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

2. =Moisture.=—Putrefaction takes place only in the presence of

moisture. An excess of moisture, however, seems to retard the process, possibly by cutting off the excess of air. The viscera according to the amount of water they contain decompose at different times after death—for instance, the brain and eye rapidly, the bones and hair slowly.