A child born in wedlock is presumed to have the mother's husband for its father. This may, however, be open to question upon the following grounds: Absence or death of the reputed...
This differs from hanging in that the body is not suspended. It may be effected by a ligature round the neck, or by direct pressure on the windpipe with the hand, in which case dea...
It was formerly largely used as a hypnotic, and many fatal consequences ensued. It is prepared from alcohol and chlorine. Symptoms.--Deep sleep, loss of muscular power, diminished...
=Aconite= (Aconitum Napellus, monkshood).--Root and leaves. Poisonous property depends upon an alkaloid, aconitine. Aconite is one of the constituents of St. Jacob's Oil. Symptoms....
Under the term 'mania' are included all those forms of mental unsoundness in which there is undue excitement. It is divided into general, intellectual, and moral, and each of the t...
=Nux Vomica= consists of the seeds of the Strychnos nux vomica. From these strychnine and brucine are obtained. The symptoms, post-mortem appearances, and treatment, of poisoning b...
=Oxalic Acid= is used by suicides, though not often by murderers. The crystals closely resemble those of Epsom salts or sulphate of zinc; oxalic acid has been taken in mistake for...
Malingering in its various forms is by no means uncommon, and by many is regarded as a disease in itself. It is necessary, however, to distinguish between those cases in which it i...
In hanging, death occurs by asphyxia, as in drowning. Sensibility is soon lost, and death takes place in four or five minutes. The eyes in some cases are brilliant and staring, ton...
In the male, impotence may arise from physical or mental causes. The physical causes may be--too great or too tender an age; malformation of the genital organs; crypsorchides, defe...
Many of the synthetical coal-tar products now so largely employed as analgesics are powerful toxic agents. =Phenazone, Antipyrine, or Analgesin=, is a complex benzene derivative pr...
The signs of the existence of pregnancy are of two kinds, uncertain and certain, or maternal and foetal. Amongst the former class are included--Cessation of menstruation (which may...
These may be punctured, contused, or lacerated. Round balls make a larger opening than those which are conical. Small shot fired at a short distance make one large ragged opening;...
=Tartar Emetic= (tartarized antimony, potassio-tartrate of antimony) occurs as a white powder, or in yellowish-white efflorescent crystals. Vinum antimoniale contains 2 grains to a...
=Chlorate of Potassium= produces irritation of stomach and bowels; hæmaturia; melæna; cyanosis, weakness, delirium, and coma. Post-Mortem.--Blood is chocolate-brown in colour, and...
=Carbon Dioxide.=--Carbon dioxide is a product of combustion and respiration, and is generated in many ways during fermentation. It is a constituent of choke damp due to explosions...
=Opium.=--The inspissated juice of the unripe capsules of the Papaver somniferum. As a poison it is generally taken in the form of the tincture (laudanum), which contains 1 grain o...
=Arsenic= is the most important of all the metallic poisons. It is much used in medicine and the arts. It occurs as metallic arsenic, which is of a steel-grey colour, brittle, and...
The signs of recent delivery are as follows: The face is pale, with dark circles round the eyes; the pulse quickened; the skin soft, warm, and covered with a peculiar sweat; the br...
Trials for =sodomy= and =bestiality= are common at the assizes, but, as they are rarely reported, they fail to attract attention. Sodomy is a crime both in the active and passive a...
=Prussic Acid= is the most active of poisons. The diluted hydrocyanic acid of the Pharmacopoeia contains 2 per cent. of hydrocyanic acid, Scheele's 4 per cent. It is a colourless l...
The chief vegetable purgatives are aloes, colocynth, gamboge, jalap, scammony, seeds of castor-oil plant, croton-oil, elaterium, the hellebores, and colchicum. All these have, eith...
Emmenagogues are remedies which have the property of exciting the catamenial flow; ecbolics, or abortives, are drugs which excite contraction of the uterus, and are supposed to hav...
The death of the foetus may be due to--(1) Immaturity or intra-uterine malnutrition, or simply from deficient vitality; (2) complications occurring during or immediately after birt...
=Carbolic Acid, Phenic Acid, or Phenol=, is largely employed as a disinfectant, and is often supplied in ordinary beer-bottles without labels. Symptoms.--An intense burning pain ex...
These comprise incised, punctured, and lacerated wounds. In a recent incised wound inflicted during life there is copious hæmorrhage, the cellular tissue is filled with blood, the...
The presumption in law is in favour of a person's sanity, even though he may be deaf, dumb, or blind. The terms 'insanity,' 'lunacy,' 'unsoundness of mind,' 'mental derangement,' '...
=Sulphuric Acid=, or oil of vitriol, may be concentrated or diluted. It is frequently thrown over the person to disfigure the features or destroy the clothes. Parts of the body tou...
=Cold.=--The weak, aged, or infants, readily succumb to low temperatures. The symptoms are increasing lassitude, drowsiness, coma, with sometimes illusions of sight. Post mortem, b...
In dementia the mental aberration does not occur until the mind has become fully developed, thus differing from amentia, which is congenital or comes on very early in life. =Acute...