22. The inspectors should begin with that cavity over which there is a wound or other mark of injury. Or, if there be an injury on the extremities, the dissection ought to commence there. In the absence of any such guide, that cavity should be taken first where the circumstances of death, so far as they are ascertained, may lead the inspectors to expect unusual appearances. In other cases, the abdomen should be first opened but not dissected, and a general survey made of the parts exposed, without disturbing them materially, the position of the diaphragm being determined by examining it with the hand; then the thorax is immediately to be examined, unless there is good reason for doing otherwise. The reasons for this method of procedure are as follow: If the abdominal organs are removed, and the veins cut, the blood in the heart may drain away through the venæ cavæ, and error result. If, on the other hand, the thorax be first opened, the relation of the abdominal organs to each other cannot be clearly made, owing to the relaxation of the diaphragm, due to the severing of its thoracic connections. Again, if the thorax be first opened, the position of the diaphragm cannot be determined. The inspectors may begin with the head, which may be examined thoroughly in the first instance, afterwards the chest and belly, as above described; the spine being reserved till the conclusion. Wherever unusual appearances are discovered in the first cursory survey, the anatomical examination ought in general to be begun there. 23. In examining the several regions of the body it is to be observed that wherever a wound, or other obvious injury of the external parts, lies in the way of the ordinary incisions, that part must be avoided, so as to leave the external injury unaltered. 24. The most approved mode of opening the head in medico-legal cases is, after dividing the integuments from ear to ear, and reflecting the scalp over the forehead and occiput, to make the usual circular incision through the skull, about an inch above the orbits in front, and over the occipital protuberance behind, using the saw lightly and carefully after the outer table of the skull has been divided, so as to avoid injuring the membranes of the brain; and to raise the skull-cap from before backwards, taking care to detach the dura mater from the skull with the handle of the scalpel or a spatula where it adheres firmly. The chisel and mallet should never be used where there is any chance of finding a fracture of the skull; for how could it be distinguished from a fracture made with the mallet? Should the dura mater be firmly adherent to the skull-cap, the better practice is to divide it carefully, so as to remove both at the same time. Tearing the membrane and crushing the brain substance are thus avoided. In infants and young children this mode of procedure is most necessary, as in them the dura mater is, as a rule, adherent.