On the presumption of survivorship / by James Bell Pettigrew.

Date:
1865
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the presumption of survivorship / by James Bell Pettigrew. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. The original may be consulted at the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

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    ccssaiy in any form of drowning whatever ; while others, as TTaller, De Haen,' and Louis,” afhrin tliat it is. Recent investigation in- clines to the opinion of Becker and his followers, although Fodere* thinks the presence of frothy mucus may be considered as a sign of as))hyxia. That, however, frothy mucus even when present is not an infallible sign, is at once evident from the fact, that it may occur in death resulting from strangulation, from epilepsy, from violent catar- rhal affections, and from breathing noxious vapouns. The foregoing appearances are of course only valuable when the bodies are recovered soon after death and before putrefaction sets in. Another diagno.stic sign of survivorship is when sand, mud, and other materials are dis- covered beneath the nails, and something or other is found clutched in the hands as denoting a struggle ; but here again aijpearances are de- ceptive, for the sand and mud may have got beneath the nails by the rubbing of the body on the bottom, and the hands may have grasped the substance they contain, while the individual was in the act of falling into the water. A difficulty which may arise in cases of drowning, and which is often debated in medico-legal circles, is whether the per- sons found in the water have not been made away with beforehand ; but as this is very improbable, where questions of survivorship are likely to be raised, it need not be discussed. Ou calmly reviewing the foregoing diagnostic marks, in connexion with the modifications to which they ai’e subject, their inconclusive- ness in matters of survivorship mu.st be at once conceded. They can therefore only form part of the evidence in the settlement of such questions, a fact tending to strengthen a former line of argument, viz., the importance to be attached to collateral circumstances, as age,® sex, strength, position of the bodies, &c. Death by Noxious Inhalation.—Death occasioned by the breathing of impui’e vapours, although by no means so common as death by drowning, is nevertheless so frequent as to demand a large share of attention. Perhaps the mo.st common cause of death by this means, is the breath- J De Haen’s Ratio Medendi continuata, 130, &c. 2 Louis, sur les Noyes. 3 Fodere, vol. iii. pp. 73-94. In such cases the presence of external marks of violence will in general give a clue to the real state of things. In examining these, however, care should be taken that such marks are not the result of and occasioned after death, rather than the cause thereof. ® Guy, in speaking of the probabilities of survivorship afforded by age and sex under the head of ‘ Drowning,’ says that in shipwrecks men are more likely to be in a favourable situation for saving themselves, as they are more on deck than women ; they also in many instances are able to swim, or to save themselves by clinging to portions of the wreck, and they are less incumbered by clothing. When the compa- rison is made between men similarly exposed, and capable of the same exertion, it may be necessary to inquire whether one was more exposed to cold by having the body half immersed, whilst the other was more under water; seiirch should also be made for severe injuries which may have prevented the swimmer from using his strength. Death from apoplexy is stated by Devergie to be sooner fatal than by apnoea, while in death by syncope there is the best chance of recovery. Principles of Forensic Medicine, by W. A. Guy, M.A., &c. Loud. 1844, p. 310.