ANIL AGGRAWAL'S PAGE OF FORENSIC QUOTES AND APHORISMS About Myself Hi, I am Professor Anil Aggrawal from India. I am working as a Professor of Forensic Medicine at the Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi-110002, India. I love to exchange ideas on Forensic Medicine, Forensic Pathology and Forensic Toxicology. I love quotes. There are all kinds of quotation books available in the market, but unfortunately none caters exclusively to Forensic Quotes. This page is a modest effort to fill this gap. It includes quotes which I have collected during the last 25 years of my experience in Forensic Medicine. It also includes quotes submitted by several of the discerning readers. All contributions by the web surfers have been added with due acknowledgements. I hope to put the collective wisdom of all of us on the net for the benefit of all. After all that is why the God invented the internet, isn't it! So if you remember any of the witty forensic quotes that you heard somewhere, E-mail it to me, and I will put it on the internet with due credits. My E-mail is dr_anil@hotmail.com. All quotes submitted by readers will be put on the web with due credit. Please don't forget to mention the source of the quotes. That will make my work that much easier. If you have enjoyed these pages (or even if you haven't), please be good enough to leave your comments in the guestbook. These are my only rewards. It keeps me on track (your criticisms), and keeps my morale high (your appreciations). Thanks! Guestbook Statistics Our Valued Contributors A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z ABORTION I will not aid a woman to produce abortion. - Hippocratic Oath All your better deeds shall be in water writ. - Philaster II, IV (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 88, in Chapter 5 entitled "Abortion and its complications") ACCIDENTS Now and then there is a person born who is so unlucky that he runs into accidents which started out to happen to somebody else. - Don Marquis, archys life of mehitabel AGE ESTIMATION (MEDICOLEGAL ESTIMATION OF AGE) Attempting to estimate the age of a person from the closure of his skull sutures is no less hazardous than doing so from graying of his hair; the only difference is that the former appears more technical! - Anil Aggrawal, Professor of Forensic Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi, India If the first permanent molar hath not protruded, you can have no hesitation in affirming that the culprit has not passed his seventh year. - A.T. Thomson in his classical paper written as far back as 1836. The full quotation of the paper is "Thomson AT. (1836). Lectures on medical jurisprudence now in course of delivery at London University. Lancet 1:281-286 (This quote is reproduced in "Developmental Juvenile Osteology" by Louise Scheuer and Sue Black, Academic Press 2000 on page 12) ALCOHOL Candy is dandy, but liquor is quicker. - Don Marquis, archys life of mehitabel The trouble with liquor is that one drink makes a new man out of you, and then the new man has to have another drink! - Alvy Moore Not drunk is he who from the floor Can rise alone and still drink more, But drunk is he who prostrate lies Without the power to drink or rise. - Thomas Love Peacock (1785-1866): English novelist and poet A drunkard is like a whiskey bottle; all neck and belly and no head! - Austin O'Malley In vino veritas (in wine there is truth) - Old Roman saying ANAESTHETIC DEATHS There are many minor operations, but no minor anesthesias. - Kenneth Heard (1897-1948) (Quoted in "Historical Medical Classics involving new drugs, by John C. Krantz, Jr. Ph.D. on page 112) Care charming sleep, thou loser of all woes. - Valentinion V (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 79, in Chapter 4 entitled "Respiration". This quote appears at the top of a sub-chapter entitled "Anaesthesia for dental treatment") ANALYSIS AND DEDUCTION I have no data yet. It is a capital mistake to theorize before one has data. Insensibly one begins to twist facts to suit theories instead of theories to suit facts. - Sherlock Holmes in "A Scandal in Bohemia", when Dr. Watson asks him what he makes of a mysterious note which had just arrived. Whenever you have excluded the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth. - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - "The Adventures of the Beryl Coronet" -Quoted on the front page of "An Introduction to Forensic DNA Analysis" by Keith Inman and Norah Rudin) Like all other arts, the Science of Deduction and Analysis is one which can only be acquired through long and patient study. - Sherlock Holmes in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "The Book of Life" (Quoted in "Hard Evidence" By David Fisher at page 1) ARSON AND FIRE INVESTIGATION The person who reports finding an arson is usually the person who set the fire. - Contributed by Harold J. Porter, Crown Counsel, Newfoundland, Canada (Address: Harold J. Porter, Department of Justice , Civil Division, 4th Floor , East Block,Confederation Building, St. John's Newfoundland A1B 4J6, TEL 709-729-1179, FAX 709-729-2129. Mr. Porter goes on to add "this is not a well-known maxim, but an accurate one, in my limited experience". The quote was sent on 20 December 1999. To me this quote sounds much like "The murderer always returns to the scene of crime". Visitors to this page are welcome to send relevant comments) Time is an enemy to the fire investigator. - Paul E. Pritzker, P.E. (quoted on page 37 in Chapter 3 written by him on "fire investigation" in the book "Forensic Engineering" by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) (Pritzker follows up the quote with this explanation: When one is called late to investigate a fire, physical evidence may have been altered or may have deteriorated) Wellington once said that the Battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eaton. It is important to prepare before arrival at the fire scene! - Paul E. Pritzker, P.E. (quoted on page 35 in Chapter 3 written by him on "fire investigation" in the book "Forensic Engineering" by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) ASPHYXIA The term "Asphyxia" is a partial misnomer, as many of the conditions described under this heading are not truly asphyxial in nature; the term is both inappropriate and inaccurate. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 345) Anoxia begets anoxia. - G.K. Dinker Petechial hemorrhages, congestion and edema, cyanosis, engorgement of the right heart and fluidity of the blood are the obsolete diagnostic quintet of asphyxial deaths. - Lester Adelson ( Quoted by Bernard Knight in his Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition at page 347) Traumatic asphyxia provides the most extreme demonstration of the classic signs of asphyxia. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 358) His face is black and full of blood, His eye balls farther out than when he lived, Staring full ghastly, a strangled man, His hair upreared, his nostrils stretched with struggling, His hands abroad displayed, as one that grasped, And tugged for life, and was by strength subdued. - William Shakespeare I thought I could not breathe in that fine air, That pure severity of perfect light. - Tennyson (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 204) (N.B. Please also look up quotes under "Hanging") ASPHYXIA, AUTOEROTIC Those kids are stupid. They don't know what they're doing. - A 16 year old boy to his mother, who showed him an article about autoerotic deaths in a newspaper (Reproduced from "Practical Homicide Investigation-Tactics, Procedures, and Forensic Techniques", Second Edition, by Vernon J. Geberth, page 278) (N.B. Interestingly, the boy himself was engaged in such activities, and was found dead two weeks later) Vladimir: “What do we do now?” Estragon: “Wait.” Vladimir: “Yes, but while waiting.” Estragon: “What about hanging ourselves?” Vladimir: “Hmm. It’d give us an erection.” Estragon: (highly excited) “An erection! ... Let’s hang ourselves immediately!” - Samuel Beckett, Waiting for Godot (reproduced also at page 10 of "Autoerotic Asphyxiation: Forensic, Medical, and Social Aspects" by Sergey Sheleg and Edwin Ehrlich. Wheatmark, Inc. 2006) ASSAULTS A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead. - Luke 10:30 (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 109) AUTOPSY The next time I see a doctor, it had better be for an autopsy. - A.J. Duhe, linebacker for the Miami Dolphins, after his fifth knee operation, 1985 (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 157) In some autopsy laboratories, the most significant breakthrough during the last 100 years has been the introduction of disposable gloves! - Jan Vincents Johannessen et al. 1979 (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 175) There's nothing like an autopsy for prognosis. - Anonymous (Contributed by Dean H. Garrison, Jr., Crime Scene Technician.) Often the autopsy reveals the diseases and lesions that the person lived with, rather than those that killed him! - Anonymous If an autopsy is worth doing at all, it is worth doing right the first time. - LeMoyne Snyder in his book "Homicide Investigation", (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 158, in chapter 7 entitled "Homicide due to Gunshot Wounds" A good pathologist holds a knife just like a violinist holds a bow. - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando, Home Office accredited Consultant Forensic Pathologist for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary We have plenty of post-mortem examinations but often these are useless because the history of the case is not known. - J. Kerr Love (1897). Some Modern Aspects of Deaf-Mutism, J. Laryngology, 12, 593 (Quoted in Pathology of the Ear by I. Friedmann, 1974, Blackwell Scientific Publications) (N.B. This short and pithy quote, although more than 100 years old, remains valid even today.) AUTOPSY RISKS There is still not a single documented case of a pathologist or a technician getting AIDS from their professional activities. - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando, Home Office accredited Consultant Forensic Pathologist for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary The fact that I have never caught anything from an autopsy in 25 years of carving in two different parts of the world should put everyone's mind at ease. - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando, Home Office accredited Consultant Forensic Pathologist for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary You are more likely to injure yourself with blunt knives than with sharp ones! - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando, Home Office accredited Consultant Forensic Pathologist for Devon & Cornwall Constabulary BATTERED BABY SYNDROME Spare the rod! - Title of a paper by James E. George of the Emergency Department, Underwood Memorial Hospital, Woodbury, N.J. (U.S.A.) on Battered Baby Syndrome published in Forensic Science, 2 (1973) 129-167 Hark ye, good parents, to my words true and plain, When you are shaking your baby, you could be bruising his brain. So, save the limbs, the brain, even the life of your tot; By shaking him never; never and not. - a quatrain from the paper “On the Theory and Practice of Shaking Infants” published in Amer. J. Dis. Chil,. on page 169. Full reference of the article is this: Caffey, John. On the Theory and Practice of Shaking infants. Amer. J. Dis. Child. August 1972, Vol. 124, no. 2, Pp 161-169 Whiplash-shaking is practiced commonly in a wide variety of ways, under a wide variety of circumstances, by a wide variety of persons, for a wide variety of reasons. - John Caffey of “Caffey’s syndrome” fame in his paper: On the Theory and Practice of Shaking infants. Amer. J. Dis. Child. August 1972, Vol. 124, no. 2, Pp 161-169, on page 161 BLOOD STAINS Out damned spot! Out, I say Here's the smell of the blood still, All the perfumes of Arabia will not Sweeten this little hand. Oh, Oh, Oh! - William Shakespeare Blood though it sleeps a time, yet never dies, The Gods on murtherers fix revengeful eyes. - Dryden (The Cock and the Fox) Any butcher is just as good an expert on that as this witness. - Commonwealth v. Sturtivant (1875) (Quoted in “Scientific and Legal Applications of Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation” Ed. Stuart H. James, page 122) (N.B. A little background above the above quote may be appreciated. In this case, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court addressed the admissibility of blood spatter interpretation and the qualifications of an “expert”. The witness, a chemist accustomed to chemical and microscopic examination of blood and bloodstains, testified for the prosecution as to directionality; i.e., “if the force of a stream of liquid, whatever it may be, and especially blood, be from below upward, the heaviest portion of the drop will stop at the further end of the stain; if from above downward, it will stop below.”. Defence counsel objected to this testimony at trial, stating, “That is pure opinion as to a matter of mechanics, not chemistry. Any butcher is just as good an expert on that as this witness.”) When blood is their argument. - King Henry V, iv, i (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 161, in Chapter 9 entitled “Immunoserology”) (N.B. See also under “Disputed paternity”) BRUISES It is impossible to comment on the age of a bruise less than 24 hours since infliction. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 143) It is not practicable to construct an accurate calendar of the color changes of bruises, as was done in older textbooks. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 143) If anyone thinks that he can accurately tell you the age of a bruise based on its appearance, he needs to have some serious re-education. - Jo Duflou, in an E-mail to a Forensic Discussion Group on Fri, 27 Oct 2000 NSW Institute of Forensic Medicine BURNS AND SCALDS Traditionally most authors claim that differentiation can be made between an ante-mortem and a post-mortem blister by an analysis for protein and chloride in the fluid; but I have yet to meet a pathologist who does this as a routine! One suspects that the test is another of the apocryphal procedures that have been handed down from textbook to textbook without verification. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 310-1) The exposed skin surface may be reddened in both ante-mortem and post-mortem burns; the classical distinction of a "red flare" or "vital reaction" is unsafe as an index of infliction before death. