Parts to be Preserved for the Chemist.—In cases of suspected poisoning, it is not sufficient that the stomach and intestines alone should be preserved for the chemist as has been indicated, each part by itself; for it should be remembered that the portion of poison remaining in the alimentary tract is but the residue of the dose which had been sufficient to destroy life, and if the processes of elimination have been rapid no trace of the poison will be found in the alimentary canal but can readily be detected in other organs. Again, the poison may not have been introduced by the mouth, in which case none may be found in the digestive tract.
The chemist should receive, besides the stomach and entire intestinal canal, the liver, one or both kidneys, the spleen, a piece of muscle from the leg, the brain, and any urine found in the bladder.
When it is impossible for any reason to obtain the whole of any organ, the part removed should be carefully weighed and its proportion to the rest of the organ noted.
It is also of extreme importance to preserve in sealed and labelled jars those parts of a body which may show the evidence of disease, or on the appearance of which one’s evidence is founded.
ORDER OF AUTOPSY.
In making the autopsy, the operator should stand on the right side of the body and make the incision by grasping the knife firmly in the hand, and cutting with the whole of the blade and not with the point. The knife should be swept along from the shoulder rather than from the wrist, thus making a long, smooth, deep cut; never a jagged one.
The method of examining the human body after death will vary somewhat according to the objects in view. These objects may be threefold: (1) To ascertain whether a person has died from violence or poison; (2) to establish the cause of death, especially if it has been sudden; and (3) to ascertain the lesion of a disease, or to confirm a diagnosis.
The only difference between a medico-legal and pathological autopsy is that in the former case everything which might subserve the ends of justice should be carefully noted, and the changes found most accurately described; especially any abnormalities found on the external examination of the body. A photograph should be taken of the body.
The head should be opened and the brain examined first, and not last, as is often done in the ordinary autopsy.
Careful notes should be taken during each step of the examination, to be reread, verified, and signed at the completion of the autopsy.