Thy deed, inhuman and unnatural,
Provokes this deluge most unnatural.”—
Richard III. act 1. s. 2.
Situation and attitude of the body.—It cannot be too generally known that, upon the discovery of a dead body, its situation and attitude should never be disturbed until it has been examined by competent persons. The information which the medical inquirer may obtain from his observations upon the position of the dead body, is often important and decisive; it may even, in some cases, furnish data for determining whether the death was occasioned by accident, suicide, or murder. We may, for example, find the deceased in a posture which he could never have himself assumed, whence we should be led to conclude that he had not fallen by his own hands. In the case of the disputed suicide of the Earl of Essex[[8]] in the tower, much information was lost by the body having been stripped and removed before a due examination took place; the hasty manner in which this was performed, excited on that, as it necessarily must on all similar occasions, very considerable suspicion respecting the motives which could prompt so premature and unnecessary an interference. An attention to the posture of the body is also important in cases of wounds, which should always be examined with reference to this circumstance. It has also been very justly observed, that a person in a fit, or in a state of intoxication, might fall accidentally into such a posture, as to be actually suffocated by the pressure of his own hand, or that of any resisting body upon his throat. If such a case were to occur, all evidence of the fact would be destroyed by any officious interference that might change the exact posture in which the body was found.
General appearance of the countenance, as to colour, vascular turgescence, or congestion, and morbid physiognomy.—The observation of the countenance of a deceased person will very frequently furnish the medical inquirer with a useful hint in the investigation; we have, for instance, already spoken of the expressive physiognomy of a strangled person, (page [45]) and in the course of our work, the reader will find ample illustrations of the general importance of the subject.
Whether any discharge issues from the mouth, nostrils, ears, or any other orifice.—The appearance of froth about the mouth indicates that the death of the person has not been instantaneous, but sudden, either from apoplexy, epilepsy, or any other violent cause, see Appendix, p. [273]. In drowned persons the mouth and nostrils are covered with foam. In epileptic paroxysms there is sometimes an involuntary discharge of fæces, urine, and semen; the evacuation of the fæces very generally occurs in cases of strangulation, and sometimes in those of apoplexy. The appearance of blood flowing from the ears would indicate a violent death from some external cause.
Apparent age of the deceased.—It is important to notice this circumstance, as it will not only assist us in identifying the individual, but, at the same time, point out the diseases of which he was most susceptible, and those of which he was less liable. In relation to such an object the question of age was keenly debated on the trial of Donellan, for an account of which we must refer the reader to the evidence printed in the Appendix. Apoplexy rarely occurs except in the middle or decline of life. Hippocrates says chiefly between the 40th and 50th year. Aphor. Sect. vi, 57.
Description of his person, as to bulk, stature, obesity, muscular powers, &c.—Many are the reasons which render a full and accurate investigation of these points an extremely important part of the inquiry. To say nothing of their use in identifying the individual, they will point out the diseases to which such a habit of body would render him liable; and we shall be enabled to deduce a general inference as to the probable state of his health. If suspicions should exist against any individual, we shall be thus prepared to arrive at some probable conclusion with regard to the degree of resistance which the deceased might be able to offer; by comparing which with the powers of the supposed assailant, some valuable circumstantial evidence may be elicited.
Conformation of the neck as to shortness, thickness, &c.—The apoplectic conformation may be said to be indicated by a large head, red face, short and thick neck, broad shoulders, capacious thorax, prominent abdomen, low stature, robust limbs, and considerable corpulence; this last indication, however, is liable to many exceptions, for dry and spare constitutions, if any confidence is to be placed in the comparative tables of Rochoux, are more frequently even attacked with apoplexy, than the plethoric. Under this subject we may notice that the habitual use of tight ligatures disposes to the disease. Portal speaks of an ambassador who was attacked with apoplexy, after having long employed general compression, for the reduction of excessive corpulence. Dr. Donald Monro states that he has known soldiers carried off by apoplexy, in consequence of stricture on the veins of the neck, from their having been obliged to wear their cravats too tight. Winslow has made a similar observation in the Memoirs of the Academy of Sciences for the year 1741.
Probable period that has elapsed since the extinction of life.—Before the process of putrefaction has commenced, we can only adduce an opinion upon this subject from the circumstance of the coldness, rigidity, and general complexion of the body. Under ordinary circumstances, the body looses its vital heat in a very short space of time, and cadaverous[[9]] stiffness takes place and continues until relaxed by the progress of putrefaction; but there are many circumstances that appear capable of controlling and modifying this general result; the heat of the body is not only abstracted with very different degrees of celerity in different situations, but even in the same situation, in death from different causes. Portal and other physiologists have observed, that after death from apoplexy, the temperature of the body is frequently maintained, even above the natural standard, to a period beyond that in which it would be totally abstracted from an inanimate mass under other circumstances.[[10]] It has been laid down as a general rule, that the more sudden the death, the longer is cadaverous stiffness from taking place, M. Orfila also states, that if the body of a person suffocated, either by a non-respirable gas, or by strangulation, be cold or stiff, we may be certain that more than twelve hours have elapsed since the fatal event, for in death by such causes, the heat of the body is preserved for at least that period; this statement is corroborated by Richerand, who says that in asphyxia from carbonic acid, the blood preserves its fluidity, the limbs their flexibility, and the body its natural heat for some hours after death. When the process of putrefaction has established itself, we must deduce our conclusions from the extent of its progress, always taking into consideration the collateral circumstances which may have operated in retarding or accelerating its developement, such as the state of the atmosphere in relation to temperature and humidity, the particular circumstances of the spot in which the body was found, &c.