7. The Liver.—This organ is not unfrequently found firm and dense some weeks after death. It putrefies earlier in new-born children than in adults. The convex surface first shows signs of putrefaction. The gall-bladder also remains for some time recognisable.
8. The Adult Brain.—The brain of newly-born children, as mentioned before, soon putrefies. This is not the case in the adult brain. Putrefaction sets in not on the surface, but at the base of the brain. A wound of the brain causes it to putrefy more rapidly than if no injury be present.
Organs which Putrefy Late
9. The Heart.
10. The Lungs.—Contemporaneously with the appearance of decomposition in the heart, the lungs also begin to show signs of putrefaction, though this condition may take place earlier.
11. The Kidneys.—These organs are long in yielding to the putrefactive process.
12. The Bladder.—Nearly all the other organs of the body are in a state of decomposition before this viscus becomes materially affected.
13. The Gullet.—This long remains firm, even after the stomach and intestines fail to be recognised.
14. The Pancreas.—The body must be far advanced in putrefaction before this gland becomes affected.
15. The Diaphragm.—This may be distinguished after the lapse of four to six months.