Dr. Roger S. Chew, of Calcutta, whose personal experiences of apparent death are elsewhere recorded in this volume, says:—
THE PUTREFACTIVE TEST.
“Numerous expedients have been suggested as means of ascertaining whether a body is really dead or whether the animation is temporarily suspended; but, though these suggestions may collectively yield a correct diagnosis, still they are valueless when separately considered, and cannot compare with the ‘putrefaction test.’”
In the “Principles and Practice of Medicine” of the late Dr. Hilton Fagge, edited by Dr. Pye-Smith, vol. i., p. 19, of the second edition, is the following:—
“In most cases there is no difficulty in determining the exact moment at which death occurs. But sometimes it cannot be fixed with certainty, and there are some altogether exceptional instances (though I have never myself met with one) in which for hours, or even for days, it remains uncertain whether life is extinct or merely suspended. I believe that the only sign of death which is both certain to manifest itself in the course of a few days, and also absolutely conclusive and infallible, is the occurrence of putrefaction, which is generally first indicated by discoloration of the surface of the abdomen. And in any case admitting of doubt, the coffin should not be closed until this has shown itself.” (Italics ours.)
The Medical Examiner, Philadelphia, vol. vi., p. 610, says:—
“A recent French reviewer in the Gazette Médicale closes a survey of the differences between real and apparent death, by the following remarks:—‘Experience,’ says he, ‘has shown the insufficiency of each of these signs, with one exception—putrefaction. The absence of respiration and circulation, the absence of contractility and sensibility, general loss of heat, the hippocratic face, the cold sweat spreading over the body, cadaveric discoloration, relaxation of the sphincters, loss of elasticity, the flattening of the soft parts on which the body rests, the softness and flaccidity of the eyes, the opacity of the fingers, cadaveric rigidity, the expulsion of alimentary substances from the mouth;—all these signs combined or isolated may present themselves in an individual suffering only from apparent death.’”
Prof. D. Ferrier, in an article on “Signs of Death” in Quain’s “Dictionary of Medicine,” pp. 327, 328, says:—
“It is not always easy to determine when the spark of life has become finally extinguished. From fear of being buried alive, which prevails more abroad than in this country, some infallible criterion of death, capable of being applied by unskilled persons, has been considered a desideratum, and valuable prizes have been offered for such a discovery. The conditions most resembling actual death are syncope, asphyxia, and trance, particularly the last. We cannot, however, say that any infallible criterion applicable by the vulgar has been discovered.”
The writer then proceeds to describe the various symptoms usually considered to denote death. The chief of these is putrefaction, but he observes that putrefaction may occur locally during life, and general septic changes may occur to some extent before death.