1. External Inspection
1. General Condition of the Body.—(a) Well or ill nourished.
(b) General colour. (c) Marks and scars. (d) Products of
disease—Ulcers, hernia, &c. (e) Injuries.
Caution.—There may be no external marks of injury, and
yet death may be due to violence. Extreme difficulty in
deciding if injury be inflicted before or after death.
2. Height.—Determined by measurement.
3. Age.—This can only be approximately guessed.
4. Sex.—This is, of course, only difficult when
putrefaction is far advanced. Hair found only on the
MONS VENERIS or PUBES is characteristic of the female,
but if it extend upwards on the abdomen, equally so
of the male. No sex can be distinguished in the
embryo before the third month of intra-uterine life.
5. Colour of the Eyes.—Difficult of determination.
Why?
(a) Disagreement of observers.
(b)Presence of putrefaction.
6. Colour of the Hair.—This is necessary, in order to compare
hair of deceased with that found on suspected party.
7. Position of the Tongue.—Normal or abnormal, injured
or uninjured.
8. Condition and Number of the Teeth.—(a)Complete.
(b) Incomplete. (c) Any peculiarity as regards size or form,
in order to compare with mark or bite on suspected party, &c.