6. That he has attended six cases of labor and compounded medicines for

six months. Each six-months’ course shall have consisted of one hundred and twenty lectures except in the case of clinical medicine, clinical surgery, and medical jurisprudence. Of four years’ study required by this section, three six-months’ sessions, at least, must be passed in attending upon lectures at a university, college, or incorporated school of medicine recognized by the board. The first of such courses must have been attended during the session immediately succeeding the preliminary examination, and the last during the fourth year of study, and the candidates must undergo an examination on the final subjects of the curriculum at the end of the session in the fourth year of study (_ib._, art. 3,985). MEMBERS OF COLLEGE.—All persons obtaining a license to practise from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the province are members of the college, but are not eligible for governors within four years from the date of their admission as members (_ib._, art. 3,986). WOMEN.—The provincial medical board has power to make regulations respecting the admission of women to the study and practice of midwifery. Women who were legally qualified on the 31st of October, 1879, to practise as midwives in the province, while required to conform to the rules of said college, retain their right. Nothing in the act or the regulations shall prevent women in the country from practising midwifery or assisting at accouchements without being admitted to the study or practice of midwifery; but they must obtain a certificate from a duly licensed physician certifying that they have the necessary knowledge (_ib._, art. 3,987). REGISTER.—The medical board is required to cause to be kept by the registrar a register of persons duly licensed and registered, and who have complied with the law and the regulations of the board, and those persons only whose names are inscribed therein are deemed to be qualified and licensed (_ib._, art. 3,988). The registrar is required from time to time to make the necessary alterations in the register (_ib._, art. 3,989). EVIDENCE.—The registrar, under the direction of the board of governors, causes to be printed, published, and distributed to the members, from time to time, a copy, called _The Quebec Medical Register_, of the register, containing names, surnames, residences, medical titles, diplomas, and qualifications conferred by a college or other medical body, with the dates of the same. A printed copy, certified under the hand of the registrar as such, is _prima facie_ evidence that the persons named and entered have been registered in accordance with this law. The absence of the name of any person from such copy is _prima facie_ proof that such person has not been lawfully registered; provided always in case a person’s name does not appear on such printed copy, a copy or extract from the register certified by the registrar of the college of the entry of such person’s name on the register is proof that such person is duly registered (_ib._, art. 3,990). A certificate under the hand of the registrar of the payment of the annual contribution of members of the college is _prima facie_ evidence that such payments have been made (_ib._, art. 3,991). NEGLECT TO REGISTER.—A person entitled to register who neglects to register is not entitled to practise medicine, surgery, or midwifery, or to claim any of the rights and privileges conferred, and is liable for all penalties imposed for practising without registration, saving the right of certain members holding a license from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Lower Canada (_ib._, art. 3,992). ESTABLISHED PRACTITIONER.—A person who has attended medical lectures during three sessions of a medical school in the British possessions, and who has actually been engaged in the practice of medicine for over thirty years in the province, may, on proof of these facts to the satisfaction of the provincial medical board, and producing a certificate signed by two resident medical practitioners in the neighborhood where he has practised that he has succeeded in his profession, and is entitled to the consideration of the board, be entitled to a license and to registration without an examination (_ib._, art. 3,993). UNREGISTERED PERSONS.—No person unless otherwise authorized is entitled to recover any charge for medical or surgical advice, or professional service, or for the performance of any operation, or for any medicines prescribed or supplied, nor is he entitled to any of the rights or privileges conferred, unless he has registered according to law and paid his annual contribution to the college (_ib._, art. 3,994). No certificate required from any physician or surgeon or medical practitioner is valid unless the signer is registered (_ib._, art. 3,995). PERSONS GUILTY OF FELONY.—Any registered member of the medical profession convicted of felony forfeits his right to registration, and the medical board causes his name to be erased from the register (_ib._, art. 3,996). If a person known to have been convicted of felony presents himself for registration, the registrar is required to refuse him registration (_ib._, art. 3,997). OFFENCES AND PENALTIES.—A person not entitled to register convicted of having practised in contravention of this law, for reward or the hope of reward, is liable to a penalty of $50. A like penalty is incurred by every person assuming the title of doctor, physician, or surgeon, or any other name implying that he is legally authorized to practise, if unable to establish the fact by legal proof, and by every person who in an advertisement in a newspaper or in a written or printed circular, or on business cards or on signs, assumes a designation so as to lead the public to believe that he is duly registered or qualified; and by every person who offers or gives his services as a physician, surgeon, or accoucheur for gain or hope of reward, if he be not duly authorized and registered. BURDEN OF PROOF.—In every prosecution, proof of registration is incumbent on the party prosecuted. WITNESSES.—Members of the college are not incompetent witnesses by reason of their membership. COSTS.—The court imposing a penalty adds costs, and, in default of payment within a delay which it fixes, condemns the defendant to imprisonment in a common jail of the district for sixty days (_ib._, art. 3,998). EVIDENCE.—In cases where proof of registration is required, the production of a printed or other copy or extract from the register, certified under the hand of the registrar of the college, is sufficient evidence that all persons named therein are registered practitioners and any certificate upon such proof, or other copy of the register or extract from such register, purporting to be signed by any person in his capacity of registrar of the college, is _prima facie_ evidence that such person is registrar without proof of the signature or of his being in fact such registrar (_ib._, art. 3,999). HOMŒOPATHISTS.—The rights of homœopathists are not affected by the foregoing sections (_ib._, art. 4,002). The homœopathic physicians and surgeons of the province form a corporation under the name of the Montreal Homœopathic Association (_ib._, art. 4,003). The corporation has power to appoint three medical graduates of a British or provincial university or medical licentiates of a British or provincial college or board legally incorporated to be a board of examiners, to examine all persons who may desire to obtain a license to practise homœopathic medicine (_ib._, art. 4,008). A person desiring to be examined touching his qualifications to practise according to the doctrines and teaching of homœopathy shall give notice in writing of at least one month to the secretary or treasurer of the association, and show that he is not less than twenty-one years of age; has followed medical studies for not less than four years under the care of one or more duly qualified medical practitioners; has attended at some recognized university or incorporated school of medicine not less than two six-months’ courses of anatomy, physiology, surgery, theory and practice of medicine, midwifery, chemistry, materia medica, and therapeutics respectively, and not less than one six-months’ course of clinical medicine and medical jurisprudence respectively, or their equivalents in time; and shall have complied with the regulations of such university or incorporated school of medicine with regard to such courses, and shall have followed such other course or courses as may hereafter be considered by the board of examiners requisite for the advancement of a medical education. All such persons shall, at a regularly appointed time and place, be examined on all the aforesaid branches by the board of examiners (_ib._, art. 4,009). If the board be satisfied by examination that a person is duly qualified to practise either or all of said branches of medicine, as taught and practised by homœopathists, they shall certify the same under the hands and seals of two or all of such board. The lieutenant-governor, on receipt of such certificate, may, if satisfied of the loyalty, integrity, and good morals of the applicant, grant to him a license to practise medicine, surgery, and midwifery, or either of them, conformably to the certificate, and all such licensees are entitled to all the privileges enjoyed by licentiates of medicine (_ib._, art. 4,010). The corporation appoints a secretary who keeps a register of names of all persons duly licensed to practise medicine, surgery, and midwifery, or either of them, according to the doctrines and teachings of homœopathy. Only those whose names are inscribed in said register are qualified and licensed to practise according to the doctrines and teachings of homœopathy (_ib._, art. 4,015). The said secretary is required to make the necessary alterations in the addresses or qualifications of the persons registered (_ib._, art. 4,016). OFFENCES AND PENALTIES.—A person practising according to the homœopathic doctrines for reward in contravention of this act, or assuming a title implying that a person is legally authorized to practise according to homœopathic doctrines, if unable legally to establish such authorization; or by advertisement published in a newspaper or in a written or printed circular, or on business cards or signs, assuming a designation to lead the public to believe that he is duly registered and qualified to practise according to the doctrines of homœopathy; or offering or giving his services as physician, surgeon, or accoucheur for gain or hope of reward, if not duly authorized or registered, is punishable with a penalty of $50. BURDEN OF PROOF.—In every prosecution, the proof of registration is incumbent on the party prosecuted. COSTS.—The court may condemn the defendant to pay $50 in addition to costs within a delay which it determines, and to imprisonment of sixty days in a common jail of the district on default of payment within the delay (_ib._, art. 4,017). WITNESSES.—A member of the corporation is not an incompetent witness on account of his membership (_ib._, art. 4,018). FEES.—The provincial board of medical examiners may establish examination fees (_ib._, art. 3,981). Members of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of the Province of Quebec are required to pay an annual fee of $2 (_ib._, art. 3,986). FORENSIC MEDICINE. THANATOLOGICAL. THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE DEAD BODY; THE DISPOSAL AND OBLIGATION TO DISPOSE OF THE SAME; HOW AND BY WHOM IT MAY BE EXHUMED OR REMOVED; AUTOPSIES, BY WHOM ORDERED; THE RIGHTS OF RELATIVES AND ACCUSED PERSONS. INCLUDING AN APPENDIX CONTAINING A SYNOPSIS OF THE STATUTES OF THE DIFFERENT UNITED STATES AND TERRITORIES CONCERNING SAME. BY TRACY C. BECKER, A.B., LL.B., ETC., _Counsellor at Law, etc.; Professor of Civil Law and Medical Jurisprudence, Law Department, University of Buffalo._ LEGAL STATUS OF THE DEAD BODY. =Disposal and Obligations to Dispose of the Same.=—There is no right of property, in the ordinary sense of the word, in a dead human body; but for the health and protection of society it is a rule of the common law, and which has been confirmed by statutes in civilized states and countries, that public duties are imposed upon public officers, and private duties upon the husband or wife and the next of kin of the deceased, to protect the body from violation and see that it is properly interred, and to protect it after it is interred. A parent is bound to provide Christian burial for a deceased child, if he has the means, but if he has not the means, though the body remains unburied so long as to become a nuisance, he is not indictable for the nuisance although he could obtain money for the burial expenses by borrowing it of the poor-law authorities of the parish, for he is not bound to incur a debt. (Reg. _v._ Vann, 2 Div. C. C., 325; 15 Jur., 1,090.) On the other hand it has been held in England, that every householder in whose house a dead body lies is bound by the common law, if he has the means to do so, to inter the body decently, and this principle applies where a person dies in the house of a parish or a union. (Reg. _v._ Stewart, 12 A. & D., 1,272.) And the expense may be paid out of the effects of the deceased. (Tugwell _v._ Hayman, 3 Camp., 298, and note.) In Pierce _v._ The Proprietors Swan Point Cemetery, 10 R. I., 227, s. c., 14 Am. Rep., 667, the Court said: “That there is no right of property in a dead body, using this word in its ordinary sense, may be well admitted, yet the burial of the dead is a subject which interests the feelings of mankind to a much greater degree than many matters of actual property. There is a duty imposed by the universal feelings of mankind to be discharged by some one toward the dead; a duty, and we may also say a right, to protect from violation; it may, therefore, be considered as a sort of _quasi_ property, and it would be discreditable to any system of law not to provide a remedy in such a case; ... but the person having charge of it cannot be considered as the owner of it in any sense whatever, he holds it only as a sacred trust for the benefit of all who may from family or friendship have an interest in it.” See also Wyncoop _v._ Wyncoop, 42 Pa. St., 293; 4 Albany Law Jour., 56; Snyder _v._ Snyder, 60 How. Prac., 368; Weld _v._ Walker, 130 Mass., 422; Guthrie _v._ Weaver, 1 Mo. Apps., 136; Johnson _v._ Marinus, 18 Abb. N. C., 72, and note.[493] The law casts the duty of burial of the wife upon the husband, and of the husband upon the wife. In Secord _v._ Secord (cited in note 1 above), the Court said: “There are cogent reasons connected with public policy and the peace of families, where in the absence of testamentary disposition the possession of a corpse and the right to determine its burial should follow the administration of the estate.” Inasmuch as the husband has the first right to administer upon the estate of the wife, and the wife upon the estate of the husband, the law imposes the correlative duty of burial upon the person having such right; and so it has been held that the husband is liable for the necessary expense of the decent interment of his wife from whom he has been separated, whether the party incurring the expense is an undertaker or mere volunteer.[494] Where the deceased leaves a will appointing executors, the executors have a right to the possession of the body, and the duty of burial is imposed upon them, but it has been doubted whether at common law a direction by will concerning the disposal of the body could be enforced, and therefore the right to make such direction has been conferred by statute in several States.[495] And where a widow ordered a funeral of her husband, it was held that she was liable for the expense, although she was an infant at the time, the Court holding that the expense fell under the head of necessaries, for which infants’ estates are liable.[496] If there be no husband or wife of the deceased, the nearest of kin in the order of right to administration is charged with the duty of burial.[497] Such acts as casting a dead human body into a river without the rites of sepulture (Kanavans Case, 1 Me., 226); stealing a corpse (2 East, PC., 652) or stealing for dissection a dead body of one executed when the death sentence did not direct dissection (Rex _v._ Cundick, D. & R., n. p., 13), were indictable offences at common law.[498] In the works of the early dramatists, and by some writers of fiction, it has been stated, or implied, that the body of a deceased person could be seized and detained to compel the payment of his debts. This was never the law. In Jones _v._ Ashburnham, 4 East, 460, it was held that to seize a dead body on pretence of arresting for debt would be _contra bonos mores_, and an extortion on the relatives, and that case distinctly overrules any authority to be derived from the case of Quick _v._ Coppleton, 1 Vent., 161, to the effect that forbearance to seize or hold a body upon such a pretence would afford any consideration for a promise to pay a debt. So, also, where a jailer refused to give up a body of a person who had died while a prisoner in execution in his custody, to the executors of the deceased, unless they would satisfy certain claims against the deceased due the jailer, the Court issued a peremptory mandamus in the first instance, commanding that the body should be delivered up to the executors (Rex _v._ Fox, 2 Q. B., 247). And in R. _v._ Scott, 2 Q. B., 248, it was said, that a jailer who should attempt to do so would be guilty of misconduct in his public character, for which he would be liable to prosecution.[499] _How and by Whom the Dead Human Body may be Removed or Exhumed._—Where the right of burial has been exercised, and the body interred in its final resting-place, no person has any right to interfere with it without the consent of the owner of the grave, or of the properly constituted public authorities. In Foster _v._ Dodd, 8 D. & E., 842-854, it was held, that a dead body belongs to no one, and is, therefore, under the protection of the public. If it lies in consecrated ground, ecclesiastical authorities will interpose for its protection; but whether in ground consecrated or unconsecrated, indignities offered to the remains or the act of indecently disinterring them, are the ground of an indictment.[500] Even the purchaser of land upon which is located a burial-ground may be enjoined from removing bodies therefrom, if he attempts to do so against the wishes of the relatives or next of kin of the deceased. Every interment is a concession of the privilege which cannot afterward be repudiated, and the purchaser’s title to the ground is fettered with the right of burial.[501] On the other hand, the right of the municipal or state authorities, with the consent of the owner of the burial lot or in the execution of the right of eminent domain, to remove dead bodies from cemeteries is well settled.[502] After the right of burial has once been exercised by the person charged with the duty of burial, or where such person has consented to the burial by another person, no right to the corpse remains except to protect it from unlawful interference.[503] On the other hand, where a husband did not freely consent to the burial of his wife in a lot owned by another person, it was held that a court of equity might permit him, after such burial, to remove her body, coffin, and tombstones to his own lot, and restrain any person from interfering with such removal.[504] In Rhodes _v._ Brandt, 21 Hun, N. Y., 1, the defendant brought an action against one Beelard to recover for services rendered by him, as a physician, in treating a child of Beelard’s for a fracture of the thigh-bone, in which action Beelard set up malpractice on the part of the defendant as a defence. During the pendency of the action the child died and was buried. Subsequently Beelard, the father, acting under the advice of his counsel, directed and allowed the plaintiff, a physician, to cause the body of the child to be exhumed, and a portion of the thigh-bone to be removed, in order that it might be used in evidence on the trial of the question of malpractice. After the bone was removed, the body was returned to the grave. The defendant thereupon caused the plaintiff to be arrested for unlawfully removing the body from the grave contrary to the provisions of the statute, and the plaintiff sued the defendant for malicious prosecution. The Court held that the plaintiff had not removed the body from the grave “for the purpose of dissection or from mere wantonness,” as these terms were used in the statute (3 R. S., 6th ed., 965), for violation of which he had been arrested, nor had he committed any offence against public decency or the spirit of the statute.