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 310) Can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burnt? - Proverbs 6:27 (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 178) CAPITAL PUNISHMENT Don’t hang me too high.... for the sake of decency. - Mary Blandy, who murdered her father with arsenic to her executioner in 1775 (quoted in “Murder - Whatdunit” by J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, page 40) CARDIAC AND VASCULAR LESIONS I would not have such a heart in my bosom for the dignity of the whole body. - Anonymous (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 17, in Chapter 3 entitled "Cardiology and Vascular Lesions") CAUSE OF DEATH The causes of death appear, unto our shame, perpetual. - Winter’s Tale (Quoted in “The Pathology of Trauma” 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 1) Coronary atherosclerois is the Captain of the Men of Death. - Partially modified from a statement in Bernard Knight’s “Forensic Pathology”, 2nd Edition, page 488 Never diagnose two diseases when one will account for all the findings. -A common teaching (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 221, in Chapter 13 entitled “Medico-Legal aspects of Exotic Diseases”) (N.B. This quote comes with an interesting rider. The author goes on to say,”When dealing with patients who have travelled in the less developed parts of the world this rule should be reversed; never be satisfied that you have made a complete diagnosis when you have only found one abnormality.”) CHILD ABUSE Child abuse is the difference between a hand on the bottom and a fist in the face. - Henry Kempe COMPUTERS AND FORENSICS I’ll never write to my mistress using the wife’s PC again! - A Security Manager in a large company who witnessed computer forensic techniques in action (Quoted in “Computer Evidence: A Forensic Investigations Handbook” by Edward Wilding, page 183, on the last page of chapter 6 entitled “The Forensic Examination of PCs”) CRIMINAL INTERROGATION And He said,“Who told thee that thou wast naked? Hast thou eaten of the tree, whereof I commanded thee that thou shouldest not eat?” - Genesis 3:11 (Quoted by LeMoyne Snyder in his book “Homicide Investigation”, (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 87, in chapter 6 entitled “Scientific Criminal Interrogation”. This, according to the author, is the earliest example of Criminal Interrogation.) You are going to have to talk to people.. .. talk to people and make them feel like people.. .. you get a lot of results that way.. .. very smooth, very quiet. - E.W.Count, Cop Talk, Pocket Books, 1994 (Quoted in “Criminal Investigation - Basic Perspectives” by Paul B. Weston, Charles Lushbaugh and Kenneth M. Wells, eighth edition, 2000, Prentice Hall, page 134) CUTIS ANSERINA (See Drowning) DACTYLOGRAPHY Fingerprints can not lie, but liars can make fingerprints. - Paraphrase of a Old Proverb “Figures do not lie, but liars can do figures” (Reproduced in the “Journal of Forensic Sciences” Vol 44, No. 5, September 1999, on page 963, at the top of the Paper “A chronological Review of Fingerprint Forgery” by B. Geller et al.) Jekyll’s finger patterns remain the same when he transforms himself into Hyde! - Henry Faulds (1843-1930), one of the founders of the science of dactylography, commenting on the famous story “The Strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde” by Robert Louis Stevenson, stressing that despite a complete change in appearance, the person could still be caught by the science of dactylography. (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 3) Every human being carries with him from his cradle to his grave certain physical marks which do not change their character, and by which he can always be identified - and that without shade of doubt or question. These marks are his signature, his physiological autograph, so to speak, and this autograph can not be counterfeited, nor can he disguise it or hide it away, nor can it become illegible by the wear and mutations of time. This signature is not his face - age can change that beyond recognition; it is not his hair, for that can fall out; it is not his height, for duplicates of that exist; it is not his form, for duplicates of that exist also, whereas this signature is this man's very own - there is no duplicate of it among the swarming populations of the globe. This autograph consists of the delicate lines or corrugations with which Nature marks the insides of the hands and the soles of the feet. - Samuel Clemens, writing as Mark Twain, in The Tragedy of Pudd’nhead Wilson, 1894 (Quoted by Colin Beavan, at the beginning of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 A fingerprint expert can tell apart the marks of two digits more easily than he can differentiate two people’s faces. - Colin Beavan, on page 11 of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 A person’s fingerprint set is like a biological seal which, one impressed, can never be denied. - Colin Beavan, on page 11 of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 Fingerprints are like pages from the Recording Angel’s book of deeds. - Colin Beavan, on page 14 of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 The glands make each finger like a self-inking rubber stamp, leaving calling cards on every surface it touches. - Colin Beavan, on page 14 of his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001 But by far the most beautiful and characteristic of all superficial marks are the small furrows, with the intervening ridges and their pores that are disposed in a singularly complex yet regular order on the under surfaces of the hands and feet. - Francis Galton in his lecture “Personal Description and Identification” at the weekly evening meeting of the Royal Institution on May 25, 1888. Quoted by Colin Beavan, in his book “Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science”, Hyperion, New York, 2001, page 105 No scientific basis exists for requiring that a pre-determined minimum number of friction ridge features must be present in two impressions in order to establish a positive identification. - The “Ne’urim Declaration” 1995 (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 259) I at first had little faith in this expert evidence, but after the experiment conducted by Lieutenant Faurot in the court-room, in the presence of the Court and jury….. when he was able to designate the person who made the imprint on the glass, I became satisfied that there is something to this science. - Judge Otto A. Rosalsky, sentencing hearing, “People of the State of New York v. Carlo Crispi, 1911 (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 168) DIATOMS There is hardly a medicolegal journal that has not taken part in the “war of diatoms” in one way or another. - Spitz and Fisher in their book “Medicolegal Investigation of Death” 2nd Edition, page 360 The forensic pathology community has been, historically, polarized in its general acceptance of the diatom test as a definitive diagnostic test for drowning. - Michael S. Pollanen in his excellent book “Forensic Diatomology and drowning”, Elsevier, 1998 at page 6 DISPUTED PATERNITY A trial of bastardy is a trial of the blood. - Y.B., 12 Edw. 2, 388 (ed. 1679 from Sergeant Maynard’s MS) (From “Legal Medicine Annual, 1976, page 239, appearing at the top of the article “Paternity Actions - A matter of opinion or a trial of blood?” by Michael J. Beautyman) DISSECTION AND OBSERVATION Those who have dissected or inspected many bodies have at least learnt to doubt; while others who are ignorant of anatomy and do not take the trouble to attend it are in no doubt at all. - Giovanni Battista Morgagni (1682-1771); Italian Anatomist and Pathologist The corpse is a silent witness who never lies. - Anonymous Pay attention to the little things, and the big things will take care of themselves. - S. Venston Oh! Look, the dead teach the living! - Winternitz Taceant colloquia. Effugiat risus. Hic locus est ubi mors gaudet succurrere vitae. (Let conversation cease. Let laughter flee. This is the place where death delights to help the living) - Latin Proverb (Quoted in Bernard Knight’s “Forensic Pathology” at the Title Page. This quote is also supposed to have been inscribed on the lobby wall of Milton Helpern’s new office building {Milton Helpern was the third Chief Medical Examiner of the City of New York}) Mortui vivos docent - The dead teach the living. - Anonymous (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 191) Only the living have problems with the dead. Death is a mystery only to the living, and the living look to death for help - (From the frontpage of a forensic medicine practical notebook prescribed for undergraduate students at the Department of Forensic Medicine, Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur, India) Death comes to the aid of life. - An inscription in a Paris dissecting room I see no more than you, but I have trained myself to notice what I see. - Sherlock Holmes, "The Adventure of the Blanched Soldier" (Quoted in "Forensic Investigation of Explosives" Ed. Alexander Beveridge. Page 101 What the mind knows, the eyes will detect - (From the frontpage of a forensic medicine practical notebook prescribed for undergraduate students at the Department of Froensic Medicine, Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur, India) Dead body is extremely eloquent and honestly informative, if one exercises patience in listening to it. - Anonymous No autopsy should be taken as trivial; even those appearing most routine may throw up unexpected surprises. - Anil Aggrawal DNA TECHNOLOGY We wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA)…. - James D. Watson and Francis H.C. Crick in a scientific article published in “Nature” on April 23, 1953 (N.B. This quote is given in the book “DNA Technology - The Awesome skill” by I. Edward Alcamo, at the top of the Preface section. The author goes on to say that this article - with this opening sentence - stimulated a revolution in science and medicine. 31 years later - in 1984 - (Sir) Alec Jeffreys would develop the first DNA profiling test.) DNA technology could be the greatest single advance in the search for truth, conviction of the guilty, and aquittal of the innocent since the advent of cross-examination. - Judge Joseph Harris (1988) in People vs Wesley, 140 Misc. 2d 306, 533 N.Y.S. 2d 643 (Co. Ct. 1988) (Quoted in “DNA Fingerprinting- An introduction” by Lorne T. Kirby page xv: Stockton Press, 1990) DNA technology is the most awesome skill acquired since the splitting of the atom. - Editorial in a major news magazine (Reproduced on the back jacket of the book “DNA Technology - The Awesome skill” by I. Edward Alcamo) We have the potential within our grasp of a technology that in routine investigations will identify suspects as reliably as fingerprints. - Jeremy Travis, Director, National Institute of Justice (quoted in “Blood Trail - True crime mysteries solved by DNA Detectives” by Judge Gerald Sheindlin and Catherine Whitney on page 117) If we had called this “idiosyncratic Southern blot profiling,” nobody would have taken a blind bit of notice. Call it “DNA fingerprinting,” and the penny dropped. - Alect Jeffreys, 1996 (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 287) Our genetic differences are at the heart of one of the most fascinating paradoxes of the human condition: that we are all different, yet we are all the same. - Geneticist Mary-Claire King, 1993 (Quoted in “Suspect Identities - A History of Fingerprinting and Criminal Identification” by Simon A. Cole, Harvard University press, 2001, Page 303) DROWNING Odysseus bent his knees and sturdy arms, exhausted by his struggle with the sea. All his flesh was swollen and streams of brine gushed from his mouth and nostrils. Winded and speechless he lay there too weak to stir, overwhelmed by his terrible fatigue. - The Odyessey, Calypso (Book V), Homer (Quoted in the Preface in “Forensic Diatomology and drowning” by Michael S. Pollanen) Lord, Lord! methought what pain it was to drown, What dreadful noise of water in mine ears! What sights of ugly death within mine eyes. - Shakespeare, Richard III (1 iv), (Quoted in “Medicine, Science and the Law” (1980), Vol 20, No. 4, page 254; and also in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 214) If the man go to the water and drown himself, it is, will he, nill he, he goes. - Hamlet, Act V, Scene I (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 70, in Chapter 4 entitled “Respiration”. This quote appears at the top of a sub-chapter entitled “Immersion in fluids”) The ability to swim is not an important correlate of drowning since most victims of drowning are able to swim. - Michael S. Pollanen in his book “Forensic Diatomology and drowning”, Elsevier, 1998 at page 8 Cutis anserina or gooseflesh (is) due to postmortem rigidity of short muscle fibers in the skin. - Caption to figure II-2, on page 15 in “Medicolegal Investigation of Death”, by W.U. Spitz and Russell S. Fisher, 2nd Edition, 1980, Charles C. Thomas, Springfiled, Illinois, USA Cutis anserina - or ‘goose flesh’ - is a common finding in immersed bodies.. ..It is often stated that rigor mortis can produce this goose-flesh appearance, but this is doubtful, as rigor does not shorten muscles appreciably. - Bernard Knight in his “Forensic Pathology” 2nd Edition 1996, page 391 (N.B. Last two quotes are antethetical in nature - and both are from contemporary books - meaning thereby that this controversy is far from over) DYADIC DEATHS “I kissed thee ere I killed thee. No way but this, Killing myself to die upon a kiss.” (He falls over her and dies) - Othello exclaiming after killing Desdemona and stabbing himself. Othello, Act 5, Scene 2, William Shakespeare (Quoted in “Combined Homicide-Suicide in Galveston County” by Alan R. Felthouse et.al. J. Forens. Sci. 2001, 46(3) 586-592”. This quote appears on page 586) EMBOLISM BULLET Missiles often attain more curious places by accident than they could by design. - Sir John Bland-Sutton in his classic paper “A lecture on missiles as emboli”. Lancet, i:773, 1919 (This interesting quote is reproduced in the paper“Rich N.M. et. al. Missile Emboli. The Journal of Trauma, 1978, Vol 18. No. 4, on page 237) The occurrence of free projectiles in the bloodstream, although doubtless very rare, has already become something more than a surgical curiosity, and its possibility may well be borne in mind by those who observe anomalous symptoms after gunshot wounds, especially when the projectile is not found. - Editorial: Migration of projectiles in the blood stream. Lancet, ii: 395, 1917 (This interesting quote is reproduced in the paper “Rich N.M. et. al. Missile Emboli. The Journal of Trauma, 1978, Vol 18. No. 4, on page 237) Understandably, the literature on bullet embolism consists of a number of single case reports. - Lam, C.R. and McIntyre, R. Air pistol injury of pulmonary artery and aorta: Report of a case with peripheral embolization and pellet and residual aorticopulmonary fistula. J. Thorac. Cardiovascular Surg., 59: 729, 1970 (This interesting quote is reproduced in the paper “Rich N.M. et. al. Missile Emboli. The Journal of Trauma, 1978, Vol 18. No. 4, on page 236) An aura of mystery and intrigue often surrounds these unusual lesions. - Norman M. Rich, in his paper “Rich N.M. et. al. Missile Emboli. The Journal of Trauma, 1978, Vol 18. No. 4, on page 236” PULMONARY Pulmonary embolism is the most underdiagnosed cause of death, where no autopsy is performed. