_Pathology._—The tissues after death are shrunken and drawn, and the extremities are inclined to be mottled; in some cases there is a postmortem rise of temperature. Rigor mortis sets in very early. Spasmodic contractions sometimes occur for some moments after death; hence the eyes and jaws have been seen to move after life was extinct. Owing to this marked contraction, the limbs have been distorted and the partial turning of the body is thus accounted for, and is not, as many have supposed, the result of being buried alive. The tissues are dry, having been drained of these fluids before death, hence some time elapses before decomposition begins after death. The chief visceral lesion is that of the intestinal canal. The intestines contain a more or less quantity of rice-water, fluid rich in the comma bacillus. The blood is very dark, but slightly coagulable and robbed of its salts and fluids. _Treatment._—Arterial and cavity embalming, closing all orifices of the body. Any discharges from the bowels should be disinfected before being disposed of. In epidemics, cosmetic effect is a non-essential and in that case the most thorough treatment must be given without regard to appearances. For transportation of bodies dead of this disease, govern yourself according to the provisions of the transportation rules. =Bubonic Plague.=—_Synonyms._—The Pest; Black Death; Plague of Egypt. _Definition._—A specific, infectious, contagious disease, running a rapid course, and characterized by inflammation of the glands (buboes), carbuncles, ecchymoses, and petechiae upon the surface. It is endemic on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea and the Oriental countries adjacent. Epidemics occur when it spreads to other parts of the world, traveling along the great thoroughfares of travel and commerce. _Cause._—To Kitasato belongs the honor of discovering the specific cause, the bacillus pestis. On entering the body, either by inoculation or by way of the digestive or respiratory tracts, it multiplies with great rapidity. It is found in the blood, in the internal organs, in the intestinal canal, lymphatic glands and in great numbers in the suppurating buboes. _Pathology._—Rigor mortis occurs early, and often there is elevation of temperature immediately after death. Petechiae, ecchymoses, and carbuncles are generally found upon the skin. The lymphatic system is generally affected, the lymph glands of the groin and axilla showing evidence of inflammation.