(3) Blue, black, or red tattoo marks, if not effaced during life, do not disappear.—Ecchymoses retain the hue they had at the time of death.
(4) An “icteric” coloration existing at death, as in jaundice, never becomes white.
(5) A rosy tint of the skin on those poisoned by carbon monoxide.
(6) Dusky-red patches in those frozen to death.
(7) In certain cases of drowning, a rosy colour may be observed on the lips and malar prominences.
5. The temperature of the body at the time of death is retained for some time. As a sign of death the fall of temperature must be progressively continuous. Cooling will depend on the medium in which the body is placed, and mere coldness of the body is not a sign of death.
(1) Fat persons retain the heat longer than lean ones; adults longer than children or old persons. Bodies are cooled by—1. Radiation. 2. Conduction. 3. Convection.
(2) Bodies immersed in water cool more rapidly than in air. This fact may be of importance in determining survivorship in a case of drowning.
(3) Bodies in bed and covered by the clothes, or in cesspools and in dung-heaps, cool less rapidly than when exposed.
(4) Persons killed by lightning may keep warm longer than others.