The student's hand-book of forensic medicine and medical police / by H. Aubrey Husband.

  • Husband, H. Aubrey (Henry Aubrey)
Date:
1883
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: The student's hand-book of forensic medicine and medical police / by H. Aubrey Husband. Source: Wellcome Collection.

    47/628 (page 31)
    Post-mortem Signs.—Congestion of the membranes and substance of the brain, and of the lungs. The cavities of the heart, especially those of the right, con- tain more or less blood. Signs of Death Meal or apparent Death It will be unnecessary here to discuss any of the theories put forth with regard to cases of apparent death or prolonged trance, but simply to note in the order of their occurrence the phenomena which attend real death. Real Death. 1. Entire cessation of respiration and circulation ; no murmur heard on auscultation. 2. The lustre of the eye is lost immediately after death. It has, however, been stated that the iris will respond to the action of atropia and calabar bean for as long as twenty-four hours after death, and that the action of the latter is always more marked than that of the former. 3. The most powerful stimulus applied to the body does not cause any reaction. The muscles may, how- ever, be made to contract shortly after death by the stimulus of a slight blow, or by galvanism. 4. The surface of the body becomes of an ashy-white colour. Exceptions. a. Persons of florid complexion retain this for some time after death. b. The red or livid edges of idcers. c. Blue, black, or red tattoo marks, if not effaced during life, do not disappear. Ecchymoses retain the hue they had at the time of death. d. An ' icteric' coloration existing at death never becomes white. Death from jaundice.