submitted the body to all the tests in the following order:--1. Heart sounds and motion entirely absent, together with all pulse movement. 2. Respiratory sounds and movements entirely absent. 3. Temperature of the body taken from the mouth the same as that in the surrounding air in the room, 62° F. 4. A bright needle plunged into the body of the biceps muscle (Cloquet’s needle test) and left there shows on withdrawal no sign of oxidation. 5. Intermittent shocks of electricity at different tensions passed by needles into various muscles and groups of muscles gave no indication whatever of irritability. 6. The fillet-test applied to the veins of the arm (Richardson’s test) causes no filling of veins on the distal side of the fillet. 7. The opening of a vein to ascertain whether the blood has undergone coagulation shows that the blood was still fluid. 8. The subcutaneous injection of ammonia (Monteverdi’s test) causes the dirty brown stain indicative of dissolution. 9. On making careful movements of the joints of the extremities, of the lower jaw, and of the occipito-frontals, _rigor mortis_ is found in several parts. Thus of these nine tests eight distinctly declared that death was absolute; the exception, the fluidity of the blood, being a phenomenon quite compatible with blood preternaturally fluid and at a low temperature, even though death had occurred. 10. There now remained the diaphanous test, which we carried out by the aid of a powerful reflector lamp, yielding an excellent and penetrating light. To our surprise the scarlet line of light between the fingers was as distinct as it was in our own hands subjected to the same experiment. The mass of evidence was of course distinctly to the effect that death was complete; but, to make assurance doubly sure, we had the temperature of the room raised and the body carefully watched until signs of decomposition had set in. I made a visit myself on a succeeding day to assure myself of this fact. [INADEQUACY OF DIAPHANOUS TEST.] “The results of these experimental tests were satisfactory, as following and corroborating each other in eight out of the ten different lines of procedure; but the point of my paper is to show the utter inadequacy of the diaphanous test, upon which some are inclined entirely to rely. Sir Benjamin Richardson has reported an instance in which the test applied to the hand of a lady who had simply fainted gave no evidence of the red line; she therefore, on that test alone, might have been declared dead. In my case the reverse was presented; the body was dead, whilst the red line supposed to indicate life was perfectly visible. Hence the test might possibly lead to a double error, and ought never of itself to be relied upon. “It is a question worthy of consideration whether the colouration observed was due to the fluid state of the blood after death; it is not unreasonable to suppose so but I prefer merely to offer the suggestion without further comment.”