Aids to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology | Page 8

due to h?morrhage, although not so marked in degree. Post-mortem staining (cadaveric lividity) begins to appear in from eight to twelve hours after death, and its position on the body will help to determine the length of time the body has lain in the position in which it was found. The staining is of a dull red or slaty blue colour. It must be distinguished from ecchymosis the result of a bruise, by making an incision into the part; in the case of hypostasis a few small bloody points of divided arteries will be seen, in the case of ecchymosis the subcutaneous tissues are infiltrated with blood-clot. Internally, hypostasis must not be mistaken for congestion of the brain or lungs, or the results of inflammation of the intestines. If the intestine is pulled straight, inflammatory redness is continuous, hypostasis is disconnected. About the neck hypostasis must not be mistaken for the mark of a cord or other ligature. When the blood is of a bright red colour after death (as happens in poisoning by CO or HCN, or in death from cold), the hypostasis is bright red also.
=Cadaveric Rigidity--Rigor Mortis.=--For some time after death the muscles continue to contract under stimuli. When this irritability ceases--and it seldom exceeds two hours--rigidity and hardening sets in, and in all cases precedes putrefaction. It is caused by the coagulation of the muscle plasma. It commences in the muscles of the back of the neck and lower jaw, and then passes into the muscles of the face, front of the neck, chest, upper extremities, and lastly to the lower extremities.
It has been noticed in the new-born infant, as well as in the foetus. It lasts from sixteen to twenty hours or more. In lingering diseases, after violent exertion, and in warm climates, it sets in quickly, and disappears in two or three hours; in those who are in perfect health and die from accident or asphyxia, it may not come on until from ten to twenty-four hours, and may last three or four days. After death from convulsions or strychnine-poisoning, the body may pass at once into rigor mortis. Rigor mortis must be distinguished from cadaveric spasm or the death clutch; in the former, articles in the hands are readily removable, in the latter this is not the case. In tetanic spasm the limbs when bent return to their former position; not so in rigor mortis.
=Putrefaction= appears in from one to three days after death, as a greenish-blue discoloration of the abdomen; in the drowned, over the head and face. This increases, becomes darker and more general, a strong putrefactive odour is developed, the thorax and abdomen become distended with gas, and the epidermis peels off. The muscles then become pulpy, and assume a dark greenish colour, the whole body at length becoming changed into a soft, semi-fluid mass. The organ first showing the putrefactive change is the trachea; that which resists putrefaction longest is the uterus. These putrefactive changes are modified by the fat or lean condition of the body, the temperature (putrefaction taking place more rapidly in summer than in winter), access of air, the period, place, mode of interment, age, etc. Bodies which remain in water putrefy more slowly than those in air.
=Saponification.=--In bodies which are very fat and have lain in water or moist soil for from one to three years this process takes place, the fat uniting with the ammonia given off by the decomposition to form adipocere. This consists of a margarate or stearate of ammonium with lime, oxide of iron, potash, certain fatty acids, and a yellowish odorous matter. It has a fatty, unctuous feel, is either pure white or pale yellow, with an odour of decayed cheese. Small portions of the body may show signs of this change in six weeks.
=Post-Mortem Examination.=--Never make an autopsy in criminal cases without a written order from the coroner or Procurator Fiscal. If authorized, however, first have the body identified, then photographed if it has not been identified. A medical man representing the accused may be present, but only by consent of the Crown authorities or of the Sheriff. Clothing should be examined for blood-stains, cuts, etc.
Examine external surface of body and take accurate measurements of wounds, marks, deformities, tattooings; note degree and distribution of post-mortem staining, rigidity, etc.
Examine brain by making incision from ear to ear across vertex, reflect scalp forwards and backwards, and saw off calvarium. Examine brain carefully externally and on section.
Examine organs of chest and abdomen through an incision made from symphysis menti to pubis, reflecting tissues from chest wall and cutting through costal cartilages.
In cases of suspected poisoning have several clean jars into which you place the stomach with contents, intestines with contents, piece of liver, kidney, spleen, etc., and seal each up carefully, attaching