[505] _Autopsies, by Whom Ordered; the Rights of Relatives and Accused Persons._—As shown in a previous article in this volume, on the Powers and Duties of Coroners and Medical Examiners, in cases of sudden or suspicious death, it has been the law for nearly a thousand years that an inquisition or inquest _super visum corporis_ must be held by an officer known as a coroner, and that this office and its powers and duties were inherited by this country as part of the English common-law system in force at the time of the formation of the republic of the United States. When a body has been buried, and the coroner believes that an inquest is necessary, he has power to disinter the body and hold an inquest, and he may direct a post-mortem examination to be made, but after having done so he must cause the body to be reinterred. It is now well settled that in holding such an inquest, and making such an autopsy or post-mortem examination required by his official duty, the coroner has authority to employ, and it is his duty to employ, professional skill and aid, and his contract will bind the county to pay a reasonable compensation for the same.[506] As will be seen below from a synopsis of the statutes relating to this matter, many of the States have enacted statutes defining and prescribing the duties of the coroner and other public officers in such cases. At an early period in England (see 2 and 3 Will. IV., chap. 75, sec. 7) it was enacted by the English Parliament that any executor or other person having lawful possession of the body of a deceased person, and not being an undertaker or other party entrusted with the body for the purpose only of interment, might lawfully permit the body of such deceased person to undergo an anatomical examination, unless to the knowledge of such executor or other party such person should have expressed his desire during his life in writing, or verbally in the presence of two or more witnesses during his illness whereof he died, that his body after death might not undergo such examination, or unless the surviving husband or wife or known relative of the deceased shall require the body to be interred without such examination. By another section of this statute (sec. 10), professors of anatomy and other persons duly licensed were declared not liable to punishment for having in their possession human bodies when having such possession according to the provisions of the act. Section 308 of the New York Penal Code, subdivision 3, as amended by chapter 500, Laws 1889, enacts that whenever and so far as the husband, wife, or next of kin of the deceased, being charged by law with the duty of burial, may authorize dissection for the purpose of ascertaining the cause of death and no further, the right exists to dissect the dead human body. The same statute also provides that whenever any district attorney of that State, in the discharge of his official duties, shall deem it necessary, he may exhume, take possession of, and remove the body of a deceased person, or any portion thereof, and submit the same to a proper physical or chemical examination or analysis, to ascertain the cause of death, which examination or analysis will be made on the order of a justice of the Supreme Court of the State, or the county judge of the county in which the dead bodies shall be, granted on the application of the district attorney, with or without notice to the relatives of the deceased person, or to any person or corporation having the legal charge of such body, as the court may direct. The district attorney shall also have power to direct the sheriff, constable, or other peace officer, and employ such person or persons as he may deem necessary to assist him, in exhuming, removing, obtaining possession of, and examining physically or chemically such dead body, or any portion thereof; the expense thereof to be a county charge paid by the county treasurer on the certificate of the district attorney. The matter of ordering autopsies and dissections of dead bodies, or exhuming the same for that purpose or other purposes, is a matter of so much public importance that it has been regulated in nearly all of the United States by statutory enactments, which together with the other statutes relating to the subject-matter of this article are hereunto appended. The author of this article is greatly indebted for assistance in preparing the same, and in compiling these statutes, to Mr. Amasa J. Parker, Jr., of the Albany, N.Y., bar. APPENDIX. _Statutory Regulations Concerning Dead Bodies._ The coroner has power to hold inquest and direct autopsy, Ala., Code, sec. 4,801 _et seq._ Ariz., Pen. Code, sec. 2,309 _et seq._ Ark., R. S., sec. 692. Cal., Pen. Code; sec. 1,510. Col., Mill’s Stat., sec. 870. Conn., Gen. Stat., secs. 2,005, 2,008. Del., R. S., ch. 33. Fla., R. S., secs. 3,011, 3,019. Ga., Code, secs. 590, 591, 4,101 _et seq._ Idaho, R. S., sec. 8,377. Ill., S. & C. Am. Stat., v. 1, 606. Ind., R. S., secs. 5,878, 5,879. Iowa, McCl. Am. Code, sec. 487. Kan., Gen. Stat., secs. 1,780, 1,784. Ky., Gen. Stat., ch. 25, secs. 3, 11. La., Voorh. Rev. L., sec. 653. Me., R. S., ch. 139, sec. 1. Md., Code, art. 22, secs. 3, 4. Minn., Gen. Stat., sec. 1,011 _et seq._ Miss., Am. Code, sec. 816. Mo., R. L., sec. 2,438 _et seq._ Mont., Crim. L., secs. 869, 883. Neb., Consol. Stat., sec. 3,144. N. H., Pub. Stat., ch. 262, sec. 1 _et seq._ N. J., Rev. Stat., p. 170 _et seq._ N. C., Code, sec. 657. N. Dak., Comp. Laws, sec. 664 _et seq._ Ohio, R. L., sec. 1,221 _et seq._ Oklahoma, Stat., sec. 1,745 _et seq._ Ore., Crim. Code, sec. 453 _et seq._ Pa., Bright Pen. Digest, 1536, sec. 37. R. I., Pub. Laws, 1884, ch. 420, sec. 17. S. C., R. S., secs. 711, 2,664 _et seq._ Tenn., Code, sec. 6,139 _et seq._ Va., Code, sec. 2,928 _et seq._ Wash., Hill’s Am. Stat., v. 1, sec. 245 _et seq._ W. Va., Code, ch. 154. Wis., S. & B. Am. Stat., ch. 200. Wyo., R. S., sec. 1,879 _et seq._ Medical examiner shall hold inquest and direct autopsy. Mass., Pub. Stat., ch. 26, secs. 10, 11. R. I., Pub. Laws, 1884, ch. 420. Justice of the peace shall hold inquest and direct autopsy. Mich., How. Am. Stat., v. 2, sec. 9,583 _et seq._ Nev., Gen. Stat., sec. 225 _et seq._ N. M., Comp. L., sec. 443 _et seq._ Texas, Code Crim. P., art. 988 _et seq._ Vt., Rev. L., sec. 3,934 _et seq._ Wis., S. & B. Am. Stat., ch. 200. And may order a body to be disinterred for the purpose of holding such inquisition. Ark., R. L., sec. 718. Cal., Pen. Code, sec. 1,510. Del., R. L., ch. 33. Ga., Code, secs. 590, 591, 410 _et seq._ Idaho, R. L., sec. 8,377. S. C., R. S., sec. 2,687. Texas, Code Crim. P., art. 989. And when not claimed by friends and relatives, to bury the body decently, and when the property of deceased is not sufficient to defray expenses, this may be done at public expense. Cal., Pen. Code, sec. 3,094. Col., Mill’s Stat., sec. 882. Conn., Gen. Stat., sec. 2,015. Idaho, R. L., sec. 2,081. Ill., S. & C. Am. Stat., v. 1, 606. Iowa, McCl. Am. Code, sec. 501. Kan., Gen. Stat., sec. 1,792. Ky., Gen. Stat., ch. 25, sec. 6. La., Voorh. Rev. L., sec. 660. Me., R. S., ch. 139, sec. 11. Md., Code, art. 22, sec. 7. Mass., Laws, 1887, ch. 310. Mich., How. Am. Stat., v. 3, sec. 9,593. Minn., Gen. Stat., sec. 1,021. Miss., Am. Code, secs. 3,145, 3,146. Mo., R. L., sec. 2,456. Mont., Gen. Laws, sec. 881. Neb., Consol. Stat., sec. 3,144. Nev., Gen. Stat., sec. 2,269. N. H., Pub. Stat., ch. 262, sec. 16. N. J., Rev. Stat., p. 170, sec. 5. N. M., Comp. Laws, sec. 447. N. Dak., Comp. Laws, sec. 676. Ohio, R. L., sec. 1,227. Oklahoma, Stat., sec. 1,759. Ore., Crim. Code, sec. 462. R. I., Pub. Laws, 1884, ch. 420, sec. 24. Tenn., Code, sec. 6,150. Va., Code, sec. 3,946. Wash., Hill’s Am. Stat., v. 1, sec. 257. W. Va., Code, ch. 154, sec. 8. Wis., S. & B. Am. Stat., ch. 200. Wyo., R. S., sec. 1,886. Removal or disinterment of a dead body without authority of law or consent of relatives, for the purpose of selling such body or for dissection or for mere wantonness, is— (_a_) A felony. Cal., Pen. Code, sec. 290. Ga., Laws, 1882, v. 2, p. 87. Ill., S. & C. Am. Stat., v. 1, p. 794. Ind., R. S., sec. 2,166. Mo., R. S., secs. 3,842, 3,845. Mont., Laws, 1889, p. 114. N. C., Laws, 1885, ch. 90. (_b_) A misdemeanor. Ark., R. S., secs. 1,902, 1,903. Del., Laws, 1883, ch. 234. Kan., Gen. Stat., sec. 2,372 _et seq._ Md., Code, art. 27, secs. 133, 134. Pa., Bright Pen. Digest, 229, sec. 11. Tenn., Code, secs. 5,659, 5,660. (_c_) Is punishable by various sentences. Ala., Code, secs. 4,023, 4,028. Ariz., Pen. Code, sec. 491. Col., Mill’s Stat., sec. 1,367. Conn., Gen. Stat., sec. 1,880. Fla., R. L., sec. 2,625. Iowa, McCl. Am. Code, sec. 5,328. Ky., Gen. Stat., ch. 29, art. 17, sec. 16. Me., R. S., ch. 124, sec. 27. Mass., Pub. Stat., ch. 207, secs. 47, 48. Mich., How. Stat., v. 2, sec. 9,297. Miss., Am. Code, secs. 1,023, 1,024. Neb., Consol. Stat., sec. 5,847. N. H., Pub. Stat., ch. 266, sec. 7. N Dak., Comp. Laws, sec. 6,559. Ohio, R. L., sec. 7,034. Oklahoma, Stat., sec. 2,198. Ore., Crim. Code, sec. 656. Texas, Pen. Code, art. 345. Vt., Rev. L., secs. 4,194, 4,196. Va., Code, sec. 208. W. Va., Code, ch. 149, sec. 13. Wis., S. & B. Am. Stat., sec. 4,592. Wyo., R. L., sec. 1,029. (_d_) A high misdemeanor. N. J., Rev. Stat., p. 249, sec. 122. Bodies of criminals executed under sentence, and those dying in jail, poor-house, etc., when to be delivered over for dissection. Ark., R. S., sec. 2,552. Cal., Pen. Code, sec. 3,094. Col., Mill’s Stat., secs. 1,547, 1,548, 1,204. Conn., Gen. Stat., secs. 1,729, 1,732. Ga., Laws, 1887, v. 2, p. 87. Ill., S. & C. Am. Stat., v. 1, 869. Ill., Crim. Code, sec. 503. Ill., S. & C. Am. Stat., v. 3, p. 867. Ind., R. L., sec. 4,258 _et seq._ Iowa, McCl. Am Code, sec. 5,329. Kan., Gen. Stat., sec. 3,758. Me., R. S., ch. 13, sec. 2. Me., Laws, 1893, ch. 254. Mass., Laws, 1891, ch. 185. Mass., Pub. Stat., ch. 202, sec. 8. Mich., How. Stat., v. 3, sec. 2,284. Minn., Gen. Stat., sec. 678. Mo., R. S., sec. 6,883. Neb., Consol. Stat., secs. 3,299, 3,301, 5,848. N. H., Pub. Stat., ch. 136. N. J., Rev. Stat., p. 239, sec. 69. N. C., Laws, 1891, ch. 129. N. Dak., Laws, 1890, ch. 92. Ohio, R. S., sec. 3,763. Ore., Hill’s Am. Laws, sec. 3,730 _et seq._ Pa., Bright Pen. Dig., p. 94, sec. 1 _et seq._ Vt., Laws, 1884, ch. 85. Va., Code, ch. 80. Wash., Hill’s Am. Stat., v. 1, sec. 2,428 _et seq._ Wash., S. & B. Am. Stat., sec. 1,437. Duty of burial, etc. Ariz., Pen. Code, sec. 493. Cal., Pen. Code, sec. 292. Minn., Gen. Stat., sec. 6,221. N. Dak., Comp. Laws, secs. 6,550, 6,556. Oklahoma, Stat., sec. 2,189. Concealing birth of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable. Col., Mill’s Stat., sec. 1,195. Fla., R. L., sec. 2,393. Mass., Pub. Stat., ch. 207, sec. 11. Mich., How. Am. Stat., sec. 9,284. Mont., Crim. L., sec. 41. Neb., Consol. Stat., sec. 5,582. Nev., Gen. Stat., sec. 4,597. N. H., Pub. Stat., ch. 278, sec. 14. N. Dak., Comp. L., sec. 6,947. Oklahoma, Stat., sec. 2,179. Ore., Crim. Code, sec. 649. Pa., Bright Pen. Digest, 431, sec. 158. R. I., Pub. Stat., ch. 244, sec. 8. Wis., S. & B. Am. Stat., sec. 4,585. Is a misdemeanor. Minn., Gen. Stat., sec. 6,210. N. J., Rev. Stat., p. 241, sec. 83. Is a felony. Mo., R. S., sec. 3,479 (whether born dead or alive) ALABAMA. Removal of body wantonly for dissection or sale, purchase of a body unlawfully disinterred, violating grave with intent to steal body, etc., or wantonly mutilating body, is punishable by fine or imprisonment (Code, secs. 4,023, 4,028). Coroner, or in his absence justice of the peace, to hold inquest and direct examination of body by surgeon, etc. (Code, sec. 4,801 _et seq._). ARIZONA. Mutilation, etc., of dead body is a felony (Pen. Code, sec. 491). Removal of a part of body unlawfully is punishable (Pen. Code, sec. 492). Duty of burying body is, if a married woman, on husband; if not a married woman, on nearest of kin who is an adult possessed of sufficient means. If deceased has no relatives, on coroner holding inquest or overseers, etc., of poor (Pen. Code, sec. 493). Refusal of one on whom duty of burial is imposed by law, is punishable (Pen. Code, sec. 494). Arrest or attachment of a dead body is a misdemeanor (Pen. Code, sec. 496 _et seq._). Coroner to hold inquest and direct autopsy (Pen. Code, sec. 2,309 _et seq._). Person whose duty it is to bury is entitled to custody except where coroner holds it until inquest is completed (Pen. Code, sec. 495). ARKANSAS. Bodies of persons dying in alms-house, prison, house of correction, or jail shall be surrendered to a physician for dissection, etc., unless the deceased request to be buried or the body is claimed by relatives, or unless deceased died suddenly and unknown; and after such use for dissection it shall be decently buried (R. S., sec. 2,552). Removal of dead body for the purpose of dissection, or stealing, or from wantonness, or receiving same knowing it to have been unlawfully disinterred, is a misdemeanor (R. S., secs. 1,902, 1,903). Dead body can be transported out of county in which death occurred on permit of State board of health (R. S., sec. 480). Coroner to hold inquest and direct autopsy, etc. (R. S., sec. 692). And may order a body to be disinterred for inquisition (R. S., sec. 718). CALIFORNIA. Removal, mutilation, or disinterment of dead body without authority of law is a felony (Pen. Code, sec. 290). Removal of part of body for sale, dissection maliciously or wantonly is punishable (Pen. Code, sec. 291). _Duty of Burial._—Of married woman, on husband; not a married woman, nearest of kin who is an adult with sufficient means; where no relatives, on coroner who held the inquest or overseers, etc., of poor (Pen. Code, sec. 292). Refusal to bury by person on whom duty rests by law to bury, is a misdemeanor and he is liable for treble the expenses (Pen. Code, sec. 293). Custody of body is on him on whom duty to bury is imposed by law, except where coroner detains remains for inquest (Pen. Code, sec. 294). Arrest or attachment of dead body for any debt or demand is a misdemeanor (Pen. Code, sec. 295). One who disinters or exhumes a body without permit of board of health, health officer, or mayor, or transports such exhumed remains through streets of town, city, etc., except in a sealed coffin, guilty of a misdemeanor (Laws, 1878, ch. 673). A sheriff, coroner, or keeper of county poor-house, public hospital, county jail, or State prison, etc., must surrender bodies of those who are to be buried at public expense, to any physician or surgeon for dissection, etc., unless deceased during his last sickness requested to be buried or body is claimed by relatives, etc., or deceased was a stranger or traveller, died suddenly (Pen. Code, sec. 3,094). Coroner to bury body when no other person takes charge of same (Pen. Code, sec. 4,286). Coroner to hold inquest, direct autopsy, and may exhume (Pen. Code, see. 1,510). COLORADO. Concealment of death of issue which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable (Mill’s Stat., sec. 1,195). Body of criminal executed for capital offence shall be delivered to a physician or surgeon unless claimed by relative or friend (Mill’s Stat., sec. 1,204). Board of health, mayor, etc., or officer, etc., having control of any alms-house, prison, hospital, jail, etc., shall surrender bodies to be buried at public expense to any physician or surgeon for dissection, etc., unless deceased during last illness requested to be buried, or body is claimed by relatives or friends, or deceased was a stranger or traveller who died unknown (Mill’s Stat., secs. 1,547, 1,548). Non-resident poor person to be decently buried (Mill’s Stat., sec. 3,391). Coroner to hold inquest, etc., or, if none, bury it decently at expense of county (Mill’s Stat., secs. 870-882). Removal of body unlawfully for sale, dissection, etc., punishable (Mill’s Stat., sec. 1,367). Board of health may direct removal of dead bodies from cemetery within a city (Laws, 1893, ch. 113, sec. 54). CONNECTICUT. No body shall be buried or disinterred or removed beyond limits of any town unless a permit is obtained, and where deceased died of an infectious disease body shall be in a hermetically sealed case (Gen. Stat., secs. 106, 108, 113). Custody of remains is in husband or wife or next of kin (Gen. Stat., sec. 536). Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Gen. Stat., secs. 2,005, 2,008). And deliver body to friends or, if none, to town authorities for burial (Gen. Stat., sec. 2,015). Mayor, etc., may deliver bodies of those not buried within twenty-four hours after death to medical college for dissection, etc., unless relatives or friends do not consent, or deceased requested to be buried, or was a stranger or traveller (Gen. Stat., sec. 1,729). Bodies of convicts dying in State prison and not having any known relatives, shall be delivered to medical institution of Yale College (Gen. Stat., sec. 1,732). Body of one dying in a hospital shall not be examined unless father, etc., consent, or if none, within forty-eight hours after death (Gen. Stat., sec. 1,735). Removal of body from grave unlawfully, or receiving, secreting, or dissecting same, is punishable (Gen. Stat., 1880). Body of executed criminal shall be buried by sheriff (Gen. Stat., sec. 1,640). DELAWARE. Coroner to hold inquest, etc., or may cause body to be disinterred (R. L., ch. 33). Removal of body from grave unlawfully, a misdemeanor (Laws, 1883, ch. 204). FLORIDA. Buying, selling, or having possession for purpose of buying or selling, a dead body is punishable (R. L., sec. 2,625). Concealing birth of issue which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable (R. L., sec. 2,393). Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (R. L., secs. 3,011, 3,019). GEORGIA. Coroner to hold inquest or to disinter same for inquisition (Code, secs. 590, 591, 410 _et seq._). Public officers and their assistants, and their deputies of every county, city, town, or other municipality, or of every prison, chain gang, penitentiary, county morgue, public hospital, having control of dead body to be buried at public expense (not dying of infectious disease) shall deliver same to medical college for dissection, etc., unless claimed by friends or relatives or such friends or relatives request same to be buried, or unless deceased was a stranger or traveller (Laws, 1887, vol. 2, p. 77). Removal of body from grave, etc., unlawfully for dissection or sale is felony, or receiving or purchasing it knowing it to have been so taken, or trafficking in dead bodies, or having them conveyed without the State for sale, etc., is a felony (Laws, 1882, vol. 2, p. 87). IDAHO. Coroner to hold inquest, etc., and may exhume it for that purpose (R. L., sec. 8,377). Coroner to bury body decently when not claimed by relatives, etc., and if necessary, at expense of county (R. L., sec. 2,081). ILLINOIS. Removal of body unlawfully or aiding in such removal is punishable as a felony—one to ten years (S. & C. Am. Stat., vol. 1, p. 794). Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (S. & C. Am. Stat., vol. 1, p. 606). And to deliver body to friends or bury decently if no friends claim it, if necessary at county expense (S. & C. Am. Stat., vol. 1, p. 606). Body of executed criminals may be delivered to any physician or surgeon for dissection unless friends object (S. & C. Am. Stat., vol. 1, p. 869; Crim. Code, sec. 503). In cities and counties where population exceeds one hundred thousand, superintendents of penitentiaries, wardens of poor-houses, coroner, city undertaker, having body required to be buried at public expense, may deliver remains to medical college or any physician or surgeon for dissection, unless claimed by relatives (S. & C. Am. Stat., vol. 3, p. 867). INDIANA. Removal of dead body or part of same unlawfully is a felony (R. L., sec. 2,165). Concealment of body or part thereof, which has been unlawfully used for dissection, is a felony (R. L., sec. 2,167). Receiving or buying a body knowing it to have been unlawfully disinterred is a felony (R. L., sec. 2,168). Dead body of one dying in a State, city, or county prison or jail, or county asylum or infirmary or public hospital, or dead body of an executed criminal, or dead body of a vagrant, or one killed while committing a felony or escaping from prison or officers, may be delivered to the faculty of a medical college in State for dissection, etc., unless deceased requested to be buried or body is claimed by next of kin (R. L., sec. 4,258 _et seq._). Dissecting or possessing body for dissection except as prescribed by law is a felony (R. L., sec. 4,271). Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (R. L, secs., 5,878, 5,879). IOWA. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (McCl. Am. Code, sec. 487). To bury body decently at expense of county, if necessary, or deliver it to relatives (McCl. Am. Code, sec. 501). Removal, etc., of dead body unlawfully, or aiding such removal or knowingly receiving body so removed, etc., is punishable (McCl. Am. Code, sec. 5,328). Coroner, undertaker, superintendent of public asylum, hospital, poor-house, or penitentiary, may deliver body to medical college or physician for dissection, etc., unless relatives, etc., refuse or deceased desired to be buried (McCl. Am. Code, sec. 5,329). Bodies of those executed, or dying in hospitals or prisons under sentence for crime, shall be delivered to medical college or association or any physician or surgeon for dissection, etc., unless relatives or friends do not consent, or body shall have been interred, or is not claimed by relatives, or deceased expressed a wish to be buried, and after such use the remains shall be interred (Gen. Stat., sec. 3,758). State board of health shall issue permits for transportation of bodies beyond county where death occurred (Gen. Stat., sec. 6,030). KANSAS. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Gen. Stat., secs. 1,780, 1,794). To bury body if not claimed by friends, etc., and at public expense, if necessary (Gen. Stat., sec. 1,792). Removal of a body unlawfully for dissection or wantonly, or receiving body knowing it to have been so removed, is a misdemeanor (Gen. Stat., sec. 2,372 _et seq._). KENTUCKY. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Gen. Stat., ch. 25, secs. 3, 11). To bury the body or deliver to friends (Gen. Stat., ch. 25, sec. 6). Body of one dying on a steamboat, or other craft, if not claimed by friends, shall be buried by master or officer in command on shore, at least four feet deep (Gen. Stat., ch. 29, art. 17, sec. 15). Removal of body unlawfully from grave is punishable (Gen. Stat., ch. 29, art. 17, sec. 16). LOUISIANA. Coroner shall hold inquest, etc., and bury body when not claimed by friends (Voorh. Rev. L., secs. 653, 660). MAINE. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (R. L., ch. 139, sec. 1). To bury the body at State or town expense (R. L., ch. 139, sec. 11). Seizure of body on execution, punishable (R. L., ch. 124, sec. 26). Removal, etc., of body unlawfully, or receiving it knowingly, or exposing, etc., body, is punishable (R. L., ch. 124, sec. 27). Bodies may be buried and the expense recovered from the town (R. L., ch. 24, sec. 34). If any resident request or consent that his body be delivered to a physician or surgeon for dissection, it may be so delivered, unless kindred or family connection objects (R. L., ch. 13, sec. 1). Body of criminal dying in State prison or jail, or who was executed, may be delivered to medical college or physician, etc., for dissection, unless deceased or kindred request to be buried (R. L., ch. 13, sec. 2). Body of person dying in the State, which is not claimed by relatives, notice having been given, shall be delivered to medical school unless ten voters of the town object to such disposition in writing (Laws, 1893, ch. 254). MARYLAND. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Md. Code, art. 22, secs. 3, 4). Shall bury the body when necessary at public expense (Md. Code, art. 22, sec. 7). Removal, etc., from graveyard, etc. (except potter’s field), of a body is a misdemeanor (Md. Code, art. 27, secs. 133, 134). MASSACHUSETTS. Medical examiners shall hold inquest, etc. (Pub. Stat., ch. 26, secs. 10, 11). And shall deliver it to relatives or friends, or if no one claims it, to overseer of poor etc., for burial (Laws, 1887, ch. 310). Body shall not be buried in city or town or removed therefrom without a permit (Laws, 1888, ch. 306). Body of one dying of infectious disease shall not be transported without permit, and only in a sealed case (Laws, 1883, ch. 124, sec. 2). Body shall not be cremated without permit and inquest by medical examiner, or within forty-eight hours after death, unless death was occasioned by contagious disease (Laws, 1885, ch. 265, sec. 4). Overseers of poor, mayor and alderman of city, or superintendent of State alms-house, may deliver body of person required to be buried at public expense, to any physician or surgeon or medical college unless deceased requested to be buried, or relative request burial or claim it, or deceased was a stranger or traveller (Laws, 1891, ch. 185). Body of criminal executed shall be delivered for dissection to a medical college if requested; if not, to friends or relatives, or, if none, to any physician or surgeon (Pub. Stat., ch. 202, sec. 8). Removal of body unlawfully from grave is punishable, or buying, selling, or possessing for such purpose, is punishable (Pub. Stat., ch. 207, secs. 47, 48). Concealing birth of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable (Pub. Stat., ch. 207, sec. 11). Seizing dead body on execution is punishable (Pub. Stat., ch. 207, sec. 46). Body of a prisoner shall be buried by sheriff at town expense if not claimed by relatives or friends (Pub. Stat., ch. 220, sec. 31). MICHIGAN. Justice of the peace to hold inquest, etc. (How. Am. Stat., vol. 2, sec. 9,583 _et seq._). And shall bury the body at the State or town expense (How. Am. Stat., vol. 3, sec. 9,593). Woman concealing death of issue which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable (How. Am. Stat., vol. 3, sec. 9,284). Board of health, officers, sheriff, etc., of any prison, etc., poor-house, alms-house, having body required to be buried at public expense, shall, if not claimed by relatives, or if it have died of any infectious disease, deliver it to University of Michigan, etc., for dissection, etc. (How. Am. Stat., vol. 3, sec. 2,284). Body shall not be shipped out of State nor used in State for any purpose but anatomical study (How. Am. Stat., vol. 3, sec. 2,286). Removal of body unlawfully is punishable (How. Stat., vol. 2, sec. 9,297). MINNESOTA. Gen. Stat., secs. 6,220, 6,230, same as N. Y. P. C., secs. 305-315. Concealing birth of child which died before or after birth is a misdemeanor (Gen. Stat., sec. 6,210). Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Gen. Stat., sec. 1,011 _et seq._). And cause body to be buried at expense of county (Gen. Stat., sec. 1,021). Section 6,216, same as 303, N. Y. P. C. Body must be buried within four days, and if death was from contagious disease, within twenty-four hours and in a tightly sealed coffin which must not be reopened (Gen. Stat., sec. 607). Wardens, superintendents of poor, and other persons having control of bodies shall deliver same to medical college committee, for dissection, unless claimed by relatives or friends, or relatives or friends do not consent, or one detained as a witness or on suspicion of having committed a crime, or deceased requested to be buried (Gen. Stat., sec. 678). MISSISSIPPI. Body of paupers and strangers to be buried (Am. Code, secs. 3,145, 3,146). Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Am. Code, sec. 816). Removal of body unlawfully and wantonly, for sale or receiving same, is punishable (Am. Code, secs. 1,023, 1,024). MISSOURI. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (R. L., sec. 2,438 _et seq._). And shall bury the body, if not claimed by friends, at public expense (R. L., sec. 2,456). And may direct a chemical analysis and microscopical examination of body (R. L., sec. 2,469). Superintendents or wardens of penitentiary, houses of correction, insane asylums, poor-houses, and coroners, sheriffs, city and county undertakers, having charge of a body required to be buried at public expense, shall deliver the same to medical college for dissection unless claimed by relatives or friends, and trafficking in such bodies is a misdemeanor (R. L., sec. 6,883 _et seq._). Concealing birth of child, so that it may not be known whether it was born alive or dead, is a felony (R. L., sec. 3,479). Removal of dead body from grave without authority (except that of criminal executed for crime), for purpose of sale, etc., or receiving such body knowingly, is a felony (R. L., secs. 3,842, 3,845). MONTANA. Concealing birth of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable (Crim. Laws, sec. 41). Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Gen. Laws, secs. 869, 883). And bury body at public expense if not claimed by relatives, etc. (Gen. Laws, sec. 881). Removal, etc., of dead body from grave without authority, and for the purpose of sale or dissection, or from wantonness, is a felony (Laws, 1889, p. 114). NEBRASKA. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Consol. Stat., sec. 3,130 _et seq._). To bury body if not claimed by friends (Consol. Stat., sec. 3,144). Removal of body from grave without authority for sale, dissection, etc., is punishable (Consol. Stat., sec. 5,847). Fœticide is punishable (Consol. Stat., sec. 5,582). Bodies of paupers or criminals unclaimed by friends or relatives may be delivered to medical college or physician for dissection, etc., and such body shall not be transported out of State (Consol. Stat., secs. 3,299, 3,301, 5,848). NEVADA. Justice of peace to hold inquest, etc. (Gen. Stat., sec. 2,256 _et seq._). And cause the body to be buried at public expense (Gen. Stat., sec. 2,269). Body shall not be buried without certificate of physician or coroner (Gen. Stat., sec. 4,872 _et seq._). Body shall not be transported out of State without a permit (Gen. Stat., secs. 4,870, 4,871). Concealing birth of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable (Gen. Stat., sec. 4,597). Non-resident, _et al._, to be buried at public expense (Gen. Stat., sec. 1,986). NEW HAMPSHIRE. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Pub. Stat., ch. 262, sec. 1 _et seq._). And bury body if a stranger, at public expense (Pub. Stat., ch. 262, sec. 16). Concealing birth of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable (Pub. Stat., ch. 278, sec. 14). Body of person dying in a county, city, or town, or State prison or jail, required to be buried at public expense, shall be delivered to any physician or medical college for dissection, etc., unless deceased requested to be buried, or friends claimed it or request burial, or deceased was a stranger or traveller who died suddenly (Pub. Stat., ch. 136). Body not to be buried without permit or disinterred (Pub. Stat., ch. 173, sec. 6). Removal of dead body without authority, or concealing it, knowing it to have been so dug up, is punishable (Pub. Stat., ch. 266, sec. 7). NEW JERSEY. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Rev. Stat., p. 170 _et seq._). And bury body if not claimed by friends (Rev. Stat., p. 170, sec. 5). Concealing birth of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is a misdemeanor (Rev. Stat., p. 241, sec. 83). Body of executed criminal may be delivered to physician, etc., for dissection unless claimed by relatives (Rev. Stat., p. 239, sec. 69). Removal of a body without authority for sale, dissection, etc., is a high misdemeanor (Rev. Stat., p. 249, sec. 122). Exposing body of an executed murderer is a misdemeanor (Supp. Rev. Stat., p. 194, sec. 19). Body must not be buried without a permit; nor body brought into the State without permit; nor taken out of State without permit (Laws, 1888, ch. 39, secs. 5-8). NEW MEXICO. Justice of the peace to hold inquest, etc. (Comp. Laws, sec. 443 _et seq._). And bury the body (Comp. Laws, sec. 447). Body of one dying of a contagious disease shall not be carried in an open coffin, or be exposed (Laws, 1889, ch. 79, sec. 8). Body shall not be buried within fifty yards of running stream (Laws, 1891, ch. 93). NEW YORK. Duty of burial, etc. (Pen. Code, sec. 305 _et seq._). Attempt at sexual intercourse with dead body is a crime against nature (Pen. Code, sec. 303). Transfer of body of one who died of a contagious or infectious disease shall be in hermetically sealed casket (Laws, 1893, ch. 661, sec. 23). Bodies of those dying in, or in custody of managers, etc., of any prison, asylum, morgue, hospital, or in possession of undertakers, shall be delivered to medical college of this State, etc., for purpose of medical study, unless claimed by relatives or friends, or friends or relatives do not assent to such disposal, or deceased requested during last illness to be buried (Laws, 1893, ch. 661, sec. 207). In certain cases bodies of convicts, unless claimed, shall be delivered to certain medical colleges (R. S., pt. 4, ch. 3, secs. 132, 133). District attorney may cause body to be exhumed, examined, etc. (Pen. Code, sec. 308). NORTH CAROLINA. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Code, sec. 657). Concealing birth of child, by burying dead body, is a misdemeanor. Opening grave without authority for purpose of taking body is a felony (Laws, 1885, ch. 90). Coroner may order a chemical analysis of remains (Laws, 1887, ch. 269). Dead body of convict, unclaimed by friends, shall be delivered to medical college except such dying of contagious disease (Laws, 1891, ch. 129). Body of one dying of contagious disease must not be transported by common carrier until disinfected, nor shall permit for removal be issued until such disinfection (Laws, 1893, ch. 214, sec. 16). NORTH DAKOTA. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Comp. Laws, sec. 664 _et seq._). And bury the body if not claimed by friends, etc. (Comp. Laws, sec. 676). Concealing birth of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, or of child dying within two years after birth, is punishable (Comp. Laws, sec. 6,947). COMP. LAWS. Sec. 6,549 same as 305 N. Y. P. C. ” 6,550 ” 306 ” ” 6,551 ” 307 ” ” 6,552 ” 308 (1-3) ” ” 6,553 ” 309 ” ” 6,554 ” 310 ” ” 6,559 ” 311 ” ” 6,560 ” 312 ” ” 6,563 ” 314 ” Duty of burial of married woman, on husband. If not married woman, on nearest of kin who is an adult or has means sufficient (Comp. Laws, sec. 6,556). Refusal to bury by one on whom duty is imposed by law, a misdemeanor (Comp. Laws, sec. 6,557). Custody of body pertains to one whose duty it is to bury (Comp. Laws, sec. 6,558). When cemetery is by law changed to other place, duty is on relative to move body (Comp. Laws, sec. 6,562). Body of executed criminal, and those dying in State penitentiary or county jail under sentence, shall be delivered to medical college or any physician for dissection, unless deceased requested to be buried, or friends ask to have it buried, or deceased was a stranger or traveller (Laws, 1890, ch. 92). OHIO. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (R. L., sec. 1,221 _et seq._). And bury body, etc. (R. L., sec. 1,227). Body of pauper or unknown, not an inmate of any penal, charitable, or reformatory institution, and not claimed by relative or delivered for dissection according to law, shall be buried at public expense (Laws, 1890, p. 283). Corpse shall not be conveyed to or from a city without a permit (R. L., sec. 2,119). Bodies of those dying in city hospitals, city or county infirmaries, work-houses, asylums, charitable institutions, penitentiaries, or jails, which are required to be buried at public expense, shall be delivered to medical college or society for study, etc., unless claimed by relative, or deceased was a stranger or traveller (except tramps) (R. L., sec. 3,763). Removing body from grave without authority for dissection or receiving such body is punishable (R. L., sec. 7,034). Body of executed criminal, if not claimed by relative or friends, may be delivered for dissection, etc. (R. L., sec. 7,343, 1). OKLAHOMA. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Stat., sec. 1,745 _et seq._). And bury the body at public expense if not claimed by relatives (Stat., sec. 1,759). Concealing birth of issue which, if born alive, etc., or dying within two years after birth, is punishable (Stat., sec. 2,179). 2,188-2,190 same as 305-307 N. Y. P. C. 2,191 ” 308 ” (except subd. 4) 2,192-2,193 ” 309-310 ” 2,198 ” 311 ” (ex. punishment) 2,199 ” 312 ” 2,202 ” 314 ” Custody is in him whose duty it is to bury (Stat., secs. 21, 97). Duty of burial of married woman, on husband; if not married woman, on nearest of kin who is an adult and has sufficient means (Stat., sec. 2,195). Refusal to bury by one on whom duty rests, is a misdemeanor (Stat., sec. 2,196). OREGON. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Crim. Code, sec. 453 _et seq._). And bury body if not claimed by friends (Crim. Code, sec. 462). Unmarried woman concealing birth of child so that it may not be known whether it was born alive or not, is punishable (Crim. Code, sec. 649). Bodies of criminals executed, those dying in hospitals, insane asylums, alms-houses, or penitentiaries, may be delivered to medical college or physician for dissection, etc., unless they shall have been interred, or claimed by relatives, or relatives and friends do not consent, or deceased expressed a wish to be buried; and they shall be used for such purpose only and in this State (Hill’s Am. Laws, sec. 3,730 _et seq._). Removal of body without authority, etc., is punishable (Crim. Code, sec. 656). PENNSYLVANIA. Coroner to hold inquest in Philadelphia County only in case of a violent death (Bright Pen. Dig., 1536, sec. 37). And may in Berks and Lancaster Counties order a post mortem (Bright Pen. Dig., 1536, sec. 38). Concealing death of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable (Bright Pen. Dig., 431, sec. 158). Removal of body from grave without authority is a misdemeanor (Bright Pen. Dig., 229, sec. 11). Bodies of those dying in alms-house, hospital, prison, or public institution, or those in morgue, which are required to be buried at public expense, shall be delivered to medical college, physician, etc., to be used for scientific purposes only, unless claimed by relatives or deceased was a traveller, and trafficking in such bodies is a misdemeanor (Bright Pen. Dig., p. 9, sec. 1 _et seq._). RHODE ISLAND. Concealing death of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, so that it may not be known, etc., is punishable (Pub. Stat., ch. 244, sec. 8). Seizing dead body under execution is punishable (Pub. Stat., ch. 223, sec. 2). Bodies of those dying in jail shall, if not claimed by relatives, be buried at public expense (Pub. Stat., ch. 201, sec. 30). Medical examiner to make autopsy (Pub. Stat., 1884, ch. 420). And bury body of stranger at State expense if necessary (Pub. Laws, 1884, ch. 420, sec. 24). Coroner to hold inquest if, in opinion of medical examiner, death was caused by act of some one other than deceased (Pub. Laws, 1884, ch. 420, sec. 17). SOUTH CAROLINA. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (R. L., secs. 711, 2,664 _et seq._). And may have body disinterred for inquisition (R. L., sec. 2,687). TENNESSEE. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Code, sec. 6,139 _et seq._). And may order a chemical analysis of remains, etc. (Code, sec. 6,150). Body to be buried, if not claimed by relatives, etc., at public expense if necessary (Code, sec. 6,160). Wilfully and improperly exposing or abandoning a dead body is a misdemeanor (Code, sec. 5,658). Removing or purchasing dead bodies without authority is a misdemeanor (Code, secs. 5,659, 5,660). Body of deceased convict to be buried unless claimed by friends (Code, sec. 6,402). TEXAS. Justice of the peace to hold inquest, etc. (Code Crim. P., art. 988 _et seq._). And may disinter the body for such inquisition (Code Crim. P., art. 989). Removal, etc., of dead body from grave without authority is punishable (Code, art. 345). Bodies of convicts to be buried (Rev. C. Stat., art. 3,561). VERMONT. Justice of the peace to hold inquest, etc. (Rev. Laws, sec. 3,934 _et seq._). Removal, etc., of dead body without authority, is punishable (Rev. Laws, secs. 4,194, 4,196). Bodies of those dying in poor-house or other public institution, which are required to be buried at public expense, may be delivered to any physician for dissection, etc., unless deceased requested to be buried, or friends or relations request burial, or deceased was a stranger or traveller. Such body shall not be removed from State, and shall be used for scientific purposes only (Laws, 1884, ch. 85). VIRGINIA. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Code, sec. 3,938 _et seq._). And to bury the body at public expense (Code, sec. 3,946). Removal, etc., of dead body from grave without authority, is punishable (Code, sec. 3,794). Bodies of those dying on vessels in State, shall be buried by master on the shore above high-water mark (Code, sec. 2,002). Bodies of those dying in alms-house, prison, morgue, hospital, jail, or other public institution, which are required to be buried at public expense, and bodies of criminals executed for crime shall be delivered to medical college, etc., and physician or surgeon for anatomical study, unless (except criminals) relatives and friends claim the body or deceased was a stranger or traveller; and such bodies shall not be sent out of the State (Code, ch. 80). WASHINGTON. