An epitome of juridical or forensic medicine ; for the use of medical men, coroners, and barristers / By George Edward Male.

  • Male, George Edward.
Date:
1816
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: An epitome of juridical or forensic medicine ; for the use of medical men, coroners, and barristers / By George Edward Male. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, through the Medical Heritage Library. The original may be consulted at the Francis A. Countway Library of Medicine, Harvard Medical School.

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    few days of their birth, for new-born children require very little nourishment, and it was for- merly tlie custom to keep them some days from the breast: this, however, if suspected, may be ascertained by examining the stomach. A child may have been drowned in water, or In the discharges of the mother (innocent of its death), or suffocated by thrusting rags or other extraneous substances down its throat. In the first case, the symptoms will be nearly the same as in other cases of drowning *, and will be * It is the opinion of the celebrated natural historian BuSbn, that it is probable a new-born child might sustain a privation of air, for a considerable time, without losing its existence. At least, the possibility of this I once seem- ingly confirmed by an experiment upon some young dogs. I put a pregnant bitch, just as she was about to litter, into a tub filled with warm water, where, after fastening her in such a manner, that the lower parts were covered with water, she brought forth three puppies, which were accord- ingly received into a liquid as warm as they had left. After washing them in this water, I removed them, without giving them time to breathe, into a smaller tub filled with warm milk.^ In this they were kept inunersed above half an hour, and when taken out they were all found alive. They began to breathe, and to discharge some moisture by the mouth.