_The position of the diaphragm_, is a good diagnostic sign. The diaphragm will necessarily be higher where there has been no respiration, natural or artificial, than where the child has actually breathed. “Its position is most easily ascertained by making a longitudinal incision through the skin and superficial cellular tissue, from the chin to the pubis, in the mesial line, dissecting these from the thorax on both sides, next carefully opening the abdominal cavity, introducing the finger of one hand into it, and pressing it up to the highest point of the concavity of the diaphragm, and then with one finger of the other hand reckoning off the intercostal spaces from above downwards till both fingers correspond. The rule is, that the highest point of the concavity of the diaphragm in children born dead, is between the fourth and fifth ribs, and in those born alive, between the fifth and sixth.” Where respiration has been but transitory, the diaphragm will remain very nearly in its fœtal position. _The lungs_, from lying quite posteriorly in the fœtus, come to fill the cavity of the chest, the more perfectly respiration has been established. In the fœtus, the left lung is never found even partially covering the heart. Where respiration has been but transitory and imperfect, the volume of the lungs will not be much increased. The presence of dark bluish-red, insular patches in the lungs, no matter what may be their ground color, proves that respiration has taken place. The crepitant spongy consistence of the lungs of a live-born child, is readily distinguished from the compact, resistent liver-like lungs of one still-born. The hydrostatic test for the presence of air in the lungs, is of all, the surest for deciding whether respiration has taken place. The vessel used should be at least one foot in depth, eight or ten inches in diameter, and filled with pure cold water. The buoyancy of the lungs depends upon the greater or less completeness with which the pulmonary tissue is permeated by the air. Only one lung may float, generally the right one, or only single lobes, or only a few pieces into which the lung has been and must be divided, in order accurately to apply the test. Artificially inflated fœtal lungs, may be distinguished from those lungs which have respired, by the presence, in the case of the latter, of the bluish-red mottling above referred to, and the escape of bloody froth when the substance of the lungs is cut into, and slight pressure applied. The general appearance of putrescence in the lungs, will serve to distinguish the buoyancy arising from the gaseous products of putrefaction, from that due to respiration. Careful attention to the foregoing points, will enable us to answer with certainty whether the child was born alive. _How long did the child live after its birth?_ The question can be approximately answered with reference to the first few days, by attention to the following points: