Account of a remarkable case of suicide : with observations on the fatal issue of the rapid introduction of air in large quantity into the circulation during surgical operations / by P.D. Handyside.

  • Handyside, P. D. (Peter David), 1808-1881.
Date:
1838
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Account of a remarkable case of suicide : with observations on the fatal issue of the rapid introduction of air in large quantity into the circulation during surgical operations / by P.D. Handyside. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    to any degree of violence in the employment of artificial respiration in this, or probably in any case, excepting in that of M. Roux. * There was no injection of the capillaries of the stomach, or other organs ; on the contrary, these were found, as already stated, paler in colour than natural. 8. The rigidity of the muscles was complete in this case one hour and a-half after death. This circumstance may probably 'appear worthy of mention, since, although the period of the approach of the rigidity of the body is observed to differ in different indivi- duals, yet the opinion has been advanced by our first medical jurists, that the rigidity of the muscles does not generally come on for some hours after death,11 f and it has been laid down as a ge- neral rule, that the more sudden the death, the longer is cadave- ric stiffness from taking place, and that this rigidity occurs only after the vital heat of the body is gone.11 \ But in the present instance the case was otherwise, the vital heat of the body having been evident to the senses after the commencement of the rigidi- ty. In connexion with which fact may be mentioned, the opi- nion of Professor Louis, § who says, it commences at the mo- ment of death, even before the diminution of the natural heat and the evidence of Professor Traill, || that he has known rigi- dity begin before death takes place, and it sometimes takes place immediately, and differently in different individuals and diseases.11 Edinburgh, 10, Shandwick Place, November 20, 1837. Journ. Univ. et Hebdom. xi. 165. Paris, 1833. f Evidence of Professor Christison in the Report of the Trial of Robert Rcid for murder, published by authority, Edin. 1835, pp. 24,26. X Paris and Fonblanque's Med. Jurisp. Vol. iii. p. 24. § Lettre iv. || Report of the Trial of Robert Reid, published by authority, pp. 27, 28. EDINUUUGH : PRINTED BY JOHN STAUK, OLD ASSEMBLY CLOSE.