Pliny[20] cites an early instance of contested interpretation of post-mortem appearances in the case of Germanicus, who died A.D. 19, by the action of poison, said the enemies of Piso, because the heart did not burn. The friends of Piso, while admitting the fact of non-consumption, attributed it to the deceased having had heart disease. The same author[21] quotes Masurius as having declared a child born after thirteen (lunar) months to be legitimate, in an action for the possession of property, on the ground that no certain period of gestation was fixed. The Emperor Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), according to Gellius, sought medical information in a similar case, and decreed the legitimacy of a child born in the eleventh (lunar) month, “after having considered the opinions of ancient philosophers and physicians.”[22] Although the Justinian collections, the “Codex” (A.D. 529), the “Institutes” (A.D. 533), the “Digests,” or “Pandects” (A.D. 534), and the “Novels” (A.D. 535-564), prepared by the best legal talent of the age, under the direction of Tribonian, do not provide for the summoning of physicians as witnesses; they contain an expression which indicates that at that time the true function of the medical expert was more correctly appreciated than it is to-day. His function was stated to be judicial rather than that of a witness.[23] There is also a provision that in cases of contested pregnancy, midwives (who were considered as belonging to the medical profession) should, after examination of the woman, determine whether or no pregnancy exist, and that their determination should be final. The practice of medicine, surgery, and midwifery was regulated. Those desiring to practise must have been found competent by an examination. The number of physicians in each town was limited. They were divided into classes, and were subject to the government of the Archiatri. Penalties were imposed upon those guilty of malpractice or of poisoning. The Justinian enactments contain abundant internal evidence of having been framed in the light of medical knowledge. They contain provisions relating to sterility and impotence, rape, disputed pregnancy, legitimacy, diseased mental conditions, presumption of survivorship, poisoning, etc., which indicate that the medical knowledge of the time was fully utilized in their construction.[24] The Germanic peoples at about the same period possessed codes in which traces of a rudimentary medical jurisprudence existed. The most ancient of these was the Salic law (A.D. 422), in which the penalties to be paid for wounds of different kinds are fixed. The Ripuarian law, of somewhat later date, takes cognizance of the crime of poisoning. The laws of the Bavarians, Burgundians, Frisians, Thuringians, and Visigoths contain practically nothing of medico-legal interest. The Lex Alamannorum has numerous provisions relating to wounds, and expressly provides that the gravity of the injury shall be determined by a physician.[25]