--------------------------------+----------------------------------- Lungs that have not Breathed. | Lungs that have Breathed. --------------------------------+----------------------------------- 1. Dark in colour (black-blue,| 1. Light in colour (rose-pink, maroon, or purple), resembling | pale pink, light red, or crimson), liver. No mottling. | mottled. | 2. Air-vesicles not visible | 2. Air-vesicles distinctly to the naked eye. | visible to the naked eye, or a | lens of low power (say a two-inch, | or even a common reading-glass). | 3. When squeezed or cut, do | 3. Crepitate or crackle freely. not crepitate or crackle. | | 4. Contain but little blood, | 4. Contain a good deal of blood, therefore little escapes on | which escapes freely on section. section. | | 5. The blood present is not | 5. The blood present is freely frothy, unless there be | mixed with air, and therefore putrefaction. | appears frothy. | 6. Sink in water, unless | 6. Float in water; or, at all putrid, and often not then. | events, the parts which have been | expanded, or have breathed, float. | If fully expanded, they will buoy | up the heart. | 7. Bubbles of gas arising | 7. The air cannot be squeezed from putrefaction may be | out by pressure. squeezed out, and as they | escape are usually noted to | be of large size. | --------------------------------+----------------------------------- Hydrostatic Lung Test (_Docimasia pulmonum hydrostatica_) The value of this test, which is a test of respiration and not of live birth, is founded on the supposition that a lung in which respiration has taken place will float if placed in water, and that when this has not occurred it will sink. Admitting that a lung floats as a result of respiration, it has been objected that this is no proof of live birth, for respiration may take place in: 1. The womb, _vagitus uterinus_. 2. The maternal passages, _vagitus vaginalis_. 3. Cases when the head protrudes, the body not yet being born.