Dr. Ogston, except where the occurrence of swelling had obliterated all traces of their ori- ginal expression. In one case indeed, there was apparently an exception, but on inquiry, the person was found to have been very near-sighted during life. In thirteen cases of Dr. Ogston, the pupils were dilated and in one natural. " The jaivs were firmly fixed, in every instance except one (where the mouth was open) and this, both before the commencement of rigidity in the joints of the extremities and after these had become relaxed." In nearly every instance, the fingers and thumbs, were semi-bent, indicating that the hands had been convulsively closed during the last struggle, and that the flexor muscles had but partially relaxed after death. • In quoting Orfila, I refer to his Logons, 2d edition, vol. 2, p. 334. His essay on this subject appeared originally in the Archives Generales, and there is a good ab- stract of it in the London Medical Repository, vol. 28, p. 541. 180 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. I have mentioned that the tongue approaches to the under edge of the lips. This is also confirmed by Dr. Ogston. Its tip, he ob- serves, is usually met with in accurate contact with the incisor teeth, and in only two cases, was it found included between the closed jaws and in both instances, though firmly compressed, it had escaped injury from that cause. Devergie, however, states that he has seen it wounded, by the teeth in several cases. Froth about the lips and nostrils. t>r. Ogston found this in 7 cases out of 16, (cases 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7 and 11,) of these, it was only remarked once (No. 11) so late as fifteen hours, and in No. 5, probably thirty-two hours after death, while in No. 6, it was not present, six hours and a half, and in No. 8, nine hours and a half after death. As to the presence of a frothy mucus or lather in the mouth, Devergie asserts that this is very common in summer, but rare in winter.* It probably existed in the majority of cases seen by Dr. Ogston. In four instances, and one of these was drowned in summer, cutis anserina or goose-skin was observed on parts of the surface. The excoriations at the ends of the fingers and the presence of dirt or sand under the nails were formerly much depended upon, and Ambrose Pare and Bohn in particular relied greatly upon it, since it indicates according to them, the last efforts of the liv- ing individual to save himself from death. It is, however, at best extremely uncertain as a sign. A man may fall during a state of intoxication into the water and never make an effort to save himself, or he may be in a state of syncope when drowned. In such instances no mark of exertion will be found,f while on the other hand, a dead body may, from being thrown from a high place, contract this appearance in rolling over. According to Devergie, sand or dirt is found beneath the nails of all that have been for some time in the water. Dr. Ogston did not meet with these appearances in any of the cases examined by him. Slight superficial injuries, as abrasions of the skin, ecchymosis, &c. were met with by the last gentlemen in seven cases. In another instance, the injuries were more severe, but evidently caused after death. We come next to the internal appearances. A greater or less fulness of the blood-vessels of the head, together » Devergie, vol. 2, p. 328. t Mahon, vol. 3, p. 3. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 181 with the fulness of the right side of the heart and its vessels, has been much relied upon as a sign by several anatomists. Hopffen- stock, a physician of Prague, in his dissection of the drowned, observed constantly a great accumulation of blood in the cerebral vessels, the jugular veins, the right auricle and ventricle, and pul- monary artery, while on the contrary, the left side of the heart was completely empty.* Mahon, Kite, and Walter, have con- firmed this by their investigations. Goodwyn, however, in his experiments, found the external surface of the brain darker than usual, but its vessels were not turgid. The right ventricle was filled with black blood, but the left, instead of being empty, was noticed by him as being about half filled with blood of the same colour.f Orfila concurs with this last. Devergie says, that the right side is but rarely distended with much blood, although he concedes that generally, but not always, there is more in the right than in the left side.J Orfila also adds, that the right ven- tricle is of a blackish brown, while the left is a clear rose colour, and the right cavities retain contractility longer than those of the left. As to the brain, it is not always gorged with blood. Certainly, in those who die from syncopal asphyxia, this mark will be far from being a striking one, while, on the contrary, should apoplexy have occurred previous to drowning, we might expect its pre- sence. The result of Dr. Ogston's observations, may I think, be sum- med up as follows. In nearly all the cases inspected by him, there was considerable congestion of the vessels of the head, but it was far from being striking or uncommon in the heart and lungs. According to Detharding, the epiglottis is pushed down in the drowned so as to close the larynx. The correctness of this is totally denied by Orfila and Devergie. The depression of the diaphragm into the abdomen, with the ele- vation of the chest, is considered by Hebenstreit, as an essential character. It is wanting, according to him, in those who are drowned after death, and its occurrence is attempted to be ex- * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 90. f Enquiry, p. 4 and 5. X Devergie remarks, the very striking difference between the two sides of the heart in persons suffocated by carbonic acid gas. There is nothing like this, he adds, in the drowned. VOL. II. 16 182 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. plained on the idea, that the last act of breathing is inspiration. But unfortunately for the value of this sign, Orfila informs us, that the result of more than fifty dissections of persons drowned, has been the opposite, and consequently proved that the last act is not inspiration. At all events, I apprehend that there is little or no variation in the situation of the diaphragm, whatever be the cause of violent death.* The fluidity of the blood was formerly greatly insisted on as an important proof of death by drowning, and it was asserted to have been so seen, even in the vessels which enter the bones.f The value of this test, as a mark of the violent termination of life, has been already noticed. It occurs in many other kinds of vio- lent death, and in some instances, of natural disease. While, therefore, its diagnostic character is destroyed, we must allow that it is most commonly found fluid in the drowned, yet even this is not invariable. Lafosse long since, and Avisard, Orfila, and Devergie recently, have in a few instances, found coagulated blood in the auricles or ventricles of those drowned while living. In five cases of Dr. Ogston, coagulated blood was found in the heart, though the great mass of it was fluid. It is stated as a remarkable fact, that in dogs drowned, the blood is always coagulated.J The next mark is, the presence of a small quantity of water, very frothy, and sometimes coloured with blood, in the trachea and bron- chial. This has been a.subject of much speculation among phy- siologists, and formerly the water thus found in the lungs and stomach, was supposed to be the cause of death. Becker, a Ger- man physician, was the first to controvert this opinion. He published a work at the commencement of the eighteenth cen- tury, in which he denied that water was always present in these organs, and illustrated his position by several dissections of the human body, as well as by experiments on animals.§ Some dis- * Dr. Ogston met with depression of the diaphragm in only one instance, and even here, it probably was produced by an accidental cause. t Marc, p. 179. Thus, (says he) if the pericranium be separated, and the blood taken up with a sponge, it will immediately re-appear along the surface of the bone. X Orfila. (j This work is published in the Novelise of Valentini. "J. C. Beckeri Paradoxum- Medico-Legale, de submersorum morte, sine pota aqua, 1704," p. 299. See also a notice of this work in the Philosophical Transactions, vol. 24, p. 2512. Bohn of Leipsic published an essay in 1711, in which he advanced the same opinion. See Memoirs of Literature, vol. 4, p. 165. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 183 tinguished men, as Littre, Senac and Petit, embraced his views, although towards the end of the last century, many physiologists, as Haller, De Haen, and Louis, inclined again to the ancient idea.* I have already sufficiently explained the commonly received cause of its formation, and must now endeavour to present the results obtained by a host of experimenters. Wepfer and Waldsmidt did not observe it in animals, which they drowned. Morgagni could not find it in guinea-pigs drown- ed by him. Portal did not observe it. Evers made a number of experiments at Gottingen in 1753, on cats, and always found it, but could discover none in the bodies of two persons who were drowned when intoxicated.-}- Belloc remarks, that he has not found it in cases where persons were undoubtedly drowned while Iiving.J And he explains this variety, by suggesting that the last act of the drowning person may be either expiration or inspira- tion. If the latter, a small quantity of water may reach the lungs, and mixing with the air there, form the froth, but probably not in the latter case. We shall presently see that this was an approach to what is probably the actual reason. On the other hand, Louis drowned animals in coloured fluids, and found froth similarly coloured in the trachea and bronchise.§ Roesler, in forty-five experiments, found in every case, a small quantity of frothy mucus at the bifurcation of the trachea. Marc, Mayer of Bonn, Dr. Williams of Liverpool, Devergie, and many others, have observed it almost universally. In order to reconcile this discrepancy, (and noticing the obser- vation of Piorry, that froth would not occur in an animal, who while drowning, was kept permanently below the surface of the water,) Orfila was induced to perform experiments on animals, and found that in every case, where the animal came to the sur- face to breathe, the watery froth was seen in the trachea and bronchise. Mr. Taylor's experiments also correspond with the above results. When then the animal was maintained altogether under water, or when it was sunk to a great depth in the river, this appearance was not met with—the trachea was perfectly smooth.|| Orfila further ascertained, that if these animals were * De Haen's Ratio Medendi Continuata, p. 130, &c. Louis' Memoire sur Les Noyes. t Fodere, vol. 3, p. 93, 94. X Belloc, p. 178. $ Kay, p. 242. || Taylor's Med. Jurisprudence, p. 125. 184 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. left for some days in the fluid in which they perished, and then exposed to the air, some two or three days before dissection, no trace of froth could be seen. So also with persons found drown- ed. If the bodies had been in water for a few hours only, it was present, but not so, if they had lain twelve or fifteen days, or beyond that period.* The remarks of Devergie on this sign are so important and interesting, that a full abstract of them is proper. He is of opinion that observers have not sufficiently insisted on its peculiar physical properties. It cannot form without motion, and is the product of an impulse communicated to the fluid and a gas in mutual contact. The froth of the drowned is commonly of a white colour, and consists of numerous very small bubbles, constituting a lather rather than a froth, properly so called. It never adheres to the trachea by mucus, but is in immediate contact with that tube. All the bubbles that form it, have a watery envelope, easily broken, and often in opening the trachea, the greater part disappears like soap-bubbles. Its production is thus evidently the result of vitality, for it cannot be formed without this. It is also distinguished from similar appearances in the trachea and bronchise. In pneumonia, for example, the mucus secreted under the influence of bronchial irritation, is mixed up with the air in the efforts of coughing. In both cases, whether from disease or drowning, the frothy matter will be formed more easily in the last bronchial ramifica- tions, than in the trachea, since the dimensions of the former being much smaller, are sooner obstructed. And, accordingly, Devergie observes, that the existence of froth in the superior part of the trachea, is a more certain sign of the life of the indi- vidual at the moment of submersion, than when it is met in the extreme branches, but the part where it is preserved for the longest period, is at the bifurcation of the trachea. From his * Orfila. He objects to the distinction formerly proposed by Fodere, viz ; that the froth in question will not appear in syncopal asphyxia, or asphyxia from cerebral con- gestion, but only in asphyxia from suffocation, on the ground, that in many instances of the former, although death is sudden, yet some water must enter and thus pro- duce it. Lecons, vol. 2, p. 344. He also suggests as a probable reason of its absence in some cases, that the body is drawn by the feet from the water, and left with the head depending, for some time before examination. The froth that has been formed, may thus flow out with the water contained in these organs, and consequently cannot be found. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 185 experience, it seems that in winter, it can be discovered in most cases during eight or ten days, but after that it completely dis- appears. Having thus endeavoured to establish its character, and to ex- plain its absence in some cases, it is necessary to add, that its presence is not by any means an essential cause of death.* It is also said to accompany other diseases and causes of death. Thus, De Haen mentions having seen it in the body of a person, who was hung, and Marc confirms this by a case which he himself examined. In apoplexy, and particularly those cases which arise from an overloaded stomach, it is, according to Chaussier quite common.f It is probable, however, that the application of the distinctions, indicated by Devergie, may aid in establishing the nature of the case. Intimately connected with this, but which I prefer to consider separately, is the disputed point, whether water is found in the lungs of the drowned; and if so, whether it may not have entered after death, thus destroying its value in any disputed case. Roesler, in his experiments, found froth, but no water. Dr. Mayer of Bonn, on the contrary, in his experiments, performed under all possible circumstances, uniformly found it. " He ar- rived at the conclusion, that in every instance of death by drown- ing, provided death really arises from the mere obstruction of breathing by the water, and not from apoplexy, or some other affection, occurring at the moment of immersion, water will be * This is well established by the experiments of Dr. Goodwyn. He made an opening into the trachea of a cat, and through this introduced two ounces of water into the lungs. The animal had immediately a difficulty of breathing, and a feeble pulse. But these symptoms soon abated, and it lived several hours afterwards with- out much apparent inconvenience. After this, he strangled it, and found two ounces and a half of water in the lungs. Enquiry, p. 17. Prof. Mayer confirmed this opinion by numerous experiments. Among other results, he mentions, that " ani- mals support a considerable quantity of liquid injected into the lungs, without expe- riencing mortal symptoms from them. Rabbits can support a dose of four ounces and a half in 24 hours. But these injections should be performed by an opening made into the trachea, for if we inject these fluids by the larynx, they excite the most severe symptoms of suffocation, and the animal soon sinks under it. The sus- pension of respiration during this irritation of the muscles of the larynx by the injec- tion, is the only cause of death." Again. •' The symptoms of suffocation, which arise from injections, are not serious, wlien we inject pure water, but they become so when we take thick fluid?, for example, all which obstruct the atrial passages, or some chemical solutions, which destroying the parenchyma of the lungs, prevent the oxydation of the blood, and produce extravasations of blood, and inflammation in the lobes of the lungs. The fluids and solutions injected into the lungs, are absorbed more or less quickly, according to their nature and degree of concentration. The absorption is in general very great, but less in young and newly born animals than in adults." (Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 17, p. 469.) t Chaussier, p. 45. 16* 186 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. found in the lungs. He has made the trial with pure water; with water coloured by red lead or cinnabar, and with a solution of prussiate of potash, which was sought for in the lungs, by the test of the muriate of iron; and in every instance, whether the animal was allowed to rise to the surface or not, whether it was drowned in cold or in warm water, and whatever was the species of ani- mal, he found water, not only in the windpipe and its great rami- fications, but likewise in the minute bronchial tubes. Sometimes it was found in substance, but more commonly in the form of froth ; and he attributes the non-discovery of water, by some ex- perimenters, to their always having expected to find it in sub- stance."* Piolett, a French military surgeon, drowned dogs, cats and rabbits in oil, and always found from two to four ounces of that fluid in the air-passages. And he explains the removal of fluid from the lungs in those who recover, on the principle of absorp- tion.f Dr. Edward Jenner Coxe, of Philadelphia, from a number of well conducted experiments, makes the following deductions. 1. When an animal is immersed in any fluid, and taken out previous to the last efforts of respiration, none of the fluid will have en- tered the lungs, while in the stomach will be found one or two ounces. 2. When water is found in the lungs of an animal, it is absolutely necessary that the animal be under water, when making its last efforts to breathe.J Dr. Ogston observes as follows, " In case 5, nearly an ounce, and in case 10, six drachms of water were found in the lower part of the trachea, on the surface of which were two or three large air-bubbles. These facts lead us to suspect that writers on asphyxia have underrated the quantities of water which enters the windpipe, in death by drowning."^ Orfila and Devergie, each state, that in many instances, they have seen more or less of water in the lungs.|| • Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 26, p. 216. t London Medical Repository, vol. 25, p. 375. X North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 2, p. 286. Dr. Berger, of Geneva, found that the air remaining in the lungs of drowned per- sons had lost nearly all its oxygen. (Copland's Dictionary, p. 132.) § In cases 1 and 2, it was attempted to restore life by artificial respiration, and in each, a quantity of water escaped in jets, from the tube in the trachea. I In a remarkable case related by Devergie, the trachea was filled with water, as also the bronchia?, to their third division, but beyond this, there was no fluid. There was no froth. The subject was an infirm female, nearly paralytic in her lower ex- PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 187 Considering this then established, by the concurrent testimony of competent experimenters, it remains to ascertain whether fluid will not enter the lungs after death. This is unequivocally as- serted by Orfila and Piorry. Dogs killed by strangulation, were immersed, and after a short time, water was found in their lungs, the quantity depending on the position of the body. If this was vertical, the fluid was seen even in the extreme bronchial ramifi- cations. And this was distinctly proved with coloured fluids, such as ink, Prussian blue, &c. The experiments of Mr. John- son, of Torrington, also justify such an opinion.* Orfila subse- quently repeated the experiment on the human dead body, with similar results. From these facts, he is of course not disposed to attach much value to it as a distinctive mark. The only circumstances that, according to him, render its presence a probable proof of sub- mersion during life, are, 1. That the liquid found shall be identi- cal with that in which the person has been drowned. Hence the presence of any foreign substances, as mud, weeds, gravel, &c. exactly resembling those in the water, is a strong corroborating fact.f 2. That the water has not been injected after death. And tremities. She had been drowned in a bathing tub, and from her position, it is pro- bable that she swallowed large quantities of water. Most of the common signs of death by drowning were wanting, vol. 2, p. 325. * Dr. Carson, in commenting on these last, advances the opinion, that the water occasionally enters the lungs by imbibition. While under water, the body sustains the weight of a column of fluid; but when removed, the abdomen and chest, being elastic parts, will gradually expand, and the lungs may thus imbibe the fluid that has filled the windpipe and its ramifications. (Lancet, vol. 12, p. 139.) t " Unfortunately," says our author, " it is very difficult to verify this. The pre- sence of sand or gravel is very uncommon; so much so, that in fifty dissections, I have observed it but once." (Orfila's Lemons, 2d edition, vol. 2, p. 347.) The London Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 7, p. 446, mentions a recent Ger- man case, reported by Dr. Blumhart. "An individual, subject to epileptic fits, was found dead in a rivulet, with his face downwards, and the head covered with water, which was not more than a foot deep, and which therefore did not cover more than half his body. On examination, sand and gravel, the largest of which last weighed a drachm, was found in the tracliea, below its bifurcation into bronchise. Some of the sand, indeed, had entered the pulmonary vesicles. The whole quantity found, weighed between three and four drachms. The size of one of the stones, which ex- ceeded the capacity of the glottis, proves that it could not have entered the trachea by a mere mechanical descent after death, but renders it probable that it was swal- lowed in the last moments of agony." A similar case, except that mud was found instead of gravel, occurred to Devergie. The individual had been drowned in a ditch, vol. 2, p. 333. In one instance, our author found a portion of the contents of the stomach in the trachea. The individual had been drawn living from the water, but expired shortly after. Devergie supposes that vomiting may occur occasionally in the drowning and in this particular case, au effort at inspiration carried the food into the respira. tory passage, p. 337. 188 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 3. That the body has not remained so long in the water in a per- pendicular position, that, by its weight, it may have penetrated into the bronchia?. As to the presence of water in the stomach, we may remark, that it is an accidental circumstance, and in no way connected, as was once supposed, with the cause of death. Goodwyn, Kite, Orfila and others, have proved by their experiments, that a quan- tity may be swallowed during the struggles of a drowning per- son ; but there are also cases on record, where none was found. Senac illustrated this subject nearly a hundred years ago, by detailing the method then used in Paris for torturing criminals, and under which the subject occasionally died. The mouth being forcibly kept open with a wedge, and the nostrils closed, a great quantity of water was poured into the person's throat. Re- spiration was thus prevented, while the irritation of the trachea, in resisting the access of fluid, caused faintings, convulsions, vio- lent agitation of the respiratory organs, rupture of the pulmonary vessels, spitting of blood and death; but very little water entered either into the lungs or the stomach of these unfortunate persons. On dissection, however, the usual lesions observed in death from submersion, were apparent.* " Water was observed," says Ogston, " in the stomach in 5 cases out of 7. In case 16, its presence was hardly to be expected. In cases 9, 10, and 14, its presence was also detected in the oesophagus, while in several cases which were not examined, its escape from the mouth on turning the bodies, or on pressing the abdomen, proved its existence in the stomach or oesophagus." While then it is possible that water may be found in the sto- machs of those who have been drowned, it becomes a question of some interest whether it can enter after death. Experiments, * Smith, p. 210. It was formerly thought, that if no water was found in the sto- mach or bronchia?, death could not have been occasioned by drowning. See the sub- sequent notice of the trial of Spencer Cowper. " The common people, who in all countries inherit the cast off prejudices and opi- nions of their betters, are still of the same opinion ; and deeming water in the stomach and lungs the symptom most to be dreaded in cases of drowning, the first indication of cure, therefore, when such an accident occurs, must be to remove it as speedily as possible. Accordingly, when a man is found drowned, the first process adopted is to roll him abuut on a barrel, to dislodge the fluid, which they look upon as the origo mali, from all its creeks and corners, and then to hang him up by the heels to empty it out; as if the human frame were as simple in its construction as a bucket. T.ie Humane Society, some years ago, did a good deal of mischief by giving their sanction, in a pamphlet on the means of restoring suspended animation, to the anti- quated processes of throwing tobacco smoke up the rectum, &c." Dunlop. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 189 so far as they have yet proceeded, are decidedly opposed to this. Goodwyn and Kite never found any in the intestines of animals ; and Dr. Fine, of Geneva, has ascertained that it cannot be intro- duced into the stomachs of the dead, except by passing an elas- tic sound into the oesophagus. The sides of that canal, when in a state of inaction, appear to be in close contact.* These results are confirmed by Orfila and Marc. Dr. Edward Coxe also found, that when an animal is killed, and then immersed for twelve or fourteen hours, the stomach will not contain any of the fluid.f Devergie remarks that the quantity found is generally various, but he has noticed it from a pint to a quart; and he adds that it is a phenomenon indicating the presence of life when it occurred, since deglutition is necessary to produce it. The experiments of Mr. Taylor also lead to a similar conclu- sion. He found that when an animal was stunned prior to sub- mersion, water did not pass down the oesophagus. But he also, in repeated dissections of drowned cats, discovered no water in the stomach. " They had been invariably kept under water from the first moment of their submersion, and thus in a condi- tion but little favourable to the exercise of deglutition." It is hence probable, that the quantity found in the stomach will be greater, if the subject comes frequently to the surface and respires.J The presence of water in the stomach is deemed by Orfila to be the most satisfactory proof we have of drowning during life, provided the water is identified with that out of which the corpse has been taken, and if it be proved that it has not been swallow- ed during life or injected after death. If, however, putrefaction has advanced to any extent, water may enter, and Mr. Taylor has shown that if a body be sunk to a very great depth in water, this fluid will find its way into the stomach and alimentary canal, by virtue of its columnar pressure. Three cats were taken, one of whom was rapidly lowered to the depth of fifty feet in the Thames, the second to the depth of two feet and forci- bly maintained in that position, while the third was allowed to * Marc, p. 160. t Dr. Darwall, in a note, after quoting Dr. Coxe's experiments, showing that ink was found in the lungs of a cat immersed after death, but not in the stomach, ob- serves, that " it is clear that the principal dependence ought to be placed upon the presence of fluid in the stomach, and not in the lungs." X Taylor's Medical Jurisprudence, p. 120. 190 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. sink and rise to respire frequently before death. All were re- moved from the water after a quarter of an hour. The stomach of the first was completely distended with water; in that of the second, there was little or none, while the stomach of the third was filled, but not to so great an extent as that of the first. From these experiments, Mr. Taylor although attaching great importance to this sign, thinks it should be first considered, whether in the case of the submersion of a dead body, the water may not have entered the stomach, from the effects of putrefac- tion—from the body having been sunk to a great depth, or from the water having been artificially injected. And again, whether in the submersion either of a living or dead body, the water has not been drunk by the deceased before death. If he can satisfy himself that none of these circumstances have operated, the me- dical jurist is justified in attaching much importance to this as a sign of drowning during life. But it will be asked, is its absence a proof to the contrary 1 Apart from the fact, that it has not been found in many undoubt- ed cases of drowning, it must be recollected, that syncope in numerous cases may have occurred at the moment, and thus the power of deglutition has been lost. There is no doubt also that the common practice of carrying the bodies of persons drowned, with the head downwards, will cause the water to drain away, and lastly in these instances, where the body has been exposed, and putrefaction is advancing, the fluid may have transuded through the parietes of the stomach and become gradually lost by evaporation.* Among the occasional appearances to which some observers have been disposed to attach value, may be named that of the bladder. Piorry remarks, that in all sudden deaths, this viscus is empty, while he found it full in dogs which he drowned.f He adds, however, that this fulness disappeared as the body became rigid. Devergie found it to occur in some instances in the human body, and in others not. He has more frequently ob- served the urine tinged with blood. In some instances, it was of a rose colour, and in others quite red.J In four of the eight cases of Dr. Ogston, the bladder was empty and contracted, in one, it was half full, in No. 18, it contained two ounces, of a milky fluid and in the remainder, its condition is not mentioned. * Taylor's Med. Jurisprudence, p. 121-124. t London Med. Repository, vol. 28, p. 542. t Devergie, vol. 2, p. 339. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 191 The viscera and the intestinal canal are frequently seen high- coloured in the drowned. Dr. Carson indeed remarks, that the lungs particularly will sometimes bear almost the appearance of inflammation, and Orfila remarked that when drowning took place while the process of digestion was going on, the mucous membrane of the stomach had a red or violet tinge. It is im- portant to remember this in cases where suspicion of poisoning exists. From this tedious but necessary review, it will be seen that hardly any single proof taken separately is perfectly satisfactory, and that several must be united in order to arrive at a just con- clusion. It is evident that the presence of froth in the ramifica- tions of the bronchias and of water in the stomach, are the two most diagnostic ones.* In the absence of any marks of violence, several others that 1 have mentioned, may be considered as im- portant supplementary proofs of drowning during life. Some of the conditions imposed by Orfila can hardly be attained on a medico-legal inquest, and Devergie indeed accuses him of having given opinions in contravention or rather, in neglect of his own rules. It is the union of most of the signs on which we have commented, that must be relied on. Within what period do the signs of death by drowning disap- pear ? This question is thus answered by Devergie. In winter they are manifest although the body has lain from 15 to even 18 days in the water; in summer, from the third to, possibly, the sixth or eighth day of immersion. Exposure to the air, after the body is taken from the water quickly dissipates them, particular- ly in summer. The progress of putrefaction is then so rapid, that a very few hours are sufficient to effect this. The reason will be manifest, when we recollect, that with the exception of dirt under the nails, hardly any other is permanent. The colour of the face changes, the redness of the larynx and trachea may be mistaken for a pseudo-morbid appearance—gas forming in the lungs may drive off the tracheal froth, and the water in the * In a late dissection of a person drowned in a pond in London, where the body remained immersed during half an hour, and the examination was made the next day, the lungs were of a deep livid hue and crepitated very indistinctly. They were filled with a frothy, sanguineous fluid, and the bronchial tubes and air-cells contain- ed a quantity of mucus and water. The face, neck and chest were of a dark livid hue. Several of the internal parts were in a state of vascular engorgement. (Lon- don Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 6, p. 798.) 192 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. lungs and stomach will be dissipated by the changes in those organs.* The immediate cause of death in drowning has long been the subject of discussion, but the received doctrine at present is that the extinction of" life is caused by the stoppage of respiration and the exclusion of atmospheric air from the lungs. Dr. Cullen seems to have been among the first who promulgated this, and it has been fully sanctioned by subsequent experiments.! Of these, I will only mention a striking one by Gauteron. He immersed a dog more than a quarter of an hour, without inflicting any injury, having previously inserted a long tube in the trachea, which was kept elevated during the experiment above the surface of the water.J As to the marks of violence which may be found on the bodies of the drowned, they are with great propriety divided by Fodere into three classes. 1. Those which are totally independent of any connexion with the circumstances of drowning. Of this nature, are the usual signs of poisoning—a regularly formed ecchymosis around the neck, indicative of strangling, or wounds inflicted by fire-arms, or cutting instruments. All these lesions have an essentially dis- tinct character, which cannot be mistaken. And hence the evi- dent importance of examining all bodies drawn from the water. It was by pursuing such an investigation, that Deveaux disco- vered, under the breast of a woman, a wound which had pene- trated to her heart. In a small village in Warwickshire, a young gentleman sud- denly disappeared on the evening previous to his intended mar- riage. Seven days after, his body was found floating in a neighbouring mill stream. The idea prevailed that this was a case of suicide, although no cause for it could be assigned. A surgeon, however, found some suspicious marks upon the throat, and finally gave it as his opinion, that the deceased had died from strangulation. Suspicion now fell on a man of bad charac- ter, who had been seen on the evening in question, running in great haste from the direction of the spot in which the body was subsequently found. He was apprehended but as no satisfactory * Devergie, vol. 2, p. 348. t See letter to L..nl Cathcart, by Wm. Cullen, M. D., Edinburgh, P84 d 6. X Paris, vol 3, p. 29. s ' ' v PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 193 proof of guilt could be elicited, he was discharged. Ten years afterwards, he was convicted of sheep-stealing and sentenced to be transported. While on board of the hulks, he made a volun- tary confession of having destroyed the deceased, and was sub- sequently tried entirely on his own evidence. He had been engaged in stealing potatoes from the garden of the deceased, was detected by him, and failed in escaping. The prisoner attempted to leap the mill stream, but the bank on the other side giving way he fell into the. water. The deceased plunged after him and a struggle ensued. After being nearly overpowered, the prisoner succeeded in overturning his antago- nist and seizing him by the throat, held him fast in this manner under water, until he seemed to have no more power.. The escape was then effected in the manner already described. The judge gave it as his opinion, that the case amounted only to excusable homicide, and accordingly the man was acquitted.* Again the following case is related by Mr. Watson. " Archi- bald McLennan was tried at Inverness, September, 1830, for the murder of his wife, by having bruised and strangled her and afterwards thrown her body into the sea. When the body was inspected, several wounds and contusions were found on differ- ent parts of the head. At one of these, which had been inflicted by a blunt instrument on the crown of the head, there was a con- siderable effusion of dark-coloured blood between the scalp and the skull. There were several livid spots on each side of the throat, giving it the appearance of having been forcibly grasped by the fingers of another person. Abrasions of the cuticle under the chin, at the angle of the jaw and on each side of the neck, were also present. There were also marks of contusions on the right side of the abdomen and on several parts of the arms and legs. No examination seems to have been made of the in- ternal parts." The guilt of the prisoner was considered by the judges to be clearly established, by circumstantial evidence con- firming the medical opinion given upon the case. But the jury considered the case not proven.f 2. There are marks of violence which may have resulted either from accidents attending submersion, or from previous homicide, and these are unequal, irregular wounds, which do not penetrate far into the body—contusions, fractures and luxations. * Smith's Forensic Medicine,2d edition, p. 242. t Watson on Homicide,p. 129. VOL. II. 17 194 PERSONS FOUND DEAD, In all such instances, ascertain, if possible, the height from which the person has fallen, and the resistance he may have encoun- tered.* The rapidity of the current and the sharpness of the banks, may also have caused wounds. The obstacles which might have been encountered should also be noticed. Dr. Fine remarks, that the rapidity of the Rhone, and the numerous mills erected on its banks, often produce most shocking wounds on the bodies of those who are driven against the stakes in the stream, or are drawn into the machinery.f 3. Lastly, there may be lesions received after death. These are to be determined by the rules laid down in the section on medico-legal dissection. The progress of putrefaction deserves particular attention in this case. Even after every attention to these directions and after the most laborious research, the medical witness will occasionally be extremely perplexed in deciding on the nature of injuries. A case of this description is mentioned by a late writer. The body was found after it hao" remained nineteen days in the water. On the temple there was a red patch, from which several lines radi- ated as if a blow had been inflicted on the part with a blunt in- strument. There was a red line extending about three-fourths around the neck, of a finger's breadth behind, but connected with a patch of redness nearly three inches wide in the forepart. The medical witness supposed that these might have been caused by pressure during life. Between the pericranium and the bone, there was a patch of extravasated blood of the size of a shilling, and the brain was gorged with blood. No water was discovered either in the trachea, lungs or stomach. On cross-examination, the witness allowed that some of the marks might have been caused by decomposition, but he inclined to the idea that violence had been inflicted during life, although * " A few years ago, a man who had leaped from each of the then three bridges into the Thames with impunity, undertook to repeat the exploit for a wager. Hav- ing jumped from London bridge, he sunk, and was drowned. When the body was found, it appeared that he had gone down with the arms in the horizontal, instead of the perpendicular posture, in consequence of which, both of them were dislocated by the fall upon the water." (Smith, p. 214.) In another case, a soldier, an excellent swimmer, plunged headlong into theSnm- bre. He was seen to struggle, but it was supposed to be in jest: but perceiving him to become motionless, he was dragged out. On recovering his senses, he was found to be perfectly paralyzed from the neck downwards. Death followed in a few hours, and on dissection, the body of the fifth cervical vertebrae was found fractured trans- versely. Case by Dr. Reveillon. Archives Generales. Medico-Chirurgical Re- view, vxl. 11, p. 240. t Marc, p. 183. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 195 he considered it improbable that the wound on the forehead should have produced death. Another surgeon stated, that with the exception of the mark on the head, he had seen all the appearances met with on the deceased, in a man who had certainly been drowned. If the deceased had fallen accidentally into the river, and had struck himself in the descent, all these appearances might have been produced. It was further shown, that the individual when last seen, was intoxicated—and that the bank of the river was such, that he might readily have slipped off. Amidst this conflict of opinion and particularly the admission by the witness for the crown as to the wound on the forehead, the prisoners might have escaped, had not strong circumstantial evidence and the confession of a female who was in the house at the time of the murder, led to their conviction and execution.* IV. The next point proposed for consideration was, the effects of immersion on the dead body and the changes produced by it: There is but little difference between the specific gravity of the human body, and that of water, though the former is some- what the greater. Hence, a person whether dead or alive, when thrown into the water, will sink, unless buoyed up by external aid; but after the process of putrefaction has occasioned the evolution of gaseous matter, the body becomes specifically lighter than the water, and it rises to the surface. It is for this reason that bodies committed to the deep have generally weights affixed to them. It is, however, possible that a body may float at first, when its cavities have been previously filled with air. Thus Dr. Male supposes, that in the case of a person strangled and thrown into the water with the cord attached around the neck, the body might float at once, from the included air. It is also the opinion, that dead bodies will float sooner in deep than in shallow, and in fresh than in salt water.f In the disastrous accident of the Royal * Taylor's Med. Jurisprudence, p. 134. Case of Pugh, Williams, and Matthews, for the murder of Walter Carwardine. Poilroux, (p. 134,) relates an equally inter- esting case in whieh the medical witnesses were much in doubt whether the injuries noticed (wounds and fractures,) might not have been produced by the large and sharp stones which constituted the bed of the torrent. In process of time, how- ever, it was ascertained that the murdered man had been robbed and the double felon after being arrested and committed to prison, destroyed himself. f Male, 2d edition, p. 115. The body of* prince Carraccioli, who was hung by order of Lord Nelson, was sunk into the sea, with double-headed shot weighing 250 lbs. tied to the legs. It floated on the surface in thirteen days. 19(5 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. George, the bodies were observed to rise to the surface on or about the fifth day.* It often becomes a subject of much importance to ascertain how long the body has lain in the water. Until recently, we have had but few facts to guide the medico-legal examiner, and his inferences could only be drawn from the general results of putre- faction. It was, however, understood that the body, after lying for some time under water, became partly converted into a fatty substance, termed adipocire, and which, in appearance, resembles spermaceti.f Water, in any situation, will produce this, although running water has been found to do it more rapidly. The ques- tion, how long a time is necessary to cause this change to take place, has been made the subject of a very interesting legal in- quiry. "At the Lent assizes held at Warwick in the year 1805, the following cause came before the court. A gentleman named Meecham, who was insolvent, left his own house with the intention (as was presumed from his recent conduct and conversation) of destroying himself. Five weeks and four days after that period, his body was found floating down a river three miles from Bir- mingham, the place where he resided. The face was disfigured by putrefaction, and the hair separated from the scalp by the slightest pull; but the other parts of the body were firm and white, without any putrefactive appearance. The clothes were unaltered, but the linen was exceedingly rotten. On examining the body, it was found that the lower part of the abdomen and the glutei muscles were converted into adipocire. " A commission of bankruptcy having been taken out against the deceased a few days after he left home, it became an impor- tant question to the interest of his family, to ascertain whether or not he was living at that period. From the changes which the body had sustained, it was presumed that he had drowned himself on the day he left home, and to corroborate this presump- tion, the evidence of Dr. Gibbes of Bath was requested, who, from his experiments on this subject, was better acquainted with * Paris, vol. 2, p. 41. IfiS Svol X' G9^S' ?Xl- °n AdiP°cir<:- i" Philosophical Transactions, vol. 84, p. 169, vol. 85, p. 239. This appearance is often to be found in the macerating tub Sdoi^SlT^"'/?6™ lhereif.butrHtllewater'and that both stagnanf and ^cUhatXwher: "^ ^ °' *' ^^ ^^ * ™Uch IoT' time l° Darwall, PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 197 it than any other person. He stated on the trial, that he had procured a small quantity of this fatty substance, by immersing the muscular parts of animals in water for a month, and that it requires five or six weeks to make it in any large quantity. Upon this evidence, the jury were of opinion that the deceased was not alive at the time the commission was taken out, and the bankruptcy was accordingly superseded.* We shall presently see that later observers have fixed a longer period for the pro- duction of this change. I have alluded to recent observations and discoveries in this division of our subject. These are principally derived from the writings of Devergie, published first in the Annales D'Hygiene, and subsequently in his treatise on Legal Medicine. His oppor- tunities have been most favourable. " He was authorised to carry on his investigations at the establishment called ' La Morgue,' in Paris, a building on the banks of the Seine, to which are transported all bodies found dead in the city and its environs, and where they are exposed during three days for the purpose of recognition by their friends. The number thus exhihited exceeds three hundred annually, and includes all manner of violent deaths. In case of the sudden disappearance of an individual, his friends repair to the Morgue, and leave with the porter an accurate de- scription of his person, his clothes, and the period at which he was last seen; and when a body is brought in, it is carefully examined, and if it corresponds with any of the descriptions that have been left, notice to that effect is sent to the persons inte- rested, who come and claim it. The number of persons recog- nised is very considerable; in the first six months of the year 1829, out of 148 bodies, 116 were claimed, of this number, 62 were drowned, of whom 45 were recognised. Being thus fur- nished with positive information as to the time of immersion, and * Male, 2d edition, p. 192. Professor Amos' Lecture, in London Medical Gazette, vol. 8, p. 193. Dr. Harlan of Philadelphia, placed a cranium for maceration in a barrel half filled with water and closely covered over. On examination at six weeks after, he found it floating on the surface of the water, with one side above the surface, and on cutting into it, the whole substance down to the bone was converted into adipocire. On the contrary, that portion of the head and face which was immersed, was found putrid and macerated. (North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 5, p. 471.) I neglected to mention in a previous page, that Dr. Bostock consi- ders adipocire as the immediate production of the muscular fibre, and not as some have thought, a mere residue of the fat after the destruction of the muscles. (Medico- Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 15, p. 159. 17* 198 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. that of finding the body, Devergie was enabled to prosecute his inquiries with great accuracy.''* I shall bring together in this place, the principal observations of our author on the changes induced by the immersion of a body in water, and the progress of putrefaction in it, premising however that the correctness of some of his statements have been already questioned, and particularly by Dr. Ogston. The variations no- ticed by this gentleman will be subsequently mentioned. Putrefaction is always slower in coming on in water, than in the air. It advances most rapidly when the water has a tempe- rature of from 18° to 25° of Reaumur, (72° to 88° of Fahrenheit.) It is difficult to say whether it occurs earliest in running or stag- nant water. The experiments of Orfila seem to show, that sapo- nification, (which includes the formation of adipocire,) happens earliest in the former, but Devergie, while he concedes this, in- clines to believe, that decomposition, (the developement of gas and reducing to putrilage,) occurs more rapidly in the latter. In the water of sewers, putrefaction is still longer delayed than in either of the above, but saponification is an early result. Devergie arranges the phenomena of the putrefactive process in water, under nine distinct heads. They do not, however, always occur in succession, as frequently two or more are seen on the same body. 1. Green putrefaction. This commences in the skin of the sternum, and extends regularly to that of the face, neck, abdomen, shoulders, groins, arms, and legs. In atmospheric putrefaction, the order is different. Here the abdomen is first attacked, then in succession, the groins, the inferior regions of the chest, thighs, anterior part of the chest, legs, neck, arms, and face. The green colour is at first light, but gradually becomes darker. It sometimes extends from the skin to the superficial muscles, but rarely, unless in summer, to the deeper seated. It is either uniform or traversed by dark blue or black lines, caused by the decomposition of blood in the vessels. This change occurs about the third day in summer, and from the twelfth to the fif- teenth in winter. 2. Evolution of gas. The seats of this are the stomach, intestines, lungs, and cavities of the heart. In winter, it is far from being as marked as in summer. The heart, indeed, in the former season, is generally empty. But when the gas is ex- tensively evolved, it frequently drives the blood from the larger o * Dr. Beatty, in Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine, art. Persons found dead. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 199 vessels, into the superficial veins and the capillaries, so as to give a red appearance to the cellular tissue; and the mucous membrane of the abdominal organs and trachea. This colour is most marked in the cavities of the heart, when considerable blood has remained in the ventricles at the moment of death, and accordingly, from its intensity, we may form some opinion as to the cause pro- ducing death, whether asphyxia!, syncopal or apoplectic. It is these appearances which have been mistaken in the intestines pf the drowned, for gastro-enteritis. When developed in the lungs, this gas expels the froth from the trachea. It is disengaged in summer from the fourth to the sixth day, and in winter from six to eight weeks. In the former cases it is produced very rapidly, occupies the subcutaneous cellular tissue, and greatly enlarges the size of the body. Hence bodies come to the surface and float much earlier in warm than in cold weather. 3. Brown putrefaction. Commences in the same parts as the green, but does not spread so extensively, being often overtaken by saponification. It seems to be limited to the skin. Occasion- ally, there is a variety of colours on the same body, green, yel- low, or violet. The brown colour is accompanied with softening of the tissues. It occurs, at the end of the month in winter, and from ten to twelve days in summer. 4. Putrilage. The parts attacked by the green and brown putrefaction, are reduced to a putrid matter which dissolves in water. It commences on the skin of the forehead, and extends in succession to that of the eyelids, nose, lips, clavicles, sternum, cartilages of the ribs, the abdomen and groins. The destruction of the skin allows the gas to escape, although this has many natu- ral outlets. The period of this change is variable, but generally from the second to the third month. 5. Saponification. Such parts of the skin as have not been de- stroyed become opaline, dense, and unctuous. The progress of liquefaction is arrested, and the parts affected by it, take on hard and dry edges. The muscles shrink and assume a rosy colour. The bones, if exposed, are of a bright red. All the internal or- gans diminish in bulk. The stomach, intestines, and bladder are of a white colour. This change occurs earliest in fat females, but usually it is present from the third to the fourth month. Fre- quently along with this, the skin of the legs becomes dense and of a yellow colour, resembling parchment. 200 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 6. Drying. All the fluids seem to be removed, and the hard parts acquire such solidity, as to retain within their coverings the putrid matter into which they have been converted. Saponi- fication goes on during this change, and has penetrated into the intermuscular cellular tissue. The muscles alone escape drying, they are red, moist, glistening, and yet not easily torn. Begins about the fourth month. 7. Corrosions. The cellular tissue appears as if corroded, and these corrosions present a granular surface. They are always a result of saponification, and if developed on a part which has only undergone this, they are round, and of small size, but if they occur on places previously attacked with the various kinds of putrefaction, they are irregular and large. This change occurs at four and a half months. 8. Incrustations. These consist of a calcareous soap, produced by a double decomposition of the sulphate and carbonate of lime in the water, and the margarate and oleate of ammonia, in the adipocire. The skin is thickened, so that it is sonorous when struck. The bulbs of the hair also enlarge. These phenomena only occur on the parts not resting on the bottom of the water. About this period also, the muscles become saponified, the brain, also, and the bones are extremely friable. The cartilages of the trachea are separated, and the stomach and intestines are nearly destroyed. Period from four to four and a half months. 9. Destruction of the soft parts. The saponaceous matter sepa- rates from the bones and disappears. It commences on the head, and afterwards upon the chest, abdomen, and extremities. Dr. Devergie next adverts to the circumstances which modify the putrefactive process in water. Among these are 1. The ex- tent of dress on the body. Any part that is thus protected from the contact of the water will be the slowest in putrefying. Hence boots in men, and corsets in females are a great protection. Thus in the body of a female, which had been five and a half months in the water, the skin of the trunk was in a natural state, while that of the head was saponified, and upon the thighs and legs, it was covered with calcareous incrustations. 2. Stagnant water accelerates those stages of putrefaction which he styles green, brown, and liquid. 3. The changes above detailed do not neces- sarily observe a certain order of sequence; they may, however, be grouped, into two classes, mutually independent; the one PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 201 comprehending green, brown, liquid, and gaseous putrefaction, and the other, saponification, corrosion, drying, and incrustations. The former always affect the same parts, but may be wanting in some instances, when saponification supplies their place. Our author, however, has never seen a case of entire saponification, without any liquid putrefaction. 4. The developement of the va- rious kinds of putrefaction, renders the body more disposed to float. In summer, bodies do not remain in the water more than from two to three weeks. 5. It is doubtful whether the develope- ment of gas is a constant phenomenon. In winter, it is possible that there is scarcely any. Certainly it is produced much more slowly. 6. There is at least a month's difference between the progress of putrefaction in summer and in winter. 7. It is very rare that saponification occurs in rivers during summer. This change is prevented by the rapid induction of putrefaction which causes the body to float. If this last does not happen at the or- dinary time stated above, we have reason to believe that the body is retained in the water by some substance keeping it down. Under such circumstances, saponification may occur. 8. Sapo- nification is prevented when a portion of the body is deprived of its skin. 9. Saponification, drying, &c, occur more readily in young persons and those who are fat. In explanation of the fact already stated, that in the water of privies, putrefaction is less rapid than in running water, while saponification occurs earlier, M. Devergie suggests that the presence of a large quantity of ammonia may delay the one, but accelerate the other. The changes produced in the various organs and tissues, have been sufficiently stated in the above detail. I find only one or two circumstances that require mention. The brain is sometimes converted into a pultaceous mass, which finds its way into the veins even to the vena cava—and this soft matter so much re- sembles pus, that at first our author supposed that phlebitis had existed in the living subject. The serous membranes instead of putrefying, seem to become more dense, and retain as in the liver and spleen, the liquid putrefaction of their substance. We come next to mention the alterations characteristic of vari- ous periods of continuance in the water during the Winter. M. Devergie found that in general no change takes place until the fourth or fifth day, and the cadaverous rigidity frequently conti- 202 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. nues two, three or even four days after immersion. This is pro- bably owing to the coldness of the medium in which the body is placed. From three to four days. Loss of animal heat, rigidity, no con- tractility under the electric current, epidermis of the palms of the hands beginning to whiten. This last is, according to our author, a most important sign, particularly when a body after being drawn from the water, has been exposed for some days to the air. Putrefaction of the head and chest may be present, yet the appearance of the hands must be the guide as to the time of im- mersion in the water. From four to eight days. General flexibility, colour of the skin natural, epidermis of the palms of the hands very white. From eight to twelve days. Flaccidity, epidermis on the back of the hands begins to whiten. The face softened and of a dull white colour, and in this respect differing from the rest of the skin. About fifteen days. Face slightly swollen and red. A greenish tint upon the middle of the sternum; the epidermis of the hands and feet entirely white, and beginning to wrinkle. About a month. Face brownish red, eyelids and lips green, a brown red patch surrounded by green on the anterior part of the chest; the epidermis of the hands and feet white, swollen and wrinkled, as if by poultices. The scrotum and penis are greatly distended by gas, and the hair and nails are still very adherent. About hoo months. Face brownish and tumefied, hairs loose, epidermis of the hands and feet nearly detached; nails still ad- hering. Two months and a half. Epidermis and nails of the hands de- tached, also the epidermis of the feet, but not the nails. In females, redness of the subcutaneous cellular tissue of the neck; partial saponification of the cheeks and chin; superficial on the breasts, groins and anterior surface of the thighs. Three months and a half. Destruction of part of the scalp, eye- lids and nose. Partial saponification of the face, neck and groins. Corrosions. Epidermis of the hands and feet entirely removed, and the nails separated. Four months and a half. Saponification of nearly the whole of the face, neck, groins and anterior parts of the thighs; com- mencement of incrustations on the thighs, and of saponification PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 203 of the anterior lobes of the brain. The skin is of an opaline colour. Detachment of nearly the whole scalp. The skull be- ginning to be friable. Beyond this period, our author, from the uncertainty in the history of the cases examined by him, is unwilling to present any general characters. As to the changes, which take place in Summer, the following observations are made. Ten or twelve days in the water during this season, advance putrefaction as rapidly as six weeks in win- ter. The face is swollen and of a brownish colour, the eyelids distended with gas, and the lips voluminous. The body also is more or less swollen; the skin has an opaline tint, a green spot is seen on the sternum, and the epidermis of the hands is wrinkled. There is thus a difference of at least twenty-two days in the time requisite for producing these appearances. The remaining ob- servations may be put in a tabular form. In Summer. In Winter. 5 to 8 hours, 3 to 5 days. 24 hours, 4 to 8 days. 48 hours, 8 to 12 days. 4 days, 15 days. During the Spring, the changes are somewhat intermediate* but they are considerably affected by the previous season. " If the winter has been very severe, the progress of putrefaction will be slower in the following spring. It is not, however, equally true, that a hot summer renders putrefaction more rapid in the ensuing autumn, a fact, which is accounted for by the well known law, that water is more easily cooled than heated by an agent applied to its surface." Finally, in calculating the period of submersion, we must always take into account the length of time during which the body has been exposed to the atmosphere, after its removal from the water. Five hours particularly in summer, are sufficient to produce the most rapid changes during the earlier stages of pu- trefaction. From these it passes to the more advanced with ex- treme quickness. Not so, however, when saponification is pre- sent, since this for obvious reasons is little affected by contact with the air. In winter, the changes occur much more slowly. It thus appears, that the most remarkable alterations happen 204 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. in bodies removed from the water in summer—not if they have been recently—or a long time immersed, but for an intermediate period—from eight days to four or six weeks.* I have already mentioned, that the value of these deductions have been strongly questioned. Orfila is one who denies that the time which has elapsed since immersion can thus be positively de- cided.f Devergie, however, asserts that in several very recent instances, examined by himself and others, the period of immer- sion stated by him on merely viewing the bodies, proved to be accurate. The experience of Dr. Ogston likewise is not confirmatory of Devergie. In case 6, occurring in January, the head and neck were swollen, although the body had only been immersed six hours. In case 16, immersed 80 hours, and seen in October, the face was swollen, and of a dull red colour, yet Devergie pre- scribes fifteen days as the term of this appearance in winter. In case 18, examined in December, after twenty days immersion, the face was enormously swollen, and of a deep red colour—the hair was detaching from the scalp, and coming away by a mode- rate effort. The cuticle was beginning to separate from the lower half of the legs. Saponification had gone on to a conside- rable extent. We are, however, not to undervalue the observations of De- vergie. They were made on a limited number of cases, and it is only by increasing these, that we can expect to arrive at de- ductions which shall be generally correct, although doubtless variations will always more or less occur. It is something to ascertain with some degree of accuracy, the changes correspon- dent to distant intervals of immersion. Had these been generally understood, they might have proved useful in the excitement which, several years since, agitated our state. The body of William Morgan, drowned some fifteen months previous (in sum- mer) in the Niagara river, was supposed to have been found. The hair dropped out from the slightest touch; the nails of the fingers and toes were loose; the body was swollen, and the arms * Devergie, vol. 1, p. 94, 164 to 234. British and Foreign Med. Review vol. 2, p. 397 to 402. t Orfila has attacked Devergie very severely, in his Exhumations Juridiques, vol. 2, p. 1 to 120. The main charge however is plagiarism, and a denial in some cases of the uniform occurrence of the changes indicated. The controversy has been con- tinued in the Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 5, p. 429; vol. 6, p. 209 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 205 of a chocolate colour. My former pupil and friend, Dr. John Cotes, of Batavia, examined the body. The parts under the skin had not undergone decomposition; the stomach was in a perfect state, and there was nothing manifest, except the early indica- tions of putrefaction. He deposed, before the coroner's jury, that this body has probably not lain in the water more than six or eight weeks. It was subsequently ascertained to be the body of another individual. Yet it is to be added, that there were some striking coincidences in physical marks between the murdered individual and the one now under examination. V. Spencer Cowper, Esq. a member of the English bar, and three other individuals, were tried at the Hertford Assizes, in 1699, for the murder of Mrs. Sarah Stout. Mr. Cowper came to Hertford on Monday, the 13th of March, and shortly after visited Mrs. Stout, who lived with her mother, of the same name. He dined with them, and staid till four in the afternoon. When he went away, he promised to return and lodge there that night. Accordingly, at 9 o'clock, he arrived, ate some supper, and then engaged in conversation with Mrs. Stout, the daughter. They were alone in the room, when she called a servant, and desired her to make a fire in his chamber, and to warm his bed. The direction was attended to, and in about a quarter of an hour, the servant heard the door shut, as if some one was going out. She remained above about a quarter of an hour longer, and then came down into the room. Mr. Cowper and Mrs. Stout were both gone, and the next morning she was found dead, and floating on the water. Its depth was about five feet, and her body was about five or six inches under it, although some of her clothes was on its surface. Her eyes were open, and some little froth issued from her mouth and nostrils. The body was not tumefied, nor were any bruises observed. This was the testimony of the indi- viduals who took the body out of the water. Mr. Dimsdale, a surgeon, was sent for by the mother, to view the body. He found both sides of the neck swelled and black, and the skin between her breasts up towards the collar-bone, was also dark-coloured. The left wrist was slightly bruised. There was, however, no circular mark around the neck. It is to be regretted that this investigation proceeded no further. On the 28th of April, six weeks after the death of Mrs. Stout, her body was disinterred for the purpose of inspection. The medi- VOL. II. 18 206 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. cal witnesses stated, that they found the head and neck so much putrefied, that no opinion could be formed respecting their ap- pearance. The stomach and intestines were, however, in a sound state, as were also the lungs. Neither of them was putrefied, and on making incisions into them, no water could be discovered. Drs. Coatsworth, Nailor, Burnet, and Woodhouse, with Mr. Babington, a surgeon, deposed, that when a person is drowned, water will be taken into the stomach and lungs, and as none was found in this case, they were of opinion that she came to her death by some other means. The above is an abstract of the testimony on the part of the crown. On the part of Mr. Cowper, it was first attempted to be shown, that the peculiar position of the body was owing to its lying sideways against some stakes in the river. These pre- vented its complete immersion under water, and a witness also mentioned, that in drawing the body out of the water, one of the arms rubbed against the stakes, and thus probably produced the injury observed on it. Drs. Sloane, Garth, Morley, Wollaston and Crell, together with William Cowper, the celebrated anatomist, appeared as witnesses for the prisoner. They were all asked concerning the circum- stance of no water being found in the body, and whether this dis- proved the probability of drowning. Dr. Sloane considered it altogether an accidental appearance in the stomach, and not necessarily present in such cases. The others advanced similar opinions. As to the fluid in the lungs, the answers were not very definite; but it was insinuated by some, that the six weeks' burial might have dissipated whatever was taken in.* During the trial, it was a subject of keen inquiry, whether dead bodies float or sink when thrown into the water. Seamen were summoned to depose on this point, and they testified that weights were fastened in order to produce their descent. The explanation of Dr. Garth is, however, perfectly satisfactory on this point. It is the same which is mentioned in a former page. Weights are added to prevent the buoyancy when putrefaction commences. In answer to a question from the judge, (Baron Hatsell,) Dr. Garth remarked, that the body of a strangled person might possibly float, on account of the included air. In this instance, however, there was no proof of such a cause of death. * Dr. Morley suggested, that if the female intended to destroy herself, she might, by keeping her breath, only take in a very small quantity of water. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 207 Dr. Crell insisted much on the presence of the frothy mucus about the mouth and nostrils, as a proof that Mrs. Stout had been drowned. The coroner's jury had returned a verdict of non compos men- tis, and Mr. Cowper, on the trial, attempted to prove a previous melancholy state of mind. This, of course, was for the purpose of rendering it probable that suicide had been committed. These were the leading medico-legal facts and opinions elicited on the trial, and the jury, after remaining out about half an hour, brought in a verdict of not guilty.* A case resembling the above in several particulars, has hap- pened in this state. Levi Weeks was, on the 31st of March, 1800, put upon his trial, before the court of oyer and terminer at New York, for the murder of Gulielma Sands. The principal circumstances were as follows : The deceased and the prisoner lodged in the house of Mrs. Ring, who was a distant relative of the former. She re- ceived attention from the prisoner, and told Mrs. Ring that she was to be married to him on Sunday, the 22d of December, 1799. When the evening arrived, she dressed herself, and came down into the lower room, where the prisoner was. Shortly after, she again went up stairs, whither Mrs. Ring followed her, saw her put on her hat and shawl, and take her muff in her hand. While in this state of preparation, Mrs. Ring came down stairs into the room, and found her husband and Levi sitting together. The latter instantly took his hat and went out into the entry, and the moment the door opened, Mrs. Ring heard a walking on the stairs, and directly a whispering at the door. She soon heard them walking along, and presently the front door opened, and the latch fell. The time she accurately fixed at about ten minutes after eight. Weeks returned to his lodgings at Ring's at ten * Hargrave's State Trials, vol. 5, p. 193 to 231. This case gave rise to several bitter pamphlets, in which the whole course of testimony was reviewed, and the cha- racters of Mrs. Stout and Mr. Cowper were treated with little mercy. (See vol. 8, p. 485 to 512.) The opponent of Mr. Cowper accuses him or his accomplices in broud terms, of having felled her with a blow under the ear, and then strangling her with his hand. Such an opinion is, however, hardly tenable as Dimsdale and Camlin both stated, that the stagnation of blood which was present, did not materially differ from what is usually observed in the drowned. (The following additional facts I derive from the London Law Magazine, vol. 10, Life of Lord Cowper. Spencer Cowper was the brother of Lord Chancellor Cowper, and in after life became a judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Miss Stout appears to have been in love with him, although a married man. Her mother procured an appeal of murder against him, but it was got rid of by connivance.) * 208 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. o'clock. Gulielma's body was found in the Manhattan well, on the 2d of January, 1800. As to the circumstantial evidence, I will only add the follow- ing. It was proved by a witness, that Weeks had spent the even- ing with him from half past eight until ten: and again it was testified, that it took fifteen minutes to walk from Ring's to the well. The medico-legal testimony was of the following import. The body was carefully drawn up, so as not to touch either side of the well. Her hat, handkerchief and shoes were gone, and her clothes torn. On the right hand there was something like a bruise, and there were scratches of sand upon her skin, some of which was knocked off, and seemed to have been driven forward. The right foot was bare, and somewhat scratched on its upper part, as if she had been dragged on the ground. Her counten- ance was flushed, and her arms and neck very limber. Drs. Prince and Mackintosh examined the body before the coroner's jury, on the 3d January. It was ascertained that she was not pregnant. The scarf-skin of the face was scratched, as if with gravel, and there was a bruise on the knee. There was a livid spot on the breast, but none on the neck. In the body, a small quantity of water was discovered. Both these gentlemen de- posed, that in their opinion, all the appearances could be account- ed for on the supposition of her having been drowned. Dr. Hosack saw the body on the day it was interred. He was struck with the unusual redness of the countenance, and upon looking at the neck, observed three or four dark-coloured spots, of an irregular shape, but not in an exact line. The largest were about an inch and a half, and the smallest about three quarters of an inch. He was decidedly of an opinion that these were marks of violence done to the neck, and did not conceive it pos- sible that they could have been committed on one's own person. Other witnesses had also observed these spots on the neck. Towards the conclusion of the trial, Dr. Hosack was again called, and asked whether there was any explanation by which the medical testimony apparently so discordant, could be recon- ciled. He replied, that it might, in either of two ways. First, the spots were probably not so visible, when the body was first taken out of the water, as after it had been exposed to the air for some days. The gradual progress of putrefaction might have PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 209 developed this appearance in the injured part. Secondly, when she was first taken out of the well, it was generally supposed that the neck and collar bone were broken. As Dr. H. did not see her until the day of interment, it is possible that the frequent turning and bending of the head, and the repeated examinations of the neck, to ascertain the injury done to the collar bone, might have produced the spots in question, and as the body had been dead for several days, a little violence might have produced a rupture of the cutaneous vessels, and a consequent effusion under the skin. The prisoner was acquitted.* I cannot avoid venturing a single remark on this case. The prisoner was doubtless innocent, but there are strong proofs to my mind, that the deceased suffered violence, previous to falling or being thrown into the well. The weather was undoubtedly cold, (it was during the holidays,) and the progress of putrefac- tion during immersion, must unquestionably have been very slow. The coroner's jury viewed the body on the day after it was drawn up. Dr. Hosack, and other witnesses, some time thereafter. Is it not probable that exposure to the air developed these marks of injury, and do not these marks indicate manual strangulation previous to immersion If * Report of the trial of Levi Weeks, &c. taken in short-hand by the clerk of the court, (Wm. Coleman, Esq.)' 8vo. New York, 1800. Not long since it was asserted in some of our newspapers, but I know not on what authority, that the actual mur- derer of Miss Sands had suffered death for a similar crime in another country. f In the Causes Celebres, par Mejan, vol. 5, p. 127, a case is related of an indi- vidual taken from the water, around whose body a bag containing several large stones was suspended. Distinct marks of compression were observed on the neck, and on dissecting through the skin, blood was found effused in .situations corresponding to the external ecchymosis. One of the cervical vertebrae was luxated. The accusa- tion was, that he had been strangled previous to the immersion ; while the defence set up, rested on various proofs of previous insanity, and it was insinuated that the luxation might have originated from the fall into the well. The jury (November 19, 1808,) acquitted the persons accused. A similar case, where an extensive and se- vere fracture of the cranium was found on the head of a female drawn from a well in a cellar, containing five feet of water, and being about the same to the surface, will be found in Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 9, p. 192. The sides of the well were smooth, and its aperture small. I add the following curious extract from Hamilton's History of Medicine, as given in a review of that work, in the Lancet, N. S. vol. 8, p. 486. " Among other instances of superior sagacity to which the Chinese pretend, one of the most singular, perhaps, is the method by which they affect to discover, whether a man found deud by strangulation has been his own executioner, or has been stran- gled by others ! whether, in case of a body being found in the water, death preceded or followed its immersion, and whether, in other cases, death has been the result of natural causes or of felonious violence.—The body being taken up in all suspicious cases, is carefully washed with vinegar; a large fire is next kindled in a pit dug ex- pressly for the purpose, and measuring six feet in length, three in width, and as 18* 210 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. There is a second question belonging to this subject, which is no less intricate than the first. Was the drowning the effect of suicide, accident, or homicide ? I can offer but few observations on it. We should inquire particularly as to the situation in which the body is found—notice whether the stream is rapid or still water, and whether its banks are precipitous or sliding. Ascertain whether the individual has laboured under near-sightedness, ver- tigo, or symptoms of insanity. The bruises on the body should be examined, and a minute dissection be made. We should, how- ever, recollect, that the person may have precipitated himself into the water, and struck against a stone or other hard sub- stance, and the body may have thus been wounded.* In other cases, accidental circumstances may clear up the subject, as the marks of footsteps on the margin of the water, and substances found grasped in the hands of the deceased, that have evidently been seized while making resistance.^ It is an opinion with some writers, that'less water is found in the lungs of suicides than in those who are drowned by ac- cident, or wilfully ; but this is evidently uncertain and unfounded. In March, 1806, a young woman at Little Sheffield, in York- shire, made way with herself, by breaking a hole in the ice upon a pond, and thrusting her head in, while the rest of the body remained out. This situation repelled the -idea either of force or of accident.J In 1776, a young man named Paulet, of a violent and gloomy temper, was found dead at the bottom of a well. Strong suspi- cions attached to two individuals. The medical reporters stated much in depth ; the fire in this pit is progressively augmented, till the surrounding earth becomes intensely heated, when the fire is removed, a large quantity of a vi- nous liquor, fermented from rice and honey, is poured in, and the mouth of the pit covered with an osier hurdle, upon which the body is stretched out at full length. A cloth, supported in the form of an arch, is then thrown over both, in order to con- fine the vapour arising from the vinous liquor thrown into the heated pit, and direct its action to every part of the body. At the end of two hours, the cloth is removed, and the body minutely inspected, when, if any blows have been inflicted, their marks will appear distinctly upon the body." * Male, p. 236. t See the case of Mr. Taylor, already noticed in the beginning of this chapter. t Smith, p. 275. The criticism of Mr. Taylor on this case Is however correct. " Since it was known that the young woman had committed suicide, there could have been no difficulty in determining the point, but it is impossible to admit, with the reporter of the case, in the absence of all other evidence, that the situation in which the body was found repelled the idea of force, for there is no greater difficulty in conceiving that her head had been forcibly put under water, than that she should have committed the act herself." Medical Jurisprudence, p. 145. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 211 that they found sand under the nails of his hands; a circular mark on his ankle bones, external contusions on the head, and particularly above the left superciliary ridge, and some cuts on the top of the scalp. On opening the thorax, the whole extent of the trachea down to the lungs was found filled with frothy mucus, and the stomach was half full of a whitish water. They considered these as marks of death by drowning. It was proved that the well was so surrounded by houses, that the slightest noise at it would have been immediately heard, and it was also constructed with sharp and heavy stones. The marks on the ankle bones were alone of a doubtful nature, but as Paulet had been melancholy, and refused sustenance for several days, and every other circumstance could be satisfactorily explained, the parliament of Toulouse liberated the accused, and agreed that suicide had been committed.* One would imagine, says Dr. Smith, that if a person be taken out of the water tied hand and foot, there need be no hesitation about inferring that he had been forced into that situation; yet we have several cases of precisely that description, in which the presumption was clearly in favour of suicide. In June 1816, the body of a gauging instrument-maker who had been missing for some days from his home, was discovered floating down the Thames. On being taken out, his wrists were found tied together and made fast to his knees, which were in like manner secured to each other. He had been in a state of mental derangement for two years. The cord with which he had tied himself, was recognised as one that had hung from the ceiling over his bed, and by which he used to raise himself up, as he had been confined to bed for some weeks. He was a good swimmer, and it was presumed he had taken the precaution to prevent himself from employing that power. The verdict in this case was, " found drowned."f In another instance, a man aged twenty-eight, with a wife and children, was reduced to great distress. On a certain day, he took an affectionate leave of his family, declaring that he would not return until he had obtained some employment, by which he should be able to procure them bread. The following day, his body was taken out of the New River, with his hands and legs tied. A card with his address was found in his pocket, and also * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 127, from the Causes Celebres. t Smith, p. 276. 212 PERSONS FOUND DEAD. three pence; when he left home, he had five pence, and it was supposed that he had purchased the cord with the deficient sum The verdict in this case was, " insanity."* In 1817, says Fodere, I was called to see the body of a work man, large, strong, and in the flower of his age, who had been taken out of the Yll. His hands and fingers were tied together with a silk riband, in numerous folds. The hands evidently could have been very easily disengaged. There were no marks of external injury, and no swelling around the ligatures. His dress was uninjured, and nothing was taken from him. On exa- mination, there were no marks except those common to drown- ing. Our author gave it as his opinion that this was a case of suicide, and that he had probably tied the riband with his teeth.f The above are examples where there may be doubt as to sui- cide or homicide. I will conclude with one, where the question was suicide or accident. It arose in the English court of exche- quer in 1826. An individual named Rainer, had insured his life for £3000 in the Rock Life Insurance. Now it is one of the provisos in a po- licy, that if the insured meets his death by suicide or duelling, the insurance shall be void. Mr. Rainer, the person insured, had been insane for some time. He resided at Highbury, and on the 15th of March, between five and six o'clock, left his home with- out the knowledge of his family, and called at several places, ex- hibiting strong symptoms of agitation and excitement. He then took the road to Finchley, and on reaching a pond on the pre- mises of a farmer, was drowned. It is probable, from the state in which his shoes and stockings were found, that he had walked into the pond with his clothes on; that he had then returned, un- dressed himself, laid his cloihes in a convenient place, and in such a manner as to indicate that, he intended to dress himself after leaving the water. It was urged, that if this was a case of suicide, he would have * Paris, vol. 3, p. 42. t Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, vol. 24, art. Indices. A similar case is related in the Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 9. p. 207. The body of the Sieur X. was taken from the Seine at Paris, having the feet, wrists and neck tied. None of the knots, however, were tight, and they left but a very slight impression on the skin. On disseciinn, the liver and heart were found to bear the marks of long continued disease. The medical examiners, (Marc, Guichard, &c.) from these circumstances, and the totiil absence of injury, gave the opinion that this was a case of suicide. They add, that in each case they were slip-knots, and apparently made by the individual to put it out of his power to help himself in the water. PERSONS FOUND DEAD. 213 thrown himself into the water with his clothes on; and some medical witnesses were of opinion that he died from apoplexy, occasioned by immersion in cold water while under a high fever. The Chief Baron remarked to the jury, that this was a case in which there was a great want of facts, and that they could only decide on probabilities. The verdict was in favour of the execu- tors.* It is not necessary to state the laws of various countries against the crime of murder. Whatever may be the mode adopted to destroy life, it is universally visited with the highest punishment. In a recent English law called Lord Lansdowne's act, (9 Geo. IV. chap. 31,) the attempt to drown, suffocate, or strangle a person, is declared a felony, and made punishable with death. * Garret and others, executors of Rainer, v. the Rock Insurance Company. I copy this case from a newspaper. CHAPTER XV. WOUNDS ON THE LIVING BODY. 1. Of wounds in general-division of them into slight, dangerous and mortal-enu- meration of each. Circumstances which may aggravate the danger of wounds. A. The age and constitution of the patient, and his maladies, either hereditary or accidental. Habits of intemperance. Supervention of diseases, and how they are to be estimated-erysipelas-tetanus. B. The passions of the patient-negl.gence or delay. C. Insalubrity of the atmosphere. D. Ignorance or negligence of the surgeon. 2. Nature.and prognostics of wounds of particular parts. Wounds of the head—of the face-of the neck—of the thorax—of the abdomen—of the ex- tremities. Wounds from fire-arms. Laws as to the time within which death from wounds is deemed murder. 3. Of mutilation. French laws against it—English —Coventry Act—Cases. American laws. It has been already stated, but it is proper to repeat in this place, that the term wound, in legal medicine, comprehends all lesions of the body, and in this it differs from the meaning of the word when used in surgery. The latter only refers to a solution of continuity, while the former comprises not only these, but also every other kind of accident, such as bruises, contusions, frac- tures, dislocations, burns, &c. &c. In this sense then the term is to be understood in our future remarks.* The questions which arise in all cases of wounds that come under judicial investigation, are the following: How far has the person who caused the injury, contributed to the death of the de- * Ballard and Marc, however, object to this, and recommend the word Lesion, for the general term. Lesion from some external cause. (Diclionnaire des Sciences Medicales, art. Blessures.) In Moriarty v. Brooks, Lord Lyndhurst, Chief Baron, said—" The definition of a wound, in criminal cases, is an injury to the person, by which the skin is broken. If the skin is broken and there was a bleeding, that is a wound." (6 Carrington and Payne's Reports,- p. 684.) So also in Rex v. Beckett, (1 Moody and Robinson, 527,) it was decided that " to constitute a wound, the ex- ternal surface of the body must be divided." Amer. Jurist, 18, 424. This is the usual surgical definition of a wound, but it must be recollected that a man may have a bone fractured from a blow, without any breaking of the skin. In France, the legal and medical definitions accord. " By wounds, (blessures,) we understand, in legal me- dicine, every local effect on the body, produced by an act of violence, or by the ap- plication of any caustic or corrosive agent. Hence, under this head, are to be in- eluded bruises and contusions, fractures and dislocations, sprains and burns, compre- hending scalds and sores." The explanation of this is, that the word blessures is not defined by the law, and the medical construction is consequently followed. Brierre de Boismont and Devergie, quoted by Taylor, p. 489, and Poilroux, p. 335. The last author remarks that the term blessures is generic, while plaie (a wound with solution of continuity,) is a species included under it. wounds. 215 ceased, or to the lesion of one or other of the functions of the body ? And again, to what class is a certain wound to be re- ferred 1 These are inquiries of great magnitude—and correct views, as well as stable principles, are needed, in order to answer them properly. Medical and surgical works are filled with in- stances of remarkable recoveries from the most dreadful wounds, and also with cases of death from apparently the slightest ones. If we take these as our guide, the consequence will be, that no- thing of a determinate nature can be agreed upon, and every physician, whenever he enters a court of justice, may, by the aid of a corresponding example, prove that a dangerous wound is not so, and that Its fatality has been owing to ignorance or ne- glect. Such power is too extensive and too important to be granted to every medical witness, and whatever we take from his hands, and refer to sound principles and general rules, is a solid gain to the cause of truth and justice. In further proceeding with my observations, I shall, in the first place, notice the subject of wounds in general, and afterwards examine the nature and prognostics of wounds of particular parts. The subject of mutilation, from its entering so much into our statute law, will form a third section. 1. Of wounds in general. Wounds, from their nature, may be either slight, dangerous or mortal. By a slight wound, is meant one in which there are no parts injured that are important to carrying on life, or any of its functions, and whose uniform course is to heal quickly, and to leave no lesion or deformity. A dangerous one, implies a wound which, without being mortal, is still not exempt from danger, and presents more or less difficulty in its cure. Lastly, mortal wounds comprehend those- whose consequence and effect is death. In this sense only is a wound in legal medicine termed mortal. More minute divisions than these which I have named, may, however, be made, and indeed are indispensable. Thus, a wound may be in itself mortal, or it may be mortal by accident. It may be in itself dangerous, or it may become so from some complication, or from not having been properly treated.* Even * Marc divides wounds into mortal and not mortal. The first is subdivided into wounds of necessity mortal, and wounds mortal by accident. The second into wounds completely and incompletely curable. Dr. Biessy classifies them, into slight, and severe wound.s, and divides the latter into those which may be perfectly cured, 216 WOUNDS. slight wounds may become dangerous from neglect, from a de- bilitated or diseased state of the system, or from mal-treatment, such as endeavouring to excite suppuration, when the aim ought to be to promote adhesion. In such cases, the blame should be laid where it properly belongs. Circumstances as well as accident have a considerable effect on wrounds. Bohn suggests several instances of this nature, in which their mortality is prevented by particular phenomena. Thus, a small portion of the omentum, or the fat of the intestine, may so place itself in the mouth of a wounded blood-vessel in the abdomen, as to prevent a haemorrhage, while, if not thus ob- structed, it would be mortal.* Again, it has been repeatedly observed by surgeons, that there may be such an adhesion of the pleura to the lungs, as that the blood or pus from the latter, will flow outwardly, when they have been injured by a penetrating wound. The same author remarks, that it has never been de- monstrated, and indeed in the nature of things it never can be proved, that a wound from which there is a recovery, is precise- ly similar to one which has proved fatal, although externally they may be similar in every respect. In the one case, there can be no dissection to prove its nature, and in the other there may have been many peculiar circumstances not attendant on the former.-J- This observation is in itself a sufficient answer to the argument already referred to, of proving the possibility of recovery from dangerous wounds, by a reference to similar instances. The subject may be farther illustrated by examples. A man, says Bohn, receives a wound in the bottom of his stomach, a severe hiccup, faintings and retchings come on, while the half digested food that he has taken, passes out through the aperture. This individual is, however, cured in a month's time, whilst another, whose wound is accompanied with similar symptoms, except that he does not hiccup, and which in itself is a favoura- ble symptom, dies in three days. Shall we say that the latter was not mortally wounded, because the former escaped 1 Dis- those which may be cured, but leave some deformity or weakness, and those which may prove fatal. * Bohn, p. 31. He mentions a dissection, in which the right iliac artery was found wounded, and life had been prolonged for thirteen days, evidently from this cause. J J t Bohn, p. 27. " Dubium an vulnus sanatum exacte idem cum non sanato fuerit.' WOUNDS. 217 section will teach us the incorrectness of this deduction, and that in the instance of mortality, the wound has been rather lateral than deep, and has touched the left gastric artery, in consequence of which, there has been a profuse haemorrhage into the abdo- minal cavity. Again, an individual receives a violent blow on the head which causes a depression of the cranium, and is ac- companied with a considerable haemorrhage from the head and ear, and a loss of sense and motion. After a day or two, the depressed piece of bone is raised, he recovers his senses, the haemorrhage ceases, and at the end of some weeks, the patient recovers. Another is injured in precisely the same manner, is treated similarly, and notwithstanding, dies at the end of seven days, without ever recovering from the state of coma,' and on dissection, extravasated blood is found in the ventricles of the brain.* These instances are sufficient to prove how little dependence is to be placed on analogy, and they also illustrate the impor- tance of fixed rules concerning the mortality of wounds, founded exclusively on anatomical and physiological data. A strict definition of life is not necessary at this time, and it is sufficient to state, that it depends on the union and reciprocal in- fluence of the functions which compose it, and particularly of the circulating, nervous and respiratory systems. Lesions of the chylopoetic system come next in order, as the body cannot sur- vive without nourishment, and the danger to life will of course be in proportion to the extent of the injury, and the immediate necessity of the organ. Wounds which rupture the large blood- vessels in one or other of the large cavities, such as the head, the thorax, or the abdomen; those which penetrate the auricles or ventricles of the heart, the trunk of the aorta, or vena cava, are mortal. There are, however, so many cases on record, in which individuals are stated to have survived for some time, with large abscesses in the brain, or even a ball in that part, that we are justified in viewing wounds of the heart as more fatal than those of the head. Next to these are wounds, which, from their depth, penetrate into the spinal marrow—wounds of the head, compli- cated with such severe injury, that venesection and the trephine do not alleviate them—a division or twisting of the spinal mar- * Bohn, p. 28, 29. VOL. n. 19 218 WOUNDS. row in the cervical vertebrae—a division of the eighth pair of nerves—and a general affection of the nervous system from blows or injuries on parts, which are the centre of its various depart- ments, such as the pit of the stomach. In the next place, may be mentioned as mortal wounds, such as prevent the function of respiration—a total division, or a large wound of the trachea; and particularly, if in the latter case, the under lip of the wound is retracted inwards—wounds penetrating through the bronchise, and wounds of the diaphragm, particularly of its tendinous por- tion. To this class belong also extensive wounds of the pharynx, oesophagus, and stomach—of the duodenum, thoracic duct, and mesentery, and particularly, if a large number of the lacteals be divided, together with severe wounds of the liver, spleen, pan- creas, gall-bladder, and the ductus cysticus, and choledicus. Wounds of the urinary passages, kidneys, ureters, bladder, im- pregnated uterus, and amputation of the male genital organs, are all ordinarily mortal, unless immediate aid be afforded, as are also extensive and penetrating ones from fire-arms accompanied with fracture of bones. All these accidents, from the importance of the organs that are injured—the extravasations that occur, or the haemorrhage which accompanies them, and which it is often impossible to check, are usually mortal. Such, however, are the powers of nature, and so extensive are its resources, that hope should sel- dom be abandoned. If called upon to make an immediate report, it is proper to form a prognostic on these principles, and to men- tion the danger that is present. On the trial, however, the con- viction must be decidedly stated, that the wound was a mortal one, and that no surgical aid could have saved the patient, or when applied, had no beneficial effect. Among dangerous wounds, or those concerning which we can- not give a decided prognostic, must be ranked such as are in- flicted on organs essential to the exercise of the vital, natural, or animal functions; and as to their consequences, they may be divided into those which may become mortal, and those which may interrupt the exercise of any function. To the first class belong all penetrating wounds, 'though unaccompanied with symptoms that indicate immediate danger—all contused wounds, whether on the head, thorax or abdomen—all wounds of the ex- tremities, and particularly where surgical aid cannot be procured WOUNDS. 219 in time to suppress haemorrhage, and all compound fractures and luxations, particularly if the part be much surrounded by nerves and muscles, and if it be near a joint. Even simple contusions or blows may become dangerous, from a rapid disorganization of parts, and a consequent mortification; and especially, if, on tendinous or ligamentous parts, the supervention of tetanic affec- tions are to be dreaded. In the second class are included all wounds made in any of the secretory organs and their ducts—in the organs of sense, as the eye, ear, nose, and mouth—in the generative organs, as the testicles, penis, and unimpregnated uterus. Also, fractures of the clavicle or sternum, and depression of the xiphoid or ensiform cartilage—transverse wounds of the great pectoral or dorsal muscles—and wounds of the muscles of the abdomen, particu- larly near the linea alba, and pubis—wounds of the perineum combined with injury to the canal of the urethra, pricking of the tendons of muscles, together with wounds of important branches of nerves. Slight wounds comprehend those injuries in which the skin and the muscles are divided, the latter in the direction of their fibres, and where no tendon, aponeurosis, large nerves, or blood-vessels are touched, and the system has not received a severe shock. To this class, also belong simple luxations and fractures. But as we have already observed, there are circumstances which render this division an arbitrary one, and which cause a mortal wound of the lowest class to be inevitably mortal—a dangerous one to become mortal—and a slight one, dangerous. These circumstances may be reduced into four classes, each of which deserves particular notice. 1. The constitution and age of the patient, and his antecedent or co-existent maladies may exercise a baleful influence on the injury received. Thus, for example, he may be advanced in years—and the wounds inflicted will then be less likely to heal. Or there may be a complete transposition of parts—the heart is sometimes found on the right side of the thorax—the spleen has been discovered to occupy the place of the liver—the stomach has descended as low or even lower than the umbilical region, while the bladder has risen into the abdomen. It would cer- tainly be unjust, except in cases of premeditated murder, to con- sider the criminal as responsible for the fatality of wounds given 220 WOUNDS. under such circumstances. Again, an individual may be suffer- ing under hernia, and in that situation, may receive a mortal wound from a cutting instrument, or may die from a contusion or blow on the part, which under other circumstances would not prove dangerous.* The condition of the wounded person may also be rendered hazardous from a variation in the ordinary dis- tribution of blood-vessels—from the presence of aneurismf— from an extreme thinness of the bones of the cranium, or a venereal caries of the same part—from having large umbilical vessels, or finally, from being afflicted with some chronic disease, or suffering under debility.J Slight wounds may also be render- * Bohn, p. 70, 71. t Two men, long at enmity, met in a public and much frequented place. The one alighting from his horse, passed to the place where his adversary stood, addressed some contemptuous words to him, and gave him a blow on the shoulder with a riding whip that he held in his hand. The other furiously ran after him, but before he had gone a dozen paces, he fell down dead. There were no external marks of injury, but on dissection, an aneurism, for which he had frequently consulted the physician, was found to have burst. (Chaussier, p. 11.) A respectable individual put an end to his existence by hanging himself. Dr. Wesener was directed by the proper officers to examine the body. The examination of the thorax and abdomen presented nothing beyond what is usually observed in such cases, but on opening the head, he found the following deviation from nature. About the middle of the sagittal suture, the bones of the cranium were, for the space of a sixpence, as thin as the most delicate lamella of bone, and in this spot were two openings, each about the size of a pin's head, through which two vessels ran, which arose from the superficial veins of the dura mater, and anastomosed with the veins of the scalp. On cutting into the scalp, though with great care, the blood flowed over the galea aponeurotica in such quantities as quite to redden it, and it appeared on examination, that the emissaria sanforini were cut through. It is evi- dent from this statement, that a blow on the spot in question would probably have caused death, either by direct depression, or by causing internal haemorrhage. (Quarterly Journal of Foreign Medicine and Surgery, vol.2, p. 105, from Hufeland's Journal.) Another case equally striking, is quoted from Frank, of a man wounded with a sabre on the frontal bone, an inch and a half from the sagittal suture, where it is ob- literated in the adult. A portion of the external table of the skull was removed, and after being neglected for some days, the patient applied to Frank. He saw symptoms that induced him to apply the trephine in the neighbourhood of the wound. As soon as he reached the diploe, a torrent of blood issued forth, and the patient died the same day of the haemorrhage. On dissection, seven vascular communications were found between the dura mater and diploe, through so many foramina in the internal table of the skull in this place. (Notice of Robert on the influence of anatomical Varieties on Surgical Operations, in Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 13, p. 299. The late Mr. Ashmun in his lectures on Medical Jurisprudence, mentions the fol- lowing as occurring in the state of Massachusetts, in 1818. A small stone thrown so as to strike the side of the head, caused death in ten minutes. There was no ex- ternal bruise, and no fracture. The cranium was found to be extremely thin. The ventricles were filled with coagulated blood, and the pia mater, and vessels of the brain were gorged with blood. The dura mater was healthy. The verdict was manslaughter, but Mr. Ashmun suggests that it ought to have been excusable homi- cide. American Jurist, vol. 15, p. 108. + As for example, a case of this description. A man had for some years, been labouring under a discharge from the left ear, which left him deaf. Being in ordi- nary health, he received a blow in a quarrel on the chest, and in attempting to reta- WOUNDS. 221 ed dangerous, and even mortal, from an extreme irritability of the nervous system, from previous habits of drunkenness, or from a scorbutic, cancerous, cachectic or venereal habit. And above all, is there serious apprehension, when these are inflicted on persons ot haemorrhagic disposition. Cases of this description are by no means uncommon, and the slightest abrasion in them, will often cause alarming, discharges.* All the possible circum- liate, struck his head against the edge of an open door. The blow caused a small wound on the right side of the forehead with much ecchymosis, though with very little external haemorrhage. Intense pain at the seat of the blow followed, which soon became general over the whole forehead. Delirium ensued, and the discharge from the ear ceased. He was admitted into St. George's Hospital, but remedies produced no good effect and he died somewhat comatose, within four weeks after the injury. On dissection, no injury of the bone or its covering, nor any extravasation of blood at the seat of the wound were discovered. The left hemisphere of the cerebel- lum was soft and discoloured, and in the interior of the middle and anterior lobes, was a large abscess, containing three ounces of fluid pus, and its parietes soft and green. At the bottom of the abscess, the brain adhered to the dura mater, covering the thin roof of the tympanum, in the centre of which, a small opening in the dura mater allowed a probe to strike on dead bone, about the size of a sixpence. The membrane of the tympanum was also partially destroyed. It was thus evident, that there had been a disease of the brain of long standing, and all that the blow could have done, was to hasten death by exciting the abscess al- ready existing. Even this was in a measure doubtful, as the only blow given, was. on the chest. London Med. Gazette, vol. 17, p. 157. See also a paper by Caesar Haw- kins on discharges of pus from the ear, after injuries of the head. Ibid. vol. 17, p. 261. * Metzger (p. 327) mentions a case of death produced in this way by a scratch of the thumb nail. Several relatives had previously died in a similar manner. The following are references to American cases of this description : New York Medical Repository, vol. 6, p. 1. An account of this haemorrhagic dis- position occurring in several families, by Dr. John C. Otto, of Philadelphia. The males alone were subject to it, though females were capuble of transmitting it to their male children. These families resided in New-Hampshire, and Dr. Otto adds, that Dr. Rush informed him that he had, during the course of his practice, been twice consulted in similar cases, in the state of Pennsylvania. Another in- stance had been communicated to Dr. R. by Mr. Boardley, of a family in Mary. land, where also the males alone suffered ; and additional particulars concerning this, are given in Coxe's Medical Museum, vol. 1, p. 286. Coxe's Medical Museum, vol. 1, p. 284. Case by Dr. E. H. Smith, in a boy, fatal at four years of age. New-England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, vol. 2, p. 221. Cases by Dr. Hay, of Reading, (Massachusetts.) The haemorrhagic disposition appears to have been in this family for upwards of an hundred years. The males alone were subject to it, but in some cases, the sons escaped, while the grandsons suffered severely, and some died prematurely. American Medical Review, vol. 1, p, 278. Case by Dr. Gideon Humphrey, of a fa. mily in Pennsylvania. Transactions of the Physico-Medical Society of New York, vol. 1, p. 305. Case by Drs. William and Samuel Buel. AH the sons of a family were affected; the sons of one daughter, and her male grandchildren—but not the female. North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 6, p. 37. Case by Dr. Reynell Coates, of a young gentleman in Pennsylvania, of the family mentioned by Dr, Humphrey. Dr. Coates notices several of the American cases in this paper. Maryland Medical Recorder, vol. 2, p. 263. Case by Dr. Jameson. Transylvania Journal, vol. 4, p. 518, and vol. 5, p. 133. Two cases by Dr. Hughes, of Kentucky. 19* 222 wounds. stances now enumerated should be kept in view, and particularly when wounds have been involuntary, or belong to what is termed in law, manslaughter. But it may happen, that while the patient is suffering under a wound, he is attacked with disease and dies, and the question then arises, whether this fatality is owing to the wound, or the disease. In some instances, the solution is easy, but in others, it is attended with considerable difficulty. Thus, for example, a fever attended with comatose symptoms may supervene on a wound of the head, and pleurisy may follow a wound of the tho- rax. The probability evidently in such instances, is, that the in- jury has produced the disease; but there is notwithstanding, suf- ficient latitude left for doubt, and circumstances may arise, which will prevent us from assigning the wound as the cause of death. On the other hand, should gangrene, buboes, petechiae, or the other symptoms of malignant fevers appear on a wounded per- son, in a hospital, or during the warm season of the year, or during the prevalence of such an epidemic, it would certainly seem that the cause of death is distinct from the danger of the wound. A similar observation will apply when an inflammatory Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 8, p. 219, by Dr. Woodward, of Quincy. I have also a manuscript case communicated to me by Dr. Curtis, a graduate of the Western Medical College, and which formed the subject of his inaugural disser- tation. It occurred in the practice of Dr. Sprague, of Otsego county, (New York.) Several sons and a grandson were successively affected with copious haemorrhages' from the slightest injuries. Shortly after birth, in each of them, purple spots ap- peared on various parts of the body. The discharge in several instances yielded readily to the operation of saline cathartics. Of recent foreign cases, I have noted the following: Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 3, p. 224, by Mr. Blagden. Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 25, p. 291, by Mr. Davis, Surgeon, near Bristol. A family in which none of the males reached manhood—the females escaped. Ibid. vol. 25, p. 454, (from Hufeland's Journal.) Cases by Dr. Elsaesser, near Stutt- gard, and Dr. Krimer, of a similar character. Ibid. vol. 26, p. 33, by Mr. Murray, of Alford. Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 32, p. 439, (from Rust's Magazine,) by Dr. Steinmetz; the males of three generations. Ibid. vol. 36, p. 217, by Dr. Riecken, of a family at Birkenfeld, in Oldenburgh. Lancet, N. S., vol. 13, p. 132. Cases quoted by Mr. Wardrop. American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 3, p. 196, and vol. 5, p. 202, (from a German Journal,) by Dr. Schreyer, of Vogtsberg. The male children alone affect- ed ; and of these, three only out of five. The residue remaining perfectly healthy. North-American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 9, p. 123, (from the Proceedings of the Medical Society of Copenhagen.) A case by Dr. Thai. Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 25, p. 232; and vol. 31, p. 540. Cases by Prof. Kuhl of Leipsic. London Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. 8, p. 276. Case of Laroche in the Hospital de la Pitie. He was 41 years old. Several of his brothers and sisters had suffered from haemorrhage. The parents were healthy, but a maternal uncle had died from this cause. WOUNDS. 223 or typhus fever supervenes on slight wounds, and renders them fatal.* The following instance, in which Zacchias was consulted, will illustrate the difficulty that may occur. During a period when the plague raged at Rome, one Ansovini received, in a quarrel, a wound on the head, which denuded the bone, but left no frac- ture. He withdrew by the assistance of two friends, one of whom continued to visit him, but died in four days thereafter of the plague. The wound appeared favourable for the first three days, but at the termination of that period, a fever came on, accom- panied with headache, bilious vomiting, and violent inflammation of the wounded part. On the fourth, the wound was gangrenous, 'and petechiae and buboes occurred; and on the sixth day, death followed. The person who inflicted the wound, was arrested by the minister of justice, on the ground that it was the cause of death, or at least it predisposed the individual to the attack of the plague. Zacchias was consulted by the friends of the ac- cused, and he decided that the wound had not been the cause of death, because there were no symptoms immediately after its in- fliction, that indicated a mortal injury to the head—that the ap- pearances which supervened, were too rapid in their progress to appertain to it, and evidently belonged to the plague, and it was also manifest, he had taken this disease from, the friend who visit- ed him. Finally, two diseases were present in the individual, and the ordinary course of one is fatal, while that of the other is to proceed to a favourable termination. It is certainly proper to assign the former as the cause of death.f Mr. Taylor also states some important cases. An individual in an attempt at suicide, while labouring under delirium from scarlet -fever, nearly severed the windpipe. Death ensued the next morning, but it was found that little blood had been lost, and that none of the important vessels of the neck were injured. The * Bohn, p. 83. This author divides the symptoms into three classes. " Alia ex vulnere ipso, ut tali, hanc a parte laesa immediate emergant; alia aliain extra vulnus causam agnoscant; alia indifferenter se habeant, id est, modo a vulnere, mod6 aliunde eveniant; probe omnes ac singula? ponderandas sunt in vulnerato cir- cumstantial, et ex harum demum collatione, cujus generis sint ilia individui prcsentis, prudenter inferendum." In the Commonwealth v. Green, (Ashmead's Reports in First Judicial District, Pennsylvania, vol. 1, p. 289,) the doctrine is distinctly laid down, that when a wound not mortal in itself, from want of proper applications, or neglect, turns into gangrene or fever, and the patient dies, the person inflicting it is to be deemed guilty of mur- der, if the testimony required in addition shall warrant it. t Zacchias' Consilium, No. 74. 224 WOUNDS. jury were informed by the surgeon, that death in this case was owing, not to the wound, but to the disease, and that it would in all probability have occurred at the same time, and under the same circumstances, if no attempt on life had been made. In another instance, a wound was made in the neck with a pen- knife, and some of the branches of the subclavian artery were divided. The wound went on favourably, but secondary haemor- , rhage occurred twice, in consequence of the patient having vio- lently torn away the dressings. After lying for about three weeks with a fair prospect of recovery, he died suddenly. On dissec- tion, a large abscess was found, occupying one of the hemispheres of the brain, with an effusion of water between the membranes. These circumstances, combined with the fact that he had pre- " viously complained much of his head, induced the medical wit- nesses to depose, that death was occasioned by the abscess, and that this had no connexion whatever in its origin with the wound. Indeed the haemorrhage would, in their opinion, have tended to stay the activity of the disease, and probably to prolong life.* In cases brought before courts of justice, it is however to be recollected, that they are far from being as easy of solution as those just quoted. They are generally of intemperate persons who have engaged in brawls, receive injuries, and after an un- certain period, die; and the question arises, whether the habits of drunkenness or the blow has caused the loss of life. As a gene- ral rule, I would always lean towards the accused, unless the proof of malice is conclusive. The habitual use of spirituous liquors is so apt to produce a diseased state of the system gene- rally, that with the above exception, we shall best promote the ends of justice by considering the offence as a secondary one. Discussions on this subject, however, are so frequent, that it can hardly be dismissed with these remarks; and I will therefore, in addition to what has been said in a previous chapter, detail some cases, as illustrative of the testimony and inferences proper on such occasions. An intemperate individual in Philadelphia, died thirty-eight hours after an affray. He walked and spoke after it, and even drank part of a pint of spirits, but was shortly after seized with insensibility, dilated pupils, oppressed breathing, and died without * Taylor's Med. Jurisprudence, p. 308. WOUNDS. 225 any return of sense. The bone and the brain beneath the injured part were examined and found natural. The mucous membrane of the cardia and the upper part of the stomach was greatly in- flamed; the other parts were not diseased. Before the court, Drs. Hartshorne and Klapp, gave it as their opinion, that the in- jury to the head had not been the cause of death, and that there was no appearance of a blow on or near the region of the sto- mach. The accused was accordingly acquitted.