EDWARD JACKSON, A. M., M. D.,
Emeritus Professor of Diseases of the Eye in the Philadelphia Polyclinic; Ophthalmologist to the Arapahoe County Hospital, Denver, Col.
SMITH ELY JELLIFFE, A. M., M. D., PH. D.,
Visiting Neurologist, City Hospital, New York; Clinical Assistant, Columbia University, New York, Department of Neurology; Professor of Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy, City of New York; Managing Editor, Journal of Nervous and Mental Diseases, New York.
Professor of Nervous and Mental Diseases in Miami Medical College and in the
Laura-Memorial Woman's Medical College of Cincinnati; Neurologist to the Cincin-
nati Hospital, the Presbyterian Hospital, Christ's Hospital, and the Ophthalmic
Hospital of Cincinnati; Consulting Neurologist to the Episcopal Hospital for Children.
FREDERICK PETERSON, M. D.,
President of the New York State Commission in Lunacy; Chief of Clinic, Depart-
ment for Nervous Diseases, Columbia University; Instructor in Mental Diseases,
Columbia University; General Consultant to the Craig Colony for Epileptics at
Sonyea, New York; Ex-President of the New York Neurological Society.
ALLEN J. SMITH, A. M., M. D.,
Professor of Pathology, University of Texas, Galveston, Texas.
THE object of the present work is to give to the medical and legal professions a fairly comprehensive survey of forensic medicine and toxicology in moderate compass. We believe this has not been done in any very recent work in English. A number of manuals of limited size and scope have been presented on the one hand, and on the other certain systems of legal medicine of almost encyclopedic dimensions. Both find fields of great usefulness; but there is still left a broad ground intermediate between the two which we trust the present work will fill, and it was in this hope that the book has been planned and executed.
With few and wholly unimportant exceptions the articles composing the two volumes have been inserted without change by the editors. This has been done in order that the responsibility for statements of facts and opinions may be authoritatively placed upon the individual contributors—a matter of much moment in legal proceedings. doing this we are aware that we have occasionally sacrificed unity of plan and harmony of views, but the advantages, especially to the legal profession, of individual responsibility we believe much more than compensate for these defects.
As the ordinary English weights and measures and the Fahrenheit thermometer scale are still the only ones easily understood by the majority of courts and juries, we have generally used these measures, wholly or in conjunction with their equivalents in metric weights and measures and the Centigrade scale. This rule, however, has not been followed in the description of purely chemical tests and processes, as the metric system is practically universally employed in connection with them.
In the names of drugs and chemicals we have followed the nomenclature and, with slight modifications, the spelling of the United States Pharmacopeia, believing that by adhering to so authoritative and well known a standard as this much confusion will be avoided and a not infrequent source of perplexity to lawyers and physicians eliminated.
The work is divided, for convenience of reference, into two sections, Part I. and Part II., the latter being devoted to Toxicology, and all other portions of Legal Medicine in which laboratory investigation is an essential feature.
Our thanks are due to the many distinguished men who have aided us in the production of the work by their valuable contributions; and we are greatly indebted to the publishers, Messrs. W. B. Saunders & Co., for the unfailing interest they have shown in the book, and for the numerous courtesies they have extended to us in its preparation.
FREDERICK PETERSON,
WALTER S. HAINES.
THE TECHNIC OF MEDICOLEGAL POSTMORTEM EXAMINATION (By
LUDVIG HEKTOEN)..
Instruments and utensils, 23-The record, 26-Examination of the body, 27–
Inspection of the body, 27-Inspection in the case of unknown, burned, and
decomposed bodies, 30-Inspection of the surroundings of the body, 31-
Examination of frozen bodies, 31-Examination of embalmed bodies, 31-
Internal examination, 31-Order, 31-Cranial cavity, 33-Brain, 35-Spinal
column and cord, 38—Orbits, 40-Ears, 40-Nasal and accessory cavities, 40—
Opening the cavities of the trunk, 41-The organs of the neck, 43—The organs
of the thorax, 44—The lungs, 44–Pericardium, 44—Heart, 45-The organs
of the abdomen, 49-Spleen, 49-Region of the gall-bladder and biliary ducts,
50-Liver and gall-bladder, 50-Kidneys and adrenals, 51-Pelvic viscera, 52
-Rectum, 52-Stomach and duodenum, 53-Pancreas, 54-Intestines, 54—
Retroperitoneal structures, 55-Extremities, 55-Examination in cases of sus-
pected poisoning, 55-Examination of new-born children, 57-Restoration of
the body, 60.
General statement, 62-Age, 65-Race, 70-Stature, 71-Sex, 74-Occupation,
76-The hair, 77—The teeth, 81-The skin, 83-Scars, 83-Tattoo-marks, 88-
Finger-prints, 90— Foot-prints, 92— Handwriting, 93― Photographs, 94 -
General likeness, 94—Peculiarities of special senses, 96-The systematic regis-
tration of criminals, 97-Bertillon system, 97-Identification of mutilated
remains, 99-Examination of the mind, 101.
DEATH FROM ASPHYXIA (By ALLEN J. SMITH)
Death by strangulation, 190-Death by throttling, 190-Death by hanging,
197-Death by choking, 208-Choking by solids, 209-Death by submersion,
213-Death from choking by gaseous matter, 226-Carbonic acid gas, 226—
Death by suffocation, 229-Suffocation from external causes, 230-Suffocation
from causes operating internally, 237-Carbon monoxid, 237-Sulphureted
hydrogen, 244-Arsenureted hydrogen, 244.
Kinds of wounds, 265-Wounds dangerous to life, 266-Wounds on the dead
body, 266-Wounds on the living, 268-Contusions, 268-Incised wounds, 270
-Punctured wounds, 273—Lacerated wounds, 275-Poisoned wounds, 276-
Fractures and dislocations, 277-Evidence of wounds, weapons, and other
articles, 279-Suicide, 286-Accidental wounding, 288-Regional wounds, 288
-Head, 288-Face, 294-Neck, 295-Spine, 295-Chest, 297-Diaphragm,
299-Abdomen, 299-Pelvis and contents, 303-Genital organs, 305-Ex-
tremities, 305.
GUNSHOT WOUNDS; BURNS AND SCALDS (By JOSIAH N. HALL) .
Gunshot wounds, 308-Deflection of bullets, 309–Character of gunshot wounds,
311-Shotgun wounds, 311-Was the wound inflicted by firearms? 312-Is the
wound mortal or dangerous to life? 314-Immediate cause of death, 314-
How soon will the wound cause death? 314-Was the wound inflicted during
life? 315-How long since death occurred? 315-Survivorship, 315-Would
the wound cause unconsciousness? 315-How long since the weapon was fired?
318-Accidental wounds, 318-Was the wound accidental, suicidal, or homi-
cidal? 319-Examination of weapon, body, and surroundings, 321-From
what direction was the ball fired ? 323—Recognition by flash of weapon, 324—
Distinguishing weapons by their reports, 324-Gunshot marks in clothing, 324
-How long may the smell of powder or smoke be detected in the room? 325
-Brand, tattooing, estimation of proximity and position of weapon, 325—
Burns and scalds, 333-Period of death, 336-Was the injury inflicted before
or after death, 336—Accident, suicide, or homicide? 337—Subsequent results,
338-Cicatrices, 338-Tattoo-marks, 340.
THE DESTRUCTION AND ATTEMPTED DESTRUCTION OF THE
HUMAN BODY BY FIRE AND CHEMICALS (By WALTER S.
HAINES).
Destruction by fire, 343-Complete destruction of the body by fire, 343-Time
and amount of fuel required, 343–Determination of the animal source of the
ashes, 344-Identification of the human character of the remains, 345-Deter-
mination of age, sex, and personal identity, 346-Were the burns produced
before or after death? 346-Were the wounds observed produced before death,
or are they the effect of heat? 347-Destruction by chemicals, 349.
|