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134

MEDICAL  JURISPRUDENCE

Fig. 34.—Decomposed body of a female showing maggots.

If the putrefactive processes still go on, the tissues become soft, loose and
are converted into a thick, semi-fluid, black mass. They ultimately separate
from the bones, and fall off. The bones are consequently exposed, and the
orbits are empty. The cartilages and ligaments are similarly softened, and
ultimately the bones are destroyed, so that after some years no trace of the
body is left. The time taken up by these changes varies considerably with
the temperature and the medium in which the body lies.

The conclusions arrived at by Mackenzie23 from his observations on
dead bodies in Calcutta are given below in a tabulated form : —

Average

Minimum

Maximum


	
	hr.      m.
	hr.      m.
	hr.      m.

Muscular irritability
	
	1        51
	0       30
	4       30

Onset of rigor mortis
	
	I        56
	0       40
	7          0

Duration of rigor mortis
	
	19        12
	3         0
	40         0

Cadaveric hvidity
	
	14       33
	1       38
	31       30

Oreen discoloration
	
	26         4
	7       10
	41       30

Ova of flies
	
	25       57
	3       20
	41        30

Maggots
	
	39       43
	24       18
	76         0

Formation of bullse
	
	j       49       34
	35         0
	72         0

Evolution of gases
	
	18       17
	5       50
	34       30

Table24 showing the chronological sequence of the putrefactive changes
occurring in the temperate regions :-—

Putrefactive Changes

Time

1.   Greenish    coloration    over    the    iliac
fossae.   The eyeballs, soft and yielding

2.   Green  coloration  spreading  over  "the
whole abdomen, external genitals and
other parts of the body.  Frothy blood
from mouth and nostrils.

3.   Abdomen distended with gas.   Cornea
fallen in and concave.    Purplish red
streaks   of   veins   prominent   on   •the
extremities, Sphincters  relaxed,  Nails
firm.

4.   Body greenish-brown.   Blisters form-
ing all over the body.   Skin peels off.
Features unrecognizable. Scrotum dis-
tended.    Body  swollen  up  owing  to
distension. Maggots on the body. Nails
and hair loose and easily detached.

5.   Soft parts changed into a thick, semi-
fluid black mass. Skull, abdomen and
thorax burst.   Bones exposed.   Orbits
empty.

1 to 3 days after death.
3 to 5 days after death.

8 to 10 days after death.
14 to 20 days after death.

2 to 5 months after death.

23.   Ind. Med. Gaz., June 1889, p. 167.

24.   Casper, Forensic Med., Balfour's Eng. TransL, Vol. I, p. 38,