* Mr. Shaw mentions the following instructive casein his Manual of Anatomy. An industrious man returning home from his work,, found his house empty of every thing, his bed and the tools of his trade sold for gin by his wife, whom he found in the gin shop, drinking and dancing. He brought her home, and in the passage of his house struck her and ordered her'to go up stairs. She refused; he carried her upon his shoulders, and the contention continuing up stairs, he struck her again. There having been no one present, we have only the husband's account of her death. He said, that while sitting on her chair she fell down, upon which he threw her on the bed, conceiving she was in a fit, such as he had seen her in formerly. Some of her neighbours coming in, found her dead. Sir Charles Bell examined the body, and on the trial, gave the following deposition. There was nothing remarkable in the abdomen and thorax, farther than that the stomach contained a quantity of gin, and that there was a blush of redness on the lower orifice of the sto- mach and duodenum. On the head, there were several bruises, but the bone was not at all hurt, and no extravasation appeared under it. The vessels of the pia mater were empty'of blood, as if from pressure. There was a serous effusion under the arachr noid, and in the cavity of the brain, similar to what has been found in those who die of intoxication. On the surface of the brain, there was what appeared to be spots of extravasated blood, but upon tracing them towards the base, they appeared to * This case is given by Dr. Klapp, in American Medical Recorder, vol. 1, p. 156. A similar state of the stomach is found in cases of apoplexy, as shown byJProfessor Warren in his dissections. New England Journal, vol. 1, p. 34. And it is possible that it may also follow from blows on the head; but in the present instance, after the dissection, there can be hardly a doubt that it should be ascribed to the first, rather than to the last. 226 WOUNDS. be streams of blood which had flowed from a vessel ruptured in the base of the brain, and the base was covered with coagulated blood, in which also all the roots of the nerves were involved. The blood had penetrated into the ventricles, by perforating its floor. And on removing the brain and tracing the vessels, the anterior artery of the cerebrum, going off from the internal caro- tid of the left side, was found half torn across, and from this the extravasated blood had come. Now this rupture had been the cause of death, and as to the cause of the rupture, " Mr. Bell's opinion coincided with the best authorities in pathology, that there is a state of the vessels, in which an external injury or shock is more apt to produce rup- ture ; and drunkenness may be supposed to be the artificial state of excitement which most resembles this state of the vessels. Being asked whether the blows were the cause of the rupture, he said, he conceived it very likely that a shock would rupture the vessel; and being then asked, whether he conceived that this woman was more likely to have a vessel ruptured, from having been intoxicated ? he was of opinion, that intoxication and the struggle were likely to produce such a degree of activity of the circulation in the head, that a less violent blow might produce rupture, than what, in other circumstances, might have proved fatal." The man was acquitted.* * Manual of Anatomy, vol. 1, p. 46. Mr. Shaw adds, that a case similar in many respects, occurred some time previous, but the man was condemned upon clear evi- dence of his intention to commit murder. A parallel case to the one in the text is given in the Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 4, p. 969, from a French Journal. The drunken quarreller fell dead without a blow, and on dissection, enormous extrava- sation was found in the brain. See also Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, art. Ivresse. It may, however, be urged, that the tendency of the remarks in the text is to ex- onerate all and every one from the consequences of injuries inflicted on the intem- perate. Not so, if these injuries are recent, and if they cannot be confounded with the effects of natural disease, they are to be estimated like all other wounds. Severe blows, followed rapidly by convulsions, coma and death, and exhibiting, on dissec- tion, effusion of blood upon the brain, without any other disease of that part, present a very conclusive case of the effects of violence. Such an instance is related by Mr. Watson, in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol.37, p. 97. This subject in all its bearings has been well considered by Mr. Taylor, (Medical Jurisprudence, p. 401 to 420.) There can be no doubt that in too many instances, counsel, taking advantage of the admissions of medical witnesses, lay undue stress on the effect of mental excitement in producing rupture of vessels. And it is erring against the first rules of reasoning, to suppose a minor cause to be the means of this, when a more powerful one (the blow) is known to have been applied. The point to be distinctly brought before the court and jury cannot be better stated than in the words of Mr. Taylor. Was not the violence inflicted sufficient to cause death under the same symptoms and post mortem appearances, within the same period of time, in an individual perfectly sober and unexcited ? If this be answered in the affirma- WOUNDS. 227 Again, there are certain diseases which frequently accompany wounds, yet also arise independently, and which may thus cause matter of doubt. Of these, I will only specify erysipelas and tetanus. " Erysipelas (says Sir Astley Cooper) often succeeds the most trifling injury of the scalp, and like carbuncle, when it occurs in this situation, generally destroys life. Whatever renders the body irritable, predisposes to it. The slightest causes produce it after operations at certain seasons and in particular states of the con- stitution, for it has often happened, that the stimulating effects of adhesive plaster have produced this disease, and have led to the death of the patient."* Taking these as undisputed facts, what should be the testi- mony of the physician in cases where it supervenes on blows or wounds 1 In 1823, a prostitute at Edinburgh entered the house of a female brothel-keeper in a state of drunkenness, and after various irregularities, inflicted on her, with a heavy smoothing iron, a denuding wound of the scalp, an inch and a half long. The wo- man was slightly stunned, and the wound bled profusely. Very little evidence was obtained concerning her state for thirty days afterwards, but at that time the wound was an open sore, and she constantly complained of headach. She had not, however, omitted the habit of frequent intoxication, and was at a ball about a fortnight before her death, where she danced and became drunk. Eight weeks after receiving the wound, she was attack- ed with erysipelas of the head and scalp, and died of it in ten days. There was no proof to show where the erysipelas began, as the practitioner who attended had gone to sea. On dissection, the ordinary appearances, produced by that disease, were found in the scalp and within the cranium; the wound had passed into the state of a round, indolent ulcer, and a small hole, produced apparently by ulcerative absorption, penetrated the skull opposite the middle of the ulcer in the integuments. The hole was widest at its inner end. The dura mater corresponding with it was not diseased, and no purulent matter was deposited between that membrane and the bone. On these facts, referring to the irregular habits of the female, live, there would still be room left for the ingenuity of counsel to urge mitigating circumstances in each particular case. * Lectures, vol. 1, p. 112. 228 WOUNDS. the probable neglect of the wound, and above all, the presence of an epidemic erysipelas at the time in Edinburgh, the medical witnesses declared that the death of the deceased could not, with any certainty, be ascribed to the wound inflicted by the prisoner. The charge of murder was consequently abandoned, and the ac- cused was found guilty of the assault. It is remarked by the reporter of this case, that an important link of the testimony was lost, in not knowing where the erysi- pelas commenced. " The diagnosis between idiopathic erysipelas and that symptomatic variety which supervenes upon injuries of the head, is sufficiently simple. The former never begins, so far as we know, on the head, but always on the cheek or tip of the nose; the latter, never but about the bruise, incision or sore pro- duced by the injury."* Respecting tetanus, there can be comparatively but little diver- sity of opinion. It is a disease known to follow injuries of every description, and if it supervenes after such infliction, is, without some manifest and potent reason, to be deemed its consequence. Mal-treatment is more likely to be urged in such cases, and the attending surgeon's skill may thus be questioned. Not long since, Captain Moir, in England, wounded a man by firing at him with a gun. The ball penetrated the inner side of the right arm, a little below the elbow, and passed out on the outside, a little above the olecranon. A profuse haemorrhage followed, but soon ceased. No bone was fractured. The sur- geon called administered some brandy, as he was faint. In a short time excitement took place, for which he was bled, but locked jaw followed, and he died on the eighth day. On the trial, Capt. Moir was found guilty, and probably with great justice. It was urged by Dr. Venables in a communication on this case, that the administration of the brandy was improper, and might have caused the tetanus, equally with or instead of the wound. Such an opinion, however, is hardly tenable, f There was no dissection.J Mp/1?1 "fa0''"811,1", F!ite\s™for the murder of Margaret Baird. Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 21, p. 4«8. MS. communication of Dr. Dunlop containing the medico-legal examination. 18tDLT?.0n n ev°al IT0110' V°1,6' uP" ?5°' 791- Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 1 t.15L Dr- Enables criticised the treatment in other respects. . X I here can be no doubt that diseases of internal organs sometimes succeed iniu- nes of various parts of the body, and also operations. In illustrating Irefer toI Mr. wounds. 229 In 1827, a man at Edinburgh robbed another, and in the scuffle that ensued, kicked him several times, cut his nose with a Rose's paper on depositions of pus and lymph, occurring in the lungs and other viscera, after injuries, in the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 14, p. 251. He quotes Morgagni and others, and there is a case by Deveaux in 1685, noticed by Chaussier, p. 208, where the surgeons directly ascribed an abscess in the liver to a previous blow on the head. Dr. DarwalPs remarks subjoined below, are well worthy of conside- ration. "The circumstance of depositions of pus occurring in the viscera from injuries of distant parts, has lately been attracting considerable attention. It is, however, scarcely alluded to in the text; nor, with a few exceptions, have surgeons usually regarded such depositions as connected with or induced by the injury. In the present note, I pur- pose to show the various circumstances under which this has happened, but without offering any explanation. The cases have, however, been too uniform to admit of a doubt of the visceral disease being the consequence of the distant injury. " Morgagni relates some cases in which the lungs were found in a state of suppura- tion after injury of the head. "A boy, thirteen years of age, was struck on the right temple with a stone. He was carried to an hospital, and went on well till the fourteenth day, when fever en- sued. The wound assumed an unhealthy appearance, he became delirious, and died on the twenty-fifth day from receiving the injury. "On examination, besides the injury of the head, the lungs were very red, and small abscesses filled with pus were observable. (Morgagni Epistol, li. 18.) " A second case is related, in which, after a similar injury, the lungs exhibited many small abscesses, and some tubercles in their progress to suppuration. " The following case will show how these cases will bear upon medical jurispru- dence. It is taken from the evidence at an inquest which was held at Birmingham last year. " A father and son were working together at an anvil, when the son, a boy of four- teen years of age, missed his aim in attempting to lay hold of a piece which the fa- ther had forged and cut off from an iron rod; while the boy was stooping to pick the piece up, the father knocked him down by a blow on the head with the remaining part of the iron rod. He fell down, and his head bled much ; he was, however, able to walk to the hospital, where the wound was dressed, and back again home. This occurred on the 23d of July: on the 10th of August a surgeon visited him for the first time, and found him apparently in the last stage of typhus fever. He died on the 12th. " On dissection, there was considerable injury about the scalp, and matter had formed under it. There was no fracture, but matter had also formed under the dura mater, and the left hemisphere exhibited appearances of inflammation. " In the chest' the lungs were very much condensed, and like liver in consisten- cy : they were inflamed, and there were three or four abscesses of recent formation. The pleura was covered with lymph ; the left cavity of the chest contained a quart or more of fluid, and the right nearly as much.' " The medical witnesses did not decide which was the proximate cause of death, nor whether the state of the lungs had any connexion with the injury of the head, and the verdict was, "' That the deceased died after a blow from his father; but whether from the effects of the blow or from disease, there is no evidence.' " Injuries of the head also frequently give rise to abscesses in the liver. " Bcrtrandi, in the ' Memoires de l'Academie Royale de Chirurgie,' relates several instances of this kind, and states that he had frequently observed suppuration of the liver when it was least expected. In some cases there is evidence of affections of the liver before death, and jaundice occurs, but this is not always observable. " ' A peasant forty years of age was admitted into the hospital at Turin for a wound in the head, which penetrated to the dura mater, and remained two months. He left the hospital in June, and returned to his usual agricultural employment. To- wards the end of July he was re-admitted : his face, neck, and the upper part of the trunk, were enormously emphysematous, his face was marked with erysipelatous patches ; his respiration was difficult and he died in a few hours. There was nothing vol. n. 20 230 WOUNDS. blow and turned him out of the house. The injured person went home, told his friends that he had been " robbed and murdered," particular found about the head, but there was an immense abscess pointing on the convex surface of the liver. He was reported to have been jaundiced some days be- fore, and to have alternated between a state of stupor and delirium. He had com- plained of a feeling- of weight in the side, but never of pain.' " The liver and lungs frequently suffer from injuries of other parts. "An athletic man was admitted into the hospital on the 23d of June, under the care of Mr. Keate, with compound fracture of both bones of the right leg, a little below their centre. He went on well till the 26tb, when he became feverish ; a dis- tinct rigour appeared on the 30th, and in a few days tenderness in the epigastrium and right hypochondrium occurred. The remedies employed failed to relieve him: he gradually became worse, and died on the 17th of July. " Sectio cadaveris.—There was a little opacity in the tunica arachnoides, with some deposition of lymph. The plexus choroides was converted into a tubercular mass of a gland-like appearance. " The chest and abdomen presented the principal marks disease. The pleura on the right side was intensely inflamed, and serum and pus were collected in its ca- vity. On the left side, the membrane was also inflamed, and serum and lymph, but no pus, were discovered. In the substance of the lungs, more especially the left, were tubercular masses of mixed lymph and pus, numerous and varying in size. In the liver was the same sort of tubercles, exceedingly numerous, and seated for the most part immediately beneath the peritoneum investing the viscus. (Medical Ga- zette, vol. 2, p. 510.) " In another case of simple fracture, which terminated fatally almost a month after the accident,'innumerable depositions of lymph and pus had been formed in the liver and the lungs.' "The following case, quoted from the same periodical, exhibits a deposition in the liver and right knee-joint after an operation for urinary fistula. It is extracted from the Ephemerides de Montpelier for March, 1828. ' A soldier aged 22, was affected with yellowness of the skin and with tension of the right hypochondrium, after an operation for urinary fistula, which had given him great pain. The symptoms disap- peared when the sound was removed from the bladder, but returned on its being again introduced into the urethra. He was seized with nausea and bilious vomiting, yellowness of the skin, excessive tenderness of the right hypochondriac region, irre- gular rigours, and violent pain of the right knee. He died. The liver was found studded with purulent deposits, and generally softened : a collection of pus was found in the right knee-joint.' (Medical Gazette, vol. 2, p. 668.) "A case of purulent deposition in the lungs after amputation is given in the same journal. The limb was amputated in consequence of a severe compound fracture. The man was in perfect health at the time of the accident. " Depositions of pus in the lungs have been found likewise after inflammation of the veins, some cases of which have been lately reported by Mr. Arnott. " The spleen occasionally suffers in the same manner. "The following description of the appearances obsorvable in such cases, is given by Mr. Rose, in the fourteenth volume of the Medico-Chirurgical Transactions. The paper in which it is contained deserves a very attentive perusal. " 'The disease consists apparently of depositions in the cellular texture of the af- fected organs, partly of a white or yellowish-coloured lymph, and partly of pus. These depositions vary in size, from beyond the bulk of the largest walnut to some- thing less than a common pea. Where the lymph is most abundant, they may be described as a soft, white tubercle, of irregular shape, not contained in a cyst, but imbedded in the cellular substance of the part, and gradually blending with its na- tural structure. When pressed, some pus exudes from them. Where the pus collects in greater quantity, it is lodged in an irregular cavity, probably in the middle of some of the tubercles, and the walls of the abscess are formed of flakes of lymph. The number of these tubercles and abscesses vary in different instances, there being some- times only one or two, and sometimes the whole viscera being filled with them. In the lungs they are chiefly formed in the parts adjacent to the pleura pulmonalis; and there is often at the same time an effusion into the cavity of that membrane of a WOUNDS. 231 and was confined for several days to his bed. He was not, however, considered in danger. On the third day, he complain- ed of stiffness of the jaws, contraction of the mouth, and great difficulty of swallowing. He went out, however, to work two days after, but in forty-eight hours became so unwell as to return home. He was so ill with the stiffness that he could hardly swallow a little spoon meat. The disease increased, and he died on the eleventh day after the injury. On dissection there was found a small lacerated wound upon the nose, at the lower extremity of the suture, which unites the nasal bones. The internal parts were generally natural, except that the posterior part of the fauces was of a dark red colour from congestion of the vessels of the lining membrane, and a similar appearance was observed in the membrane lining the air-pas- sages. The medical witnesses (Messrs. Newbigging, Liston, Watson, &c.) gave it as their opinion, that the deceased died of tetanus, occasioned by the wound. On being questioned whether the going out of the patient might not have been the cause, they re- plied, that the symptoms on the third day were proof of the disease being already present. Lock-jaw from cold was very uncommon in Scotland, and he had not left the house until the fifth day. The charge of murder was abandoned by the public prosecutor, because the injuries received were not of a mortal nature; nor had they been inflicted with a design to commit murder. And the prisoner was found guilty of culpable homicide, and sentenced to fourteen years' transportation.* sero-purulent fluid, mixed with lymph. In the liver and spleen they are dispersed throughout the substance, sometimes showing themselves in one or more yellow patches, not elevated, on the convex surface of the great lobe of the former viscus and at other times lodged in its substance. The parts adjacent to them show evident marks of increased vascularity. " Several other cases have been noticed in Birmingham, within the last few months, of a similar kind. They have chiefly been discovered in the bodies of persons who had been killed, and upon whom inquests were held. In one instance of this kind, where death occurred within forty-eight hours, from receiving an injury of the head in fighting, the lungs were gorged with blood, and the pleura exhibited extensive marks of very recent inflammation." Darwall. Mr. Travcrs entertains a similar opinion with Mr. Rose, and other wriiers on this subject, but it is suggested whether in some cases, internal injury might net have been the cause of the internal disease—this occurring at the same time as the fracture or wound. British and Foreign Medical Review, vol. 2, p. 10. See also Nasse on Secondary Abscess, Ibid. vol. 3, p. 502. * Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 37, p. 95. Syme's Justiciary Re- ports, p. 158. 232 WOUNDS. Another question bearing on this division of our subject has been distinctly propounded by Mr. Taylor. Whether, when death takes place from an operation indispensably necessary and skilfully performed, after a wound, the prisoner is to be held responsible? A direct decision would appear to have been evaded in several criminal cases. I shall, however, hereafter quote an instance under the head of poisoning by sulphuric acid, in which phlebitis ensued from venesection, and the patient died in consequence, and yet the prisoner was convicted on the main charge; Here the opening of the vein was in the opinion of several physicians ne- cessary to remove if possible, the effects of the poison. I cannot doubt, but that with the restrictions above named, the prisoner should be held responsible. 2. The passions of the patient and his negligence or delay, or that of his attendants, may render slight wounds dangerous, or dangerous ones mortal. This may happen, 1. By his obstinate refusal to undergo the proper treatment, either from fear or some other cause. 2. From errors in regimen, such as intemperance, from exposure in a very cold or a very warm place, or from giving himself up to the free indulgence of his passions. 3. By disobeying the directions of his physicians, as for example, if a man who has been wounded in the throat, should laugh, talk or sing. 4. By yielding to anger or fear, so far as to tear off the bandages and dressings of the wound. All these circumstances will aggravate an injury, and render it dangerous or mortal.f There are others which may be deemed accidental causes, such as a want of proper aid, of whatever kind it may be, and from what- ever source it may arise. Both of these of course increase the guilt of the criminal, if it can be proved that he inflicted the wound with a knowledge of them. To this c\ass also belongs every obstacle opposed to the surgeon's performance of his duty, and all attempts to disturb the patient, such as the prevention of sleep, and producing agitation of mind. A curious case occurred at Montpelier in 1833, which I prefer noticing under this head, although it might probably be equally well considered under the former. On the 12th of May, Charles Ores received a slight blow on the head; he became indisposed on the 14th, and a serious illness * Mahon, vol. 2, p. 28. WOUNDS. 233 finally developed itself, of which he died on the 20th. The phy- sicians in attendance certified that there had been a slight con. tused wound on the right parietal bone, and they were of opinion that this was the cause of the headach and other severe symptoms that followed. They had no doubt that inflammation of the brain was present, and that this had given rise to the gastro-intestinal inflammation which succeeded it. On dissection, however, no mark of disease could be found in the brain—its vessels, or its membranes, or its bony covering. The contused wound was superficial, not extending even through the integuments. The ventricles contained but a small quantity of serum. The lungs were, however, extensively diseased; crepitus was wanting in several portions, and on cutting into them, a large quantity of dark blood was discharged. The other parts were generally healthy. These counter reports were submitted to the Professors at Montpelier, for their opinion. They agreed that death was not attributable either to concussion or compression of the brain, nor to inflammation of its substance or envelopes. None of the symp- toms of the two first was at any time present. Indeed Ore's, im- mediately after receiving the blow, was so little affected, as in his rage, to collect stones for the purpose of hurling them at his antagonists. No indication of compression could be shown, nor was a single mark of inflammation present. But could not this last have disappeared after death? They answer, no; death does not dissipate the marks of recent inflammations. What then was the cause of death ? Undoubtedly an inflam- mation of the lungs. He had been subject to this previously, and it is probable, that anger, fatigue, and probably intemperance, all united in predisposing to the attack. The professors, therefore, decided that the injury could not be deemed the direct cause of death—although they conceded that, under the circumstances, it might be deemed what physicians call an occasional one—resembling in this the fatality that some- times follows from slight or minute injuries. It is almost needless to add, that the charge of murder was abandoned.* 3. Insalubrity of the atmosphere, whether it be of a local nature, or the general constitution, may render slight wounds * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 11, p. 474. 20* 234 WOUNDS. dangerous, and dangerous ones mortal. This circumstance has been noticed some centuries since, and the experience of every military campaign confirms its correctness. Thus, according to Bohn, Sebezius states that wounds of the head were more readily cured in Italy and Spain, than in Germany, and Fodere mentions his having, observed the same on the coast of the Mediterranean, when compared with Paris. Ambrose Pare, a great name in surgery, observes, that at the siege of Rouen, many of the be- siegers died of small and simple wounds, in consequence of the unhealthy atmosphere, but which was attributed by the army to poisoned weapons—an idea, which similar effects induced the in- habitants of that city also to harbour.* Severe cold, excessive heat, storms of rain, snow or hail, have all been observed to increase the danger of wounds, and for proofs of this, I need only to refer to works on military surgery. The air of large hospitals has also been found injurious, and it is constantly observed, that a larger proportion die of wounds in the Hotel Dieu at Paris, than in the Hospital de la Charite.f The very name of hospital gangrene, is sufficient to apprise us of the extent of the fatality that is sometimes experienced. In such cases, it is the duty of the medical examiner to apply the maxim of Hippocrates, that every thing which happens to the in- jured person, contrary to correct probability, does not belong to the essence of the disease. Thus, if there is a general or local morbid state of the air, and the most cautious examination proves that the wound has not affected any essential organ, it is his duty to state these facts, and to mention that death has originated from several causes, of which the wound is the slightest, although it may have excited the developement of the others. 4. The ignorance or negligence of the surgeon may aggravate or endanger the condition of a wounded patient.J This happens when futile or injurious medicines or applications have been used —when the instruments employed are in bad order—when the surgeon is either ignorant or rash—or when seeing the danger, he does not obtain the aid of skilful persons. In general, when a dissection proves that no wound mortal in its nature has been received, and when none of the circumstances already enumerated * Bohn, p. 78. Fodere\ vol. 3, p. 276. f Mahon. vol. 2, p. 25. " Dans certain hospitaux, et notamment a l'Hotel Dieu de fans, le trepan est presque toujours fhortel." Mctzgcr, p. 376. t Bohn, p. S3, 96. wounds. 235 can be urged as causing its fatality, the death of the patient should be attributed to the surgical attendant, rather than to the author of the wound, provided it be proved that he neglected the sick person, or maltreated him, by leaving foreign bodies in the wound, which might have been taken away—by not suppressing haemorrhage—by not evacuating collections of pus when neces- sary—by employing tents improperly—by neglecting or hurry- ing operations—or by not causing the proper regimen to be ob- served.* Notwithstanding the distinctions that have now been made, there are some doubtful and complicated cases, concerning which, great difference of opinion may arise, and the skill of the surgeon often forms the disputed point. To this class most commonly belong wounds of the head, such as those, for example, in which there are no symptoms indicating the necessity of trepanning, and yet extravasation is found after death. The diversity of advice given by eminent surgeons on this point during the last twenty or thirty years, may also lead to unpleasant discussions. But it is the duty of the surgeon to acquaint himself with the most ap- proved modes of modern practice—to apply them to the symp- toms presented to his view, and then, if on examination the injury is found to be such that no efforts of art could have pre- vented its fatality, the death of the patient is to be attributed to the nature of his wound, f 2. Of the nature and prognostics of wounds of particular parts. I shall endeavour to make this section as concise as possible, as it is only intended to be a general guide to the medical exa- miner. The opinions deducible from it, are subject to many qua- lifications, which the peculiarities of every case alone indicate, and they are evidently not to be quoted as universally applicable. We shall notice wounds of the head in the first place; and here a preliminary remark cannot too soon be made, or enforced, viz. * The laws at a very early period attended to this circumstance. In the Roman code, the Lex Aquilia declared, " Si verberatus fuerit servus non mortiferc, negli- gentia autem perierit, de vulnerato actio erit, non de occiso." So also in the ancient French, jurisprudence. If negligence or bad treatment was proved, it freed the in- dividual, unless premeditated design was established. (Fodere, vol. 3, p. 290,291.) The same principle practically exists in our own judicial determinations. t The principal authority used in this section, is Bohn—De Renunc. Vulner. inge- nere. Fodere (vol. 2, p. 351 to 394,) and Mahon's (vol. 2, p. 1 to 62,) observations, are generally derived from this source. 236 wounds. that in no other part is the prognostic more uncertain, nor is there one in which the physician has more occasion for suspending his judgment. The general prognostic of wounds of the head de- pends on the nature of the injured parts—the age and condition of the patient—the nature of the instrument with which the wound has been inflicted—the force or violence used—the manner in which it was applied, and the effects that followed. A wound of the integuments of the cranium, if inflicted with a cutting instrument, such as a knife or razor, may be deemed a simple wound, which will heal within the space of a few days.* But if the instrument, although a cutting one, is of great weight, and has been projected by a strong arm, we should reserve our prognostic, on account of the subsequent affection of the brain, which may justly be dreaded. If a sharp-pointed instrument has been used, and it has penetrated as far as the bone, the inflam- mation and pain that follow, are more severe than from incised wounds. When a contused wound has been inflicted, as by a stick or stone, the prognostic will depend much on the immediate symptoms, and it will be dangerous in proportion to the dizziness, nausea, insensibility, &c. that are experienced for a short time there after, f A superficial contusion, accompanied with lacera- * Wounds of the integuments of the skull are extremely capricious in their re- suits: the slightest, especially punctured wounds, often communicating inflamma- tion to the bone and membranes of the brain, while wounds much more extensive, heal readily. Of the latter, a striking example came under my own immediate ob- servation. A soldier got drunk on the line of march, and was put into a baggage- wagon, out of which he fell, his head coining right in the track of the wheel, which passed obliquely over it, stripping the whole of the integuments off one side of it, and leaving the bone completely bare. The integuments were replaced and secured by stitches, and the whole kept in situ by means of bandages. He travelled for four days on the wagon, when he was put into the hospital, and in less than a fortnight was enabled to resume his duty. Dunlop. t I have found in the collection of pamphlets made by the late Sir James Mackin- tosh, and which (amounting to upwards of one hundred volumes) is now in the pos- session of my friend M. H. Webster, Esq. of this city, one with the following title: " An Appeal to the Public, touching the death of Mr. George Clarke, who received a blow at Brentford, on the 8th of December, of which he languished and died on the 14th. By John Foot, Surgeon. London, 1769." Mr. Clarke received a blow on the head with a bludgeon, during the election riot9, from Edward M'Quirk. The wound bled profusely. On his way home, he felt faint, and took some brandy. He went to bed, and his symptoms gradually became aggravated. He was bled on the 10th, but without any improvement. On the 12th, an apothecary was called in, who found him in a violent fever, with delirium. He applied remedies, and on the next day Mr. Bromfield, the surgeon, was sent for, but does not appear to have prescribed. He died in the night. Mr. Foot was called on to examine the body before the coroner's jury. He de- sired the aid of Mr. Bromfield, who refused to come, " because he apprehended it might be an Old Bailey business." There was a contused wound on the head, by the side of the sagittal suture, upon the right parietal bone; the scalp was cleva'ted for a considerable space round the wound, and the pericranium was much inflamed WOUNDS. 237 tion and none of the above symptoms, may generally be deemed a slight wound.* But a contusion however slight on the region of the temporal muscles is scarcely ever exempt from danger, on account of the intimate connexion of this part with the brain, by means of its nerves, blood-vessels and membranes. Wounds of the pericranium in good constitutions and well treated, are not dangerous; but in bad ones, they are often seri- ous, and are succeeded by an erysipelatous inflammation, which is readily extended to the brain. A complete division of the peri- cranium is much less to be dreaded, than a wound from a sharp- pointed instrument. In venereal patients, caries of the bone is a frequent consequence of such injuries.f Fracture of the bones of the cranium may take place without any correspondent injury of the integuments, and the symptoms in such cases are extremely equivocal and deceitful. As the form of the head is an arch, we should recollect that a blow does not necessarily fracture the part on which it falls, but often extends to other parts.J Our deductions must, however, be drawn from and separated from the skull. On removing the upper part of the skull, the dura mater directly under the part where the injury was inflicted, was found greatly in- flamed and detached from the bone. Between it and the pia mater was a quantity of coagulated blood. The pia mater was inflamed, and some of its vessels ruptured. There was no fracture. From these appearances and the history of the case, Mr. Foot gave it as his opi- nion, that the blow had been the cause of death, and he repeated this on the trial, where it also appeared that Clarke was a healthy young man, and of temperate habits. M'Quirk was found guilty. Shortly after his conviction, the above testimony was referred to the Court of Ex- aminers of the Surgeons' Company, on the ground that neither Mr. Bromfield nor the apothecary had been examined on the trial, and that Mr. Foot had never seen the deceased until after his death. The Court gave it as their opinion, but without assigning reasons, that Clarke did not die in consequence of the blow; and M'Quirk received a full pardon. Of the Court of Examiners above mentioned, Percival Pott was a member; and Mr. Foot, with perfect fairness, points out his inconsistency, by referring to his Memoir on the nature and consequences of those injuries to which the head is liable from external violence. The only possible ground for the opinion of the Court of Sur- geons, was, that the injury had been neglected. It is evidently a case greatly influ- enced by strong party considerations. * " We may by the contusion being superficial or deep-seated, infer, to a certain extent, how the injury has been inflicted. Superficial contusions, we may infer, have been inflicted by the smart stroke of a comparatively light body, while the more deep. seated contusions must have been occasioned by some more ponderous weapon." Watson on Homicide, p. 254. Under this last, heavy blows with the fist are to be included. t Was there ever a case known, in which the bones of a venereal patient run into caries, where no mercury had been exhibited ? [Dunlop.] Probably not, but my ob- ject was to indicate the increased irritability and consequent danger, in persons so situated being wounded. Sir A. Cooper states fatal results from operations on per- sons who had just gone through a mercurial course. (Lectures, vol. 1, p. 30.) I On a trial, before the Court of Justiciary, in Scotland, in 1812, it was proved that 238 WOUNDS. the circumstances that immediately followed the infliction of the wound; from those that afterwards supervene, and from a con- sideration of the causes producing them. Among the first are vertigo, loss of sense and motion, vomiting, and bleeding from the nose and ears.—Among the latter, may be inflammation, coma, convulsions and paralysis* Fracture may, however, occur with- out any of these being present; and again, they may all be pre- sent, without any fracture, and result from concussion of the brain.f It should be remembered, that fracture accompanied with depression of the bone, is usually more dangerous than when none is present. Concussion of the brain is always dangerous, as are also all wounds of the brain and its membranes.J On these it is not ne- the murder was committed by repeated blows on the top of the head, yet on dissec- tion, it appeared that death followed from extravasation of blood from four fractures, all of which were at the base of the skull. (Dunlop's MS. Lectures.) This indeed frequently occurs. A fracture of the skull, and particularly of the base, may not be situated at the part where the violence has been inflicted. Mr. Watson quotes the assertion of Orfila, that the danger is greater when the violence has been applied from above downwards, than either when from before, backward, or from one side to the other. Watson on Homicide, p. 86. * " Upon the authority of Sir A. Cooper and others, it may be asserted that inflam- mation of the brain after injuries does not, in general, supervene for about a week after the accident, nor is the patient to be considered safe, or out of danger, till two or three weeks afterwards." Watson on Homicide, p. 62. t In the London Medical Repository, vol. 23, p. 34fi, is a case of a man wounded with a pickaxe in the left hemisphere of the brain, with laceration of the left ventri- cle, who walked a mile and a half to the hospital. He died, however, in two days. Mr. Wallace of Dublin, also relates a case of most severe injury to the skull, brain and spinous processes of the vertebral column, owing to a fall from a scaffold. Yet the patient, soon after the accident, walked up the stairs of the hospital. Death en- sued in three days. Lancet, N. S. vol 18, p. 162. A similar case in British Annals of Medicine, vol. 2, p. 93. X " It seldom happens that concussion destroys, but when it does, nothing is found upon the examination which will account for the symptoms. It is therefore an altera- tion of function, but not a disorganization. But where the concussion is very violent, it is attended with lesion of the brain." (Sir A Cooper's Lectures, vol. 1, p. 119.) "In a medico-legal point of view, it is very important to observe that concussion of the brain may prove fatal, without cither fracture of the skull, effusion of blood within the cranium, or any other change being observed on dissection." Watson on Homicide, p. 35. A fact stated in these quotations, cannot be too distinctly impressed on the mind of the medical examiner. Indeed it may be asserted, that "violence may prove fatal to life, without leaving any traces of its effects on the organ primarily affected (the brain,) and without being indicated by any considerable external marks." The fol- lowing case clearly illustrates this. On the 20th of December, 1833, three men, af- ter a drunken quarrel at an inn, attacked a person who had interfered, and who was on the way home with them. They beat him with sticks on the head, body and legs, and subsequently dragged him along the ground, and then flogged him with switches. He ran away from them after having been thus maltreated for at least half an hour. Shortly after, he was seen walking along the high mad, his dress and person covered with blood, and with a tottering and feeble gait. He related his story, and assistance being afforded, he was carried in a cart to the village whence he had come. Medi- cal aid was called in, but he was then insensible, and in a very short time he ex- WOUNDS. 239 cessary to enlarge at this time. It is, however, proper to remark, that the prognostic of wounds of the head, is for the most part, that they are dangerous, and require the strictest attention. Thus effusion of blood within the cranium may occur very slowly or very rapidly. In the former case, its symptoms will of course be late in their developements. In numerous instances indeed, inju- rious and even fatal consequences have been produced long after the infliction of the injury, and that too, where the immediate symptoms have given little or no reason for such a termination.* pired. On examination, contusions were found on every part of his body, but the viscera of the chest and abdomen were perfectly healthy. The skin in the region of the occiput was much ecchymosed and swollen, and beneath was found a considera- ble extravasation of blood. On the vertex, there was an oblique wound, about an inch and a half long, which penetrated to the bone. But on removing the scalp, the bones of the cranium were found uninjured. The vessels of the dura and pia mater were much congested, but the brain itself presented no unhealthy appearance. Now here was no manifest cause of death, although the contusions had evidently been severe. The symptoms of concussion, in its ordinary surgical sense had not been present, neither those of compression. The examiners attributed death to apo- plexy, indicated by the congested state of the vessels, and brought on, in their opinion, partly by external violence, and partly by the pain, slate of excitement and fear, un- der which the deceased had been labouring. In the absence of its ordinary symptoms and its pathological proofs, it would certainly seem correct to assign as a cause of death "the shock produced on the system through the bruin and nerves, by the con- tinued and repeated violence." For this case and the comments on it, which I have adopted, I am indebted to the British and Foreign Medical Review, vol. 3, p. 248, who quote its incidents from Henke's Zcitschrift. It is judiciously added, that in this instance, the common inquiry at coroner's inquests, and on trials for death caused by violence, could not have been affirmatively answered. Was there a parti- cular wound that was the cause of death? "The truth is, a multiplicity of injuries, long continued, although productive of only slight marks externally and internally, arc as capable of destroying life, as if an individual were at once wounded in a vital organ." * The succeeding case will illustrate the difficulties that sometimes envelope the cause of death. "A woman received a blow on the head from a laundress's iron, but no fracture or injury of the cranium was discoverable, though it was thereby laid bare. Slio was (by the advice of the celebrated Cheselden,) trepanned, and still no mark of injury about the cranium was discovered. She went abroad, and followed her ordinary business for a fortnight afterwards; but at the end of twenty days from receiving the injury, died. On opening the head, they found a very large impos- thume in the middle of the brain. This occasioned some perplexity about the real cause of death. The surgeon who had managed the case, was rather inclined to at- tribute the death to the blow, but would by no means deny that it might have pro- ceeded from some inward cause. The deceased had been subject to frequent and severe headaches, before the accident occurred. Mr. Cheselden being examined on the trial, declared that he could not conceive how a blow should be the cause of death, where there was no extravasation, and the person could go about for a fortnight af- terwards. His allowing, however, lhat similar appearances were sometimes found in the brain of persons subject to headaches, w;is of more importance to the prisoner." (Smith, p. 246.) The following is one among a thousand instances where death has been induced at distant periods from the infliction of violence on the head. The pa- tient died several weeks alter receiving the injury, and on dissection, Mr. Charles Bell discovered a fracture at the base of the skull; and the foramen magnum having been thereby roughened, a'sudden turn of the head had forced a spicuhim of bone into the spinal marrow. (Smith, p. 252.) The principal and important inference to be drawn from such cases is, " the impropriety of maintaining the general proposi- 240 WOUNDS. The opinion of the medical examiner, must therefore be found- ed not only on general principles, but on the symptoms that are present, and when called into a court of justice, he should explain how uncertain the recovery from such injuries always is, and on the other hand, that persons have survived the most terrible accidents. The presence or absence of fever, or delirium, or coma, and the healthy or livid appearance of the wound, all aid in determining on the danger. The following aphorisms of the illustrious Vicq-d'Azyr, are quoted by French surgeons as com- prising the experience of the art on these points, and they are evidently deserving of remembrance. 1. That the largest wounds of the head are not always the most dangerous. 2. That it is possible to lose a considerable quantity of the brain, without death ensuing. 3. That the slightest injuries are often succeeded by fatal consequences, and that hence they should in no case be ne- glected. 4. That a contusion of the bone alone may gradually extend itself, so as to affect the brain.* It must be understood, that many cases have occurred, in which a blow on the head, by the fist alone, has proved fatal and particularly so, if the person be struck behind the ear. Concus- sion is the consequence, followed frequently with laceration of the blood-vessels. And a question sometimes arises, whether death has originated from the blow, or a consequent fall. In legal con- struction, the culpability is, I believe, considered the same, whether it originate from either. But still there may be in- stances in which it is important to discriminate. The circum- tion, that the death of persons recovering from the immediate symptoms of violence, should never be ascribed to that violence." Mr. Howship relates a case, where a slight blow on the head, at the age of fifteen, produced death forty years afterwards. Pain was frequently present during life, and latterly somnolency and impaired vision. On dissection, the bone at the place injured was seen transparent, and almost wholly absorbed, and the portion of brain under it was indurated and schirrous. (New Eng- land Journal, vol. 9, p. 403.) On the other hand, in the Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 5, p. 273, a case is quoted from Lallemand on the Brain, of a boy, who had re- ceived blows on the head : symptoms of low fever followed, and he died on the twen- tieth day. On dissection, purulent effusion was found, and marks of inflammation and adhesion in the arachnoid opposite the right petrous portion of the temporal bone. The parents, on being questioned, confessed that he had long complained ol pain in the head and the right ear. The mastoid bone was now examined, and its cells found full of pus. The physicians consequently testified, that disease had ex- isted anterior, and that the blows could only have accelerated the fatal termination. * Fodere, vol. 3, p. 312. I must be permitted in this place, to caution the young surgeon, not to use the trepan, without a due regard to the rules laid down in surgi- cal works. He may otherwise be injured in his reputation before a court of justice, and his practice may be condemned by those who are better informed. " There can be only one genuine reason for trepanning, viz. to remove such pressure from the surface of the brain as gives rise to existing bad symptoms." (Samuel Cooper.) WOUNDS. 241 stances, according to Mr. Watson, which render it probable that the blow, and not the fall is the cause, are—that such effects are very rarely, if ever observed from similar falls, without a violent blow at the same time—that in many instances, the fall has been on soft ground, and lastly, that the internal effusion of blood has generally been found either at the place corresponding to the ex- ternal mark of the blow, or on the side opposite to the external mark—a circumstance which connects the effusion with the blow.* " Wounds of the dura mater alone are more injurious, than when both dura and pia mater are wounded. In this last, the brain immediately projects and fills up the wound. Inflammation of the dura mater spreads over the cavity down the spine, (by continuity of surface.) I have seen many instances of recovery when both were wounded; few, where the dura mater alone has been wounded."f Mr. Brodie, in his remarks on injuries of the brain, observes, that he has not been able to discover, among all the works which he has consulted, an instance of recovery from a wound of the posterior lobes of the cerebrum, of the cerebellum, or of the medulla oblongata. J Wounds of the face are more or less dangerous, according to the part injured, but in considering these, it is also necessary to take into account the deformity and irregular cicatrices that fol- low them. The latter circumstances have been noticed in the jurisprudence of England and our own country, as we shall state in the succeeding section. Superficial wounds of the face are easily healed, but when deep, and attended with much loss of substance or denuding of * Watson on Homicide, p. 43, t Sir A. Cooper's Lectures, vol. 1, p. 155. " If effusion of blood be found between the dura mater and the skull, and if a bruise on the scalp correspond to the part, we may conclude that it has been caused by the blow; but if blood is found between the dura mater and the brain, though we should discover the marks of blows, or even fracture of the skull, still the question may be,—might not the patient have been at- tacked with apoplexy during the struggle ?" (Shaw's Manual of Anatomy.) A man in Paris, quarrelling with another, struck him on the forehead with an iron punch, so violently, that he fell backwards on the ground. The wound was irregular and long, from the glancing of the weapon, extending towards the left temple. Lisfranc attended the injured person at the Hospital de la Pitie, to which he had been taken. On his trial, the accused maintained that the injury was owing to the fall. There was, however, direct testimony that the wounded person had fallen on his back, and Lisfranc denied that it could have thus happened, since all indications of contusion were wanting. 1 Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 14, p. 421. VOL. II. 21 242 WOUNDS. the bones, they are tedious, and leave considerable deformity. Wounds of the forehead, in which the frontal muscles are divided transversely, or of the eyebrows, cause the upper eyelid to fall down, and may produce a lasting debility of the parts. Wounds of the eyes, when of considerable extent, must always be deem- ed dangerous, from the nature of that organ, and from the inti- mate connexion between it and the brain. A wound with a sharp ointed instrument, has been known to pass through the orbit, and prove fatal.* Wounds of the transparent cornea always * " A man has been working in a hay field, he has slipped and fallen, the prong of a fork has entered his eye, he has got up, drawn it out, thrown it from him, and in- stantly fallen dead, apparently without any cause. A speck of blood has been observed on the eye, it has been wiped away, an aperture has been observed, and upon examining the part, the fork has been found to have penetrated into the brain." (Abernethy's Lectures, Lancet, vol. 12, p. 3.) Macklin the comedian, was tried for murdering another actor, by plunging at his eye with a piece of pine stick, which entered the brain through the orbit; he was acquitted, as no malus animus could be proved. In the Edinburgh Observer of the 27th of January, 1833,1 find the following para- graph. " Ten days ago, James Bradshaw, hatter in Greenock, having been engaged in a scuffle, received a wound on the head. He remained, slightly complaining, until the 21st. On dissection, he was found to have been killed by an injury on the eye, which had forced in the bone immediately behind the eye, (the superior orbital plate, I presume,) on the brain." Baron Hume, in his work on Criminal Law, p. 256, mentions the case of a man of the name of Richard Carse, who was tried for murder, which he perpetrated by beat- ing another man about the head with a quaigh or wooden dish, a splinter of which detached itself and entered the brain through the eye, when it snapped off short, and caused his death in a few days; the splinter was taken out of the eye after death. These are cases where injury of the eye has caused death; in opposition to them, I shall relate some where the eye has received injuries as severe as those, to all ex- ternal appearance, but which the patient has survived. A case is related by Gooeh, where a man had his eye blown out by the bursting of a gun. The surgeon dressed it, but on the second dressing, he perceived something hard among the injured substance of the eye ; on examining it, he found it was me- tallic, and getting hold of it with his forceps, he pulled it out, when to his surprise, he found that it was the breech of the gun, which had been forced backwards by the re- coil, and been jammed into the orbit. Notwithstanding this extensive injury, which totally annihilated the eye, the man made a perfect recovery. Mr. Liston of Edinburgh, related to me the case of a man, who, while blasting the roots of trees, had a splinter driven into the eye, which from its length must have passed through the foramen opticum and penetrated into the brain. Mr. L. removed it long after and the man recovered. Another more extraordinary case, which also involves not only injury of the eye, but of the brain, was related to me by a gentleman who attended the patient. In a duel in the West Indies, one gentleman hit another in the eye, the ball of which was completely obliterated, and the leaden bullet passing in through the orbit, came out in front of the external ear.' Notwithstanding which, the officer recovered with the same facility as if he had only undergone the infliction of a flesh wound. Sometimes balls find their way into the lower part of the orbit, or somewhere be- hind the ball of the eye and deprive it of sight altogether. I saw an instance of this in Canada. Lieut. Gray, my brother officer, received a shot in the left cheek, the ball lodged behind the right eye, and totally deprived him of the use of it. What renders this case the more extraordinary is, that though the shot, which was a small one of that kind, known by the name of " buck shot," and which the Americans introduced in warfare, must have either penetrated through the nose, or through the brain, no WOUNDS. 243 leave a scar, and intercept vision.* Wounds of the iris cause a loss of sight, and if the instrument penetrates to the vitreous humour, the eye is left empty, thus combining blindness with deformity. Wounds of the nose, from a cutting instrument, leave great deformity, and particularly if the cartilaginous part be in- jured—if inflicted with a round instrument, or by a blow, it may not only be crushed, but the sense of smell may be destroyed. The ethmoid bone has been driven in this way upon the brain.f Lastly, a sharp pointed instrument has sometimes penetrated the nose, touched the brain, and hence proved fatal.J Wounds of the external ear are unaccompanied with danger, but the defor- mity is a serious one. Wounds of the internal ear may either destroy hearing, or from their vicinity to the brain, prove in them- selves dangerous. Wounds of the lips, if there be a great loss of substance, not only deform, but are injurious to the speech, and are sometimes accompanied with a constant flow of saliva, particularly when any of the glands have been opened. Wounds of the ranular artery sometimes occur in children, from dividing bleeding at the nose followed the wound, and the only appearance by which it could externally be known that the ball had injured the eye, was, that it was very much in- flamed and blood-shot for some days. When these appearances went off, he was completely deprived of sight in the right eye, and something like a squint or at least a want of power, in moving that eye in concert with the other, remained ever after. Dunlop, The reader will derive much useful information on this point, by consulting " cases and observations illustrative of the fatal effects of punctured wounds and injuries of the orbit," by Dr. John Scott, in Edinburgh Medioal and Surg. Jour. vol. 42, p. 359. * Dr. Monteath mentions a case of a person attempting to separate two persons, who were fighting, and who received a blow on one of his eyes. The eyeball was burst and vision entirely destroyed. (Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 2, p. 640.) A blow on one eye, accompanied with ecchymosis, will, according to Devergie, affect the otlier after a day or two, in a similar manner. He relates two cases of this description, in which the eye which had not been touched became black and bore all the marks of violent injury, vol. 2, p. 125. t " A man was killed by a blow on the nose—the consequence of which in the in- terim, was, that the lower jaw could not be opened, and in the opinion of the surgeon, he died from inanition, sixteen days after the accident. He was also unable to per- form the usual natural evacuations. There was no fracture about the head, and the external wound had nearly healed up." (Smith, p. 254.) X Blows on the nose which have the effect of fracturing the bone, produce frequent- ly, not only personal deformity, but ultimately loss of the power of smelling, and sometimes an insufferable stench, proceeding from the diseased state of the bone in- side of the nose, called by the French surgeons, punais, which has the effect of ren- dering its unfortunate victim quite unbearable in society. I had a case of this kind under my charge, while in the army. The patient was a lad of the name of Tobin, who, though I tried every mode of recovering him, was ultimately obliged to be dis- charged from the regiment, because the stench he created was so intolerable, that it was found impossible for any one to sleep in the same barrack-room with him. He had received an injury which had beat in the bones of his nose, previous to entering the regiment, but so far as I am aware, the disease broke out afterwards. Dunlop. 244 WOUNDS. the frcenum, and where the haemorrhage cannot be suppressed, they have been known to prove fatal.