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 334) EXHUMATION Those who arrange exhumations, and doubtless sleep through them, have always assumed that if timed at the crack of dawn an exhumation will be quiet, private affair. - Professor Keith Simpson, in his autobiography “Forty Years of Murder”, Grafton Books 1978, at page 234) EXPERT TESTIMONY The role of the expert witness is not to provide the evidence which supports the case for the Crown nor for the defence, unless that opinion is objectively reached and has scientific vailidity. - Practice Guidelines of the Police Advisory Board in Forensic Pathology of the British Home Office (Quoted in Bernard Knight's Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, Preface) A good medical expert must serve but one client, and that client should be truth. - Erle Stanley Gardner If the law has made you a witness, remain a man of science; you have no victim to avenge or guilty or innocent person to ruin or save. You must bear testimony within the limits of science. - Dr. P.C.H. Brouardel( Late 19th century French Medico-Legist)(Reproduced in “Forensic Radiology” by B.G. Brogdon, at page 364. Also quoted in “The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology”, Vol 20, Number 1, March 1999 at page 17, where it is attributed to Paul H. Broussard, Chair of Forensic Medicine, Sorbonne, 1897) The conscience is a thousand witnesses. - Richard Taverner Let no man swear on oath falsely, even in a trifling matter, for he who swears on oath falsely, is lost in this world and after death. - Manu (Ancient Hindu Law giver) You can lead a jury to the truth, but you can’t make them believe it. - Herbert Leon Macdonell (Quoted at the opening page in his book “The Evidence never lies”) An expert, as the word imports, is one having had experience. No clearly defined rule is to be found in the books what constitutes an expert. Much depends upon the nature of the question in regard to which an opinion is asked. - Oil Co. v. Gilson, 63 Pa. St. 146, 150 (1869) (Quoted in “Scientific and Legal Applications of Bloodstain Pattern Interpretation” Ed. Stuart H. James, page 131) "..the thing from which the deduction is made must be sufficiently established to have gained general acceptance in the particular field in which it belongs" - (Frye v. United States (1923), often known as "The Frye Standard". In this case, the scientific evidence being presented was the theory underlying lie-detector testing. It ultimately was not admitted and remains inadmissible to this day in law courts) "For gauging the scientific validity of evidence, it should be seen whether the technique in question can be or has been tested; whether the technique has been subjected to peer review and publication; its known or potential error rate; the existence of standards controlling its operation and whether the methodology in question has attracted widespread acceptance within the relevant scientific community." - US Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrell Dow Pharmaceuticals, Inc., 509 U.S. 579, 113 S.C.T. 2786 (1993); popularly referred to as the “Daubert Standard” There is nothing worse than a pompous expert. - Judge Haskell M. Pitluck (Reproduced in “Forensic Radiology” by B.G. Brogdon, at page 372) Expert witnesses should refrain from conducting themselves as though their service is a contest between themselves and some other party. - Reproduced from the document entitled “Recommended Practices for Design Professionals Engaged as Experts in the Resolution of Construction Industry Disputes” prepared by The Association of Soil and Foundation Engineers (ASFE) (quoted on page 353 in the book “Forensic Engineering” by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) The witness must never be considered an advocate, and should always “call the shots as they are”. - Joseph S. Ward, P.E. (quoted on page 336 in Chapter 12 written by him on “The Engineer as Expert Witness” in the book “Forensic Engineering” by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) For every expert there is an equal and opposite expert. - Contributed by Mike Duxbury Direct questioning in the initial stages of a trial is like a walk in the park when compared with the antagonistic manner evident in cross examination. - Tom Bevel and Ross M. Gardner in “Bloodstain pattern analysis” CRC Press, 1997, page 271 What the doctor puts into his report at the time of examination must be of sufficient resilience to survive intense cross-examination in the court room many months later. - Bernard Knight in “The Estimation of the Time Since Death in the Early Postmortem Period”, Edward Arnold, 1995, page 2 FALL FROM HEIGHTS Falls from heights represent the third most common cause of accidental death in the United States. - National Safety Council. Accidental Facts, 1985 Chicago. National Safety Council, 1985 (Quoted in the paper "The Investigation of Fatal Falls and Jumps from Heights in Maryland (1987-1992)" by Ling Li and John E. Smialek. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 15(4):295-299, 1994) FOETUS, AGE OF Morphological measurements are by no means infallible indicators of chronological age. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 444) The time of appearance of ossification centers (in a foetus) is no longer as uniform as once thought. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 444) FORENSIC ANTHROPOLOGY That's how I feel about the skeletons in my laboratory. These have tales to tell us, even though they are dead. It is up to me, the forensic anthropologist, to catch their mute cries and whispers, and to interpret them for the living, as long as I am able. - William R. Maples (1937-1997), the famous Forensic Anthropologist, in his book "Dead Men do tell tales" at page 280 (published by Doubleday, New York, 1994) For me, every day is Halloween. - William R. Maples in his book "Dead Men do tell tales" at page 2 FORENSIC ART AND ILLUSTRATION It has been said that pen is mightier than the sword.. .. if used correctly, so is the pencil.. . - Karen T. Taylor in her book "Forensic Art and Illustration", CRC Press 2001, at page 561 FORENSIC BALLISTICS A cartridge case at the scene of offence could prove as incriminating as if the murderer had left his visiting card! - Sir Sydney Smith Second only to motor vehicles as instruments of death, firearms will kill more than 32,000 Americans this year. - (National Research Council 1985: Reproduced in "Gunshot Wounds - Pathophysiology and Management" by Kenneth G. Swan & Roy C. Swan. 2nd Edition, 1989, Yearbook Medical Publishers Inc. Chicago, at page ix) Gunshot wounds are now becoming almost a distinct branch of surgery - (J.A. Hunter in "Treatise on the Blood, inflammation and Gunshot wounds: London, G. Nicol, 1794: Reproduced in "Gunshot Wounds - Pathophysiology and Management" by Kenneth G. Swan & Roy C. Swan. 2nd Edition, 1989, Yearbook Medical Publishers Inc. Chicago, at page 1) We are aware of no report of a penetrating wound of the abdomen, during pregnancy, not involving the uterus - (Dyer I, Barclay D: Accidental Trauma complicating pregnancy and delivery. Am. J. Obstet. Gynec. 1962; 83: 907) Only a man who has a pistol needs it. - An old saying My wife yes; My dog maybe; My gun never! - Bumper Sticker (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 1) There is nothing more exhilarating than to be shot at without result. - Winston Churchill (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 65) God created men equal. Sam Colt made 'em equal. - Anonymous (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 123) The U.S. Exports Coca Cola; Japan exports Sony; Russia exports Kalashnikovs. - Anonymous (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 167) Is there life after death? Trespass and find out. - Bumper Sticker (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 253) This property is protected by Smith & Wesson. - Bumper Sticker (Quoted in "Gunshot Wounds", 2nd Edition, by Vincent J. M. Di Maio, on page 253) It is always hazardous to conclude that a person could not have done some rational act after receiving gunshot wounds in vital organs. - LeMoyne Snyder in his book "Homicide Investigation", (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 139, in chapter 7 entitled "Homicide due to Gunshot Wounds" You will acquire a deep understanding of that ancient Christian moral principle, as applied to aimed fire,"It is better to give than to receive" - George Prosser, Black Politics, 1968 (quoted at the beginning of the book "Armed and Dangerous - A writer's guide to weapons" by Michael Newton, Writer's Digest Books, Ohio, 1990) There is nothing wrong with shooting, as long as the right people get shot. - "Dirty Harry" Callahan (quoted at the beginning of the book "Armed and Dangerous - A writer's guide to weapons" by Michael Newton, Writer's Digest Books, Ohio, 1990) Whatever happens, we have got, The Maxim gun and they have not. - A popular jingle quite popular with the imperialists in the late 19th and early 20th Century. (Quoted by Isaac Asimov in "Asimov's New Guide to Science", Penguin Books 1987, page 495) (N.B. In the 1860s the American Inventor Richard Gatling produced the first machine gun. This was improved upon in the 1880s by another American inventor Hiram Stevens Maxim in 1880s. These guns were respectively called the Gatling gun and the Maxim gun. The Gatling gun also gave rise to the slang gat for gun. These guns gave tremendous advantage to the Imperialists over Africans and Asians. The word "they" in the jingle refers to these Africans and Asians.) FORENSIC ENTOMOLOGY 'Who saw him die?' 'I', said the fly 'With my little eye, I saw him die.' - Anon., 'Who killed Cock Robin' (quoted by Zakaria Erzinçlioglu in his book "Maggots, Murder and Men - Memories and Reflections of a Forensic Entomologist" Harley Books, England 2000, on page 13) In the midst of all this decay, death calls in reinforcements. - Heather Pringle in her book "The Mummy Congress - Science, Obsession, and the Everlasting Dead", Theia, New York, 2001, page 39 FORENSIC MYTHOLOGY Descriptions of an abnormal fluidity of blood seen at autopsy in asphyxial deaths are part of forensic mythology and can be dismissed with little discussion. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, 1996, page 350) Persistent fluidity of the blood likely relates to inhibition of the coagulation process due to some unknown mechanism. - Michael S. Pollanen in his book "Forensic Diatomology and drowning", Elsevier, 1998 at page 26 (N.B. Quotes 1 and 2 are antethetical in nature - and both are from contemporary books - meaning thereby that this controversy is far from over. For other similar forensic controversies, see quotes on "Petechial haemorrhages" and "Hydrostatic Test") Descriptions and photographs of air segments in the cerebral veins are part of the mythology of forensic pathology, handed on uncritically from one book and one author to another. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 342 and 433) (N.B. Knight tells us through this pithy quote that air-embolism can not be, and should not, be diagnosed by seeing air bubbles in cortical veins, because there is simply no way, air bubbles could travel upstream!) FORENSIC ODONTOSTOMATOLOGY The jaws that bite, the claws that catch! - Through the Looking Glass (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 137, in Chapter 7 entitled "Odontology: its Forensic Applications") Dormouse to the expanding Alice : "I wish you wouldn't squeeze so" said the Dormouse who was sitting next to her. "I can hardly breathe." "I can't help it" said Alice very meekly, "I'm growing." "You've no right to grow here" said the Dormouse. "Don't talk nonsense," said Alice more boldly: "you know you're growing too."Yes, but I grow at a reasonable pace," said the Dormouse. "Not in that ridiculous fashion." - Cited in Lovat LS. The prosecution view of dental evidence. J Forensic Sci Soc. 1974 Jul;14(3):253-8. This quote – my favorite – is very cleverly cited by Lovat to show how sometimes science can grow at a much faster rate that associated law. In this very pertinent allegory, while Alice refers to the fast growing science of forensic odontostomatology, the Dormouse refers to “not so fast growing” law, which may have difficulties accepting dental evidence. FORENSIC OSTEOLOGY The skin and bones tell a story which the child is either too young or too frightened to tell. - Johnson, Cameron and Camps (Quoted in Bernard Knight's Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 458) It is difficult for me to evaluate how a single skull is classified as white, or Negro, or Mongoloid. - W.M.Krogman, in his "The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine" (1962), at page 195 As those who study them have come to learn, bones make good witnesses - although they speak softly, they never lie and they never forget. - Dr. Clyde Collins Snow, forensic anthropologist (Quoted in "The Bone Detectives" by Donna M. Jackson at the front page) FORENSIC PATHOLOGY AND FORENSIC PATHOLOGISTS Professor John Glaister II (1892-1971) He is the man who furnishes Perry Mason with so many authentic facts. - Erle Stanley Gardner on Professor John Glaister II (1892-1971), Professor of Forensic Medicine at Glasgow University, Scotland (Quoted in "The Bedside Book of Murder" by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 171) Edward O. Heinrich (1881-1953) Just the mention of his name was enough to send shudders through opposing counsel. -Colin Evans on Edward O. Heinrich (1881-1953) in his book "The Casebook of Forensic Detection" John Wiley & Sons 1996, page 301 (N.B. Edward Oscar Heinrich was one of the most remarkable figures in the history of US Jurisprudence. Epithets commonly ascribed to him are "The American Sherlock Holmes" and "The Edison of Crime Detection") Henry C. Lee (1938-) How the hell did he know? - A defendant heard to whisper, after Lee had methodically walked the court through each step the killer took during the murders. (N.B. Lee used blood spatter and other other evidence to do this. This anecdote appears in "Cracking Cases" by Henry C. Lee with Thomas W. O'Neil, Prometheus books, 2002, page 9) Thomas T. Noguchi (1927- ) I love to enter the crime scene from the kitchen. - This is what Noguchi said, when interviewed in November 1986 by Douglas Stein. For full story please visit http://www.omnimag.com/index.html (Readers may want to know why. He follows up the above statement with this: People's minute-to-minute movements are registered here. I routinely open the refrigerator to get people's life-styles: the type of food they like, where they buy, how much they pay, how they wrap. In one homicide I investigated, the homeowner returned early, surprising the burglar, so the burglary ended in murder. But the burglar was hungry, so he had a bite to eat before leaving. We found distinct teeth marks in the cheese!") Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury (1877-1947) ~ His Adulation He stood for forensic pathology as Hobbs stood for cricket or Dempsey for boxing or Capablanca for chess. - Edgar Lustgarten on Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury (1877-1947), probably the greatest Forensic Pathologist, the English world has seen (Quoted in "The Bedside Book of Murder" by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 164) He could achieve single-handed all the legal consequences of homicide - arrest, prosecution, conviction and final post-mortem - requiring only the brief assistance of the hangman. - Dr. Richard Gordon on Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury (1877-1947) (Quoted in "The Bedside Book of Murder" by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 164) A simple newspaper report of Sir Bernard's attendance at a mortuary or churchyard is enough to condemn an accused man to death, even before committal proceedings have begun. - Dr. Patrick Brontë, Spilsbury's bitter professional rival (this quote appears on page 25 in the article "Is Sir Bernard Spilsbury Dead?" in "Crime Investigation: Art or Science?", edited by Alistair R. Brownlie. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1984) ~ His Criticism When did you last examine a live patient Sir Bernard? - A young chirrupy young barrister to Sir Bernard Henry Spilsbury in the court room (Quoted in "The Bedside Book of Murder" by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 164) Spilsbury's statements in the witness box were often based upon insufficient material, and a lack of clinical experience. - Professor Michael A. Green on page 24 in the article "Is Sir Bernard Spilsbury Dead?" in "Crime Investigation: Art or Science?", edited by Alistair R. Brownlie. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1984 When Sir Bernard speaks as a pathologist, I respect his opinion. When he gives a view on an obstetric matter, I hold him in contempt. - Alec Boune, the distinguished gynaecologist called by the defence in a case in which Spilsbury appeared from the other side (this quote appears on page 24 in the article "Is Sir Bernard Spilsbury Dead?" in "Crime Investigation: Art or Science?", edited by Alistair R. Brownlie. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1984) ~ His Conceit I have never claimed to be God - but merely his locum on his weekends off. - Bernard Spilsbury (this quote appears on page 25 in the article "Is Sir Bernard Spilsbury Dead?" in "Crime Investigation: Art or Science?", edited by Alistair R. Brownlie. Scottish Academic Press, Edinburgh 1984) Rudolph Virchow (1821-1902) Rudolph Ludwig Karl Virchow, where are you now that we need you? - Leon Eisenberg, 1984 (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 251) General The commonest causes of death amongst forensic pathologists are alcohol related! - Contributed by Dr. Gyan Fernando So why the dead body, the often smelly morgue, exhumation, lust and violence, the inconvenience of calls to derelict premises, dells in Epping Forest, ponds, prostitutes' bedrooms at odd hours; of sudden challenge, hard duels with lawyers, pompous old judges and obtuse juries? Why? - Professor Keith Simpson, asking himself the question "Why he chose Forensic Pathology despite being the best student in his medical career" (This interesting quote appears in his autobiography "Forty Years of Murder", Grafton Books 1978, at page 9) (N.B. Professor Keith Simpson follows it up with this answer: Well, few doctors can enjoy a more exciting life, such a challenge to be constantly on the qui vive, or should it be the qui meure?) As Stethoscope and BP Instruments are status symbols of a physician and Surgeon, so are Lens and Measuring tape to an Autopsy Surgeon. - Professor Heeresh Chandra (Quoted in his site) An operation during life is attended by pain and is for the benefit of the individuals. An operation after death is free from pain and is for the benefit of humanity. - Braouardel & Jasolin (Quoted by Professor Heeresh Chandra in his site) FORENSIC PHOTOGRAPHY A picture tells a thousand words. - An old adage (quoted in Chapter 9 of the book "Craniofacial Identification in Forensic Medicine". The chapter is on "Crime Scene Photography") A picture is worth a thousand words. However, few investigators may realize that 'a picture may also contain a thousand measurements'. - John H. Garstang, in chapter 6 entitled "Aircraft Explosive Sabotage Investigation" page 153, in the book "Forensic Investigation of Explosions" edited by Alexander Beveridge, Taylaor & Francis, 1998 (N.B. There is a veiled reference here to photogrammetry, a technique which is increasingly being used in forensic investigations now. Photogrammetry is the art, science and technology of obtaining reliable information about physical objects and the environment through processes of recording, measuring and interpreting photographic images and patterns of electromagnetic radiant energy and other phenomena.) A good photograph is tantamount to stopping the clock. - unknown (quoted on page 35 in Chapter 3 (fire investigation) of the book "Forensic Engineering" by Kenneth L. Carper (CRC Press 1998)) FORENSIC PSYCHIATRY ".. . the Tories have compelled me to do this. They follow and persecute me wherever I go and have entirely destroyed my peace of mind.. .," - Daniel M'Naughten 1843 (quoted in "Forensic pharmacology - Medicines, Mayhem, and Malpractice" by R.E. Ferner, Oxford University Press, 1996, page 66) (N.B. Daniel M'Naughten was a mentally disturbed person - a Scotsman from Glasgow. He had a delusion of persecution, that Tories were trying to kill him. In his time Sir Robert Peel was the Prime Minister of Britain - from December 1834 till March 1835, and then again from September 1841 till July 1846. On 20th January 1843, Daniel was seen loitering in Whitehall Gardens, and followed Mr. Edward Drummond, the private secretary of Sir Robert Peel, from Sir Robert Peel's house till a street in Charing Cross, where he shot him. He believed that Mr. Edward Drummond was the Prime Minister himself. Mr. Drummond lingered, in great pain, until January 25th, when he died. M'Naughten was brought to trial on 3rd March, 1843 at the Old Bailey before Chief Justice Tindal, and two other Queen's bench judges, Williams and Coleridge. It was at this historic trial that the famous "insanity defense" emerged, known to this day as the "M'Naughten rule".) -- We do not believe that anyone could be insane who wanted to murder a Conservative Prime Minister. - A young Queen Victoria (1840-1901) referring to Daniel M'Naughten (see above for details). The quote appears in "If A Man Be Mad - A scientist testifies against the insanity defense" by David T. Lykken. Lykken, who is a professor of psychiatry and psychology at the University of Minnesota, says that this was an immortal quip by Queen Victoria, not otherwise known for her wit. When you speak to God it's called praying; but when God speaks to you it's called schizophrenia. - A West German observer comment on the psychiatric evidence given during the Yorkshire Ripper's Trial (quoted in "Science Against Crime", Published by Marshall Cavendish, 1982, on page 175) (N. B. A brief note may be appropriate here. The Yorkshire Ripper or Peter Sutcliffe killed 13 women in Leeds and adjoining areas between October 1975 and November 1980. At his trial, which began May 1981, he said he had heard the voice of God instructing him to kill.) -- Such terms as 'mental disease and mental defect' give expert pyshiatric witnesses a blank check. - Justice Kaufman criticizing the Durham test (N. B. A brief note might well be in order here. In Durham vs. United States, 1954, Justice David L. Bazelon abandoned the M'Naghten criteria, and used a new criterion known as the Durham test, which was perpetually in criticism. It was finally overturned by Justice Bazelon himself in 1972 in United States vs. Brawner. The Durham rule stated that "an accused is not criminally responsible if his unlawful act was the product of mental disease or defect".) -- The psychiatrists spun sticky webs of pseudoscientific jargon, and in those webs the concept of justice, like a moth, fluttered feebly and was trapped. - A prominent columinst, after the 1982 verdict of a District of Columbia jury, which found John W. Hinckley, Jr., the would-be assassin of President Ronald Reagan, not guilty by reason of insanity (quoted in Kaplan and Sadock's Synopsis of Psychiatry - Behavioral Sciences/Clinical Psychiatry, eighth edition 1998, by Harold I. Kaplan, M.D. and Benjamin J. Sadock, M.D. Page 1316) Had M'Naghten been tried under M'Naghten's rules in any American court, there would have been a battle of the "experts" and M'Naghten would surely have been found legally sane and would have been found guilty as charged. - Matthew Brody, M.D., Acting Chief, Psychiatry, Brooklyn Jewish Hospital and Medical Center, testifying in 1965, before a joint legislative commission of the penal law and criminal code. This commission recommended some alteration of the M'Naghten Rule. This quote is reproduced by Matthew Brody himself in his paper entitled "Trial of Daniel M'Naghten" published in March 1982 issue of "New York State Journal of Medicine". This quote appears on page 381 A man might say that he picked a pocket from some uncontrollable impulse, and in that case the law would have an uncontrollable impulse to punish him for it. - Baron Alderson, the presiding judge deciding on the fate of Robert Pate, who went on trial in 1850 for the high misdemeanor of striking Queen Victoria with his walking stick. Pate's counsel had claimed irresistible impulse as a defence. The quote appears in "If A Man Be Mad - A scientist testifies against the insanity defense" by David T. Lykken. FORENSIC RADIOLOGY Now we see through a glass darkly. -I Corinthians 13 (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 149, in Chapter 8 entitled "Radiology and its forensic application") FORENSIC SCIENCE AND FORENSIC MEDICINE Forensic Science is the link between the criminal and the crime. - Ken Goddard, Wildlife Forensics, (quoted in Natur (German) Nov. 1990) Forensic Science can be defined as the application of the laws of nature to the laws of man. - Michael J. Camp, (quoted by P. ChandraSekharan in "Indian Journal of Forensic Sciences" Vol 5, April 1991, No. 2, p. 37) Forensic Science is used to predict not the future but the past. - Henry C. Lee (Reproduced in "Forensic Radiology" by B.G. Brogdon, at page 279) (N.B. The book goes on to say,"Nowhere in Forensic Radiology is Dr. Lee's provocative aphorism less applicable than in the field of abuse. Here lies the opportunity to go beyond the limits of the necropsy 'where death delights to help the living'.") Legal medicine has been described as the key to the past, the explanation to the present, and, in some measure, as a signpost to the future. - Professor J. Malcolm Cameron, in his Presidential address to the British Academy of Forensic Sciences, also published in "Medicine, Science and the Law" (1980), Vol 20, No. 1, in the paper entitled "The Medico-legal Expert - Past, Present and Future" page 3 There is only one path to the mastery of Forensic Medicine, and that is an extensive practical experience. - Harvey LittleJohn She's cold Her blood is settled and her joints are stiff, Life and these lips have long been separated, Death lies on her like an untimely frost, Upon the sweetest flower of all the field - William Shakespeare Most sudden deaths are of cardiac origin. - Fortunatus Fidelis (1598) It will never be possible to eliminate all chance of error or misjudgement, but the Forensic Science Service strives to do the greatest good for the greatest number, for the greatest part of time. - Professor Michael Green, University of Sheffield (quoted in "The Modern Sherlock Holmes- An Introduction to Forensic Science Today" by Judy Williams, at page 12) The science of Forensic Medicine turns the clock back. It relivens the dead. - R.D. Rikhari (Editor "Invention Intelligence". Sent on July 14, 2000. His original quote was "Your profession turns the clock back. It relivens the dead") Forensic medicine is like an illegitimate child of health and home departments. We belong to both, but none belong to us. We offer our services to both, we are answerable to both, but we receive nothing from either. I feel that it is high time that our paternity be ascertained and we be adopted by our rightful parentage. - Professor L. Fimate, President of the Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine (IAFM), in his inaugural speech on the occasion of XXII Annual Conference of The Indian Academy Of Forensic Medicine, Jaipur, India, 5 - 7 January 2001 Many people ask me why I chose Forensic Medicine as a career, and I tell them that it is because a forensic man gets the honor of being called when the top doctors have failed! - Anil Aggrawal, Professor of Forensic Medicine, Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi-110002, India There is no such thing as 'forensic science'; instead it is a collection of scientific techniques and principles that are begged and borrowed from 'real' sciences such as chemistry, biology, physics, medicine and mathematics. - A general saying by some experts (cited in the Introduction to "Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences" edited by Jay A. Siegel, Pekka J. Saukko and Geoffrey C. Knupfer. 2000 Academic Press.) The 'sciences' of fingerprints, firearms and toolmarks and questioned documents are the only real forensic sciences; all the rest of it is on loan from the classical hard sciences. - Another general saying (cited in the Introduction of "Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences" edited by Jay A. Siegel, Pekka J. Saukko and Geoffrey C. Knupfer. 2000 Academic Press.) It has always been a source of amazement to me, how a subject as inherently fascinating as Forensic Medicine, can be presented in a dull and uninteresting manner as is the case with some of the existing books on the subject. - Dr. V.V.Pillay, in the preface of the book "MKR Krishnan's Handbook of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology", Paras Publishing, 12th Edition, 2001 FORENSIC SCIENTISTS Francis Galton (Feb 16, 1822 - Jan 17, 1911) ~ General Francis Galton's arrival on Henry Fauld's stage was like the antihero's entrance in a tragically ending play. - Colin Beavan, in "Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science", Hyperion, New York, 2001, page 94 ~ His Criticism He was notorious for using his status against those with fewer advantages. - Colin Beavan, in "Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science", Hyperion, New York, 2001, page 94 Those who dared to oppose him learned that he was, by all accounts, that dangerous breed of dog who bites before even bothering to growl. - Colin Beavan, in "Fingerprints - The origins of crime detection and the murder case that launched forensic science", Hyperion, New York, 2001, page 94 GENERAL Satyameva Jayate (Truth alone triumphs) - An Old Sanskrit saying, very popular in India, often written on plaques in Judges’ rooms If you can't prove it, don't claim it. - Bernard Knight, (Quoted in Bernard Knight's “Forensic Pathology”, 2nd Edition, Preface) I keep six honest serving men (They taught me all I knew); Their names are What and Why and When And How and Where and Who - Rudyard Kipling (1865-1936) Indian born British writer, in “Just so stories” (Cited in “Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology” edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 216, in Chapter 13 entitled "Medico-Legal aspects of Exotic Diseases") (N.B. The author at the end of this chapter stresses on Population explosion and advises the doctors to think in terms of global medicine. On page 221, he modifies Kipling’s quote like this: ..She keeps ten million serving men, Who get no rest at all! She sends ‘em abroad on her own affairs, From the second she opens her eyes- One million Hows, two million Wheres, And seven million Whys!) Truth is incontrovertible Panic may resent it Ignorance may deride it Malice may distort it But here it is. - Winston Churchill In a sense, the victim shapes and moulds the criminal. - Hans von Hentig "Excellent," I cried. "Elementary", said he. - Arthur Conan Doyle (1859-1930): ("The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes" (1894) 'The Crooked Man'. The oft quoted "Elementary, my dear Watson" is not found in any book by Conan Doyle) Seldom say never- seldom say always! - Forensic Proverb (Quoted in Bernard Knight's “Forensic Pathology”, 2nd Edition, at the Title page) In God we trust......All others are suspects - (Contributed by Signal45@aol.com who picked this quote from a homicide investigators school in Southern Louisiana) In Forensic Medicine, eye the most, hand the next and tongue the least. - (From the frontpage of a forensic medicine practical notebook prescribed for undergraduate students at the Department of Froensic Medicine, Al-Ameen Medical College, Bijapur, India) Well now; there’s a remedy for everything except death. - Sancho Panza in Don Quixote by Miguel de Cervantes (1547-1615) (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 30) He that digeth a pit shall fall into it. - Ecclesiastes 8 (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 269) The problem isn’t with what we don’t know. The problem is with what we do know that isn’t so. - Will Rogers. (Quoted at the beginning of the article “Shaken Baby Syndrome and Death of Matthew Eappen” by John Plunkett, M.D., in The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology”, Vol 20, Number 1, March 1999 at page 17) You do the work in the daytime and cry at night! - Clyde Snow (1928- ), forensic anthropologist, on his philosophy of life I guess you can say law enforcement officials have come a long way since the days of Sherlock Holmes and his magnifying glass. - Northumberland County District Attorney Robert Sacavage, at the conclusion of the Robert Auker murder trial (Quoted in “Hard Evidence” By David Fisher at page 381) Dead Men tell tales! - The title of Juergen Thorwald’s book (Published by Thames and Hudson, London, 1965) Dead Men tell no tales! - LeMoyne Snyder in his book “Homicide Investigation”, (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 376, in chapter 20 entitled “Popular Fallacies in Homicide Investigation” (N.B. This interesting quote, although outwardly appearing as an antithesis to the quote preceding it, must be read in the proper context. Snyder follows up this interesting quote with the following qualifying remark: “How much they tell may be in direct proportion to the care, diligence and conscientious effort that the investigators and the laboratory technicians apply to the investigation. Sometimes the dead man actually becomes eloquent. As the science of homicide investigation advances, dead men will tell more and more.”) Dead Men do tell tales! - The title of William R. Maple’s (1937-1997), book (published by Doubleday, New York, 1994) (N.B. Quite appropriately, this quote sets the matter right once again, by reiterating the earlier quote! Thus the wheel seems to have turned one full circle.) Take nothing for granted because things are not always what they seem. - LeMoyne Snyder in his book “Homicide Investigation”, (Third Edition, May 1977) Published by Charles C. Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, USA, on page 141, in chapter 7 entitled “Homicide due to Gunshot Wounds” A medicolegist must avoid talking too much, talking too soon and talking to the wrong persons. - Anonymous Fools and Wise men are equally harmless. Dangerous are those who are half foolish and half wise, and only see half of everything.. - General saying (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 8, in Chapter 2 entitled “Thanatology”) A Corpus Delicti is not a corpse. - Title of chapter 6 (at page 177) in Herbert Leon Macdonell's book “The Evidence never lies", published by Dell Publishing, 1984 Life is like an autopsy -- one piece at a time. - Anonymous (I found the above interesting quote as an attachment from an E-mail I received from clemency@innocent.com ) One can not expect a quality investigation if the technical consultant is given inadequate time for preparation and analysis. - Genck 1987 (Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 185) The truth - the whole truth - and nothing but the truth. - General saying (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 1, in Chapter 1 entitled “General advances in Forensic Medicine”) HAIR The drug test is moving from the bathroom to the barber shop. - U.S. News and World Report (Quoted by Heather Pringle in her book “The Mummy Congress - Science, Obsession, and the Everlasting Dead”, Theia, New York, 2001, page 86) (N.B. A two-inch-long strand can tell almost five months of personal drug history, as almost all drugs of abuse find their way into hair. Urine test on the other hand can tell only a few days’ drug history. Hence it is much more useful to take samples from the barber’s shop (hair) than from bathroom (urine), especially for employers to screen applicants.) HANGING, JUDICIAL They hanged ‘em; I execute ‘em. - William Marwood (N.B. Marwood was the famous Lincolnshire executioner from 1875 till 1883. Before Marwood’s time, executioners simply allowed the victims to suspend from a rope till they asphyxiated slowly over a period of several minutes. For the first time in history Marwood introduced a long drop, breaking victim’s neck, killing him instantaneously, thus lessening his agony. (This quote appears in “The Book of Victorian Heroes” by Adam Hart-Davis and Paul Bader, Sutton Publishing 2001, at page 96) Question: “If pa killed ma, who’d kill pa?” Answer:”Marwood”. - a famous jingle about Marwood in his time. (From “The Book of Victorian Heroes” by Adam Hart-Davis and Paul Bader, Sutton Publishing2001, page 95) HYDROSTATIC TEST Hydrostatic test smatters of black magic and is a complete waste of time. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition 1996, page 442-3) Whatever its fallacies it was a welcome substitute for the torture which had preceded it in questions of alleged infanticide. - Professor J. Malcolm Cameron, in his Presidential address to the British Academy of Forensic Sciences, also published in "Medicine, Science and the Law" (1980), Vol 20, No. 1, in the paper entitled "The Medico-legal Expert - Past, Present and Future" page 5 IDENTIFICATION To write the history of identification is to write the history of criminology - Edmond Locard (1877-1966), French Criminologist INFANTICIDE Breathing is living; the onset of respiration is the beginning of life. - J. Barcroft The best way of seeking proof of respiration is to look at, to feel and to listen to the lungs. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 442-3) (For related quotes, see also "Hydrostatic Test") INJURIES Antistius, the physian examined the dead body of Julius Caesar after he was murdered, and opined that only one of the twenty three wounds present on his body was mortal, namely that which had penetrated his chest between the first and second ribs. - (The first ever autopsy recorded in history, 44 B.C.) Meanwhile, I will keep on treating the injuries, not the weapon. - D. Lindsey (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 86) Come, thick night,… that my keen knife see not the wound it makes. - Macbeth, Shakespeare (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 97) INQUEST At an inquest, regard nothing as unimportant. A difference of a hair will be the difference of a thousand li. - Hsi Yuan Lu ("Instructions to Coroners" published in China in A.D. 1248) (N.B. Li is a Chinese Linear measure equivalent to about one third of a mile.) As a hunter traces the lair of a wounded deer by the drops of blood, even so the king shall discover on which side the right lies by inferences from the facts. - Manu Dharma Shastra (Ancient Hindu Law book written by Manu) Having searched the dead body, we find not any blows, or wounds, or any other bodily hurt. We find that bodily weakness caused by long fasting and weariness, by going to and fro, with the extreme cold of the season were the causes of his death. - First record of an inquest from the Colony of New Plymouth, New England, 1635 We must have the courage to know the causes of death. - Ramsey Clark, 1972 (Quoted in "The Autopsy-Medical Practice and Public Policy" by Rolla B. Hill and Robert E. Anderson; Butterworths 1988, page 107) There is a principle which is a bar against all information, which is proof against all arguments and which cannot fail to keep a man in everlasting ignorance - that principle is contempt prior to investigation. - Herbert Spencer (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 192) There is no such thing as a “born investigator”. - (Quoted in “Computer Evidence: A Forensic Investigations Handbook” by Edward Wilding, page 33, on the first page of chapter 3 entitled “A guide to Investigative methods”) INVESTIGATION OF CRIME Just as life depends on the equal functioning of the tripod of life i.e., heart, lung and brain, so also a successful investigation of crime depends on equal functioning of forensic medicine, forensic science and police investigation. - Professor L. Fimate, President of the Indian Academy of Forensic Medicine (IAFM), in his inaugural speech on the occasion of XXII Annual Conference of The Indian Academy Of Forensic Medicine, Jaipur, India, 5 - 7 January 2001 "I think we have a murderer on board". - Wireless message sent by Captain Henry Kendal of SS Montrose, to London, informing Walter Dew, Chief Inspector of the CID, Scotland Yard, London, that Dr. Crippen, who was suspected of having murdered his wife Cora Crippen, could be on board.) (N.B. A short note on this interesting quote would be in order. Dr. Crippen was an American who lived in London, where he murdered his wife at their house at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden Town with an excessive dose of Hyoscine. He bought about 17 grains of hyoscine on 17 January 1910, and killed his wife in the early hours of 1 February. Shortly afterwards, along with his lover Ethel le Neve, he took the ship SS Montrose from Antwerp and tried to flee to Canada. However Captain Henry Kendal recognized him on board and sent the above message back to London. Dew boarded a faster ship and confronted the pair on the morning of 31 July 1910 (as the ship lay off the mouth of the St Lawrence river) with the words,” Good morning, Dr. Crippen” (which is yet another good quote!). Dr. Crippen was tried at the Old Bailey on 18 October, found guilty and hanged at Pentonville on 23 November 1910. This quote is important because Crippen was the first murderer to be caught using the newly discovered wireless technology. Marconi had received the Nobel Prize for wireless telegraphy only the previous year. The first UK demonstration of wireless telegraphy was in 1896, and when in 1996, wireless telegraphy completed 100 years, British Telecom celebrated the occasion by issuing six special BT phone cards. Number 3 of these cards celebrated Crippen’s arrest by showing Crippen’s photograph on the front, and the wireless message on the back. Surprisingly British Telecom got the date of this message wrong. According to the card, the message was sent in 1911, while actually it was 1910. In fact Crippen never lived to see the year 1911. Click below to see the front and back of this phone card.) Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. LAW AND FORENSICS No man is above the law and no man is below it. - Theodore Roosevelt MASS DISASTERS With the exception of the more dramatic murders, the activity which focuses most public attention on the work of forensic pathologists is the mass disaster. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 43) The (Mass Disaster) plans are clinically oriented, but often completely ignore provision for the dead. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 43) MICROSCOPY Microscopes of hextra power. - Pickwick Papers (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 178, in Chapter 10 entitled “Microbiology and Parasitology”) MURDER Thou shalt not kill. - Old Testament, Exodus 20:13 Clarissa: Oh dear, I never realized what a terrible lot of explaining one has to do in a murder! - Agatha Christie (Spider's Web, 1956) ) Murder is a serious business. - Francis Iles 1893-1970, in “Malice Aforethought (1931) Other sins only speak; murder shrieks out. - Anne Hocking, British mystery writer (Death Loves a Shining Mark, 1943) For murder though it has no tongue, Will speak with the most miraculous organ. - William Shakespeare (Hamlet) Up the close and down the stair, But and ben with Burke and Hare, Burke's the butcher, Hare's the thief, Knox the boy that buys the beef. - A song commemorating murders by William Burke and William Hare in 1820's, who allegedly killed as many as 32 persons, to supply their bodies for dissection to the anatomist Dr. Robert Knox of Edinburgh. This song is still sung on macabre occasions in England today (quoted in "Almanac of World Crime" by Jay Robert Nash at page 271) Lizzie Borden took an axe, And gave her mother forty whacks, When she saw what she had done, She gave her father forty-one. - A song sung about Lizzie Borden, who allegedly killed her parents (father and step mother) at Fall River, Massachusetts on 4 August 1892, but was acquitted by the jury in June 1893 (quoted in "Almanac of World Crime" by Jay Robert Nash at page 194) You have borne up under all, Lizzie Borden, With a mighty show of gall, Lizze Borden, But because your nerve is stout, Does not prove beyond a doubt, That you knocked the old folks out, Lizzie Borden. - Another song sung about Lizzie Borden, this one giving her benefit of doubt: composed by A.L. Bixby (quoted in "Almanac of World Crime" by Jay Robert Nash at page 194) You can’t chop your poppa up in Massachusetts, Not even if it’s planned as a surprise No you can’t chop your poppa up in Massachusetts You know how neighbours love to criticize. - Yet another song sung about Lizzie Borden:. Composed by Michael Brown in “Lizzie Borden” (1952) Sometimes Playmates get killed. - Paul Snider (1980) to his friend shortly before killing his wife Dorothy Stratten, who had been Playboy’s Playmate of August 1979 (quoted in “Murder - Whereabouts” by J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, page 82) NARCOTICS If you are smoking ganja, you first watch the curls of smoke. In other moment, you feel yourself crouched together in the bowl of your pipe smoked by yourself at the other end. - M. Baudelaire Cocaine isn't habit forming. I should know- I have been taking it for years. - Tallulah Bankhead (1903-1968), US stage and screen actress Thou hast the keys of Paradise, Oh, just, subtle and mighty Opium! - Thomas De Quincey (1785-1859): English essayist and critic "H" is for heaven: "H" is for hell: "H" is for heroin. In the life of the addict, these three meanings of "H" seem inextricably intertwined. - Isador Chein, 1964 (Reproduced in "Historical Medical Classics involving new drugs, by John C. Krantz, Jr. Ph.D. on page 121) That is the nectar, you call it a gum. Ah! The lean tree whence such gold oozings come. - R. Browning (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 204, in Chapter 12 entitled "Drugs of Dependence") NEGATIVE AUTOPSY A higher rate of negative conclusions will originate from older and more experienced pathologists than from juniors. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 47) (N.B. Knight follows up this “ paradoxical quote” with this interesting statement: The younger pathologist is often uneasy about failing to provide a cause of death, feeling that it reflects upon his ability, whereas the more grizzled doctor, enjoying the security of tenure and equality with - or even seniority over - his clinical and legal colleagues, is less inhibited in his admissions of ignorance when the cause of death remains obscure. I have a different opinion - and experience - though ( I am bald, not grizzled however). Frequently when I fail to find a cause of death, with my students standing over my head, I feel very embarrassed, and tend to offer a cause of death, knowing it to be wrong. On the contrary a younger pathologist - certainly in my hospital - is very comfortable - even happy - in facing an obscure death. Because he has the facility of rushing to his senior colleagues and asking for their opinion. An added pleasure for him might be the possible confusion causing to the senior in the process! Readers' opinions on this subject are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. PETECHIAL HEMORRHAGES La seule présence… de extravasations sanguines disséminées… suffit pour démontrer… que la suffication est bien, en réalité la cause de la morte. - Ambroise Tardieu, 1855 (The full citation of the paper in which he made this assertion is: Tardieu A. Ann Hyg Pub et de med Legale (series II) 1855;(6):371-82. This paper is quoted in the paper “Petechial Hemorrhages - A review of Pathogenesis” by Frederick A. Jaffe. