58. Christison: Edin. Med. Jour., 1829, xxxi., pp. 236-250.—The famous Burking case. A woman was struck down to a sitting posture. Burke then threw himself on her, kept her down by the weight of his body, covered her mouth and nose with one hand and placed his other hand under the chin for ten to fifteen minutes, till she died. Necroscopy showed a severing of the posterior ligamentous connections of the third and fourth cervical vertebræ, with blood in spinal canal but not under the dura mater; cord not injured. Christison made experiments to ascertain if the injury to spine had been made during life.
59. Hackel: Dorpat Diss., 1891, p. 35.—Case of choking with pressure on breast and belly. Woman found lying on floor, with many injuries.
60. Tardieu: Op. cit., p. 315.—New-born infant; found buried in earth. Mother stated that the child had not breathed. Putrefaction had begun. There was a brownish tint of skin of upper front part of neck below jaw; drops of sanious fluid flowing from nose; umbilical cord had not been tied; subcutaneous hemorrhage in right temporal region; brown bruised surface and contused wounds of pharynx, where particles like ashes and vomited matter were found. Lungs filled the pleural cavities, were rose-colored and showed abundant punctated subpleural ecchymoses; bloody, frothy mucus in trachea and bronchi; some serum in pericardium; respiration had been complete. Opinion given, that the infant had been suffocated by obstruction of pharynx, probably by fingers.
61. Tardieu: Op. cit., p. 323.—New-born infant found under a cask, partly eaten by a dog. The head showed transverse flattening and subcutaneous hemorrhage. Lungs voluminous, rosy; abundant subpleural ecchymoses; hemorrhage in left lung. Heart filled with fluid blood. Coagulated blood in abdomen. Opinion given, suffocation by pressure on head, chest, and abdomen. The mother confessed that she had placed the child under the cask.
62. Ibid., p. 325.—New-born infant found buried in the earth; gravel and earth in pharynx and œsophagus down nearly to stomach, and in trachea and right bronchus. Lungs congested, crepitant. Opinion given, that the child had been buried while living.
63. Ibid., p. 326.—New-born infant found in ashes; nose and lips obstructed, mouth filled; ashes in œsophagus and stomach; none in larynx or trachea. Lungs distended with air, emphysematous; subpleural ecchymoses; fluid blood in heart.
64. Ibid., p. 327.—New-born infant, buried in bran; nose and mouth filled; some in trachea; none in œsophagus or stomach. Lungs distended with air, emphysematous; subpleural ecchymoses; heart empty.
65. Devergie and Raynaud: Ann. d’Hyg., 1852, xlviii., pp. 187-206.—Man found dead on a pile of grain; mouth, nose, and eyes contained some of the grain; some also in stomach, larynx, trachea, and bronchi. Some marks of injury on face and other parts of body. Internal signs of asphyxia. Opinion given, that the case was homicide. The defence offered was that the man had fallen into the grain.
66. Rauscher: Friedreich’s Blat., 1886, xxxvii., pp. 324-330.—Woman, age 71, suffocated by a cloth over nose and mouth.
See Tidy, “Med. Jur.,” Cases 1 to 11.