* Wounds of the parotid gland are always tedious in curing, and they sometimes become fistulous. In all cases of wounds of the face, the physician should state in his report, the degree of deformity that has been produced. Wounds of the neck also vary greatly as to their danger. Wounds of the integuments and muscles of the neck, may be considered simple wounds, but it must be added, that they gene- rally heal with difficulty, in consequence of the mobility and looseness of the parts.f Transverse cuts may indeed prove dan- gerous, and effect the motions of the head, or of the pharynx or larynx, and thus prove an impediment to the due exercise either of speech or deglutition. Wounds of the carotids and internal jugulars, are generally fatal,J since it is often impossible to pro- cure/ the necessary assistance in time to check the mortal hae- * Wounds of the arteries of the cheek internally, sometimes prove dangerous, from the bystanders not having skill or presence of mind enough to stop the bleeding by the very simple means of placing the finger inside of the mouth and compressing the artery against the thumb externally. And instead of this, they generally resort to the application of styptics and charpie. A young lady in the west of Scotland, near. ly lost her life from this mode of treatment. Wounds of the artery sometimes cut in dividing the froenum of the tongue, are easily commanded by squeezing the divi- ded end in a cleft twig covered with lint. Dunlop. f There is a remarkable case of sudden death from the division of the external ju- gular vein alone, related in the Boston Medical Magazine, vol. 3, p. 117. The indi- vidual was in prison waiting his trial for piracy. He awoke in a state of delirium, attempted to strangle himself, but failing in this, went to the window and broke out a piece of glass, and wounded himself with it, just under the angle of the lower, jaw. Then by a rapid succession of cuts, he extended it from side to side, but fell imme- diately into the arms of his companion, and after gasping two or three times was dead. He had not lost more than a pint of blood. On dissection, neither the trachea nor any of the arteries or nerves, were found in- jured. And nothing but a divided vein was seen, and which was probably the prin- cipal external jugular. The reporter (Dr. Flint, I presume,) suggests, whether this sudden death may not have arisen from the admission of air into the vein. Mr. Watson (p. 93) relates several cases of death from haemorrhage in the neck, without the larger arteries or veins being divided. In one instance, the superior thyroid arteries alone had been divided. X There is one instance, and only one, of a divided carotid not proving fatal. In this instance Mr. Carpue of London, being called at the moment, secured the vessel. Dunlop. The case of General Arrighi, (Duke of Padua,) may be added. He was wounded by a musket-ball, at the siege of Acre, by which the external carotid was cut across, near the place where it is given off by the internal, and as it enters the parotid. The gush of blood from both apertures attracted the attention of the artil- lerymen, and one of them instantly pushed a finger into each opening and thus ar- rested the flow of blood. Baron Larrey was immediately called, and by maintain- ing pressure, saved the life of the patient. (Larrey's Memoirs, vol. 1, p. 176.) Some other cases are given by him in his later editions. There is also an instance of re- covery, probably from a wounded carotid, given by Delpech. (Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 7, p. 244.) Another by Mr. Garret in the Midland Medical and Surgi- cal Reporter, vol. 2, p. 235, and a fifth, by Dr. A. T. Thomson, related in his lectures in the Lancet, N. S. vol. 20, p. 148. WOUNDS. 245 morrhage, and for this reason, lacerated wounds of these are not so soon fatal as clean cuts.* Wounds of the pharynx and oeso- phagus are peculiarly dangerous, as other important parts are generally divided along with them, but even if injured alone, as from stabs or gun-shot wounds, they are much to be dreaded, since the nourishment of the system must be carried on through them, and the action of deglutition is directly opposed to a speedy adhesion of parts.f Even wounds of a portion of the fibres sur- rounding the oesophagus, are dangerous, inasmuch as they pro- duce a weakness of the action of deglutition, and also by the inflammation that sometimes supervenes, tend to induce compres- sion on the trachea. Wounds of the larynx are serious injuries, as they derange or weaken the voice.J A wound of the recurrent nerve alone on one side, seriously affects this organ, but if both be divided, a complete muteness will follow. Injuries of this de- scription, however, if not of a complicated nature, cannot be con- sidered mortal. Penetrating wounds of the trachea are always dangerous, since from its never being in a perfectly quiet state, * But even the latter may be compatible with a very short continuance of life, and even some powers of locomotion. At least, this would seem probable, from the fol- lowing case, mentioned by Professor Amos in his Lectures on Medical Jurispru- dence at the London University. At the Warwick assizes, (1833) John Danks was tried for the murder of Mary Green. After conviction, he confessed that he had cut her throat with a knife in a hovel, and the surgeon found a wound seven inches long and three in depth, dividing the trunk of the carotid, and all the principal branches of the external carotid and jugulars, yet, in this state it would appear that she ran twenty-three yards, besides crossing a bar gate, three feet ten inches high. At this distance, at least, the body was found, and the criminal persisted to the last in denying that he had touched her, except in the hovel, where he left her for dead. A gentleman went over the ground after the trial and it took him about thirty seconds. Scarcely any blood was observed in the intermediate space, and this is explained by supposing that she closed the wound with her cap, and also by holding down her head. Much blood had how- ever flowed down her breasts and lodged about the pubes. In the hovel also a large quantity was observed. (London Medical Gazette, vol. 10, p. 183.) A case in which the internal jugular was partially-divided with a razor and yet the patient saved, is given by Dr. Morgan of Geneva, in American Journal Med. Sciences, vol. 18, p. 330. He refers to two other successful cases, by Dr. Stevens of New York, and Dr. Gibson of Philadelphia. The last however occurred during an operation. f Larrey relates of a grenadier, wounded in Egypt by a bayonet, the broken point of which remained for six weeks deep in the left side of the pharynx, behind the arch of the palate. On its extraction, which was effected with great difficulty, the voice, which had been entirely lost, was instantly restored. (Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 18, p. 474.) A remarkable case is related by Dr. Porter, of New London, in which the pharynx was completely divided, above the larynx. It was an attempt to commit suicide. The patient recovered, with the loss of the os hyoides and a portion of the epiglottis cartilage by sloughing. Amer. Journal Med. Sciences, vol. 21, p. 303. X A Prussian Major was wounded in the larynx by a musket-ball. The wound healed but the voice was lost. He recovered it, however, gradually, in the course of a year. Case by Dr. Francke. (Quart. Jour, of For. Med. and Surg. vol. 1, p. 338.) 21* 246 WOUNDS. it is difficult to produce a speedy reunion.* Numerous cases, however, prove that a partial transverse division is not mortal, but it is allowed that a complete division is generally so ;f more, however, from the vessels that must be divided to accomplish this, than from the injury itself.J Wounds of the par vagum, either on one or both sides, are absolutely fatal. Fractures of the cervical vertebras are highly dangerous, and if the spinal marrow be injured, they are fatal.§ Luxation of the neck is ge- nerally fata], from pressure on the same part.|| Wounds piercing * A fatal case of rupture of the trachea by a kick, is mentioned in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 18, p. 412. t A case occurred in the neighbourhood of Glasgow, where the trachea was total- ly divided by violence. A boy driving the gin of a coal pit, placed himself on the end of the lever. On stretching out his head to look-at something, his throat came in contact with a post; such was the force with which he was going round, that the trachea was ruptured across. He survived for several days, but in great agony. Dunlop. X There are, however, cases mentioned by surgical writers, in which the trachea was completely cut asunder, and even the oesophagus opened, without any wound of the carotid artery. (Dorsey's Surgery, vol. 1, p. 69.) The following are references to cases in which both the trachea and oesophagus were divided. Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 16, p. 353. The case did not ter- minate fatally, although the parts did not unite. Coxe's Medical Museum, vol. 4, p. 24. By Dr. Van Cleve of Princeton. A black- smith thrust his red-hot nail rod at a man, and perforated both the trachea and oeso- phagus. Died in a few hours in attempting to swallow. Lancet, N. S. vol. 5, p. 309, and Maryland Medical Recorder, vol. 2, p. 241. Case by Professor Luders of Kiel; attempt to commit suicide with a curved knife; no large blood-vessels or nerves wounded; the parts gradually united. Hennen's Military Surgery, p. 291. Case by Dr. James Johnson, seen at Prince of Wales' Island in the East Indies. A Malay cut his comrade's throat while asleep; the larynx divided, and also half of the oesophagus; supported by enemas, and gra- dually recovered. Case of wounded trachea and oesophagus, with a razor, by Dr. Neumann, where the patient survived fourteen days. (London Medical Quarterly Review, vol. 3, p. 209, from Graefe and Walther's Journal.) " The following case was communicated to me by my friend, Mr. Marshall, author of a work on the Medical Topography of Ceylon, under whose charge the patient was. When the Indian army was sent to Ceylon, during the mutiny in that coun- try in 1818 and 1819, a native £ooly or labourer, who followed the camp, was shot through the throat, the ball dividing the windpipe and oesophagus both together. He lived for some days after in a state of the most dreadful and excruciating suffering; the contents of the stomach, or the food he attempted to swallow, choking up the windpipe, and producing violent fits of coughing, which threatened him with instant death from suffocation. His breathing was so loud that it could be heard outside of the tent where he lay." Dunlop. § A remarkable case was stated by Soemmering in 1793, of a patient in whom there was a fracture and luxation of the vertebral column. He suffered extreme pain, and his extremities gradually became gangrenous—but he survived five months. Metzger, p. 320. See an analysis of Casper on Wounds of the Spinal Marrow, by Dr. Geddings, in American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 6, p. 192. Mr. Phillips (in Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 20, art. 5,) gives a case of fracture and displacement of the atlas, from a fall, in which the patient survived 47 weeks. Motion and sensation were unimpaired to the last—and the only difficulty was, that lie was unable to rotate his head. He died of effusion in the thorax. j| Dr. Spencer of Ticonderoga, relates a case of this kind in a man who fell back- WOUNDS. 247 the vertebrae, or passing between them, are suddenly mortal. In- juries of the neck from contusion, are always dangerous, and should they end in death, must be judged of by the appearances that are found on dissection, as extravasated blood, lacera- tion, &c* In connexion with injuries of the vertebrae, it must be recol- lected, that caries of the atlas and dentatus may have been going on for some time, and death finally and suddenly ensues from spontaneous dislocation of the ligaments. Dissection will of course explain any difficulty, but during life, " the extreme ema- ciation and weakness, the peculiar expression of the countenance and fixture of the head; either quite erect or quite horizontal, and never moved without the support of both hands," serve to indicate the nature of the complaint.f Wounds of the thorax are divided into external wounds—into penetrating wounds, unaccompanied with injury to any of the organs in that cavity, and into penetrating wounds, with lesions of those organs. External wounds from a cutting instrument belong to the class of simple wounds, but from contusions or falls, may become dan- gerous, either through the extension of inflammation to the inter- nal parts, or from the rupture of some blood-vessels. Fracture of the ribs, if not complicated with their sharp points pricking in- wardly, is not absolutely dangerous, although there is even then some impediment to respiration, and some apprehension of in- flammation. But should the rib be much splintered, and the points not be reducible, it may end fatally. Penetrating wounds are not in general dangerous, unless combined with fracture of the ribs, or the rupture of some blood-vessels. Internal haemor- rhage or emphysema is often a dangerous, and even fatal symp- tom. Wounds of the lungs are dangerous, and the prognostic is always doubtful when the injury has been inflicted at the upper part of the thorax, or at the posterior side near the junction of wards in attempting to scale a fence. The dentatus was luxated anteriorly on the third cervical vertebra. He lost all sensation below the head, but preserved his speech and mind to the last. He died in forty-eight hours. (Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 10, p. 173.) * An instance of a very severe wound of the neck, occurred in the case of General Ripley, wounded in the sortie from Lake Erie in 1814. An account of it, with the narrative of his recovery, by Dr. E. L. Allen, will be found in the Transactions of the Physico-Medical Society of New York, vol. 1, p. 85. t A case of this description is related by Prof. Syme in Edinburgh Med. and Sur- gical Journal, vol. 45, p. 8. 248 WOUNDS. the ribs with the vertebrae. The symptoms here require the strictest attention, as no case should be despaired of.* These organs are also subject to concussion, which is termed wind con- cussion, and is usually fatal. Fractures, luxations, and contusions of the vertebral column, are all highly dangerous, and may sooner or later prove fatal. It is difficult to conceive of the pericardium being wounded without a correspondent injury of the heart. But, if separate, it is to be deemed a highly dangerous wound.f Wounds of the heart, of its ventricles and auricles, are mortal, but it is remark- able that numerous cases are on record, where life has been pro- longed for a considerable time after the infliction of the injury. Bohn quotes several cases of the kind,J and an instance occurred in the British Army in Spain some years since, where a soldier survived for thirteen days with a musket-ball in his heart.§ The * A very extraordinary case of this kind came under my care some years ago. Sergeant Verney of the 89th regiment, at the battle of the Falls of Niagara, received a shot on the breast, about an inch and a half on the right side of the sternum, which came out behind about the same distance from the spine; the lungs were completely penetrated, and the air passed through both apertures. On his being brought to me, I thought the wound must necessarily prove mortal, and having a great many wounded to attend to, I merely dressed it with lint, but secured by straps; next day, instead of finding him dead as I expected, I found that he was easier and that fever had commenced. I bled him freely and paid particular atten- tion to him, and in the course of a fortnight he was so well as to be fit to be removed to the general hospital at York. He afterwards recovered completely. Mr. Maiden's case of the man who was transfixed through the thorax by a gig shaft, must be fresh in the memory of every medical man. Dunlop. t Larrey mentions several cases which he deemed wounds of the pericardium, and that were cured. Sir A. Cooper relates one where the wound was inflicted with a reaping-hook, and the patient survived two or three weeks. (Lectures, vol. 3, p. 169.) X Pages 26, 221, 222. § Instances of people living for any period, longer or shorter, after the heart has received a severe injury, are to be found in every work on forensic medicine, and these are not to be looked upon merely as physiological curiosities; they sometimes involve questions of life and death. A case was tried in Glasgow in 1819, of which the following is an outline. The keeper of a hou«e of bad fame in Greenock, was indicted for the murder of a sailor, by shooting him through the chest. It appeared from the evidence of the medical witnesses, that the auricles and part of the aorta next the heart, were shattered to atoms by the slugs and brass nails with which the piece was charged ; and in their opinion he must have dropped down dead the moment he received the shot; there- fore, as the body was found in the street, and the door of the house was eighteen feet up an entry, it followed that the prisoner must have run into the street and there shot him. For the prisoner it was urged and proved that he had shot him through the door of his own house, which he was attempting to enter by force. And be- sides direct testimony from those within the house and from a lad who was along with the deceased at the time, it came out in evidence that there was a stream of blood from the door of the house to the spot where the body was found, which could not have run from the body towards the house, as the threshold of the door was on a higher level than the pavement of the street. On this eviJence the prisoner got an unanimous verdict of acquittal. Dunlop. I subjoin Mr. Taylor's comments on this narrative. " If by the heart being WOUNDS. 249 reason in some of these cases is, that the instrument which causes the wound, prevents, by its closing the aperture, the fatal hae- morrhage which otherwise would soon follow. In other cases it may be the clot. Formidable, however, and imminently danger- ous as these wounds are, it is not to be denied, that probably some have survived an injury of the heart. " There is reason to believe," says Dr. Dorsey, " that the heart has often been .slightly wounded without fatal consequences."* Wounds of the base of ' shattered to atoms? we understand that its cavities were entirely laid open and its substance destroyed, we have a description of wound which most professional men would not hesitate to pronounce instantaneously mortal. The existence of an indivi- dual after such an injury, for a period sufficiently long to enable him to run eighteen feet, must be regarded as almost miraculous." Med. Jurisprudence, p. 452. * On this interesting subject of wounds of the heart, I have collected some refe- rences which may be of use to the medical witness. The case in the text of the sol- dier in Spain, is in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 14, p. 129. Triller in Schlegel, 5, p. 242; a wound fatal after 14 days. Pelletan's Surgery : The aorta wounded with a small sword, yet the patient survived two months. Medical Records and Researches, p. 59. Case by Dr. Babington : The right ven- tricle and both lobes of the lungs penetrated by a bayonet; survived nine hours. Medico-Chirurgical Transactions, vol. 2. Case by Mr. Featherton ; ventricle wound- ed by a bayonet, but the patient walked about the ward on the second day. He died in 49 hours. Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 14, p. 463. Case by Boyer, at La Charite: Wound of the left ventricle with a knife; died in nine days. American Journal of Med. Sciences, vol. 15, p. 532. Case by Dr. Fris, at Naples ; survived a wound of the ventricle with a knife, ten days. New York Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 5, p. 314. Case by Professor Ste- vens : Wound from a needle: the pericardium was punctured in ten or twelve places, and the right ventricle lacerated. No doubt the beating of the heart against the head of the needle caused these punctures. Death ensued in a few hours. Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 10, p. 245. Case by M. Ferrus : A maniac wound- ed himself with an iron stilet; survived twenty days; and on dissection, the in- strument was found strongly fixed in the substance of the left ventricle. The case is also given in detail by Orfila, Lecons, 2d edition, vol. 2, p. 480. Ibid. vol. 22, p. 453. Case at Hotel Dieu; Right ventricle wounded with a kitchen knife; survived a month. Ibid. vol. 23, p. 84, Dupuytren's cases. Transactions Provincial Med. and Surg. Association, vol. 2, p. 357; a boy, ten years old, in discharging a wooden gun, was wounded in the thorax, by a plug of wood, about three inches long, which he had used to form the breech of this appa- ratus. It could not be found. He walked about for a fortnight, and said he was well, but finally wasted away, and died in five weeks and two days after the acci- dent. On dissection the stick was found in the right ventricle, forcing itself between the columnae camese and the internal surface of the heart, and encrusted with a thick coagulum. No wound could be discovered in the heart or pericardium. It is hence doubtful whether this was actually a wound of the heart, and it is supposed by Mr. Davis, who relates the case, that the stick at first entered the lung, and passed into the vena cava, and thence was carried by the stream of blood, first into the right auricle, and then into the right ventricle. Western Journal of Medical and Physical Sciences, vol. 9, p. 382. An individual was shot with a pistol-ball of the size of 74 to the pound. He pursued his antago- nist some rods, but became faint and fell. He survived 97 hours. On dissection, the ball was found to have entered the right ventricle, passed to the right auricle, through the tricuspid valves, and then descended into the vena cava ascendens, in 250 WOUNDS. the heart are, however, almost invariably mortal. Wounds of the aorta and vena cava are fatal.* It is hardly possible that the tho- the right iliac portion of which, about half an inch from its bifurcation, it was found lodged. Case by Dr. Simmons. Lancet, N. S. vol. 20, p. 208, 235. Two cases by Mr. Lees (from Dublin Jour- nal.) One was of an officer, wounded in the right auricle, with a sword, in a duel. It was fought on shore, and the individual returned on board ship, without express- ing any material uneasiness. The surgeon supposed that the broken point of the sword had been lost in the grass. Death ensued on the next day. In the other, a brewer's man in Dublin fell under his dray, which passed over his chest. He recovered so as to drive his horse for an hour, when being near Stevens' Hospital, he thought he might as well be examined. He walked in and lay on a bed, but in turning on his side, he suddenly expired. On dissection, the fifth rib was found fractured, and a portion of it had penetrated the pericardium and right auricle. It filled up the perforation of the pericardium, but had freed itself from the heart, and this last probably occurred immediately before death. The same author (Mr. Lees,) states, that out of 54 cases collected by M. Ollivier, the right ventricle was the seat of the wound in 29, the left ventricle in 12, both ventricles in 9, the right auricle in 3, and the left in 1. Out of 29 cases of pene- trating wounds of the cavities of the heart, only two proved fatal within 48 hours; in the others, from 4 to 28 days. Sedillot, (p. 243,) relates of a young student of medicine, who, desirous of destroy- ing himself, inflicted a wound with a double bladed knife in the cardiac region, and afterwards divided the crural vein. On dissection, the left ventricle was found to be penetrated, but the haemorrhage was so slight as clearly to indicate the other wound as the cause of death. Let it not, however, be supposed from these examples, that wounds of the heart are not suddenly mortal. Individuals often die either instantly after a wound, or life is only protracted for a few minutes. In the case of Mrs. Hamilton, murdered by Clough in 1833, at Bordentown, (New Jersey,) by repeated stabs with a dirk, seven wounds penetrated the left lung, and three entered the left ventricle. She walked some distance down stairs after this, and held some conversation, but soon fell and died in fifteen minutes. Robert Cully, the policeman, stabbed through the heart in London, May 14,1833, ran thirty yards, and then exclaiming, " I am very ill," fell down and expired. Mr. Wallace of Dublin in a clinical lecture on Diseases of the Heart, mentions three cases of a similar kind. In the first, the pulmonic artery and the aorta within the pericardium were wounded by a spear pointed, double edged instrument. The person fell, and expired after uttering a few words. In the second, the right ven- tricle was perforated by a knife. Instant death. In the last, where the left ventricle was pierced, death ensued in fifteen minutes. Although thus sudden, the bodies soon became stiff. Mr. Wallace agrees with the medical witnesses in the Glasgow case, and does not believe that the wounded person, if the injury detailed be correctly reported, could have walked the distance stated. He thinks it more probable, that the blood was deposited for the purpose of deception. Still he allows, that in certain injuries of the heart, life may be somewhat prolonged. Lancet, N. S. vol. 14, p. 140. Instances of the heart being found cicatrized are given in Lancet, vol. 7, p. 22, Bougon's case. Western Journal of Medical and Physical Sciences, vol. 1, p. 329. Case by Dr. Randall of Tennessee, of a negro boy shot in the breast with a fowling. piece. He survived 67 days, and at one time was able to walk about. On dissec- tion, the spots where the shot entered were found cicatrized, and three shot were found in the right ventricle, and two in the right auricle. Dr. Drake, in his obser- vations on this case, refers to other instances. (See his Journal vol 1 o 329 and vol. 3, p. 297.) ' 'v' A case of recovery from a punctured wound of the heart (by a darning needle,) is related by Dr. O'Connor in London Medical Gazette, vol. 17, p. 82. * See Hays' American Cyclopedia of Medicine and Surg', vol. 2, p. 185, art. Wounds of the aorta, by Dr. Geddings. Dr. Dunlop in his MS. Lectures, mentions that it was formerly the custom in the Portuguese army, to punish delinquents by WOUNDS. 251 racic duct can be wounded without affecting other vital parts, but if it should occur, we must deem it fatal, as the chyle, instead of passing in its ordinary course, is diffused into the cavity of the thorax.* For similar reasons, the lower part of the oesophagus is scarcely, if ever, wounded separately; but if so, it is certainly mortal, as it prevents the proper passage of the food, and totally impedes the function of nutrition. Wounds of the vena azygos are mortal, as they are attended with a haemorrhage which it is impossible to suppress. Wounds of the diaphragm, if made with a sharp pointed instrument, such as a sword, are dangerous, if only the muscular parts be injured ; but if the tendinous ones are also injured, they are considered fatal.f As a general deduction from these remarks, it may be ob- served, that the prognostic in wounds of the thorax is, in most cases, an unfavourable one, although they are not often mortal, striking them on the back with the flat of a heavy sword, of which the consequence sometimes was, rupture of the blood-vessels of the chest and even of the aorta. * Blumenbach refers to a case in Lentin where life continued, though in a weak state, for many months after a rupture of the thoracic duct. (Elliotson's Blumen- bach, p. 362.) t 1 have taken this distinction from the systematic writers, although I am perfect- ly convinced of the correctness of a remark of Dr. Marc, that it is useless to distin- guish between wounds of Us tendinous and muscular portions. (Godman's West. Re- porter, vol. 1, p. 44.) A very curious case of wounded diaphragm, which from its consequences, proved fatal at the end of eleven months, is mentioned in the Edin- burgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 8, p. 42. Cases of recovery from a punctured wound are given in London Medical Reposi- tory, June, 1824, by Mr. Wood; in Lancet, N. S. vol. 4, p. 421, from a stab in the muscular part, by Prof. Bernt. Percy (Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales, vol. 9, art. Diaphragm, rupture of,) says that when not immediately fatal, patients suffer greatly from it, and on dissection, the edges of the rupture are found callous and rounded. A case of extensive laceration of the diaphragm, from a fall of 40 feet, and which proved fatal in five and a half days is related by Mr. Curling in British Annals of Medicine, vol. 1, p. 551. A medico-legal case, in which rupture both of the diaphragm and stomach was present, is mentioned at page 83 of this volume. The circumstances attend- ing it were such, that I can readily agree with the opinion, that this injury hap- pened at some period subsequent to the infliction of the fracture. But in allow- ing this, it is not necessary to concede, which some have done, that rupture of the diaphragm is in all cases immediately fatal. Dr. Johnson (Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 26, 432,) quotes the following from a French journal. A healthy and vigorous man, in attempting to mount a coach, pulled it over and fell under it. He was taken to the Hotel Dieu, on the third day of the accident. The right thigh bone was found to be fractured, but no alarming constitutional symptoms were pre- sent. The pulse was natural, the respiration not oppressed, and the only annoy. ance was a teasing cough, with a copious expectoration. He sunk unexpectedly on the sixth day, and dissection exhibited a separation of the diaphragm from the ster- num and ribs for a considerable extent, and through this the bowels protruded. There was also a smaller rupture of the diaphragm in another part. The case referred to has given rise to much interesting discussion. Besides the references already given, it is also noticed by Taylo", p. 457, and Devergie, vol. 2, p. 187. 252 WOUNDS. unless some primary organs be injured. John Bell, indeed, directs his pupils never to call any wound mortal, unless it be plainly a wound of the heart. This advice may be proper in surgery, but it can have no bearing in legal medicine, since it practically ex- cludes all prognostics whatever. I have therefore given the best founded opinions that I could obtain, and will only add, that the prognostic in wounds of the lungs should in general be delayed, as the cases of recovery from desperate ones are so numerous, that we can never be justified in peremptorily declaring any par- ticular instance a mortal wound. Wounds from fire-arms are, however, always more hazardous than those from cutting or sharp-pointed instruments. Wounds of the abdomen, like those of the thorax, are divisible into external and penetrating wounds. The former are to be deemed simple, unless they have been accompanied with a violent shock of the system, or are of large extent, or are accompanied with wounds of the epigastric artery. In this last case, the hae- morrhage has sometimes proved fatal. Penetrating wounds are to be dreaded, either from touching the peritoneum, and thereby causing inflammation, or from producing ventral hernia, and in the latter case, the apprehension will be graduated on the nature of the viscus that has passed out, and the inflammation and stran- gulation that accompany it.* Penetrating wounds may also strike one or more of the viscera contained in the abdomen, and in that case, the accidents that occur, and the medico-legal questions that arise, are among the most perplexing of this branch of our subject. Wounds of the stomach are to be deemed highly dangerous, although there has been great diversity of opinion concerning their mortality. Bohn and Teichmeyer pronounce all mortal, and the instances of es- cape, as almost miraculous, while Alberti, Boerhaave and Valen- tin!, consider those only mortal which have injured the lower part and the two orifices. A wound of the stomach was declared accidentally mortal by the medical faculty of Giessen, and ab- solutely mortal by the medical college at Frankfort; while in another case, a wound was considered mortal by the faculty * The necessity of returning it as early as possible, is very manifest, and if this be not done, the criminal may escape punishment, at the expense of the surgeon's repu- tation. See a case of this kind in Smith, p. 263. WOUNDS. 253 at Leipsic, and not so by those of Helmstadt and Wirtem- berg.* This contrariety of opinion has arisen from a consideration of the following circumstances; wounds of the stomach have some- times been cured without any bad consequences; various sub- stances, such as knives, forks, pins, &c. have been swallowed without immediate injury; and the operation of gastrotomy has been occasionally performed with safety.f All these facts tend to show, that wounds of the stomach are not absolutely mortal, but they do not permit us to deny their danger.J Certainly, if inflicted with a sharp-pointed instrument, and penetrating, they are to be deemed hazardous, and the chance of death is increased when the blood-vessels or nerves of the part have been injured.§ But a rupture or division of the coats of the stomach may also be effected by a severe contusion, or a blow on the part, without any external wound, surgically speaking, being present. Fabri- cius mentions the case of a man who was so dreadfully trodden under foot, that not only the stomach was burst, but there was a rupture of the diaphragm, and the food passed into the cavity of the thorax, and notwithstanding this, except some slight eleva- tions of the epidermis in the form of vesicles, the integuments * Mahon, vol. 2, p. 122. Valentini's Pandects, vol. 2, p. 413 to 432. All the wri- ters on legal medicine agree, that a wound inflicted on a full stomach is more dan- gerous than one on that organ when empty. It should therefore be a subject of in- quiry, how long before the injury a meal has been taken. t See a case of this nature in the Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 1, p. 103. Also in Philosophical Transactions, vol. 19, p. 178. X The remarkable case of Dr. Beaumont, is of itself sufficient to show that life can be preserved after a severe and extensive wound of the stomach. I have met with an analogous case, which appears to have, escaped notice, in the Transactions of the Royal Irish Academy. Dr. George Burrows mentions of a man wounded in the stomach, with a blunt-pointed wooden instrument. He survived the effects 27 years, but had always an opening, which he kept closed with a plug. On dissection, this opening was found. Medical Facts and Observations, vol. 5, p. 185. Other cases of recovery from wounds have been related by Mr. Travers, North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 2, p. 199; by Mr. Breton, in Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta, vol. 1, p. 59; by Mr. Scott, in Medical Communi- cations, referred to by Sir A. Cooper; Lectures, vol. 3, p. 155; by Dr. Beatty, Cy- clopedia of Practical Medicine, art. Death from Wounds, vol. 4, p. 556. § Dr. Andrew Duncan, jun., in a clinical lecture at Edinburgh, (1830) mentioned the following case, which may serve as a check to hasty opinions. A man died, in the Infirmary, of rupture of the ascending aorta. Death was not, however, imme- diate, as he survived several hours in consequence of a clot acting as a partial valve. On dissection, the stomach was found distended with blood, and the bystanders were already engaged in conjectures as to the cause, when the removal of the fluid showed the perfect state of that organ, and it became evident that the blood must have been swallowed, according as it was discharged from the aneurism. (Lancet, N. S., vol. 6, p. 169.) vol. n. 22 254 WOUNDS. and abdominal muscles did not appear in the least injured.* It will not appear surprising that sudden death should be the con- - sequence of a blow on the epigastric region, when it is recollect- ed that it is the seat of the solar plexus, and of the semi-lunar ganglion,f Parts especially subservient to life, and also, that on dissection, no inflammation of the stomach and the other organs, should in such a case be found.J Wounds of the intestines are * Mahon, vol. 2, p. 126. Rupture of the stomach from falls is rare. Devergie, however, relates a case, in which the liver and aorta were torn; with no less than from fifteen to twenty rents of the peritoneal coat of the stomach. The man had fallen from a second story window, (vol. 2, p. 46.) f The effects of severe blows on the stomach, though well known to the vulgar, are hardly accounted for satisfactorily by the learned. A severe blow on the head, the seat of nervous contraction, often does not produce so violent an effect as a very slight blow over the semi-lunar ganglion. A case occurred in London, some years ago, where a man killed his comrade by giving him a pat on the pit of his stomach with his open hand. By the practice of the Scotch courts, if one man kills another by a blow on the stomach, the fact of his having done so is construed into malice, or what amounts to the same thing, recklessness, as it is termed.—Dunlop. In a paper read before the British Association in 1837, Dr. Holland combatted the idea that death in these cases was referable to an injury or impression made on the nervous system, and attributed the fatal result to the sudden propulsion of arterial blood by means of the blow into the left ventricle; this retrograde movement would so overpower the action of the parts, as to cause sudden death. Several physicians, however, dissented from this opinion, and in particular Dr. Copland, who thought the. cause of death a more general one, affecting many functions. It is to be regretted that we have so few dissections of persons thus suddenly killed. London Athenaeum, 1837, p. 685. Medico-Chirurg. Review, vol. 31, p. 576. London Med. Gazette, vol. 21, p. 61. 1 "lnspectio et sectio aliquando nihil declarant," says Bohn, p. 114. So also some- times with blows on the head; and a case of the latter description is cited by Smith, (p. 250) from the History of the Royal Academy of Sciences of Paris. " A stout young criminal, condemned to be broken on the wheel, ran head foremost against the wall of his dungeon, with his hands behind him, and instantly fell dead. On opening the head, not the slightest appearance of injury was discoverable, either in the skull, brain, cerebellum, or spinal marrow, except a very minute separation in the squamous suture, which could not account for so sudden a death. The substance of the brain was unusually firm." This point is so important, that I must be permitted to enlarge somewhat on it. "Slight injury to the stomach, (says Sir Astley Cooper,) although it does not occa- sion any sensible organic change, will sometimes destroy life. A man recovering from fever, and walking in Fleet street, quarrelled with a woman; another female came up and gave him a blow in the region of the stomach, which caused almost in- stantaneous death. Upon dissection, to discover the cause of his expiring so suddenly, no morbid change was perceptible. Again, a healthy labourer at the India House was attempting to lift a heavy weight, when another labourer came up and said, "Stand on one side, and let an abler man try;" at the same time, he gave the for- mer a slight blow on the region of the stomach, when the poor fellow immediately dropped down and expired. On examination, there was not any mark of violence dis- covered." (Lectures, vol. 1, p. 11.) Dr. Paris remarks that inflammation is out of the question in these case?, and therefore the slight redness of the stomach that is occasionally observed can alone be accounted for, by regarding it as the effect of the sudden cessation of the action of the heart (which has been found empty) producing an accumulation of blood in the extreme arterial branches. (Paris' Medical Juris- prudence, vol. 2, p. 121, 174.) Mr. Lambert, a respectable individual in New York, received a blow on the sto- mach from some rioters, immediately after coming from a supper-party. He died WOUNDS. 255 less to be dreaded than those of the stomach, and the instances of recovery are infinitely more numerous. But although all sur- gical works abound with these, we must not deem them destitute of danger, and if death follows after proper treatment, it is to be attributed to the injury.* almost immediately. On dissection, no mark of injury could be discovered, except some small red spots on the internal surface of the stomach, and there was no mark of external contusion. The brain was healthy. Dr. Post and the other witnesses concurred in believing that the blow was the cause of death, and not sudden fright. The prisoners were convicted of manslaughter. I have given the details of this case in the New York Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 5, p. 427. If we deem the above cases of any weight, we can hardly justify the following de- cision, mentioned by Dr. Yeats. " Some years ago, I was subpoenaed to give my opinion concerning the cause of death of a young woman, who had been severely kicked in the region of the stomach by a man. She was never well from that time to the day of her death, which happened several months after, and she frequently vomited blood. On opening the body after death, the internal coat of the stomach was found inflamed. During my examination, I was asked by the court, whether the appearances would not appear without the ill treatment she had received; upon my affirmative answer, that such appearances sometimes occurred from constitutional causes, the judge directed the jury to acquit the prisoner, who was on his trial for murder." (Brande's Journal, N. S., vol. 3, p. 166.) * Several cases of rupture of the intestines from violence are related. Dublin Hos- pital Reports, vol. 4, p. 349, by Mr. Speer, of the caecum, from a fall in wrestling. Western Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 1, p. 550, by Dr. Drake, of the jejunum, from the kick of a horse. Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 24, p. 142, two cases of rupture of the jejunum, one from a kick, and the other from a cart passing over the abdomen, quoted from Bransby Cooper. Lancet, N. S. vol. 17, p. 18, two cases by Mr. Ellis of Dublin; rupture of the caecum and rupture of the duodenum : in each, from drays passing over the abdomen. Amer. Journal of Med. Sciences, vol. 21, p. 530, case by Dr. Annan, of laceration of the ileum from the kick of a horse. Wat- son on Homicide, p. 78, 187, several cases. All these proved fatal. Lydia Alder was tried in 1744, for the murder of her husband, whom she kicked in the groin, in consequence of which, having at the time an inguinal rupture, mor- tification came on, and he died. Verdict, manslaughter. (Paris and Fonblanque, vol. 2, p. 122.) The following is a curious case, as well for its antiquity as the medical testimony presented. I apprehend, also, that at the present day, a conviction under the circum-. stances elicited, could hardly take place. In 1678, in a drinking bout, Philip, Earl of Pembroke, struck Mr. Cony on the head, and afterwards kicked him. The next day, he was seized with severe pains in the shoulders, and afterwards in the bowels, which continued until his death. Faint- ing fits occurred, but it was proved that he had been subject to them. There was no discoloration or bruises on the abdomen. He died on the sixth day, and after death, a large black bruise was found on the breast; the body was swoln and discoloured in various places, and a large quantity of extravasated blood was, on dissection, seen in the lower part of the abdomen. Dr. Conquest deposed that Cony was very intemperate, and had drunk large quan- tities of beer during his illness. To these, he attributed the gripes and vomiting, and the extravasation, although he states expressly that the bowels were not ruptured or bruised. The patient never complained of kicks or bruises. Dr. Lower, who saw him in consultation the day before he died, found no marks of fever, either in his tongue, pulse or water. The caul was withered and consumed, and Mr. Raven (I presume, a surgeon,) deposed that " it was well known to all physicians, that in all natural deaths, there must be extravasated blood in the lower belly." Lord Pembroke was tried by his peers at Westminster Hall, and 18 votes declared him not guilty, while 40 pronounced him guilty of manslaughter. (Hargrave's State Trials, vol. 2, p. 461.) 256 WOUNDS. Wounds of the smaller intestines are more dangerous than those of the larger, not only because they perform more impor- tant functions, but are supplied with a greater number of nerves.* Wounds of the mesentery cannot be deemed mortal, unless some of the large blood-vessels of the organ, or its principal glands, be injured, and in these cases, the danger arises from not being able to suppress the haemorrhage, or to supply the loss of the chyle. Wounds of the omentum are to be estimated like those to the mesentery; but it deserves remark, that a contusion is apt of induce inflammation and gangrene.f Wounds of the pancreas seldom occur, unless some other viscus be injured at the same time. If they should happen separately, the cause must have been an instrument entering at the back, and its wound cannot be considered as mortal, unless some arterial or venous vessels have been injured. Wounds of the liver are generally mortal, and their fatality originates in some blood-vessel being injured, or in the consequences that ensue. Superficial injuries are, however, fre- quently healed.J Wounds of the gall-bladder are deemed abso- lutely mortal, as its fluid is stimulating to a high degree, and occasions inflammation and most violent pain.§ Wounds of the * It would appear that the small intestines possess some of the irritable sympathy so conspicuous in the stomach—death being brought on by some unaccountable cause when they are only slightly injured. Fodere mentions a case where instant death was caused by a small prick in the small intestines, inflicted by the point of a butch- er's knife, though there was neither a sufficient effusion of blood to account for such a result by its effects on the vascular system, nor a sufficient length of time for in- flammation and its consequences to arise.—Dunlop. t If the omentum is protruded, and not speedily returned, it will, in common with all the other viscera of the abdomen, inflame and bring on gangrene ; but the omen- tum is less obnoxious to inflammation than any other viscus. A strong illustration of this fact was related to me by a medical friend. A peon or messenger was brought to him in India, who had received a stab in the side, three weeks before, through the wound of which the omentum had all this time protruded. On examination, he found that the viscus was adhering to the wound all round, and that inflammation had commenced without and been communicated to the interior of the cavity. Gan- grene supervened, of which he died in a few days after.—Dunlop. X A case of recovery from a stab into the liver with a table knife, is given by Dr. N. R. Smith, in North American Archives, vol. 1, p. 385. Prof. Dunglison quotes another from the Journal of Dieffenbach, &c, in which a boy fell on a knife, and a portion of the liver protruded. Without being aware of its nature, the surgeon in attendance cut it off with his scissors. No bad effects fol- lowed. American Medical Intelligencer, vol. I, 191. § There are but very few cases on record of wounds of the gall-bladder distinct from other injury. I have collected the following. Philosophical Transactions, vol. 36, p. 341; an officer in whom the fuudus was penetrated : he lived a week. Sir Astley Cooper's Lectures, vol. 3, p. 164 ; case by Mr. Edlin, wound with a bayonet. Death ensued in 13 hours. Sabatier mentions another case, fatal on the third day. Dr. R. Coates, in the article, Wounds of the abdomen, in Hay's Cyclopedia of Practi- cal Medicine and Surgery, however, refers!, o two cases of recovery, one by Paroisse, and the other by Fryer. " I have never known a patient," says Hennen, " recover WOUNDS. 257 various ducts are mortal. Those of the spleen are to be estimat- ed like wounds of the liver; if deep and penetrating, death will follow from haemorrhage. There are, however, many cases of recovery from injury to this organ.* It is a common circum- stance in cases of sudden death from accidents, falls, &c. to find the spleen or liver lacerated ; and this is therefore to be deemed a fatal injury.f Wounds of the kidneys have often been success- fully treated; they are, however, dangerous, according to their after a wound of the gall-bladder, except a previous adhesion had taken place to the parietes," and then quotes Paroisse's case. A case, he adds, I believe unique, is re- ported by Dr. Thomson, where nature had provided against the extravasation of bile from the substance of the liver into the cavity of the abdomen, by the means of new- ly formed adhesions of considerable extent. (Military Surgery, p. 344.) Professor Samuel Cooper, in some clinical remarks at the North London Hospital (November, 1835,) observed that he knew of no case on record, in which recovery had taken place after a wound of the gall-bladder. London Med. and Surgical Jour- nal, vol. 8, p. 509. * A case is related by Mr. Ferguson, where a part of the spleen was removed with safety. (Philosophical Transactions, vol. 40, p. 425.) Two others are mentioned by Dr. Blundell, in his Physiological Researches; one on the authority of Mr. Cline, and the other on that of Dr. O'Brien. (Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 6, p. 404.) Dr. Dunglison (Physiology, vol. 2, p. 249,) refers to cases of recovery from wounds, re- lated by Adelon and Sir C. Bell; and there is a similar instance of cure by Dr. Powell, in American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 1, p. 481. In the India Journal of Medicine, it is stated that a native was gored by a buffalo, and through the wound there protruded a portion of the spleen. Six days after, Dr. Macdonald removed this with the knife, and the patient recovered. London Med. Gazette, vol. 20, p. 285. Fatal cases are related by Dr. Abercrombie; by Dr. Ingalls, Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 1, p. 296; by Dr. Tuthill, London Medical and Surgical Jour- nal, vol. 6, p. 304; and in Lancet, vol. 11, p. 584, occurring in Guy's Hospital; and American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 7, p. 549, from Rust's Magazine. All these, except the last, occurred from falls or severe blows ; in that, a woman long afflicted with intermittent fever, was, in a quarrel with her husband, struck by him with a long elastic switch, and died in two hours. There was no mark of vio- lence externally, though the blow was given over the region of the spleen, and on dissection, that organ was seen ruptured. It, however, and the liver were so soft, that a slight pressure sufficed to tear them. The man was acquitted from these cir- cumstances. t On the morning of the 1st of Janunry of the present year, (1824,) three soldiers attempted to get out of Edinburgh Castle, to join the riot with which the new year is uniformly ushered in by the people of Scotland, but mistook their way in the dark, and precipitated themselves over the perpendicular side of the rock. They were found dead the next morning, and the livers of the whole of them were found, on dis- section, to be lacerated. Dunlop. A rupture of both the liver and pancreas, originating from a blow on the ribs by the wheels of a stnge-coach, is mentioned in the Lancet, vol. 12, p. 384. A fatal case of rupture of the liver, from a fall from a wagon, and where death followed in fourteen hours, is given by Dr. J. Green, of Lowell, American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 6, p. 539. Another fatal case in 52 hours, from a wheel passing over the abdor men, is related in Midland Medical and Surgical Reporter, vol. 2, p. 76. Mr. Watson, also mentions several cases in which the liver was lacerated by vio- lence. Death ensued almost immediately. Watson on Homicide, p. 102. Devergie (vol. 2, p. 45,) remarks, that in rupture of the liver, the blood is partly fluid and partly coagulated. oo* 258 WOUNDS. depth, and the effusion of urine (if any) into the abdomen.* So also with wounds of the ureters. Wounds of the bladder would not seem to be even very dan- gerous, if we look at the success which ordinarily attends the operation of lithotomy. They may, however, prove hazardous from the effusion of its contents, or the injury of a blood-vessel.f Wounds of the neck and sphincters of the bladder, are apt to leave incontinence of urine; and when this does occur, it should be stated in the report.J Wounds of the uterus are dangerous in * A successful case of treating a severe wound of the kidney, was related to me by my friend Dr. Knox, of Edinburgh. A boy, at the Cape of Good Hope, received a deep wound in the left kidney from a butcher's knife, which was thrown at him. He was brought to Dr. Knox, who caused him to be placed and retained in such a posi- tion, that the wound should be the most depending part of the body. In a short time he made a complete recovery. There are instances of death arising from slight blows on the kidney, where it contains a calculus. A gentleman in India was tried for the murder of his servant, whom he killed by a blow on the loins,—on its being proved that the kidney contained a calculus, the ragged points of which had punctured the blood-vessels, he was acquitted. Dunlop. A case, which the narrator supposes to have been a wound of the kidney, and which was cured, is given by Dr. Borthwick. (Annals of Medicine, vol. 4, p. 466.) Hen- nen also relates of an officer who was wounded by a musket-ball in that region, and who suffered long, but finally passed with his urine, a piece of cloth. (Military Surge- ry, p. 330.) He adds, however, that the cases on record of recoveries after wounds of the kidney are not numerous. Fatal cases of rupture of the kidney from blows, are mentioned by Mr. Laidlaw,in London Medical and Physical Journal: American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 11, p. 199, and by Bransby Cooper, Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 24, p. 144; by Dr. Kirkbride, of Philadelphia, American Jour, of Med. Sciences, vol. 15, p." 359. t Fatal cases of rupture of the bladder from external violence, are given by Clo- quet, North American Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 5, p. 231; by Dewar, Ed- inburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 31, p. 86. (In his remarks on this case, Dr. Craigie refers to all the instances then on record); by Dupuytren, American Journal Med. Sciences, vol. 12, p. 535. This occurred at the Hotel Dieu, and although pronounced by Dupuytren to be a ruptured bladder was doing well, when from some imprudence in eating, peritonitis came on and the patient died on the seventeenth day. On dissection, marks of adhesion were seen between the intestines and blad- der. Additional cases of fatality are related by Mr. Ellis—one from a blow from a watchman's pole, and another from a horse rearing and falling on its rider. Lancet, N. S. vol. 17, p. 20. By Professor Syme, of a female falling forward on the edge of a tub. Inability to pass her urine and peritonitis ensued, and death followed in a week. On dissection, a small rupture was found at the fundus of the bladder; Ed- inburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. 46, p. 269—at the Middlesex Hospital, London, July, 1837. British Annals of Medicine, vol.2, p. 80. " When the bladder is1 penetrated in any part of its parietes, covered with perito- neum, it is usually mortal." Larrey. X Since the last edition was printed, I have met with no less than three cases, in which the question before the legal tribunal, was whether rupture had been caused by blows on the region of the bladder. I will briefly state them. Professor Syme mentions, that at a convivial party blows and wrestling passed between two persons. One of them walked home more than a mile and in crossing his threshold, fell for- ward on his abdomen. When lifted up, he felt great pain "and was unable to help himself. He died in two days, and rupture of the bladder was found. Professor Syme was consulted and he gave it as his opinion that the injury resulted from the fall and that the individual could not have walked home, if the rupture had happened from the blow. Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. 46, p. 269. Another case WOUNDS. 259 proportion to the haemorrhage that follows, and the symptoms that supervene. If that organ be impregnated, the danger is of course increased.* Several cases have been recently published, of sudden and occurred in France. Two persons were fighting and one kicked the other in the hypogastric region. The injured man died in seven days. On dissection, every part was healthy except the abdomen. There was a laceration of the bladder, and its mucous membrane was highly inflamed. Adhesions and false membranes also oc- curred among the intestines, with extravasated fluid. The examiners, Drs. Guersent and Denis testified that death was owing to the rupture caused by the kick. An- nales D'Hygiene, vol. 15, p. 206. A very similar case was tried before Lord Den- man at Lancaster, in March, 1836. Here death occurred on the fifth day and the main defence set up was that the rupture might have been occasioned by distention. Lord Denman remarked that if so, it was very extraordinary it should happen imme- diately after a violent kick on the part. The prisoner was found guilty. London Medical Gazette, vol. 18, p. 61. * " A medical friend of mine related to me the following case: When in Ceylon, he was called to see the wife of a sergeant, who had received a stab in the side with a knife, wounding the uterus, she being then in the eighth month of her pregnancy ; and on asking her how she got hurt she said, that in carrying out some knives which she had been cleaning, her foot slipped, and she let them fall and fell on the top of them, when one of them entered her side and produced the wound, of which she soon afterwards died. She had, however, told some of her companions, the women of the regiment, that it was her husband who had inflicted the wound ; and as it was known that they did not live on the happiest terms, this excited suspicion, and the husband was ordered for trial. On dissection it appeared, that the wound had entered from above and gone downwards, which could not well have happened had she been wounded in the manner she described to the surgeon. From circumstantial proof it was like to have gone hard with the prisoner, but he was let off on the evidence of one of the surgeons, who, when interrogated on the snbject, said that the wound was not necessarily mortal. I have since learned the private history of the jury in this case; it is as follows: The Ceylon jury consists of thirteen; of these, one declined voting, six were of opinion that it was manslaughter, and six wished to bring it in murder. In this state they sat for some hours, till at last, one of those that were for the severer sentence relented, and a verdict of manslaughter was given." Dunlop. The following case is highly interesting, and its doubtful points deserve a more minute investigation. At a meeting of the London Medical Society, in February, 1836, Dr. Blicke mentioned that a female was taken in labour at 7 A. M. From 11 A. M. to half past 2, the pains were very severe but after that, they ceased. Dr. Blicke was called in the next day and suspected rupture of the uterus. The case was left to nature and the female sunk and died the next morning at 2 o'clock. In fifteen hours after, the body was examined. A bruise was distinctly traced through the parietes of the abdomen and there was a slight opacity in the corresponding por- tion of the peritoneum, like the effect of previous inflammation. The uterus was very healthy and most firmly contracted. It was ruptured from the cervix to the fundus. At the first visit of Dr. Blicke, she told him, that she was sure, he could not save her, as she had been some time previous violently beaten by her husband, who had knelt on her abdomen and she had never been well since. On the trial, Dr. Blicke gave it as his opinion that the injury had produced some partial lesion of the uterus and that when that organ came to be in action during labour, it was unable to over- come the resistance of its contents and was ruptured. A distinguished accoucheur was sent for, who gave it as his opinion that an injury inflicted on a pregnant wo- man, if it did not produce labour at the time, would not six weeks afterwards have any thing to do with producing rupture of the uterus. Mr. Kingdon remar'ed that he had no doubt, that an undue attachment of the placcnta,.the result of inflammation in consequence of a blow, did take place and de- stroyed the woman by haemorrhage at the time of labour. He related a case in point, in which the injury had been some time before received. (London Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. 9, p. 122.) 260 WOUNDS. fatal haemorrhage into the cavity of the abdomen from the rup- ture of extra-uterine conceptions.