Medical Jurisprudence, Forensic medicine and Toxicology. Vol. 1 by R. A. Witthaus et al.

298 to 302.—Execution of Wirtz. Rope one-half inch diameter; drop five feet; knot under left ear. Several slight shrugs of shoulders, after which body was quiet; let down in fifteen minutes. No involuntary evacuation. Face pale, placid. Eyes partly open; pupils dilated; slight injection of conjunctivæ. Mouth open; tongue not protruding. Just above thyroid cartilage extending on right side from median line in front to spinous process was a dirty brown deep furrow with congested walls; on left side a line of discoloration due to direct action of rope. Soft parts above and below the line much swollen, particularly on right side. Larynx and hyoid bone unnaturally mobile. Right trapezius muscle torn; sterno-mastoid divided transversely, leaving an interval of two inches. Slight ecchymoses between muscle and larynx. Ecchymoses on _ligamentum nuchæ_. Hyoid bone, both greater cornua fractured and dislocated from body; lesions more marked on right side. Several small ecchymoses in vicinity. Larynx not injured. Brain normal. No bloody or frothy mucus in air-passages. Lungs not congested. One drachm of straw-colored serum in pericardium. Heart empty. Abdominal organs normal. Bladder somewhat distended with urine. See also Tidy, “Med. Juris.,” Cases 1 to 4 and 60. ACCIDENT.