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 MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE 337 listed a translation of the German work of Rose on medico-legal dissection, to which he added valuable original notes and essays. Fo- dere in 1813 issued a second and much enlarg- ed edition of his treatise. Of a far higher character than any work which had preceded it was the Toxicologie generate of Orfila, which appeared in 1813-'14, and was followed some years later by his Lemons de medecine Ugale. Orfila rendered the most eminent services to the science, and particularly in the depart- ment of toxicology. The elaborate treatise of Devergie made still further advances alike in the theory and practice of legal medicine. Briand, Capuron, Biessy, Esquirol, and Marc are authors of learned treatises or of disser- tations on single subjects. But any sketch of the French literature upon this subject would be incomplete without mention of the Annales d'HygUne publique et de Medecine legale, a quarterly journal, which from its first appear- ance in 1829 to the present time has been sup- ported by the ablest medical men of France, and is an invaluable repository of information on the various branches of medical jurispru- dence. The Germans still maintain their high rank in this science. Scb.midmu.ller, Wildberg, Gmelin, Remer, Bernt, Henke, and many others have made the most various and valuable addi- tions to the learning of medical science and jurisprudence. The principal Italian authors of the present century are Tortosa, Martini, and Barzelotti. In 1818 Dr. Male produced the first respectable English work on forensic medicine. More comprehensive and better in many respects than any which had preceded it, was the treatise of Dr. John Gordon Smith (1821). Two years after appeared the more formal and elaborate work, the result of the combined labors of a lawyer .and a physician, Messrs. Paris and Fonblanque. Dr. Christi- son's works on poisons are of the highest ex- cellence. Haslam on insanity, Hutchinson on infanticide, Watson on homicide, Gavin on feigned diseases, Taylor, Guy, and Traill, are authors of high eminence in their various spe- cialties. Lectures upon medical jurisprudence were first delivered in America in 1804 at Columbia college, by Dr. James S. Stringham. In 1815 Dr. T. Romeyn Beck was appointed to lecture on the science in the western medical college, and not long after Dr. Walter Channing received a similar appointment in Harvard col- lege. American authors have furnished some of the very best works upon this science. The well known work of Dr. Beck (12th ed., 1863) was pronounced by Dr. Traill of Edinburgh the best book on the general subject in the English language. American editions of vari- ous English works, and the publication of the excellent treatises of Wharton and Stille, of Dr. Ray's book on insanity, of Elwell on mal- practice, of the " American Journal of In- sanity," and the "Journal of Psychological Medicine," maintain the high reputation of our country in its culture of medical science and jurisprudence. The very general survey of legal medicine which is here proposed will exclude all notice of medical police or public hygiene, and will be exclusively limited to a brief review of the more prominent branches of the science. Following the division of Briand, the subject may be conveniently ar- ranged under three heads : the first embracing those branches which concern the reproduction of the species ; the second considering injuries to health and life, the different forms of death by asphyxia, and the nature and effect of poisons; and the third examining mental af- fections. In the male, absolute and incurable impotence may arise from total absence, un- natural form, or paralysis of the organs of generation. Curable conditions may be the consequence of disease or sensual excesses, or of slight malformation which can be relieved by surgery. Accidental and temporary incapa- city may be caused by nervous or malignant fevers, particularly if they affect the brain and are accompanied by great debility, all affections of the head and spinal marrow, palsy, apoplexy, and the like diseases. This class of causes usu- ally comes to be considered upon questions of contested paternity ; for if it appear that any of these existed at the time of the child's con- ception, the presumption is strong against its legitimacy. In the female, malformation may render intercourse impossible. If it existed at the solemnization of the marriage and be incu- rable, it is sufficient ground for divorce. Fe- male impotence may also be caused by diseases which may yield to medical treatment. In two instances familiar to the theory of the com- mon law, though rare perhaps in its administra- tion, medical testimony may be invoked by the courts upon the question of pregnancy : first, where a widow is thought to feign herself preg- nant in order to supply a supposititious heir to an estate ; and secondly, where a female con* demned to death is supposed to be in that con- dition, for her execution will be delayed if she be quick with child. But in other respects, and particularly in relation to abortion and in- fanticide, the existence of pregnancy may be a significant fact. In respect to the crimes of abortion and infanticide, and also with refer- ence to civil cases, when questions of heirship are involved, it is important to consider the signs of a child's death before or during deliv- ery. From the sound health of the woman, and the usual signs of a healthy pregnancy, nothing can be conclusively presumed respect- ing the life of the foetus; and on the other hand, though violence and those other causes which tend to produce miscarriage may and usually do destroy the foetus, yet infants some- times surviye all these. The signs of death during pregnancy are numerous, and yet equiv- ocal. Auscultation is one of the surest means of detecting foetal life. After the birth, the physician can judge from the appearance of the body, from the condition of the flesh, from its color, from the condition of the umbilical