* In all these instances of wounds of the abdomen, the danger is aggravated from extravasation, and this again is increased ac- cording to the nature of the fluid, which may be either blood, chyle, bile, foecal matter, or urine. An extravasation of blood is often within the power of the surgeon, but its consequences are, however, always to be dreaded. The other evacuations can scarcely, if ever, except in the case of the urine, be remedied by means of operations, and are hence very generally mortal.f Wounds of the testicles are dangerous, particularly if they have been contused or injured by a sharp-pointed instrument. Their division, indeed, by a cutting instrument may be mortal, unless the subsequent haemorrhage be speedily prevented. The same remark applies to wounds of the penis; but in other re- spects, injuries of this organ are not to be deemed dangerous. Wounds of the female organs are often highly dangerous, from the profuse haemorrhage that ensues.| * Mr. Watson refers to several in his Treatise on Homicide, p. 103. t " The complete effusion of bile, uriue, and faeculent matter, prove uniformly fatal, by their quality inducing a destructive inflammation." (Travers on Injuries of the Intestines, London edit. p. 72.) It has been proposed to avert the evils arising from these fluids remaining in the cavities, by removing them by puncturing, as is practised in dropsical cases: and this I could suppose may be practicable in some cases, as where any very fluid liquid is to be got out; water, for instance, or serum, may be drawn off" by puncturing at the lower part of a cavity where it may be lodg- ed; but in other instances, there would be but little to hope for from the operation. Bile, urine, faeces, and chyle, are highly irritating in their nature; and though, which is very doubtful, we are enabled to remove them from the cavity, we should find it impossible to command the wounded gall bladder, biliary duct, kidney, ureter or in- testine, from which they proceed ; so that the operation would only be inflicting pain without any rational hope of success, as they would be renewed as fast as thev were removed; and as for blood, unless the puncture was made instantly, it would most likely coagulate, and in that form it would be impossible to get it, through a small punctured hole; making a large incision is, of course, quite out of the question; and blood, if likely to find its way out at all, will do so through the hole through which thd wound was inflicted. Dunlop. X Two interesting cases are related by Mr. Watson, of Edinburgh. (Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol 36, p. 85.) In both, there had been an incision into the labia pudendi, evidently with a cutting instrument, and either a razor or a knife. Death followed in each after a very few hours. The murderer was convicted in one case, and in the other, only escaped because the medical witnesses stated that it was possible but very improbable, that the wound might have been occasioned by falling on glass, or a sharp body. The wound was not lacerated, nor penetrating but a clean incision; and it is evident, in order to inflict it as supposed in the defence that "the female must have sat down upon a piece of glass standing erect and her clothes must have been out of the way, as they were not cut." All this, too must have happened on a pair of stairs. It is remarkable, that in both cases, the murderers were the first to call medical aid, probably supposing that the haemorrhage would be attributed to flooding. In his late work, Mr. Watson adds two additional ( tities, and produced suffocation.* We have in addition to these, the experiments of Corneliani and Cormack. According to the latter, creosote appears to act on the heart itself, which it seems almost instantaneously to pa- ralyze. There appear also to be many points of resemblance be- tween its effects and those of prussic acid. One is, that the odour is diffused through all the tissues and indeed continues the longest with creosote. The remedies advised by Dr. Cormack are the same as for prussic acid,—chlorine, ammonia and other stimuli.f It has been suggested that Dippel's oil, oil of tar, &c. owe their noxious power to the creosote contained in them. Cyanuret of iodine. Orfila ranks this among the narcotico-acrid poisons in consequence of the experiments of Scoutetten. When it was given to dogs, convulsions almost instantly occurred, with immediate death. Half a grain was sufficient to destroy a rab- bit, and five grains, a dog. The stomach was generally found somewhat inflamed.J Lassaigne appears also to have experimented with it. One grain and a half given to a dog produced attempts to vomit, pa- ralysis of the limbs, dilatation of the pupils and stiffness. Death succeeded at the end of fifteen minutes. The body was opened immediately. There was intense inflammation of the stomach, * Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 41, p. 248. London Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 6, p. 503. t Corneliani in British and Foreign Med. Review, vol. 1, p. 265. Cormack on Creosote. Edinburgh, 1836. X Orfila's Toxicology, 3d edition, vol. 2, p. 344. NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS. 67f with an ulceration at the cardiac extremity. The upper part of the duodenum was also red.* The cyanuret of bromine would seem, from the experiments of Serrulas and Barthez, to be equally deleterious. One grain dis- solved in water and given to a rabbit, instantly killed it.f Other compounds of cyanogen possess deleterious qualities, and until their nature is better understood, they may also be arranged under this head. Chloride of cyanogen. (Chlorocyanic acid.) Serullas, who first obtained this substance in a pure state, found it highly poisonous. A grain dissolved in alcohol and introduced into the oesophagus of a rabbit, killed it instantly. An ounce of water in which an- other grain had been agitated, destroyed a rabbit in twenty-five minutes.J " It is corrosive to the skin, and highly injurious to animal life."§ Cyanuret, or cyanide of potassium. A few grains placed on the tongue of a dog produced marks of inflammation. A tenth of a grain killed a linnet in sixty seconds, and less than one grain a Guinea-pig in two or three minutes. These experiments were made by Robiquet and Villerme.|| It has also proved poisonous when given as an enema; six grains moistened, but yet in a mass, being added to six ounces of water. The effects were strong convulsions, violent contractions of the limbs, and dilated pupils. The patient, however, recovered soon from these. A fourth enema was subsequently given, of the same ingredients, except that the cyanuret was boiled in it, and so moist that it adhered to the sides of the injection-bag. No bad effects followed. A fifth was given in thirty-six hours after, with the same quantity of well-dried cyanuret. Convulsions, difficult respiration and dilated pupils followed, and the patient died in-an hour. The difference in effect is ascribed to the decomposition of the cyanuret by mois- ture.U I have thrown in the following note a catalogue of such noxious plants and their products, unarranged in the various classes of poisons, as I have met with during the preparation of this work. * London Medical Repository, vol. 24, p. 573, from Journal de Chimie Medicale. t Philosophical Magazine and Annals, vol. 1, p. 397. American Journal of Medi- cal Sciences, vol. 3, p. 479. X Silliman's Journal, vol. 16, p. 258. § Turner's Chemistry, 5th edition, p. 436. | Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 21, p. 494. II Orfila in Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 11, p. 240. The case occurred to Dr. Trouve. 672 NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS. Some are of our own country, while others are foreign, and pro- bably the majority belong to the narcotico-acrids. Sanguinaria canadensis, L. (Blood-root, Puccoon.) A native of the United States. This is considered by Dr. Bigelow as an acrid narcotic. A dose of from eight to twenty grains of the fresh powdered root, produces irritation of the fauces, heart- burn, nausea, faintness and frequently vertigo and diminished vision. Vomiting is occasionally produced. (Bigelow's Medical Botany, vol. 1, p. 79.) Dr. Mease men- tions on the authority of Dr. Muhlenberg, that a temporary insanity was induced in a female from swallowing the seeds. (Coxe's Medical Museum, vol. 2, p. 161.) Pro- fessor Tully's elaborate essay on this plant will be found in the American Medical Recorder, vol. 13, p. 1. Professor Dana discovered an alkaloid in it, denominated sanguinarine. Dirca palustris, L. (Swamp leather-wood.) A native of this country. The ber- ries are poisonous. (Rafinesque's Medical Flora, vol. 1, p. 160.) From its affinity to the genus Daphne, it is probably an acrid poison. Chailletia toxicaria, and C. erecla, Don. Mr. Don observed that these grow on the mountains of Sierra Leone. "The English name of the first species is ratbane. There is a deadly poison prepared from the kernel of the fruit by the negroes, which they use for the purpose of poisoning rats; whence its name." The kernels of the other species possess similar poisonous properties. (Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. 11, p. 348.) Robinia pseudo-acacia, L. Dr. Gendron of Montpelier, relates of some school-boys who had chewed the bark of the root, and swallowed the juice, and in whom in three hours were presented symptoms of a narcotico-acrid poison, as vomiting, lethargy and slight convulsions. (Philadelphia Journal of Pharmacy, vol, 6, p. 285.) Piscidia erylhina, L. (Fish-wood, Jamaica dogwood.) The bark is thrown into the water to intoxicate^fish. Dr. Hamilton tried its effects on himself in the form of tincture. It produced some irritation, which was succeeded by profound sleep. (Burnett's Outlines of Botany, vol. 2, p. 654.) Abrus precalorius, L. The scarlet seeds of this plant are used as necklaces and rosaries. It is the common opinion that they are poisonous. Indeed a single one swallowed by a child is said to have caused death. (Edinburgh Encyclopaedia, vol. 15, p. 808. American edition. See also Ainslie's Materia Indica, vol. 2, p. 80, and Penny Magazine, vol. 2, p. 211.) Burnett, (Outlines, vol. 2, p. 666,) however, doubts this, and says that they are eaten in Egypt. Hura crepitans, L. (Sand-box, Monkey's dinner-bell,) so called from the noise of its capsules breaking. The seeds of this plant, according to Aublet, are poisonous. It vomits and purges in a dose of two grains. A native of Guiana. (Annales D'Hy- giene, vol. 7, p. 200. Burnett's Outlines of Botany, vol. 2, p. 607.) Probably an acrid poison. Anda gomesii, Jussieu. Grows in Brazil. The decoction of the bark is used by , the natives for stupifying fish. An oil is obtained from the seeds, which is both ca- thartic and emetic. (Burnett, vol. 2, p. 609. F. Smith in Philadelphia Journal of Pharmacy, vol. 4, p. 26.) Msculus ohioensis, Michaux. M. pallida, Willdenow ? (Buckeye.) Dr. Drake states that cattle are poisoned by eating the nuts. It induces gastritis, and they are previously affected with vertigo and trembling of the limbs. (Notes to Desalle, p. 9, . Dr. Short in Transylvania Journal of Medicine, vol. 1, p. 422.) It is undoubtedly an aorid narcotic. See Riddel's Flora. NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS. 673 ■dSsculus pavia, L. Pavia rubra, Lam. (Buckeye.) " The narcotic property of this shrub has given rise to a singular mode of taking fish, practised, though not fre- quently, in some parts of this State. The tender branches are bruised, and thrown into a pool of small extent; the water is then agitated, until it becomes sufficiently impregnated to affect the fish; they rise to the surface almost lifeless, and may be taken by the hand. The powdered seed may, be used with equal effect. Fish taken in this manner are eaten with impunity." (Elliot's Botany of South Carolina and Georgia, vol. 1, p. 435.) Melia azederach, L. (Pride of China or India, Poison berry tree, China tree.) A native of the East, but also grows in our southern States. Elliot observes that its decoction is narcotic, and it was mentioned in the newspapers some time since, that a child had died from eating the seeds. Dr. Heustis remarks, that if exhibited in too large quantities, " it is highly poisonous, affecting more especially the head and eyes, and sometimes causing total blindness." (Elliot's Botany, vol 1, p. 476. Barton's Materia Medica, part 1, p. 41. American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 8, p. 82. Ainslie's Materia Indica, vol. 2, p. 456. Dr. Griffith in Philadelphia Journal of Pharmacy, vol. 7, p. 180.) Amyris toxifolia, toxifera, L. ? (Janca, or White candle-wood.) This is said to be a native of Carolina; and a black juice which distils from the trunk of this tree, is stated to be very poisonous. (Burnett's Outlines of Botany, vol. 2, p. 875.) Poly gala venenosa, Juss. A native of Java. Commerson says, " that even from gathering a few of its leaves and branches, he was attacked with giddiness, sickness, and other unpleasant symptoms." (Burnett's Medical Botany, vol. 2.) Passiflora quadrangularis, L. (Barbadine.) A strong infusion of its root produced catalepsy and death in a dog; and on dissection, the arachnoid membrane was found injected, the vessels of the lungs all filled, and black blood in the heart. (Dr. Ricord Madianna in Annals of the New York Lyceum, vol. 1, p. 129.) It is a native of the Isle of France, but cultivated in Guadaloupe. It is said to owe its activity to a pecu- liar principle, called passiflorine. Chenopodium murale, L. (Wormseed.) A native of the southern States. Dr. Henry Wilkins of Baltimore, states that he has known of two instances of children convulsed for an hour, from swallowing the seeds. (Coxe's Medical Museum, vol. 5, p. 256.) Gelsemium nitidum, Michaux. (Yellow jessamine. Bignonia sempivirens,L.) The flowers, root, &c. of this shrub are narcotic, and the effluvia from the former are said sometimes to induce stupor. Dr. Mease mentions that a child died in Charleston, S. C. from eating the flowers. (Elliot's Botany of South Carolina and Georgia, vol. 1, p. 312. Memoirs of the Philadelphia Agricultural Society, vol. 5, p. 244.) In the newspapers of May, 1823, it is mentioned that a child of Mr. Broughton of North Carolina, aged two years, died in the space of two hours, after eating the flowers of this plant. Blindness ensued within a minute or two after swallowing it. See Prof. Tully's Experiments, in Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 7, p. 117. Kalmia Latifolia, L. (Mountain laurel. Laurel in Pennsylvania, Bay in Virginia.) A native of the United States. Barton says that the Delawares (Indians) poison themselves with a decoction of this plant. It is poisonous to some animals, as cattle and sheep ; and in man, a very small quantity of the decoction has produced vertigo and convulsions. (Barton's Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 1, part 1, p. 147. Barton's Materia Medica, part 1, p. 18. Bigelow's Med. Botany, vol. 1, p. 137,139.) Gualtheria procumbens, (Spicy winter-green,) and Andromeda, are allied genera to the Kalmias. In the Annals of Medicine, vol. 3, p. 364, is a case by Dr. Long- VOL. II. 57 674 NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS. more, of a number of soldiers poisoned at Quebec, from a tea made of the andromeda, gualtheria and sedum. It produced vertigo, weakness, vomiting, cold sweats, and in one case insensibility. They gradually recovered, after extreme debility. See also Barton's Materia Medica, part 1, p. 19. Bees which feed on the azalea, rhododendron and kalmia, are supposed to produce poisonous honey. Senecio obovatus, Willd. A native of this State. It is said to have proved a deadly poison to sheep. (Silliman's Journal, vol. 15, p. 358.) Arnica montana, L. (Leopard's bane, Mountain tobacco.) Chevallier and Lassaigne have detected cytisine in it. (Duncan's Supplement, p. 27.) Echites suberecta, Jacq. (Savanna flower of Jamaica.) According to Mr. Sells, two drachms of the expressed juice of this plant killed a dog. Animals and men have been destroyed by it. Some negroes attempted to poison an overseer by putting a quantity of the powdered root into water intended for drinking, but it was detected. Six grains of this powdered root were given to a dog, who died in less than three hours. (Brande's Journal, N. S. vol. 3, p. 502.) Spigelia marilandica, L. Pink root. A native of the United States. This, in large doses, is a violent poison. Its decoction produced vertigo, dimness of sight, and paim in two children who took it; one vomited, but was not relieved; staggering, incohe- rent talking, and delirium took place, until they all fell asleep; they awoke relieved- The pupils were dilated during the influence of the poison. Dr. Chalmers attributes the loss of two children who died in convulsions, to this article. (Edinburgh Physical and Literary Essays, vol. 1, p. 438, Dr. Lining. Ibid. vol. 3, p. 149, Dr. Garden. Barton's Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 1, part 2, p. 74. Dr. W. P. Barton's Medical Botany, vol. 2, p. 80. Bigelow's Medical Botany, vol. 1, p. 146.) Hamanthus toxicarius, Aiton. (The old Amaryllis toxicaria, or distacha,) is the plant with which it is said the Hottentots poison their arrows. Weapons wetted with the juice of the bulb, convey certain death by the slightest wound : dissolution is preceded by violent struggles and efforts to vomit. (Burnett's Outlines of Botany, vol. 1, p. 448.) Amaryllis atamasco, L. (Atamasco lily, Stagger-grass.) Southern States. Gene- rally supposed to be poisonous to cattle, and to produce the disease in calves called staggers. (Elliot's Botany of South Carolina and Georgia, vol. 1, p. 384.) Helonias erythrosperma, Mich. (Red-seeded helonias, Fly poison.) Southern States. This plant is a narcotic poison, and is employed by some families for destroying the house-fly. It is mixed with honey or molasses. The flies unless swept into the fire or otherwise destroyed, revive in the course of twenty-four hours. (Elliot's Botany of South Carolina and Georgia, vol. 1, p. 421.) Dr. Tully has experimented on this. (Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 7, p. 136.) Caladium seguinum, Vent. I add this on the authority of some remarks extracted from Hooker's Exotic Flora. This plant is a native of the West Indies, and is there -called dumb cane, from the fact that its virulent juice, when applied to the tongue, causes a swelling which deprives the sufferer of the power of speech. From its af- finity to the genus Arum, it is probably an acrid poison. The Caladium arborescens is so caustic, that occasionally (says Merat) the lips of negroes are wetted with it, as a punishment for slight misdemeanours. (Edinburgh Philosophical Journal, vol. 7, p. 395. Coxe's Medical Museum, vol. 1, p. 185. Burnett's Outlines of Botany, vol. 1, p. 411.) Symplocarpus faetida, Salisbury. Ictodes fcetidus, Bigelow. (Skunk cabbage.) A native of the United States. This plant emits a very pungent odour from the spathe NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS. 675 and flower. Dr. Barton was seized with inflammation of the eyes, in consequence of the necessary examination which he gave to it. A dose of thirty grains of the root has caused vomiting, headach, vertigo, and temporary blindness. (Dr. W. P. Bar- ton's Medical Botany, art. Symplocarpus. Bigelow's Medical Botany, vol. 2, p. 48.) This plant has been analyzed by Mr. Turner, but without discovering any pecu- liar noxious principle. (Philadelphia Journal of Pharmacy, vol. 8, p. 1.) Festuca quadridentata. (Kunth.) Sessleria quitensis of Sprengel, is, according to Humboldt, poisonous to animals. (Pereira, London Medical Gazette, vol. 17, p. 4.) Equisetum hyemale, L. (Scour-grass.) A native of the United States. I formerly placed this among the irritant poisons, but I am now convinced that its noxious qua- lities are owing to the silex contained in it. According to the analysis of Braconnot, out of the ashes furnished by the dried plant, more than half is silex. There is no question that horses and cattle are sometimes destroyed from eating it; and on exa- mination, the stomach is found cut and lacerated. (Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal, vol. 8, p. 101. Barton's Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 1, part 1, p. 149. Nuttall's Journey in the Arkansaw, p. 58.) Oil of tansy, (Tanacetum vulgare, L.) A female, aged twenty-seven, in Boston, took half an ounce. Spasms ensued, and although emetics and the stomach-pump were used, she died in two hours. On dissection a strong odour of tansy was per- ceived ; the blood was dark and thick; the stomach and intestines were healthy. (Case by Dr. Hildreth, Boston Medical Magazine, vol. 3, p. 213.) Dr. Daniel Drake mentions, that within the year 1833, two persons (both young women) have died in Cincinnati, from the distilled oil of tansy. One took it by mistake; the other was probably a suicide. (Western Journal of Medical and Physical Sciences, vol. 7, p. 569.) Oil of wintergreen, (Gualtheria procumbens, L.) An individual in New York was supposed to be poisoned by this, in 1832. He had been intemperate, but was not otherwise disordered. Death ensued in fourteen hours; and on dissection, marks of inflammation in the stomach were seen. Probably a fluid ounce had been taken.— (Philadelphia Journal of Pharmacy, vol. 6, p. 289.) Oil of cedar. An individual at Saratoga Springs died in convulsions, about half an hour after taking some of this. Yedra. " The most remarkable shrub in this country (California) is the Yedra, a poisonous plant affecting only particular constitutions of the human body, by produc- ing tumours and violent inflammation upon any part with -which it comes in con- tact, and indeed even the exhalation from it, borne upon the wind, is said to have an effect upon some people. It is a slender shrub, preferring cool and shady places and bears a trefoil crenated leaf." (Capt. Beechey's Narrative, vol. 2, p. 84.) Singhera—an East Indian poison. See an account of it by Mr. Burnard from the India Medical Journal, London Med. Gazette, vol. 18, p. 447. Compound Poisoning. It is to be expected, that when two poisons of different or op- posite properties have been taken, their effects will vary mate- rially from those produced by either singly. The known facts on this subject, however, consist at present only of individual cases, and I will mention some of the more important. Arsenic and Corrosive sublimate. An individual took about fifty 676 NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS. grains of each, mixed together, for the purpose of suicide; but experiencing a burning heat in his bowels in about five minutes, took an emetic, which caused him to evacuate a portion of the poison. Excruciating pain and severe thirst were present. By the aid of emetics and diluents he became somewhat relieved. A diarrhoea ensued, which lasted eight days. On the second day, besides this, vomiting recurred, with convulsive twitchings. The treatment was directed to the removal of inflammation. Under this he improved, but was delirious a portion of the time. On the sixth day, mercurial ptyalism commenced, and although extreme- ly weak, the immediately dangerous symptoms subsided, and he gradually, but slowly, convalesced.* Arsenic and laudanum. Mr. Jennings relates a case, where a female swallowed two drachms of arsenic and three ounces of laudanum at the same time. He saw her in four hours after. There was no pain or burning in the throat, stomach or bowels ; no tenderness of the abdomen, and no particular stupor. She complained merely of being tired and sleepy, from the violent effects of an emetic about two hours previously. The eyes were bloodshot and heavy, the pupils contracted, and the pulse 100. All the usual symptoms of arsenic were absent. An emetic, venesection, leeches, blistering, and the cold effusion were pre- scribed, and she was kept walking; but the drowsiness increased, and she finally became comatose, and died in that state, with di- lated pupils and laborious breathing, about nine hours after taking the poison. There had been no pain in the stomach, and the bowels were but once moved. On dissection, the membranes of the brain were found vascu- lar, the sinuses gorged, the large veins filled with a treacly-like blood, the ventricles free of fluid, the brain firm, and its bloody points unusually numerous. > The stomach was externally healthy. It contained half a pint of fluid. Its villous coat was generally pale, but at the great arch there were two small red patches. The small intestines were red, and some had patches. The heart was rather flaccid, and its great vessels were not gorged with blood. Arsenic was obtained from the fluids of the stomach.f Arsenic and alcohol. Two cases of this description are men- * Julia Fontanelle, in Archives Generales. Medico-Chir. Review, vol. 7, p. 565. t Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 35, p. 453, from London Medical and Physical Journal, October, 1830. There is another case by Mr. Scott, in which the ertects of the arsenic decidedly predominated, and the mucous membrane of the stomach was readily detached, after death. (Medico-Chir. Review, vol 11, p. 170.) NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS. 677 tioned by Dr. Christison. In one, the arsenic was taken after a meal. After ineffectual attempts to produce vomiting by emetics, the stomach-pump was used, and a fluid brought up in which ar- senic was detected; but no symptom of arsenical poisoning fol- lowed. Dr. Christison imagines that the operation of it was prevented by the narcotism previously induced by the ardent spirits. In the other instance related by Dr. Wood of Dumfries, where half an ounce of arsenic was taken early in the morning, after a night's debauch, there was no symptom, but languor and drowsiness. A few minutes afterwards, he had slight vomiting, which was repeatedly renewed. In eighteen hours, he presented the usual constitutional symptoms of poisoning with arsenic, and in forty-one hours, he expired. But from first to last he had scarcely any local symptom, except vomiting, although the sto- mach presented, after death, signs of violent irritation.* Arsenic and nux vomica. A female in Liverpool, took two drachms of arsenic and half a drachm of nux vomica. It was soon discovered and an emetic of sulph. zinc was given, which produced vomiting. The stomach-pump was also used. Sub- sequent to this, copious draughts of lime-water and mucilage were prescribed. The symptoms that succeeded were those of severe gastric inflammation, which yielded to the repeated application of leeches and a milk diet. She was discharged cured on the sixteenth day.f Corrosive sublimate and laudanum. Two drachms of the for- mer, and half an ounce of the latter, were swallowed by a young soldier at Edinburgh. He had at first no violent symptoms what- ever indicating the operation of corrosive sublimate, but after- wards suffered under purging, tenesmus, and bloody stools. There was, however, no pain or tenderness of the abdomen. On the fourth day, a violent salivation commenced, and under this and the dysentery, he sunk; yet not so much but that on the day of his death, the ninth day after he took the poison, he was able to walk a little in his room without assistance. The stomach and intestines were enormously inflamed, ulcerated, and here and there almost gangrenous. Dr. Christison, who received this case from Dr. Mackintosh, imagines that the narcotic operation of the opium retarded the irritant action of the corrosive subli- mate.;}; * Christison, p. 808. t British Annals of Medicine, vol. 2, p. 81. X Christison, p. 809. 57* 678 NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS. Lead and nux vomica. A young female died in consequence of taking a solution of acetate of lead and some nux vomica. On dissection, the blood-vessels of the brain were found much dis- tended—the mucous membrane of the stomach was entire, not thickened but somewhat ecchymosed. The other parts were natural. Dr. R. D. Thomson analysed the contents of the stomach and obtained strychnine sufficient to kill a bird. Lead in a metallic state was also procured, and it deserves mention that the smell of the fluid matters taken from the stomach was strongly ace- tous.* Tartar emetic and charcoal fumes. An individual, after swal- lowing 17 grains of the former, attempted to commit suicide by suffocating himself with the fumes of burning charcoal. He re- covered from both attempts; suffered severely from the usual nar- cotic effects of carbonic acid gas, but showed scarcely any of the symptoms of the action of tartar emetic. Opium and belladonna. The lady of a medical man took suc- cessively three injections, each containing a scruple of opium and half an ounce of the leaves of belladonna. They were all return- ed. This was in the evening. During the night, her husband became alarmed at her profound sleep, and sent for aid. The pupils were extremely dilated, the tongue dry, deglutition difficult, respiration short and frequent, and the pulse 130. The limbs were perfectly motionless, and the skin insensible to irritation. Purgatives, venesection and sinapisms were used with success, but the vision remained indistinct for the next day.f Laudanum and alcohol. The excitement of intoxication some- times suspends for a time the action of laudanum, but the symp- toms of stupor then occur. In one instance, seen by Dr. Christi- son, there was no delay, and the narcotism came on in one hour, and death succeeded in four more.J Orfila has published an elaborate memoir on the detection of mixed poisons. I can only mention a few of his formula?. Mixture of corrosive sublimate and arsenious acid. These are separated by adding sulphuric ether, and shaking the mixture until the sublimate is dissolved. The liquor is then evaporated to obtain it. This will apply, whether the mixture be in the solid or fluid state. * British Annals of Medicine, vol. 1, p. 103. t Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 17, p. 563. X Christison, p. 809. NARCOTICO-ACRID POISONS. 679 Corrosive sublimate and acetate of copper. Here also ether is to be used as in the last, the acetate not being soluble in it. Corrosive sublimate and tartar emetic, the same process. Arsenious acid and tartar emetic. Boil the mixture with car- bonate of potash. Soluble arsenite and tartrate of potash, and oxide of antimony will be obtained. The latter is soluble in hy- drochloric acid, affording hydrochlorate of antimony. Treat the fluid with sulphuretted hydrogen, and a few drops of hydrochloric acid and sulphuret of arsenic will be precipitated. Laudanum and arsenious acid. Filter and apply sulphuretted hydrogen. The laudanum dissolves only a small portion of the acid.* * The Memoir of Orfila may be found in the Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 7, p. 627; and an analysis of it, in American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 11, p. 179. CHAPTER XXII. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. Why physicians are called as witnesses; statutory regulations dn this in various countries. Duties of the medical witness before the coroner and his jury. Neglect of medico-legal examinations. Capacity of all medical men to be witnesses. Ne- cessity of the appointment of medico-legal examiner by the State. Regulations in Austria—Prussia; practical school of legal medicine in the latter country. De- fects of the present system in England and the United States; duties of medical men while it remains in force. Medical witnesses before a court; rules for their conduct in the statement of facts—in giving opinions. Fluctuations of opinion on several subjects of importance—hydrostatic test in infanticide. The witness to avoid being a partisan. Testimony to be estimated according to the skill and knowledge of the witness. Difference of opinion; rule on this in the Scotch courts; a reference to authorities proper. Divulging of secrets. Validity of death-bed declarations. No treatise on Medical Jurisprudence is complete at the pre- sent day, unless it embraces some remarks on Medical Evidence; but I confess that I do not approach the subject with the same alacrity that I have done others, and principally from a conviction that what I may say or offer will pass unheeded by those to whom it is principally addressed. I refer to our lawgivers, with whom alone it remains to give a new and proper impulse to the science of medical jurisprudence, and to make that infinitely more avail- able to the ends of justice and the prevention of crime than it has ever yet been in this country.* The duties of the physician or surgeon are not bounded by his responsible and interesting attendance on the sick. He is often called upon to exercise other functions. His opinion is desired in cases of sudden death—of grievous bodily or mental injury— or on the nature of particular diseases and affections. This, in- deed, is the natural result of a proper regard for the interests of society. Whenever the importance of equal laws becomes fully recognised in a country, and the necessity of distributing impar- tial justice fully understood, it will soon suggest itself to the legis- * Many of the remarks in this chapter are taken from the Annual Address de- livered before the State Medical Society in 1828, when I was honoured with the of- fice of president. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 681 lator, that if evidence is required, it should be of the most unex- ceptionable and satisfactory nature. When the controversy ori- ginated in mercantile disputes, the opinions of merchants were of course sought for and depended on, and their customs and usages have indeed become a part of the statutes of various countries. So also when unexpected death followed from known or sup- posed injury—when the suspicion of violence entered into the list of causes, it was natural, that sooner or later, those should be called upon to examine and testify, whose ordinary studies and pursuits best enabled them to decide. We find that it is now three centuries since a formal enactment in a European code re- cognised this principle. The Emperor Charles the Fifth, (as I have already stated in the Introduction,) in the celebrated Crimi- nal Code framed by him at Ratisbon in 1532, ordained that the opinion of medical men should be taken in every case where death had been occasioned by violent means; such as child-mur- der, poisoning, wounds, hanging, drowning, and the like. France and other continental states soon followed this example, and im- proved upon its directions. In England, the country from which we derive our laws, I believe I may say with perfect accuracy, that no statutory provision on the subject is to be found. Custom, how- ever, and sometimes legal dicta have sanctioned what the neces- sity of the case has rendered imperious—an appeal to medical testimony.* The same remarks may, to a great extent, be ap- plied to our country; and it is to be regretted that in both, the qualifications for the office of coroner are so little regarded. It would seem indispensable that he be properly versed both in the legal and medical knowledge required from time to time in the discharge of his office, f It cannot be denied, that a full and sa- tisfactory medico-legal examination is avoided as often as public sentiment will permit; and even when judicially ordered, its proper objects are often thwarted, or not fully accomplished. * " It is the duty of a coroner, in a case of death in a pugilistic encounter, to exa- mine a surgeon as to the cause of death." (Rex v. Quinch, 4 Carrington and Payne's Reports, 571.) But again: A woman was wounded by a stone, and taken to the hospital in Dublin. The mayor required a certificate from the surgeon in attend- ance, as to her state. This was refused, unless a fee was paid. The mayor appealed to the government, and was informed by Mr. Stanley (Dublin Castle, Nov. 13,1832,) that no law obliges the surgeon of an infirmary to give an opinion in such a case. (London Medical Gazette, vol. 11, p. 264.) + See vol. 2, p. 2. I do not mean by these remarks to urge that the coroner should always be a medical man, any more than that he should be a lawyer; but I contend for such a degree of knowledge as will enable him to aid the medical examiner in his duties, and at the same time properly direct the jury. 682 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. The consequences may be seen in the result of many of our crimi- nal trials. The public mind may be deeply and permanently im- pressed with the guilt of individuals, yet the imperfection of the early examination has been such as to leave no option to the jury but to release the accused. In cases of violent death, and these are the most important as well as the most common, in which professional witnesses are summoned, their duties may be considered under two divisions— first, before the coroner's inquest; and secondly, before the court and jury that is to try the supposed criminal. In other words, the facts that are to govern are elicited before the former; while before the latter, these facts are to be stated, and opinions are to be advanced, which frequently decide the fate of the accusation. This is the ordinary course of judicial proceeding, though of course it is often necessary to pronounce an opinion even before a coroner's jury, but with the important distinction that its merits and weight are there seldom canvassed. As to the first of these divisions, we may observe that it enters into the very essence of the duties of the coroner, and those of the jury whom he summons to view the body. He is to inquire into the causes which have produced the supposed violent termi- nation of life, and if the injury be manifest, to ascertain its nature and the probable instrument used to effect it. It is in the dis- charge of this function that he may summon any medical man before him as a witness, and our own state law says he shall do it. It proceeds, however, no farther, nor does it establish any regulations as to examinations, or the compensation for them.* The result necessarily must be, a degree of carelessness and hurry which can only tend to favour the escape of a guilty person. In Austria, though a despotic country, this subject is far better arranged. " A code of regulations is published, by which all medico-judiciary inspections are to be conducted throughout the empire, and reports to be drawn up. Public inspections are also made on the dead bodies of those found in suspicious circum- stances, and which not being at first recognised, are carried to * In a letter from Mr. Aaron, surgeon of Birmingham, it is stated that it seems to be the legal opinion that a coroner cannot oblige a surgeon to open a body and give evidence thereon; but that a surgeon having examined a body at the coroner's re- quest or not, and coming before him, may be committed for contempt if he refuse to answer. (London Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 6, p. 22.) MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 683 the dead-room of the general hospital. Due notice is given to the students at what hour such inspections are to take place, and they have thus an opportunity of seeing those regulations put in practice, which they themselves will one day be called to fulfil."* The medical witness when summoned, should satisfy himself as to the cause of death. He should proceed to a dissection if he entertains the slightest doubt, and he has the right to demand this, or as an alternative, to deny his testimony. If this be pro- perly understood, the doubt that some have advanced, whether in law, it is imperative on the coroner to have the body opened, is of little importance.! At the present day physicians at least need not to be told that an external view alone of the body is perfectly nugatory, and that it can lead to no certain deduction, and that a jury is quite as competent to form an opinion upon it as many practitioners. The jury is sworn " diligently to inquire and true presentment make," how and in what manner, the de- ceased came to his death. Let the medical witness, when sub- poenaed, impress this on the coroner and his jury, and decline any testimony unless he be permitted to satisfy his own mind and conscience.;}; The duties demanded of him cannot be satisfactorily or con- scientiously discharged without competent knowledge. An ac- quaintance with anatomy is indispensably necessary, and peculiar- ly so in those interesting cases where it is necessary to distinguish the effects of disease or violence from ordinary appearances. Unless well grounded in that science, the phenomena that follow natural death may be mistaken for the effects of poison, or the consequences of severe injury. Anatomy, then, both physiologi- cal and pathological, must be applied to the case. Nor is this » Quarterly Journal of Foreign Medicine and Surgery, vol. 1, p. 40. t London Medical Repository, vol. 24, p. 578. Medico-Chirurgical Review, vol. 6, p. 562. X " We cannot omit this opportunity of expressing our disapprobation of the con- duct of coroners who presume to interrupt the medical practitioner called upon to examine the cause of death under suspicious circumstances; and of informing prac- titioners in general, that as soon as the body is delivered over to them for that pur- pose, they are to proceed deliberately with their examination until they be satisfied. Upon this subject, we quote with great satisfaction, the opinion of the enlightened judge who now presides over the criminal court of this division of the empire. Dr. Cleghorn of Glasgow, having been examined in a trial for poison, the Lord Justice Clerk, after highly complimenting the learned professor on his luminous evidence, took occasion to impress strongly on all magistrates and public officers present, the absolute necessity of having the body of the deceased opened and examined by a medi- cal man, in every case of suspicious death."" (Edinburgh Med. and Surg. Journal, vol. 14, p. 468.) 684 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. always sufficient. If the question of poisoning be agitated, che- mistry is required to lend its aid ; and if it be a case involving the presence of pregnancy or delivery, the knowledge of the man midwife will be necessary. Now the just application of all this must not be evaded. The members of our profession in every part of the country are liable to be summoned, and that on the shortest notice, to take a part in such an investigation. Are they all qualified to do justice to it ? Am I doing them a wrong in saying that they are not 1 Me- dical men are constantly engaged in a most laborious and engrossing occupation, and after obtaining their education, their opportunities for pursuing practical anatomy are extremely nar- row. Indeed, the prejudices of the community, strengthened by the restrictions and penalties of our laws, render it almost im- practicable to do more than preserve their early information, The accessory sciences also are only cultivated by a few. Does it not then appear that a duty is required, which in many cases should rather be avoided? I am still confining myself to the pre- liminary investigation before a coroner, and need only allude to the additional force of these observations, when the examiner is transferred to the stand of the witness, and subjected to the in- quiries of the bar and the court. How often is a fair reputation and great social worth tarnished by such an event ? And would not all prefer having some regulations adopted, by which the lia- bility to these appeals may be avoided?* I have no novel proposition to offer on this subject. It is one that has been sanctioned by the experience of several continental countries, and has certainly led to the distribution of equal jus- tice. It has done more. In the opinion of competent judges, it has led to the diminution of crimes, evidently from a certainty of their detection. I refer to the appointment of medical men in a county, a district, or a part of the state, who shall be specially charged with this duty. The germ of this regulation appears in the German code, to which I have already referred. It has for centuries been the practice in Austria to appoint individuals to superintend these ex- aminations and to report on them. In 1606, Henry the Fourth of France, gave letters patent to his first physician, by which he * The fact cannot be too distinctly stated, that a man may be a judicious, correct and excellent practitioner of medicine, and yet not competent as a witness. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 685 conferred on him the power of appointing two surgeons in every city or important town, whose duty it should exclusively be to examine all wounded or murdered persons, and to report thereon. It was soon discovered that in many instances the investigation would be incomplete, unless physicians were associated with them, and accordingly in 1692, this was ordained by the council of state.* The form of the reports to be made by them, and the circumstances to be noticed, make a part of every work now published on the continent, concerning legal medicine. Dr. William Cummin has recently favoured us with an ac- count of the duties at present required of such an officer, (Kries and Stad Physiker, as he is there styled,) in Prussia. " He shall bestow (these are the words of his commission) his especial attention on the salubrity of the district committed to his charge. As soon as any symptoms of contagious or epidemic disorders are discerned, he shall promptly adopt the speediest measures that prudence suggests, and apprise the boards whom such events chiefly concern. He shall comply with the laws of the medical profession, and strenuously see that they be complied with by others. He shall further, when called upon by the go- vernment board, superintend the treatment of the sick poor, and take a fair share of the business of the medical police of his dis- trict generally. Upon all occasions, when called upon, he shall be ready to engage in the post mortem examinations which de- volve upon him, and in the medico-legal investigations relative to lesions and injuries to living persons, and concerning the state of mind and body of individuals submitted to his scrutiny, giving a deliberate judgment in each case. He shall also devote particu- lar regard to the progress of vaccination. All this, as well as all other business confided to him by the proper authorities, he shall perform cheerfully. And, in fine, in all his official relations, he shall so conduct himself as a faithful and diligent Kreisphysikus should and ought to do."f A practical school of legal medicine has, as a necessary con- sequence, arisen from these regulations. It is attached to the University of Berlin, and was opened in the summer session of 1833. From a report of Dr. Wagner, who is at its head, some idea of its value may be obtained. * Fodere, Introduction, vol. 1, p. xxxii. t London Medical Gazette, vol. 13, p. 952. VOL. II. 58 686 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. " The mode of teaching pursued is as follows: At different hours of the day, according to the matter presented, each student is admitted in his turn to look into the cases of living subjects, to perform judicial post mortem examinations, and to analyse inor- ganic and inanimate substances; after which, he is required to make a report on what has been submitted to him, in the same style as the district physician does. Moreover, the physician meets the student twice in the week, either for the purpose of explaining and discussing the facts already observed, or to distri- bute new cases among them, or lastly, to refute or pass judgment upon the reports that have been presented to them. " The students are exercised in the proper mode of examining adult and infantile corpses, and every one is aware how much practice and skill is requisite to appreciate the pulmonary doci- masia of the latter. Every six months, a course is delivered on the modes of testing the presence of poisons, both mineral and vegetable, and these modes the students practise."* The advantage of designating individuals for the particular duty of medico-legal examination, would thus seem to be striking and prominent. It would lead to more accurate study of the science. It would afford numerous and favourable opportunities of improv- ing it. It would in a great degree prevent that disputation about facts, which produces so many unpleasant collisions in courts of justice, and above all, it would spare to many the performance of the most unpleasant duties, often amidst the circle of their prac- tice, and hence liable to injure its extent or impair its usefulness. Indeed, we have only to look at the practical operation of the present system, to be conscious of its manifold imperfections. In France, where in consequence of the overthrow of social relations by the Revolution, the medical profession was completely remo- delled, and many imperfectly educated persons, under the name of officers of health, were introduced, to supply the wants of the armies as well as of civil life, great difficulties are experienced and heavy complaints made. Collard de Martigny, in a series of observa- * London Medical and Surgical Journal, (by Dr. Ryan,) vol. 7, p. 442. During the first year of its establishment, (from July, 1833, to 1834,) the practical school of legal medicine has been attended by 63 students, some of whom are already in prac- tice. The course of instruction has comprehended 253 medico-legal questions, 217 of which refer to living individuals, and 32 to dead subjects, (judicial post mortem examinations,) and four required the analysis of inorganic substances. The inquiries made in the cases of the living individuals turned, in 183 instances, upon the state of the body, and in 34, upon that of the mind. Of the latter, 27 were civil cases and 7 criminal. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 687 tions on the subject, has demonstrated the extreme ignorance of many who appear as witnesses, either on anatomical or chemical investigations, and he justly ascribes this to an imperfect know- ledge of legal medicine.* In a case of supposed abortion, before a coroner's jury in London, in 1829, a medical practitioner testi- fied that the fulness of the breasts attendant on impregnation was the consequence of powerful medicines; that the natural open- ings of ducts about the os uteri, were punctures, and finally, that the gall-bladder was filled with florid bile. And for all this, the coroner's jury voted him their thanks.f Similar instances might be quoted on this side of the Atlantic. " When (say the editors of the Edinburgh Medical and Surgi- cal Journal,) we read of coroners in England, in cases of sus- pected murder, directing the examining surgeon to be contented with the external inspection of the body, from the vulgar preju- dice against dissection ; when we are told of sheriffs in Scotland, holding the opening of the body supposed to be poisoned with arsenic as unnecessary, and incapable of furnishing additional proof; when we know that professional men neglect to ascertain the cause of death, because they received no compulsory order to that effect—we must be satisfied, that the only means of learn- ing the truth exactly where it is most desirable, are often culpa- bly neglected." " But the instances in which its discovery is prevented by pre- sumption and ignorance, on the part of those who undertake such an examination, are still more numerous. We every day hear of medical practitioners giving their evidence with the utmost confidence on points which it is obvious they never con- sidered with the requisite attention, stating facts as universal which admit of many exceptions and modifications, or rejecting them altogether, because exceptions do exist, and destroying evi- dence or failing to discover it, from not knowing where it is to be found, nor how it is to be obtained. On the other hand, we sometimes see well-informed medical men browbeat and baffled, from not knowing the estimation and respect they were entitled to claim for their opinion and skill. These evils can only be re- moved gradually, by convincing the public and the profession of * Annales D'Hygiene, vol. 7, p. 160, vol. 10, p. 115. t American Journal of Medical Sciences, vol. 4, p. 517, from the London Medical Gazette. 688 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. the great importance to society of the study of juridical medi- cine."* All these remarks, however, only go to show the imperfections and faults of the present system. Medical men, until it be alter- ed, have to act under it. Let me urge them, in no case to omit a medico-legal examination, where the cause of death is the sub- ject to be decided ; and in order to perform this duty with deli- beration and accuracy, it is of the greatest importance that two or more professional persons should be associated together. They will assist each other not merely mechanically, but by suggesting various points of inquiry. While he who is most skilled in ana- tomy is pursuing his dissection, the other may note the appear- ances as they successively present themselves. And the same course may be adopted while performing chemical experi- ments. The advantage will thus be attained, of having a com- plete statement of facts prepared at the moment of observation which may be afterwards reviewed in coming to a decision on the case, and in giving evidence before a jury. Chaussier, in a memoir read before the academy of Dijon as far back as 1789, insisted earnestly on the benefit of such a legal arrangement. He proposed that the report should be written on the spot, remarking that although the opinions to be deduced may require some reflection, yet the narrative of actual appearances needs none. He further proposed that this report should be filed in the clerk's office within twenty hours, for the examination of a chamber of verification; and if disapproved by them, that the judge should cause a second visitation to be made by others. But if approved, that it should be received on the trial as a true account of the facts observed.f * Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 14, p. 111. Review of Male and Bartley. " It is impossible to resist the wish that special qualifications were required by law on the part of medical witnesses. There is something of this nature on the conti- nent, and though one of the last of my countrymen who would wish to see the cus- toms and institutions of Great Britain shaped according to foreign patterns, yet I think we might in some matters take a hint from and improve upon their practice." Dr. Gordon Smith on Medical Evidence, p. 103. See also Marc, in his preface to Rose, p. xvii. He urges that to every city and dis- trict a physician and surgeon should be assigned, who have made legal medicine their particular study. This will not, he adds, exclude others from pursuing it. In- deed, it may be the means of prompting many who otherwise would neglect it, and who are contented with the indifference and want of knowledge that prevails, because it is general. t Chaussier's Observations Chirurgico-legales sur un point important de la Juris- prudence Criminelle, &c. Dijon, 1790. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 689 A somewhat similar course is pursued in Scotland. Medical men are appointed to examine, and they make reports. The use made of these will be seen in the following extract from Alison. " Medical or other scientific reports which are lodged in process before the trial, and libelled on as productions in the indictment, are allowed to be read, as a deposition to the jury, confirming it at its close by a declaration on his oath, that it is a true report. The reason of this is, that the facts are often so minute and de- tailed, that they cannot safely be entrusted to the memory. The witness is, however, liable to an examination and cross-examina- tion."* A full statement of facts being prepared, it next becomes the duty of the witness to express an opinion on them before the coroner's jury. That this must be the result of due.considera- tion, I need hardly insist. If it be an unfavourable one, it may consign an individual for months to a prison, and heap on him the imputation of the most horrid crimes. How necessary then is it that the decision be strongly fortified by facts and by au- thority. When the examination before the coroner is completed and the charge of guilt is made, the duties of the medical witness have but just commenced. He has to appear before another tribunal, to state the facts noticed, the opinion deduced from these facts, and the reasons for that opinion. He may, and indeed frequently is, called upon to defend them against the objections of other medical witnesses, and above all, he has to undergo a severe and minute inquiry by gentlemen of the bar, whose business it is to invalidate, if possible, all that he has said. This branch of our subject cannot be approached without ad- verting with some feelings of professional pride to the certainty which has been attained in many branches of medical jurispru- dence. It is surely no mean effort of human skill to be brought to a dead body, disinterred perhaps after it has lain for months, or even years in the grave; to examine its morbid condition; to analyse the fluids contained in it; (often in the smallest possible quantities,) and from a course of deductions founded in the strict- est logic, to pronounce an opinion, which combined circum- stances, or the confession of the criminal, prove to be correct.f * Alison's Practice of the Criminal Law of Scotland, p. 541. t " It is such duties ably performed, that raise our profession to an exalted rank 58* 690 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. And this, if properly done, must be accomplished without listen- ing to rumour, and without permitting prejudice to operate. Many, again, by their researches, have saved the innocent, show- ing that accidental or natural causes have produced all the phe- nomena. The first point worthy of recommendation is the importance of stating the facts observed, in plain and perspicuous language. The use of technical terms is often unavoidable, and precision and accuracy must be sacrificed if they be not adopted: but there is a medium in all this. Many parts can be named by their com- mon appellation, and the appearances observed designated by words in ordinary use. The imputation of pedantry is thus avoided, and every aid is given to a clear understanding of the case. The doctrine founded on the facts should next be men- tioned in an unequivocal manner, so as at once to evince the de- cided belief of the witness in it, and the reasons on which it is established. If it be open to doubt, he should intimate this, and also the reasons for it, before they are drawn out by a cross-ex- amination.* The inattention paid to medical opinion on one of the most important subjects in the science, is such as to demand a more extended reference to it. I refer to the proof of infanticide. It is evident that the charge cannot be brought, unless it be previously ascertained that the child was born alive. For seve- ral centuries, a decisive proof of this was supposed to be attained in the various phenomena exhibited by the lungs, and particularly in the eyes of the world; that, cause the vulgar, who are ever ready to exclaim against the inutility of medicine, to marvel at the mysterious power by which an atom of arsenic, mingled amidst a mass of confused ingesta can still be detected. It does more: it impresses on the minds of assassins, who resort to poison, a salutary dread of the great impossibility of escaping discovery." (Quarterly Journal of Fo- reign Medicine and Surgery, vol. 4, p. 45.) * " Be the plainest men in the world (said Sir William Blizard, some years since, to his pupils,) in a court of justice; never harbour a thought, that if you do not ap- pear positive you must appear little and mean ever after; many old practitioners have erred in this respect. Give your evidence in as concise, plain and yet clear a manner as possible ; be intelligent, candid, open and just, never aiming at appearing unnecessarily scientific; state all the sources by which you have gained your infor- mation. If you can, make your evidence a self-evident truth; thus, though the court may at the time have too good or too mean an opinion of your judgment, yet they must deem you an honest man ; never then be dogmatic, or set yourself up for judge and jury; take no side whatever, be impartial and you will be honest. In courts of judicature, you will frequently hear the counsellors complain when a sur- geon gives his opinion with any the least kind of doubt, that he does not speak clearly; but if he is loud and positive, if he is technical and dogmatic, then he is allowed to be clear and right. I am sorry to have it to observe, that this is too fre- quently the case." (London Medical and Physical Journal, vol. 21, p. 403.) MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 691 their floating in water. No subject has been so thoroughly ex- amined by means of experiments as this. But it was the bad fortune of the hydrostatic test (as it is called) to find an enemy in the late Dr. William Hunter, a man of the greatest eminence in his profession, of no mean talents independent of his profes- sional acquirements, and gifted with a fascinating mode of ex- plaining and enforcing his opinions. He formed an idea that too implicit a reliance on this test might lead to error; that many circumstances might occur to weaken its value, and indeed that other causes besides respiration, might produce the particular sign that was deemed indicative of independent life. The melan- choly situation of those who were most liable to be charged with the crime of child-murder, gave an adventitious weight to his objections, and they formed the theme of every advocate for the unfortunate female who had fallen from virtue. In themselves, they are worthy of due consideration, and on the continent, though not altogether original to its students, they led to new investigations, by applying which, all the causes of fallacy might be avoided, while subsidiary proofs were furnished, strengthening the primary and leading one. This, however, seemed to have but little influence in England. Few men dared in the infancy of legal medicine, to question the opinions of Dr. Hunter, and though he evidently had paid little attention to the point experimentally, yet his dictum was quoted as the standard of medical science. In process of time, some of the barristers of that day, have ascended the bench, and carrying with them the ideas acquired at the bar, have, on many occasions, denounced the hydrostatic test. Baron Garrow, some years since, at the Worcester assizes, congratulated a grand jury, that that scienti- fic humbug, as he styled it, was abandoned. Nothing, he added, could be more fallacious.