Op, ophryon: O. occipital point: Ob, obelion; Bg, bregma: B, basion; N, nasion; 4, alveolar point; S, subnasal spine; Pt, pterion; As, asterion; I, inion, or external occipital protuberance; L, lambda.

tive sign, inasmuch as in some nations the hair is worn long by men. The fact that the whole bladder had been removed did away with the help that might have been afforded by the presence of the prostate gland. In this case, to be sure, all the organs except the heart were found scattered about the room, and showed the sex without doubt. But if all the organs and parts had been taken away or the body exposed to the effects of decomposition, a careful preparation of the skeleton would have been imperative to decide that the body was that of a woman.

It might further be stated that in this case, in consequence of the hacking of the features, the presence or absence of a beard could not be stated, and if the hair had been designedly cut off there would have been absolutely no sign by which sex could have been determined. The hair on the pubes had been removed in this case, and the difference in the growth of the pubic hair tapering up toward the umbilicus in the male, and simply surrounding the organs of generation in the female, could not be availed of as an indication of sex.

Of course, if there be only decomposition or destruction of the external organs of generation, the internal examination would decide the point of sex by demonstrating the presence of either a uterus or a prostate gland, both of which organs resist decomposition longer than most if not any other parts. In general, it may be said that the female is smaller, lighter, and has a less developed muscular system than the male; but here we are again met with the objection that a healthy, hard-working woman would have stronger limbs and more powerful frame than a sickly student or clerk.

Therefore, in the case of the examination being limited to a single limb, as an arm or a leg, it is in a measure guesswork, though with care the guess may be pretty accurate. A case in point will be cited in extenso hereafter, where an arm, large and muscular and lengthy, was decided to be that of a woman, and the opinion was at a later date found to have been correct.

The skeleton of the male is generally larger, stronger, and has more prominent processes and im

pressions for muscular attachment on the bones of the limbs than the female skeleton. The sternum is less convex, and the xiphisternal articulation is opposite the curve of the fifth rib, while in the female the sternum is more convex and shorter, and the xiphisternal articulation is opposite the curve of the fourth rib. It is in the pelvis, however, that we find the main distinguishing points. The male pelvis is composed of more massive bones, with rough, well-marked pro

cesses; the cavity of the true pelvis is deeper, narrower, and has smaller apertures. The curve of the sacrum is more evenly distributed, and not

so abruptly marked in the lower part as in the female. The subpubic arch is more pointed, the obturator foramen oval, the tuberosities of the

ischia nearer together, and the diameters of the true pelvis narrower than in the female, as will be shown in a subsequent table.

The female skeleton has a shallower false pelvis, with more widely spreading alæ ilii. The bones of the true pelvis are lighter, with much less marked impressions. The cavity is shallower, and the sacrum is flatter in the upper two thirds, and then curves somewhat abruptly below. The apertures are wider, the subpubic angle has a lower and rounder arch, and the obturator foramina are triangular, the rami of the pubes and ischium are more everted, and the diameters are much longer.

The following table gives the respective measurements as found in the male and female:

Distance between widest part of iliac crests

Distance between antero-superior spines of ilia..
Distance between front of symphysis pubis and sacral spines
(external conjugate)

In addition to the measurements of the pelvis it is also well to notice that the angle of the neck of the femur with its shaft more nearly approaches a right angle in the female than in the male; but this difference is only of importance where the limbs of the same or of different bodies can be compared, and is not a valuable sign where only one leg is discovered. The above indications should ordinarily be sufficient to guide the examiner to a proper decision in the matter of sex where this is in dispute, or the object of inquiry.

3. Age.-Though the features of the living are fairly well marked on external examination in each of the ages of man, from the infant to the "lean and slippered pantaloon," yet after death the effacing work of decay so rapidly alters the special characters that we require more decisive and scientific points to ascertain the probable age of the deceased.