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Hill’s Am. Stat., vol. 1, sec. 245 _et seq._). And bury body, if not claimed by friends, at public expense (Hill’s Am. Stat., vol. 1, sec. 257). Bodies of those dying in poor-house, public hospital, county jail, State prison, etc., which are required to be buried at public expense, shall be delivered to medical college, physician, surgeon, etc., for study, unless deceased requested to be buried, or it is claimed by friends or relatives, or deceased was a stranger or traveller; and such body shall be used only in the State (Hill’s Am. Stat., vol. 1, sec. 2,428 _et seq._). Removal, etc., of body from the grave without authority is punishable (Pen. Code, sec. 208). WEST VIRGINIA. Coroner to hold inquest, etc. (Code, ch. 154). And bury the body at public expense, or if of a stranger, may forward it to its destination or bury it (Code, ch. 154, sec. 8). Removal, etc., of a body from grave is punishable (Code, ch. 149, sec. 13). WISCONSIN. Justice of the peace or coroner to hold inquest, etc. (S. & B. Am. Stat., ch. 200). And shall cause the body to be buried at public expense (S. & B. Am. Stat., ch. 200, sec. 4,877). Dead body of convict shall, if not claimed by relatives or friends, be buried (S. & B. Am. Stat., sec. 4,926). Removal, etc., of body from grave without authority is punishable (S. & B. Am. Stat., sec. 4,592). Concealing death of child which, if born alive, would be a bastard, is punishable (S. & B. Am. Stat., sec. 4,585). A public officer having in his charge a body required to be buried at public expense, shall deliver same to member of State or county medical society, etc., for anatomical study, unless claimed by relatives, or they consent to such disposal, or deceased requested to be buried, or was a stranger or traveller (S. & B. Am. Stat., sec. 1,437). THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF CORONERS AND MEDICAL EXAMINERS. BY AUGUST BECKER, _Of the Buffalo (N. Y.) Bar_. THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF CORONERS AND MEDICAL EXAMINERS. BY AUGUST BECKER, _Of the Buffalo (N. Y.) Bar_. POWERS AND DUTIES OF CORONERS AND MEDICAL EXAMINERS. I. THE CORONER AND HIS COURT. _Coroner an Ancient Officer._—The office of coroner is one of the most important and ancient known to the common law. A coroner, or _coronator_, was so called because he had principally to do with the pleas of the crown, or suit wherein the king was immediately concerned.[507] The office is first mentioned in a charter granted in the year 925 by King Athelstan, to the authorities of Beverley. The office as at present constituted was not clearly established until after the Norman conquest. Under this head come the lord chief justice and puisne justices of the King’s Bench, who are supreme and sovereign coroners respectively.[508] The duties of the office of coroner involve questions of the greatest interest to society, to government, and to the rights and privileges of the individual citizen. The office has lost much of the honor and respect which formerly appertained to it. Its character and importance have been much diminished in latter times, making striking contrast with the high estimation it was held in by our ancestors in days when none but the gentry and knights of the shire were deemed eligible. In fact so great was the dignity of this office in ancient times, that it was never presumed that coroners would condescend to be paid for their services.[509] They were chosen by all the freeholders of the county court for life or good behavior, and were liable to be removed for cause by the writ _de coronatore exonerando_. There were three kinds of coroners at common law: _Virtute officii_; _virtute cartæ sive commissionis_; and _virtute electionis_.[510] The office of coroner was brought to America by the colonists along with the institutions of the common law, and may be said to exist in the several States with all the common-law incidents, except so far as they may have been modified by statute. The present defined powers of coroners in Great Britain and the United States, unless modified by British statutes and American acts, are derived from the English Stat. de Officio Coronatoris, 4 Edward I., s. 2. Coroners _virtute officii_ and _virtute cartæ sive commissionis_ are unknown to our institutions. Here the office of coroner may be classed under the head of coroners _virtute electionis_. Generally speaking the coroner is a county officer. CORONER’S DUTIES BOTH JUDICIAL AND MINISTERIAL. By the common law his powers and duties are both judicial and ministerial. In his ministerial capacity he is merely a substitute for the sheriff, as when the sheriff is a party.[511] His powers and duties thereunder it is not the present purpose to state and define. His judicial authority relates to inquiries into cases of sudden death, by a jury of inquest, _super visum corporis_, or, as it is more commonly defined, an inquisition, with the assistance of a jury, over the body of any person who may have come to a sudden or violent death, or who may have died in prison.[512] It is not necessary that the death should be both violent and sudden, and that both these circumstances must concur to give the coroner jurisdiction. It is sufficient to give the coroner jurisdiction if the death occurs from any violence done to a person by another, although such violence may not have terminated the life of a party suddenly, and it is still the duty of the coroner to hold an inquest.[513] Indeed the presumption is that he has acted in good faith and on sufficient cause.[514] And so when several persons have been suddenly killed by the same violent cause, under circumstances proper to be inquired of by a coroner’s inquest, it is proper and necessary for the coroner, acting in good faith, to hold a separate inquest over each body.[515] A coroner’s inquest is a judicial investigation. The coroner cannot delegate his authority to any one. Neither can he appoint a deputy under the common law. He must act in person as any other judicial officer; and it may safely be said that a coroner has no power to appoint a deputy coroner, except where special provision is made therefor by statute.[516] In England, a coroner’s court is a court of record, and it has accordingly been held that trespass cannot be maintained for turning a person out of a room where the coroner is about to take an inquisition.[517] But in this country, it may safely be said that a coroner’s court is not one of record, but of inferior jurisdiction.[518] The performance of the functions of a coroner are judicial in their character; so judicial that he is protected under the principles which protect judicial officers from responsibility in a civil action brought by a private person. His proceedings amount to entries concerning matters of public interest, made under the sanction of an official oath, and in compliance or presumed compliance of the law.[519] _Of his Authority to Hold an Inquest._—His authority to hold an inquest is not confined to the body of a person who may have died within his territorial jurisdiction, but extends to all bodies brought within his jurisdiction, no matter where death may have taken place.[520] So in any case where, after burial, an inquest becomes necessary to determine the manner of the death of a person who, dying in one, is buried in another county, the coroner of the latter county is the proper officer to hold the inquest.[521] A coroner cannot hold a second inquest while the first is existing. As we have seen, in holding an inquest the coroner performs a judicial duty, and he is _functus officio_ as soon as the verdict has been returned. He can hold no second inquest in the same case unless the first has been quashed by a court of competent jurisdiction, and a new inquiry ordered. He cannot set aside or quash his own inquest. If he were allowed to hold two inquests, not only might the greatest inconvenience arise from the inconsistent findings of the respective juries, but such a practice would be liable to great abuse, and as the object of the proceeding is merely preliminary, the main purpose being to ascertain whether it is probable that a crime has been committed, and to examine the facts and circumstances and preserve the evidence, all the ends of this inquiry are answered by one inquisition, _super visum corporis_. We believe no reported case is to be found in this country where a second inquisition has been held, the first remaining undischarged, nor is any such practice known to or recognized by our laws.[522] THE INQUEST MUST BE HELD UPON VIEW OF THE BODY. The coroner can in no case hold an inquest except upon view of the body. This is jurisdictional and cannot be waived by any one. He is not bound to hold an inquest before burial of the body takes place. When it has been buried, and he believes an inquest necessary, he is vested with authority to have the body disinterred and hold his inquest, and if necessary direct a post-mortem examination to be made, but after having done so, he must cause it to be reburied.[523] Deep interests are involved in the proper discharge of the duties of coroners; the character, liberty, and perhaps the life of a citizen accused of crime on the one hand, and on the other the aiding of public justice in establishing the guilt and securing the punishment of the actual criminal. Many of the questions which fall within the scope of a coroner’s inquisition are of an intricate and most perplexing character, a correct solution of which can only be arrived at by minds the best instructed and habituated to their investigation. In many cases some of these questions can be satisfactorily settled by the evidence of persons having cognizance more or less direct of the facts; in others, however, they can only be solved by the facts deduced from pathological anatomy, and other circumstances connected with the dead body, the cause of the extinction of life in which is the subject of the inquest. _In Massachusetts Office of Coroner Abolished._—Indeed, in Massachusetts the office of coroner was abolished in 1877, and the governor was invested with power, and it is his duty, to appoint, by and with the advice and consent of the council, able and discreet men, learned in the science of medicine, to be medical examiners, whose duties are to make examinations as provided in the statute upon the view of the dead bodies of such persons only as are supposed to have come to their death by violence.[524] _Coroner may Employ Professional Skill._—A thorough examination aided by professional skill is in general absolutely necessary to the proper administration of justice. It would no doubt be strange if a coroner had no authority to pledge the responsibility of the county for the compensation of all auxiliary services which are necessary to the proper execution of his office, and which he can by no other means command; for instance, when his duty requires him to disinter a body, he cannot be expected to do it with his own hands, or by hands paid for with his means. Indeed it has been said that, in this enlightened age, a coroner who would consign to the grave the body over which he had held an inquest, without availing himself of the lights which the medical science has placed within his reach, would in most cases fall short of what his official duty requires.[525] It is the generally accepted view of the law now that it is the duty of a coroner holding an inquest _super visum corporis_ to avail himself of professional skill and aid, and his contract will bind the county to the payment of a reasonable compensation for making a post-mortem examination.[526] POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION. Whether such examination should take place before the coroner has empanelled a jury seems to be an open question. We would venture the opinion that it should not, inasmuch as the jury ought to see and view the body in the same condition, as near as may be, as it was when found, and not after it has been mutilated, as it must need be by a post-mortem examination. It is, however, settled that the post mortem should not be in the presence of the jury, and that they are to be instructed by the testimony of the physicians who are designated by the coroner to make the examination.[527] The coroner’s right to dissect the dead body of a human being does not extend to all cases. Such a power could be wielded with the most injurious effects upon a community. His power to dissect is confined to those cases where he is authorized by law to hold an inquest upon the body. But a post-mortem examination, conducted by surgeons employed by a coroner holding an inquest, is not a part of the inquest in such a sense as that every citizen has a right freely to attend it. At common law it was essential to the validity of a coroner’s inquisition that the jury should view the body. And so is our law. But it was never required that the body should be dissected in any case. It is discretionary with the coroner to cause a dissection to be made, and to select the surgeons. He has also a discretion to determine whether any person, and what persons, may be present besides the surgeons. Not even the jurors have a right to witness the examination. They are to be informed of what it discloses by the testimony of the surgeons. Indeed, no person has a right to be present at the post-mortem examination upon the ground that he is suspected of having caused the death. He loses no legal right by being excluded. He has no right to dissect the body. If the coroner’s jury pronounce him guilty, the inquest, like the indictment of a grand jury, simply makes him liable to arrest.[528] MASSACHUSETTS STATUTORY PROVISIONS. The statute law of Massachusetts has already been referred to. It has abolished the office of coroner and in its place put medical examiners, so called, who are presumed to be learned in the science of medicine. Their powers, however, are not co-extensive with those of coroners. A medical examiner cannot hold an inquest. He cannot hold an autopsy without being thereto authorized in writing by the district attorney, mayor, or selectmen of the district, city, or town where a dead body lies. He can only upon receiving notice that there has been found, or is lying within the county, the dead body of a person who is supposed to have come to his death by violence, repair to the place where such body lies, view and take charge of the same. If he deems a further examination necessary and is authorized so to do, he must make an autopsy in the presence of two or more discreet persons, whose attendance he may compel by subpœna if necessary, and he must then carefully reduce or cause to be reduced to writing every fact and circumstance tending to show the condition of the body and the cause and manner of death, together with the names and addresses of the witnesses. If he deems it necessary, he may employ a chemist to aid in the examination of the body or of substances supposed to have caused or contributed to the death,[529] the record of which he must subscribe.[530] Such an autopsy does not, however, upon the trial of an accused render other competent evidence, as to the condition and appearance of the dead body at the time of the autopsy, inadmissible.[531] The autopsy may be followed by an inquest held, not by the examiner, but by a justice of the district, police, or municipal court for the district or city in which the body lies, or a trial justice. One of these functionaries must hold an inquest upon being notified by a medical examiner that in his opinion a death was caused by violence, and after hearing the testimony draw up and sign a report and issue process for apprehension of a person charged by the report with the commission of an offence, if he is not in custody.[532] Even though a medical examiner reports that a death was not caused by violence, and the district attorney or the attorney-general is of a contrary opinion, either one may, notwithstanding such report, direct an inquest to be held in accordance with the provisions of the statute.[533] NEW YORK’S STATUTORY PROVISIONS. In New York the powers and duties of coroners are defined by statute. Coroners in the city of New York are governed by a special act relating to that city exclusively. For the State at large it is provided that whenever a coroner is informed that a person has been killed or dangerously wounded by another, or has suddenly died under such circumstances as to afford a reasonable ground to suspect that his death has been occasioned by the act of another by criminal means, or has committed suicide, he must go to the place where the person is, and forthwith inquire into the cause of the death or wounding, and summon not less than nine nor more than fifteen persons, qualified by law to serve as jurors, if such death or wounding be of a criminal nature, to appear before him forthwith at a specified place, to inquire into the cause of death or wound, and if it appears from the evidence taken or during the inquisition, that any person or persons are chargeable with the killing or wounding, or that there is probable cause to believe that any person or persons are chargeable therewith, and if they are not in custody the coroner must forthwith issue a warrant for the arrest of the person or persons charged with such killing or wounding, who must be arraigned before the coroner for examination, and the coroner has power to commit the person or persons so arrested to await the result of the inquisition. A coroner is disqualified from acting as such in any case where the person killed or dangerously wounded is a co-employee with the coroner of any person or persons, association or corporation, or where it appears that the killing or wounding has been occasioned, directly or indirectly, by the employer of the coroner.[534] It is further provided that whenever a convict shall die in any State prison, it shall be the duty of the inspector having charge of the prison and of the warden, physician, and chaplain of the prison, if they or either of them shall have reason to believe that the death of the convict arose from any other than ordinary sickness, to call upon the coroner having jurisdiction to hold an inquest upon the body of such deceased convict.[535] The New York Criminal Code further provides that when six or more of the jurors appear, they must be sworn by the coroner to inquire who the person was, and when, where, and by what means he came to his death or was wounded as the case may be, and into the circumstances attending the death or wounding, and to render a true verdict thereon according to the evidence offered to them or arising from the inspection of the body.[536] The coroner may issue subpœnas for and summon and examine as witnesses every person who in his opinion, or that of any of the jury, has any knowledge of the facts; and he must summon as a witness a surgeon or physician, who must, in the presence of the jury, inspect the body, and give a professional opinion as to the cause of the death or wounding.[537] The jury, after inspecting the body and hearing the testimony, must render their verdict, and certify it by an inquisition in writing, signed by them, and setting forth who the person killed or wounded is, and when, where, and by what means he came to his death or was wounded, and if he were killed or wounded, or his death were occasioned by the act of another by criminal means, who is guilty thereof, in so far as by such inquisition they have been able to ascertain.[538] The testimony of the witnesses examined before the coroner’s jury must be reduced to writing by the coroner, or under his direction, and must be forthwith filed by him, with the inquisition, in the office of the clerk of the court of sessions of the county, or of a city court having power to inquire into the offence by the intervention of a grand jury.[539] If, however, the defendant be arrested before the inquisition can be filed, the coroner must deliver it with the testimony to the magistrate before whom the defendant is brought.[540] If the jury find that the person was killed or wounded by another under circumstances not excusable or justifiable by law, or that his death was occasioned by the act of another by criminal means, and the party committing the act be ascertained by the inquisition and is not in custody, the coroner must issue a warrant signed by him with his name of office, for the arrest of the person charged.[541] The coroner has power to compel the attendance of a witness and testify, and he may punish a witness for disobedience, as upon a subpœna issued by a magistrate.[542] The coroner’s warrant may be served in any county; and the officer serving it must proceed thereon, in all respects, as upon a warrant of arrest on an information, except that when served in another county it need not be indorsed by a magistrate of that county.[543] When the defendant is brought before the coroner, he must proceed to examine the charge contained in the inquisition or information, and hold the defendant to answer, or discharge him therefrom, in all respects as upon a warrant of arrest on an information.