* Justice Littledale, in a late trial told the medical witness: " You do not appear old enough to have seen the late Dr. Hunter, but you must know that he was one of the most celebrated surgeons of this country, and that he assert- ed that no dependence was to be placed on the test you rely on." It was answered, " I am aware that was his opinion, but I enter- tain a different one, and I believe mine is now the received theory among medical men." " Then it must be (said Justice * Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 19, p. 450. Gordon Smith on Me. dical Evidence, p. 46. 692 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. Littledale) within the last year or two if it is, for I have heard some of the most eminent of them deny it." And so is the fact. Physicians are not sufficiently firm in expressing their sentiments. They are too apt to yield to the decisive tone that is adopted, and permit doubts to escape them, when those doubts should apply only to the proper performance of the test, or to adventi- tious circumstances impairing its certainty.* All this, however, cannot shake the validity of the test. It is founded on physiological principles, deduced from the broad and wide distinctions that exist between foetal and independent life. Its prominent proof is strengthened by numerous accessary ones, such as the changes in the heart and large blood-vessels, and the appearances observed in the various viscera.f The common sense of mankind, we might suppose, would teach all, that these must, occur from so important a change to the new-born infant; and all anatomical knowledge is a mockery, if they be not found- ed in truth. Even allowing full weight to the scientific objec- tions that have been made, they only prove that there may be * In a case tried at the Essex assizes in March, 1820, where the circumstances were evidently extremely suspicious, and where the lungs were found to float, the counsel for the prosecution, the surgeon who examined them, and the judge on the bench, all agreed that it was a fallacious test. The judge (the Chief Baron) said there was no proof that the child was born alive. Again, in a case tried in Scotland, three medical witnesses, who had not seen the body, were examined for the prisoner, and all of these gentlemen agreed, that if the child had been dead for the period of eleven days, it was impossible for any medical man to come to a conclusion as to whether the child had been alive at the time of birth. (Edinburgh Medical and Sur- gical Journal, vol. 21, p. 231.) The remarks of the journalist on this subject are so pertinent that I cannot forbear quoting them. " The more we turn our attention to the subject, the firmer is our conviction; and in this conviction, we are borne out by every one of the few persons in this country entitled to the name of medical jurists, that to procure a satisfactory and irrefragible opinion in cases of infanticide and in all other difficult medieo-legal questions, it is only requisite to submit the matter to a dispassionate and skilful investigation. Those little acquainted with medical juris- prudence, whether professional or unprofessional, universally confound together doubt and difficulty. The question involved in the trial, must be allowed to be almost al- ways difficult, but we are certain, that when properly examined, scarcely one in- stance in a hundred will prove doubtful." I add the following extraordinary case, to show how far judicial interference has been carried. The infant was found dead in a box, with several wounds on its neck and breast, and marks of injury to the skull. The lungs were distended with air, and they, with the heart attached, floated in water. The mother had been delivered alone a few hours previous, but denied it. On the trial, the medical witness, Dr. Robinson of Bridport, was not allowed to state his experiments on the lungs, and the judge (Baron Garrow) interrupted the counsel for the prosecution to state to him that the test was a vulgar error. (London Medical Repository, vol. 22, p. 347.) t " The pulmonary test (says Ristelhueber) is no longer a simple trial whether the lungs are buoyant or not, though this phenomenon is of high importance and great value in the estimate, but it consists moreover in examining the thorax, the lungs, and indeed every part that undergoes a change in consequence of respiration." {Rap. ports et Consultations de Mtdecine Ligale, par J. Ristelhueber, p. 140.) MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 693 cases where the test is not applicable: they cannot affect its ge- neral validity. The result, however, in England, of these fluctuations, is not surprising. It has become proverbial there, to say that no female can be convicted of infanticide. And can we suppose that Dr. William Hunter, were he nowliving/with his love of knowledge and his ardent desire to acquire and diffuse it, would be satisfied with the construction put upon his writings 1 Would he not have joined in the general efforts to remove all doubts, by proper in- quiries into their value 1 The medica] witness is often placed in a delicate situation, from the circumstances under which he is summoned. He is a witness for one or other party—for the prosecution, or for the prisoner ; and he is so summoned, in the belief that his evidence will favour the side by which he is produced. It would be desirable, that at least the person who has made the previous examination before / the coroner's jury, should be divested of this, so far as to enable him to give a full and fair statement of all the circumstances that make for either side. I am aware that he can now do so, and indeed his oath obliges him to it. He ought to put the judge and jury in possession of the " whole truth," even if he be not question- ed to that extent.* But often the technicalities of an examination, and particularly by an adverse counsel, overcome that self-pos- session which* is so essential. Pressed by perplexing questions, and probably irritated in his feelings, he is apt to make declara- tions more strongly corroborative of opinions that he has former- ly advanced; and as his examination advances, he may incur the charge of being biassed, more than facts will warrant. Would not this difficulty be avoided, by having the written re- port to which I have referred, presented to the court, as the medi- cal fads in the case? The examiner before the coroner's jury will always have time to prepare this deliberately and cautiously; he can state in it his doubts, and mention the circumstances which are favourable or unfavourable to the accused person. He can avoid all imputations of being a partisan; and having once signed it as his deliberate opinion, he ought of course, not to be allowed to alter or amend without showing the most satisfactory reasons. , * G. Smith's Forensic Medicine, p. 8, 1st edition. 694 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. We have now supposed the facts to be settled. The next dif- ficulty that may occur, is the difference of opinion that unfortu- nately too often arises in courts of justice between members of our profession. They disagree on the bearing and weight of cer- tain facts, and on the deduction to be drawn from them. The most common cause of this, in my judgment, is the delivery of testi- mony as to the facts viva voce.* That class of witnesses who are called upon to give opinions on a certain statement of facts, have generally been unable to examine it before the trial. They often hear it imperfectly, sometimes confusedly; and at all events, even if detailed in a succinct and clear manner, they have but a few moments to reflect on its various import, before they are called to decide upon its relevancy. Another circumstance must not be forgotten; and that is, the want of knowledge in one or the other witness. It is seldom that you can find any two persons who are equally skilled on a subject; and so it is here: one is ig- norant in comparison with the other. Both these would certainly be greatly obviated by having the written reports to which I have adverted, as the basis on which to found their opinions. These could be examined with delibera- tion, and the objections offered would then bear the impress of due reflection. But allowing that all this could be effected, differences will still exist. How are these to be decided 1 The rule of law is appli- cable, with proper explanations. " When a witness (says Star- kie) testifies to a fact, which is wholly or partially the result of reason upon particular circumstances, it is obvious that the rea- sons of the witness for drawing that conclusion are of the most essential importance, for the purpose of ascertaining whether the conclusion was a correct one; and these observations apply with peculiar force to all questions of skill and science."f * As the law now stands, the medical witness can only use the notes taken at a me- dico-legal examination, to refresh his memory. " The' policy of this restriction," says Mr. Taylor, " is not very apparent, but so long as it is law, a medical practitioner is bound to follow it." (Medical Jurisprudence, vol. 1, p. 16.) t Starkie on Evidence, vol. 1, p. 460. It is important also to recollect, that when " scientific men are called as witnesses, they are not entitled to give their opinions as to the merits of the case, but only to the facts proved on the trial:' (Jameson v Drinkald, 2 Moore's Reports, p. 128.) In Rex v. Wright, at the Stafford Assizes for 1821, the prisoner had murdered his infant child, by drowning it in the canal. Mr Bakeway, (Bakewell ?) master of an asylum, was a witness, and stated that from a careful examination, he had no doubt that the prisoner was in a state of active insanity—that he was confirmed in this opinion, by the evidence he had heard—the act itself was one of insanity. The pri- MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 695 If we carry out this principle, we shall find that all practitioners are not proper witnesses. In a case where anatomical know- ledge is particularly necessary to elucidate the case, most im- portance should be attached to the opinion of him who has culti- vated that science. When any question relating to the treatment or symptoms of disease is agitated, he should be consulted whose opportunities are extensive, and whose judgment is approved. So also with other departments of our science. The regrets of John Hunter are a lesson to all of us. Standing at the height of his profession, and to which he had been elevated by the force of genius alone—eminent as an anatomist and physiologist, he was summoned in 1780 as a witness on the remarkable trial of Cap- tain Donellan, for poisoning his brother-in-law, Sir Theodosius Boughton. Although he evinced great knowledge, yet, says Sir Astley Cooper, " He regretted that he had not made more expe- riments on the subject of poisons, before giving an opinion in a court of justice. He found himself a good deal embarrassed, and he used to express his regret publicly in his lectures, that he had not given more attention to the subject before he ventured to give an opinion in a court of justice."* It is evident that the difference of opinion originates, in most cases, from a want of knowledge in one or the other. " Doctors will differ," says Dr. Smith ; " but medical jurists cannot differ."f The expression is too strong, but it is far from incorrect. Look at the works of our most approved authors on surgery—on mid- wifery—on chemistry, and observe on how many points they agree, and on how few comparatively they differ. Accordingly, soner was acquitted, but a question occurred, whether the evidence received was pro- perly admitted, and it was brought before the twelve judges. They came to no for- mal resolution, but they all thought, that in such a case, a witness of medical skill might be asked whether, in his judgment, such and such appearances were symp- toms of insanity, and whether a long fast, followed by a draught of strong liquor, was likely to produce a paroxysm of that disorder in a person subject to it ? and that by such questions, the effect of his testimony in favour of the prisoner might be got at in an unexceptionable manner. Several of the judges doubted whether the witness could be asked his opinion on the very point which the jury were to decide, viz. whe- ther from the other testimony given in the case, the act as to which the prisoner was charged, was, in his opinion, an act of insanity ? (Russel and Ryan's Crown Cases Reserved, p. 456.) * Lectures, in the Lancet, vol. 3, p. 171. t Introductory Lecture, 1829, p. 23. Dr. Smith entertained for some years a fa- vourite plan of the medical witnesses on a trial consulting together, and agreeing on the substance of the testimony to be given by them. He was once arguing in sup- port of this, when he was put all aback by the remark, " You must also agree on the questions to be proposed by counsel in their cross-examinations." (Lancet, N. S. vol. 7, p. 421.) 696 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. when the nature of a mineral poison is the subject before a crimi- nal court, we are not to place the evidence of an individual who has only attended a course of lectures on chemistry, and possibly not even that, against one who has made that science his study. Let men of equal standing be confronted, and do not weaken the hands of justice, by neglecting their services in a prosecution, when they are certain of being summoned on the defence to break down testimony that is already falling to pieces through its own imperfection and incorrectness.* Dr. Southwood Smith in his Lectures on Forensic Medicine, relates the following instructive case, and I cannot too strongly impress its moral on my medical readers. Two men in a cottage in Scotland quarrelled. A scuffle en- sued, and one was killed. There was reason to believe that the survivor entertained deep and rooted enmity against the deceased. The body was examined judicially by six medical men, and they found a wound on the back part of the head. The question now arose, as to the manner in which it was produced. If from a fall on the floor, it was a case of manslaughter; if inflicted by a wea- pon, it was murder. All agreed, that the wound was the cause of death, but five out of the six stated that it might have been produced by a fall. The sixth considered this impossible. From a careful examination of the head he was satisfied that it was produced by some pointed body, capable of piercing through the integuments and bone. The floor was carefully searched for a nail, or some other substance of that nature, on which he might have fallen, but none such could be found. On the trial, the man was acquitted of murder. Afterwards he confessed that in the scuffle, he snatched up the snuffers, the sharp point of which he struck with all his force on the head of his enemy. It had penetrated through the bone of the skull, and gone deep into the brain. This was a trial that excited great attention, " The presiding judge had been struck with the clearness of mind, the patient, * In another place, (Hints on the Examination of Medical Witnesses,) Dr. Gordon Smith suggests that a proper preliminary question would be to ask the medical wit- ness, Whether he has studied medical jurisprudence; and if not, what is his opinion of the science? It is well insisted on in the North American Medical and Surgical Journal, (vol. 3, p. 171,) as a principle in medical evidence never to be lost sight of, that the opinion of one man of acknowledged ability and skill, should outweigh a mass of negative testimony delivered by those who are known to be inferior in know- ledge. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 697 cautious investigation of the single medical witness; he often spoke of it to the magistracy and others by whom he was sur- rounded, and the consequence was, that this medical man soon found himself in the confidence of the best educated and influen- tial people of the neighbourhood."* Doubtless there is too little discrimination exercised in receiv- ing a\\ who are called doctors, as witnesses. In England, not only physicians, surgeons and apothecaries, beyond whom it should not be extended, but hospital dressers, students, and quacks have been permitted to act as medical witnesses. " We could point out a case of poisoning, (say the Editors of the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal,) where the most essential part of the evidence depended on the testimony of a quack alone, and it was admitted."-]- When medical men, deserving that title by their knowledge and learning, meet as witnesses, they owe it to their own charac- ters, and the honour of the profession, to treat each other with respect. Even if opposed in sentiment, they may still express themselves with courtesy, and with a due regard to their respect- ive reputations. If they do not guard these, others will with pleasure join in the work of depreciation.;]; * London Med. Gazette, vol. 21, p. 232. t Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 19, p. 610. X I quote two cases, one of which illustrates the cruelty which practitioners some- times exercise towards each other, while the other is worthy of its excellent and kind- hearted narrator. " A surgeon had reduced a dislocation of a child's elbow, for which the father resisted payment, on the ground that the injury was merely a sprain, and that the charge was excessive. To recover his fee, the practitioner brought an action. The ordinary medical attendant of the defendant's family saw the arm on the following day, accidentally, and in his opinion there was no disloca- "Sir Wm. Blizard, who had already spoken in favour of the plaintiff's character and professional qualifications, was again examined upon this point and very pro- perly discountenanced such an inference—stating that it was impossible for any one after twenty-four hours, to say whether a dislocation had taken place or not, if it had been properly treated." (London Medical Repository, vol.21, p. <2r.4.) Mr. Abernethy states the following in his lectures. His characteristic manner would seem to be preserved in the report. " A medical man was prosecuted for kill- inff a child by giving it opium, at least that was said. I happened to be in the coun- try at the timefand was strongly solicited by him to attend and give my opinion considered that the character of the profession was at stake, and although rather against my inclination, I went. After waiting in a crowded court the greatest part of the day, I was called upon, and placed in the witness-box. The lawyers had taken it into their heads that the child had died from maltreatment on the part of the sureeon; the child had been scalded severely, and he had given opium and they Sought they should be able to make the jury think as they did. The first question nut to me was, 'Mr. Abernethy, will you inform us what is considered the proper treatment for scalds?' This was a question broad enough to be sure; I was puzzled a little how to answer it; I did not know but that they would require a lecture on VOL. II. 59 698 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. The practice in the Scotch courts is somewhat peculiar, and I therefore quote it in detail. " Witnesses are not allowed to remain in court to hear the de- position of other witnesses, but in this there is an exception in the case of medical witnesses, who should remain to hear the deposition of the witnesses who depose to the facts of the case; but they should be examined on matters of medical opinion apart from each other. This mode of being in court applies only to medical witnesses who are to give a professional opinion, proper- ly so called. If they are examined as to the facts in the case, they must be enclosed as other witnesses." burns and scalds. I considered a minute, and then said,' That which was adopted in the present case.' Oh ! that was what they did not expect; it was giving a turn to the case which they did not. like. ' You have heard the evidence, have you not ?' ' Yes, but it is contradictory.' ' But judging from the evidence ?' ' I have no right to judge; you may judge if you please, or the jury may judge, but I shall not.'— ' But I ask you for the information of the jury, your opinion respecting the opium, whether you do not consider it too large a quantity for a child?' 'The statements respecting the opium have been contradicted, but admitting that the child had, as was said, eight drops immediately after the accident, and ten drops two hours after, I should say that the child had not taken one drop too much.' ' But are you aware that the child had no pain ?' ' Yes, perfectly ; when the skin, or any other part of the body is severely injured, the nervous system of the part is so affected that the peculiar actions of the nerves on the brain or spinal marrow, by which alone pain can be felt, do not take place. A man may have a serious injury inflicted by a mechani- cal cause, may have his leg smashed, and nearly torn off by machinery, and yet feel little or no pain ; and we are in the habit of giving, in such cases, wine and opium, not to act as a narcotic, but to arouse the energies of the vital powers, and call them again into exercise; the nervous system has sustained a great shock, from which it requires to be roused.' The judge said,' that he understood it, he saw the principle on which the treatment was founded, and had no doubt hut it was correct.' ' But, my lord,' said the counsel, 'the child slept to death.' 'So he may have appeared to sleep, but he would have done so, if no opium had been given; it was the torpid state into which the nervous system had fallen, which caused that appearance, and from which the child could not be roused.' Here the business rested, the treatment was admitted to be correct, and the character of the gentleman exculpated." (Lan- cet, vol. 6, p. 229.) In some cases, medical witnesses have met with deserved reproof. On the trial of Donnal, Mr. Ticknor, a surgeon, was asked, "Supposing a person to have retchings and purgings for several hours, and that you found these attended with a frequent and fluttering pulse ; in that state of the illness, what should you have prescribed? Ans. I should have prescribed diametrically opposite to the prescription of Dr. Ed- wards. I should consider that prescribed by Dr. Edwards, as adding weight to a porter's back." Mr. Justice Abbot, (afterwards Lord Tenterden,) to the witness. " Don't speak metaphorically : you are speaking just now of a gentleman of experience and respect- ability. I don't wish you to conceal your opinion, but only to speak it in different language." (Paris and Fonblanque's Medical Jurisprudence, vol. 3, appendix, p. 304.) In another case, mentioned in the printed lectures of Mr. Amos, a medical man at Lincoln flippantly replied to a question, by slighting the information which was to be obtained from medical writers, saying that the writers of books would advance any thing. Chief Justice Dallas reprimanded the witness, and remarked, that he would not sit in a court of justice and hear science reviled, and the recorded re- searches of the medical world represented by ignorant tongues as leading only to uncertainty. (London Medical and Surgical Journal, (Dr. Thomson's Lectures,) vol. 6, p. 421.) MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 699 " Though the medical witnesses who are to give a professional opinion, should hear the whole facts of the case detailed by the other witnesses, whether professional or ordinary, who are exa- mined in the cause, yet it is usual when one medical man begins to give an opinion on the case to cause the other medical men to retire. The reason of this is, that it has been found by experi- ence, that medical men, even of experience and information, are generally so prone to contradict each other, or to adhere to the side on which they are cited, that it is never safe to let them hear each other's testimony. The proper way to do, therefore, is to allow the medical men who are to be examined as to opi- nion, to hear the whole evidence relating to the facts, whether from the ordinary or the medical witnesses, and to remove them as soon as medical opinion is about to commence." " It is not yet settled, whether, when one medical man contra- dicts another, on a point of opinion, it is competent to re-examine the first, in order to clear up the difficulty. In a late case this point occurred. Lords Gillies and Meadowbank were for ad- mitting the re-examination, and the Lords Justice Clerk and Hermand against it. The examination in these circumstances was not pressed by the crown."* But personal experience, however comprehensive it may be, cannot always be satisfactory, nor indeed sufficient. It has then been a subject of considerable discussion whether authority, or in other words, the observations of others, should be adduced as testimony. There appears to be no settled rule on this subject, although certainly some judges have decided against its introduc- tion. When Dr. Neale, on the trial of Donnal for poisoning, quoted Thenard, whose work on chemistry is as much authority with physicians as Starkie and Phillips are with lawyers, Judge Abbot said, " We cannot take the fact from any publication; we cannot take the fact as related by any stranger."! So also on the famous trial of Spencer Cowper, when some of the wit- nesses referred to medical authors on the subject of drowning, it was objected to by the bench. The expostulation of Dr. Crell on this deserves repetition. " My lord, (said he) it must be read- ing, as well as a man's own experience, that will make any one a physician; for without the reading of books in that art, the art * Alison's Practice of the Criminal Law of Scotland, p, 542, &c. f Paris and Fonblanque, vol. 3, appendix, p. 299, 700 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. itself cannot be attained to. I humbly conceive, that in such a difficult case as this, we ought to have a great deference for the reports and opinions of learned men ; neither do I see any reason why I should not quote the fathers of my profession in this case, as well as you gentlemen of the long robe quote Coke upon Lit- tleton in others."* It is well to add that he was allowed to pro- ceed. On the other hand, in order to show that the doctrine of ex- clusion is not fully established, I need only allude to the frequent mention made by judges themselves of the writings of Dr. Wil- liam Hunter. Surely, if these be authority, the works of other eminent men are equally so. In this country, I believe the objection has never been made. There is scarcely a case of any note, where medical testimony has been required, in which frequent reference has not been had to medical works. They are quoted and commented upon by the bench, the bar, and the professional witnesses. " The practice of the English judges in excluding a reference to authors, evidently arises from the principle in law, that nothing is evidence which is not delivered upon oath. But is an oath more binding than the solemn act of sincerity between the author and the world, by the very act of publication ? Would Paris and Fonblanque be better authority, if they swore to it before the twelve judges ? And is it not manifest, that if the exclusion be made to act systematically, it must inevitably end in excluding medical and scientific evidence altogether ? For scientific inqui- ries at law can scarcely be any thing else than a tissue of refer- ences to written authorities. Of what use would be all the per- sonal experience of any physician, unless he knew, by referring to that of his predecessors, the conclusions he is entitled to draw from it ?"f I must not refrain from mentioning, that the responsibility of the physician is often greatly increased by the mode of the exa- mination. " A dexterous advocate (as has been well remarked) has a great advantage over any witness, however learned or * Hargrave's State Trials. " It appears to us that no witness could follow this ad- vice (to shun quoting authorities,) without compromising the right and dignity of his profession, as well as the force of his evidence, for it would not be difficult to show that medical evidence altogether is little else than a reference to authority." (Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 19, p. 480.) t Edinburgh Medical Journal, vol. 19, p. 610. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 701 self-possessed. He may be led into a train of admissions, the inferences from which are afterwards to be turned against him.'^ Many of these undoubtedly originate from inquiries into the im- port of individual facts, instead of the whole collectively. The consequences of such attempts may be easily conceived. " In a vast majority of cases, for example, in all cases of insanity, in- fanticide and poisoning, the witness may be made to express the very opposite of his real opinion."f If the duties on which I have enlarged are important to the community, in promoting the proper administration of justice, ought not the individuals engaged in them to receive adequate compensation ? I advert to this, not only because it is just in principle, but because it would remove all imputation of volun- teering in criminal cases. No one can refuse being a witness when legally summoned; every one, I presume, may decline the dissection of a dead body, or the chemical examination of a sus- pected fluid; and yet there is not, I believe, an individual attend- ing on any of our courts, who is not paid for his time and ser- vices, with the exception of such as are engaged in these inves- tigations.! In England, this subject was presented to the consideration of Parliament, and in 1836, an act was passed to provide for the remuneration of medical witnesses at coroner's inquests. The coroner is empowered to order a post mortem examination, with or without an analysis of the contents of the stomach and intestines, and a majority of a coroner's jury can require him to issue the above order, under penalty of a. misdemeanour. The fees established by this act, are—for giving evidence merely, one guinea—for a post mortem examination, with or without analysis, and attending to give evidence thereon, two guineas.^ * Gordon Smith on Medical Evidence, p. 42. f Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal, vol. 19, p. 611. The difficulties at- tending this have induced some to advise that no opinion should be given, and to re- fuse it when asked; but I cannot well see how an answer is to be evaded, except by pleading ignorance. X In France, every medical man summoned by legal authority to make a medico- legal report, receives fees fixed by law. (Hubert, Manuel des Lois et Reglemens sur les etudes et I'exercise des diverses parties de la Medecine. 18mo. Paris, 1826, p. 133.) In Ireland by an act (10 George IV. chap. 37,) passed June 4,1829, the coroner is empowered to remunerate medical witnesses, attending inquests pursuant to sum- mons, to any amount not exceeding ,£5, by an order, to be paid by the treasurer qf the county or city where such inquests are held. § Lancet, N. S. vol. 18, p. 716. By an ordinance of the King of Bavaria, dated March 31, 1836, a fee of from three to six florins, according to the difficulty and im- 59* 702 MEDICAL EVIDENCE. There remain two points, of which it is proper to apprise the medical witness. One is. that in England he may be called upon to divulge secrets entrusted to him in professional confidence. It was solemnly decided in the case of the Duchess of Kingston, that in a court of justice, medical men are bound to divulge these secrets, when required to do so. In a recent case, where a female was indicted for the murder of her infant child, Mr. Coz- zens, the surgeon, was called to prove certain confessions made by her to him. He objected, on the ground that he was, when she made her statement, attending her as a surgeon. But Jus- tice Park observed that this was not a sufficient reason to pre- vent a disclosure for the purpose of justice, and he was ordered to answer, but the prisoner was acquitted on other grounds.* The law in France is of an opposite description. The Penal Code, Art. 37S, directs, that if physicians, surgeons, officers of health, and also apothecaries, rnidwives, and all other persons. depositaries of secrets, either through their condition or profes- sion, shall reveal these secret^, (except in cases where the law obliges them,) they shall be punished with fine and imprison- ment ; and in another place, it is clearly indicated that the ex- ception has reference to crimes that put the safety of the state at hazard.^ In the State of ?\ew York, the following provision is in force, " Xo person duly authorised to practise physic and surgery, shall be allowed to disclose any information which he may have ac- quired in attending any patient in a professional character, and which information it was necessary to enable him to prescribe for such patient as a physician, or to do any act for him as a surgeon.vt Death-bed declarations must be made under the apprehension of impending death. It is not essential that the party should appre-s hend immediate dissolution—it is sufficient if he apprehend it to be impending ; and under such circumstances, these declarations, if made to the medical attendant, or any other person, are re- ceived as valid testimony. But the " person making them must entertain no hopes of recovery." On the trial of Mr. Christie portance of the ease, is allowed for every post mortem examination. British and Foreign Med. Review, vol. 3, p. 2*3. * 1 Carrington and Payne's Reports, p. 97, Rex v. Gibbons - Briand's Manual, 2d edition, p. 499. { 2 Revised Statute?. 406. MEDICAL EVIDENCE. 703 and Mr. Trail, for the murder of Mr. John Scott, the editor of the London Magazine, and author of various works, in a duel, Dr. Darling, who had attended the deceased after he had re- ceived his wound, deposed that he heard Mr. Scott on his death- bed say----. Mr. Justice Bailey. Did Mr. Scott at that time think himself in danger; did he give up all hopes of recovery? Dr. Darling. No; to the last he entertained hopes of recovery. Mr. Justice Bailey. The declaration made by a dying man cannot be received as evidence, unless the party at the time of making it were satisfied that recovery is impossible.* I will close this chapter by a single quotation. Although it refers to another country, yet physicians should understand that in our own, the legal profession is paying great attention to Me- dical Jurisprudence. How imperative then the duty of fitting themselves as medical witnesses! "Medical practitioners should be aware that all the rising barristers of our courts attend lectures on legal medicine, and often does forensic fame arise from the ability with which an advocate examines a medical witness."! * Starkie on Evidence, vol. 2, p. 460. Ryan, p. 301. Paris and Fonblanque, vol 1, p. 1€6. t Ryan, Preface, p. ix. CATALOGUE OP BOOKS REFERRED TO. 0° As many of the systematic works on Medical Jurisprudence, together with several periodical publications, are very frequently quoted, I preferred to prepare a catalogue of them. In this way, the references have been rendered* much more con- cise. The words in italics, at the commencement of every title, are used in the body of the work. Addison and Morgan. An Essay on the Operation of Poisonous Agents upon (Tie Living Body. By Thomas Addison, M. D. Assistant Physician to Guy's Hospital, and John Morgan, F. L. S. Surgeon to Guy's Hospital, 8vo. London, 1829. Ainslie. Materia Indica, or some Account of those Articles which are employed by the Hindoos, and other Indian Nations in their Medicine, Arts, Agriculture, etc. etc. By Whitelaw Ainslie, M. D. &c. &c. late of the Medical Staff of Southern India. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1826. Alcock. An Essay on the use of Chlorurets of Oxide of Sodium and of Lime, as pow- erful disinfecting agents, etc. etc. By Thomas Alcock, Member of the Royal Col. lege of Surgeons. 8vo. London, 1827. Alison. Practice of the Criminal Law of Scotland. By Archibald Alison, Advocate. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1833. Alison. Principles of the Criminal Law of Scotland. By Archibald Alison, Advocate. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1833. American Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine and Surgery: A Digest of Medical Li- terature. Edited by Isaac Hays, M. D. Surgeon to Wills' Hospital, Physician to the Philadelphia Orphan Asylum, M. A. P. S. 8vo. 2 vols. Philadelphia, 1833-36. American Journal of the Medical Sciences, (the). Commenced November, 1827. 21 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1827 to 1838. American Journal of Pharmacy, (the). Published by the authority of the Philadelphia College of Pharmacy, edited by R. E. Griffith, Prof, of Materia Medica in the College, and subsequently by Joseph Carson, M.D. Prof, of Materia Medica in the College. Quarterly, Commenced April, 1835. 8vo. Philadelphia, 3 vols. (A conti- nuation of the Philadelphia Journal of Pharmacy,) called vol. 7, 8, 9, in the re- ferences. American Jurist, (the). Quarterly. Commenced 1829. After the first volume, en- titled, " The American Jurist and Law Magazine." After vol. 14, edited by Messrs. Sumner, Cushing, and Hillard, 18 vols. 8vo. Boston 1829 to 1838. American Medical Intelligencer and Library, a concentrated Record of Medical Science and Literature. Edited by Robley Dunglison, M. D. Professor of the Insti- tutes of Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, in Jefferson College, &c. &c. 8vo. Semimonthly. Commenced April 1, 1837. Philadelphia, 1 vol. and 2 Nos. American Medical Recorder. Conducted by Drs. Eberle, Duchachet, Revere and Pat- tison. Commenced in 1818. Subsequently entitled Medical Recorder. Edited by Drs. Colhoun, Webster, Remington and Matthews. 15 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia 1818 to 1829. American Medical Review, and Journal of Original and Selected Papers, on Medicine and Surgery. Conducted by Professors Eberle, G. M'Clellan and N. R. Smith, of Jefferson College; and Professor Nathan Smith, of Yale College. 3 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1824-5-6. N. B. The first volume was published under the title of " The American Review and Analectic Journal." CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 705 American Philosophical Society, held at Philadelphia, Transactions of. 6 vols. 4to. Philadelphia, 1786 to 1809. New Series, 5 vols. 4to. 1818 to 1837. Anderson's Quarterly Journal of the Medical Sciences ; being a New Series of the Quarterly Journal of Foreign Medicine and Surgery, 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1824-5-6. Andral. A Treatise on Pathological Anatomy. By G. Andral, Professor to the Fa- culty of Medicine of Paris, etc. etc. Translated from the French, by Richard 18°32nSend' A* B"' ^ D"' and William West' A< M- M' D> 2 vols-8vo-New York' Anglada. Traite de Toxicologic Generale, envisagee dans ses rapports avec la rhysiologie, la Pathologie, la Therapeutique et la Medecine Legale; par J. Angla- da, Professeur de Medecine Legale a la Faculte de Medecine de Montpelier, &c. Revu et publie par Charles Anglada, M. D. et tils de l'auteur. 8vo. Paris, 1835. Annales D'Hygiene Publique, et de Medecine Legale. By M. M. Adelon, Andral, Barruel, D'Arcet, Chevallier, Devergie (Alp.) Esquirol, Gaultier D'Claubry, Ke- raudren, Leuret, Marc, Orfila, Parent-Duchatelet, Villerme. 18 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1829 to 1838. Annals. Annals of Philosophy, or Magazine of Chemistry, Mineralogy, Mechanics, etc. By Thomas Thomson, M.D., F.R.S. etc. 16 vols. 8vo. London, 1813 to 1820. Annals, N. S. Annals of Philosophy, New Series. By Richard Phillips, F.R.S. etc. and subsequently by Phillips and J. G. Children, F.R.S. 12 vols. 8vo. London, 1821 to 1826. Annals of Medicine: Exhibiting a Concise View of the latest and most important dis- coveries in Medicine and Medical Philosophy. By Andrew Duncan, sen. M.D. etc. and Andrew Duncan, jun. M.D. Fellows of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 8 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1796 to 1803. Annals of the Lyceum of Natural History of New York. 3 vols. 8vo. New York, 1824-37. Annuaire Medico-Chirurgical des Hopitaux et H6spices Civils de Paris, ou Recueil de Memoires et Observations par les Medecins et Chirurgiens de ces Etablissemens. 4to. Paris, 1819. Arnott. Elements of Physics, or Natural Philosophy, general and medical, explained independently of technical mathematics. By Neill Arnott, M. D. M. R.C.P. Lon- don. 1st American from 3d London edition, with additions. By Isaac Hays, M.D. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1829. Ashwell. A practical Treatise on Parturition; comprising the attendant circumstances of the Pregnant and Puerperal states. By Samuel Ashwell, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, etc. London; to which are appended two papers by Dr. Blun- dell. 8vo. London, 1828. Baillie. The Morbid Anatomy of the Human Body. By Matthew Baillie, M. D. F. R. S. Ballard. See Metzger. Ballingall. Outlines of the course on Military Surgery, delivered in the University of Edinburgh. By Sir George Ballingall, M. D., F. R. S. E. Regius Professor of Medical Surgery, etc. etc. 8vo. London, 1833. Baltimore Medical and Surgical Recorder. Conducted by Tobias Watkins, M. D. 1 vol. 8vo. Baltimore 1809. Baltimore Medical and Surgical Journal and Review. Edited by E. Geddings, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the University of Maryland. Com- menced October, 1833. 2 vols. 8vo. Baltimore 1833-4. Baltimore Monthly Journal of Medicine and Surgery. Edited by Nathan R. Smith, M. D. Professor of Surgery, in the University of Maryland, assisted by an asspcia- tion of Physicians. 1 vol. 8vo. Baltimore, 1830. Bartley. A Treatise on Forensic Medicine, or Medical Jurisprudence. By O. W. Bartley, M. D. Bristol, 1815, 12mo. Barton's Materia Medica. Collections for an Essay towards a Materia Medica of the United States. By Benjamin S. Barton, M. D. Professor of Materia Medica, Na- tural History and Botany, in the University of Pennsylvania. In two parts, 3d edition, 8vo. Philadelphia, 1810. Barton's Medical Botany, or Vegetable Materia Medica of the United States, etc. By W. P. C. Barton, M. D. Surgeon in the United States Navy, and Professor of Bo- tanv in the University of Pennsylvania. 2 vols. 4to. Philadelphia, 1817 and 1818 706 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. Barton's Medical and Physical Journal. The Philadelphia Medical and Physical Journal, collected by Benjamin S. Barton, M. D. Professor of Materia Medica in the University of Pennsylvania. 3 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1805 to 1809. Baudelocque: A System of Midwifery, translated from the French of. By John Heath, Surgeon in the Royal Navy. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1790. Beaupoil, de Chatelleraut. Rccherches Medico Chimiques sur les vertus et les prin- cipes des Cantharides ; Dissertation presentee et soutenue a l'Ecole de Medecine de Paris, 1803. 8vo. Paris, 1803. Beaupri. A Treatise on the effects and properties of Cold, with a Sketch Historical and Medical of the Russian Campaign. By Moricheau Beaupre, M. D. Regimental Surgeon in the French service. Translated by John Clendenning, A. B. and M. D. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1826. Beckmann. A History of Inventions and Discoveries. By John Beckmann, Public Professor of Economy in the University of Gottingen. Translated from the Ger- man, by William Johnston. 4 vols. 8vo. London, 1797. 4th vol. 1814. Bell's (Robert) Dictionary of the Law of Scotland. 2 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1807. Belloc. Cours de Medecine Legale, theorique et pratique ; ouvrage utile, non-seule- ment aux medecins et aux chirurgiens, mais encore aux juges et aux jurisconsultes. Par J. J. Belloc, Medecin Operant, Professeur particulier de Medecine et Chirur- gie; Membre de la Societe d'Agriculture, Sciences et Arts, seante a Agen ; Cor- respondant de la Societe de Medecine, et de celle de l'Ecole de Paris, etc. etc. Se- conde edition, corrigee et augmentee. 8vo. Paris, 1811. Benoiston de Chateauneuf. Considerations sur les enfans trouves dans les principaux etats de l'Europe. (Memoire lu & l'Academie Royale des Sciences, dans sa seance du 11 Aout, 1823.) 8vo. Paris, 1824. Berzelius' Chemistry. Traite de Chimie, par J. J. Berzelius, traduit par A. J. L. Jourdan, sur des manuscrits inedits de l'auteuret sur la derniere edition allemande. 8vo. 8 vols. Paris, 1829. Biessy. Manual Pratique de la Medecine Legale. Par Charles V. Biessy, Docteur en Medecine, Member Correspondant de la Societe de la Faculte" de Medecine de Paris, etc. Tome premier, 8vo. Lyon, 1821. Bigelow's Medical Botany. American Medical Botany; being a collection of the na- tive medicinal plants of the United States, etc. By Jacob Bigelow, M. D. Rum- ford, Professor and Lecturer on Materia Medica and Botany, in Harvard Uni- versity. 2 vols. 8vo. Boston, 1817-1819. Billard. Traite des Maladies des Enfans nouveau-nes, et a la Mamelle, etc. Par C. M. Billard, Docteur en Medecin de la Faculte de Paris, etc. Deuxieme edition augmentee d'un Memoire M6dico-Le>ale sur la viabilite de Foetus, etc. 8vo. Paris, 1833. Billiard. Considerations medico-legales sur les empoisonnement par les irritans, Par C. A. Celestin Billiard, de Lorris. Docteur en Medecine, Bachelier es Lettres de l'Academie de Paris. 4to, pp. 72. Paris, 1820. Blatchford's (Thomas W.) Inaugural Dissertation on Feiened Diseases. New York. 1817. B Blundell's Midwifery. The Principles and Practice of Obstetricy, as at present taught by James Blundell, M. D. Professor of Obstetricy at Guy's Hospital, with notes and illustrations by Thomas Castle, M. D., F. L.S. 8vo. Washington, 1834. (Reprinted in Pattison's Register and Library of Medical Sciences.) I, however, generally refer to Dr. Blundell's Lectures, as published in the Lancet. Bohn, D. J. Bohnii Anat. et Chirurg. Prof. Pub. Lips. De Renunciatione Vulnerum, seu Vulnerum Lethalium Examen, etc. Editio altera. Amstelodami, 1732. 12mo. Boivin. Nouvelles Recherches sur l'origine, la nature et le traitement de la mole ve- siculaire ou grossesse hydatique. Par Madame Veuve Boivin, Maitresse Sage- Femme, etc. etc. 8vo. Paris, 1827. Bostock. An Elementary System of Physiology. By John Bostock, M. D., F. R. S etc. etc. 3 vols. 8vo. Boston, 1825-28. Boston Medical Intelligencer, (the.) Edited by John G. Coffin, M. D. Vols. 4 and 5 8vo. Boston, 1826-8. Boston Medical Magazine. The Medical Magazine, conducted by Drs. A. L. Pierson, J. B. Flint, E. Bartlett, and A. A. Gould. Monthly. Commenced July, 1832 Sub- sequently, semi-monthly. 8vo. 3 vols. Boston, 1832-35. Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, (the.) Commenced February, 1828, weekly 17 vols. 8vo. Boston, 1828 to 1838, Edited by J. V. C. Smith, M. D. CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 707 Brande. A Manual of Chemistry, etc. By William T. Brande, S.R.S., F.R.S.E. etc. etc. With notes and emendations by William James M'Neven, M. D. Pro- fessor of Chemistry, etc. 8vo. New York, 1821. Brande's Journal. A Journal of Science, Literature, and the Arts. Edited at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, (by William T. Brande, F. R. S. etc.) 8vo. 22 V0'j , ' ^ave usea" tne American edition in my quotations from the first five vols. Brande's Journal. New Series. The Quarterly Journal of Science, Literature and Arts. New Series. 7 vols. 8vo. London, 1827 to 1830. Brendelii, (John Gonthofredi.) Archiatri Quondam Regii, et in Academia Georgia- Augusta Professoris Medicinae Ordinarii Celeberrimi Medicina Legalis sive Fo- rensis; ejusdemque Prcelectiones Academicae in Hermanni Fried. Teichmeyeri Institutiones Medicinae Legalis, edi curavit. notis quibusdam, et indice locupletis- simo auxit F. Gottleib Meierus, M. D. etc. 4to. Hannoverae, 1789. Briand. Manuel Complet de Medecine Legale extrait des Meilleurs Traites anciens et modernes, etc. etc. Par Jh. Briand, M. D. de la Faculte de Paris, Professeur particulier d'Anatomie et de Chirurgie. 8vo. Paris, 1821. Briand. 2d Edition. Ibid. Par Jh. Briand, M. D. et J. X. Brosson, Avocat h la Cour Royale de Paris. Nouvelle edition, 8vo. Paris, 1828. Brierre de Boismont. Docteur en Medecine de la Faculte de Paris, etc. Observations Medico-Legales sur la Monomanie Homicide. 8vo. Paris, 1827. Brierre de Boismont. Manuel de Medecine Legale a. le usage des jures, des avocats et des officiers de sante. Par A. Brierre de Boismont, Docteur en Medecine de la Faculte de Paris, Chevalier de la Legion d'Honneur, &c. Annote par M. Orfila, Doyen de la Faculte de Medecine de Paris. 18mo. Paris, 1835. British Annals of Medicine, Pharmacy, Vital Statistics and General Science, 1 vol. and 12 nos. 8vo. London, 1837. British and Foreign Medical Review, or Quarterly Journal of Practical Medicine and Surgery. Edited by John Forbes, M. D., F.R.S. and John Conolly, M.D.&c. Commenced January, 1836. 5 vols, 8vo. London, 1836-38. British Association for the advancement of Science. Report of the first and second meetings of the, at York in 1831, and at Oxford in 1832; including its proceed- ings, recommendations and transactions. 8vo. London, 1833. Ibid, of the third meeting, held in 1833, at Cambridge. 8vo. London, 1834. Ibid, of the fourth meeting held in 1834 at Edinburgh. 8vo. London, 1835. Ibid, of the fifth meet- ing held in 1835, at Dublin. 8vo. London, 1836. Burnett's Medical Botany. Medical Botany, or Illustrations and Descriptions of the Medicinal plants of the London, Edinburgh and Dublin Pharmacopaeias; com- prising a popular and scientific account of poisonous vegetables, indigenous to Great Britain. By John Stephenson, M. D., F. L. S. etc. and James Morss Churchill, F. L, S. etc. New edition, edited by Gilbert T. Burnett, F. L. S. Professor of Botany in King's College, London, and President of the Westminster Medical Society. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1835-6. BurneWs Outlines of Botany. Outlines of Botany; including a general history of the vegetable kingdom, in which plants are arranged according to the system of natu- ral affinities. By Gilbert T. Burnett, F. L. S. Professor of Botany, etc. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1835. Burns. The Principles of Midwifery ; including the Diseases of Women and Chil- dren. By John Burns, Lecturer on Midwifery, and Member of the Faculty of Phy- sicians and Surgeons, Glasgow. London, 1809. Burns' Midwifery. From the 5th London edition, enlarged, with improvements and notes. By Thomas C. James, M. D. Professor of Midwifery in the University of Pennsylvania. 2 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1823. Burrows' Commentaries, on the causes, forms, symptoms and treatment, moral and medical, of Insanity. By George Man Burrows, M.D. Member of the Royal Col- lege of Physicians of London, etc. etc 8vo. London, 1828. Burrows' Introductory Lecture to a course of Forensic Medicine, delivered in the Anatomical Theatre of St. Bartholomew's Hospital, November, 1831. By George Burrows, M. D. Fellow of Caius' College, Cambridge, etc, 8vo. London, 1831. Campbell. Introduction to the Study and Practice of Midwifery, and the Diseases of Women and Children. By William Campbell, M. D. late Surgeon Royal Navy, Lecturer on Pathology and Practice of Medicine, and on Midwifery and the Dis- cases of Women and Children, Edinburgh, etc. etc. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1833. 708 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. Capuron. La Medecine Legale relative a. l'Art des Accouchemens. Par J. Capuron, Docteur en Medecine de la Faculte de Paris; Professeur d'Accouchemens, des Maladies des Femmes et des Enfans; Membre de plusieurs Societes nationales et etranggres. 8vo. Paris, 1821. Carswell. Pathological Anatomy. Illustrations of the Elementary Forms of Dis- ease. By Robert Carswell, M.D. Professor of Pathological Anatomy in the Uni- versity of London, etc. etc. 12 Fasciculi. Folio. London, 1833-38. Causes Celebres, par Mejan. Recueil des Causes Celebres, et les arrets qui les ont decidees; redige par Maurice Mejan, Jurisconsulte, Membre de l'Athenee de la Langue Francaise. 18 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1808 to 1813. Causes Criminelles Cilebres de dix-neuvieme siecle, redigees par une Societe d'Avo- cats. 4 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1827-8. Chapman's Journal. The Philadelphia Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences. Edited by Nathaniel Chapman, M. D. Professor of the Institutes and Practice of Physic, etc. University of Pennsylvania. Commenced in 1820. 9 vols. 8vo. Phila- delphia, 1820 to 1824. Chapman's Journal. New Series. The Philadelphia Journal, etc. Edited by Drs. Chapman, Dewees, Godman and Hays. 5 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1825 to 1827. Chaussier. Contre Poisons, ou Moyens reconnues les plus efficaces dans les differens cas d'empoisonnement, etc. etc. suivis de l'indication des secours a donner aux noyes aux asphyxies, etc. Par H. Chaussier. Quartreime edition. 8vo. Paris, 1824. Chaussier. Memoir Medico-Legale sur la viabilite de l'enfant naissant, presente a Monseigneur le Garde des Sceaux, Ministre de Justice, par M. Chaussier, Cheva- lier de Saint Michel, et de la Legion D'Honneur, Professor a la Faculte de Me- decine de Paris. 8vo. Paris, 1826. Chaussier. Observations Chirurgico-Legales sur un point important de la Jurispru- dence Criminelle lues a. la seance publique de l'Academie des Sciences de Dijon. Decembre 20, 1789. Par le Professeur Chaussier. 8vo. Dijon, 1790. Chaussier. Recueil de Memoires, Consultations et Rapports sur divers objects de Medecine Legale. Par M. Chaussier, Chevalier de Saint Michel, etc. etc. 8vo. Paris, 1824. Chemist, (the.) A periodical. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1824-5. Children's Thenard. An Essay on Chemical Analysis, chiefly translated from the fourth volume of Traite de Chimie elementaire of L. G. Thenard, with additions by John F. Children, F. R. S. London and Edinburgh. 8vo. London, 1819. Chitty's Medical Jurisprudence. A Practical Treatise on Medical Jurisprudence, with so much of Anatomy, Physiology, Pathology, and the practice of Medicine and Surgery, as are essential to be known by Members of Parliament, Lawyers, Coroners, Magistrates, Officers in the Army and Navy, and Private Gentlemen, and all the laws relating to Medical'Practitioners, with explanatory notes. By J. Chitty, Esq. Barrister at Law.'Part 1. London. Royal 8vo. 1834. Christison on Poisons. A Treatise on Poisons, in relation to Medical Jurisprudence, Physiology, and the Practice of Physic. By Robert Christison, M. D. Professor of Medical Jurisprudence and Police in the University of Edinburgh, F. R. S. E. etc. etc. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1829. Christison on Poisons. 2d Edition. The same, 2d edition. Svo. Edinburgh, 1832. Unless otherwise stated, my quotations are from this edition. Christison on Poisons. 3d Edition. The same, by Robert Christison, M. D. Professor of Materia Medica in the University of Edinburgh, etc. etc. 3d edition. 8vo. Edin- burgh, 1836. Clarke's (Charles Mansfield.) Observations on the Diseases of Females which are attended with discharges. 2 parts. 8vo. London, 1821. Collection de Decisions Nouvelles et de Notions Relatives a. la Jurisprudence, donnee par M. Denizart, (edited by M. M. Camus, Bayard et Meunier.) 9 vols. 4to. Paris, 1783. Collinson on Lunacy. A Treatise on the Law of Idiots, Lunatics, and other persons non compotes mentis. By George Dale Collinson, A. M. of Lincoln's Inn, Barris- ter at Law. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1812. Coley. A treatise on Medical Jurisprudence. Part 1. Comprising the consideration of Poisons and Asphyxia. By Henry Coley, M. R. C. S." London, of New York Medical Society, etc. etc. 8vo. New York, 1832. CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 709 Collard De Martigny. Questions de Jurisprudence Medico-Legale sur la viabilite en matiere civile et en matiere criminelle; la monomanie homicide et la liberte morale, etc. par C. de M. Licencie en droit de la Faculte de Paris, etc. 8vo. Paris, 1828. Conolly. An Inquiry concerning the indications of Insanity, with suggestions for the better protection and care of the Insane. By John Conolly, M. D. Professor of Medicine in the University of London. 8vo. London, 1830. Conquest. Outlines of Midwifery, developing its principles and practice. By J. T. Conquest, M. D. F. L. S. etc. 2d edition, 12mo. London, 1821. Cooke's Morgagni. The Seats and Causes of Disease, Investigated by Anatomy, etc. By J. B. Morgagni, etc. Abridged and elucidated with copious notes, by W. Cooke, M. R. C. S. London, 2 vols. 8vo. Boston, 1824. Cooper, (Sir Astley.) The Lectures of Sir Astley fooper, Bart, on the Principles and Practice of Surgery, with notes and cases by Frederick Tyrrel, Esq. Surgeon to St. Thomas's Hospital. 2 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1826. Cooper, (Samuel.) The First Lines of the Practice of Surgery, etc. By Samuel Cooper, Surgeon to the forces, etc. (now Professor of Surgery in the University of London,) with notes by Professor Stevens, and additional notes by a physician of Philadelphia. 2d American from the 5th London edition. 2 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1828. Cooper. Tracts on Medical Jurisprudence, including Farr's Elements of Medical Jurisprudence, Dease's Remarks on Medical Jurisprudence, Male's Epitome of Juridical or Forensic Medicine, and Haslam's Medical Jurisprudence, as it relates to Insanity; with a preface, notes, and a digest of the law relating to Insanity and Nuisance. By Thomas Cooper, Esq. M. D. Professor of Chemistry and Mine- ralogy in the University of Pennsylvania, etc. With an Appendix, etc. 8vo. Phi- ladelphia, 1819. In quoting from this work, I have referred to each author, as I may have had occasion to notice him. Whenever any of the observations of Dr. Cooper are mentioned, I give him the proper credit. Copland. A Dictionary of Practical Medicine, comprising general Pathology, the nature and treatment of diseases; morbid structures, etc. etc. By James Copland, M. D. Member of the Royal College of Physicians of London, etc. etc. 8vo. 1834. Boston. Part 1, 2, 3. Court of Session in Scotland. The decisions of, from its institution till the year 1764, with several decisions since that period, arranged under proper titles, in the form of a dictionary. 5 vols, 12mo. London, 1774. Court of Session in Scotland, cases in. Cases decided in the Court of Session from May 12, 1821, to Sept. 30, 1833. Reported by Messrs. Shaw, Ballantine, Dunlop, Bell and M. Napier, Advocates. A new and enlarged edition, with notes and refer- ences, by Mr. Shaw, 11 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1829-34 (In the Chancellor's Library.) Coxe's Medical Museum. The Philadelphia Medical Museum, conducted by John Redman Coxe, M. D. 7 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, (1805 to 1811.) I have called vol. 1, new series, vol. 7. Craigie's Anatomy. Elements of Anatomy, general, special and comparative, from the Encyclopedia Brittanica. 7th edition. By David Craigie, M. D. With fourteen plates. 4to. Edinburgh, 1831. Cruveilhier, (I.) Anatomie Pathologique du Corps Humain, ou descriptions avec figures lithographiees et coloriees des diverses alterations morbides dont le Corps Humain est susceptible. Par I. Cruveilhier, Professeur D'Anatomie k la Faculte de Medecine de Paris, etc. etc. Folio. 28 numbers. Cyclopedia of Practical Medicine. (The.) Comprising Treatises on the Nature and Treatment of Diseases, Materia Medica and Therapeutics, Medical Jurisprudence, etc. etc. Edited by John Forbes, M. D., F. R. S. Physician to the Chichester In- firmary, Alexander Tweedie, M. D. Physician to the London Fever Hospital, and John Conolly, M. D. late Professor of Medicine in the London University. 8vo. London. 