Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic medicine and Toxicology. Vol. 1 by R. A. Witthaus et al.
6. =Manner of Burial.=—Putrefaction is retarded by burial a short
1091 words | Chapter 76
time after death; by interment on high ground, in dry, sandy, or
gravelly soil; by having the grave deep, over six feet in depth if
possible by the body being well wrapped and secured in a tight coffin,
a lead one being the best in this respect. Lime or charcoal applied
freely about a body will retard decomposition, as will also injection
of the body through the arteries with such substances as arsenic,
chloride of zinc, or antimony. The ultimate effect of putrefaction
is to reduce all bodies to inorganic compounds, chiefly water,
ammonia, and carbon dioxide. Three conditions are necessary for its
establishment, (1) a given temperature, (2) moisture, (3) free access
of air.
The order in which the various organs and tissues undergo
decomposition, as given by Casper, who has investigated the subject
carefully, is as follows: Trachea and larynx, brain of infants, stomach
and intestines, spleen, omentum and mesentery, liver, brain of adults,
heart and lungs, kidney, bladder and œsophagus, pancreas, large
vessels, and last of all the uterus.
As the result of putrefaction, fluids, generally blood-stained, collect
in the serous cavities of the body, and should not be confounded
with serous effusions occurring during life. So also the softening
of the organs and tissue resulting from decomposition should be
carefully distinguished from those resulting from inflammation. These
cadaveric softenings are most frequently found in the brain, spleen,
and gastro-intestinal mucous membrane. Inflammatory softenings are
differentiated by being rarely general but almost always limited, by
the substance of the inflamed part being infiltrated with serum or
pus and showing traces of vascular injection. In doubtful cases the
pathologist should have recourse to the microscope.
As the result of putrefaction, various changes take place in the mucous
membrane of the stomach and intestines which simulate the effects
of poisons. The color of the stomach varies from red, which becomes
brighter on exposure to the air, to a brown, slate, or livid purple. We
can only presume that these color-changes are the result of irritant
poisons when they are found in non-dependent parts and parts not in
contact with organs engorged with blood, when they are seen soon after
death, and when the membrane is covered with coagulated blood, mucus,
or flakes of membrane.
EFFECTS ON PUTREFACTION OF SUBMERSION IN WATER.
There are certain modifications of the putrefactive changes when bodies
have been submerged in water. In the first place, the changes are much
less rapid; they often do not show themselves until about the twelfth
day, and then as discolorations appearing generally first about the
ears and temples, then on the face, from which they spread to the neck,
shoulders, chest, abdomen, and finally to the legs. This is almost the
inverse order of the putrefactive changes in bodies exposed to the air.
As a result of the formation of gases, the body in a short time becomes
buoyant; after floating on the surface of the water for a time, the
gases escape and the body sinks, rising a second time when fresh gas
has formed.
The rapidity of decomposition in water varies, being most rapid when
the temperature is from 64° to 68° F. Stagnant as well as shallow water
favors putrefaction. If a body becomes coated with mud the change is
delayed. Submersion in a cesspool also retards it, and the conditions
are such as to favor the formation of adipocere.
After a body has been removed from the water an exposure of a very few
hours to the air causes rapid decomposition, so that in twenty-four
hours more marked changes may occur than would have resulted from a
fortnight’s longer submersion. The face soon becomes bloated and black,
so that identification is well-nigh impossible. It is quite important
in medico-legal cases to estimate the time which has elapsed since
death in bodies found submersed in water. The following are the various
changes ordinarily seen at different periods of time, as estimated by
Devergie, who has especially investigated the subject:
=First Four or Five Days.=—Little change: rigor mortis may persist,
particularly if the water is cold.
=Fourth or Fifth Day.=—Skin of the ball of the thumb and little
finger, also the lateral surface of the fingers, begins to whiten. This
whitening gradually extends to the palms of the hands and soles of the
feet. The skin of the face will appear softened and of a more faded
white than the rest of the body.
=Fifteenth Day.=—Face slightly swollen and red; a greenish spot
begins to form on the neck and skin of the mid-sternum. The skin of the
hands and feet is quite white and wrinkled. The subcutaneous cellular
tissue of the thorax is reddish and the upper part of the cortical
substance of the brain of a greenish tint.
=At One Month.=—The face is reddish-brown, the eyelids and lips green
and swollen, and the neck slightly green. A greenish discoloration is
also seen over the upper and middle part of the sternum. The skin is
wrinkled. The hair and nails still remain intact. The scrotum and penis
are distended by gas. The lungs become very emphysematous and overlap
the heart.
SAPONIFICATION.
When the bodies were removed from the Cimetière des Innocents in Paris,
in 1786, Fourcray observed that many of them had been converted into
a substance which he termed ADIPOCERE. He gave it this name because
it resembles both fat (_adeps_) and wax (_cera_). Under certain
circumstances which will be considered later, it is known to be a
late product of the putrefactive processes. Adipocere is a substance
of a cheese-like consistency, yellow or yellowish-brown in color,
and composed chiefly of a mixture of the fatty acids. Chevreul has
shown by analysis that it is a true ammoniacal soap, but that when
formed in water impregnated with lime a calcareous may be substituted
for an ammoniacal base. This may take place either in a body exposed
to river-water or buried in a grave wet by water containing calcium
carbonate or sulphate. Saponification can only take place when animal
fat is in contact with nitrogenous matter. Neither fat nor fibrin when
kept separate will saponify. Skin deprived of all its fat will not be
transformed into adipocere.
Saponification commences in the fat of the female breast, of the cheeks
and other parts of the body where large accumulations of fat are found,
such as around the kidneys and in the omentum. As fat is distributed
extensively throughout the body, nearly all parts may undergo this
transformation. Taylor gives the following conditions as favorable to
the change:
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