is facilitated in cases where the blood tends to remain fluid after death. In the newborn infant that has not breathed or taken anything into its stomach there are no germs in the interior of the body to start putrefaction, and there we find putrefaction following a different course from that in the adult, in that the decomposition starts from the skin only, and there mostly at the junction of the skin and mucous membranes, at the orifices of the body where the tissues are thinnest, the skin being very resistant to the entrance of germs. On the other hand, after post-partum sepsis, where a vast number of germs have been introduced into the body, not merely into the uterus, but frequently into the blood before death, we find an extremely rapid development of putrefaction.

409a. Air, water, temperature. For the growth of these putrefactive germs there is necessary a certain amount of moisture, supplied either from the tissues or from the outside; for many of the germs a quantity of oxygen, likewise supplied in part from the tissues and in part from the air. Then, too, there is an optimum temperature at which the development of the germs proceeds most rapidly: a temperature somewhat below that of the body heat during life. Above or below that we have a slower decomposition. If the body is kept frozen it will not decompose; if sterilized by burning it will keep until the germs again get access to it. If, then, we have a free supply of water and air, and a slightly warm temperature, we have the conditions under which putrefaction will proceed most rapidly. If, however, there are present in the body any of the germicides or efficient antiseptics, either from ante-mortem ingestion, as in the cases of some poisonings, or from the post-mortem injection of certain embalming fluids, or even if the body be simply surrounded with antiseptics, as in the cloths used to wrap the mummies, or the presence of certain volatile antiseptics in the coffin,-if any of these conditions are present, the development of these putrefactive germs will be retarded, or even completely stopped, and the body preserved for a shorter or longer time.

409b. Environment. In the presence of these various essential factors we see different rates of putrefaction, depending upon the environment of the body after death. A body lying freely exposed to the weather, where it gets a generous supply of oxygen and of moist ure, and is kept warm by the sun, putrefies rapidly. If the body be submerged in water, and access of air prevented, putrefaction will go on, perhaps, half as rapidly. If the body is buried in the earth, and access of both air and water decreased, the process is still slower. Casper says: "At a tolerably similar average temperature, the degree

of putrefaction present in a body lying in the open air for a week or a month corresponds to that in a body after lying in the water two weeks or months, or after lying in the earth in the usual manner, for eight weeks or months." Bodies that have been buried in peat bogs have been dug up after periods of several years, showing but slight putrefactive changes. So, too, bodies found in water-closets which are so closely shut in as to prevent the access of air, even though the body lies in the mass of feces and urine, are preserved for great lengths of time. Brouardel cites one case18 of an infant recovered from a water-closet after five or six months, with practically no putrefactive changes. Likewise the character of the soil of the cemetery has much to do with the rate of putrefaction. The open sandy and gravel soils allow free circulation of the air, and therefore a more rapid putrefaction than the heavy clays, that exclude the air. The same factors come in again in the structure of the coffin, pine boards being more porous than the heavier woods. Lead coffins, which are usually hermetically sealed, exclude external influences; but if there has been sufficient moisture in the body to allow of the progression of the putrefaction to a well marked point, the gases developed in the body may be sufficient to burst open the coffin, and then putrefaction may go on slowly, but following the same laws as in other cases. In certain cases, however, where the coffin remains sealed, the body may be found showing very slight signs of putrefaction after a long period; the surface of the body covered with drops of moisture, or possibly with more or less mold.

409c. Manner of death. The manner of death modifies the rate of putrefaction to a great extent. In cases of exhaustion, dropsy, suffocation, drowning, or in septic conditions, the putrefaction progresses rapidly. Flabby, fat bodies, and those that have been mangled decompose quickly. In cases of hemorrhage or depletion of the body fluids putrefaction is delayed. So, too, in the cases of poisoning with antiseptic substances, such as carbolic acid, corrosive sublimate, arsenic, antimony, chlorid of zinc, etc., putrefaction may advance slowly. In persons addicted to alcohol, where the tissues seem to be more or less impregnated with it or its products, decomposition is said to go on slowly.

410. External signs of putrefaction.-The external signs of decomposition may be described, following the appearances of bodies that have been exposed since the time of death in the open air during the

"La Mort et la Mort Subite, p. 76.

VOL. III. MED. JUR.-25.

spring or autumn months. These have been given by Casper practically as follows:

During the first twenty-four to seventy-two hours after death, according to the condition of the body and the temperature of the environment, there appears first in the abdomen, in the right iliac fossa, a greenish discoloration. This is accompanied with the pecul iar smell of putrefaction. Within the same period the cornea becomes soft and yielding under the pressure of the finger.

Within from three to five days after death, this green color spreads over all the lower part of the abdomen, including the genital organs, which, in the case of both sexes, assume rather a dirty brownish-green color. In all cases of death from suffocation, bloody, frothy discharges from the nostrils will be observed, mingled with air-bubbles. Green spots of different sizes will now appear also on other parts of the body, as on the back, on the lower extremities, on the neck, and on the sides of the chest.

