2. The Brain of Infants up to the First Year.

3. The Stomach.-The first traces of putrefaction are seen in from four to six days after death. All the coats of the stomach are softened, and there is no excoriation, as is the case when corrosive poisons are taken. Emphysematous separation of the mucous coat may be present, but must not be confounded with the excoriation just mentioned.

4. The Intestines.-Casper declares that he does not remember any case in the course of his experience where the intestines were found earlier putrefied than the stomach.' In the course of putrefaction they become of a dark-brown colour, bursting, and allowing an escape of their contents; and they ultimately become changed into a dark pultaceous mass. 5. The Spleen. This organ in some cases putrefies before the stomach and intestines; but, as a rule, it resists decomposition longer.

6. The Omentum and Mesentery.

7. The Liver. This organ is not infrequently found firm and dense some weeks after death. It putrefies earlier in new-born children than in adults. The convex surface first shows signs of putrefaction. The gall bladder also remains for some time recognisable.

8. The Adult Brain.-The brain of newly-born children, as mentioned before, soon putrefies. This is not the case in the adult brain. Putrefaction sets in not on the surface, but at the base of the brain. A wound of the brain causes it to putrefy more rapidly than if no injury be present.

B. Organs which putrefy late.

9. The Heart.

10. The Lungs.-Contemporaneously with the appearance of decomposition in the heart, the lungs also begin to show signs of putrefaction, though this condition may take place earlier.

11. The Kidneys.-These organs are long in yielding to the putrefactive process.

12. The Bladder.-Nearly all the other organs of the body are in a state of decomposition before this viscus becomes materially affected.

13. The Gullet.-This long remains firm, even after the stomach and intestines fail to be recognised.

14. The Pancreas.-The body must be far advanced in putrefaction before this gland becomes affected. 15. The Diaphragm. -This may be distinguished after the lapse of four to six months.

16. The Blood-vessels.-The aorta may be recognised after the body has been interred for fourteen months. 17. The Uterus.-Of all organs of the body, the uterus resists the putrefactive changes longer than any other organ.-CASPER.

Table showing some important facts to be noticed with regard to Putrefaction.

1. Earliest external indication of it.

a. In a body exposed to air.-Greenish coloration of the abdominal coverings.

b. In a body immersed in water.-Face, head, and ears, gradually extending from above.

downwards.

2. Earliest internal indication-Found in the trachea, including the larynx.

3. Advanced putrefactive appearances to be expected in a body exposed to air, say from fourteen to twenty days at mean temperature, as regards—

a. Epidermis.-Raised here and there in blis

ters about the size of a walnut, in some places the size of a dinner plate, and quite stripped off.

b. True Skin.-Maggots cover the body, chiefly in the folds of the skin.

c. Cellular Tissue.-Blown up with gas.

4. Comparative time required to produce equal extent of putrefaction in a body in—

a. In air.-One week.

b. In water.-Two weeks.

c. In earth.-Eight weeks.

Table showing the points to be noticed in determining the Sex, Age, and Stature, from an Inspection of the Skeleton.

1. DETERMINATION OF THE SEX.

a. From the Bones generally.—The bones of the female are smaller and more slender than in the male; they are also smoother, less curved, and not so strongly marked by the attachments of the muscles. The joints are also smaller than in the male.

b. From the Thorax.-The thorax in the female is deeper than in the male, the sternum shorter and more convex, the ensiform cartilage thinner, and ossified later in life. The cartilages of the ribs are longer, and the ribs smaller, than in the male.

c. From the Pelvis.-In the female pelvis the ilia are more expanded and horizontal; the sacrum more concave; and the os coccygis more slender, moveable, and turned more backwards; the tuberosities of the ischia are wider apart, and flatter; the pubis is more shallow; the cartilages of the symphysis broader; the angle formed by the descending rami of the ossa pubis more rounded, and the pubic arch wider. The whole pelvis is shallower, and the outlets larger, than in the male. The antero-posterior diameter of the wellformed female pelvis at the brim is about 4 inches, the lateral diameter about 5 inches, the oblique about 5 inches. At the outlet, the lateral and anteroposterior diameters are about 4 inches respectively. Before the age of puberty, the differences in the male and female skeleton are not well marked.

2. DETERMINATION OF AGE.

a. From the Ribs.-More or less complete ossifica

tion of the cartilages as age advances. In the very aged, the cartilages may be completely ossified.

b. From the Skull.-The imperfect ossification of the bones of the head points to early childhood. Later in life the bones are solidly united, but become thin from the absorption of their diplöe.

c. From the Jaws.-The toothless narrow lower jaw of the aged is very characteristic, the narrowing being due to the loss of the teeth, and subsequent absorption of the alveolar process of the jaw.

3. DETERMINATION OF STATURE.

a. When the complete Skeleton is found.-The body must be laid out in position, and an estimate made, it being usual to allow an inch to an inch and a half for the thickness of the soft parts.

of

b. When only portions are found.-As there does not appear to be any uniform relation between the length any of the long bones and the stature of the entire skeleton, no reliable data can be arrived at by the measurement of a bone alone. Taylor remarks, that 'the best that can be said of this mode of measurement is that it can never be proved wrong; for, in general, there can be no witness to speak to the stature of the person while living.'

ASSAULTS AND HOMICIDE.

WOUNDS.

Legal Definition.-According to the statute (24 & 25 Vict. c. 100, s. 18), the word 'wound' includes incised, punctured, lacerated, contused, and gunshot wounds. But to constitute a wound within the meaning of the statute, the whole skin, not the mere cuticle, or upper skin, must be divided (R. v. M'Loughlin, 8 C. and P. 635). But a division of the internal skin, e.g. within

the cheek or lip, is sufficient to constitute a wound within the statute (R. v. Warman, 1 Den. C. C. 183). If the skin be broken, the nature of the instrument with which the injury is inflicted is immaterial. A wound from a kick with a boot is within the statute (R. v. Briggs, 1 Mood. C. C. 318). Injuries which, in accordance with the above definition of a wound, are not wounds, are provided for under the clause, or cause any grievous bodily harm to any person.'

6

Casper defines 'an injury' to be 'every alteration of the structure or function of any part of the body produced by any external cause.' Dr. Taylor proposes the following as the best definition which we can at present give to the word 'wound,' whether in a medical or legal sense, that it is a breach of continuity in the structures of the body, whether external or internal, suddenly occasioned by mechanical violence.' This would include dislocations, fractures either simple or compound, injury to the skin or mucous membrane, and to internal organs.

Concerning Wounds in general.-Great care should be taken to ascertain the exact site and course of the injury on the body, as this precaution will greatly assist in answering the questions: Is the wound dangerous to life? Is the wound suicidal, that is, inflicted by the person on himself, or homicidal, inflicted by another? The solution of the question of the dangerous character of the wound is left to the professional knowledge of the witness, who may be required to state his reasons for considering the wound dangerous to life. His mere assertion will not be accepted. As a general rule, only those wounds in which the danger to life is imminent should be stated as dangerous to life. Compound fracture of the bones of the cranium, injury to any large arterial trunk, or to any of the internal organs, may be considered as dangerous to life;' but where the danger is more remote, as in the probable super

6