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 15(3):203-207, 1994) Petechiae arise at the capillary level. - Frederick A. Jaffe, Forensic Pathology Branch, Toronto, Ontario, Canada (in his paper entitled “Petechial Hemorrhages - A review of Pathogenesis”. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 15(3):203-207, 1994. This quote appears on page 204, column 2, top line) A common error is to attribute the petechiae to the rupture of capillaries, whereas they actually emanate from small venules - capillary bleeding would be invisible to the naked eye. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, 1996, page 348) (N.B. Note the contradiction between quotes 2 and 3 - both from contemporary books and journals. This is another important forensic controversy that is far from over. For other similar forensic controversies, see quotes on "Forensic Mythology" and "Hydrostatic Test". Interestingly, Bernard Knight, writing under the pseudonym of Bernard Picton in his book "Murder, Suicide or Accident - The Forensic Pathologist at Work", (Robert Hale & Company, London, 1971), has this to say on page 102: "The lining of the smallest blood vessels - the capillaries - is very sensitive to both increased pressure and oxygen lack. When these become deranged, the capillaries become fragile and burst at many points, causing small haemorrhages into the tissues, called 'petechiae'." One would tend to believe that while Knight changed his view between 1971 and 1996, others stuck to the traditional view.) PHILOSOPHICAL Sometimes life is like an autopsy - gutted & emptied. An autopsy reveals the cause of death; whereas, being gutted & emptied can reveal a new beginning in life. - Found as an attachment to the E-mail received from e. catherine on Fri, 22 Sep 2000 PHYSICAL EVIDENCE Physical evidence can not be intimidated. It does not forget. It sits there and waits to be detected, preserved, evaluated, and explained. - Herbert Leon Macdonell (Quoted at the opening page in his book “The Evidence never lies”) Physical evidence does not get excited, like people do. - Herbert Leon Macdonell (Quoted at the opening page in his book “The Evidence never lies”) Wherever he steps, whatever he touches, whatever he leaves even unconsciously, will serve as silent witness against him. Not only his fingerprints or his footprints, but his hair, the fibers from his clothes, the glass he breaks, the tool marks he leaves, the paint he scratches, the blood or semen he deposits or collects - all of these and more bear mute witness against him. This is evidence that does not forget. It is not confused by the excitement of the moment. It is not absent because human witnesses are. It cannot perjure itself. It cannot be wholly absent. Only its interpretation can err. Only human failure to find it, study and understand it, can diminish its value. - Crime Investigation, second edition, Paul L. Kirk (deceased), edited by John I. Thornton (1974), p. 2. (Quoted also in “Footwear Impression Evidence” by William J. Bodziak, at page 1) In the course of a trial, defense and prosecuting attorneys may lie, witnesses may lie, the defendant may certainly lie. Even the judge may lie. Only the evidence never lies! - Herbert Leon Macdonell (Quoted at the opening page in his book “The Evidence never lies”) Absence of Evidence is not the same as Evidence of Absence. - Howard Frumkin, M.D. Emory University School of Public Health, Chairmain, Dept: of Environmental & Occupational Health (Quoted in Jornal of Forensic Sciences, March 2000 at page 510) POISON, DEFINITION OF Poison is any substance, which introduced into the system, either directly or by absorption, produces violent, morbid or fatal changes, or which destroys living tissue with which it comes in contact. - Watkins v. National Elec. Products Corp., C.C.A. Pa., 165, F. 2d 980, 982 Poison: Any substance which, when relatively small amounts are ingested, inhaled, or absorbed, or applied to, injected to, or developed within the body, has chemical action that may cause damage to structure or disturbance of function producing symptomology, illness or death. - Stedman’s Medical Dictionary, 26th Edition, Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore MD, 1995 Poison: Any substance which, when ingested, inhaled or absorbed, or when applied to, injected into, or developed within the body, in relatively small amounts, by its chemical action may cause damage to structure or disturbance of function. - The Sloane-Dorland Annotated Medical-Legal Dictionary, West Publishing Company, New York, NY, 1987 Poison is any substance in relatively small quantities that can cause death or illness in living organisms by chemical action. The qualification “by chemical action”, is necessary because it rules out such effects as those produced by a small quantity of lead entering the body at high velocity. - Scientific American (N. B. It may be interesting to note that the usual fatal dose of a lead salt such as lead acetate is considered to be about 20 g. A lead bullet weighing 20 g can also kill a person, but in that case, the death would not be by chemical action, and thus lead in the second case, would not be supposed to kill as a poison!) POISONS AND TOXINS All substances are poisons. There is none, which is not. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy. - Paracelsus (1495-1541), Swiss physician and Chemist (N. B. There are several versions of this quote, which differ. This is understandable as this quote has been translated in English from a different language. The real quote in the original language is given in “Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology, Vol. 1 (Principles), page xxvii, 2nd Edition, Edited by Robert I. Krieger, (Academic Press, 2001)”. The quote -in German- goes like this, “Alle Ding sind Gift und nichts ohn Gift; alein die Dosis macht das ein Ding kein Gift ist”. Krieger in his Foreword goes on to say, “With the exception of E=mc2, perhaps no other single statement has wielded such force in establishing the popular notoriety and the professional stature of an individual in the history of science as the words just quoted”. This in itself appears a very fine quote to me!). Other similar quotes attributed to him are- What is there that is not poison. All things are poison and nothing (is) without poison. Solely the dose determines that a thing is not a poison.) --- Even nectar is poison if taken in excess. - Hindu Proverb (Quoted in “Encyclopedia of Clinical Toxicology” by Irving S. Rossoff, 2002, “The Parthenon Publishing Group”, a CRC Press Company, page vi) Give me a decent bottle of poison and I’ll construct the perfect Crime. - Agatha Christie (Quoted in “Dame Agatha’s poisonous pharmacopoeia”. The Pharmaceutical Journal. Dec 23 & 30, 1978, Page 573) Alcohol, Hashish, Prussic acid, strychnine are all weak dilutions; the surest poison is time. - Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882): American poet, essayist, philosopher The gnat that sings his summer song Poison gets from slander's tongue, The poison of the snake and newt Is the seat of envy's foot. The poison of the honey bee Is the artist's jealousy. - Blake, (Auguries of Innocence) There is no such thing as a safe drug - only safe doses. - C. Pippenger There are no safe drugs, only safe ways of using them. - Voltaire (quoted in “Introduction to Toxicology” 2nd Edition by J. A. Timbrell, 1995, Taylor & Francis Ltd, at page 61) The dose is the difference between the victim and the patient. - M. Gerald Plants are the most overrated poisons of childhood. - N.C. Fraser in “ Accidental poisoning deaths in British children 1958-77”. Br Med J 1980; 280: 1595-1598 (In a survey of deaths due to accidental poisoning in British children, out of 598 registered deaths over 20 years, Fraser found that only three were attributable to the ingestion of plant poisons!) Having sniffed the dead man’s lips, I detected a slightly sour smell, and I came to the conclusion that he had poison forced upon him. - Sherlock Holmes, in Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “A Study in Scarlet” (Quoted in “Hard Evidence” By David Fisher at page 23) Poisons and medicines are oftentimes the same substance given with different intents. - Peter Mere Latham Passion (poison) often makes fools of clever men; sometimes even makes clever men of fools. - La Rochefoucauld I maintain that though you would often in the fifteenth century have heard the snobbish Roman say, in a would-be-off-hand tone, “I am dining with the Borgias tonight”, no Roman was ever able to say, “I dined last night with the Borgias.” - “And Even Now”, Max Beerbohm When you consider what a chance women have to poison their husbands, it’s a wonder there isn’t more of it done. - Kim Hubbard Most signs and symptoms associated with natural disease can be produced by some poison, and practically every sign and symptom observed in poisoning can be mimicked by those associated with natural diseases. - L. Adelson Poison is a chemical bomb. - John Harris Trestrail III, on page 30 of his book “Criminal Poisoning”, Humana Press, 2000 If you poison us, do we not die? - The Merchant of Venice. III.i.69 (quoted on the front page in “Curare -Its history and usage” by K. Bryn Thomas, Pitman Medical Publishing Co. Ltd. London, 1964. I found this book while leisurely scanning the S.M.S. Medical College library at Jaipur on 14 June 2001, when I had gone there as a post-graduate examiner) Poison is a silent weapon. - John Harris Trestrail III, on page 31 of his book “Criminal Poisoning”, Humana Press, 2000 Revolted by the odious crime of homicide, the chemist’s aim is to perfect the means of establishing proof of poisoning so that the heinous crime will be brought to light and proved to the magistrate who must punish the criminal. - “Traite de Poison”, M.J.B. Orfila (1814) MARTHA: “Well, dear, for a gallon of elderberry wine, I take one teaspoonful of arsenic, and add a half a teaspoonful of strychnine, and then just a pinch of cyanide. - “Arsenic and Old Lace” by Joseph Kasserling, New York Pocket Books, New York, NY, 1944 (quoted by John Harris Trestrail III in his book “Criminal Poisoning” on page 93. Also by Serita Deborah Stevens and Anne Klarner in their book “Deadly Doses - A writer’s guide to poisons”, Writer’s Digest Books, Ohio, 1990 on page 10) If all those buried in our cemeteries who were poisoned could raise their hand, we would probably be shocked by the numbers! - John Harris Trestrail III, in this book “Criminal Poisoning” on page 99 And yonder soft phial, the exquisite blue Sure to taste sweetly - is that poison too? - R. Browning (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 191, in Chapter 11 entitled "Forensic Chemistry") It would be nice if someday, like Star Trek’s Dr. McCoy, we could pass a “Tricorder” over the body in question and thereby scan for over a million different chemical entities. - John Harris Trestrail III, in this book “Criminal Poisoning” on page 71, stressing the fact that when an analytical result for toxicology comes negative, it does not necessarily mean that the specimen was free of all chemical substances. It only means that none of the substances tested for were present in detectable quantities. Every death with no visible signs of trauma must be considered a poisoning until the facts prove otherwise. - John Harris Trestrail III, in this book “Criminal Poisoning” on page 99 Doctors put drugs of which they know little, into our bodies of which they know less, to cure diseases of which they know nothing at all. - Voltaire (quoted in “Introduction to Toxicology” 2nd Edition by J. A. Timbrell, 1995, Taylor & Francis Ltd, at page 61) POISONS (INDIVIDUAL) ACETAMINOPHEN APAP - induced heart injury? May be yes, may be no. Next question? - Title of a paper by Martin J. Smilkstein in Clinical Toxicology, 34(2), 155-156 (1996) I have just taken Tylenol, will I die? - A frantic call made by several Americans in September - October 1982 to poison centres, following unfortunate deaths of 7 people, who took Tylenol Capsules, which all turned out to be laced with cyanide. Such a panic spread among the Americans that many reported that their toothpaste smelt oddly or their antacids tasted strangely. Many pharmacists described this reaction as “Tylenol Syndrome”. (Taken from “Dunea G. Death over the Counter. British Medical Journal, Vol, 286, 15 January 1983, pages 211-212”. This incident is also reported in “Forensic Pharmacology - Medicines, Mayhem, and Malpractice” by R.E. Ferner, Oxford University Press, 1996, at page 15) ARSENIC Arsenic was a popular homicidal poison; women purchased it with the ostensible excuse of destroying rats. The rat in this context was usually the husband! - Anonymous The history of arsenic poisoning is, at the same time, the history of murder by means of poisoning. - Leschke (quoted in “The Power of Poison” by John Glaister, Chritopher Johnson, London, 1954, page 78) ACONITE Aconite is useful to hunters for destroying tigers and elephants, useful to the rich for putting troublesome relatives out of the way, and useful to jealous husbands for destroying faithless wives. - saying common among Lepchas of Sikkim, India CHLOROFORM Now she's acquitted, she should tell us in the interests of science how she did it! - Sir James Piaget, a distinguished Victorian surgeon, exhorting Adelaide Bartlett, when she was acquitted, to tell how she killed her husband by giving him chloroform (quoted in "Murder - What dunit" by J.H.H. Gaute & Robin Odell, at page 93) DATURA Datura makes you hot as a hare, blind as a bat, dry as a bone, red as a beet and mad as a hen. - H.G. Morton And some of them ate plentifully of it, the effect of which was a very pleasant Comedy; for they turned natural Fools upon it for several Days. One would blow a Feather in the Air; another would dart straws at it with much fury; and another stark naked was sitting up in a Corner, like a Monkey grinning and making Mows at them; a Fourth would fondly kiss and paw his Companions, and sneer in their Faces with a Countenance more antik than any in a Dutch Droll. - Robert Beverly, describing the condition of some soldiers who accidentally ate Datura stramonium (Jimson weed) leaves in their salad. This description appears in the book “History and Present State of Virginia”, Book 2 (1705 A.D.), p 24 (N.B. This is one of the most widely quoted quotes on Datura stramonium by medical and lay authorities alike. It has appeared in (i) JAMA 1939; 112:2500-2 in a paper by JD Hughes and JA Clark Jr. (ii) Editorial, Lancet 1948;i:649-50 (iii) Clinical Toxicology by CJ Polson, MA Green, MR Lee, 3rd Edition, page 393 (iv)The Medical Detectives by Berton Roueché, Washington Square Press 1980, page 184) DDT I hate Bosco, It's full of DDT. Mommy put it in my milk to try to poison me. But I fooled Mommy, I put some in her tea. Now there's no more Mommy to try to poison me. - Children's rhyme (Quoted in "The New England Journal of Medicine" Volume 330:1095, April 14, 1994, Number 15, (in the Review of the book "The Poisonous Pen of Agatha Christie" By Michael C. Gerald. 275 pp. Austin, Tex., University of Texas Press, 1993. $32.50. ISBN 0-292-76535-5). Review by Orah S. Platt, M.D. and Richard Platt, M.D.,Children's Hospital Medical Center, Boston, MA 02215. Available on the net at http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/330/15/1095) HELLEBORE Besides, hellebore is rank poison to us, but given to goats and quails makes them fat. - Lucretius: “De Rerum Natura” Book 4, lines 640-641, Translated by W.H.D. Rouse (This quote appears in “Handbook of Pesticide Toxicology, Vol. 1 (Principles), page 109, 2nd Edition, Edited by Robert I. Krieger, (Academic Press, 2001)” HYOSCINE ‘.. .Upon my secure hour thy uncle stole, With juice of cursed hebenon in a vial, And in the porches of mine ears did pour The leprous distilment.. .’ - Hamlet, Act 1, Scene 5 (Quoted in “The Encyclopedia of Forensic Science” by Brian Lane, Headline 1992, at page 375 MERCURY Mercury is ‘the hottest, the coldest, a true healer, a wicked murderer, a precious medicine, and a deadly poison, a friend that can flatter and lie’. - Woodall J. (1639), The Surgeon’s Mate or Military & Domestic Surgery, London, p256 (quoted from Cassarett and Doull’s Toxicology. Also quoted in “Introduction to Toxicology” 2nd Edition by J. A. Timbrell, 1995, Taylor & Francis Ltd, at page 118) MUSHROOMS There are old Mushroom Hunters and Bold Mushroom Hunters, but no Old Bold Mushroom Hunters. - Anonymous Had nature any outcast face? Could she a son condemn? Had nature an Iscariot That mushroom - it is him - Emily Dickinson (Quoted in “Wilderness Medicine”, 4th edition, by Paul S. Auerbach, Mosby, 2001; chapter 49 entitled “Mushroom Toxicity” by Sandra Schneider and Mark Donnelly, page 1141) PHOSPHORUS Keep any cakes and sandwiches over, for the funeral. - Mrs. Mary Elizabeth Wilson of Durham, who poisoned her two husbands with phophorus, jokingly at her wedding feast in 1958 (Quoted in “The Bedside Book of Murder” by Richard & Molly Whittington-Egan, at page 81) STRYCHNINE We’ll murder them all amid laughter and merriment, Except for a few we’ll take home to experiment. My pulse will be quickenin’ with each drop of strychnine we feed to a pigeon. (It just takes a smidgin!) To poison a pigeon in the park. - Tom Lehrer (1928- ): in “Poisoning Pigeons in the Park” (1953) TOADS (POISONOUS) Toad, that under cold stone, Days and nights went thirty-one, Swelter’d venom sleeping got, - Shakespeare alluding to the evil reputation of the toad in Macbeth (Reproduced from “Poisons and Poisoners” by C.J.S. Thompson, page 103) POLICE AND POLICING The more technical knowledge a police officer possesses, the greater the probability of securing not only a criminal arrest but also a guilty verdict from the jury. - Howell 1988 (Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 189) The police are the public and the public are the police. - Sir Robert Peel (Quoted in “Criminal Investigation - Basic Perspectives” by Paul B. Weston, Charles Lushbaugh and Kenneth M. Wells, eighth edition, 2000, Prentice Hall, page 396) You become a cop so you can watch the parade from the front. Detective is even better because you don’t have to be in uniform to watch the parade. - Detective Captain Frank Bolz (quoted in “Cop Talk” by E.W.Count, Pocket Books, 1994. The quote appears at the beginning of the book) POST MORTEM CHANGES PUTREFACTION The process of putrefaction is simple in its complexity and complex in its simplicity, resting upon the variables operating in a particular case. - Dr. Krishan Vij, Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, Government Medical College, Chandigarh, India, in his book “Textbook of Forensic Medicine - Principles and Practice”, B.I. Churchill Livingstone, 2001, page 186 QUESTIONED DOCUMENTS It is a compliment to monetary stability when currency is forged. - Jay Levinson in his book “Questioned Documents - A Lawyer’s Handbook”, Academic Press 2001, page 165 It is competent for a judge and jury to compare the handwriting of a disputed document. - A Canadian Court in 1918, in the case Rohoel v. Darwish, 1 WWR 627; 13 Altn LR 180 (Quoted by Jay Levinson in his book “Questioned Documents - A Lawyer’s Handbook”, Academic Press 2001, page 1) No matter how extensive his background may be, no document examiner can know all the answers to all the questions. - Jay Levinson in his book “Questioned Documents - A Lawyer’s Handbook”, Academic Press 2001, page 24 “Handwriting” is not hand writing. - Ron N. Morris in his book “Forensic Handwriting Identification: Fundamental concepts and principles”, Academic Press 2000, page 1 (N.B. To those who find this interesting little quote confounding, the following lines from the same page may be quoted. Morris follows up this quote with this: There are a substantial number of people who are not able to use their hand so they write with their foot, mouth etc. Writing is actually a brain function and the hand, foot, mouth etc are merely the devices which carry out brain orders.) ROAD SIDE VEHICULAR ACCIDENTS There are only two classes of pedestrians these days - the quick and the dead. - Lord Dewar (1864-1930) (Quoted in “The Pathology of Trauma” 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 17) Drive slowly, reach safely, And not race with the devil, To reach the tomb prematurely. - S.C. Mestri (Professor and Head, Dept. of Forensic Medicine, KIMS, Hubli-580022, India), in “Preventive and safety measures to be adopted in road traffic accidents”, Journal of Karnataka Medicolegal Society; 9(2): December 2000, pages 28-30 (this quote appears on page 30) I wasn’t the driver. - Statement often made by occupants of an automobile which has been involved in a fatal collision. (cited on page 24 of “Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences” edited by Jay A. Siegel, Pekka J. Saukko and Geoffrey C. Knupfer. 2000 Academic Press.) SCENE OF CRIME “Lestrade showed us the exact spot at which the body had been found, and indeed, so moist was the ground, that I could plainly see the traces which had been left by the fall of the stricken man. To Holmes, as I could see by his eager face and peering eyes, very many other things were to be read upon the trampled grass.” - Dr. Watson, the companion of the Legendary Sherlock Holmes in “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” by Arthur Conan Doyle Scenes as well as suspects often conceal the truth. - Jon J. Nordby, forensic science investigative consultant, in his book “Dead Reckoning - The Art of Forensic Detection”, CRC Press 2000, on page 23 SERIAL KILLERS They are the waste product of our frustrated, bored, over-stressed Western industrialized society. - Sean Mactire in his book “Malicious Intent-A writer’s guide to how murderers, robbers, rapists and other criminals think”. Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1995. This quote appears in on page 67, in 5th chapter entitled “Serial Murder”) SEXUAL OFFENCES No man shall have sexual intercourse with any woman against her will. - Charaka Samhita (Book of Medicine written in the 4rth Century B.C. by the Ancient Hindu writer Charaka) In no state can a man be accused of raping his wife. How can any man steal what already belongs to him? - Susan Griffin, American Poet (Ramparts, September 1971) … marriage [is] in modern times regarded as a partnership of equals and no longer one in which the wife [is] the subservient chattel of the husband. - Lord Keith in Regina v R. 23 October 1991 (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 138) Rape is the only crime in which the victim becomes the accused and, in reality, it is she who must prove her good reputation, her mental soundness, and her impeccable propriety. - Freda Adler, American Educator (Sisters in Crime, 1975) Insertion or thrust of male organ between the thighs kept tight amounts to penetration sufficient to constitute rape. - In the Indian case of State v Gobindan, 1969 Cr LJ 818 Rape is an accusation easily to be made and hard to be proved and yet harder to be defended by the party concerned though never so innocent. - Khelleher v Queen, 1974 (131) Commonwealth Law Reporter 534 The act of actus reus is complete with penetration and emission is not essential or relevant. - Queen v Marsden, 1821 QBD 149 If his bones in general, and his shoulders are strongly made, if his gait and voice are vigorous, by these tokens may a potent man be known; and one impotent by the opposite characteristics. - Narada Smriti (Ancient Hindu text) There is no difference between being raped and being bit on the ankle by a rattlesnake except that people ask if your skirt was short and why you were out alone anyhow. - (Mary Piercy, excerpt from 'Rape Poem': Reproduced in "Clinical Approaches to sex offenders and their victims" edited by Clive R. Hollin and Kevin Howells, at page 261 The worst myth that has to be busted is that rape and sex crimes are about sex. They are only about power and anger. - Sean Mactire in his book “Malicious Intent-A writer’s guide to how murderers, robbers, rapists and other criminals think”. Writer’s Digest Books, Cincinnati, Ohio, 1995. This quote appears in on page 94, in 7th chapter entitled “Sexual predators”) Not enough people understand what rape is, and, until they do.. .., not enough will be done to stop it. - rape victim (quoted in “Men Who Rape” by N. Groth 1979, Plenum p.87, also quoted in “A Natural History of Rape” by Randy Thornhill and Craig T. Palmer, 2000, MIT Press, on page 1) SUDDEN DEATH The fact that an AV or SA node, or the bundle of His or its branches shows fibrosis or some other lesion, does not necessarily mean that this played any part in the death. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 498) SUDDEN INFANT DEATH SYNDROME (SIDS) ..there has developed a “maxim in Forensic pathology: one unexplained infant death in a family is SIDS. Two is very suspicious. Three is homicide.” This is dangerous and scientifically shaky dogma. - (Cyril H. Wecht, MD, JD , Coroner of Allegheny County , Pittsburgh, in JAMA Jan 7, 1996, Vol. 279, No. 1, page 85) (N.B. A little background above the above quote may be appreciated. This above maxim developed following Van Der Sluys case in 1986, Tinning case in 1987 and Wanda Hoyt case in 1995, each of which involved three dead infants. Wanda Hoyt was convicted of murder in 1995) Elevated T3 levels in SIDS can be considered as a post-mortem artifact. - J.I.Coe (in “Postmortem chemistry update. Emphasis on Forensic Application". Am. J. Forensic Med Pathol, 1993, 14, 91-117; cited in “de Letter EA, Piette MHA, Lambert WE, De Leenheer AP. Medico-Legal Implications of Hidden Thyroid Dysfunction: A study of two cases. Med. Sci. Law (2000)Vol. 40, No. 3, Pp 251-257, on page 255) SIDS is perhaps the greatest single medical mystery confronting scientists. - (Cyril H. Wecht, MD, JD , Coroner of Allegheny County , Pittsburgh, in JAMA Jan 7, 1996, Vol. 279, No. 1, page 86) SUICIDE If one wants to get away with murder, one has to jolly well keep one’s wits about one. It’s the same way with suicide. - Starr Faithful (1931) (quoted in “Murder - Whereabouts” by J.H.H. Gaute and Robin Odell, page 78) Every homicide is also unconsciously a suicide and every suicide in a sense a psychological homicide. - Stephen Nordlicht, MD, Clinical Associate Professor in Psychiatry, Cornell University Medical College, in his paper entitled “Medical Deterrents” published in Bull. N.Y.Acad. Med. Vol. 62, No. 5, June 1986. This quote appears on page 584 TERRORISM “Terrorism” means the use of violence for political ends, and includes any use of violence for the purpose of putting the public or any section of the public in fear. - Prevention of Terrorism (Temporary Provisions) Act 1989, s.20(1) (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 71) THROMBOSIS, DEEP VEIN Deep vein thrombosis is a hazard of long air flights. - Bernard Knight (Forensic Pathology, 2nd Edition, page 507) TIME SINCE DEATH Estimating the time of death is one of the most difficult and inaccurate techniques in forensic pathology. - Milton Helpern in his book “Autopsy - The Memoirs of Milton Helpern, the World’s greatest medical detective”, published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1977, on page 116 The time of death is sometimes extremely important. It is a question almost invariably asked by police officers, sometimes with a touching faith in the accuracy of the estimate. Determining the time of death is extremely difficult, and accuracy is impossible. - Bernard Knight, Legal Aspects of Medical Practice, 4th edition, 1987, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh page 115 I will be the first to admit that if any physical or even mental disturbance occurs soon after the food is swallowed, the whole digestive process can be drastically altered. - Milton Helpern in his book “Autopsy - The Memoirs of Milton Helpern, the World’s greatest medical detective”, published by St. Martin’s Press, New York, 1977, on page 118 Considering the variables which influence the rate of body heat loss, the best one can say about the reliability of algor mortis as a post mortem clock is that it permits a rough approximation of the time of death. Errors in over-estimating and under-estimating the post mortem interval based on body cooling are common, even in the face of considerable experience by those making the estimate. Body temperature as an indicator of the post mortem interval should be correlated with all other phenomenon and observations utilised in establishing the time of death. - Adelson, The Pathology of Homicide, 1974, Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, page 164 To offer an unreasonably accurate time of death is worse than providing such a wide range on times that the police derive no help from it. - Bernard Knight in “The Estimation of the Time Since Death in the Early Postmortem Period”, Edward Arnold, 1995, page 2 A medical witness who attempts to determine the time of death from temperature estimation in minutes or fractions of hours is exposing himself to a severe challenge to his expertise which may well amount to near ridicule, thus denegrating the rest of his evidence. - Polson, Gee and Knight, The Essentials of Forensic Medicine, 4th edition, 1985, Pergamon Press, Oxford, page 12 It is often the least experienced medical witness who tends to offer the most accurate estimate of time since death. - Bernard Knight in “The Estimation of the Time Since Death in the Early Postmortem Period”, Edward Arnold, 1995, page 2 Livor mortis, rigor mortis and algor mortis … provide, at best, “postmortem windows”. - Stephen J. Cina, Charleston County Medical Examiner’s Office, Charleston, SC 29425, USA (Quoted by him in his paper “Flow Cytometric Evaluation of DNA Degradation: A predictor of Postmortem Interval?”