[544] II. THE JURY AND INQUEST. _Jurors Must be Sworn by Coroner._—The jurors summoned by a coroner to attend an inquest must be from the county or jurisdiction wherein the coroner is empowered to act. He cannot proceed with the inquest until he has summoned and sworn the jury. The jurors are not challengeable, and therefore they should be carefully selected and sworn by the coroner himself. His duties are judicial and he can only take an inquest _super visum corporis_, and an inquest in which the jury is not sworn by himself is absolutely void and of no effect.[545] _They Must Investigate and Determine the Facts._—After being sworn by the coroner they must investigate and determine and are the sole arbiters of the facts; the coroner’s duty being to instruct them in the law. They must go, view, and examine the body together, and not separately. It is essential to the validity of the inquest that the jury should view the body.[546] _Coroner may Compel Attendance of Witnesses._—When the coroner sits to hold an inquest, he sits as a judicial officer, armed with all the ordinary powers possessed by judicial officers. He may compel the attendance of jurors whose qualifications are usually such as are required of jurors in a court of record. It is his duty to present before the jury all the material testimony within his power, touching the death as to the manner whereof the jury are to certify, and that which makes for as well as against the party accused. It is his duty to summon before his inquest every person whom he has any reason to believe possesses any knowledge relative to the death which he is investigating. He is to summon such persons to attend before him for examination. He has full authority to compel obedience to his subpœnas. He has this power by the common law.[547] If a post-mortem examination is made, the examining surgeons should testify before the jury as to the matters disclosed by the examination.[548] The witnesses produced must be sworn by the coroner, and their testimony reduced to writing by him or under his direction. RIGHTS OF ACCUSED PARTY. The coroner is not required to take the testimony of the witnesses who are examined before the jury in the presence of the party accused. The accused has not the right to be represented by counsel, or to cross-examine the witnesses.[549] He is not permitted to produce witnesses before the coroner to show himself innocent of the crime. The coroner is not required to examine any witnesses to establish the guilt of such party when brought before him by virtue of process issued after the finding of the inquisition.[550] _Deliberation by Jury and Return of an Inquisition._—After the evidence has been taken, and the jury instructed in the law by the coroner, the jury should retire to deliberate upon their verdict. During such deliberation and until they have arrived at their verdict the coroner should not be present in the room where the jury is deliberating. After they have agreed on their verdict it should be reduced to writing, and the coroner is bound to accept it as final in his court. The inquisition should then be signed by the coroner and jury.[551] If the inquest is signed by the coroner and duly certified by him, the jurors having signed by making their cross marks, and the whole being certified by the coroner, his certificate of the signatures of the jurors is sufficient and the inquisition is properly made.[552] If several jurors on the inquest have the same christian and surname, it is not necessary in the caption of the inquisition to distinguish them by abode or otherwise.[553] The law requiring the coroner to make a return of the testimony with the inquisition cannot be satisfied short of some official certificate indicating that the witnesses named were sworn before him, to the matter insisted on as evidence against a prisoner. At least if there be no formal authentication, there should be proof _aliunde_ that the memorandum presents the testimony of the witness truly.[554] III. THE EFFECT OF THE EVIDENCE AND VERDICT. Under the common law formerly, a coroner’s inquisition was equivalent to an indictment by a grand jury upon which the accused might be tried. But in this country no person can be tried upon a coroner’s inquisition, yet the inquisition of a coroner’s jury finding a person guilty of murder has about the same force against him, until the grand jury passes upon his case, that an indictment found by them has thereafter, prior to his trial. _Coroner has Power to Issue Process of Apprehension._—If a person is charged with the crime in the inquisition, the coroner has power and he issues his process for the apprehension of the accused when not in custody solely upon the inquisition. The inquisition, though taken in the absence of the prisoner, and upon the testimony of witnesses he could not cross-examine, settles the question of his guilt until the grand jury passes upon the case. It justifies the commitment of the prisoner to jail, in the same manner that the testimony of witnesses does taken before a justice of the peace. The coroner can only examine the prisoner in the same manner as upon a warrant of arrest or on information, and is not authorized to examine witnesses either against the prisoner or for him, when he is apprehended by virtue of process issued subsequent to the finding of the inquisition by the jury, or in custody of the coroner without process at the time the same is found. _Privilege of Prisoner upon Arrest._—The prisoner has the privilege of telling his own story before the coroner, which is to be returned with the inquisition, and that is all. He cannot be discharged on it, however plausible it may be; and he has not the privilege of proving it true before the coroner. He should, therefore, not be discharged, and he cannot have the case investigated again before it is passed upon by the grand jury.[555] _Under the provisions of the New York Criminal Code_ the defendant against whom an inquisition has been found by a coroner’s jury is entitled to a hearing before a magistrate, whether he has been arrested before the inquisition has been filed or is arrested after such filing. Under the provisions of sec. 779, in the case of a defendant who has been arrested before the inquisition can be filed, the prisoner is entitled to be examined before the magistrate, before whom he may be brought, as provided in sec. 781, and in the case of a prisoner who has not been arrested until after the inquisition was filed, under secs. 781 and 783 the defendant is entitled to be heard before a magistrate in all respects as upon a warrant of arrest on an information. The magistrate must proceed to examine the charge contained in the inquisition, and hold the defendant to answer or discharge him therefrom.[556] The information is the allegation made to a magistrate that a person has been guilty of some designated crime.[557] WHEN EVIDENCE TAKEN BEFORE CORONER OF A PARTY CHARGED WITH CRIME ADMISSIBLE IN EVIDENCE UPON HIS TRIAL SUBSEQUENTLY. There is nothing which distinguishes between the proceedings of a coroner’s inquest and any other official proceedings taken and returned in the discharge of official duty as to their admissibility in evidence. A witness, therefore, may be contradicted by the production of a deposition thus given by him before a coroner.[558] But the line is sharply drawn in what cases the testimony of a witness examined before a coroner’s inquest can be used on his subsequent trial, and in what cases it cannot. When a coroner’s inquest is held before it has been ascertained that a crime has been committed, or before any person has been arrested charged with the crime, and a witness is called and sworn before the coroner’s jury, the testimony of that witness, should he afterward be charged with the crime, may be used against him on his trial, and the mere fact that at the time of his examination he was aware that a crime was suspected, and that he was suspected of being the criminal, will not prevent his being regarded as a mere witness, whose testimony may be afterward given in evidence against himself. If he desires to protect himself he must claim his privilege. But if, at the time of his examination, it appears that a crime has been committed, and that he is in custody as the supposed criminal, he is not regarded merely as a witness, but as a party accused, called before a tribunal vested with power to investigate preliminarily the question of his guilt, and he is to be treated in the same manner as if brought before a committing magistrate, and an examination not taken in conformity with the statute cannot be used against him on his trial for the offence.[559] So the doctrine as to silence being taken as an implied admission of the truth of allegations spoken or uttered in the presence of a person, does not apply to silence at a judicial proceeding or hearing, and since the proceedings at a coroner’s inquest are of a judicial character, what there transpired must be considered as a part of the proceedings.[560] The leading cases which have been before the New York Court of Appeals upon this important question, and from which that court has finally deduced that rule, may be here referred to. _Hendrickson Case._—In the first case the wife of the defendant died suddenly in the morning, and in the evening of the same day a coroner’s inquest was held. The defendant was called and sworn as a witness upon the inquest. At that time it did not appear that any crime had been committed, or that the defendant had been charged with any crime, or even suspected, except so far as the nature of some of the questions asked of him might indicate such a suspicion. On his subsequent trial on an indictment for the murder of his wife, the statements made by him at the coroner’s inquest were held admissible, on the ground that he was not examined as a party charged with the crime, that it had not appeared even that a crime had been committed, and that he had simply testified as a witness on the inquiry as to the cause of the death.[561] _McMahon Case._—Following this came the _McMahon Case_, in which it appeared that the defendant was arrested by a constable, without warrant, on a charge of having murdered his wife. The constable took him before the coroner, who was holding an inquest on the body, by whom he was sworn and examined as a witness. It was held that the evidence thus given was not admissible on the prisoner’s trial for the murder, and his conviction was reversed upon that ground.[562] _Teachout Case._—The doctrine of this case was more clearly defined and somewhat limited in a later case, the _Teachout Case_. In that case the defendant appeared at the coroner’s inquest in pursuance of a sub-pœna to testify, and voluntarily attended; he was not under arrest, but was informed by some one that it was charged that his wife had been poisoned and that he would be arrested for the crime. Before he was sworn he was informed by the coroner that there were rumors that his wife came to her death by foul means and that some of those rumors implicated him, and that he was not obliged to testify unless he chose. He said he had no objection to telling all he knew. The Court in delivering its opinion preludes it by a reference to these facts as showing that the statements made were voluntary in every legal sense, and held that a mere consciousness of being suspected of a crime did not so disqualify him that his testimony, in other respects freely and voluntarily given before the coroner, could not be used against him on his trial on a charge subsequently made of such crime. On that ground it held the evidence properly admitted, at the same time referring with approval to the _McMahon Case_, and distinctly limiting the rule of exclusion to cases within its bounds.[563] _Mondon Case._—Then followed the _Mondon Case_, where on the finding of the body of the deceased, the defendant was arrested without warrant as the suspected murderer. While he was thus in custody the coroner empanelled a jury and held an inquest, and the defendant was called as a witness before the inquest and was examined by the district attorney and by the coroner. The prisoner was an ignorant Italian laborer unfamiliar with the English language. He was unattended by counsel, and it did not appear that he was in any manner informed of his rights, or that he was not bound to answer questions tending to criminate him He was twice examined; on the first occasion the examination was taken by questions put either by the district attorney or by the coroner, and the result written down by the coroner, who then read the evidence over to him, line by line, and asked him if he understood it and if it was the truth, and he said it was, and the coroner then reswore him to the deposition. The coroner, after taking the defendant’s testimony on the first day, came to the conclusion that the defendant did not understand English well enough to be examined, and that it ought to be taken through an interpreter, which was done, in order that they might get it a little better and a little fuller. It was held that the defendant’s testimony was not admissible upon his trial on the indictment.[564] It will be seen that this latter case follows in direct line with the rule announced in the _McMahon Case_ and clearly distinguishes another case, the _McGloin Case_, upon the authority of which the trial court held the testimony of the prisoner in the _Mondon Case_ admissible. _McGloin Case._—The case of _McGloin_ was not that of the examination of a prisoner on oath before a magistrate before whom he was taken involuntarily, while in custody, and interrogated by the magistrate, who to all appearance had power to require him to answer, but while under arrest the prisoner said to the inspector of police who had him in charge that he would make a statement. The inspector then said that he would send for a coroner to take it. The coroner was then sent for and came to police headquarters and took down in writing the confession dictated by the prisoner, the coroner asking no questions and not acting in any official capacity, but as a mere amanuensis to take down the confession and prove the contents. It was held that the confession of the prisoner was admissible in evidence upon his trial for murder.[565] _Rule in Pennsylvania._—The rule in Pennsylvania is substantially that when the testimony given by the prisoner under oath before a coroner’s inquest, previous to him being charged or suspected of the murder of the individual upon whose body the inquest was sitting, may afterward be given in evidence against him, on his trial for the murder of such person.[566] _Rule in Nebraska._—The statements of a prisoner to be competent evidence must have been voluntarily made. In cases of declaration made on an examination before a coroner’s inquest by a person under arrest or charged with the crime and also under oath, they are not admissible. But when the person, although he be subsequently charged with the offence, appears voluntarily, and gives testimony, before any accusation has been made against him, his statements are admissible in evidence against him on the trial of an indictment for the crime.[567] MEDICO-LEGAL AUTOPSIES. BY H. P. LOOMIS, A.M., M.D., _Professor of Pathology in the University of the City of New York; Visiting Physician and Curator to Bellevue Hospital, New York; Pathologist to the Board of Health, New York City; President New York Pathological Society, etc., etc._ AUTOPSIES. A MEDICAL examiner before proceeding with an autopsy, especially if called before the body has been removed from the place where it was found, should carefully note certain facts. These should be entered by himself or an assistant with great care, in a note-book, as this book can be introduced as evidence in any trial. A satisfactory way is to dictate to the assistant as the examination proceeds, and at the conclusion the assistant reads the notes taken, and the examiner verifies them. SURROUNDING OBJECTS—POSITION OF THE BODY. These should be first noted. The character of the soil; the condition of the ground, and whether it shows footprints; if so, their direction; the evidence of any struggle; the presence of any weapon; and finally, the exact position in which the body lies, especially the position of the hands and feet. This is important, for the body may be found in a position which the deceased could not have assumed on the supposition of the wound or injury having been accidental or homicidal. If possible a photograph should be taken of the body in the exact position in which it is found. If it is absolutely necessary to remove the body, it should be done with great care, keeping the body in as horizontal a position as possible. The character of the surrounding soil should be noted. This is of special importance when the body to be examined has been exhumed: for the question of preservation of the body and the ability to recognize pathological changes may be brought up at a trial. This was an important point raised in the Buchanan case (New York, 1893). If a body be found in the water, examine the character of the water and the temperature, and if found near the shore, the character of shore and bottom. =Blood.=—The situation of blood-stains, and their number and extent, on clothing or surrounding objects should be noted. This will often show whether a struggle has taken place after receiving the fatal wound, and is also of medico-legal importance if made at the time the body is found, for it may be so situated as to show that the body has been interfered with after death. Again, spots of blood found upon articles of clothing or upon surrounding objects should be noted as to their form and direction, for they may serve to furnish an indication of the position of the person with respect to them when the wound was inflicted. For example, if the spot was oval, the presumption is that the person was placed obliquely with respect to the stain while the hemorrhage was occurring. The force with which the blood was thrown out will in some measure be indicated by the obliquity or length of the spot. The amount of blood will also often indicate whether the person has died suddenly, the exact spot where death occurred, whether a struggle took place, and will also preclude the possibility of a person moving after receiving the fatal injury. When we examine a body, especially when found in a room, care must be taken not to be misled by the accidental diffusion of blood by persons going in and out, or touching the body (see BLOOD-STAINS, Vol. II.) =Clothing.=—The examination of the clothing should be thorough. A description of each article should be noted, and the order in which it is removed; for often it is important to prove that the garments were worn by or belonged to the deceased. If any blood is on the clothing, note whether the blood is in large patches, or whether it is sprinkled over the garment: the amount of the blood and what garments are stained by it. Note and examine whether the blood has flowed down the front of the clothing, whether it has soaked the inner garments, or again, whether it has collected along the back; for these appearances will sometimes demonstrate whether a wound was inflicted while the person was sitting, standing, or lying down. For example, if the throat is cut while the person is lying down, the blood will be found on each side of the neck along the back and not down the front of the body. Few suicides cut their throats in a recumbent position, and this distribution of the blood may serve to distinguish a suicidal from a homicidal wound. The condition of the clothing may also serve to show whether there has been any struggle, and the presence of dry spots or mud on it may sometimes serve to connect an accused person with an act of murder. This is well illustrated in the case of Reg. _v._ Snipe, reported in Beck’s “Medical Jurisprudence,” where evidence was adduced to show that some spots of mud on the boots and clothing of the prisoner, when examined microscopically, contained infusoria, shells, and some rare aquatic vegetables. The mud of the ditch close to where the body was found, as also the mud on the clothing of the dead body, presented the same microscopical appearances. The medical expert who gave this evidence swore that in his opinion the mud spots on the body and on the prisoner’s boots were derived from the same ditch, for the mud of all the other ditches in the locality was found, on microscopical examination, to be different. The well-known case which occurred in New York a few years ago, known as the “Shakespeare case,” furnishes an example of the importance of carefully examining all stains on the clothing found on bodies. If there are several stabs or cuts on the body involving the dress, it should be noted whether they are blood-stained, and if so, whether the stain is on the inside or outside of the garments, for sometimes in simulated personal injury a stain of blood may be inadvertently applied to the outside of the dress, as in wiping a weapon. =Weapons.