tention of the lungs (in the absence of other causes), the presence of water in the alveoli of the lungs, the profuse fine froth in the respiratory passages, and the presence in the stomach, in considerable quantities (200 c.c. or more), of the fluid in which the person has been submerged, are characteristic of death by drowning. The absence of all these signs, even if all the external signs were present, including a small quantity of froth at the nostrils, and the cutis anserina, would point towards submersion after death; but as all of the signs may fail it is not justifiable to say, even if these signs are not found, that the body was thrown into the water after death. Before that is done some sufficient cause of death should be shown, which evidently existed before the body was thrown into the water. Here, in addition to the natural causes of death, there are some death-producing injuries, resulting from violence, that can, with the greatest of probability, be said to have been received before the body was submerged; such, for instance, as stab wounds, incised wounds of the neck, gunshot wounds, etc.

The presence of water and foreign bodies in the middle ear has been shown by Hnevkovsky12 to be of very little significance in determining whether the body was submerged before or after death. In about one third of the cases where he submerged bodies after death in different liquids, he found that the liquid penetrated into the middle ear. He made his experiments on twenty-eight cadavers of infants and seventeen heads of adults. He used solutions containing starch, powdered lycopodium, or boiled muscle, and thirteen of these forty-five showed penetration of the liquid into the middle ear.

378. Accident, homicide, and suicide. The distinction between accidental, homicidal, and suicidal deaths by drowning depends largely upon circumstantial, rather than medical, evidence. Accidental drowning is pointed to in the cases where natural forms of death are probable: where the person was intoxicated, subject to epilepsy, or known to have heart disease, or where the lesions of other sudden natural deaths are found; also in the more purely circumstantial evidence of the body being naked, or clad in a bathing suit.

Suicidal drowning is far more frequent in adults than homicidal drowning. It is often suggested by weights in the pockets of the victim, or tied to his feet, or neck, or other part of the body. It may be associated with evidence of other attempts at suicide, which are to be

"Hnevkovsky, Wiener Med. Blätter,

1883, No. 26; and Arch. d'Anthropol. Criminelle, Sept., 1887.

distinguished from those of homicide by the same characteristics as the wounds in general.13

Homicidal drowning is found more often in infants than in adults. In adults there would be marks of great violence, as in all cases of homicide where the murderer must come in close contact with his victim. If the body of water is shallow, and there is no evidence of accident, the chances are that the person's head was held under water by force rather than that he chose such a small body of water for committing suicide. The evidence of a struggle on the bank of the body of water, also, would point to homicide. If the person's hands are tied the same questions arise as where the hands are tied in cases of hanging.14 If both hands are tightly tied the fact points to homicide rather than to suicide though a great deal will depend on the violence with which the hands have been tied, after allowing for the contraction of the rope as it becomes wet with the water.

379. Decomposition; time of floating. The time at which the body of a drowned person will float or rise again to the surface appears to be the subject of considerable variation. It depends upon the rapidity of access of decomposition; and therefore the body rises sooner in summer than in winter. It also depends upon the density of the water (whether it is fresh or salt), and upon the proportion of the different tissues of the body, the fat being distinctly lighter, the bones distinctly heavier, than water. Hence, the Hence, the bodies of women and children, in whom there is more fatty tissue, as a rule, will rise sooner than those of men. The quantity of gas in the lungs and lungs and the intestines the intestines at sion will also influence the time of floating. be held down by roots, sea weeds, etc., or by weights attached to the body, so that it will not rise at all. Aubert, however,15 describes a case of a body wound with lead pipe, which floated on the eleventh day. The time at which the body floats is (according to Hofmann) on the second or third day in summer; exceptionally, after two or three hours. In winter it may be weeks or months before the body rises, depending largely upon the temperature of the water.

the time of submerThen, too, the body may

In the following case great attention was given to the question as to when the body might float:

"Voltan and Adams v. The National Loan Fund Life Assurance Company.

"The action was brought by the plaintiffs, as assignees of this pol

"For distinction between accidental, suicidal, and homicidal wounds, see 236, ante.

14 See § 363, ante.

15 Aubert, cited by Hofmann, Ger. Med., p. 599.

icy, to recover on a policy of insurance issued by the defendants upon the life of one Conrad Shoemaker. The insurance was for $10,000, and the policy was issued on the 15th of May, 1850. The premium on the policy was payable quarterly, in advance.

"On the 23d of August, 1850, Shoemaker paid the premium for the quarter ending on the 15th of November, 1850. On the 4th of September, 1850, the plaintiffs alleged that Shoemaker was drowned while on a fishing excursion with one Ottman, the German, in the waters of the bay of New York, about opposite to Hoboken, and nearest to the New Jersey shore. The theory of the defense substantially was, that Voltan, Martin, and Shoemaker (Germans) had entered into a conspiracy to defraud the insurance company, by causing an insurance to be effected for a large amount on the life of Shoemaker, and subsequently secreting and disposing of him.

"To obtain a recovery, it was, of course, necessary that the plaintiffs should satisfy the jury of the death of Shoemaker. This they attempted to do-first, by the testimony of Ottman, who swore to the circumstances of his drowning, and of the time and place, which was on the 4th of September, 1850, about dusk, in the Hudson river, opposite Hoboken, and near midway of the river; second, by showing that a body found floating on the river near Jersey City, on the 7th of September, 1850, was the body of Shoemaker.

