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 The Green Bag

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Art. 149.—Finally, so that as little need

less work as possible may be done in the above mentioned mses before inhumation has taken place, in the examination and appreciation of lesions and because of the wounds, the judge, accompanied by one or several surgeons who have already taken oath, should proceed dili gently with the inspection of the corpse before burial has taken place and to make note of, and very exactly describe, all wounds, cuts, marks, or

contusions

which

may be found so that each one will have its own indications.

It cannot be denied that the Caroline

Constitution had a very considerable inﬂuence on the development of forensic medicine. In the ﬁrst place, this code

regulated the legislation in all the coun tries of the empire, that is to say, the larger portion of civilized Europe. Then again, the promulgation was made dur

ing a remarkable phase in the history of the medical sciences, when the Renais sance was at its full development, at a

time when anatomy, the only true foun dation of modern medicine, was being founded by the efforts of Ingrassius, Eustachius, Fallopius, Varolius, Aran tins, and above all Vesalius, who, in 1543, gave to the world the ﬁrst description of the human body made after nature. It should also be recalled that in Germany the great importance of experts was understood at a very early date. Conse quently the ofﬁce was only conﬁded to men having a recognized morality and superior knowledge, and they alone were specially appointed experts to the courts of justice.

The decisions of the experts,

particularly when the case was one of a capital offense, were submitted to dis

cussion at the universities; the faculty would make commentaries on all the re sources that the medical knowledge of

the time could furnish, and they pub lished them, periodically so to speak, having in mind a branch of teaching

forensic medicine was created early in the seventeenth century in all the Ger man universities, while it was only in

the year III of the Republic that legal medicine was taught in France.

In 1603, Henry IV ordered his ﬁrst physician, Jean de la Riviere, to appoint

by a commission “in all the good cities of the Jurisdiction of the Kingdom, com posed of two persons belonging to the art of medicine and surgery, possessed of the best reputation, probity and ex perience, to make visits and reports in justice." An exception was made for the sworn experts attached to the Chate let; these were appointed by the King

himself.

Very much later, in August,

1670, the Criminal Ordinance of Saint Germain en Laye, an appendix to the Code Louis, conﬁrmed and regulated the already existing condition of affairs, and I will here give the articles of this ordi

nance which concern forensic medicine: TITLE V-ON REPORTS OF PHYSICIANS AND SURGEONS Art. l.—Wounded people may be examined by physicians and surgeons, who will state their true condition; this will also be done in cases where death results and the report will be admitted at the trial. Art. 2.—The judges may order a second visit to be made by the official physicians and surgeons, who shall take oath, and after their visit they shall write out and sign the report on the spot, which will at once be transmitted to the court and added to the documents of the prosecution. Art. 3.-—-We command that in all reports ordered to be made by Justice, at least one of the surgeons appointed by our ﬁrst physician be present at the place where it is made, otherwise the report will be considered m'l.

In Title VI. Art. 23, it is stated that “if any woman, before or after having been condemned to death, appears to be

which had been recognized as necessary.

or declares herself pregnant, the judges shall order her to be visited by matrons

In point of fact, the professorship of

appointed for the purpose,

who shall