=—If a weapon is found, the character of the weapon and its exact position should be noted. This is frequently of importance in telling whether a person has died from an accidental or self-inflicted wound. In a case where death occurs immediately or within a few minutes, the weapon is found near the body, or often so tightly grasped in the hand that it can be with difficulty removed. If the weapon is found near the body it should be noted on which side and at what distance, and it must be questioned whether it could have fallen on the spot or been thrown there by the deceased. It is compatible with suicide that the weapon should be found at some distance from the body. An instance has been recorded where an individual was discovered in bed with his throat cut, and the bloody razor was found closed and in the pocket of the deceased. If a weapon cannot be discovered, or is concealed, it is strong presumptive evidence of homicide; especially when the wound is such as to produce speedy death. Note whether the weapon is sharp or blunt, straight or curved. If a knife, the handle and inner portion should be examined, for the blade may have been washed. If the wound has involved any large vessels, it is improbable that the weapon can have been thrown any distance from the body, and when it is, there are always fair grounds to expect interference with the original position of the body. One circumstance which always strongly points to suicide is the finding of the weapon firmly grasped in the hand of the cadaver. The hand of a dead person cannot be made to grasp or retain a weapon as does the hand which has grasped it at the last moments of life. The amount of blood on the weapon should be noted, but it must be remembered that a knife may have produced a fatal stab wound and still no blood be found on it. This is explained by the fact that in a rapid plunge the vessels were compressed, and only after the drawing of the knife and relieving of the pressure blood began to flow, or possibly the blood may have been wiped off the knife by the elasticity of the skin. When a person has died of a gunshot wound, especially at close range, it is important to look for any wadding or paper found in the wound, as in a number of instances the finding of such has led to the detection of the criminal. For example, handwriting has been found on the paper, or it has formed part of a printed page the rest of which has been found in possession of the accused. When a gun is discharged near the body, a portion of the wadding is almost always found in the irregular wound produced. POST-MORTEM EXAMINATION. Having completed the examination of the surroundings, one next proceeds with the post-mortem examination, which should be conducted according to a well-defined plan, following which the results obtained will always be satisfactory. If possible the body should be removed to a large, well-ventilated, and especially well-lighted room. No artificial light, if it can possibly be avoided, should be used when performing the autopsy; artificial light is especially bad on account of its yellowness and its power to modify natural color. Many diseased conditions cannot be satisfactorily determined by artificial light. The body should be placed on a high table, and the facility with which the autopsy is made will often depend on having the table high enough to render stooping unnecessary. Never make an autopsy, if it can possibly be avoided, on a body while in a coffin, as the examination is always unsatisfactory. The size and surroundings of the room, and how it is lighted, should be entered in the note-book. =Instruments.=—If possible the following instruments should be at hand before proceeding with an examination, although some of them may be dispensed with: (1) Large section knife; (2) scalpels; (3) enterotome (for opening intestines and stomach); (4) costotome, or large bone forceps (for cutting ribs); (5) scissors, large and small (one blade blunt); (6) saw; (7) chisel; (8) dissecting forceps; (9) probe; (10) blowpipe; (11) curved needles and strong twine; (12) measuring and graduated glass; (13) small scales. Besides the above instruments, some basins containing water; sponges, bottle of flexible collodion, Lugol’s solution of iodine for the amyloid test, will be needed. =Post-Mortem Wounds.=—Various plans have been proposed to protect the operator’s hands from the post-mortem wounds which are often so dangerous, such as wearing rubber gloves, smearing the hands with carbolized vaselin, both of which have their disadvantages: the gloves being too clumsy, and the vaselin rendering it almost impossible to hold the knife steady. Gloves should always be worn, however, where the body has undergone much decomposition, or where the person may have died from any septic disease. A method which I have found satisfactory is to cover all cuts and hangnails with flexible collodion, and then to have a basin of clean water at hand, and from time to time to rinse one’s hands in the water. It is from bathing the hands in the cadaveric fluids and not from cuts that most of the danger comes. If possible an absolutely new board, large enough upon which to examine the organs, should be at hand, for it may be claimed at a trial that the organs and tissues, if placed and examined on surrounding objects, have become contaminated. =Toxicological.=—If a chemical analysis of the various organs and tissues is to be made, and it is impossible to have the chemist present, the medical examiner should obtain some new glass jars of suitable size, with close-fitting glass covers. These jars should be rinsed with distilled water, and in them the various organs are to be placed; if possible with no preserving fluid on them. But if it is found impossible to deliver the jars to the chemist at once, alcohol may be poured over the organs in the jars, but it is specially important that a sample of this alcohol should be retained, that a chemist may at a future date test the same for any impurities. After the organs and tissues have been placed in the jars, the mouths should be closed and sealed, and the seal remain in the custody of the examiner until the jars are delivered to the chemist. =Parts to be Preserved for the Chemist.=—In cases of suspected poisoning, it is not sufficient that the stomach and intestines alone should be preserved for the chemist as has been indicated, each part by itself; for it should be remembered that the portion of poison remaining in the alimentary tract is but the residue of the dose which had been sufficient to destroy life, and if the processes of elimination have been rapid no trace of the poison will be found in the alimentary canal but can readily be detected in other organs. Again, the poison may not have been introduced by the mouth, in which case none may be found in the digestive tract. The chemist should receive, besides the stomach and entire intestinal canal, the liver, one or both kidneys, the spleen, a piece of muscle from the leg, the brain, and any urine found in the bladder. When it is impossible for any reason to obtain the whole of any organ, the part removed should be carefully weighed and its proportion to the rest of the organ noted. It is also of extreme importance to preserve in sealed and labelled jars those parts of a body which may show the evidence of disease, or on the appearance of which one’s evidence is founded. ORDER OF AUTOPSY. In making the autopsy, the operator should stand on the right side of the body and make the incision by grasping the knife firmly in the hand, and cutting with the whole of the blade and not with the point. The knife should be swept along from the shoulder rather than from the wrist, thus making a long, smooth, deep cut; never a jagged one. The method of examining the human body after death will vary somewhat according to the objects in view. These objects may be threefold: (1) To ascertain whether a person has died from violence or poison; (2) to establish the cause of death, especially if it has been sudden; and (3) to ascertain the lesion of a disease, or to confirm a diagnosis. The only difference between a medico-legal and pathological autopsy is that in the former case everything which might subserve the ends of justice should be carefully noted, and the changes found most accurately described; especially any abnormalities found on the external examination of the body. A photograph should be taken of the body. The head should be opened and the brain examined first, and not last, as is often done in the ordinary autopsy. Careful notes should be taken during each step of the examination, to be reread, verified, and signed at the completion of the autopsy. It must be remembered that most of the lesions of disease which are found, indicate the disease rather than the cause of death; that often the lesion found will seem hardly extensive enough to cause death, and that from accidents and injuries apparently trivial, death may result. It must often be acknowledged that no sufficient cause of death can be found, but the more accurate and careful the examinations (especially when a microscopical examination of the organs is made) the fewer will be the number of such cases. If no apparent lesion is found, it must not be forgotten that many poisons destroy life and leave no trace that the pathologist can discover. Care should always be exercised not to mistake the ordinary post-mortem appearance which we find at autopsies for the lesions of disease. The examination of the human body, whether it be made from a medico-legal or pathological standpoint, is divided into two main divisions: (1) The external examination, and (2) The internal examination. EXTERNAL EXAMINATION. Its minuteness will depend on the character of the case, as when the person is unknown, or when suspected to have died from unnatural causes. In such cases the external examination is very important. The following are the steps to be followed: (1) Give a =general description= of the body; apparent age, height, and weight of the individual; color of the hair and eyes; condition of the teeth; and the evidence of any personal peculiarities or abnormalities. (2) Note the =color of the skin= and observe whether there are any spots of CADAVERIC LIVIDITY, and if present where situated. (3) =Contusions.=—Note whether there are any contusions, and, if present, their character, situation, length, breadth, and depth should be described, and whether they are accompanied by inflammation or by the evidences of gangrene. It is often important to determine whether a contusion has been inflicted before or after death. This is to be done by cutting into the ecchymoses and if the extravasated blood or the coloring matter of the blood is found free in the tissues, one can be almost certain that it is an ante-mortem injury. In post-mortem discolorations the blood is found in the congested vessels. The situation of ante-mortem contusions will not generally correspond to the discolorations produced by decomposition; the latter being confined to the most dependent parts. It should be remembered that the contusions produced by blows on a body dead only a few hours cannot be distinguished from those which were received during life; and also that putrefactive changes make it well-nigh impossible to distinguish between ante-mortem and post-mortem injuries. It should also be borne in mind that blows or falls sufficient to fracture bones or rupture organs may leave no mark on the skin (see WOUNDS, Vol. I., pp. 467, 474, _et seq._). (4) =Wounds.=—The situation, depth, extent, and direction of any wound should be recorded, as also the condition of its edges; the changes in the surrounding tissues, and whether inflicted by a cutting, pointed, or rounded instrument; or by a bullet. In the latter case the course and direction of the ball should be ascertained by dissection rather than by the use of the probe, and the character of foreign bodies, if any are found in the wound, should be noted. What nerves or blood-vessels, particularly arteries, have been injured, should be ascertained. It is often important to determine whether a wound was made before or after death. The following may serve as a differential point: In all wounds made after death there is slight bleeding, non-contraction of the edges, and absence of blood in the tissues. This is the opposite of ante-mortem wounds. Again, wounds inflicted within two hours after death cannot be differentiated from those made during life (see GUNSHOT WOUNDS, Vol. I., p. 610 _et seq._; WOUNDS, Vol. I., p. 476 _et seq._). (5) =Fractures.=—If there are any evidences of fractures, the situation of the bones involved should be noted, and whether they are accompanied by contusions of the soft parts. Fractures which are inflicted during life are always accompanied by much more extravasation of blood, more injury to the soft parts, and more evidences of reaction than those occurring after death. It is a well-known fact that it is much more difficult to produce a fracture in a dead than a living body (see WOUNDS, Vol. II., p. 482 _et seq._). (6) =The temperature= of the body should be taken. (7) =The rigidity and flexibility= of the extremities should be ascertained. (8) =The state of the eyes= should be noticed, and the relative size of the pupils. (9) Attention should be paid to the condition of the cavities of the mouth and nose. The neck should be specially examined for marks of external injury, or signs of ecchymosis or compression. (10) =Genitals.=—The external genitals should be very carefully examined for evidence of injury, the presence of syphilitic lesions, and in the female the condition of the vagina should be particularly ascertained. (11) =Œdema of the Feet.=—If there is evidence of œdema in any part of the body, especially about the ankles, its situation and extent should be noted. (12) =Ulcers and Abscesses.=—The situation and extent of any ulcer found on the body should be recorded, as also the presence and situation of any abscess. (13) =Burns.=—The extent of a burn, as also the state of the parts involved, should be noted. For example, whether they are inflamed or show blisters, etc. (see HEAT AND COLD, Vol. I., p. 647 _et seq._). (14) =Hands.=—In medico-legal cases the hands of a dead person should always be examined for the presence of cuts, excoriations, or foreign substances found upon them; especially should the dorsal extremities be examined. This examination will often indicate that there has been a mortal struggle before death. The impression of a hand or of some of the fingers is often found on the skin of a dead body. The exact situation where found should be noted. This may be of importance, as when it occurs where it would have been impossible or improbable for the deceased to have caused it. For appearances in death from lightning or electricity, see Vol. I., p. 701 _et seq._, and in death from hanging, strangulation, and garroting, see Vol. I., pp. 713, 746, 781, _et seq._ INTERNAL EXAMINATION. Having completed the examination of the external parts of the body, the next proceeding is to open the body and make an internal examination. This should be done by following a regular method, so as to examine the relations of parts and not to injure one organ while removing another. In opening the various organs an incision should be made which will expose the greatest amount of surface at one cut. Never make a number of small and always unsatisfactory incisions in an organ. In opening certain organs like the brain and heart, the incisions are so planned that the parts of the organ may be folded together, and, if necessary, their relations to one another and the whole organ studied. Such organs are opened as one would open a book to examine its pages. It is important to remember that after death the blood leaves the arteries and left side of the heart, and collects in the veins and the right cavities of the heart. Especially does it collect in the vessels of the most dependent portions of the body and of the various organs, so that local congestions may often disappear after death; and again, they may be found at an autopsy where they were not present during life. Especially is this true of the mucous membranes such as those of the trachea and bronchi, and also of the blood in the sinuses of the dura mater. In making autopsies it is a cardinal rule that _all_ the cavities of the body should be examined, and not alone the one where one might expect to find a lesion. At medico-legal autopsies, the great cavities—the head, the thorax, and the abdomen—should be examined in their successive order from above downward. The reason for beginning with the head is that the amount of blood in the brain and its membranes may be determined accurately; for, if the heart and great vessels of the neck are opened first, the blood will drain away from the brain and local congestions disappear. In pathological autopsies, the opening of the head first is not so important, and often the vertebral column need not be opened at all, for it is a complicated process and takes time; but in medico-legal cases, especially where a question as to the cause of death may arise, and has not satisfactorily been determined, after all the other cavities are examined the vertebral column should always be opened and the cord removed. THE HEAD. Make an incision across the vertex of the skull from ear to ear. Dissect the anterior flap forward until within about three inches of the bridge of the nose, and the posterior flap backward to the external occipital protuberance. Examine the internal surface of the scalp for ecchymosis and evidences of injury. A circular incision is then made with a saw through the cranium as far backward and forward as the flaps have been reflected. An incision through the temporal muscle is necessary so that the teeth of the saw may not become clogged by the muscle fibres. When the cranium has been sawed through, a stout hook is inserted under its upper edge and it is removed with a quick jerk. If the dura mater is very adherent to the calvaria, it may be necessary to remove it with the bone, by cutting through it at the level of the cranial incision. Examine the calvaria as also the other bones of the skull after the brain has been removed and the dura stripped off, for evidence of fracture. Note the symmetry, thickness, and density of the cranial bone, and remember that depressions along the sagittal suture are for the Pacchionian bodies, and are not pathological. =Dura Mater.=—The dura mater may be slightly adherent to the bone of the cranium. This is especially seen in old people and does not indicate disease. The Pacchionian bodies are seen along the longitudinal sinus. Examine the internal surface of the dura mater for the presence of clots, tumors, or inflammatory lesions. Open the longitudinal sinus and examine for thrombi. Remove the dura mater by an incision following the cranial incision, the falx cerebri between the anterior lobes being drawn back and divided. Note whether the dura mater is adherent to the pia mater, and the condition of its internal surface. =Pia Mater.=—The brain, covered by the pia mater, is now exposed. Note the degree of congestion of the membrane, its adherence, and the existence of pus, blood, or serum on its surface or in its meshes. Remember that a considerable amount of serum may be present within normal limits, especially in cachectic subjects, without indicating disease, but when the serum is so extensive as to raise the pia mater and to depress the convolutions, we have a pathological amount which may be a simple dropsy due to some general cause, or the result of a chronic meningitis. Enough serous effusion in the pia mater to produce a condition which has been called by some writers “serous apoplexy,” I believe never occurs as a primary condition. Loss of transparency and thickening of the pia mater, especially along the longitudinal fissure, is often seen in old people and does not indicate disease. =Brain.