"This body was examined by the coroner of Jersey City, soon after being discovered. The skin was somewhat bleached, and the face disfigured: a part of the lips being eaten off by crabs, lobsters, or fish of some kind. After examination, it was interred by direction of the

coroner.

"It was not attempted to identify this as the body of Shoemaker, except from some of the clothes found on it, and particularly the handkerchief on the neck. The handkerchief on the body was the half of a black silk one, with stripes, and cut from its mate diago nally. It was shown by a witness that Voltan, a short period before the alleged drowning, had purchased a handkerchief for his son, and, at the suggestion of Voltan's daughter, it was cut in two, and half of it given to Shoemaker, after being hemmed by her; the other half to the son. The part retained by the son and the part found on the neck of the body were exhibited in court, and found to match in color and stripes, and when laid together, formed a square; and, although cut across the stripes, matched in the run and character of the stripes. The pantaloons were also shown to be of the same general character as those worn by Shoemaker, about the time of his alleged ath.

"To rebut the presumption that this was the body of Shoemaker, a number of witness were sworn on the part of the defense, with the view of showing that, as a general rule, bodies will not rise and float, even when the water is of the temperature that it is in the month of September, under from six to ten days. As Shoemaker was alleged to have been drowned on the 4th of September, and the body was found floating on the 7th of September, three days afterwards, if it were universally true that bodies do not float until decomposition takes place, in the waters of the Hudson, under from six to ten days, then this could not be the body of Shoemaker.

"The first witness sworn on the subject was Dr. Barent P. Staats. He testified that he had had occasion, in the course of his professional reading, to examine the subject as to how long a body will remain in the water before rising and floating. That it depends on the time of year, and the temperature of the water, and the size and make of the man. When the temperature is 65°, he did not think any body would rise in from less than seven to ten days. On his crossexamination, he said he did not know that he could point out any book that he had consulted.

"Dr. Benj. Budd was the next witness called. He testified that he was assistant-coroner in New York; has had occasion to see many drowned bodies, some one hundred and fifty. Never knew a body to rise in less than six days, unless some mechanical means were used to raise it. Should judge the body found at Jersey City to have been in the water from ten to twenty days. Has never known a body to be in the water less than seven days that was mutilated by fishes. Bodies that have been hooked up in three, four, or five days, have not that peculiar bleached appearance as those present that come up from seven to ten days. The body will not rise until decomposition has commenced. He is twenty-five years of age, and has only studied the book of experience.

"Dr. Seth Geer was then called. He testified that he was coroner in New York for eighteen months, during which time he had examined between three and four hundred drowned bodies. The general rule as to the rising of drowned bodies in the harbor of New York, is from eight to ten days. In his judgment, from the description given, the body found at Jersey City had been in the water two or three weeks. Never knew a body that had been in the water but three days mutilated by fishes. The hotter the water, the sooner the body would bleach.

"Andrew Blakeley was then called.

He testified that he was dep

uty coroner in New York a little over two years, during which time he examined rising two hundred and fifty drowned bodies. Drowned bodies would rise in the summer months on an average of from six to ten days, as he found out by experience. He did not remember any case of rising when the body had been in the water but three days. He never saw a drowned body that had lain in the water but three days eaten by fishes. On his cross-examination he stated that he had never read any medical book on the subject, nor did he know, except from testimony taken as coroner, of a body lying under water seven days. It takes a body from six to eight or ten days to get bleached. He means by bleaching, a soaking of the body, a general softening and whitening of the body.

"Henry C. Van Wie was called on the part of the plaintiffs. He testified that he was coroner of the county of Albany for four years. Has held a good many inquests on drowned bodies. Has known two or three instances where the bodies have risen in three or four days. In warm or sultry weather they will rise in from three to four days. They will bleach out directly in warm weather. They will be mutilated by fishes directly after decomposition takes place. Reinembers an instance of holding an inquest on a body that drifted ashore, and had been drowned four, five, or six days. (This witness related the startling fact of holding, in one season, inquests on fifteen infants under three months old, found floating in cigar boxes near the city of Albany, cases, doubtless, of infanticide.)

"Henry C. Allen, called for the plaintiffs. He testified that he had been coroner of Albany county for twelve or fourteen years. He never could make up his mind as to any definite time that a body would remain under water. He knew an instance of a girl of fourteen years of age, who was drowned on Friday, at 12 o'clock, and floated on Sunday at 12 o'clock. She was drowned at Greenbush Ferry. Had known instances of bodies rising in five or six days; sometimes sooner. Knew of one man, by the name of Moreton, who floated on the fourth or fifth day. The girl spoken of had turned a dark, livid color. Females float sooner than males.

"George E. Cutler, called by plaintiffs. He testified that he was coroner of Jersey City. He knew of the case of a young man who was drowned on Sunday, about 7 or 8 o'clock in the morning, and on Tuesday or Wednesday succeeding, about 11 o'clock, he was found floating about two miles from the place where he was drowned. He knew of a female by the name of Smith, was seen alive on Wednesday evening, about 7 o'clock; on Wednesday, about 4 o'clock, P. M.,