Medico-legal treatise on homicide by external violence.

  • Watson, Alexander, 1799-1879.
Date:
1842
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Medico-legal treatise on homicide by external violence. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    the appearance of coagulated blood having flowed from the nostrils or ears, and the discharge of faeces, urine, or semen. SECTION VIII. EXAMINATION IN CASES OF BURNING. 56. In supposed death by burning, the skin at the edge of the burns should be carefully examined for redness, or the ap- pearance of vesicles containing fluid. SECTION IX. EXAMINATION IN CASES OF INFANTICIDE. 57. In cases of suspected infanticide, certain peculiarities must be borne in mind. The cavity of the head should be laid open with a pair of scissors. In opening the abdomen, the incision may be carried through the whole parietes at once; and the navel should be avoided, so that the state of the ves- sels of the navel-string may be examined correctly. 58. The inquiry in cases of infanticide should be conducted with a distinct reference to the five following questions:— 1. The probable degree of maturity of the child? 2. How long it has been dead I 3. Whether it died before, during, or after delivery, and how long after ? 4. Whether death arose from natural causes, neglect, or violence ? And, 5. Whether the suspected female be the mother of the child ? 59. The points to be attended to for ascertaining the pro- bable degree of maturity of the child are the state of the skin, its secretions, and its appendages, the hair and nails; the pre- sence or absence of the pupillary membrane; the length and weight of the whole body; the relative length of the body and its members; and the point on the abdomen corresponding 6