=—Remove the brain by raising the anterior lobes with the fingers of the left hand and cutting through the nerves, vessels, and the tentorium as they appear. The medulla is cut as low down as possible, and the brain as it rolls out is caught in the left hand. After being placed on a clean board or in a large clean dish, it is minutely examined. The average weight of an adult male brain is forty-nine and one-half ounces; of the female, forty-four ounces. Its proportional weight to that of the rest of the body is as 1 to 45. Lay the brain first upon its convex surface and examine the arteries at the base for atheroma, thrombi, emboli, and aneurisms. Examine the pia mater of the base, especially for the evidences of hemorrhage, tumors, tubercles, and inflammatory lesions. Next turn the brain over on its base, and proceed to open its various cavities and examine its internal structure. Separate the two halves of the cerebrum, until the corpus callosum is exposed. Make an incision downward and outward at the junction of the corpus callosum with the cerebrum, and the roof of the lateral ventricles will be cut through and their cavities exposed. Prolong the incision forward and backward so as to expose the cornua. The size and contents of the ventricles should be noted, as also the condition of the ependyma. The floor of the lateral ventricles being the most frequent spot of hemorrhage, if one is found its extent and the parts involved by it should be noted; especially its relation to the internal capsule. Transverse incisions (about one-sixteenth of an inch apart) are made through the ganglia seen on the floor of the lateral ventricles. Thus any lesions in the substance of the ganglia will be disclosed. Three or four longitudinal incisions are now made outward into the hemispheres nearly to the pia mater. These will divide the hemispheres into long, prism-shaped pieces held together by the pia mater and a little of the cortex, thus enabling the brain afterward to be folded together, and the relations of lesions to the brain as a whole studied. The third ventricle is now examined by cutting through the fornix and corpus callosum at the foramen of Monroe. Next, the fourth ventricle is opened by a longitudinal incision through the lower portion of the vermiform process; its contents, the condition of its vessels and ependyma noted. Then the floor of the fourth ventricle is divided by transverse incisions one-sixteenth of an inch apart, and careful examination made for the presence of minute hemorrhages: for here is a place in the body where almost a microscopical lesion (hemorrhage) may cause sudden death. Each hemisphere of the cerebellum is now opened by a number of incisions starting from the fourth ventricle and passing outward into its substance. The presence of any tumors or hemorrhage in the cerebellum will now be recognized. In opening the brain, when clots, areas of softening, tumors, etc., are discovered, their exact location in relation to surrounding parts should be noted and the blood-vessels examined for areas of degeneration or aneurism. This examination can be facilitated by allowing a stream of water to flow over the affected part. This will wash out the affected area and allow the vessels to appear. =Eye.=—In rare cases it may be necessary to remove the eye. This can be done by breaking through the roof of the orbit with a saw or chisel and dissecting away the muscles so as to expose the optic nerve and the posterior portion of the organ. THORAX AND ABDOMEN. The body being placed on its back, and the operator standing on the right side, an incision is made through the skin, fascia, and muscles from the top of the sternum to the pubic bone, passing to the left of the umbilicus and dividing everything down to the sternum and the subperitoneal tissue. A small incision is now made through the peritoneum below the ensiform cartilage. Into this opening two fingers of the left hand are inserted, and by spreading the fingers and holding the knife horizontally the peritoneum can be divided to the pubes without injuring the intestines. The skin and muscles are now dissected from the chest as far back as the false ribs. This dissection may be facilitated by keeping the skin and muscles on the stretch and cutting with the flat part of the knife. In order to better expose the abdominal cavity, the recti muscles are divided beneath the skin at their insertion in the pubic bone. Examine the cut surface of the chest and abdominal muscles, and note their color, amount, and consistency. Observe whether the chest muscles show the evidence of any parasitic disease such as trichinosis. The mammary glands are now examined from behind and opened if necessary. =Superficial Examination of Abdominal Cavity.=—This should be done before opening the chest cavity, because the position of organs may become modified, and blood and other fluids are liable to find their way from one cavity into another; and again, the blood in the presenting portion of the abdominal organs will change its color after exposure to the air. NOTE THE FOLLOWING POINTS: (_a_) The _relative position_ and _general condition_ of the abdominal organs. (_b_) The _color_ and _amount of blood_ in the presenting parts. (_c_) Whether there are any _signs_ of _inflammation_ or the evidence of foreign bodies or tumors. (_d_) Examine the _vermiform appendix_. (_e_) _The amount of fluid in the abdominal cavity._ Normally a small quantity of reddish serum will be found, particularly in warm weather, at the most dependent portion of the abdominal cavity. If the quantity is small it can only be ascertained by raising the intestines from the pelvis. When the fluid is considerable, the exact amount should be ascertained and its character noted. (_f_) _Perforation_, _invagination_, and _hernia_ of the intestines should be looked for. (_g_) Determine the _height of the diaphragm_. Normally, on the right side, it is at the junction of the fifth rib with the sternum, and on the left it reaches as high as the sixth. A variety of pathological conditions change its position. For instance, it may be raised when the contents of the abdomen are greatly increased in volume, and in new-born children who have never breathed. It may be depressed by enlargement of the lungs, disease of the heart, or fluid in the pleural or pericardial cavities. The presence of air or gas in the pleural cavity can be determined either by filling the abdomen with water and puncturing the diaphragm beneath the fluid so that the air will bubble up, or a puncture may be made through the thorax between the ribs, and the flame of a match will be deflected by the escaping air. THORAX. The thorax is opened by cutting the sterno-costal cartilages as close to the end of the ribs as possible, the cut being made downward, outward, and backward, and the knife held obliquely so as not to injure the underlying parts. Quite often the cartilages will be found ossified and it will be necessary to divide them by a costotome. Next, separate the clavicles by a semi-lunar incision at their attachment to the sternum. Raise the sternum with the left hand and separate it from the underlying parts. If there is any adherence of the sternum a slight twist will be sufficient to remove it. =Superficial Examination of Thorax.=—Observe the position, color, and degree of distention of the _lungs_. It should be remembered that healthy lungs, as soon as the chest is opened, owing to their inherent elasticity, will collapse, and when this normal collapse is not seen it is generally due to a loss of elasticity as occurs in emphysema, to inflammatory diseases binding the lung to the chest wall, or to the alveoli being filled with solid or fluid substances or pent-up air. Most complete distention is seen when death is due to drowning or suffocation. The area of the _heart_ uncovered will vary according to the degree of collapse of the lungs and to the abnormal size of the heart. Normally the cardiac area exposed is quadrangular in shape, and about three and a half inches in its longest diameter. Examine the _pleural cavities_ for the presence of adhesions, foreign bodies, or fluid. If fluid is found it should be removed, measured, and its character noted. It is to be remembered that in warm weather, or when putrefaction has commenced, a moderate amount of reddish serum is found in the pleural cavities which has no pathological significance. Lastly, examine the _mediastinum_ as to the condition of the _thymus gland_ and _great vessels_ outside the pericardium. =Pericardium.=—Open the pericardium by an oblique incision along the anterior wall, and prolong this incision downward and outward toward the diaphragm and upward to its reflection from the great vessels. Normally, about a drachm of clear serum, sometimes, however, blood-stained from decomposition, will be found in the pericardial sac. The amount is best ascertained by raising the heart. Note next the contents of the pericardium and whether there is any serous, fibrous, or purulent exudation. If an abnormal amount of fluid is present, remove, measure, and note its character. Observe whether there are any adhesions between the two surfaces of the pericardium. White patches are often seen on the visceral surface of the pericardium, especially over the ventricles. These have no pathological significance and are due to slight thickenings of the pericardium. =The Heart.=—Having passed the hand over the arch of the aorta and noticed whether there is any evidence of aneurism or dilatation, we grasp the heart firmly by the apex, raising and drawing it forward. We remove it by cutting through the vessels at its base. Test the sufficiency of the aortic and pulmonary valves by allowing a stream of water to flow into these vessels, the heart being held in a horizontal position and care being taken not to pull the valves open. To apply the water test to the mitral and tricuspid valves, the auricles are first opened so as to expose the upper surface of these valves, and by allowing a stream of water to flow through the aortic and pulmonary valves into the cavities of the ventricles, the degree of sufficiency of these valves can readily be ascertained. Another rough test is what is known as the “finger test.” The mitral valve will normally allow two fingers, held flat and in contact, to pass through its opening. The tricuspid in the same way allows, normally, three fingers to pass; or if a more accurate test of the degree of insufficiency is desired, the valvular orifices should be measured. Normally, the aortic orifice is one inch across; the mitral, one and eight-tenths inches; pulmonary, one and two-tenths inches; and the tricuspid about two inches. We open first the cavity of the right ventricle by making an incision over its anterior border close to the septum. Prolonging the incision downward to the apex and upward through the pulmonary artery, the cavity of the ventricle will be fully exposed. The left ventricle is similarly opened by an incision through its anterior wall which is prolonged upward through the aortic valve. The cavities of the auricle and ventricle, especially those of the right side, will often contain blood-clots. These clots are _usually_ post-mortem clots formed during the last hours of life or after death. It may sometimes be necessary to distinguish these post-mortem clots from what are known as ante-mortem clots. The latter are usually of firm consistency, dry, of a whitish color, and closely entangled in the trabeculæ, while the former are succulent, moist, of a reddish-yellow color, and are easily detached from the walls of the heart cavities. Ante-mortem clots are rarely seen, and the medical examiner should be careful not to attribute the cause of death to the post-mortem clots which are so often seen. After the heart is opened we can with more care and greater accuracy examine the condition of the valves and recognize the extent of valvular lesions. The condition of the endocardium should now be examined and any abnormality noted. Often it will be seen stained a deep red color. This is not due to disease, but is caused by the absorption of the coloring matter of the blood which has been set free by decomposition. The size of the heart cavity and the thickness of the heart walls should be noted, as also their consistency and color. It should be remembered that the heart walls may appear unusually flabby as the result of decomposition, or apparently thickened when death occurs in extreme systole. The interior of the heart can be further examined by passing the enterotome into each auricle, carrying the incision through the mitral and tricuspid valves to join at the apex with the previous incision, which has been prolonged through the ventricles to the apex. Thus the auriculo-ventricular valves are completely exposed. Having removed the blood from the heart it is next weighed. The average normal weight of the human heart is about twelve ounces in the male, and a little less in the female: its size roughly corresponding to the closed hand of the individual. Normally, the thickness of the walls of the left ventricle about its middle is five-eighths to two-thirds of an inch, and of the right ventricle one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch. Note the condition of the aorta above the heart, whether it is dilated, atheromatous, or shows calcareous deposits. Examine the coronary arteries by opening them with a blunt-pointed scissors. Disease of these vessels with thrombosis is one of the causes of sudden death which is often overlooked. =The Lungs.=—The lungs are removed by lifting them from the pleural cavity and cutting through the vessels and bronchi at their base. If a lung is very adherent it is sometimes better to remove the organ with the costal pleura attached so as not to tear the lung substance. Examine the external surface of the lung as to its shape, color, and consistency. Next open the large bronchi with a blunt-pointed scissors, and prolong the incision into the pulmonary substance along the minute bronchi. Observe the contents of the bronchial tubes, the appearance of the mucous membrane, and their relative thickness. Remember that it is very difficult to tell the condition in which the mucous membrane was during life on account of the early post-mortem changes which affect it, and also because the contents of the stomach may have been forced after death up the œsophagus and down the bronchi, giving the tubes a peculiar reddish and gangrenous appearance. Having examined the bronchi, the lung is turned over and its base grasped firmly in the left hand. An incision is made from apex to base, which will expose at a single cut the greatest extent of pulmonary surface. Note the color of the lung substance, and whether the alveoli contain blood, serum, or inflammatory products. Blood and serum can easily be forced from the lungs by pressure between the fingers, while inflammatory exudations cannot. Examine carefully for the presence of miliary tubercles. If a question should arise whether a portion of a lung is consolidated, this part can be removed, placed in water, and if the air cells are consolidated the portion will sink; if there is only congestion it will float. By squeezing the lung between the fingers an inflammation of the smaller bronchi (bronchitis) can be recognized by the purulent fluid which will exude at different points. It should be remembered that in normal condition the lower lobes and posterior aspect of the lungs will apparently be very much congested as a result of gravity. =Neck, Larynx, and Œsophagus.=—Throw the head well backward, and place a block beneath the neck. Make an incision from the chin to the upper part of the sternum. Dissect the soft parts away on each side from the larynx and thyroid body, then cut along the internal surface of the lower jaw from the symphisis to its angle. Through this incision introduce the fingers into the mouth, and grasp and draw down the tongue. By dividing the posterior wall of the pharynx and pulling downward these parts, the trachea and œsophagus can readily be removed together, a ligature having been first placed around the lower portion of the œsophagus. Open now the pharynx and œsophagus along their posterior border. Examine the mucous membrane carefully for the evidences of inflammation, caustic poison, tumors, foreign bodies, or strictures. With an enterotome open the larynx and trachea along their posterior wall. Observe if there is any evidence of œdema of the glottis, and note the condition of the mucous membrane. Remember that redness of the larynx is very commonly the result of post-mortem changes and is also seen in bodies which have been kept cold. Dissect off and examine the thyroid gland. ABDOMEN. Having completed the examination of the organs of the thorax, we next proceed to examine those contained in the abdominal cavity. We first raise and,dissect off the omentum, noting if it is abnormally adherent. The first organs to be removed are: =The Kidneys.=—Drawing the intestines aside we cut through the peritoneum over the kidneys, and introducing our left hand we grasp the organs with their suprarenal capsules attached. Raising first one kidney and then the other, we easily divide the vessels and the ureters as close to the bladder as possible. The kidneys are often found imbedded in a mass of fat which must first be removed. Their surface is sometimes of a greenish color owing to the beginning of putrefaction. We note the size of the organ, its color and weight. A normal kidney weighs from four and one-half to five ounces. Grasping the kidney firmly in the left hand, we make an incision in its capsule along its convex border, and with a forceps strip off the capsule and note its degree of adherence and the condition of the surface of the organ; whether it is smooth or granular. Prolonging our incision already made through the cortex of the organ, inward toward the pelvis, we divide the organ into two halves and now closely examine the internal structure. The average thickness of the cortex, which should be about one-third of an inch, is noted; as also its degree of congestion, and whether the normal light (tubes) and reddish (vessels and tufts) lines are seen running through it. If these alternate light and dark markings are lost and the organ has not undergone decomposition, the presence of some of the forms of Bright’s disease may be suspected. If the cut surface of the organ presents a waxy appearance, the amyloid test should be applied by first washing the cut surface of the organ and dropping upon it a few drops of Lugol’s solution of iodine, when the amyloid areas will appear as dark mahogany spots on a yellow background. The pelvis of the kidneys should be examined for calculi and the evidence of inflammatory lesions. The suprarenal capsules readily decompose, but if the autopsy is not made too late hypertrophy, tuberculosis, tumors, and degeneration in them may be recognized. =The Spleen.=—This organ will be found in an oblique position at the left side of the stomach. Grasping it firmly in the left hand and drawing it forward, it can easily be detached. Normally in the adult it is about five inches in length by three inches in breadth by one inch in thickness, and weighs about seven ounces. The size, color, and consistency of the organ should be noted, as well as abnormal thickenings of its capsule and the presence of any tubercles or tumors in its substance. The spleen softens very early as the result of decomposition, and this decomposition should not be mistaken for a pathological condition. =The Intestines.=—In cases of suspected poisoning the greatest care should be taken in the removal of the intestines and the stomach. Double ligatures should be placed in the following situations so as to preserve the contents of the organs intact: (1) at the end of the duodenum; (2) at the end of the ilium; and (3) at the lower portion of the rectum; and an incision should be made with a pair of scissors between these ligatures. The jejunum and ilium should first be removed together by seizing the gut with the left hand, keeping it on the stretch, and cutting with a pair of scissors through the mesentery close to its intestinal attachment. The cæcum, colon, and rectum should then be removed in a similar manner. The intestines being placed in large absolutely clean dishes, which have previously been rinsed with distilled water, are opened; great care being taken that none of the intestinal contents are lost. The small intestines should be opened in one dish and the large intestine in another. A portion of the intestines where morbid appearances are most likely to be seen in cases of poisoning are the duodenum, the lower part of the ilium, and the rectum. The comparative intensity of the appearances of irritation should be especially noted. For example, if the stomach appears normal and the intestines are found inflamed the possibility of poison from an irritant may be denied. The intestines are opened along their detached border by the enterotome. Care should be taken to distinguish the post-mortem discolorations which are usually seen along the intestines from those produced by disease. The former are most marked in the dependent portions. They are apt to occur in patches which can be readily recognized by stretching the wall of the gut. The darkish brown or purple discolorations which are sometimes seen as the result of decomposition are due to the imbibition from the vessels of decomposed hæmoglobin. Much care and experience are necessary to tell the amount of congestion which is within normal limits and to recognize changes of color produced by decomposition. The pathological lesions ordinarily looked for in the examination of the intestines are ulcers, perforation, hemorrhages, strictures, tumors, and the evidences of various inflammations. To obtain an accurate idea of the various portions of the mucous membrane of the intestines, it is sometimes necessary to remove their contents. When very adherent this should be done by allowing as small a portion of distilled water as possible to flow over their surface. If any abnormalities are noticed along the intestinal tract, an accurate description should be given of their situation and extent; as also the amount of congestion seen in different portions of the intestinal tract. If possible the different portions of the intestines, as well as the stomach, should be examined immediately after being exposed to view, as under the influence of the air those parts which are pale may become red, and slight redness may become very pronounced. In this way only can we estimate the degree of vascularity of the various parts after death. However, in cases of suspected poisoning, _when it is impossible for the chemist to be present at the autopsy, the medical examiner should not open the stomach and intestines_, but place them in sealed jars. As soon as possible afterward, the chemist being present, they should then be examined in the manner indicated. What may be lost by waiting, in changes of color which have taken place, will be more than counterbalanced by the data which the chemist will obtain from observing the contents and mucous membrane of the stomach and intestines when they are first exposed. The characteristic odors of certain poisons are so evanescent that they quickly disappear after opening of the stomach and intestines. After a thorough examination of the intestines, they are to be put with their contents into wide-mouthed vessels, each part by itself, and the basins in which they were opened washed with distilled water and the washings put into the same bottle. As soon as the intestines are transferred to the jars they should be sealed. =The Stomach.