PREFACE ΤΟ THE NINTH EDITION. IN PREPARING for the press the ninth edition of the MANUAL of MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE, I have 'carried out the plan adopted in the previous editions. My object has been to make this a student's book, and at the same time to render it a useful guide on medicolegal subjects to medical men and lawyers. The whole of the work has undergone revision, and such additions have been made in the form of cases and observations as the progress of time had rendered necessary. In the section on POISONING, notices of some new poisons have been introduced, as well as descriptions of improved methods for the detection and identification of poisons. Under this head the reader will find that the process of dialysis has been noticed, as one of the new methods of research for many mineral and organic poisons. In the section on WOUNDS and PERSONAL Injuries, two chapters have been added on the proofs of Personal Identity furnished by cicatrices and tattoo-marks. Some recent trials in England and on the Continent, have given a prominent interest to these subjects. The application of spectral analysis and of the guaiacum process for the detection of blood-stains on weapons and clothing has been described in the appropriate chapters. The subject of CRIMINAL ABORTION has been almost entirely rewritten, and to the chapters on INFANTICIDE additions have been made, particularly in reference to medical responsibility in the examination of women charged with this crime. This edition has been printed in a larger type and on a larger page, so as to render the book not only more convenient to the reader, but to allow the introduction of much additional matter. Seven new illustrations have also been introduced. I cannot close this Preface without expressing my obligations to many known as well as unknown correspondents in the professions of law and medicine, for the reports of many recent cases introduced into this edition. ST. JAMES'S TERRACE, REGENT'S PARK: January 1874. A. S. T. CONTENTS. The practice of medical jurisprudence-Medical and medico-legal duties- Dying declarations-Inspection of bodies in death from wounds or Coroners' inquests-Trial at the assizes-Obedience to subpoenas-Medical fees-Examination in chief-Duties of medical witnesses-Quotations from books-Presence in court-Technical terms-License of counsel- Causes of death-Sudden death-Syncope, asphyxia, coma-Signs or indi- cations of death-Cessation of circulation and respiration-Cooling of the body-Cadaveric rigidity-Putrefaction-Changes produced in the Definition of the term poison-Mechanical irritants-Influence of habit and idiosyncrasy-Classification-Special characters of irritant, corro- Evidence of poisoning in the living body-Action of poisons increased or diminished by disease-Symptoms connected with food or medicine- Several persons attacked simultaneously-Evidence from the detection On the evidence of poisoning in the dead body-Period at which poisons prove fatal-Chronic poisoning-Appearances produced by the different classes of poisons-Redness of the mucous membrane mistaken for in- flammation-Ulceration and corrosion-Softening-Perforation of the |
