n committed, the woman may in England be tried for _concealment of
birth_, and in Scotland for _concealment of pregnancy_, if she conceal
her pregnancy during the whole time and fail to call for assistance in
the birth. Either of these charges would only be brought against a woman
who had obviously been pregnant, and now the child is missing or its
dead body has been found. It is expected that every pregnant woman
should make provision for the child about to be born, and so should have
talked about it or have made clothes, etc., for it. The punishment for
concealment is imprisonment for any term not exceeding two years. The
charge of concealment is very often alternative to infanticide. To
substantiate the charge, however, it must be proved that there had been
a _secret disposition of the dead body_ of the infant, as well as an
endeavour to conceal its birth.

A woman may be delivered of a child unconsciously, for the contractile
power of the womb is independent of volition. Under an anaesthetic the
uterus acts as energetically as if the patient were in the full
possession of her senses.

Nowadays a woman is rarely hanged for infanticide, and it is a mere
travesty of justice to pass on her the death sentence, well knowing that
it will never be executed.

XXVII.--EVIDENCES OF LIVE BIRTH

The signs of live birth prior to respiration are negative and positive.
A negative opinion may be formed when evidence is found of the child
having undergone intra-uterine maceration. In this case the body will be
flaccid and flattened; the ilia prominent; the head soft and yielding;
the cuticle more or less detached, and raised into large bullae; the skin
of a red or brownish-red colour; the cavities filled with abundant
bloody serum; the umbilical cord straight and flaccid.

A positive opinion is justified when such injuries are found on the body
as could not have been inflicted during birth, and are attended with
such haemorrhage as could only have occurred while the blood was
circulating. Fractures of the cranium from accidental falls (precipitate
labour) are as a rule stellate, and are situated on the vertex or in the
parietal protuberance. The fractures from violence are more extensive,
usually depressed, and accompanied by laceration of the scalp.

The evidences of live birth after respiration has taken place are
usually deduced from the condition of the lungs, though indications are
also found in other organs. The d