On the cooling of the human body after death : Inferences respecting the time of death. Observations of temperature made in 100 cases / by Dr. Alfred S. Taylor and Dr. Wilks.

  • Taylor, Alfred Swaine, 1806-1880.
Date:
1863
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the cooling of the human body after death : Inferences respecting the time of death. Observations of temperature made in 100 cases / by Dr. Alfred S. Taylor and Dr. Wilks. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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

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    COOLING OF THE HUMAN BODY AFTER DEATH. INFERENCES RESPECTING TIIE TIME OF DEATH. OBSERVATIONS OF TEMPERATURE MADE IN 100 CASES. By Du. ALFRED S. TAYLOR and De. WILKS. c~- On the discovery of a dead body, it is sometimes material for the purposes of justice to determine, on medical principles, the period at which death has probably taken place. One con- dition of the dead body, namely, the coldness or loss of heat as the result of dissolution, has been for a long time considered to furnish a scientific basis for a medical opinion ; but when medical evidence on this point is closely examined, it will be found that the opinions are commonly speculative, and that no accurate observations have been made by the individuals. Hence when the question arises, it is not surprising that the medical opinions elicited are of the most conflicting kind. It is with a view to supply some information of a more accurate nature that we have here collected one hundred cases of deaths in Guy's Hospital, commencing with the present year, and have noticed in the respective columns—the age, the cause of death—the time of death—the temperature of the air, as well as wetness or dryness, and the temperature of the body at one or more intervals after death. As the object of these researches was of a practical character, the temperature of the body was taken by placing the naked bulb of a good thermometer unco- vered on the skin of the abdomen. The trunk retains the heat longer than the limbs, and thus serves to mark the period of the duration of heat on the surface of the body. No special notes have been made with regard to the amount