=—The stomach and duodenum are removed together. They are opened by passing the enterotome into the duodenum and dividing it along its convex border, the incision being continued along the greater curvature of the stomach as far as the œsophageal opening. They should be opened in a large glass dish which has been carefully washed with distilled water. The chemist and medical examiner will carefully note the quantity, odor, color, and reaction of the stomach contents; also whether luminous or not in the dark; the presence or absence of crystalline matter, foreign substances, undigested food or alcohol. Portions of the contents should be placed in a small glass bottle and sealed, so that at a future time they may be examined microscopically. Only in this way can an absolute knowledge of the character of the stomach contents be obtained. In certain medico-legal cases the ability to decide the character of the stomach contents is of the utmost importance. The mucous membranes of the stomach and duodenum must be next carefully examined for evidences of hemorrhages, erosions, tumors, and of acute or chronic inflammations. The appearance of the rugæ and their interspaces, principally in the region of the greater curvature, should be noted; because here traces of poison and its effects are most frequently seen. If the stomach is inflamed, the seat of the inflammation should be exactly specified, as also that of any unusual coloration. The condition of the blood-vessels are also noted. Vascularity or redness of the stomach after death should not be confounded with the effects of poison or the marks of disease. It may occur in every variety of degree or character and still be within normal limits. Vascularities which we might call normal are seen in the posterior part of the greater end and in the lesser curvature, and may cover spaces of various extent. Rigot and Trosseau have proven by experiment that various kinds of pseudo-morbid redness may be formed which cannot be distinguished from the varieties caused by inflammation; that these appearances are produced after death and often not until five or eight hours afterward, and that they may be made to shift their place and appear where the organ was previously healthy, merely by altering the position of the stomach. Ulcers, or perforations of the stomach as the results of disease, as also the digestion of the stomach after death, have been mistaken for the effects of _irritant poisons_. When perforation of the stomach is the result of caustic poisons, the edges of the opening are very irregular, and are of the same thickness as the rest of the organ. The parts not perforated are more or less inflamed, and traces of the action of the caustic are found in the mouth, pharynx, and œsophagus. This is the opposite condition to that seen in spontaneous perforation. In considering perforation of the stomach the following points given by Taylor are well to remember: (1) A person may have died from perforation of the stomach and not from poisoning. (2) A person laboring under disease may be the subject of poison. (3) A person laboring under disease may have received blows or injuries on the abdomen, and it will be necessary to state whether the perforation did or did not result from the violence. (4) The perforation of the stomach from post-mortem changes may be mistaken for perforations from poison. _Corrosives_, if they do not produce perforation of stomach, will generally cause intense inflammation accompanied by softening of the inner coat, sometimes ending in gangrene. The inflammation varies as to its extent and intensity, sometimes affecting principally the mouth and œsophagus, but generally the changes are more pronounced in the stomach and duodenum, while in rare cases the inflammatory process may extend through the whole alimentary canal. The mucous membranes are sometimes bright red with longitudinal or transverse patches of a blackish color, formed by extravasated blood between the coats. _Carbolic acid_ often produces in the stomach and œsophagus white patches—when these patches are carefully examined, an ulcerated surface beneath them is generally seen. _Narcotic Poisons._—It is a common but mistaken idea that these poisons produce some mark or characteristic effect upon the stomach walls; that they induce a rapid tendency to putrefaction; that the blood is in a fluid state; that hemorrhages are seen in various parts; that the stomach and intestines show sloughing without any inflammation. Some of these conditions may and probably do occur, but they are far from being invariable in their appearance. Experiments made by Orfila on animals with narcotic poisons prove the above statement. In conclusion, I would emphasize the fact that the _narcotic poisons produce no characteristic changes in the stomach that can be detected_. =The Liver.=—The liver should be removed from the body and no attempt made to examine the organ _in situ_. After raising first one lobe and then the other, the diaphragm should be cut on either side and the suspensory and lateral ligaments divided, then the organ can easily be removed. The weight of the organ is ascertained, as also the measurements of its size recorded. The normal weight is from fifty to sixty ounces. The organ is normally about twelve inches in length by seven inches in depth by three and one-half inches in thickness. The gall bladder is first examined to determine the character and amount of the bile and the presence or absence of gall stones, inflammatory lesions, and tumors. At autopsies the surface of the liver, especially along the free border, is generally seen to be of a greenish or dark-brown color. This discoloration is due to the action of the gases developed by decomposition on the coloring matter of the blood, and has no pathological significance. The character of the surface of the liver is now noted, whether smooth or rough. The organ is opened by deep incisions in various directions, and the color, consistency, and blood supply of the liver tissue carefully recorded. The presence of new connective tissue, amyloid degeneration, abscesses, or tumors should not be overlooked. It should be remembered that, of all the poisons, phosphorus alone leaves characteristic appearances in the liver. =The Pancreas.=—The pancreas is now easily removed, and its size and weight recorded. Normally it should weigh three ounces and measure eight inches in length by one and one-half inches in breadth by one inch in thickness. The organ should be opened by a longitudinal cut and examined for evidences of acute or chronic inflammation, fat-necrosis, tumors, calculi, and amyloid degeneration. =Genito-Urinary Organs.=—It is very important in medico-legal cases that all the urine should be preserved and obtained uncontaminated; therefore before the bladder is opened a catheter should be introduced and the urine drawn off into a clean bottle which has previously been rinsed with distilled water. If more convenient the bladder itself can be punctured at its upper portion, a pipette introduced, and the urine drawn off in this manner. The genito-urinary organs are removed together. This is done in the following manner. The body of the penis is pushed backward within the skin and cut off just behind the glans penis; the remaining portion of the rectum is raised. This with the prostate gland, bladder, and penis attached is removed by carrying the knife around the pelvis close to the bone and separating the pubic attachments. The organs are then laid on a clean board and the urethra is opened on a grooved director passed into the bladder, and the incision prolonged so that the internal surface of the bladder itself will be completely exposed. Examine the _urethra_ for strictures, inflammatory lesions, and ulcers. Examine the _bladder_ for congestion, hemorrhages, inflammation, and ulcers of its mucous surface, and note the thickness of its walls. Open the _rectum_ and examine for ulcers, strictures, tumors, and the evidence of hemorrhage. The _prostate_ gland is opened by a number of incisions into its substance. Examine for hypertrophies, tumors, and inflammatory lesions. Force the _testicles_ through the inguinal canal, and cut them off. Weigh, open, and examine them for evidence of inflammation, tuberculosis, and tumors. =Female Organs.=—Before removing these organs, any abnormalities such as adhesions, malpositions, and tumors should be noted. Dissect the organs away from the pelvic bones by carrying the point of the knife around the pelvis close to the bone. Cut through the vagina at its lower third, and the rectum just above the anus. The organs can now readily be removed. Examine the _vulva_ for ulcers, hypertrophies, and tumors. Open and examine the _bladder_. Open the _vagina_ along its anterior border and carefully examine its mucous surface for evidences of inflammation. THE UTERUS.—Before opening the uterus, its size and shape should be recorded. The average normal weight of the organ is about one and one-quarter ounces; its length three inches, breadth two inches, and thickness one inch. Open the organ along its anterior surface by a blunt-pointed scissors passed through the cervix, and the incision carried as far as the fundus. Note the thickness of its walls and any abnormalities of its mucous membrane. During menstruation, the mucous membrane of the body is thickened, softened, and covered with blood and detritus. Retention cysts are found in the mucous membrane of the cervix and are not generally of pathological significance. Remove, measure, and weigh the _ovaries_. Their normal weight is about one drachm each; their size, one and one-half, by three-quarters, by one-half inch. Open the organs by a single incision and examine for the evidences of acute and chronic inflammations, tumors, and cysts. The _corpora lutea_ in various stages can be easily recognized in the substance of the organ. Open the _Fallopian tubes_ and examine their contents and the condition of their membranes (see DISPUTED PREGNANCY AND DELIVERY, Vol. II.). THE SPINAL CORD. To remove the cord, the body should be placed on its face with a block beneath the thorax. An incision is made through the skin and muscles along the entire length of the vertebral column and the soft parts dissected away so as to expose the transverse process of the vertebræ. The lamina are divided with a saw through the articulate process (a double-bladed saw specially adapted for this work can be obtained). After the lamina have been completely severed, these together with the spinous process can now be readily torn away with a stout hook and the cord exposed. A long chisel with a wooden mallet will often greatly facilitate this work. Great care should be exercised not to injure the cord. The roots of the spinal nerves are now severed, and the cord removed within its membrane. It should be remembered that serous fluid within the membranes of the cord, as also intense congestion, especially along its posterior aspect, is often seen as the result of post-mortem change. The cord is laid on a clean board and the dura mater opened with a blunt-pointed scissors along its anterior aspect, and an examination made for the presence of hemorrhage, inflammatory lesions, and tumors. Softening of the cord can generally be detected by the finger passed along it. This, however, is not a perfectly accurate test, especially if the body has been dead some time. The cord is now cut by transverse incisions about half an inch apart throughout its entire length, and the cut surface examined for the evidences of disease such as hemorrhages, softening, and inflammatory lesions. After the cord has been removed, examine the vertebral column for the evidences of fractures and displacements. LATE AUTOPSIES. Late autopsies are those performed after partial or complete destruction of the soft parts of the body, through the natural processes of decomposition, or the examination of bones exhumed long after interment. The term may be employed also to mean the inspection of an embalmed body, dead for some time. The object of late autopsies is to determine identity, or to establish the guilt or innocence of suspected persons. An examination of the skeleton even many years after death may give important information as to the manner in which the deceased came to his end. This cannot better be illustrated than by the citation of one or two cases. In the celebrated case of “Eugene Aram,” the bones of his victim were discovered thirteen years after the crime had been committed. A man who afterward proved to be Aram’s accomplice was arrested on suspicion. He confessed the crime, and the opinion formed by the medical witnesses was confirmed by his statements. The skull presented evidence of fracture and indentation of a temporal bone. Aram argued the case in his own behalf, but the testimony was too strong against him: he was convicted and executed. Taylor records the case of a man, Guerin, who was convicted of the murder of his brother from evidence obtained from an examination of the skeleton three years after interment. Here, again, blows upon the head were the cause of death, and the fractures were plainly perceptible upon the exhumed skull. An autopsy upon a body before the soft parts have been entirely destroyed, or upon an embalmed body, should be conducted in much the same manner as ordinary autopsies. In these cases the method of burial should be noted. If it be a case of murder, and the body has been hurriedly put into the ground, it is not likely that the custom of Christian nations has been observed—that of laying the body full length, with the head to the west. In the case of partially destroyed bodies, the remaining soft parts will give little evidence of the mode of death unless the violence has been very extensive, and even then it may be impossible to determine whether a wound was inflicted prior to or after death. Recourse must be had to the skeleton, and the only evidence it can furnish is of fractures, unless, as happened in one case, a rope be found about the cervical vertebræ. When the skeleton only is found, Taylor lays stress upon the following points: (1) Whether the bones belong to a human being or one of the lower animals. (2) If a human being, whether male or female. (3) The length of time they have probably remained in the ground. (4) The probable age of the individual to whom they belonged. If the maxillary bones be found, much information may be obtained from an examination of the teeth. (5) The probable stature of the individual during life. (6) The race to which he belonged. The conformation of the skull and thickness of the bones will give important information on this point. (7) It should be determined whether solitary bones belong to the right or left side, and whether they form parts of one or more than one skeleton. (8) Whether they have been fractured, and if so, whether it occurred during life, or by accident at the time of the exhumation. If it occurred during life, whether it be recent or of long standing. (9) The presence or absence of personal deformities, of supernumerary fingers or toes, of curvature of the spine, of ankylosis of one or more joints. (10) Whether they have been calcined, as murderers sometimes try to make away with the bodies of their victims by burning. Especially is this the case in infanticides (see IDENTITY, Vol. I., p. 408 _et seq._; TIME OF DEATH, Vol. I., p. 452 _et seq._). AUTOPSIES OF FRAGMENTS. These cases are usually cases of murder in the perpetration of which the criminal has mutilated the body with a view to destroying all traces of identity. The importance which attaches to autopsies of fragments rests upon the fact that parts of a body may be found widely separated, and that one portion may be found before the others. In such cases it will be necessary to determine if they belong to one and the same body. The examination is conducted chiefly with a view to establishing this. The examiner must note the manner in which the fragment has been separated; whether it is clean cut, as by one who understood something of anatomy, or, whether it has been separated roughly and by one ignorant of the body structure. The determination of this point will be one link in the chain of evidence which may lead to the detection of the criminal, or the acquittal of one accused. An anatomist or a butcher would be likely to cut through at a joint, and to do it neatly. The exact point at which the severance has taken place should be noted. The place of finding, the circumstances under which found, the condition and general appearance of the fragment should all be carefully recorded. The color of the skin will indicate with some accuracy the race to which the individual belonged. The probable sex may be determined by the presence or absence of hair, and the general conformation. This, however, will not apply in the case of children. The probable age may be fixed upon from the size and degree of development of the fragment. The cut surface should be carefully described, and if possible a drawing should be made of it. There are special considerations which apply to certain parts of the body. =The Head.=—The exact point of severance should be recorded. The number of vertebræ which remain attached to the head should be counted, and if the section pass through a vertebra, its number and the amount of it missing should be stated. The sex will be apparent in all instances; the race may be determined both by the color of the skin and by the shape of the head; the age may be approximated, though care must be had in expressing an opinion, for the manner of living is well known to affect the appearance of age. Evidence of violence prior to death should be noted, and the presence or absence of fractures ascertained; also observe the color of the hair and whether it be thin or abundant; the presence or absence of beard or mustache, and if present the color; and the color of the eyes. =The Arm.=—The following points should be determined: the color of the skin as indication of race; the probable sex from its shape and general conformation; the probable age from its size and degree of development; marks of any kind, such as tattooing; and deformities, such as signs of old or recent fracture, or dislocation; and supernumerary fingers. =The Leg.=—The examination of the leg should be conducted in much the same manner as that of the arm. =The Trunk.=—An examination of the trunk will reveal the race, sex, and probable age, and may give evidence as regards the manner in which the deceased came to his or her death. Any marks or deformities should be recorded, and in all cases the viscera should be examined. MEDICO-LEGAL REPORTS.[568] After making a medico-legal autopsy, it will be necessary for the medical examiner to draw up a report of his findings, and the conclusions based thereon. The report should be clear and concise, and the language such as a coroner’s jury can understand. Technical terms should be avoided, and when their employment is necessary they should be explained in the margin or in parentheses. The report should be drawn up in somewhat the following manner: