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by Paris, John Ayrton; Fonblanque, J. S. M.
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In: Health & Medicine·Law & Criminology
Public-domain ebook sourced from Project Gutenberg #64926.
Medical Jurisprudence, Volume 3, is a systematic treatise on the intersection of medicine and law in early‑19th‑century Britain, authored by John Ayrton Paris and J. S. M. Fonblanque. The work opens with a dense outline of its contents, ranging from arson and rape to the physiology of sudden death, the coroner’s inquest, and the dissection of bodies. It then proceeds to a detailed “Synopsis of the Objects of Inquiry in Cases of Sudden, and Mysterious Sickness and Death,” presenting three investigative scenarios, living patients, freshly deceased individuals, and bodies found with unknown histories. Each case is broken down into exhaustive checklists: external injuries, personal habits, seasonal factors, witness testimony, and step‑by‑step anatomical dissection. The authors stress the importance of careful observation and the pitfalls of patient misperception, grounding their guidance in earlier volumes and contemporary examples.
The text reads like a forensic manual written in a formal, didactic style typical of early Victorian scientific literature. Its language is precise, often employing Latin citations and extensive parenthetical references, reflecting the scholarly tone of its era. Readers with an interest in the history of forensic medicine, legal scholars tracing the development of British medical statutes, or enthusiasts of period‑specific scientific writing will find the volume rewarding. Those seeking narrative storytelling should look elsewhere, but anyone wishing to explore the meticulous methodology that shaped modern medico‑legal practice will appreciate its thoroughness and historical perspective.
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15. _A Synopsis of the Objects of Inquiry in Cases of sudden and mysterious Sickness and Death,_—_Commentary thereon, including practical rules for Dissection._—16. _Abortion and Infanticide,_—_with Physiological Illustrations._—17. _Of Criminal Responsibility, and Pleas in bar of Execution._—18. _Of Punishments._—19. Postscript.
A SYNOPSIS OF THE OBJECTS OF INQUIRY IN CASES OF SUDDEN, AND MYSTERIOUS SICKNESS, AND DEATH.
CASE I.
THE PATIENT IS LIVING, AND MEDICAL ASSISTANCE IS REQUIRED.
Account given by the patient and his friends.—How far their report deserves credit.—Whether there be any external injuries.—Previous state of the patient, with respect to bodily health and strength.—The age and occupation of the individual in question.—Season of the year.—Present symptoms of the patient; with the circumstances of their accession, progress, intensity, and duration.—Whether any similar attack has been experienced by himself at any previous period, or by any part of his family and friends at the present time; and whether the latter have felt any degree of nausea or uneasiness.—What remedies have been employed, by whom recommended, and by whom administered.—Nature of the food last taken as to quantity and quality.—Whether the patient had observed any unusual flavour, or grittiness in his food.—Condition and nature of the utensils in which it was cooked.—Appearance of the evacuations.
CASE II.
THE PATIENT IS DEAD.—THE ATTENDANTS CAN FURNISH ONLY AN IMPERFECT ACCOUNT OF HIS DISSOLUTION.
Examination of the attendants.—Circumstances to be investigated.—How soon the deceased is supposed to have died, after the alleged cause of his dissolution.—Had the deceased been under the influence of violent passion.—Was he at the time of death in a state of intoxication.—Plan of the inquiry to be adopted according to the principles already explained in CASE I, in combination with those to be developed in the following still more complicated one.
CASE III.
THE BODY IS FOUND DEAD.—ITS HISTORY IS UNKNOWN.
Plan to be adopted in the investigation of this case.—Four great avenues of inquiry, viz. 1. Inspection of the dead body; 2. Examination of surrounding and collateral objects; 3. Interrogation of witnesses; 4. Anatomical Dissection.
1. Inspection of the dead Body.
SITUATION and attitude of the body.—General appearance of the countenance, as to colour, vascular turgescence, or congestion, and morbid physiognomy.—Appearance of the eyes, and eye-lids, lips, and gums.—Whether any, and what discharge issues from the mouth, nostrils, ears, or any other orifice.—Apparent age of the deceased.—Description of his person as to bulk, stature, obesity, muscular powers, &c.—Conformation of the neck, with respect to its shortness, fullness, and thickness.—Probable period that has elapsed since the extinction of life.—State of the body, in relation to the degree of stiffness, or flexibility of its limbs, progress of putrescence, &c.—Whether any, and what marks, or ecchymoses are visible upon the throat, or under the ears.—Whether there are any, and what marks, punctures, wounds, contusions, and ecchymoses, dislocations, or injuries, on the chest, abdomen, or in any other parts of the body; and whether their appearance and character lead to any conclusions respecting the nature of the operation or instrument by which they were inflicted.—Whether such wounds were necessarily of a mortal nature, or sufficiently severe to have caused immediate death.—What is their direction.—Whether they were inflicted during life.—If during life, whether they resulted from an act of suicide or otherwise; whether from accident or design.—State of the linen and clothes of the deceased.—Whether torn, or in any way disordered.—Whether stained with blood.—Whether they yield the odour of spirit, sourness, putridity, or that of tobacco.—Whether any articles have been broken, or injured in the pockets.—Whether there is reason to believe that the deceased had been robbed.—What are contained in his pockets.—Whether any soil, or other matter adheres to the shoes, or dress; and if so, how far it corresponds with the surrounding soil or herbage.—Whether the hair of the deceased appears dishevelled.—If the deceased be a female, whether there be any marks or bruises that would indicate the commission of a rape.
2. Circumstances to be learnt by an examination of surrounding and collateral objects.
Whether the spot in question be of a description to explain the cause of the deceased having been found there; or how far its retired situation excites the suspicion of his having been conveyed thither for concealment, or some other purpose.
Character and condition of different objects surrounding the body.—If in the open country, whether any indications of a struggle having happened on the spot are visible upon the ground, or herbage, near the deceased.—Whether any footsteps can be traced near the body, and if so, what is their exact shape and dimensions, and what their direction.—Can the particular spot in which the body was found have been invested with unwholesome vapour, or with air destructive of animal life.—Has there been any violent thunderstorm.—or can the person have been exposed to any extraordinary degree of heat.—Whether any and what weapons are lying near the body.—If so, what is their exact position in relation to the body and its members.—If the body is found in the water, are there any and what reasons for supposing that he was killed by other means, and subsequently thrown into the water.—What are the principal local circumstances of the water in question.—Was the body found floating or otherwise.—What wounds and contusions are visible on its surface.—If the body were drowned, was the death accidental or malicious; was it perpetrated by himself or others.—Whether any footsteps are visible on the margin of the water.—Whether any soil or herbage be found in the grasp, or under the nails, of the deceased.—If the deceased be found suspended by the neck, was it by an act of suicide or otherwise.—Was he killed by strangulation or by other means, and subsequently suspended.—What is the nature of the ligature, and the manner in which it is fixed.—Are the hands tied.—If the deceased be found in an apartment, whether it be in a house of ill fame, or in one of suspicious character.—If the deceased be found dead in bed, or chair, or on the floor, what is the nature of the excrementitious matter in the night-vessels.—What bottles, and other articles of medicine are in the apartments?
3. Circumstances to be learnt by the interrogation of competent Witnesses.
Report of witnesses.—Is the body in the same situation and condition as when first discovered.—Can the body be identified.—Period at which the deceased was last seen, by whom, in what place, under what circumstances, and in whose society.—Are there any moral reasons to excite the suspicion of his having committed suicide.—What was his occupation.—Had he lately met with any disappointment or misfortune.—Had he appeared dejected or melancholy.—Are there any persons with whom he associated, who had any remarkable interest in his death.
4. Circumstances to be learnt by anatomical dissection.
Practical instructions for performing it with success.—_Dissection of the Brain and its appendages._—Method of opening the head.—Appearance of the skull-cap, whether fractured or in a state of disease.—Whether any and what extravasated matter is visible on the dura mater.—State of the meningeal vessels in relation to sanguineous congestion.—Substance of the brain.—State of the ventricles.—Base of the cranium, whether fractured.—Cervical vertebræ, whether dislocated.
_Dissection of the Thorax, Abdomen, and Uterus._—Manner of opening the chest.—Whether any fluid be found in that cavity.—Appearance of the lungs.—Condition of the bronchiæ.—Pericardium, whether it contains more than a usual proportion of fluid.—General appearance of the viscera.—Particular condition of the intestines.—The stomach, its appearance, and contents.—The duodenum, colon, rectum.—State of the liver.—Gall bladder, and ducts.—The spleen-kidneys.—Organs of generation.—Uterus.—Fallopian tubes.—Ovaria.—External parts of generation.
With a view to appreciate and explain the relative importance of each, in enabling the Medical Inquirer and Jurist, to arrive at just conclusions, in cases of complicated doubt and difficulty.
This is the least complicated case that can occur; the medical inquirer has not only the advantage of the patient’s testimony, but that also of his own observations upon the symptoms and circumstances of the case. We have already stated that the declaration of a person, made under an apprehended pending dissolution, is by the law of this realm considered tantamount to an oath, (see vol. i. p. 165), and we have also stated what it becomes our duty to repeat in this place, that in recording such testimony, we must be prepared to combat various errors and prejudices: we do not mean to deny that the awful situation in which the patient is placed will not, in general, secure us against any wilful misrepresentation, but we contend, that a person acting under the influence of bodily suffering is very apt to fall into numerous fallacies respecting the transactions in which he may have been previously engaged; especially in such cases as usually constitute the objects of medico-judicial inquiry, where the passions not unfrequently increase the natural disturbance of the mind, while the eagerness which is so justly felt for the detection of the author of the injury, will tend rather to heighten than to correct any hallucinations under which the sufferer may happen to labour; for on such occasions the imagination is always ready to supply the want of testimony, and to fill up the spaces which actual observation may have left vacant.
Patients have not unfrequently laboured under the impression of their having taken poison, when there can never have existed the least ground for such a suspicion, and yet their general conduct has been in complete opposition to the idea of insanity:[1] a curious case of this kind is related in the Sepulchretum of Bonetus; and even during the progress of the present work, the author was consulted upon an illness, which the patient seriously attributed to the operation of a slow poison, declaring that it had been secretly administered during a philanthropic visit to one of our public prisons. _Dr. Esquirol_[2] also relates the case of a lady, twenty-seven years of age, who in the last stage of phthisis pulmonalis perceived in her room the odour of burning charcoal, and immediately conceived that there was a design against her life; in consequence of which she left her lodging, and sought another abode, but the fumes incessantly pursued her, and she died fully convinced that she was the victim of some malicious persecution.
But of all the fallacies with which we have to contend, no one is more dangerous in its effects, or more frequent in its occurrence, than that which leads them to mistake the identity of the offender; we have already alluded to this fallacy (vol. i. p. 440), and we shall hereafter have occasion to refer to it.
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