4. =Nationality.= When not definitely known this may be estimated
by such criteria as color of skin, finger-nails, character of hair,
facies (cheek-bones, jaw, forehead, cephalic index, facial angle,
eyes, etc.), hands, feet, general build, etc. For ethnologic and
anthropologic data the body may be described according to the
primitive type it represents (Australioid, negroid, mongoloid,
xanthochroic, melanchroic, Iberian, dolichocephalic, etc., according
to the different classifications).
5. =Status.= Unmarried, married, widow, widower, divorced, legal
status, citizen of what country, state, county or town, etc.
6. =Occupation.= As this often throws light upon the pathologic
condition present in the body, the trade or occupation should be
ascertained and stated in the protocol. When no direct information
is available a judgment concerning it may be made on the basis of
certain conditions, occupation or industrial diseases found in the
body (anthracosis, argyrosis, siderosis, silicosis, chalicosis,
lead-poisoning, chronic phosphorus poisoning, nitrobenzol and other
forms of poisoning, localized muscle-hypertrophy or atrophy, callus,
etc.).
7, 8. =Time of Death and Time of Autopsy.= The day and hour of death
and the time of autopsy should be noted. When the time of death is
not known with certainty it can only approximately be estimated
by the condition of the body with respect to such postmortem
changes as rigor mortis, algor mortis, hypostasis, diffusion-spots,
decomposition, etc. From no one of these signs of death can an
absolute statement be made as to the time of death; so great a
variation may occur with any one or with all of these so-called
_positive signs_ of death that only very relative estimates can
be given. Between the actual time of death and the appearance of
positive signs of this event there exists a variable period in
which death announces its appearance by _negative_ signs only; the
cessation of the vital functions, respiration, circulation and
nervous excitability. These functions may, however, be reduced to so
low a degree of strength that their existence cannot be made out by
the usual methods, and a condition of _apparent death_ or “_suspended
animation_” may be present. Such a condition is most frequently
seen in cases of cholera, hysteria, catalepsy, hypnosis, excessive
fatigue, prolonged exposure to cold or to high temperatures,
concussion, severe hemorrhage, action of certain poisons, electrical
currents and lightning stroke, strangulation, asphyxia, suffocation,
drowning, etc. The condition of apparent death may last hours or even
days, but as a rule it is one of very short duration. Granting the
existence of such a possibility of apparent death before absolute
signs of death appear, it follows that in all autopsies made very
soon after death has occurred, the prosector must bear such a
possibility in mind, and satisfy himself beyond all doubt of the
actual occurrence of death before beginning the autopsy.
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