Case 12. No Internal Lesion Found (Guy’s Hospital Reports, 1860, Vol. VI., p. 146).—Female, æt. 9. Burn of upper part of chest and arms by clothing taking fire. Death on the ninth day. Post-mortem examination revealed no lesion of the internal organs.
Case 13. Cracks and Fissures of Skin (Caspar, “Forensic Med.,” Vol. I., p. 314).—Male, æt. 83. Clothing caught fire; death. Body carbonized. On right side were fissures opening into the abdomen; the viscera could be seen, etc.
Case 14. Fissures, Vessels Crossing, etc. (Taylor, “Med. Jurisprudence,” Vol. I., p. 696).—Boy, æt. 2; death in three-quarters of an hour. On legs were fissures and lacerations near each knee. On right thigh a laceration 2¾ inches long, 1/6 inch deep and 1/4 inch wide; fatty tissue seen beneath. No blood effused; small vessels could be seen stretching across the fissures.
Case 15. Brain Congested, etc. (Caspar, “Forensic Med.,” p. 316, Vol. I.).—Boy, æt. 1-1/2 years, set fire to his clothing. Death in 1½ days. Post-mortem examination showed congestion of the brain, inflammation of the trachea, engorgement of the lungs with hepatization of the lower part of the right lung.
Case 16. Burn of Lower Part of Body. Death (same reference).—Woman, æt. 81; burn of lower part of body, including the gluteal region, the perineum and genital organs (external). Death after several days. Post-mortem examination showed the upper lobe of left lung in a stage of red hepatization, etc.
Case 17. Tardy Appearance of Redness and Vesication (Tidy, “Legal Med.,” Vol. II., p. 124, Case 15).—Woman, insensible from cold, had hot water applied in tins to her sides and feet. The flannel coverings became displaced and the hot tins came in contact with the body. No redness or vesication could be detected two hours afterward. The next day, when consciousness had returned and recovery from insensibility had taken place, the parts had become reddened and vesicated.
Case 18. Were the Burns Ante Mortem or Post Mortem? (Caspar, “Forensic Med.,” Vol. I., p. 317).—Woman intoxicated; clothing caught fire; death due to asphyxia. Some burns apparently caused during life and some after death. The case was decided upon the character of the vesications and their contents. Lungs and other organs normal. Right side of heart engorged with dark blood.
Case 19. Murder. Body Burned (Dr. Duncan, Med. Gazette, Lond., Vol. VIII., p. 170).—Man charged with the murder of his wife and attempting to burn the body afterward. The body was so extensively burned as to remove all means of deciding the cause of death. The man claimed that her clothing took fire when she was intoxicated. Persons in the same house had heard sounds of a struggle before smelling smoke and fire. Furniture was not burned, nor the house. The prisoner was found guilty of murder.