4 vols. 8vo. London, 1832-5. Davis. The Principles and Practice of Obstetric Medicine, in a series of Systematic Dissertations on Midwifery, and on the Diseases of Women and Children. By David D. Davis, M. D. M. R. S. L. Professor of Midwifery in the University of London, etc. 4to. London, 1832-5. Dease. Remarks on Medical Jurisprudence, intended for the general information of VOL. II. 60 710 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. juries and young surgeons. By William Dease, Surgeon. (Inscribed to Lord Clonmel, Chief Justice of Ireland.) This is published in Cooper's Tracts, which see. Deguise, (Fils,) Dupuy et Leuret. Recherches et Experiences sur les Effets de L'Acetate de Morphine. 8vo. Paris, 1824. De Haen, (Antonii.) Consiliarii Aulici ac Medicinae Practica? in alma et antiquissima Universitate Vindobonensi, Professoris Primarii, Ratio Medendi in Nosocomio Practico Vindobonensi. 4 vols. 8vo. Leyden, 1761-1772. Denman. An Introduction to the Practice of Midwifery. By Thomas Dcnman, M. D. etc. etc. With notes and emendations bv John W. Francis, M. D. Professor of Obstetrics, etc. etc. New York. 8vo. 1821. Devergie. Medecine Legale, Theorique et pratique par Alph. Devergie, M. D. Profes- seur Agreg6 de la Faculte de Medecine de Paris, Professeur de Medecine Legale et de Chimie Medicale, &c. &c. avec le texte et l'interpretation des lois relatives a la medecine legale, revus et annotes par J. B. F. Dehaussy de Robecourt, con- seiller a la cour de cassation, &c. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1836. Dewees' Midwifery. A Compendious System of Midwifery, chiefly designed to facili- tate the inquiries of those who may be pursuing this branch of study. By William P. Dewees, M. D. Lecturer on Midwifery, &c. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1824. Dewees' Midwifery, 3d edition. A Compendious System of Midwifery, chiefly de- signed to facilitate the inquiries, etc. illustrated by occasional cases, with many engravings. Third edition, with additions and additional plates. By W. P. De- wees, M. D. Adjunct Professor of Midwifery in the University of Pennsylvania, M. A. P. L. etc. etc. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1828. Dewees on the Diseases of Females. A Treatise on the Diseases of Females. By William P. Dewees, M. D. Adjunct Professor of Midwifery, 3d edition. 8vo. Phi- ladelphia, 1831. Dictionnaire Des Sciences Medicates. Par une Societe de Medecins et de Chirurgiens Adelon, Alard, Alibert, Barbier, etc. (Of this valuable work, I have only been enabled to consult a portion of the volumes.) Dorsey. Elements of Surgery, &c. By John Syng Dorsey, M. D. Adjunct Professor of Surgery in the University of Pennsylvania, etc. 2 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1813. Drake's, (Dr. Daniel, of Lexington.) Tables of Chemical Equivalents, Incompatible Substances, Poisons and Antidotes, with an explanatory introduction, collected and arranged by Robert Best, A. M. Lecturer on Pharmaceutical Chemistry in Transylvania University. 8vo. Lexington, 1825. (The tables are De Salle's, Pa- ris, 1824, and Translated by Professor Drake, with additions.) Dublin Hospital Reports, and Communications in Medicine and Surgery. 3 vols. 8vo. Dublin, vol 1, 1818. vol. 2, 1818. vol. 4, 1827. Ducachet's, (Henry W.) Inaugural Dissertation on the action of Poisons. New York, 1817. Ducatel's Manual of Toxicology, condensed from Dr. Christison's Treatise on Poi- sons, with notes and additions by J. T. Ducatel, M. D. Professor of Chemistry and Pharmacy in the University of Maryland, Member of the American Philosophical Society, etc. etc. 12mo. Baltimore, 1833. Duncan, Andrew, M. D., F.R. S. E. Professor of Materia Medica in the University of Edinburgh. Supplement to the Edinburgh New Dispensatory. 8vo. Edinb., 1829. ' Dunglison's Dictionary. Anew Dictionary of Medical Science and Literature, etc. etc. By Robley Dunglison, M. D. Professor of Physiology, Pathology, Obstetrics, and Medical Jurisprudence in the University of Virginia, M. A. P. S., of the Royal College of Surgeons of London, &c. &c &c. 2 vols. 8vo. Boston, 1833. Dunglison. Human Physiology, illustrated by numerous engravings. By Robley Dunglison, M. D. Professor of Physiology,"Pathology, etc. in the University of Virginia, Member of the American Philosophical Society, etc. etc. 2 vols. 8vo Philadelphia, 1832. J East. A Treatise of the Pleas of the Crown. By Edward Hyde East, Esq. of the Inner Temple., 2 vols. 8vo. Ecclesiastical Reports. Reports of Cases argued and determined in the Eno-lish Ec- clesiastical Courts. Edited by Edward D. Ingraham, Esq. of the Philadelphia Bar 5 vols. 8vo. Vol. 1, (1831) containing vols. 1, 2 and 3 of Phillimore's Reports! CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 711 Vol. 2, (1831) containing Addams' Reports, vols. 1, 2, 3 ; Vol. 3, (1832) containing Haggard's Ecclesiastical Reports, vol. 1, and Ferguson's Scottish Consistorial Re- ports ; Vol. 4, (1832) containing Haggard's Ecclesiastical Reports, vol. 2, and Haggard's Consistory Reports, vols. 1 and 2; Vol. 5, (1835) containing Haggard's Ecclesiastical Reports, vol. 3, and Sir George Lee's Cases, vol. 1. I quote these by the names of the Reporters. Eclectic Journal of Medicine and Select Medical Library. Edited by John Bell, M. D. Lecturer on the Institutes of Medicine and Medical Jurisprudence, &c. &c. 8vo. published monthly. Commenced November 1,1836. 1 vol. and 6 numbers. Phi- ladelphia. Eclectic Repertory, and Analytical Review, Medical and Philosophical. Edited by a Society of Physicians. Philadelphia. 10 vols. 8vo. 1810 to 1820. Edinburgh Journal of Natural and Geographical Science, (The.) Under the direc- tion of William Ainsworth, M. R.C. Surgeon, and Henry H. Cheek. (Monthly.) 3 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1829-31. Edinburgh Journal of Science, SfC. Conducted by David Brewster, LL. D., F. R. S. London and Edinburgh, &c. 10 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1824 to 1829. Edinburgh Journal of Science, New Series. Conducted by David Brewster, LL. D. &c. 6 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1829 to 1832. Edinburgh Law Journal, (The.) 8 numbers. Commenced January, 1831. 1 volume and 2 numbers. Edinburgh Medical Essays and Observations. Published by a Society in Edinburgh. 5th edition. Edinburgh, 1771. 6 vols. Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal. Exhibiting a Concise View of the latest and most important Discoveries in Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy. Edinburgh. 49 vols. 8vo. 1805 to 1838. Edinburgh Medico-Chirurgical Transactions. Transactions of the Medico-Chirurgi- cal Society of Edinburgh, instituted 1821. 3 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1824-29. Edinburgh New Philosophical Journal. Exhibiting a View of the Progressive Disco- veries and Improvements in the Sciences and the Arts. Conducted by Robert Jameson, Regius Professor of Natural History, Lecturer on Mineralogy, and Keeper of the Museum in the University of Edinburgh, F. R.S. etc. etc. Edin- burgh. 24 vols. 1826 to 1838. Edinburgh Philosophical Journal. Exhibiting a View of the Progress of Discovery in Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Natural History, Practical Mechanics, Geo- graphy, Statistics, and the Fine and Useful Arts. Conducted by Dr. Brewster and Professor Jameson. Edinburgh. 14 vols. 8vo. 1819 to 1826. Edinburgh Physical and Literary Essaijs. Essays and Observations, Physical and Literary. Read before the Philosophical Society in Edinburgh, and published by them. 3 vols. 8vo. 2d edition. Edinburgh, 1771. Elliotson's Blumenbach. The Elements of Physiology: By J. Fred. Blumenbach, M. D., F. R. S. Professor, of Medicine in the University of Gottingen. Translated from the Latin of the fourth and last edition, and supplied with copious notes by John Elliotson, M. D, Cantab. Fellow Roy. Coll. Phys. London, Physician to and Lecturer on the Practice of Medicine in St. Thomas's Hospital. Fourth edition 8vo. London, 1828, . Elliotson The Introductory Lecture of a Course upon State Medicine, delivered in Mr Granger's Theatre, Southwark, November, 1, 1821, by John Elliotson, M. D. &c. &c. &c. London, 1821. (Received August,1826.) Encyclopedia Britannica, Supplement to the Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Editions of the, with Preliminary Dissertations on the History of the Sciences, illustrated by en- gravings. 6 vols. 4to. Edinburgh, 1815 to 1824. Esquirol Note sur la Monomanie-homicide. Par M.le Docteur Esquirol. 8vo. Paris, 1827 Esauirol. Observations on the Illusions of the Insane, and on the Medico-legal Ques- tion of their Confinement. Translated from the French of M. Esquirol, Chief Phy- sician to Charenton, etc. by William Liddel, Member of the Royal College of Sur- FaUot*on Feigned Diseases. De la simulation et de la Dissimulation des Maladies, dans leur rapports avec le service militaire; par L. Fallot, M. D., Medecine princi- nal de i'Armee, &c. 8vo. Bruxelles, 1836. ,.■•,. Farr. Elements of Medical Jurisprudence; or a succinct and compendiousdescrip- 712 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. tion of such tokens in the human body as are requisite to determine the judgment of a coroner, and courts of law, in cases of divorce, rape, murder, etc. To which are added, directions for preserving the public health. By Samuel Farr, M. D. 2d edition. London, 1814. 12mo. Fearne. The Posthumous Works of Charles Fearne, Esq. Barrister at Law. Select- ed from the Author's Manuscripts, by Thomas Shadwell, Esq. of Gray's Inn, 8vo. London, 1797. (See Presumption of Survivorship.) Featherstonhaugh, (G. W.) Monthly American Journal of Geology and Natural Sci- ence, exhibiting the present state and progress of knowledge in Zoology, Botany, etc. etc. 1 vol. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1831-32. Foderi. Traite deMedecine Legale et d'Hygiene Publique, ou de Police de Sante; adapte aux Codes de L'Empire Francois, et aux Connaissances Actuelles, etc Par F. E. Fodere, Docteur en Medecine. 2d edition. 6 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1813. Fodere. Traite1 du Dilire. Traite du Delire applique a la Medecine, a la Morale, et a la Legislation. Par F. E. Fodere, Professeur de M6decine Legale et de Police Me- dicale, k la Faculte de Medecine de Strasbourg, etc. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1817. Fontenelle. Recherches Medico-legales sur la incertitude des signes de la mort, les dangers des inhumations precipitees, les moyens de constater les deces et de rap- pellera la vie ceux qui sont en etat de mort apparente. Par M. Julia de Fontenelle, Professeur de Chimie Medicale, Membre de la Commission de Salubrite, &c. &c. 8vo. Paris, 1834. Forsyth. A Synopsis of Modern Medical Jurisprudence, anatomically, physiologically and forensically illustrated; for the faculty of medicine, magistrates, lawyers, coro- ners, and jurymen. By J. S. Forsyth, Surgeon, 12mo. London, 1829.* Georget, De la Folie. Considerations sur cette maladie, son siege, et ses"eymptomes; la nature et le mode d'action de ses causes, etc. etc. Par 31. Georget, M. D. Ancien Interne de I'Hospice de la Salpetriere. 8vo. Paris, 1820. Georget. Discussion M&dicolegale sur la Folie, ou Alienation mentale; suivie de l'examen du proces criminel d'Henriette Cornier, et de plusieurs autres proces dans lesquels cette maladie a ete alleguee comme moyen de defense. Par le Docteur Georget. 3vo. Paris, 1826. Georget. Examen M6dical des Proces Criminels des nommes Leger, Feldtmann, Lecouffe, Jean-Pierre et Papavoine, dans lesquels l'alienation mentale a et6 alle- guee comme moyen de defense, etc. etc. Par le Dr. Georget. Membre adjoint de l'Academie Royale de Medecine. 8vo. Paris, 1828. Georget. Nouvelle Discussion Medico-legale sur la Folie ou Alienation mentale; sui- vie de l'examen de plusieurs proces criminels dans lesquels cette maladie a ete al- leguee comme moyen de defense. Par le Dr. Georget, Membre adjoint de l'Aca- demie Royale de Medecine. 8vo. Paris, 1828. Godman. Anatomical Investigations, comprising descriptions of various fasciae of the Human Body, etc. to which is added an account of some irregularities of structure and Morbid Anatomy. By John D. Godman, M. D. Lecturer on Anatomy. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1824. Godman. The Western Quarterly Reporter of Medical, Surgical, and Natural Sci- ence. Supported by physicians and Naturalists of the Western Country. Edited by John D. Godman, M. D. etc. etc. 6 Nos. Cincinnati, (Ohio.) 1822. (This work contains some very valuable essays on Medical Jurisprudence, translated from the French.) Gooch's Midwifery. A practical Compendium of Midwifery, being the Course of Lectures on Midwifery and on the Diseases of Women and Infants delivered at St. Bartholomew's Hospital. By the late Robert Gooch, M. D. Prepared for pub- lication by George Skinner, M. R. C. Surgeons of London, 18mo. London, 1831. Gooch. An Account of some of the most important Diseases peculiar to Women. By Robert Gooch, M. D. 8vo. London, 1829. Good. The Study of Medicine. By John Mason Good, M. D., F. R. S. Member of American Philosophical Society, etc. etc. 4 vols. 8vo. Boston, ] 823. (I have in a few instances quoted from Samuel Cooper's edition. American reprint.) Goodwyn. The Connexion of Life with Respiration : or an Experimental Inquiry * I quote this work, for the purpose of stating that it is a wholesale robbery of Dr. Paris's t, CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 713 into the effects of Submersion, Strangulation, and several kinds of noxious airs, on living animals, etc. By Edmund Goodwyn, M. D. 8vo. London, 1788. Gordon. Tentamen Inaugurale Medicum de Arsenico, quam annuente, etc. pro gra- du Doctoris, etc. Jacobus A. Gordon, Chirurgus. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1814. Granville. Graphic Illustrations of Abortion, and the Diseases of Menstruation, con- sisting of twelve Plates from Drawings, etc. with Preliminary Observations, etc. By A. B. Granville, M.D., F.R.S., F.L.S. etc. For fifteen years Physician Accouch- eur to the Westminster General Dispensary, etc. 4to. London, 1834. Halford. Essays and Orations read and delivered at the Royal College of Physicians, to which is added an account of the opening of the Tomb of King Charles I. By Sir Henry Halford, Bart. M.D., G.C.H. President of the College. Second edition, 12mo. London, 1833. Hallaran. Practical Observations on the Causes and Cure of Insanity. By William Saunders Hallaran, M.D. Physician to the Lunatic Asylum of Cork, etc. etc. 2d edition, 8vo. Cork, 1818. Halle. Recherches sur la Nature et les Effets du Mephitisme des Fosses d'aisance, Par M. Halle, de la Faculte de Medecine de Paris, etc. Imprime par ordre du Gou- vernment. 8vo. Paris, 1785. Haller, Elementa Physiologice. Corporis Humani. Auctore Alberto V. Haller, Pre- side Societ. Reg. Scient. Gottingen, etc. etc. 8 vols. 4to. Lausanne and Berne, 1757 —1766. Hamilton. Practical Observations on various subjects relating to midwifery. By James Hamilton, M.D., F.R.S.E. Professor of Midwifery, &c. in the University of Edinburgh. (Not possessing the European edition, I quote from the reprint in Pro- fessor Dunglison's American Medical Library.) Harlan's Researches. Medical and Physical Researches, or Original Memoirs on Medicine, Surgery, Physiology, Geology, Zoology, and Comparative Anatomy, il- lustrated with plates. By Richard Harlan, M.D., F.L.S. Corresponding Member of the Royal Museum of Natural History of Paris. &c. &c. Svo. Philadelphia, 1835. Harleian Miscellany, (the). 8 vols. 4to. London, 1745. Haslam's Medical Jurisprudence, as it relates to Insanity, according to the Law of England. By John Haslam, M.D. late of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, etc. See Cooper's Tracts. Haslam on Madness. Observations on Madness and Melancholy ; including Practical Remarks on those Diseases, together with Cases, etc. By John Haslam, late of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, etc. 2d edition. 8vo. London, 1809. Haslam. Sound Mind, or Contributions to the Natural History and Physiology of the Human Intellect. By John Haslam, M.D., late of Pembroke Hall, Cambridge, etc. 8vo. London, 1819. r , Hebenstreil, (D. Jno. Em.) In Universitate Lipsiensi Therapiae Prof. Pub. faculta, tis Medica: Decani Urbis Physici, Anthropologia Forensis sistens medici circa rempublicam, causasque dicendas officium, etc. 12mo. Leipsic, 1751. Hennen. Principles of Military Surgery, Comprising observations on the arrange. ment, police, and practice of hospitals, etc. By John Hennen, M.D., F.R.S. Deputy Inspector of Military Hospitals, 2d edition. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1820. Hennen. Principles of Military Surgery, comprising observations on the arrange- ment, police, and practice of hospitals, and on the history, treatment and anomalies of variola and syphilis. By John Hennen, M.D., F.R.S.E. Inspector of Mihtary Hospitals. 1st American edition, from the 3d London edition. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1830 Henry ' The Elements of Experimental Chemistry. By William Henry, M.D. F.R.S. etc. The 3d American edition, from the 6th English edition, with notes by Professor Silliman of Yale College. 2 vols. 8vo. Boston, 1814. Highmore. A Treatise on the Law of Idiocy and Insanity. By A. Hignmore' au- thor of the Law of Mortmain, etc. 8vo. Exeter, (New Hampshire,) 1822. Hill. An Essay on the Prevention and Cure of Insanity, with observations on the rules for the detection of pretenders to madness. By George Nesse Hill, Medical Surgeon, etc. 8vo. London, 1814. . Hoffbauer Medecine Legale, relative aux alienes, et aux sourds.muets, ou les lois appliquees aux desordres de intelligence. Par J. C. Hoffbauer, Docteur en Droit et en Philosophic, Professuer a l'Universite de Halle. Traduit de l'Allemand sur la derniere edition. Par A. M. Chambeyron, Docteur en Medecine de la Faculte 60* 714 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. de Paris, Interne de la Salpetriere. Avec des notes par M. M. Esquirol et Itard. Svo. Paris, 1827. Horner. A Treatise on Pathological Anatomy. By William E. Horner, M.D. Ad- junct Professor of Anatomy in the University of Pennsylvania, Surgeon at the in- firmary of the Philadelphia Aims-House, etc. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1829. Hosack. The American Medical and Philosophical Register. Conducted by Drs. Hosack and Francis, 4 vols. 8vo. New York, 1811 to 1814. Houlston. Observations on Poisons and on the use of Mercury in the cure of Obsti- nate Dysenteries. By Thomas Houlston, M.D. late Senior Physician to the Liver- pool Infirmary, etc. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1787. Huard. Considerations Medico-legales sur deux articles de titre second du Code Pe- nal, etc. Dissertation presentee et soutenue a la Faculte de Medecine de Paris, le 23 Juillet, 1819. Par Huard de Bayeux, Docteur in Medecine, Bachelier es Let- tres. 4to. Paris. Hume. Commentaries on the Laws of Scotland respecting the Description and Pu- nishment of Crimes. By David Hume, Esq. Advocate, Professor of the Law of Scotland in the University of Edinburgh. 2 vols. 4to. Edinburgh, 1797. Hutchinson. A Dissertation on Infanticide, in its relations to Physiology and Juris- prudence. By William Hutchinson, M.D. F.L.S. 8vo. pp. 100. London, 1820. Hutchison. Practical Observations in Surgery, more particularly as regards the Na- val and Military Service, illustrated by cases and various official documents. 2d edition. By Alexander Copland Hutchison, late Surgeon to the Royal Naval Hos- pital at Deal, etc. etc. 2d edition. 8vo. London, 1826. Jaeger. Dissertatio Inauguralis de effectibus arsenici in varios organismos, nee non indiciis, quibusdam veneficii ab arsenico illati. Praeside C. F. Kielmeyer. Auctor Georg. Fred. Jaeger. Stuttgardianus. 8vo. Tubingae, 1808. (I received this with another publication of Dr. Jaeger, through an unknown hand, and can only thus express my thanks.) Johnson. An Essay on the Signs of Murder in new-born children. Translated from the French of Dr. P. A. O. Mahon, Professor of Forensic Medicine in the Medical School of Paris. By Christopher Johnson, Surgeon, Lancaster, with a preface and notes. 8vo. Lancaster, 1813. Johnstone. Medical Jurisprudence. On Madness. By John Johnstone, MJ). 8vo. Birmingham, 1800. Journal of Foreign Medical Science and Literature, (The.) 1821-1824, (A continua- tion of the Eclectic Repertory.) Conducted by Drs. Emlen, Price and Godman. 4 vols.8vo. Philadelphia, 1821-24. Journal of the Royal Institution of Great Britain. 2 vols, (in 5 nos.) 8vo. London, 1830-2. Jurist. (The.) Or Quarterly Journal of Jurisprudence and Legislation. (Commenced March, 1827.) 2 vols. London, 1827-29. Kay. The Physiology, Pathology and Treatment of Asphyxia, including suspended animation in new-born children, and from drowning, hanging, wounds in the chest, mechanical obstruction of the air-passages, respiration of gases, death from cold, etc. etc. By James Phillips Kay, M.D. formerly President of the Royal Me- dical Society. Edinburgh. 8vo. London, 1834. Kennedy. Observations on Obstetric Auscultation, with an analysis of the evidences of pregnancy, and an inquiry into the proofs of the life and death of the foetus in utero. By Evory Kennedy, M.D. Lecturer on Midwifery and the Diseases of Women and Children, at the Richmond Hospital School, late assistant to the Dub- lin Lying-in Hospital, etc. with an appendix, containing legal notes, by John Smith, Esq. Barrister at law. 12mo. Dublin, 1833. Kergaradec. Memoire sur I'auseultation appliquee a I'etude de la grossesse, etc. lu a l'Academie Royale de Medecine. 26 Dec. 1821. By M. J. A. Legumeau de Ker- garadec, Docteur en Medecine de la Faculte de Paris, etc. 8vo. Paris, 1822. Kite. Essays and Observations, Physiological and Medical, on the submersion of ani- mals, and on the resin of the Acoroides Resinifera, or Yellow Resin from Botany Bay, to which are added select histories of diseases, with remarks. By Charles Kite. 8vo. London, 1795. Knight. Observations on the Causes, Symptoms and Treatment of Derangement of the Mind, etc. etc. By Paul Slade Knight, M.D. many years Surgeon of the Lu- natic Asylum for the county of Lancaster. 8vo. London, 1S27. CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 715 Labarraque. Instructions and Observations concerning the use of the Chlorides of Soda and Lime. By A. G. Labarraque, Pharmaceutist of Paris, Member of the Medical Society, etc. Translated by Jacob Porter, Member of the American An- tiquarian Society and American Geological Society. 8vo. New Haven, 1829. Laisni. See Lecieux. Lancet. (The,) Edited by Thomas Wakley, Surgeon. Weekly, 12 vols. 8vo. Lon- don, 1823-27. Lancet. (The,) New Series, 21 vols. 8vo. London, 1827-38. (I have numbered the volumes in their order, instead of the inconvenient mode of having two volumes respectively for a portion of two years.) Larrey. Memoirs of Military Surgery, and Campaigns of the French Armies on the Rhine, in Corsica, Catalonia, Egypt, etc. etc. From the French of D. J. Larrey, M.D. First Surgeon of the Imperial Guard, etc. etc. By Richard Willmott Hall, M.D. Professor of Midwifery in the University of Maryland. 2 vols. 8vo. Balti- more, 1814. Larrey. Surgical Memoirs of the Campaigns of Russia, Germany and France. By Baron D. J. Larrey, Surgeon-in-chief of the Hospital of the Royal Guard, Ex-In- spector of the Military Medical Staff, etc. etc. Translated by John C. Mercer, Student of Medicine. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1832. Law Magazine, or Quarterly Review of Jurisprudence, (commenced July, 1828) 17 vols. 8vo. London, 1828—1837. Lawrence. Lectures on Physiology, Zoology, and the Natural History of Man, deli- vered at the Royal College of Surgeons. By W. Lawrence, F. R. S. Professor of Anatomy and Surgery to the College, etc. 3d edition. 8vo. London, 1823. Lecieux. Medecine Legale; ou Considerations sur l'lnfanticide; sur la maniere de proceder k l'ouverture des cadavres, specialement dans les cas de visites judiciaires ; sur les erosions et perforations spontanees de l'estomac, et sur l'ecchymose, la su- gillation, la contusion, la meurtrissure. Par M. M. Lecieux, Renard, Laisne, et Rieux, Docteurs en Medecine de la Faculte de Paris. 8vo, Paris, 1819. Le Clerc. Essai medico-legal sur I'empoisonnement, et sur les moyens que l'on doit employer pour les constater. Par N. Le Clerc, Docteur en Medecine, ex Aide-Bib- liothccaire de l'Ecole Speciale de Medecine de Strasbourg. 8vo. Paris, 1803. Le Marchant. Report of the Proceedings of the House of Lords on the claims to the B.irony of Gardner, with an appendix, containing a collection of cases, illustrative of the law of legitimacy. By Denis Le Marchant, Esq. of Lincoln's Inn, Barrister at Law, 8vo. London, 1828. Lizars, A system of Anatomical Plates, accompanied with Descriptions and Physio- logical and Pathological Observations. By John Lizars, F. R. C. Surgeons Edin- burgh, and Lecturer on Anatomy and Physiology. (Descriptions in 8vo.) Edin- burgh, 1823-26. London and Edinburgh Philosophical Magazine, and Journal of Science. Conduct- ed by Sir David Brewster, K. H., F. R. S. etc. Richard Taylor, F. S. A. and Richard Phillips, F.R.S. London and Edinburgh. Third Series. Monthly. (Commenced July, 1832.) 8vo. 12 vols. London, 1832-38. London Medical Gazette; being a Weekly Journal of Medicine and the collateral Sciences. Vols. 3 to 21 inclusive, 8vo. 1828 to 1838. London Medical and Physical Journal. Vol. 1 to 31, vol. 43 to 55, and some of the succeeding volumes. London Medical and Surgical Journal. Edited by Michael Ryan, M. D. &c. Some of the volumes, and particularly vol. 6 to 10, inclusive. London Medical Quarterly Review, (The.) London. Commenced October, 1832, 8vo. 4 vols. 1832-5. London Medical Repository. Monthly Journal and Review. Conducted at various times by Messrs. Burrows, Royston and A. T. Thomson, and by Drs. Uwins, Pal- iner and Mr. Gray, and by Drs. Darwall, Copland and Conolly. Commenced in 1814. 28 vols. 8v*o. London, 1814 to 1827. Louis. Lettres sur la Certitude des Signes de la Mort; avec des Observations ct des Experiences sur les Noyes. Par M. Louis, Conseiller, et Commissaire pour les Extraits de l'Academie Royale de Chirurgie, &c. &c. Paris, 1752. 12mo. Louis' Memoire. Recueil d'Observations d'Anatomie et de Chirurgie, pour servir de base k la theorie des lesions de la tete par contre-coup. Nouvelle edition, ou l'on a joint le Memoire contre la legitimite des naissances pretendues tardives, avee le Supplement au dit Memoire. Par M. Louis. Paris, 1788. 12mo. 716 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. Louisville Journal of Medicine and Surgery. Edited by Professors Yandell and Mil- ler of the Louisville Medical Institute, and Dr. Theodore S. Bell. Quarterly, vol. 1, No. 1, for January, 1838, 8vo. Louisville, (Kentucky,) 1838. Low, (Joh. Francisci,) &c. &c. Theatrum Medico-Juridicum; continens vafiasque easque maxime notabiles, tarn ad tribunalia ecclesiastico-civilia, quam ad medici- nam forensem, pertinentes materias, etc. 4to. Norembergas, 1725. Ludwig, (D. C. Gottleib.) Ord. Med. in Acad. Lips. Decani. Institutiones Medicinae Forensis Praelectionibus Academicis accommodatae, 8vo. Leipsic, 1765. Lyall. The Medical Evidence relative to the Duration of Human Pregnancy, as given in the Gardner Peerage Case, before the Committee of Privileges of the House of Lords in 1825-6; with Introductory Remarks and Notes, by Robert Lyall, M.D., F.L.S. 8vo. London, 1826. Lyall. The same. 2d edition, with additions. 8vo. London, 1827. Magendie. De I'Influence de I'Emetique sur I'Homme et sur les Animaux. Memoire lu a la premiere classe de l'lnstitut de France le 23 A6ut, 1813. Par M. Magen- die, Docteur Medecin de la Faculte de Paris, Professeur, &c. 8vo. Paris, 1813. pp. 62. Mahon. Medecine Legale et Police Medicale de P. A. O. Mahon, Professeur de Me- decine-legale et de I'Histoire de la Medecine a l'Ecole de Medecine de Paris, Me- decin en Chef de l'H6spice des Veneriens de Paris, etc. Avec quelques Notes de M. Fautrel, Ancien Officier de Sante des Armees, 3 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1811. Male. An Epitome of Juridical or Forensic Medicine, for the use of medical men, coroners and barristers. By George Edward Male, M. D. one of the Physicians to the General Hospital in Birmingham. (First published in 1816.) This work is quoted according to its paging in Cooper's Tracts, which see. Male. Elements of Juridical or Forensic Medicine, for the use of medical men, coro- ners and barristers. By George Edward Male, M.D. Member of the Royal Me- dical Society of Edinburgh, and one of the Physicians to the General Hospital in Birmingham. 2d edition. 8vo. London, 1818. Marc. Manuel D'Autopsie Cadaverique Medico-Legale. Traduit de l'Allemand du Docteur Rose, sur la derniere edition, augmente de notes, et de deux memoires sur la docimasie pulmonaire, et sur les moyens de constater la mort par submer- sion. Par C. C. H. Marc, Docteur en Medecine. 8vo. Paris, 1808. All the refer- ences to this work are designated by the name of the editor. Marshall. Remarks on Arsenic, considered as a Poison and a Medicine, etc. etc. By John Marshall, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons in London, 8vo! London, 1817. Marshall. Hints to Young Medical Officers of the Army on the examination of Re- cruits and respecting the Feigned Disabilities of Soldiers, with Official Documents and the Regulations for the Inspection of Conscripts for the French and Prussian Armies. By Henry Marshall, Surgeon to the Forces, 8vo. London, 1828. Maryland Medical Recorder, (the). Devoted to Medical Science in General. Con- ducted by Horatio C. Jameson, M.D. Professor of Surgery in Washington Medical College, Baltimore (commenced Sept. 1829, Quarterly.) 2 vols. 8vo. 1829-31 Medical Commentaries. Edinburgh. 20 vols. 8vo. (Edited by Andrew Duncan' Sen M. D.) My references to the 19th and 20th volumes, are from the American edU tion, as the English copy which I used, only included the first eighteen volumes. Medical Communications. 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1784-90. Medical Examiner, (the). Edited by J. B. Biddle, M.D. and M. Clymer M D 8vo. Philadelphia, (commenced Jan. 3, 1838, and published semi-monthM 10 numbers. J/" MiilalZlfo^mAmfons, (Edited by Dr'Samuel Foart Simmon9)> 8 vols- Medical Museum, (the), or select cases, experiments, inquiries and discoveries in medicine, pharmacy, anatomy, &c. Second edition, with the additions complete. mI P 'ys'c,ans and othf gentlemen of the Faculty, 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1781 Medical Observations and Inquiries. By a Society of Physicians in London, 6 vols. 8vo. London. (The volumes consulted were of various editions.) Medical Records and Researches. Selected from the Papers of a Private Medical Association. 8vo. London, 1813. CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 717 Medical Theses, selected from among the Inaugural Dissertations published and de- fended by the Graduates in Medicine in the University of Pennsylvania and of other Medical Schools in the United States, with an Introduction, Appendix and occasional notes. By Charles Caldwell, M.D. Editor, 2 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1805-6. Medical Transactions. Published by the College of Physicians in London, 6 vols. 8vo. London, 1768 to 1820. Medico-Chirurgical Review, and Journal of Medical Science. Conducted by associ- ated Physicians and Surgeons, and Superintended by James Johnson, M.D. (Ana- lytical Series.) 31 vols. 8vo. New York, 1820 to 1838. Medico-Chirurgical Transactions. Published by the Medical and Chirurgical Society, London, 8vo. 19 vols. 1809 to 1835. Medico-Chirurgical Society of Edinburgh, Transactions of, Instituted August 2,1821. 3 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1824-29. Memoirs of Literature. By Michael De La Roche. 8 vols. 8vo. 2d Edition. Lon- don, 1722. Memoirs of the Medical Society of London, Instituted in the year 1773. 6 vols. 8vo. London, 1789 to 1805. Metzger. Principes de Medecine Legale ou Judiciaire, traduits de PAllemand du Doc- teur J. Dan. Metzger, et augmentes de notes par le Dr. J. J. Ballard, Medecin Or- dinaire de la Grande Armee etc. 8vo. Autun, 1812. The additions made by Bal- lard, are referred to him in my quotations. Michaelis. Commentaries on the Laws of filoses. By the late Sir John David Mi- chaelis, K. P. S., F. R. S. etc. Translated from the German, by Alexander Smith, D. D. etc. 4 vols. 8vo. London, 1814. Michu. Discussion Medieo-Legale sur la Monomanie Homicide, apropos du meurtre commis par Henriette Cornier. By J. L. Michu, M. D. 8vo. Paris, 1826. Midland Medical and Surgical Reporter, (The), and Topographical and Statistical Journal. 3 vols. 8vo. Worcester, (England, 1828-32.) Edited by Drs. Hastings, Burne, Darwall and Madden, and Messrs. Sheppard and Ruyment. Mitchell's Chemistry. Elements of Chemistry on the basis of Reid, comprising the rudiments of that Science, etc. By Thomas. D. Mitchell, M. D. Professor of Che- mistry and Pharmacy in the Medical College of Ohio, President of the Ohio Me- dical Lyceum, 8vo. Cincinnati, 1832. Monthly Journal of Foreign Medicine. Edited by Squire Littel, M. D. 3 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1828-9. Monthly Journal of Medicine. Containing selections from European Journals, the Transactions of Learned Societies, etc. (Commenced in 1823.) 6 vols. 8vo. Hart- ford, 1823-25. , t _ T T Monthly Journal of Medico-Chirurgical Knowledge. Edited by A. Trousseau, J. L,e- baudy, H. Gouraud. Translated by Henry Belfield Lefevre, royal 8vo. Com- menced October, 1833-34. 4 numbers. Montgomery on the Signs of Pregnancy. An exposition of the Signs and Symptoms of Pregnancy, the period of Human Gestation and the Signs of Delivery, by W. F Montgomery, A. M, M. D., M. R. LA. Vice President and Professor of Mid- wifery in the King and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland, 8vo. London, 1837 Morgagni. The Seats and Causes of Diseases, investigated by Anatomy, etc. Trans- lated from the Latin of John Baptist Morgagni, Chief Professor of Anatomy, and President of the University at Padua. By Benjamin Alexander, M. D. 3 vols. 4to. London, 1769. ,. ,. .. ,nci Morgagni, (Jo. Baptistse.) Opuscula Miscellanea. Folio. Venetns 1763. Morrison. Outlines of Lectures on Mental Diseases. By Alexander Morrison, M. D. of the Colleges of Physicians of London and Edinburgh, Inspecting Physician of the Surey Lunatic Houses, 8vo. Edinburgh, 1825. Morrison M D. 2d Edition, with thirteen engravings. 8vo. .London Itwo. Morley. An Essay on the Symptoms of Pregnancy, from the earliest stage to the pe- riod of quickening, etc, to which was awarded Dr. Hopkins' prize gold medal for 1828-29. By John Morley, 8vo. London, 1829. Moselei/ A Treatise on Tropical Diseases, On Military Operations and on the Cli- mate of the West Indies. By Benjamin Moseley, M. D. etc. 4th edition. 8vo. London, 1803. 718 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. Murray. A System of Chemistry .By John Murray, Lecturer on Chemistry, and on Materia Medica and Pharmacy. 4 vols. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1809. New England Journal of Medicine and Surgery, etc. Boston. 15 vols*. 8vo. (1811 to 1826.) New England Medical Review and Journal. By Drs. Channing and Ware. 1 vol. 8vo. Boston, 1827. New York Medical and Philosophical Journal and Review. 3 vols. 8vo, New York. 1809-1811. New York Medical and Physical Journal. Edited at various times by Drs. Francis, Dyckman, John B. Beck, Piexotto, Bell, John A. Smith, Alex. H. Stevens, Joseph M. Smith, and T. R. Beck, 7 vols. 8vo. New York, 1822-28. New York Medical and Physical Journal. New Series. Edited by D. L. M. Piexotto, M. D. 2 vols. 8vo. New York, 1829. (Called vols. 8 and 9.) New York Medical Journal. Conducted by Drs. Piexotto, Rhinelander, Graves and Nathan R. Smith, 2 vols. 8vo. New York, 1830-31. New York Medical Magazine. Published annually, and edited by Valentine Mott, M. D. Professor of the Principles and Operations of Surgery in the College of Physicians and Surgeons in the University of New York, and Henry U. Onder- donk, M.D. Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, London, 8vo. New York, 1815. Neic York Medical Repository. Edited at various times by Drs. Mitchill, Miller, Smith, Pascalis, Akerly, Manley and Drake, 23 vols. 8vo. New York, (1797 to 1824.) New York Medico-Chirurgical Bulletin. Edited by George Bushe, M. D. Monthly. Commenced May, 1831. 2 vols. 8vo. New York, 1831-2. Nicholson's Journal. A Journal of Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, and the Arts. By William Nicholson, London. Of this I have only been able to consult the 5 quarto vols, and 26 vols. 8vo. (1797 to 1810.) North American Archives of Medical and Surgical Science. Edited by E. Geddings, M. D. Professor of Anatomy and Physiology in the University of Maryland. 8vo. Baltimore. Commenced Oct. 1834. Monthly, 2 vols. North American Medical and Surgical Journal. The first four volumes edited by Drs. Hodge, Bache, Meigs, Coates and La Roche. The remainder by the Kappa Lam- ba Association of the United States. 12 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, (1826 to 1831.) North of England Medical and Surgical Journal, (The.) 1 vol. 8vo. London, 1830-31. Ohio Medical Repository. Edited by Guy C. Wright, M. D. 1 vol. 4to. Cincinnati, (Ohio,) 1826-7. Olivaud. De L'Infanticide, etdes moyens que l'on emploiepour le constater; Disser- tation Medieo-Legale. Par E. J. Olivaud, Medecin. 8vo. Paris, An x. Orfila. A Practical Treatise on Poisons and Asphyxias, adapted to general use, fol- lowed by directions for the treatment of Burns, and for the distinction of real from apparent death. By M. P. Orfila, Professor of Medical Chemistry in the Faculty of Paris, Professor of Legal Medicine, etc. etc. Translated, with notes and addi- tions by John G. Stevenson, M.D. with an appendix, etc. 12mo. Boston, 1826. Orfila's Directions. Directions for the treatment of persons who have taken poison, and those in a state of apparent death ; together with the means of detecting poi- sons and adulterations in wine ; also of distinguishing real from apparent death. By M. P. Orfila, Translated from the French, by R. H. Black, Surgeon. First American edition. 12mo. Baltimore, 1819. I quote this as Orfila's Directions, to distinguish it from the former. Orfila. Lecons de Medecine Legale. Par M. Orfila, Professeur de Chimie Medicate a la Faculte de Medecine de Paris, Professeur de Medecine Legale a 1'ancienne Faculte de la meme ville, etc. etc. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1823. Orfila. Legons de Medecine Legale, deuxieme edition, revue, corrigee et augmentee. Ouvrage orne de 27 planches, 3 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1828. Orfila. Secours k donner aux personnes empoisonees et asphyxiees, suivis des moy- ens propres k reconnaitre les poisons et les vins frelates, et k distinguer la mort reele de la mort apparente. Par M. P. Orfila, Professeur, etc. Troisieme edition. 12mo. Paris, 1825. Orfila. Traiti de Exhumations Juridiques, et considerations sur les changements physiques que le cadavres eprouvent en se pourissant dans la terre, dans l'eau, dans les fosses d'aisance et dans la fumier. Par M. Orfila, Professeur, et M. O. Lesueur, M. D. etc. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1831. CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 719 Orfila s Toxicology. A General System of Toxicology; or a treatise on poisons drawn from the mineral, vegetable, and animal kingdoms, considered as to their relations with Physiology, Pathology, and Medical Jurisprudence. By M. P. Or- hla, M.D. of the Faculty of Paris, Professor of Chemistry and Natural Philosophy. f) !;/a. 2!ed from the French, by John A. Waller, 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1816-17. Urfila s Toxicologic, 3d Edition. Traite des Poisons tires des Regnes mineral, vege- tal et animal, ou Toxicologic Generale, consideree sous les rapports de la Physio- rk-e' 7ila Pathoi°g'e et de la Medecine Legale. Par M. P. Orfila, Professeur de Onimie Medicale k la Faculte de Medecine de Paris, Professeur de Medecine Le- gate, etc. etc. Seconde Edition, 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1818. Troisieme edition, 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1826. Parent-Duchatelet. De La Prostitution dans la ville de Paris, consideree sous le 'aPP°Lt de L'Hj'g'ene publique, de la morale, et de l'administration, &c. Par A. J. B. Parent-Duchatelet, membre du Conseil de Salubrite de la Ville de Paris, &c. &c. 2 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1836. Paris. Medical Jurisprudence. By J. A. Paris, M. D., F. R. S., F. L. S. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, and I. S. M. Fonblanque, Esq. Barrister at Law. 3 vols. 8vo. London, 1823. Paris' Pharmacologia, or the History of Medicinal Substances, with a view to esta- blish the Art of Prescribing, and of composing Extemporaneous formulae upon fixed and scientific principles, etc. By John Ayrton Paris, M. D, F. L. S, M. R. S. etc. From the fourth London Edition, 8vo. New York, 1822. Pattison. The Register and Library of Medical and Chirurgical Science; a medical newspaper, edited by Granville Sharp Pattison, M. D. Professor of Anatomy in Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia. 8vo. Commenced 1833. Washington. Pelletan. Clinique Chirurgicale ou Memoirs et Observations de Chirurgie Clinique, et sur d'autres objects relatifs a l'art de Guerir. Par. Ph. J. Pelletan, Chirurgien Consultant de 11. m.m. Imper. et Royal, etc. etc. etc. 3 vols. 8vo. Paris, 1820. The conclusion of the first volume contains several medico-legal memoirs. Percival's Essays. Essays Medical, Philosophical, and Experimental. By Thomas Percival, M. D. etc. ete. 2 vols. Fourth edition, 8vo. Warrington, 1788. Percival's Medical Ethics. Medical Ethics; or a code of Institutes and Precepts, adapted to the professional conduct of physicians and surgeons, etc. etc. By Thomas Percival, M.D.F.R.S. London and Edinburgh, etc. 8vo. Manchester, 1803. Pfejfer. Precis des Memoires du Dr. Pfeffer, ecrits pour la defense de deux individus accuses d'avoir commis un homicide volontaire par etranglement et suspension, suivi d'un plan de Cours de Medecine Legale. Par Professeurs Destriveaux et An- siaux. 8vo. Liege, 1821. Philadelphia Journal of Pharmacy, subsequently styled "The Journal of the Phila- delphia College of Pharmacy." Edited by Benjamin Ellis, M. D. Professor of Materia Medica and Pharmacy to the College, and subsequently by R. E. Griffith, M. D. &.c. 1 vol. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1825-6. New Series. 6 vols. 1829 to 1835. It is now styled "American Journal of Pharmacy," which see. Philadelphia Monthly Journal of Medicine and Surgery. Edited by Nathan R. Smith, M.D. Professor of Anatomy in Jefferson College. Vol. 1, and 3 Nos. of vol. 2. 1827—1826. Philosophical Magazine, (The.) Comprehending the various branches of Science, the Liberal and Fine Arts, Agriculture, Manufactures and Commerce. By Alexan- der Tilloch, LL. D. 8vo. London. 64 vols. 1798 to 1824, (excepting 25,29,3], 38.) Philosophical Magazine and Annals of Philosophy. Edited by Richard Taylor, F. S. A. and Richard Phillips, F. R. S., L. & E. 11 vols. 8vo. London, 1827 to 1832. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, from their commence- ment in 1665, to the year 1800; abridged with notes and biographical illustra- tions, by Charles Hutton, LL. D., F. R. S. George Shaw, M. D., F. R. S. and F. L. S., and Richard Pearson, M.D..F.S.A. London, 1809. 18 voir,. 4to. (My refer- ences are all made to the original edition, and not to the paging as it stands in this abridgement.) . . Philosophical Transactions, Abstract of the papers printed in the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, from 1800 to 1830 inclusive. Print- ed by order of the President and Council. 2 vols. 8vo. 1832-33. 720 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. Physico-Medical Society of New York. Transactions of. 1 vol. 8vo. New York, 1817. Pitcairn. Criminal Trials in Scotland, from 1488 to 1624, embracing the entire reigns of James 4 and 5, Mary, Queen of Scots, and James 6. Compiled from the original records and MSS. &c. By Robert Pitcairn, Esq. writer to the Signet. 3 vols. 4to. Edinburgh, 1833. (Chancellor's Library.) Plenk, (Josephi Jacobi.) Chirurgise Doctoris, necnon Chirurgiae Anatomes atque Artis Obstetrics, Professoris Regii in Regia Universitate Budensi. Elementa Medicinae et Chirurgise Forensis. 8vo. Lugduni Batavorum, 1786. Poilroux. Traite de Medecine Legale Criminelle, par Jaques Poilroux, M. D. Mem- bre de l'Academie Royale de Medecine de Paris. 8vo. Paris, 1834. Power. An Attempt to prove, on rational principles, that the term of human preg- nancy may be considerably extended beyond nine calendar months; comprising the substance of evidence given in the Gardner Peerage Cause, before the House of Lords, July 4,1825. By John Power, M. D. Physician accoucheur to the West- minster Lying-in Charity, and to the Dorcas Society. 8vo. London, 1825. Prichard on Insanity. A Treatise on Insanity and other diseases affecting the Mind. By James Cowles Prichard, M.D. F.R.S. Corresponding Member of the Insti- tute of France, &c. 8vo. London, 1835. Quarterly Journal of Foreign Medicine and Surgery, and of the Sciences connected with them. 4 vols. 8vo. London. (Commenced in 1818,) 1818 to 1823. Quebec Medical Journal, (The.) Edited by F. X. Tessier, M.D. 3 numbers. 8vo. Quebec, 1826. Rafinesque. Medical Flora, or Manual of the Medical Botany of the United States of North America. By C. S. Rafinesque, A.M. Phil. D. Ex-Prof. etc. 2 vols. 12mo. Philadelphia, 1828. Ray. A Treatise on the Medical Jurisprudence of Insanity, by I. Ray, M. D. 8vo. Boston, 1838. Republic of Letters, Present State of the. Conducted by Andrew Reid, 18 vols. 8vo. London, 1728 to 1736. Regnault. Du Degre de Competence des Medecins dans les questions judiciaires re- latives aux alienations mentales, et des theories physiologiques sur la monomanie- homicide, etc. Par Elias Regnault, Avocat a la Cour Royale de Paris. 8vo. Paris, 1830. Regnault. Nouvelles Reflexions sur la monomanie-homicide, le suicide, et la liberie morale. Par Elias Regnault, Avocat, Membre dela Societe Medicate d'Emulation. 8vo. Paris, 1830. Reid's Chemistry. Elementsof Practical Chemistry; comprising a systematic series of experiments, arranged so as to form an Introduction to the Practice of Che- mistry, etc. By David Boswell Reid, M. D., F. R. S. E. Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh, etc. 2d edition, 8vo. Edinburgh, 1831. Renard, see Lecieux. Richerand's Physiology. Elements of Physiology, by A. Richerand, Professor of the Faculty of Medicine of Paris, etc. Translated by G. I. M. De Lys, M. D. 5th edi- tion, carefully revised after the ninth and latest French edition. With notes, by James Copland, M.D. etc. Second edition, 8vo. New York, 1833. Rieux, see Lecieux. Ristelhueber. Rapports et Consultations de Medecine Legale, recueiltes et publies par J. Ristelhueber, M. D. Medecin en chef de l'H6pital Civil a Strasbourg, etc. 8vo. Paris, 1821. s Roscoe's Evidence. A digest of the law of Evidence in criminal cases, by Henry Ros- coe, Esq. of the Inner Temple, Barrister at Law, with notes and references to American Decisions, &c, by George Sharswood of the bar .of Philadelphia. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1836. V Rose, see Marc. Roupell on Poisons. Illustrations of the Effects of Poisons, by George Leith Roupell, M. D. The plates from original drawings by Andrew M. M'Whinnie, Member of the Royal College of Surgeons. Folio, 2 parts. London, 1833-34. Rutter. A Vindication of the Opinions delivered in evidence by the medical witnesses for the Crown, on a late Trial at Lancaster for murder. 8vo. Liverpool, 1808. [In the former edition, on incorrect information, I attributed the authorship of this pamphlet to Dr. Bostock.] CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 721 Rush. Medical Inquiries and Observations upon the Diseases of the Mind. By Ben- j amin Rush, M. D. Professor of the Institutes and Practice of Medicine, and of Cli- nical Practice in the University of Pennsylvania. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1812. Rush's Introductory Lectures. Sixteen Introductory Lectures to Courses of Lectures upon the Institutes and Practice of Medicine, with a Syllabus of the latter, etc. By Benjamin Rush, M.D. Professor, etc. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1811. (The sixteenth lecture is on the study of medical jurisprudence.) Ryan. A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence, compiled from the best medical and legal works, etc. etc. Being an Analysis of a Course of Lectures on Forensic Medicine, annually delivered in London, etc. by Michael Ryan, M. D., M. R. C. P. London, Lecturer on the Practice of Medicine, Obstetrics and Medical Jurisprudence. 8vo. London, 1831. Ryan. The same. First American edition, with notes and additions by R. Eglesfeld Griffith, M. D. Lecturer on Materia Medica and Medical Jurisprudence in the Philadelphia School of Medicine. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1832. Ryan, 2d Edition. A Manual of Medical Jurisprudence and Stale Medicine, com- piled from the latest legal and Medical works of Beck, Paris, Christison, Fodere, Orfila, &c. By Michael Ryan, M. D. &c. &c. 2d edition, enlarged and improved. 8vo. London, 1836. Ryan. A Manual of Midwifery, or a Summary of the Art and Science of Obstetric Medicine, etc. and an Exposition of Obstetrico-legal Medicine. By Michael Ryan, M. D., M. R. C. S. London & Edinburgh, and Lecturer on Midwifery, Medical Ethics and Medical Jurisprudence. 12mo. London, 1898. Ryan's Lectures on Population, Marriage and Divorce, as Questions of State Medi- cine; comprising an account of the causes and treatment of impotence and steri- lity, etc.; forming part of an extended Course on Medical Jurisprudence, delivered at the Medical Theatre, Hatton Garden, by Michael Ryan, M. D. &c. 12mo. London, 1831. Schlegel. Collectio Opusculorum Selectorum ad Medicinam Forensem Spectantium. Curante Dr. Joan. Christ. Traugott Schlegel, Medico apud Longo-Salissenses. 6 vols. 12mo. Lipsiae, 1785—1791. As this work contains many dissertations which I have referred to merely by the names of the authors, I will here present the con- tents of each volume. VOL. I. ] El Frider. Heisteri, Diss, de principum cura circa sanitatem subditorum. 2. Burcard. Dan. Maucharti, Diss de itispectione et sectione legali, harumqueexemplo speciali. Resp. /. Mich. Saher. . ' 3 Phil Conr Fabricii, Diss, exhib. praecipuas cautionesin sectionibus et perquisitionibuscada- verum humanorum pro usu fori observandas. Resp. Vrb. Fr. Bened. Bruckmann. 4. loan. Traugott Adolphi, Diss, de infanticidii notis sectioni legali dctegendis. Kesp. Henr. 5. Laurent. JtosteriTbiss. de summe necessaria inspectione cordis vasorumque majorum sub lesali infantum sectione. Resp. /. Dan. Farenholz. .„•„-„ 6 loan. Christoph. Andr. Mayeri, Diss, sistens prsscipua expenmenta de effectibus piitredinis in pulmones infantum ante et post partum mortuorum, subjunctis non.s Hu-busdam experu.ieri- t"s™?ca pulmones infantum ante partum mortuorum institute Resp. /. Godofr. K™«™- 7. Henr. Frider. Delii, Diss, de sugillatione quatenus infanticidii indicium. Resp. M. Ignat. Berger. VOL. II. fi T aurenti Heisteri, Diss, qua partus tredecemistris pro legitimo habitus proponitur, ej.simul partui nullum certum tempus in universum tribui posse ostenditur. Resp. loan. Gerard. 0 RvFjiueustin. Vogel. Diss, de partu serotino valde dubio. Resp. loan. Christoph. Sarrer. W. Tan. ^cTaTi/piatneri^rogi.^o ostenditur medicos de insan.s et funosis aud,endos S" U g£feW^^^^ P^ncipia anatomica IX jS^J^^^-^XTO^™toKMdic«m tomuiatoram «.timation«n. Resp. JW. jldolph. Detleffsen. VOL. III. 14. Ernesti Gottl. Base, Diss, prior de diagnosi vine foetus et neogeniti. Resp. Christoph. God- ,* nfvm Gottl Base, Diss, posterior de diagnosi vitfe foetus et neogeniti. R. Christl. Betke. i« nr Frn Gottl. Bose, Progr. de judicio vitae ex neogenito putrido. 7 %an Dan Reisseissen, Diss, de veneficio doloso. Auct. et Resp. Joan. Franc. Ehrmann. 18. Joan. Franc. Ehrmann, De veneficio culposo. VOL. II. 61 722 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. VOL. IV. .19. Dr. Em. Gottl. Bose, Progr. de diagnosi veneni ingesti et sponte in corpore geniti. 20. Dr. /. Dan. Metzger, Progr. de veneficio caute dijudicando. 21. Dr. Em. Gottl. Bose, Diss, de vulnere per se lethali homicidam non excusante. Resp. loan. Christ. Muller. 22. Dr. Em. Gottl. Bose, Porgr. de sugillatione in foro caute dijudicanda. 23. Dr. Phil. Conr. Fabricii, Progr. quo causae infrequentiae vulnerum lethalium prse minus lethi- feris ex fabricacorporis humani anatomica, et situ partium praecipue eruunlur. 24. Dr. Joan Em. Hebcnstreit, Progr. de corpore delicti, medici secantis culpa, incerto. 25. Dr. Christ. Gottfried. Gruneri, Diss, de causis melancholia et manias dubiis in medicina fo- rensi caute admittendis. Resp. Martin. Ludov. Wittwerk. 26. Burchard. Dav. Mauchart. Diss, de lethalitate per accidens. Resp. Sigism. Palm. 27. Dr. Joan Gulielm Werner, Diss, qua evincitur medicinam forensem prater differentiam vul- nere in absolute lethalia, et per accidens distinguentem, nullum prorsus agnoscere. Resp. Dav. Schulz. 2a Dr. Joan. Torkos, Diss, de renuntiatione lethalitatis vulnerum ad certum teropus haud ad stringenda. 29. Dr. loan. Bernard. Schnobcl. Diss, de partu serotino in medicina forensi temere nee affirman- do nee negando. 30. Dr. Ant. Gulielm. Plaz, Diss, de sostris. VOL. V. 31. Dr. Abrah. Vater, Diss, quo valor et sufficientia signorum infantem recens natum vivum aut mortuum edi'.um arguentium ad dijudicandum infanticidium examinantur. Resp. Ioh. Aug. Sussemilch. 32. Dr. Christ. Frid. Jaeger, Diss, sistens observations de fostibus recens natis, jam in utero mortuis et putridis, cum subjuncta epicrisi. Resp. Theoph. Conr. Christ. Storr. 33. Ejusd. Diss, qua casus et annotationes ad vitam foetus neogonidijudicandam facientes pro- ponuntur. Resp. Hercul. Dav. Hennenhqfer. 34. Dr. Andr. Ottomar. Goelicke. Specim. quo demonstrate partum octimestrem vitalem esse et legitimum. Resp. Georg. Frider. Stabel: 35. Dr. Georg. Ang. Langguth, Diss, de fcetus ab ipsa conceptione animato, ad art. 123. CCC. Resp. Christ. Gottl. Otto. 36. Dr. Dan. With. Triller, Diss, de mirando cordis vulnere post xiv. demum diem lethali. Resp. \ roan. Traugott. Weitzmann. VOL. VI. 37. Dr. Ludov. Henr. Leon. Hilchen, Diss, de vulnerum in intestinis lethalitate. Resp. Frid. Lu- dov. JVitsch. 38. Dr. Christ. Gottl. Ludwig, Pr. de luxatione vertebrarum colli a medico forensi circumspecte disquirenda. 39. Dr. Petr. Imman. Hartmann, Diss, de controversa pulmonum in declarandis infanticidiis aes- timatione. Resp. Mich. Orgovany de Fagarus. 40. Dr. loan. Henr'. Schulze, Diss, qua problema an umbilici deligatio in nuper natis absolute necessaria fit, in partem negativam resolvitur. Resp. loan. Car. Dehmel. 41. Dr. Christ. Ludov. Schael, Diss, de funiculi umbilicalis deligatione non absolute necessaria. 42. Dr. Philipp. Fischer, Diss, an deligatio funiculi umbilicalis in neonatis absolute necessaria sit? 43. Car. Aug. de Bergen, Diss, de lethalitate vulnerum hepatis. Resp. Rud. Frider. Riedel. Sedillot. Manuel Complet de Medecine Legale, consideree dans ses rapports avec la legislation actuelle; ouvrage particulierement destinee a M. M. les medecins, avo- cats et jures. Par C. Sedillot, Docteur en M6decine de la Faculte de Paris. 18mo. Paris. 1830. Sedillot. 2d edition. Ibid. Augmente d'un Resume des Travaux d'Orfila sur les pro- gres de la putrefaction dans le terre, et orn6 de quatre figures. 18mo. Bruxelles, 1833. Select Medico-Chirurgical Transactions. A Collection of the most valuable Memoirs read to the Medico-Chirurgical Societies of London and Edinburgh, the Associa- tion of Fellows and Licentiates of the King's and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland, the Royal Academy of Medicine of Paris, the Royal Societies of Lon- don, Edinburgh, etc. etc. Edited by Isaac Hays, M. D. 1 vol. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1831. Shaw. A Manual of Anatomy, containing Rules for displaying the structure of the body, etc. By John Shaw : being an outline of the demonstrations delivered by him in the School of Great Windmill Street. 2 vols. 12mo. 3d edition. London, 1822. Shelford. A Practical Treatise on the Law concerning Lunatics, Idiots, and persons of unsound mind; with an Appendix of Statutes, etc. By Leonard Shelford, Esq. of the Middle Temple, Barrister at Law. 8vo. London, 1833. Silliman. The American Journal of Science and Arts, conducted by Benjamin Silli- man, M. D., LL.D. Professor of Chemistry, Mineralogy, etc. Yale College, etc. etc. 33 vols. 8vo. New Haven, 1818 to 1838. CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 723 Simon. Resume Complet d'Hygiene Publique et de Medecine Legale, etc. Par M. Leon Simon, M.D. 24mo. Paris, 1830. Simons. Observations on Mental Alienation, and the application of its phenomena to the illustration of subjects, connected with Medical Jurisprudence. By Thomas Y. Simons, M. D. Extraord. Member and formerly President of the Royal Physi- cal Society of Edinburgh, Vice-President of the Medical Society of South Caro- lina, etc. etc. 8vo. Charleston, (South Carolina,) 1828. Smith. The Principles of Forensic Medicine, systematically arranged and applied to British Practice. By John Gordon Smith, M. D. 8vo. pp. 503. London, 1821. Smith. The same. Second edition, greatly enlarged. 8vo. London, 1824. Smith. The same. Third edition, by John Gordon Smith, M. D., M. R. S. L., Lecturer on State Medicine at the Royal Institution of Great Britain, 8vo. London, 1827. Smith. Hints for the Examination of Medical Witnesses. By John Gordon Smith, M. D., M. R. S. L., Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the University of Lon- don. 12mo. London, 1829. Smith on Medical Evidence. An Analysis of Medical Evidence; comprising direc- tions for practitioners in the view of becoming witnesses in Courts of Justice, and an appendix of professional testimony. By John Gordon Smith, M. D. 8vo. Lon- don, 1825. Smith. The Claims of Forensic Medicine ; being the Introductory Lecture delivered in the University of London, May 11, 1829, by John Gordon Smith, M. D., M.R.S.L., Professor of Medical Jurisprudence, 8vo. London, 1829. Stalpartii Van Der Wiel. Observationum Rariorium Medic. Anatomic. Chirurgica- rum Centuria, prior et posterior. 2 vols. 12mo. Lugduni Batavorum, 1687. State Trials, (Hargrave's.) A Complete Collection of State Trials, and Proceedings for High Treason and other crimes and misdemeanours. The fourth edition. With a Preface by Francis Hargrave, Esq. 11 vols, folio. 1766 to 1781. State Trials, (Howell's.) A complete collection of State Trials and Proceedings for high treason and other crimes and misdemeanours, from the earliest period to the year 1783, with notes and other illustrations, compiled by T. B. Howell, Esq. F. R. S. etc. etc. Continued from 1783 to the present time by Thomas Jones Howell, Esq. 33 vols. 8vo. London, 1809 to 1826. Struve. A Practical Essay on the art of recovering suspended animation; together with a review of the most proper and effectual means to be adopted in cases of im- minent danger. Translated from the German of Christian Augustus Struve, M. D. 12mo. Albany, 1803. Syme's Justiciary Reports. Reports of Proceedings in the High Court of Justiciary (of Scotland,) from 1826 to 1829. By David Syme, Esq. Advocate. 8vo. Edin- burgh. 1829. Syme. The Principles of Surgery. By James Syme, F. R. S. E. etc. 8vo. Philadel- phia, 1832. Taddei. Recherches Chimiques et Medicates sur un nouvel antidote contre le sub- lime corrosif et les autres preparations veneneuses du Mercure. Par Joachim Taddei, Docteur en Philosophie et Medecine, Professeur de Pharmacologic; etc. Traduit de l'ltalien. Par G. Odier. 8vo. Paris, 1822. Taylor's Medical Jurisprudence. Elements of Medical Jurisprudence, by Alfred S. Taylor, F. L. S. Lecturer on Medical Jurisprudence and Chemistry, in Guy's Hos- pital, vol. 1, 8vo. London, 1836. Thomson, (Anthony T.) Lecture Introductory to the course of Medical Jurispru- dence, delivered in the University of London on Friday, January 7, 1831. By Anthony Todd Thomson, M. D., F. L. S., Professor of Materia Medica and Thera- peutics, 8vo. London', 1831. Thomson, (A. T.) The London New Dispensatory, etc. etc. By A. 1. 1 nomson, M D. F. L. S. A new edition. London, 1824. Traill Outlines of a Course of Lectures on Medical Jurisprudence. By Thomas Stewart Traill, M. D. Regius Professor of Medical Jurisprudence in the Univer- sity of Edinburgh, Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Royal Society of Edinburgh, etc. etc. 12mo. Edinburgh, 1836. (From the 7th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica.) Transactions of the Association of Fellows and Licentiates of the King's and Queen's College of Physicians in Ireland, 8vo. vol. 1. Dublin, 1817. Transactions of the Medical and Physical Society of Calcutta. 7 vols. 8vo. Calcutta, 1825-1835. 