with a folded coat under the chest, and rolling the body
alternately into the lateral and prone positions.

4. _Howard's._--This consists in emptying the thorax by forcibly
compressing the lower part of the chest; on relaxing the pressure the
chest again fills with air. Here the patient is placed in the supine
position.

The objections to the supine position are that the tongue falls back,
and not only blocks the entrance of air, but prevents the escape of
water, mucus, and froth from the air-passages.

5. _Laborde's Method._--This consists in holding the tongue by means of
a handkerchief, and rhythmically drawing it out fully at the rate of
fifteen times per minute. This excites the respiratory centre, and this
method may be employed along with any of the other methods.

XX.--DEATH FROM STARVATION

The post-mortem appearances in death from starvation are as follows:
There is marked general emaciation; the skin is dry, shrivelled, and
covered with a brown, bad-smelling excretion; the muscles soft,
atrophied, and free from fat; the liver is small, but the gall-bladder
is distended with bile. The heart, lungs, and internal organs are
shrivelled and bloodless. The stomach is sometimes quite healthy; in
other cases it may be collapsed, empty, and ulcerated. The intestines
are also contracted, empty, and translucent.

In the absence of any disease productive of extreme emaciation (_e.g._,
tuberculosis, stricture of oesophagus, diabetes, Addison's disease),
such a state of body will furnish a strong presumption of death by
starvation.

In the case of children there is not always absolute deprivation of
food, but what is supplied is insufficient in quantity or of improper
quality. The defence commonly set up is that the child died either of
marasmus or of tuberculosis.

In cases where it is alleged that a child has been starved and ill-used,
one must examine the body for signs of neglect--_e.g._, dirtiness of
skin and hair, presence of vermin, bruises or skin eruptions. Compare
its weight with a normal child of the same age and sex. If the
disproportion be great and signs of neglect present, then the
probability is great (provided there be no actual disease present) that
the child has been starved.

XXI.--DEATH FROM LIGHTNING AND ELECTRICITY

The signs of death from lightning vary greatly. In some cases there are
no signs; in others the body may be most curiously marked. Wounds of
various characte