A manual of medical jurisprudence / by Alfred Swaine Taylor.

  • Taylor, Alfred Swaine, 1806-1880.
Date:
1891
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A manual of medical jurisprudence / by Alfred Swaine Taylor. 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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    making a post-mortem examination of fhe body tlie following additional points should be attended to. 6. The external appearance of the body, and whether the surface is livid or pallid. 7. The state of the counte- nance. 8. All marks of violence on the person, discomposure of the dress, marks of blood, etc. 9. The situation, form, and direction of all wounds. 10. The presence or absence of warmth in the legs, arms, abdomen, mouth, or armpits. 11. The presence of cadaveric rigidity in any part of the body. To give any value to the two last-mentioned' characters, it is necessary for the practitioner to observe the nature of the floor on which the body is lying,—whether the body is clothed or naked, young or old, fat or emaciated. These conditions create a difference, in respect to the cooling of the body and the access of rigidity. 12. If found dead—when was the deceased last seen living, or known to have been alive? 13. All circumstances leading to a- suspicion of suicide or murder. 14. The time after death at which the' inspection was made. 15. The state of the abdominal viscera. If the stomach and intestines are found inflamed, the seat of inflammation should be exactly specified; also all marks of softening, ulceration, effusion of blood, corrosion, or perforation. The stomach should be removed and placed in a separate vessel, a ligature being applied to each end. If cut open for examination at this period, this operation should be performed in a clean dish, and with such care that none of the contents are lost or are allowed to mix with the contents of the intestines. 16. The contents of the stomach, if this organ was opened during the inspection, should be collected in a clean graduated vessel:—notice a, the quantity; the odour tried by several persons ; c, the colour; d, acid or alkaline reaction; e, presence of blood, mucus, or bile; /, presence of undigested food; and it may be as well to observe, that the presence of farinaceous matters (as bread) would be indicated by the addition of iodine water, if the contents were not alkaline—of fat, by warming; other special characters. 17. The contents of the duodenum should be separately collected, ligatures being applied to it. 18. The state of the large intestines, especially the rectum, and the condition of their contents. The discovery of hardened faeces in the rectum would prove that purging had not existed shortly before death. 19. The state of the windpipe, throat, and guUet, and whether there are in these parts any foreign substances, or marks of inflamma- tion and corrosion. This is of essential importance, as it throws a light upon a variety of questions which may arise respecting death by suffoca- tion from mechanical causes, or the nature of a substance swallowed. 20. The state of the lungs and heart; morbid changes, etc. 21. The state of the brain and spinal marrow. 22. The condition of the womb, ovaries, and genital organs, as in the female poison has been sometimes introduced into the body by the vagina, or wounds have been inflicted internally. 23. The kidneys and the spleen should be submitted to examination. 24. The liver with the gall bladder should be removed for chemical examination. 25. The urinary bladder, with any fluid contained in it, should be removed and placed in a separate jar. Such are the points to which, in the greater number of cases of violent