724 CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, 4 vols. 8vo. Lon- don, 1833-36. Transactions of a Society for the improvement of Medical and Chirurgical Know- ledge, 2 vols. 8vo. London, vol. 1, 1793, vol. 2, 1800. Transylvania Journal of Medicine and the Associate Sciences, (The.) Edited suc- cessively by John Esten Cooke, M. D. Professor^ of the Theory and Practice of Physic, and Charles W. Short, M. D. Professor of Materia Medica and Medical Botany, and Lunsford P. Yandell, M. D. Professor of Chemistry in the Transyl- vania University, and Robert Peter, M. D. Professor of Chemistry in Morrison College, Transylvania University, 10 vols. 8vo. (Commenced February, 1828.) Lexington, (Kentucky,) 1828-38. TVebuchet. Jurisprudence de la Medecine, de la Chirurgie, et de la Pharmacie en France, comprenant la Medecine legale, la Police Medicate, la responsibilite des Medecins, etc. etc. Par Adolphe Trebuchet, Avocat, Chef du Bureau de la Police Medecale et des Etablissemens insalubres, a la Prefecture de Police, 8vo. Paris, 1834. United States Medical and Surgical Journal, (The.) Conducted by a number of re- spectable physicians in various parts of the United States. Monthly. Commenced August, 1834, 1 vol. 8vo. New-York, 1834-5. Ure. A Dictionary of Chemistry on the basis of Mr. Nicholson's, etc. By Andrew Ure, M.D. Professor of the Andersonian Institution, Glasgow, etc. First Ameri- can edition, with notes by Prof. Hare and Dr. Bache. 2 vols. 8vo. Philadelphia, 1821. Valentini (Michaelis Bernhardi) Pandectae Medico-Iiegales sive Responsa Medico- Forensia, etc. etc. 2 vols. 4to. Francofurti ad Moenum, 1701. Valentini (M. B.) Archiatri Hasso-Darmstatini. Phil, et Med. P.P. etc. etc. Novel- las Medico-Legates, etc. etc. cum Supplemcnto Pandectarum Medico-Legalium. 4to. Francofurti ad Moenum, 1712. Velpeau. An Elementary Treatise on Midwifery, or Principles of Tokology and Em- bryology. By A. L. M. Velpeau, M. D. etc. etc. Translated from the French by Charles D. Meigs, M. D. M. A. P. S. Lecturer on Midwifery and the Diseases of Women and Children, 8vo. Philadelphia, 1831. Velpeau. Embryologie, ou Ovologie Humaine, contenant l'histoire descriptive et iconographique de l'ceuf humaine. Par Alf. A. M. L. Velpeau, Chirurgien de l'Hdpital de la Pitie. Professeur d'Anatomie, de Accouchemens, et de Medecine Operatoire, etc. etc. Folio. Bruxelles et London, 1834. Watson. A Medico-Legal Treatise on Homicide by external violence, with an ac- count of the circumstances which modify the medico-legal characters of injuries and exculpatory pleas. By Alexander Watson, Esq. Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons, Edinburgh, and one of the surgeons to the Royal Infirmary, etc. 8vo. Edinburgh, 1837. Western Medical and Physical Journal. Original and selected. Edited by Daniel Drake, M. D. late Professor of the Theory and Practice of Physic at Transylvania University, etc., and Guy C. Wright, M. D. Monthly. After 1st vol. the title was altered to, Western Journal of the Medical and Physical Sciences. Conducted by Dr. Drake, subsequently by Drs. Drake, Finley, and Wood, 11 vols. 8vo. Cincinnati, (Ohio.) The first vol. monthly, and the subsequent ones, quarterly. 1827—1838. Western Medical Gazette, (The.) Conducted by Drs. Eberle, Mitchell, Staughton, Bailey, Smith, Gross and Reed. Commenced December 15, 1832. Published semi-monthly, vol. 1. Cincinnati, (Ohio,) 1832-4. Vol. 2, monthly. 1834-5. Wheeler's Criminal Cases. Reports of Criminal Law Cases, with notes and refer- ences ; containing also a View of the Criminal Laws of the United States. By Jacob D. Wheeler, Counsellor at Law, 3 vols. 8vo. New York, 1823-5. Wildberg. Bibliotheca Medicinae Forensis in qua ex omnibus temporibus scripta ad hanc scientiam spectantia digesta sunt, a Chr. Fr. Ludov. Wildberg. Med. et Chi- rurg. Doctore Magni Duci. Megapol. Strelil, a consiliis rei mediae supremis, etc. 4to. Berolini, 1819. Williams. A Catechism of Medical Jurisprudence; being principally a compendium of the opinions of the best writers upon the subject, with a preliminary discourse upon the importance of the study of Forensic Medicine, designed for physicians, attorneys, coroners and jurymen. By Stephen W. Williams, M. D. late Professor CATALOGUE OF BOOKS. 725 of Medical Jurisprudence in the Berkshire Medical Institution. l8mo. Northamp- ton, (Mass.) 1835. Wilson. Lectures on the Structure and Physiology of the Male Urinary and Genital Organs of the Human Body, and on the Nature and Treatment of their Diseases, delivered before the Royal College of Surgeons in London, in the summer of the year 1821. By James Wilson, F.R.S. Professor of Surgery and Anatomy to the College, etc. 8vo. London, 1821. Withering. The Miscellaneous Tracts of the late William Withering, M.D., F.R.S. etc. to which is prefixed a Memoir of his Life, Character and Writings, 2 vols. 8vo. London, 1822. Young. An Introduction to Medical Literature, including a System of Practical Nosology, etc. etc. By Thomas Young, M. D., F. R. S. Fellow of the Royal Col- lege of Physicians, London, 2d edition, 8vo. London, 1823. Zacchias. Pauli Zacchiae, Romani, totius status Ecelesiastici Proto-Medici generalis, Questionum Mkdico-Legalium. Tomi tres, olim aucti et emendati a viro cele- berrimo Joh. Daniel Horstio, nunc illustrati, emendati atque audacti a Georgio Franco, etc. etc. Folio. Francofurti ad Moenum, 1688. 61* INDEX TO LAW CASES. Abraham v. Newton, i 176 Adams' case, ii 273 Aiscough, ex parte, i 174 Alder, Lydia, case of, ii 255 Alderson, Wheeler & Batsford v i 597 Allinson, Fulleck v. i 659 Alsop v. Bowtrell, (Andrews' case) i 494 Alsop v. Stacey, i 494 Anderton v. Wfiitaker, i 495 Andrews v. Lord Beauchamp, i 523 Andrews v. Palmer, i 74 Angus, Charles, case of, i 247, 340, ii 413 Annesley cause, i 205, ii 87 Aram, Eugene, case of, ii 25 Arnold's case, i 600 Ashford v. Thornton, i 149 Atkinson's case, ii 273 Atkinson ex parte, in the matter of Parkinson, i 593 Attorney General v. Fadden, i 529 Attorney General v. Parnther, i 596 Avery case, i 268 ii 145 Aveson v. Lord Kinnaird, i 540 Ayrey v. Hill, i 655 Bagster, Miss, case of, i 589 Banbury peerage case, i 100 Barker, James, in the case of, i 641 Baronet's case, i 527 Bateman, Mary, case of, ii 442 Beaumont, Fisher, v. i 540 Becker's case, ii 414 Beckett, Rex. v. ii 214 Beddingsfield's case, ii 158 Bellet ex parte, i 174 Bellingham's case, i 598 ,605 Bennet, Darling v. i 642 Benson v. Oliver, i 520 Berard, Catherine, case of, i 491 Bignold, Simcor v. i 540 Bird v. Bird, i 653 Birdsall's case, i 634 Bittleston v. Clark, i 647 Blandy, Miss, case of, ii 405 Bland, Wainewright v. i 541 Blewitt v. Blewitt, i 650 Bliss, Commonwealth v. i 87 Blisset, Dickenson v. i 664 Bolland v. Disney, i 533 Bonino's case, ii 26 Bonsall, Lemann v. i 655 Borrodaile, Kinnear v. ii 567 Boughton, Sir Theodosius, case of, ii 605, 695 Bourbon, Duke of, case of, 141 Bowerman's case, 25 Bowler's case, 631 Bowtrell, Alsop v. 494 Boyce v. Owens, 521 Bradshaw, Ross v. 535 Brazier's case, 154 Briggs v. Morgan, 112 Brooks, Moriarty v. ii 214 Broughton v. Randall, 510 Brower v. Fisher, 664 Brown, Marion, case of, 139 Brown, Martha, in the matter of, ex parte Wallop, i 174 Brown v. Brown, i 112 Brydges v. King, i 652 Bullock, Watts v. i 654 Bunel's case, i 229 Burdock's (Mrs.) case, ii 427 Burke's case, ii 15, 170 Burns, (Miss) ease of, i 247, 340, 413 Burrows v. Burrows, 655 Burtis v. Burtis, 113 Bury's case, 91 Butterfield's case, 451 Calas's case, 140 Cameron, Angus, case of, 268 Campbell, (Jean) alias Bruce, 665 Campbell v. Lamont, 521 Carrol's case, 272 Carse's case, 242 Cartwright v. Cartwright, 656 Castaing's case, 582 Chapman (Mrs.) and Mina's case ii 410 Chattock v. Shawe, 540 Christie and Trail's case, 702 Church, Kemble and Smalcs v. 661 Clark, Bittleston v. 646 Clark, Dew v. i 599, 656 Clark v. Fisher, i 648 Cleaveland, case of, i 348 Clench, (Dr.) murder of, ii 157 Codd and Pizzy's case, i 348 448 INDEX TO LAW CASES. 727 Codman, Robinson v. Coke and Woodburne's case, Collins, case of, Colvin v. King's Proctor, Commonwealth v. Bliss, Commonwealth v. Coxe, Commonwealth v. Green, i 160 Commonwealth v. Hill, Commonwealth v. Newell, Commonwealth v. Shepherd, Commonwealth v. Strieker, Commonwealth v. Sullivan, Commonwealth v. Taylor, Commonwealth v. Trask, Commonwealth v. Thompson, Cook, Foster and others v. Cook v. Goude and Bennet, Cornell, S. M. case of, i 268 Cornier, Henriette, case of, Cowper, Spencer, case of, Cox, Rex v. (Maiming,) Cox, Rex v. (Rape,) Coxe, Commonwealth v. Crane, Scribner v. Cranmer, ex parte, Croslan, case of Margaret, Cross v. Cross, Cuinyns, Greenstreet v. Danks' case, Darling v. Bennet, Darwin, Rydgway v. i 582, Davidson, case of, Davidson, Dean v. Davidson, Mc Kay v. Davies' case, Dautun's case, Dean's case, Dean v. Davidson, De Caille's case, Denton's case, De Rydgway, case of Cicely, Desboroogh, Everett v. Desborough, Lindenau v. Desha's case, Devanbagh v. Devanbagh, Dew v. Clark, l Dickinson v. Blisset, Diplock, Taylor and others v. Disney, Bolland v. Dixon v. Dixon, Dobie v. Richardson, Dodge v. Meech, Doe dem Knight v. Nepean, Doe v. Jesson, Donegal Lord, case of, Donellan, Captain, case of, n Donnal's case, Douglas cause, Drew, United States v. Drinkald, Jameson v. Driver, White v. Duncan v. Yoolow, Dyson, case of Esther, Earls, case of, 294 271 343 515 87 632 223 664 275 100 100 165 353 264 530 494 646 145 616 205 273 166 635 649 641 425 100 112 245 642 630, 632 591 520 652 586 103 606 520 526 261 70 540 538 34 115 599, 656 664 511 533 520 289 655 520 520 642 605, 695 407 521 637 694 655 590 670 414 Edinburgh Assur. Comp. Forbes v. i 541 Edgar, case of, ii 268 Elder or Smith, case of Mary, i 74, ii 408 Elliot, Dr. case of, ii 263 Essex, Countess of, v. Earl of Es- sex, i 91 Essex, Arthur, Earl of, case, ii 94 Evans v. Knight, i 655 Everett v. Desborough, i 540 Fadden, Attorney-General v. i 529 Fairlie, Swete v. i 535 Farley, King and Thwaits v. i 650 Fenning, Eliza, case of, ii 413 Ferrers, Earl, case of, i 600 Fettes v. Gordon, i 521 Finlay, case of Mary, ii 78 Fish v. Palmer, i 287 Fisher v. Beaumont, i 540 Fisher, Brower v. i 664 Fisher, Clark v. i 648 Flynn, case of, i 169 Forbes v. Edinburgh Assur. Comp. i 541 Foster and others v. Cook, i 494 Freeman's case, ii 596 Fried's case, i 542 Fulleck v. Allinson, i 659 Gammon, Rex v. i 138 Gardner, Peerage case, i 477 Gardner's Trustees, Simpson v. i 650 Garret, executor v. Rock Insurance Company. ii 213 Getter, Mrs. case of, ii 160 Gibbons, Rex v. ii 702 Gibbs, Stoddard v. i 294 Gilbert, case of, . i 627 Gloucester, Countess of, case of, i 494 Godfrey, Sir E. murder of, ii 154 Goodere, Sir John Dinely, murder of, ii 158 Gordon, Fettes v. i 521 Goude and Bennet, Cook v. i 646 Gregory, Howe v. i 87 Green, Commonwealth v. i 160, ii 223 Greenacre, Case of, ii 105 Greenstreet v. Cumyns, i 112 Greenwood's case, i 656 Groom and Evans v. Thomas, i 656 Guerre Martin, case of, i 525 i. 577, 598, 601 Hadfield's case, Hanks, a lunatic, in the matter of, Harley, Rex v. Harrison, Kinleside v. Harty's case, Hathorn v. King, Hazleton v. Prince, Hay, Rex v. Hayward, Rex v. Head v. Head, Hebner's case, Hedges, Leng v. Hill, Ayrey v. Hill's case, Hill, Commonwealth v. Hitchcock's case, 591 281 652 639 576 646 511 273 100 139 524 655 162 664 414 728 INDEX TO LAW CASES. Hodgson's case, ii 453 Holmden, Lomax v. i 99 Holmes, in re. i 583 Holyland, ex parte, i 579, 596 Howe v. Gregory, i 87 Howison, case of, i 607 Howlett, Waters v. i 646 Huguenin v. Ray ley, i 537 Humphrey's case, ii 321, 328 Hunter, Van Alst v. i 642, 654 Hurle, case of Ann, i 175 Hyslop, case of Mrs. i 521 Ingram v. Wyatt, i 653 Jackson ex dem. Cadwell v. King, i 584 Jackson ex dem. Van Duzen v. Van Duzen, i 661 Jameson v. Drinkald, i 694 Jesson, Doe v. i 520 Johnson v. Moore's heirs, i 660 Joliffe, Lowe v. i 662 Jones, King v. i 664 Keith v. Keith, i 116 Kemble and Smales v. Church, i 661 Kesler's case, i 413 King, Brydges v. i 652 King, Hathorn v. i 576 Kingston, Duchess of, case of, i 702 King y. Luffe, i 98 King v. Jones, i 664 King v. Salisbury, i i 264 King v. Steel, i 664 King v. Travers, i 154 King, Jackson ex dem. Cadwell v. i 584 King's Proctor v. Colvin, i 515 King and Thwaits v. Farley, i 650 Kinleside v. Harrison, i 652 Kinlock, Sir Alex. G. case of, i 626 Kinnaird, (Lord,) Aveson v. i 540 Kinnear v. Borrodaile, i 567 Kirby, case of, i 627 Kirkwall, case of Lady, i 593 Knight, Evans v. i 655 Koningsmark, Count, case of, i i 264 Kyle v. Kyle, i 651 Lambert's case, ii 254 Lamont, Campbell v. i 521 Lavalley's case, i 556 Le Blanc, State v. i 1 55, 165 Lee's case, i 272 Leman v. Bonsall, i 655 Leng v. Hedges, i 524 Lewis, Rex v. i 281 Lindenau v. Desborough, i 538 Lomax v. Holmden, i 99 Lord Beauchamp, Andrews v. i 523 Lovie's case, i 413 Lowe v. Joliffe, i 662 Luffe, King v. i 98 Lynch, in the matter of Ann, i 632 McCaig, Robertson v. i 651 McComb, executor of Ogilvie, v. Wright, i 520 Macdonough's case, i 636 Macdougaf s ease, i 259 McKay's case, ii 414 McKay v. Davidson, i 652 McKeand, Stewart v. i 493 McLennan's case, ii 193 Macmillan's case, ii 321 ,327 McNeil, Miss, case, i 101 McQuirk's case, ii 236 Macklin's case, ii 242 Mainwaring, Watson v. i 536 Marsellis v. Thalhiraer, i 293 Marsh v. Tyrrel, i x50 Martin, Jonathan, case of, i 619 Martin, Rex v. ii 268 Martin v. Wotton, i 650 Mason v. Mason, i 514 Maynard v. Rhode, i 537 Meech, Dodge v. i 655 Meecham's case, ii 196 Millet's case, ii 75 Mina and Mrs. Chapman's case, ii 410 Mitchell's case, i 625 Moir, Captain, case of, ii 228 Montbailly's case, ii 20 Moore's heirs, Johnson v. i 660 Morgan, Briggs v. i 112 Morgan, William, case of, ii 204 Moriarty v. Brooks, ii 214 Morrison, v. Muspratt, i 538 Muir's case, ii 290 Muspratt, Morrison v. i 538 Mynn v. Robinson, i 651 Nairn and Ogilvie's case, ii 413 Nepean, Doe dem Knight v. i 520 Netherwood, Wright v. i 514 Newell, Commonwealth v. ii 275 Newton, Abraham, v. i 176 Noiseu's case, i 526 Norkott, Jane, murder of, ii 100 Norton v. Seton, i 112 Nuttal, case of, ii 159 O'Brien, a lunatic, in the matter of, i 584 Ogilvie and Nairn's case, ii 413 Offord, Rex v. i 600 Oliver, Benson v. i 520 Orrel, State v. ii 267 Overbury, Sir Thomas, case of, ii 434 Overfield's case, ii 321 ,327 Owens, Boyce v. i 521 Pace's case, ii 262 Paine's case, i 287, 295 Palmer, Andrews v. i 74 Palmer, Fish v. i 287 Papavoine's case, i 609 Parker's (Hoag) case, i 530 Parkinson, a lunatic, in the matter of, i 593 ,597 Parnther, Attorney-General v. i 596 Patch's case, ii 77 Paterson, Christian, case of, ii 228 Paulet's case, [\ 210 Payne, Rex v. ij 274 Pembroke, Philip, Earl of, case of, ii 255 Perdriat's case, i 237 Petrie, Robertson v. i 493 INDEX TO LAW CASES. 729 Pichegru, General, case of, Pizzy and Codd, case of, i Pollard v. Wybourn, Poole, Willis v. Portsmouth, Earl of, care of, Pourpre's case, Poyntz's case, Prescott, Abraham, case of, Trimm, Salle v. Prince v. Hazleton, pugh and others, case of, Quinch, Rex v. Rad well's case, Ramus' case, ii Randall, Broughton v. Rayley v. Huguenin, Redlion v. Woolverton, Reid, case of, Robert, Renee's case, Rex v. Becket, Rex v. Cox, (Maiming,) Rex v. Cox, (Rape,) Rex v. Gibbons, Rex v. Gammon, Rex v. Harley, Rex v. Dr. Hay, Rex v. Hayward or Harwood, Rex v. Lewis, Rex v. Martin, Rex v. Offord, Rex v. Payne, Rex v. Quinch, Rex v. Russel, Rex v. Russen, Rex v. Shadbolt, Rex v. Taylor, Rex v. Tomlinson, Rex v. Withers, Rex v. Wood, Rex v. Wright, Reynolds v. Reynolds, Rhode, Maynard v. Richardson, Dobie v, Robinson, Mynn v. Roberton v. Roberton, Robertson v. McCaig, Robertson v. Petrie, Robinson v. Codman, Rock Insurance Company, Gar ret, v. Rose, Maria, case of, Ross v. Bradshaw, Russel, Rex v. Rusen, Rex v. Ruston's case, Ridgway v. Darwin, Sager's case, Salisbury, King v. Salle v. Primm, Sanderson, Sherwood v Sandy v. Sandy, Sansam's case, Sarmuda, Wright v. Sant, Yong v. ii 163 Saunders' case, 348, 448 Scott v. Shufelt, i 112 Scribner v. Crane, i 535 Sellis' case, i 590 Selwyn, In re, ii 140 Seton, Norton v. i 518 Shadbolt, Rex v. i 623 Shaw, case of, i 521 Shawe, Chattock v. i 644 Shelback, Sliver v. ii 195 Shepherd, Commonwealth v. ii 681 Sherwood v. Sanderson, i 494 Shufelt, Scott v. ] 05, 601 Simcor v. Bignold, i 510 Simpson v. Gardner's Trustees, i 537 Sliver, v. Shelbach, i 499 Slymbridge's case, ii 165 Smith or Elder, case of, i 475 Mary i 74; ii ii 214 Stacey, Alsop v. i ii 273 Stand field, case of, ii i 166 Stanwix, Gen. case of, ii 702 State v. Le Blanc, i 138 State v. Orrel, ii 281 Steel, King v. i 511 Stewart v. McKeand, ii 273 Stewart's case, ii 281 Stoddard v. Gibbs, ii 268 Strieker, Commonwealth v. i 600 Stringer's case, ii 274 Sullivan, Commonwealth v. ii 681 Swete v. Fairlie, i 165 Taylor, Commonwealth v. i 162 Taylor, Rex v. ii 274 Taylor and others v. Diplock, ii 5 Tiege, case of, ii 266 Thalhimer, Marsellis v. ii 273 Thecar's case, ii 273 Thomas, Groom and Evans v ii 694 Thompson, Commonwealth v, i 524 Thornton, Ashford v. i 537 Tickner's case, i 289 Tinckler's case, i 651 Tomlinson, Rex v. 290 Trask, Commonwealth v. 651 Travers, King v. 493 Turner v. Turner, 294 Tyrrel, Marsh v. United States v. Drew, Van Alst v. Hunter, 213 ii 474 i 535 i 165 i 162 i 663 582, 630, 632 ii 414 ii 264 i 521 i 642 i 493 i 645 Van Dusen, Jackson ex dem. Van Dusen v. Vaux's case, Videto's case, Wainewright v. Bland, Wallop, ex parte, Waters v. Howlett, Watson v. Mainwairing, Watts v. Bullock, Weeks' case, Welde v. Welde, 281 501 649 93 515 112 274 264 540 518 100 642 501 540 650 518 176 408 494 ii 155 i 510 155,165 267 664 493 152 294 100 15 165 535 353 5 511 165 293 498 656 530 149 272 347 266 264 154 655 650 637 642, 654 Wendell, a lunatic, in the matter of, i 661 535 ii 81 i 541 i 174 i 646 i 536 i 654 ii 207 i 98,113 591 514 Iwhalley's case, " 296 662 Wheeler and Batsfordv.Alderson, i 597 730 INDEX TO LAW CASES. Whistelo's case, i 500 Whitaker, Anderton, v. i 495 White v. Driver, i 655 Whiting's case, ii 444, 452 Williams' case, ii 413 Willis v. Poole, i 535 Willoughby's case, i 174 Wishart's case, ii 409 Withers, Rex v. ii 273 Wood, Rex v. ii 273 Woodburne and Coke's ease, ii 271 Woolverton, Redlion, v. i 499 Wotton, Martin v. i 650 Wright, M'Comb v. i 520 Wright v. Netherwood, \ 514 Wright v. Sarmuda, i 514 Wright, Rex v. i) 694 Wyatt, Ingram v. i 653 Wybourn, Pollard v. i 112 Yarnall, Priscilla, in the matter of the will of, i 644 Yong v. Sant, i 662 Yoolow, Duncan v. i 590 INDEX. Abdomen, examination of the, ii Wounds of the, ii Enlargement of, in pregnancy, i Abortion, i Proofs of, in the mother, i Appearances on dissection in do. Proofs of, from what is expelled, Causes of, Criminal means—general, Venesection, Leeches, Emetics, Cathartics, Diuretics, Emmenagogues, Savine, Mercury, Polygala, Pennyroyal, Ergot, Actaea, Digitalis, Criminal means—local, Danger of death to the mother in, Causes of, involuntary, Circumstantial evidence, Laws against criminal, Abrus precatorius, Absorption, introduction of poi- sons by, Abstinence, feigned, Access, when presumed, Accidental wounding, Acids, poisoning by, Acid, acetic, poisoning by, Arsenic, poisoning by, Arsenious, poisoning by, Citric, Muriatic, poisoning by, Nitric, poisoning by Meconic, Oxalic, poisoning by, Oxymuriatic, (chlorine) poison ing by, Phosphorous, poisoning by, Prussic, poisoning by, Sulphuric, poisoning by, Sulphurous, poisoning by, Tartaric, 9 252 180 316 321 326 331 335 335 335 337 337 338 338 340 340 341 342 343 343 344 345 345 351 352 354 446 672 n n u 280 70 100 80 320 341 426 ii 367 ii 348 • ii 340 ii 330 ii 573, 576 ii 343 559 352 593 320 561 348 Aconitum anthora, poisonous, ii 638 Aconitum cammarum, poisonous, ii 637 Aconitum ferox, poisonous, ii 638 Aconitum lycoctonum, poisonous, ii 638 Aconitum napellus, poisoning by, ii 278,635 Acrid or irritant poisons, ii 320 Actaea racemosa, abortion from, i 344 Actaea spicata, a poison, ii 593 Adipocire, formation of, a legal question, ii 41,196 jEsculus ohiensis and pavia, ii 672 iEthusa cynapium, poisoning by, ii 635 Age, i 518 Age when menstruation commen- ces, i 208 Of criminal responsibility, i 519 How long absence is a proof of death, i 520 When pregnancy is possible, i 207,521 Determination of, i 518 Air, deprived of oxygen, its effects, ii 110 Albumen, an antidote to corrosive sublimate, ii to copper, ii Alcohol, poisoning by, ii Alexipharmics, ii Algalia, used for the bite of ser- pents, ii Alienation, mental, i Alimentary canal, examination of, in poisoning, ii Alkalies caustic, poisoning by, ii carbonated, poisoning by, ii Almonds, oil of bitter, poisoning by, ?! Analysis of, \\ Alum, whether poisonous, ii Amaryllis atamasco, ii Ammonia, poisoning by, ii An antidote against the bite of serpents, " Ammonia, muriate of, poisoning by, » Ammoniacal, nitrate of silver, a test of arsenic, ii Amygdalus communis, ii Amygdalus persica, ii Amyris toxifolia, ii Anagallis arvensis, poisoning by, ii Anasarca, feigned, i Anda gomesii, ii 454 476 664 277 542 547 302 359 359 616 616 362 674 363 542 363 396 616 617 673 646 59 672 732 INDEX. Androgynae, cases of, Androgyni, cases of, Anemone nemorosa, poisoning by, Anemone, pratensis, poisoning by, Anemone Pulsatilla, poisoning by, Anemone sylvestris, poisoning by, Angustura, false, Animal poisons, Annuities, how regulated, Antidotes, for arsenic, for antimony, for corrosive sublimate, Antimony, Tartarized, poisoning by, Oxide and glass of, poisoning, Muriate of, poisoning by, Wine of, poisoning by, Vapours, (See Tartar emetic,) Apocynum, species of, poisonous, ii Apoplexy, death from, ii feigned, i Apoplexy resembling narcotic poi- soning, ii Apoplexy from hanging, ii Apoplexy, a will made after, i Aqua fortis, poisoning by, % ii Aqua tofana, ii Areola, in pregnancy, i Aristolochia clematitis, poisoning by, ' ii Serpentaria, used for the bite of serpents, ii Arnica montana, ii Arsenic (metallic), when alloyed, innoxious, ii Garlic smell of, ii Whitens copper when heated, ii Arsenic acid, effects of, on animals, ii Tests of, ii Arsenic, black oxide of, its ef- fects, ii Arsenic, iodide of, ii Arsenic, sulphurets of, ii Arsenical vapours, effects of, ii Arseniates, tests of, ii Arsenious acid, or white oxide of arsenic, ii Its preparation destructive to workmen, ii Poisoning by internal use of, ii Symptoms of poisoning by, ii Poisoning by injection of, i: Poisoning by external applica- tion of, ii Poisoning by inhaling vapours of, Appearances on dissection, Introduced after death, effects of, Whether it retards putrefac- tion, Effects on animals, of, Chemical proofs, 126 Chemical proofs, reduction of, 123 Tests of, in solid state, 524 in solution, 524 when mixed, 524 Vapours of, inodorous, 524 Solubility, 649 Antidotes and treatment, 532 Sale of, should be regulated, 532 Cases of poisoning by, 419 Arsenite of potash, 465 An antidote to bites of serpents, 453 Arsenites, tests of, 459 Arseniuretted hydrogen gas, its 460 effects, ii 465 Arseniuretted hydrogen test, ii 466 Arum maculatum, poisoning by, ii 466 Arum, other species of poisonous, ii 466 Ascites, feigned, i Asphyxia, ii 648 Various kinds of, ii 41 Ofprivies, 40 Asphyxia idiopathica, n Atropa belladonna, poisoning by, ii 300 Atropine, 120 Auscultation, in cases of supposed 646 pregnancy, 330 To ascertain the life of the foetus, i 291 Azalea pontica, a narcotic poison, ii 184 Barbadoes leg, feigned. 646 Barytes and its salts, poisoning by, Carbonate of, 542 Muriate of, 674 Tests, Antidotes, 430 Beard, growth of, after death, 394 Bee, sting of, 394 Bee, Humble, sting of, Belladonna, see Atropa belladon- 426 na, ii 426 Bile, acrid, may poison animals, ii Birth, legal time of, by the Roman 425 law, i 430 in England, i 426 in France, i 376 in Prussia, i 426 in Scotland, i Rapid, instances of, i 256, 424 367 Bismuth, nitrate of, poisoning by, ii Tests, ii ii 368 Bites of poisonous serpents, ii ii 368 Bitter almonds, (see Almonds,) ii ii 369 Black flux, reduction of arsenious ii 373 acid with, ii Black oxide of arsenic, ii ii 375 Bladder, state of, in new-born in- fants, ii 376, Bladder, wounds of, ii 377 Bladder, rupture of, I Blindness, feigned, ii 3SS Blood, fluidity of, | Its chemical characters, ii 3811 Vomiting of, feigned, ii 383 Blood, menstrual, ii 3b8' Blood in pregnancy, 391 391 395 402 394 389 419 424 405 425 541 425 430 399 531 531 59 45 46 118 42 623 624 201 263 593 60 513 513 514 514 514 30 544 544 623 288 490 494 490 490 492 434 487 488 537 616 391 425 i 400 ii 258 ii 258 i 53 ii 12,182 ii 109 i 37 i 190 i 200 GENERAL INDEX. 733 Blows after death, marks of, ii 16 On the stomach, ii 254 Bodies, combustion of human, ii 68 Brain, dissection of the, ii 7 Injuries of the, ii 238 Breasts in pregnancy, i 183 Bromide of mercury, ii 456 Bromine, cyanuret of, ii 671 Bromine, poisoning by, ii 358 Brucea antidysenterica, ii 649 Effects, ii 650 Characters, ii 649 Brucine, a vegetable alkali, ii 650 Bryonia dioica, poisoning by, ii 517 Bullet, murder discovered by exa- mination of, ii 89 Burns, death from, ii 60 After death, ii 62 Cachexia, feigned, i 38 Cesarean operation, i 294 Laws concerning property when infant is extracted by the, Cadmium, experiments with Calculi, feigned excretion of, Calcutta, Black Hole of, Caladium seguinum, Calla palustris, an acrid poison, Calomel, characters of, Corrosive sublimate converted into, ii Caltha palustris, ii Camphor, its effects, ii Cancer, feigned, i Cantharides, effects in producing abortion, i Cantharides, poisoning by, ii Symptoms, ii Appearances on dissection, ii Treatment in, ii Cantharidin, ii Carbazotic acid, ii Carbonic acid gas, death from, ii Modes in which it is generated, ii Effects by, ii Appearances on dissection, ii Carbonic oxide, effects on the hu- man system, ii Carburetted hydrogen gas, ii Carunculae myrtiformes, i Castor oi plant, ii Castration, i 94, 97, ii 270 Catalepsy, feigned, i 46 Cathartics, effects of in producing abortion, i Caustic alkalies, poisoning by, i Caustic lunar, (see Silver,) ii Cerbera ahovai and manghas, noxious effects of, ij Cerbera tanghuin, poisoning by, ii Cerium, experiments with, ii Certificate of exemption from mili- tary duty, i Cerusse, poisoning by, ii 295 513 51 110 674 513 448 448 525 656 '64 339 532 533 536 537 532 617 110 110 113 114 618 619 139 521 338 359 483 647 647 512 496 Chaerophyllum sylvestre, poison- ing by, i Chailletia toxicaria, i Chancellor, his jurisdiction over idiots and lunatics, i 581, 584 Charcoal, fumes of, noxious, ii 111 Chelidonium glaucium and majus, poisoning by, i Chemical examination of poisons, ii Chenopodium murale, ii Cherry laurel-water, poisoning by, ii Childbearing, earliest period of, i 207, 519 Latest period of, i 207, 521 (See Gestation.) Child-murder, (See Infanticide.) Children, legitimacy of, i Chloride of cyanogen, ii Chloride of lime, sprinkling with, ii Chloride of soda, ii Chlorine, poisoning by, ii Cholera morbus, symptoms of, dis- tinguishing it from poisons, ii Cholera, resembling poisoning, ii Chorea, feigned, i Chromate of potash, poisoning by, ii Cicuta maculata, poisoning by, ii Cicuta virosa, poisoning by, ii Cider, danger of lead in, ii Cinnabar, poisoning by, ii Circulation in the foetus, i Cissus glandulosa, ii Citric acid, ii Classification of poisons, ii Clematis vitalba, and other spe- cies, poisoning by, ii Clitoris, enlargement of the, i Cobalt, poisoning by, ii Cocculus indicus, poisoning by, ii Codeine, ii 573, 578 Colchicum autumnale, poisoning by, ji Cold, death from exposure to, ii Death of new-born infant from, i Cold water, death from drinking, ii 53, 299 Colic, Devonshire, ii 504 Colica pictonum, its symptoms and cause, i Colocynth, poisoning by, Coluber berus, bite of, Combustibility, praeternatural, Causes assigned for, Commission of lunacy, Compos or non compos, Compound poisoning, Concealed pregnancy, Concealed delivery, Concealed insanity, Conception, (see Pregnancy.) Congestion of blood in the viscera, ii Congenital malformations, i Conium maculatum, poisoning by, ii Consent, age of, i 635 672 525 316 673 604 464 671 38 364 559 299 299 46 509 633 632 504 456 359 648 348 281 525 126 512 656 641 51 416 506 518 536 68 ii 74 i 586 i 581 ii 675 178, 207 233, 238 566, 575 u 17 428 630 152 VOL. II. 62 734 GENERAL INDEX. Consent, not necessary to impreg- nation, i Consumption, feigned, i Contusion, ii Convolvulus jalapa, ii Convolvulus scammonea, ii Convulsions, feigned, i Copper, ii Metallic, its action, ii Facility of its oxidation, ii Carbonate and oxide of, poison- ing by, ii Verdigris, poisoning by, ii Appearances on dissection, ii Effect on animals, ii Chemical tests, ii Antidotes, ii Sulphate, poisoning by, ii Utensils dangerous, ii Oxidation of, by various ali- ments and drinks, ii Coriaria myrtifolia, poisoning by, ii Coroner, duty of, ii 2, Corpora lutea, how far a sign of impregnation, i 245, 251, Corpse, bleeding, ii Corrosive sublimate, ii Internally given, ii Effects in considerable doses, ii Administered by injection, ii Effects of, externally applied, ii Appearances on dissection, ii Effects on animals, ii Chemical proofs, ii In the solid state, ii In the fluid state, ii In organic mixtures, ii Decomposed in the stomach, ii Antidotes and treatment, ii Effects of, introduced into the dead body, ii Coventry act, ii Crab, occasionally poisonous, ii Cream of tartar, ii Creosote, ii Crotalus horridus, (see Rattlesnake.) Croton tiglium, poisoning by, ii Crying, a necessary proof of life in new-born children in Scotland, i Not a necessary proof of life in England, i Of the child in the womb, i Cucumis colocynthis, ii Cupping-glasses in poisoning, ii Curare, a South American poison, ii Account of its preparation, ii Curtesy, tenant by the, ii Effect of caesarean operation on, i Cyanogen gas, ii Cyanuret of bromine, ii Cyanuret of iodine, ii Cyanuret of mercury, ii Cyanuret of potassium, ii 170 32 12 526 526 45 466 467 467 469 469 472 473 473 476 472 469 470 657 681 329 102 431 431 431 434 434 435 437 439 439 440 444 443 453 306 270 549 362 670 523 289 286 407 518 318 655 655 286 295 620 671 670 4.56 671 Cyclamen europaeum, poisoning by, ii Cymbalaria, an ingredient in slow poisons, ii Cynanchum erectum and viminale, poisonous, ii Cynapin, Cytisine, Cytisus laburnum, 529 292 648 ii 635 ii 664, 674 ii 063 Daniel's test in cases of infanti- cide, i 374 Daphne gnidium, and other spe- cies, poisoning by, ii 526 Darnel,mixed with bread, noxious, ii 663 Datura stramonium, poisoning by, ii 625 Datura tatula, and other species, poisonous, ii 628 Daturine, ii 628 Deaf and dumb, may be witnesses, i 663 May be tried for crimes, i 664 May obtain possession of their estate, i 664 Deaf, dumb and blind, a person born, is an idiot, i 662 A person grown so, non compos, i 662 Deafness, feigned, i 54 Deafness and dumbness, feigned, i 55 Death, sudden, causes of, ii 41 By burning, ii 60 By cold, ii 51 By drinking cold water, ii 53 By drowning, ii 174 By exposure to noxious gases, ii 110 By hanging, ii 119 By hunger, ii 55 By intoxication, ii 664 By lightning, ii 59 By pressure in a crowd, ii 172 By smothering, ii 169 By strangling, ii 153 By wounds, ii 76 From passion, ii 42 From latent causes, ii 43 Death-bed declarations, ii 702 Death-bed, law of, in Scotland, i 651 Decidua, i 217 Defloration, pregnancy after, i 171 Defloration, signs of, i 141 Delirium tremens, i 633 Character of, i 634 Cases of, i 634 A species of insanity, i 633 Delirium of fever, produces tempo- rary insanity, i 627 Delivery, i 233 Signs of recent, i 234 Examination in doubtful cases of, i 236 Concealed, i 238 Pretended, i 239 Appearances on dissection, i 242 Whether possible when the fe- male is unconscious of it, i 255 GENERAL INDEX. 735 Delivery. Danger to the child if unassisted, i 257 Signs of the death of the child before and during, i 260, 263 Premature, Protracted, By the Caesarean operation, Delphine, a vegetable alkali, Delphinium staphysagria, poison- ing by, Dementia, definition of, Symptoms of, Feigned, Often a consequence of mania, Demonomania, Diamonds, powder of, Diaphragm, wounds of, Diarrhoea, feigned, i Digestion of the stomach after death, • ii John Hunter's account of, ii Diagnosis between it and the ef- fects of poison, ij Digitalis purpurea, poisoning by, ii Diseased flesh of animals, ii Diseased wheat, ii Diseases, disqualifying, j Feigned, i Exempting from military service 471 472 294 525 525 560 560 570 560 565 ii 293, 434 ii 251 i 39 in England, in France, in the Netherlands, in Prussia, in the United States, Disqualifying diseases, J In civil and criminal cases, i For military service, j Dippel's oil, \\ Dirca palustris, " Dissection, in death from hang- ing, n In death from noxious inhala- tions, *} Tn death from rape, ) In death from starvation, n In death from strangling, ii In death from poisoning, ii Death from punctures during, ii Of child in cases of infanticide, i Medico-legal, rules for, ii Of the abdomen, « Of the head, » Of the thorax, 'I Of the vagina, j Of the uterus, , l Diuretics, effects of, in producing abortion, Divorce, on acc't of impotence, i 89,112 Doubtful sex, Importance of deciding on cases of, Dropsy, encysted, Dropsy, feigned, Combined with pregnancy, Dropsy of the uterus, i 214 Signs distinguishing it from pregnancy, i 181 Drowning, death by, ii 174 Signs of death by, ii 176 Signs of death previous to, ii 192 Causes of death by, ii 174 Suicide by, ii 210 Of new-born children, i 420 Drunkenness, no excuse for crimes,i 631 Dumbness, feigned, i 55 Dura mater, wounds of, ii 241 Dysentery, feigned, i 39 Dysmenorrhcea, membranes expel- led in, i 217 Ear, wounds of, ii 243 Eau de Noyau, sometimes poison- ous, ii 617 Eau medicinale of Husson, ii 642 Ecchymosis, meaning of the term, ii 12 Around the neck, ii 123 Echites suberecta, ii 674 Elaterium, its nature and effects, ii 517 Elaterine, ii 518 Elder, poisoning by, ii 532 Emetic tartar, poisoning by, ii 460 Emetics, effects of, in producing abortion, i 337 Emetin, ii 646 Emissio Seminis in cases of rape, i 163 Emphysema, feigned, i 59 Emphysema of the womb, i 217 Empyreumatic oils, ii 669 Enamel powder, whether poison- ous, if 555 Epilepsy, feigned, j 42 Often causes insanity, i 630 Often complicated with insanity, i 630 Epispadias, i 93 Equisetum hyemale, ii 675 Ergot, its effects on the human system, i| 660 Its botanical character, ii 660 Its effects in producing abor- tion, j 343 Diseases produced by, ii 661 Ervum Ervilia, j| 663 Erysipelas, after wounds, ii 227 Ether, nitric, , ii 668 Ether, sulphuric, effects on ani- mals, . il 667 Euphorbia officinarum, poisoning by, " 519 Euphorbia lathyris, and other spe- cies, poisonous, ji 520 Euphorbium, }} 519 Evidence, medical, _ " bBU Execution, pregnancy a plea in bar of, i i75 Supervening of insanity, to pre- vent, » 590 129 Exemption from military duty by 182 disease, 1 '° 59 Extra-uterine foetus, whether ever 207 born alive, l ^9a 311 311 313 643 553 663 73 25 84 . 77 i 83 83 76,87 i 73 i 73 i 75 i 669 i 672 129 114 149 55 159 10 553 436 5 9 6, 9 149 242 338 736 GENERAL INDEX. Extra-uterine pregnancy, symp- toms of, i 206 Extremities, wounds of the, ii 261 Eyes, wounds of, ii 242 Face, wounds of the, ii 241 Fallopian tubes, state of, after de- livery, i 243, 329 Falls or blows, cause of death, ii 78, 241 Fasting, pretended, ii 70 Feigned diseases, i 25 Rules for detection, i 27 Feigned insanity, i 566 Rules for detection of, i 566 Fevers, feigned, i 29, 59 Fire-arms, wounds from, ii 86 263 Fishes, poisonous, ii 544 List of, ii 545 Treatment for, ii 547 Fistula in ano, feigned, i 65 Fluidity of the blood, ii 12 182 Flux, black, ii 391 Fly-powder, ii 425 Fcetal circulation, i 358 Foeticide, i 316 Fcetus, motion of, i 192 Extra-uterine, i 299 Size of, at various periods, i 267 Skeleton of, at various periods, i 273 Weight of, at various periods, i 267,274 Length of, at various periods, i 262,278 Signs of the maturity of, i 280 Signs of the immaturity of, i 280 Dissection of, in cases of infanticide, i 436 Viability of, i 282 At what age it has survived, i 283 Its living, meaning of, in the laws of various countries, i 286 Its living, tenant by the curtesy, holds by, i 286 Food, adulterated with lead, ii 502 Foundling hospitals, examination of their utility, i 457 Mortality in them, i 458 Fowler's solution, ii 425 Foxglove, ii 643 Fracture, before and after death, ii 20 Fractures, feigned, i 65 Froth in the bronchia?, ii 182 Gall-bladder, wounds of, ii 256 Galvanism, reduction of corrosive sublimate by, ii 442 ,447 Gamboge, its effects on animals, ii 527 Gas, carbonic acid, its effects, ii 110 Nitrous acid, its effects, ii 561 Sulphuretted hydrogen, its ef fects, ii 117 Sulphurous acid, its effects, ii 561 Gas lights, their effects, ii 619 Gases, irritant, ii 559 Gases, narcotic, ii 618 Gases, noxious, death by exposure to, ii 110 Gastric juice, perforation of the stomach by, ii 311 Gastric juice, appearance of the perforations by, ii 312 Gualtheria procumbens, ii 673 Gelsemium nitidum, a poison, ii 673 Gestation, ordinary period of, i 464 in animals, i 468 whether irregular, i 469 Protracted, i 472 Causes of variation of, i 465 Glass, powdered, effects of, ii 555 Gluten, an antidote of corrosive sublimate, ii 454 Gold, muriate of, poisoning by, ii 485 Gold, fulminating, poisoning by, ii 485 Gonorrhoea, feigned, i 51 Gout, in an insurance on life, i 535 Gratiola officinalis, poisoning by, ii 527 Gravel, feigned, i 52 Gun-shot wounds, ii 86, 263 Haemanthus toxicaria, ii 674 Haematemesis, feigned, i 37 Haematuria, feigned, i 37 Haemoptysis, feigned, i 36 Haemorrhage, as indicative of in- jury before death, ii 11 after death, ii 12, 102 Constitutional, cases of, ii 221 Haemorrhoids, feigned, i 38 Hair, its growth after death, ii 30, 37 Hallucination, definition of, i 551 Cases of, i 630 Hanging, death by ii 119 Modes in which it is induced, ii 120 Marks of death by, ii 122 Appearances on dissection, ii 129 Murder by, ii 133 Suicide by, ii 136 Murder of new-born children by, i 421 Head, wounds of the, ii 235 Heart, feigned diseases of the, i 30 Heart, wounds of the, ii 248 Hellebore, black, poisoning by, ii 639 Foetid, poisoning by, ii 640 White, poisoning by, ii 640 Helonias erythrosperma, ii 674 Hemlock, poisoning by, ii 630 American, poisoning by, ii 633 Water, poisoning by, ii 632 Henbane, poisoning by, ii 589 Hepatitis, feigned, i 32 Hermaphrodites, i 117 Non-existence of, i 117 Supposed cases of, i 117 Laws concerning, i 120 Hernia, feigned, i 61 Hippomanemancinella,poisonous, ii 522 Honey, poisonous, ii 551 Symptoms, ii 552 Hornet, sting of, poisonous, ii 544 Hospitals, foundling, i 457 Humble bee, sting of, ii 544 Hunger, death by, ii 55 Appearances on dissection, ii 55 Hura crepitans, ii 672 GENERAL INDEX. 737 214, 331 i 216 420 356 358 61 59 340 363 531 603 620 365 553 48 384 Hydatids in the uterus, Symptoms of, Hydrated oxide of iron, ii Hydriodate of potash, poisoning by, i Hydrobromate of potash, poison- „ , »ng by, ii Hydrocele, feigned, i Hydrocephalus, feigned, i Hydrochloric acid, poisoning by, ii Hydrochlorate of ammonia, ii Hydrocotile vulgaris, an acrid poi- son, ii Hydrocyanate of ammonia, ii Hydrocyanic acid, see Prussic acid. Hydrogen gas, ii Hydrogenated sulphuret of potash, ii Hydrophobia, ii Feigned, i Hydrostatic test of infanticide, i Objections to, and examination of these, i 385 to 401 Directions for performing, i 396 Hymen, existence of, i 135 As a proof of virginity, i 136 Hymen, imperforate, i 107, 181 Hyoscyamus albus, poisoning by, ii 590 Hyoscyamus niger, poisoning by, ii Hypochondriasis, its characteris- tics, i Distinction between it and me- lancholy, i Hypospadias, j Hysteria, feigned, i Identity, disputed cases of, i 524 to 530 Use of physical signs in deter- mining, i 530 Identity of dead bodies, ii 38 Idiosyncrasy, its effects, ii 279, 298 Idiotisra, its frequency in some countries, Characteristics of, Its complication with other dis eases, Feigned, Idiots, laws concerning, Definition of, in law, Method of proving persons, Persons born deaf, dumb and blind, are, Illusions, what constitutes them, Imbecility, mental, i Immature foetus, signs of, Impotence, a cause of divorce, Laws concerning it, i Causes of, in the mate, Absolute, Accidental, Curable, Diseases that cause temporary, Do. that do not cause temporary, Causes of, in the female, Curable, Incurable, Impregnation, during sleep, i 231 In cases of rape, i 170 When the female is in a stupor, i 213 Incoherent madness, i 559 Incontinence of urine, feigned, i 50 Indigestion, its symptoms, resem- bling poison, ii 298 Infant cannot make a valid will, i 645 Infanticide, i 300 ; ii 690 History of, in various countries, i 300 to 316 589 628 629 93 47 561 561 561 570 590 581 590 662 551 561, 652 i 280 i 89 90, 113 i 91 i 92 i 99 i 98 i 103 i 101 i 103 i 107 i 103 Definition of, i Murder of the fcetus in utero, i Vitality of the fcetus, i Proofs of the murder of the foe- tus, (see Abortion,) i Proofs of the child being born alive, i from the character of the blood i from condition of heart and blood-vessels, i Proofs of the child having re. spired after birth, i General configuration and size of thorax, j Volume or size of the lungs, j Relative situation of the lungs, i Shape of the lungs, j Colour of the lungs, i Consistence or density of the lungs, i Specific gravity of the lungs, i Objections to the hydrostatic test, i State of the liver, j Discharge of the meconium, j State of the bladder, i Means of death, Criminal, j Accidental, ] Circumstantial evidence of, i External and internal examina- tion of the child, i Mode of conducting dissection Reports of cases, Laws against, Insanity, Symptoms of, Causes of, 316 316 317 334 356 356 358 372 372 373 373 375 375 377 383 385 398 399 400 412 423 434 436 436 i 439, 461 451 548 549 565 Moral, Feigned, \ Concealed, • Rule for detection of feigned and concealed, J Excuses from crimes, i Incapacitates from making a will, i (See Mania and Melancholia.) Insensibility during delivery, j Insurance upon lives, i Intestines, wounds of, )) Intoxication, death from, ii Symptoms indicative of danger, ii Treatment, ii i 563, 614 i 566 566 566 590 645 255 532 254 664 665 667 62* 738 GENERAL INDEX. Intoxication, does not excuse from punishment, i 631 Iodic acid, a test, ii 328 Iodide of arsenic, ii 430 Iodide of mercury, ii 457 Iodide of lead, ii 508 Iodine, poisoning by, ii 352 Tests of, ii 354 Cyanuret of, ii 670 Ipecacuanha, ii 646 Iridium, experiments with, ii 511 Iron, hydrated oxide of, ii 419 Iron, sulphate of, poisonous, ii 488 muriate of, poisonous, ii 489 Irritant poisons, their effects, ii 283 list of, ii 320 Jalap, poisoning by, ii 526 Jatropha curcas and manihot, poi- soning by, ii 522 Jaundice, feigned, i 38 Juniper, oil of, effects of, in pro- ducing abortion, i 339 Juniperus sabina, effects of in pro- ducing abortion, i 340 Poisoning by, ii 526 Kalmia latifolia, poisoning by, ii 673 Renders honey poisonous, ii 550 Renders pheasants poisonous, ii 552 Kidneys, wounds of, ii 257 King's yellow, ii 426 Kreosote, ii 670 Laburnum, ii 663 Lactuca virosa, a narcotic poison, ii 592 Lameness, feigned, i 62 Larynx, wounds of, ii 245 Lathyrus cicera, poisonous, ii 663 Laurel-water, poisoning by, ii 604 Laurus camphora, ii 656 Lead, poisoning by, ii 489 Acetate of, symptoms of poison- ing by, ii 489 Sometimes innoxious, ii 491 Effect on animals, ii 492 Carbonate of, poisoning by, ii 496 Water impregnated with, ii 500 Litharge, its effects, ii 499 Food adulterated with, ii 502 Earthen vessels glazed with, noxious, ii 503 Cider adulterated with, ii 504 Rum adulterated with, ii 504 Syrups adulterated with, ii 505 Wines adulterated, with ii 503 Emanations of, ii 505 Tests of the various salts of, ii 507 Antidotes of, ii 508 Iodide of, ii 508 Muriate of, ii 500 Action of air on, ii 500 Cheese adulterated with, ii 505 Sugar adulterated with, ii 505 Legitimacy, i 466 Laws of various countries on, i 490 Lightning, death by, ii Appearances from, ii Lime-kilns, their exhalations poi- sonous, ii Lime, quick, poisoning by, ii Lineae albicantes, a sign of delive- Lips, wounds of, n Litharge, poisoning by, ii Adulteration of wines by, ii Liver, wounds of, ii Liver of sulphur poisoning by, ii Antidote, ii Lividity in the dead, ii Lives, insurance upon, i policies on, how vitiated, i Lobelia inflata, and other species, poisoning by, ii Lobster, sometimes noxious, ii Lolium temulentum, poisoning by, ii Lucid interval, definition of, for- merly, i At the present day, i Application of in civil cases, Application of, in criminal cases, i Difficulty of ascertaining, i Will made during, i Lunacy, (See Insanity.) Lungs wounds of, ii their state in new-born in- fants, i Weight of, i Examination of, i Volume or size, relative situa- tion, shape, colour, consist- ency and specific gravity of, i 59 59 112 364 235 243 499 503 256 365 366 14 532 534 530 549 663 593 598 597 599 602 655 247 372 377 397 373 ii 549 i 549 i 66 i 522 ii 512 i 549 i 549 i 554 i 566 i 566 Mackerel, sometimes noxious, Madness, Maiming, feigned, Manchineel, Manganese, experiments with, Mania, Symptoms of, Duration of paroxysms of, Feigned, Concealed, Mania a potu, (see Delirium Tremens.) Mayhem, definition of, ii 270 Mayhem, laws against, i 270 Mechanical irritants, ii 555 Meconic acid, ii 573, 576 Meconine, ii 565, 573 Meconium, discharge of, in new- born infants, Medical evidence, Medico-legal dissection, its impor- tance, Rules for, In poisoning, In rape, Melancholy, its symptoms, A frequent cause of insanity, i 633 i 399 ii 680 por-ii 4 ii 5 ii 10, 302 i 149 i 556 GENERAL INDEX. 739 Melancholy, time of life when it occurs, i 558 feigned, j 570 diagnosis between, and hy- pochondriasis, . j ggg Melia azederach, jj g73 Menses, period of their recurrence, i 466 Menses, suppression of, how far a sign of pregnancy, j ]89 Menstruation, feigned, i 38 191 Menstruation, the age when it commences, j 208 Mental alienation, j 547 Mercurialis perennis, poisoning by, ' u 648 Mercury, „ 43] Mercury, cyanuret of, ii 456 metallic, whether a poison, ii 459 nitrate of, ii 456 sulphuret of, ii 455 deutobromide of, ii 456 red oxide of, ii 455 red precipitate of, ii 455 vapours of, their effects, ii 457 salivation by, whether ever renewed, ii 441 effects in procuring abortion, i 341 (See corrosive sublimate.) Mesentery, wounds of, ii 256 Milk, secretion of, how far a sign of pregnancy, i 187 how far a sign of delivery, i 235 Moles, definition of, i 212, 333 symptoms, i 214 whether the result of concep- tion, i 213 Momordica elaterium, ii 517 Monomania, symptoms of, i 555 affecting the validity of wills, i 656 Monsters, division of, i 296 their inheriting, i 298 Molybdenum, experiments with, ii 510 Morphine, ii 565, 570 Moral insanity, i 563, 614 Muriate of ammonia, poisoning by, ii 363 Muriatic acid gas, ii 561 Muriatic acid, poisoning by, ii 340 Mussels, poisoning by, ii 547 Mushrooms, poisonous, ii 658 symptoms of, ii 658 appearances on dissection, ii 659 treatment, ii 660 Mutilation, laws on, ii 269 Myopia, feigned, i 52 Narceine, ." 573 Narcissus, pseudo-narcissus, poi- soning by, ii 526 Narcotic poisons, ii 564 symptoms of, ii 283 appearances on dissection, ii 305 Narcotico-acrid poisons, ii 620 symptoms, ii 283 appearances on dissection, ii 306 Narcotine, ii 563, 572, 578 Navel-string, (see Umbilical cord.) Near-sightedness, feigned, i 52 Neck, dislocation of, in hanging, ii 121 wounds of the, ii 244 Nerium oleander, poisoning by, ii 646 Neuralgia, feigned, i 36 Nicotiana tabacum, poisoning by, ii 628 Nicotine,' ii 630 Nickel, experiments with, ii 511 Nitrate of silver, (see silver.) Nitrate of mercury, ii 456 Nitre, poisoning by, ii 361 (See potash.) Nitric acid, poisoning by, ii 330 division of poisoning into four classes, ii 330 symptoms of each, ii 331 appearances on dissection, ii 335 chemical proofs of, ii 338 treatment, >> ii 340 Nitrogen, poisoning by, ii 618 Nitrous acid gas, poisoning by, ii 561 Nitric ether, ii 668 Nitrous oxide gas, ii 620 Non compos, (see Insanity,) i 581 Nose, wounds of, ii 243 Nostalgia, i 49, 631 feigned, i 49 Noxious inhalations, death from, ii 110 Nuncupative wills, i 643 Nux vomica, its effects, ii 650 Nyctalopia, feigned, „ i 54 Nymphomania, i 565 (Enanthe crocata, poisoning by, ii 633 fistulosa, poisonous, ii 635 (Esophagus, perforation of, in ex- periments with potassium, ii 287 Oils, empyreumatic, ii 669 Oil of tar, ii 669 Oil, Dippel's, ii 669 Oil of tansy, ii 675 Oil of vitriol, poisoning by, ii 320 Oil of wintergreen, ii 675 Oil of cedar, ii 675 Old age, debility of mind produced by, i 641 wills made in, i 652 Omentum, wounds of, ii 256 Operation, Caesarean, i 294 Operation, death after an, ii 232 Ophthalmia, feigned, i 52 Opium, its compound nature, ii 565 symptoms of poisoning by, ii 566 eating, ii 568 appearances on dissection, ii 574 effect on animals, ii 570 treatment, ii 585 tests of, ii 579 Ornithorynchus paradoxus, ii 550 Orpiment, ii 426 Osmium, experiments with, ii 511 Ovaria, absence of, i HO Essential to puberty, i 110 740 GENERAL INDEX. Ovarian dropsy, i 182 Oxalic acid, poisoning by, ii 343 Symptoms of, ii 344 Appearances on dissection of, ii 345 Effect on animals of, ii 346 Tests of, ii 348 Antidotes of, ii 350 Oxygen gas, ii 620 Oxymuriate of lime, ii 364 Oxymuriatic acid gas, poisoning by, ii 559 Oysters sometimes noxious, ii 549 Ozoena, feigned, i 65 Pain, feigned, ii 32 Palladium, experiments with, ii 511 Palsy, feigned, i 40 From lead, ii 506 Will made after an attack of, i 648 Pancreas, wounds of, ii 256 Paramorphine, ii 573,578 Paris quadrifolia, a narcotic poi- son, ii 593 Parturition, (see Delivery.) Passiflora quadrangularis, ii 673 Passions, violent, effects of, ii 42 Pastinaca sativa, poisoning by, ii 531 Paternity of children, where wi- dows marry immediately, ii 497 Paverine, ii 574 Peach, its kernels contain prussic acid, ii 575 Pedicularis palustris, poisonous, ii 527 Peganum harmela, a narcotic, ii 593 Penis, malconformations of, i 92 Pennyroyal, abortion from, i 343 Perforation of the stomach, ii 301 If a sign of poison, ii 313, 379 Personal identity, i 524 Persons found dead, ii 1 From natural causes, ii 41 From cold, ii 51 From lightning, ii 59 From noxious inhalations, ii 110 From hanging, ii 119 From strangling, ii 153 From drowning, ji 174 From smothering, ii 169 From wounds, ii 76 From burning, ii 60 From hunger, . || 55 From poisons, ii 276 Petechiae, feigned, j 65 Pheasant, sometimes poisonous, ii 550 Phosphorus, poisoning by, ii 350 Physalia, poisonous, ii 549 Physalis somnifera, a narcotic, ii 593 Physconia, feigned, j 60 Physometra, case of, i 217 Phytolacca decandra, poisoning by, ii 531 Picrotoxine, ji 657 Piscidia erythina, ii 672 Placental mark, i 255 Placental sound, i 202 Platina, nitro-muriate of, ii 486 Ploucquet's test in cases of infanti- cide, i 378 Plumbago europaea, an acrid poi- son, ii 529 Poisoning, false accusation of, ii 296 Compound, ii 675 Poisons, ii 276 Definition of, ii 277 Mode of action of, ii 277 Resistance to, in man, ii 278 Resistance to, in animals, ii 279 Introduction of, ii 280 Classification of, ii 281 Signs of, on the living body, ii 282 Signs of, on the dead body, ii 301 Exhibition of, to animals, ii 287 Exhibition of, to persons during sickness, ii 288 Secret and slow, ii 290 To a number at once, ii 293 Diseases resembling effects of, ii 297 Appearances resembling ditto, ii 309 Administered by injection, ii 306 Effects on the dead body, ii 306 Irritant, ii 320 Narcotic, ii 564 Narcotico-acrid, ii 621 Poisonous fishes, ii 544 Poisonous serpents, ii 537 Symptoms of bite of, ii 539 Antidotes to bite of, ii 541 Policy on lives, i 533 How vitiated, i 534 Polygala senega, i 342, ii 542 Polygala venenosa, ii 673 Polypus of the nose, feigned, i 60 Potash, caustic, poisoning by, i 359 Carbonate of, poisoning by, ii 359 Appearances on dissection, ii 360 Hydrogenated sulphuret of, poi- soning by, ii 365 Nitrate of, poisoning by, ii 361 Symptoms, ii 361 Effect on animals, ii 362 Hydrobromate of, ii 358 Hydriodate of, ii 356 Arsenite of, ii 425 Arseniate of, ii 426 Potassium, cyanuret of, ii 671 Pregnancy, i 173 Laws on, in civil and criminal cases, i 174 Signs of, i 177 to 204 Concealed, i 178 Laws, punishing, i 452 Pretended, i 178 ,218 Auscultation as a test of, i 201 No one certain sign of, i 205 Extra-uterine, i 206 Plea of, i 175 Signs of, on dissection, i 243 Mistaken for dropsy, i 182 May be accompanied with drop- sy. i 182 GENERAL INDEX. 741 Pregnancy, states of the uterus mistaken for, i 211 to 217 Whether female can be ignorant T of> . i 228 In an idiot, i 331 Signs of the fcetus being living during, i 261 feigns of the foetus being dead during, i 262 Following rape, i 179 Age at which it is possible, i 207, 521 Prenanthes alba, an antidote to the bite of serpents, Ji 542 Pressure in a crowd, death from, ii 172 Presumption of survivorship, When mother and child die dur- ing delivery, i 503 In a common accident, i 505 Roman law concerning, i 506 Ancient French law concerning, i 507 Present French law concerning, i 509 English cases concerning, i 510 Pretended delivery, i 239 Pretended pregnancy, i 218 Prolapsus uteri, feigned, i 60 Prunus avium, its kernels contain prussic acid, ii 603 Prunus caroliniana, ii 615 Prunus lauro-cerasus, ii 604 Prunus nigra, ii 615 Prunus padus, ii 614 Prunus virginiana, ii 615 Prussic acid, poisoning by, ii 593 Symptoms of, ii 594 Appearances on dissection, ii 597 Effect on animals, ii 598 Tests, ii 599 Antidotes, ii 602 Vegetables that contain, ii 603 Pseudo-morbid appearances, ii 17 Pseudomorphine, ii 519 Puberty, instances of premature, i 519 Putrefaction, its effects may be mistaken for violence, ii 14 Changes from, ii 31,38, 198 When it supervenes, ii 32 Not to prevent dissection, ii 38 From drowning, ii 197 Whether an effect of arsenic, ii 381 Quickening, ii 179 Ancient opinion concerning, i 193 Present prevailing opinions, i 194 Period when it occurs, i 194 Whether uniform, i 195, 465 The law, distinguishing between murder before and after, i 175, 448 Quick lime, poisoning by, ii 364 Quicksilver, (see Mercury.) Ranunculus acris, and other spe- cies, poisoning by, ii 523 Rape, j 134 Signs of, 1 135 Rape, diseases resembling, i 142 Medical examination of, i 144 Possibility of consummation of, i 145 False accusations of, i 147 Feigned, i 148 Medico-legal dissection in death from, i 149 Committed on infants, i 152 Laws concerning, i 151 Testimony of infants in cases of, i 154 Penetration, necessary in law, i 161 During sleep, i 169 Pregnancy following, i 170 Rattlesnake, effects of the bite of, ii 539 Realgar, ii 426 Rectum, prolapsus of, feigned, i 60 Red precipitate, ii 455 Red lead, ii 499 Resemblance, in cases of doubtful paternity, i 499 Respiration in utero, i 407 Rheumatism, feigned, i 32 Rhodium, experiments with, ii 511 Rhododendron chrysanthum, poi- soning by, ii 529 Rhus radicans, poisoning by, ii 528 Rhus toxicodendron and vernix, poisoning by, ii 528 Ricinus communis, effects of, ii 521 Rifle-ball, wounds with, ii 88 Rigidity, cadaveric, ii 31 Rigidity, spasmodic, ii 32,165 Robinia pseudo-acacia, ii 672 Rum, adulterated with lead, ii 504 Rupture of vessels, death from, ii 42 Rupture of viscera, death from, ii 298 Rupture of the stomach, ii 258,298,316 Ruta graveolens, effects, , ii 646 Rye, spurred, see Ergot. Sal ammoniac, poisoning by, ii 363 Salivation, renewal of, ii 451 Sambucus ebulus, poisoning by, ii 532 Sanguinaria canadensis, an acrid narcotic, ii 672 Sanguineous congestions, ii 17 Saturnine emanations, effects of, ii 505 Savine, (see Juniperus sabina.) Scammony, effects of, ii 526 Scheele's green, ii 397, 425 Scilla maritima, effects of, ii 645 Scorpion, bite of, ii 543 Scrofula, feigned, i 49 Scurvy, feigned, i 49 Secale cornutum, (see Ergot.) Secret poisons, ii 290 Sedum acre, poisoning by, ii 529 Seleniuretted hydrogen gas, ii 562 Semen, tests of, i 150 Senecio obovatus, ii 674 Serpents, poisonous, ii 537 Serum, presence of, ii 18 Sex, doubtful, i 117 Shot, wounds with, ii 90 Sight, defective, feigned, i 52 742 GENERAL INDEX. Silver, fulminating, poisoning by, ii 485 Silver, nitrate of, poisoning by, ii 483 Tests of, ii 484 Antidote of, ii 484 Sium latifolium, poisonous, ii 635 Skeleton, examination of, ii 23 At various ages, ii 23 Of different sexes, ii 24 Slow poisons, ii 290, 307 Smothering, death by, ii 169 Of new-born infants, i 421 Snuff, poisoning with, ii 628 Soda, caustic, poisoning by, ii 363 Sodomy, i 171 Solanine, ii 592 Solanum dulcamara, effects of, ii 591 Somnolency, feigned, i 47 Sorbus aucuparia, ii 617 Spider, bite of, ii 543 Spigelia marilandica, poisoning by, ii 674 Spirits, effects of, ii 664 Spleen, wounds of, ii 257 Spontaneous combustion, ii 68 Spurred maize, ii 662 Spurred rye, (see Ergot.) Squill, effects of the, ii 645 Stalagmitis cambogioides, ii 527 Stammering, feigned, i 58 Starvation, death by, ii 55 Sterility, causes of, i 103,109 Stethoscope, in pregnancy, i 201 Stomach, wounds of, ii 252 Blows on, ii 254 Rupture of the, ii 253, 298, 316 Vascularity of the, ii 309 Perforation of the, ii 311 Stomach-pump, ii 318, 423, 586 Stools, involuntary, feigned, i 39 Stramonium, poisoning by, ii 625 Strangulation, death by, ii 153 New-born children, i 421 Modes of accomplishing, ii 154 Appearances on dissection in, ii 159 Manual, ii 159 Murder by, ii 162 Suicide by, ii 162 Stricture, feigned, i 51 Strychnine, effects of, ii 652 Strychnos ignatia, poisoning by, ii 653 Strychnos nux vomica, poisoning by, ii 650 Strychnos tieute, ii 653 Stuttering, feigned, i 58 Sudden death, ii 41 Suffocation, in hanging, ii 120 Sugillation, explained, ii 13 Suicide, death by, its proofs, ii 50 By drowning, ii 210 By hanging, ■>, ii. 136 By poisoning, \ ii 296 By strangulation, ii 162 By wounds, ii 85 As indicative of insanityy i 655 Sulphurets of arsenic, ■ ii 426 Sulphuret of arsenic formed in the stomach, ii 380 Sulphocyanic acid, ii 582, 603 Sulphuret of potash, Of soda, Sulphuric ether, Sulphuretted hydrogen gas, death from, Its effects, Appearances on dissection, Sulphuric acid, poisoning by, Symptoms, Appearances on dissection, Effect on animals, Chemical proofs, Sulphurous acid gas, poisoning by, Superfcetation, Cases of, Objections to the doctrine of, Supertartrate of potash, Supposititious children, Survivorship, presumption of, Symplocarpus foetida, Syncope, feigned, Tanghinia veneniflua, Tansy, oil of, death from taking, Tar, oil of, Tarantula, bite of the, Tartar emetic, poisoning by, Symptoms of, Appearances on dissection, Effect on animals, Chemical proofs, Antidotes, Solubility of, Tartaric acid, Taxus Baccata, poisoning by, Tenant by the curtesy, Law in England concerning, In Scotland concerning, Cannot hold if catsarean opera- tion, Tellurium, experiments with, Testes, wounds of, Testes, want of, Concealed, Wasting of, Tetanus, feigned, After wounds, Thorax, wounds of the, Thrombus, Tic doloureux, feigned, Ticunas, a South American poison, Tieute\ Tongue, swallowing of, Tin, muriate of, poisoning by, Chemical proofs, Antidote, Oxide of, Titanium, experiments with, Toad, poison of the, Tobacco, external application of, Oil of, poisoning by, Tofana, poison of, 365 366 667 117 118 119 320 321 324 325 325 n 561 219 222 224 362 i 218, 240 503 GENERAL INDEX. 743 Trachea, wounds of, ii 245 Tumours, formation of, feigned, i 58 Tungsten, experiments with, ii 511 Tympanites, feigned, i 59 Tympanites, uterine, i 217 Signs of, i 181 Ulcers, feigned, i 63 Umbilical cord, changes of, i 368 Umbilical cord, danger of not tying, i 412 Premature ligature of, i 427 Unsoundness of mind, i 582 What it means, i 485 Upas antiar, poisoning by, ii 654 Upas tieute, ii 653 Uranium, experiments with, ii 512 Urine in pregnancy, i 201 Urine, bloody, feigned, i 37 Incontinence of, feigned, i 50 Uterine vagitus, i 407 Uterus, wounds of, ii 258 Utcro-gestation, (see Gestation.) Uterus, changes in, from pregnancy, i 179, 196, 327 Examination of, by the touch, i 195 Double, i 225 Hydatids of, feigned, i 60 Prolapsus of, feigned, i 60 Tumours of, feigned, i 60 Want of, i 109 Vagina in pregnancy, i 199 Vagina, state of, in the pure fe- male, i 138 Imperforate, i 170, 180 Poison introduced into, ii 371 Examination of, in rape, i 142, 149 Obstructed, Vapours, antimonial, j Arsenical, ] Mercurial, j Vascularity of the stomach; i Venereal disease, its presence in cases of rape, Venesection producing abortion, Venomous animals, J Veratrine, ) Veratrum album, poisoning by, i Verdigris (see Copper.) Vermilion, poisoning by, i Viability of a new-born infant, Viper, bite of, > Virginity, signs of,, Vitriol, oil of, (see Sulphuric acid.) White, (see Zinc.) 466 376 457 309 166 335 532 641 640 456 282 537 135 Vitriol, blue, jj 472 Vomiting, its effect in poisoning, ii 285 Feigned, i 39 Wasp, sting of, jj 544 Water in lungs from drowning, ii 185 in stomach from do. ii 188 impregnated with lead, ii 500 over zinc roofs, ii 481 Weight of the lungs, i 377, 380 Wells, danger of descending, ii 112 Wheat, diseased, ii 663 White lead, poisoning by, ii 496 Wills, legal requisites of, i 644 Nuncupative, i 643 And testaments, i 644 Who can make valid, i 645 Diseases that incapacitate from making valid, i 646 Proving a person competent, i 661 Wines adulterated with lead, ii 503 Witnesses, medical, duties of, ii 689 Woorara, a South Amer. poison, ii 654 Wounds, examination of, ii 6 Feigned, i 66 On new-born infants, i 419 Received before death, ii 18 Received after death, ii 19 Of persons dead from, ii 76 On the living body, ii 214 Definition of the term, ii 214 Division of, ii 215 Enumeration of mortal, ii 217 of dangerous, ii 218 of slight, ii 219 Circumstances that aggravate the danger of, ii 219 Of the abdomen, ii 252 Of the extremities, ii 261 Of the face, ii 241 Of the head, ii 235 Of the neck, ii 244 Of the thorax, ii 247 Laws concerning, ii 266 Wryneck, feigned, i 63 Yedra, ii 675 Yew tree, poisonous, ii 592 Zinc, metallic, whether proper for culinary vessels, ii 480 Zinc, oxide of, effects, ii 479 Zinc, sulphate of, ii 477 Effects of, in large doses, ii 477 Appearances on dissection, ii 478 Tests, ii 478 Treatment, ii 479 *£■■/** ,<1 ;ovrvt-tf NLM032783977