To explain the formation of adipocere, it has been supposed to be due to the decomposition of the muscular structures of the body, by which hydrogen and nitrogen are evolved, these combining to form ammonia, and this, coming in contact with the fatty acids of the fat, forms a soap. The process of saponification takes place most rapidly in young fat persons; next, in those adults who abound in fat, and in those whose bodies have been exposed to the soil of water-closets; more rapidly in running than in stagnant water; and lastly, in those who have been buried in moist, damp soil, especially if the bodies have been piled one on the top of the other, the lowest being first saponified. The muscular tissue appears to be the first to undergo this change. In water the process is said to be completed in about five months, but in soil a period of two or three years appears necessary. _Mummification_ is of no medico-legal interest, as the causes which produce it are unknown, and no reliable data can be obtained as to the period of its accession, or the time required for its production. 2. =Internal= Table showing the order in which the Internal Organs undergo Putrefaction: 1. The Trachea. 2. The Brain of Infants. 3. The Stomach. 4. The Intestines. 5. The Spleen. 6. The Omentum and Mesentery. 7. The Liver. 8. The Adult Brain. 9. The Heart. 10. The Lungs. 11. The Kidneys. 12. The Bladder. 13. The Gullet. 14. The Pancreas. 15. The Diaphragm. 16. The Blood-vessels. 17. The Uterus. Organs which Putrefy Early 1. _The Trachea, including the Larynx._--The rapid change in the trachea must be borne in mind, in order to avoid the error of attributing death to suffocation or drowning. An examination of the trachea should never be omitted. 2. _The Brain of Infants up to the First Year._ 3. _The Stomach._--The first traces of putrefaction are seen in from four to six days after death. All the coats of the stomach are softened, but there is no excoriation, as is the case when corrosive poisons are taken. Emphysematous separation of the mucous coat may be present, but must not be confounded with the excoriation just mentioned. 4. _The Intestines._--Casper declares that he does not remember any case in the course of his experience where the intestines were “found earlier putrefied than the stomach.” In the course of putrefaction they become of a dark brown colour, bursting, and allowing an escape of their contents; and they ultimately become changed into a dark pultaceous mass. 5. _The Spleen._--This organ in some cases putrefies before the stomach and intestines; but, as a rule, it resists decomposition longer. 6. _The Omentum and Mesentery._