Between eight and twelve days after death, the whole body presents this green appearance, which has become darker in color, and is accompanied with a stronger smell. On some parts, as on the face and neck, the color is a reddish-green, owing to the exudation of blood through the pores of the skin. Gases have now begun to form, and to swell up the body. These are generally inflammable, and a burning jet may be produced by applying a lighted taper to a small opening made in the abdomen. The color of the eyes may still be recognized, but the cornea is concave. The anus stands open. On some parts of the body, especially on the extremities, and on the neck and breast, dirty red streaks will be seen where the skin remains clear. The nails still adhere firmly to the skin.

Between fourteen and twenty days after death, a bright green and reddish-brown color spreads over the entire body. The cuticle is raised in blebs of different sizes, many of them as large as the palm of the hand, and some have burst open. Maggots now appear in great numbers, especially in the folds and orifices of the body. Owing to the continued formation of gases, the chest is dilated, the belly acquires the shape of a large ball, and in fact the cellular tissue of the whole body is enormously distended, so as to assume gigantic proportions. The features are distorted, and the entire physiognomy so changed as to make it impossible even for the nearest relatives to recognize the person. The color of the eyes is no longer discernible, for the distinction between pupil and iris can no longer be seen, and the whole sclerotica has assumed a uniform dirty red color. In men,

the penis is greatly swollen, and the scrotum is as large as a child's head. The nails lie loosened at their roots. At this stage of decomposition the effect of difference of temperature is remarkable. Exposure for ten or twelve days at a temperature of 68° to 78° will produce as great changes in the condition of the body as would take place within twenty or thirty days if exposed at a temperature of from 32° to 50°. The body now swarms with maggots, and where it is left unprotected in the air or in water, may become the prey of numerous other animals, as dogs, cats, foxes, wolves, birds of prey, and land and water rats. Fresh-water fish (German) do not feed upon dead bodies. Where the body has thus served for food the marks will be found upon the breast and belly and on the extremities, the bones of which are often laid bare. The consequent opening of the cavities and lesions of the soft parts of the body may easily be distinguished, with a little attention, from traumatic injuries. When a body answers to the above description it may be safely concluded to be that of a person who has been dead at least so long as from fourteen to twenty days; not that this is the ultimate limit, for at this stage of decomposition the process is very gradual, several weeks and even months often making little difference in the appearance of the body.

The stage of putrid colliquation arises within from four to six months after death, or, where the body has been kept in a warm and moist medium, earlier than this. Owing to the continued swelling the chest and belly may now burst open, and these cavities lie exposed. The skull may also yield to the pressure, and the brain exude. The orbital cavities are empty. All the soft parts are in a state of dissolution, and finally disappear; and entire bones, especially of the skull and of the extremities, are laid bare, and the latter separate from the trunk. No trace of features any longer remains. The breasts of females have disappeared, and of the external genital organs nothing indicative of sex remains, unless, perhaps, the hair or the shape of its growth; for in man it usually ascends towards the navel, but in woman is confined to the pubis. But even at this stage the presence of a womb may indicate to which sex the dead person belonged.

Two years after death all that is left of the soft tissues is usually dried, shrunken, brown or black in color, and more or less covered with deposits of phosphate of lime.

The

Four years after death the separate viscera are rarely distinguishable; and in seven to ten years the soft parts are entirely gone. hair, bones, and teeth seem to be the most indestructible parts.

411. Putrefaction of internal organs.-The progress of decomposition in the internal organs Casper gives in the following sequence:— 412. Windpipe and larynx.—The windpipe and larynx are the first of these organs which exhibit signs of decomposition. On bodies which still appear quite sound upon the surface, or, at most, show only a few green spots on the under parts, the thin mucous membrane of the trachea exhibits a remarkable paleness throughout its whole extent, except when death has been produced by suffocation or laryngitis. When the process of decomposition has advanced a little further, so that the whole under part of the body has become green, commonly in from three to five days after death in summer, and in from six to eight in winter, this thin mucous membrane has assumed a uniform dirty-red color, in which no vascular injection can be discovered, even with a microscope. This appearance occurs before any marks of decomposition are visible upon other internal organs, and is not influenced by age, constitution, or manner of death. The inexperienced should be careful not to mistake this natural effect of decomposition for capillary injection or the effect of suffocation or of drowning. In the further course of decomposition, the mucous membrane of the windpipe becomes olive-green, the cartilages of the tube separate, until at last the whole organ disappears.

413. Brain of infants. The organ which next, in order of time, yields to decomposition, is the brain of infants not more than a year old. The delicate texture of the organ at this age, and its comparatively slight protection from the atmosphere, render it an easy prey to decomposing influences, so that it will often be found to be quite destroyed when other organs are perfectly sound, and when no discoloration is to be seen, except upon the surface of the body. In decomposing, it changes to a thin, pulpy substance of a rosy-red color, which discharges itself as soon as any opening is made in the skull, and leaves no trace of the several parts of the organ.

414. Stomach. The stomach decomposes at an early period. The first traces of decomposition are certain irregular, dirty-red spots in the fundus; they vary much in size, being sometimes as large as a plate, and often have bluish-red streaks, or veins, running through them. These spots appear first on the posterior surface, where they are partially due to hypostatic congestion, but soon after show themselves on the anterior surface. They are described by some authors as inflammatory, or as evidences of asphyxia by hanging or drowning, but are really nothing more than a result of early decomposition.