Take the face as an illustration. The general suggestions of age from the wrinkles about the corners of the eyes, the so-called crow's-feet, and the deepening of the lines at the wings of the nose and corners of the mouth, the drooping of the angles of the jaw with the gradual approximation of the lips caused by the absorption of the alveolar borders of the maxilla, are all absent or modified in the first appearances after death; nor would the smooth, rounded look of the young give more than an indication of age, though an estimate with some degree of accuracy could be made by a trained observer. Therefore it is clear that more than a mere inspection of the external appearances is necessary. Take the case of a newly born infant, for instance, though this belongs more properly to a chapter on infanticide. We know that the length should be, for a child at term, eighteen to twenty inches, and the weight from six to eight pounds avoirdupois. The finger-nails project beyond the ends of the fingers, and the toe-nails reach nearly to the ends of the toes. The umbilicus is at most three quarters of an inch below the center of the length of the body. In the male the testicles are in the scrotum, and if the child has lived a short time the anus will probably be smeared with meconium. The most reliable sign of age at this period is the presence of a small ossific center in the lower epiphysis of the femur. It is the first and as a rule the only epiphysial center to appear before birth, though the upper epiphysis of the tibia can be occasionally noticed at full term. The femoral epiphysis usually appears shortly before birth. The size of this center is about one eighth of an inch in diameter. As the appearances of the epiphyses and their union with the bodies of the bones are the most important proofs of age from birth to the age of twenty-five, the different dates of their appearance must be borne in mind. To generalize these points is a matter of some difficulty; but it may be stated that there are times in the development of the body when growth appears to be more energetic. For instance, in the first three years there is ossific deposit showing Union of Rudimentary Proin the epiphyses of the humerus, femur, ulna, tibia, and fibula-that is, the extremities are practically mapped out in bone; and it is also in this period that the fontanelles of the skull close and the cranial bones unite.

ETRICH.SC

Fig. 8. Inferior Maxilla of New-born,

cesses.

Again, about puberty we have another period of activity, the vertebræ attaining their full size and shape, and in the pelvis additional centers appear in the sacrum and ossa innominata, so that during this time the trunk is solidifying. The third period of importance is that from twenty to twenty-five, the latter being the full attainment of adult age, and at this time in the majority of cases all the epiphyses have become joined to the bodies of the bones, though the complete ossification of the vertebræ may be delayed for a year or more.

After the age of twenty-fire until the changes of advanced life," which will be hereafter alluded to, occur, it is difficult to satisfactorily determine the age from the points of ossification alone; but it should be remembered

that the sexual powers are in full activity, and in the female the breasts, the uterus, and ovaries will aid in determining the age. If there are signs of present or recent menstruation, the presence of corpora lutea either of menstruation or pregnancy, or the secretion of milk in the breasts, we should have an indication that the woman was probably under forty or forty-fire. On the other hand, the presence of spermatozoa in the vesiculæ seminales or the testicles would not afford much assistance, as men have been known to have been capable of procreation at an advanced period of life. The eruption of the milk and permanent teeth affords a very trustworthy sign of the age of the young, and a case occurring in London is worth citing on that point. During the repair of a house, a few remains were found buried under the hearthstone, and these on examination proved to be those of a human lower jaw, with the small though well-marked mental process (no other animal has a chin), part of the upper jaw and shaft of a small femur, with some few light brown long human hairs. As the second molar teeth had erupted, and there was an indication of a cavity in the upper jaw where the first molar of permanent teeth had begun to develop, the age was determined as between three and four years. The hair indicated the complexion, and the length thereof the sex. On inquiry it was learned that a long time ago a little girl of three and a half years had disappeared. The mother of this child was confronted, and confessed that the girl had died of natural causes, and had been buried in this spot by the parents to escape the expense of an ordinary sepulture.

As age advances, structural changes occur in the cartilages of the larynx and ribs, so that they become ossified; but these changes may occur at any period after thirty, and indeed, are so modified by disease, such as that of the heart or kidney, that they are only a general indication. In old age, or in those who have lost their teeth, the alveolar borders of the jaws are gradually absorbed, giving the angle of the jaw an appearance of obtuseness which is more apparent than real. The angle of the neck of the femur with its shaft is obtuse in man, rectangular in woman, and with increasing age the angle becomes more rectangular-may even sink below the level of the trochanter.

From the foregoing it will be seen that our best guide to the ascertainment of age is the examination of the skeleton; but that even that is not wholly accurate, but only approximate, and that all other appearances possible must be considered in arriving at a correct solution of the problem.

The following résumé, chiefly from Quain, will be of service in determining identity as far as light is thrown on the matter by the study of the matter of ossification. The value of this test of age will be found principally in the examination of the long bones and the pelvis; and while in works on forensic medicine it is customary to give very elaborate tables of all the times of appearance of centers and junction of epiphyses with the bodies, in practice it is better to consider these special parts in the three periods before mentioned.

In the first year the nucleus for the head of the femur appears.

In the second year nuclei for the head of the humerus, lower extremities of the tibia and fibula, carpal end of radius.

In the third year the nuclei for the great tuberosity of the humerus, upper end of the fibula, capitellum of the humerus.