_Probable period that has elapsed since the extinction of life._—Before the process of putrefaction has commenced, we can only adduce an opinion upon this subject from the circumstance of the coldness, rigidity, and general complexion of the body. Under ordinary circumstances, the body looses its vital heat in a very short space of time, and cadaverous[9] stiffness takes place and continues until relaxed by the progress of putrefaction; but there are many circumstances that appear capable of controlling and modifying this general result; the heat of the body is not only abstracted with very different degrees of celerity in different situations, but even in the same situation, in death from different causes. _Portal_ and other physiologists have observed, that after death from apoplexy, the temperature of the body is frequently maintained, even above the natural standard, to a period beyond that in which it would be totally abstracted from an inanimate mass under other circumstances.[10] It has been laid down as a general rule, that the more sudden the death, the longer is cadaverous stiffness from taking place, _M. Orfila_ also states, that if the body of a person suffocated, either by a non-respirable gas, or by strangulation, be cold or stiff, we may be certain that more than twelve hours have elapsed since the fatal event, for in death by such causes, the heat of the body is preserved for at least that period; this statement is corroborated by _Richerand_, who says that in asphyxia from carbonic acid, the blood preserves its fluidity, the limbs their flexibility, and the body its natural heat for some hours after death. When the process of putrefaction has established itself, we must deduce our conclusions from the extent of its progress, always taking into consideration the collateral circumstances which may have operated in retarding or accelerating its developement, such as the state of the atmosphere in relation to temperature and humidity, the particular circumstances of the spot in which the body was found, &c.