. American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology 15(4):300-302, 1994) The opinion of any doctor who offers a single time of death, instead of a range, must be viewed with suspicion. - Bernard Knight in “The Estimation of the Time Since Death in the Early Postmortem Period”, Edward Arnold, 1995, page 2 No problem in forensic medicine has been investigated as thoroughly as that of determining the time of death on the basis of post mortem findings. Apart from its obvious legal importance, its solution has been so elusive as to provide a constant intellectual challenge to workers in many sciences. In spite of the great effort and ingenuity expended, the results have been meagre - Jaffe, A Guide to Pathological Evidence : For Lawyers and Police Officers, 2nd edition, 1983, Carswell Criminal Law Series, Carswell Ltd., Toronto, page 33 Repeated experience teaches the investigator to be wary of relying on any single observation for estimating the time of death (or "duration of the post mortem interval"), and he wisely avoids making dogmatic statements based on an isolated observation. - Adelson, The Pathology of Homicide, 1974, Thomas, Springfield, Illinois, page 151 Formerly, it was a hallowed "rule of thumb" that the rectal temperature dropped at an average of 1.5oF per hour, rather faster during the first few hours. This method was a guarantee of inaccuracy, but little has been found to replace it. - Bernard Knight, Legal Aspects of Medical Practice, 4th edition, 1987, Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh, page 119-120 Some difference of opinion exists over the use of a thermometer at the scene of a suspicious death. Considerable caution must be employed when considering the taking of a rectal temperature with the body in situ. If there is any possibility at all of some sexual interference, whether homosexual or heterosexual, no intereference with the clothing or perineum must be made until all forensic examinations have been completed. Certainly, no instrument should be inserted into the rectum before trace evidence has been sought. - Polson, Gee and Knight, The Essentials of Forensic Medicine, 4th edition, 1985, Pergamon Press, Oxford, page 9-10 The timing of the sequence of events concerned in the dissolution of the body cannot be done with accuracy and one must be cautious never to pronounce too readily that the decomposed state of the body is inconsistent with the time interval alleged. - Camps, Lucas, Robinson, Gradwohl's Legal Medicine, 3rd edition, 1976, John Wright & Sons, Bristol, page 91 TIRE IMPRINT EVIDENCE I am familiar with forty-two different impressions left by tyres. - Sherlock Holmes to Dr. Watson in “The Adventure of the Priory School” 1901 A motor vehicle is used in 75 percent of all the major crimes reported today. - Given, Nehrich and Shields 1977 (Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 37) The ultimate goal of the tire track investigation is the identification of the vehicle producing the track. - Given, Nehrich and Shields 1977 (Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 67) Tire “Footprints” help solve Homicide cases (Title of article in Law and Order 1981) - Quoted in “Tire Imprint Evidence” by Peter McDonald, 1989 Elsevier, page 111 TONGUES OF SLIP “They told me you could help me, Dr. Zak… the people at the Funny Society.. .er.. . I mean the Forensic Society". - A patient (Henry Nash) over phone to forensic entomologist Zakaria Erzinçlioglu (quoted by Zakaria Erzinçlioglu in his biographical book “Maggots, Murder and Men - Memories and Reflections of a Forensic Entomologist” Harley Books, England 2000, on page 138) TRACE EVIDENCE Every contact leaves a trace. - Edmond Locard (1877-1966), Pioneering French Criminologist (This is often touted as the “Locard’s Exchange Principle”. Although nothing is wrong in this statement, the true principle goes like this: “The dust and debris that cover our clothing and bodies are the mute witnesses, sure and faithful, of all our movements and all our encounters.” It is quoted on page 299 of “Encyclopedia of Forensic Sciences” edited by Jay A. Siegel, Pekka J. Saukko and Geoffrey C. Knupfer. 2000 Academic Press.) For a long time he remained there, turning over the leaves and dried sticks, gathering what seemed to me to be dust into an envelop and examining with his lens not only the ground, but even the bark of the tree as far as he could reach. - Dr. Watson recalling the actions of Sherlock Holmes in “The Boscombe Valley Mystery” If evidence has been properly gathered and preserved, a mistake in interpretation may always be corrected. If the facts required for a correct interpretation are not preserved, the mistake is irreversible. - Alan R. Moritz, MD (Quoted in "The Pathology of Trauma" 2nd Edition, Edited by J.K.Mason, page 227) What is not looked for will not be found! - William J. Bodziak in his book “Footwear Impression Evidence” at page 2 The best evidence in the world will not stand up in court if the jurors have doubts about its integrity. - Los Angeles Times (Quoted in “Criminal Investigation - Basic Perspectives” by Paul B. Weston, Charles Lushbaugh and Kenneth M. Wells, eighth edition, 2000, Prentice Hall, page 6) Trace evidence is one of the most valuable, misunderstood, misused and underutilised forms of physical evidence. - Peter R. De Forest in his chapter "What is trace evidence" in the book "Forensic Examination of Glass and Paint" edited by Brian Caddy, Taylor & Francis, 2001, page 23 Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. WITTICISMS Well folks, you’ll soon see a baked Appel. - George Appel, as he was being strapped into the electric chair in 1952 (Quoted in “Witticisms of 7 condemned criminals” on page 87 in “The Book of Lists #3” by Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace) Nothing will happen until I get there. - Guy Clark (1832) on the way to gallows to the sheriff, when he asked him to speed up the pace (Quoted in “Witticisms of 7 condemned criminals” on page 87 in “The Book of Lists #3” by Amy Wallace, David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace) You work in forensics and you don't know what FUBAR means???? - Contributed by James (Jamie) Crippin , Colorado Bureau of Inv., 3416 N Elizabeth St., Pueblo, CO 81008. Phone: 719-542-1133 (N.B. Anyone, who wants to know more about this interesting quote, or wants to know what FUBAR means, may want to get with touch with Mr. Crippin himself. He can be contacted by clicking on his name) When in doubt, think dirty. You’ll be right ninety percent of the time. - An old pathologist to Dr. William R. Maples (N.B. Dr. William R. Maples gives this quote in his book “Dead Men do tell tales” at page 11. Dr. Maples goes on to say, that it was good advice and that he put it to good use on many occasions.) Better save that. We'll need it for the autopsy. - A surgeons’ conversation overheard during a life saving surgery - sent by Dr. Vivek Jain, MD (Skin & VD) Forensic medicine in most of the countries is some kind of an unwanted Cinderella. - Dr. Peter Kovac, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Comenius University, Bratislava, Sasinkova 4, 81103 Slovakia (In an informal E-mail sent to this webmaster on 23 November 2000) To treat is human, to dissect divine. - This is the answer I frequently give to people who ask me why I left a lucrative career in medicine (way back in 1979) to take up forensic pathology Those who can, dissect; those who can’t, dissent. - Another perfectly valid answer to the same question, although I don’t remember having said this to anyone WOUNDS INCISED Incise the abdomen and conceal the jewel. - An old Chinese Proverb (Quoted in “Forensic Science”, 2(1973) 191-199 at page 191) PENETRATING Makes such a wound the knife is lost in it. - Shelley (Cited in "Recent Advances in Forensic Pathology" edited by Francis E. Camps, J.& A. Churchill Ltd., 1969, on page 101, in Chapter 6 entitled "The interpretation of wounds (Penetrating)") Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Currently there are no entries under this heading. Readers' contributions are welcome. Know a forensic quote which does not appear here? Well why not share it with us, and add to this growing pool of forensic quotes. Your contribution would appear with due credit to you. For submitting your quote, mail me. Contact

Forensic Jokes, Puns & Tidbits Hi, I am Professor Anil Aggrawal, Professor of Forensic Medicine at the Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi-110048. I am married to a professor of chemistry and have a 20 year old son, who is studying to be an electronics engineer. I am interested in interacting with people who are interested in forensic pathology, science, science fiction, and above all, Forensic Jokes. I have always felt that forensic people tend to be too serious. Forensic medicine has its own quota of fun, jokes, good healthy humor. This page is a modest attempt to put together all funny things connected with forensic medicine. At present, it is a very rudimentary site, having only a few jokes, puns, limericks and poems, but I hope to add more quality stuff, including forensic limericks, haiku, puns, stories and other similar tidbits in due course of time. Needless to say, inputs from all discerning web surfers are required. All contributions would be put on the net within a weeks' time with due acknowledgements. This modest effort would put at one place the collective "wisdom" of all of us, where all of us can contribute and enjoy one another's experiences. If you have an interesting forensic story, joke, limerick or any other interesting tidbit related to forensics, then mail me. Explore these forensic pages: Forensic Limerick Forensic Puns Forensic Jokes Forensic Poem Created on: September 2, 1999 Many people think that science and humor don't mix. But nothing could be farther from the truth. There are an amazing number of pages on the web (Besides this one of course!), which illustrate how the two go together hand in glove. Have a look at some of the links given below. Science Cartoons Science Jokes Jokes & Science

Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE JUNE 1997 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS POISONING BY SILVER -Dr. Anil Aggrawal "Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? Oh well, today you are examining an old man. What happened to him? His body appears to be grayish blue all over. Please explain" "Good morning Tarun. The name of this person is Pyarelal, and he is 65 years old. He can not do much work now, and is mainly dependent on his son and daughter-in-law for his day-to-day needs. He however has a good bank balance which represents his life long savings. During his life time he had worked in relatively respectable positions." "So why is he with you today?" "Tarun, this makes an interesting story. He was quite unwanted by his son and daughter-in-law. His son is working in a private firm as an executive and his daughter-in-law is a chemist. For a few days he has discovered a grayish blue discoloration of his body, especially over the exposed parts of his body, and he contacted a local physician for this. He also complained of some tiredness, but besides this, he was alright. The local physician could not make much of his problem, so referred him to a specialist, and in turn this specialist referred this case to me." "But you are a forensic medicine man. As far as I know, you deal with criminal cases only. How can you be helpful in this case?" "You are right Tarun. I am a specialist in forensic medicine, and these specialists look at cases-live or dead- which are involved legally in some way. Well it goes like this. This specialist friend of mine thought that somebody might be trying to poison him slowly, and he consulted me on phone. When I had a look at this man, I thought he may be right. I enquired about his family life from Pyarelal and after talking to him for sometime, I became all the more convinced that it could indeed be a case of poisoning....." "Do you mean to say that a man who develops bluish gray discoloration of his skin is getting slowly poisoned?" "Not necessarily. There are other causes for this too, but my specialist friend had exhausted all those causes by various tests. Now only one possibility remained; slow poisoning by silver, a condition technically known as argyria, and that's why he referred this case to me. As you know, all cases of poisonings have some legality involved, so they are dealt with by forensic specialists. Before you start feeling uncomfortable with the word argyria, I must tell you that it comes from the Latin word for silver argentum. The chemical symbol Ag for silver has also come from the same Latin word. This condition was first described in 1816 by Johann Abraham Albers." "So you decided Pyarelal was being poisoned. But by whom? and how?" "Probably by his son or his daughter-in-law on whom he was a burden. They had an eye over his money too. Probably some silver salt was being mixed in his food. This rare and exotic poison was probably chosen because it is a relatively unknown poison, and it was probably thought by the culprits that doctors would find it impossible to detect it. But as you can see in a moment they had underestimated the capabilities of modern poison sleuths, who have an impressive array of facilities at their disposal. I asked him not to consume one day's food given to him by his daughter-in-law and instead submit it to me. He has done that today and I have submitted it to the lab for chemical analysis. While the test reports are awaited, let me tell you something about this rare but interesting poison." "Oh, sure I would love to know about it. In fact I didn't even know silver was a poison" "Well, in metallic form, it indeed is not. It is the chemical salts which are poisonous. Compounds of silver important from a toxicological standpoint are silver nitrate, silver lactate, silver picrate, silver acetate and the silver halides. Silver nitrate is a poisonous salt, also known as Lunar Caustic. Silver was likened to the moon by the ancient chemists on account of the latter's silvery color, hence the word Lunar. You would probably recall that Latin luna means moon. This term appears in the term "lunar month" which refers to the period during which the moon waxes and wanes completely once. This period as you know is equal to 28 days. This term also appears quite surprisingly in the word "lunatic". It is because ancient people thought that madness results from the effects of full moon. Even today, an excessively sentimental, dazed or a lunatic person is sometimes referred to as moonstruck." "Interesting! And what is the origin of the term caustic?" "The term caustic refers to the salt's caustic properties both as crystals and in aqueous solution. Silver has both medicinal and non-medicinal uses. Among the main non-medicinal uses are in jewelry, coins, silverware, tableware, and in manufacturing of mirrors and electrical wiring. You will probably recall that pure silver has the highest thermal and electrical conductivity of all metals. That is the basis for its use in electrical wiring." "Yes, I do. And what are its main medicinal uses?" "Tarun, silver and its salts have been used as medicines for various ailments throughout history. During the nineteenth century it was prescribed for the treatment of digestive disorders, including stomach ulcer. Later small sticks of compressed crystals of silver nitrate began to be used for cauterization, notably of throat lesions, because of its astringent properties...." "Excuse me doctor. You have used certain terms which I don't quite understand. What is cauterization and what is meant by the term astringent?" "Tarun, an astringent is a drug which precipitates proteins and causes contraction of tissues. The term comes from Latin astringere which means "to draw tight". Astringents have so little penetrability that only surface of cells is affected. Application of astringent often arrests secretions or discharge, so it is often applied to lesions which are discharging secretions. Precipitation of proteins also kills the cells. The idea of applying these drugs was also that it would kill any infective microorganisms lurking in the lesions, by precipitating proteins in their cells. The most popular astringents are salts of zinc and aluminum. Zinc sulfate (0.25%) is often recommended as an eye medication. Another common astringent is tannic acid. Cauterization is the destruction of tissues by the application of an astringent. Of course cauterization can be done by heat too. Warts can be cauterized by heat or by some astringent substance. There was a time when silver salts were popularly used for cauterization of warts." "Oh, I see. Are these salts still used today for cauterization?" "Not usually. This procedure carried a substantial risk of the silver nitrate stick getting broken and the patient swallowing -or worse- inhaling the detached fragment. Certain quacks in India still keep these sticks for such purposes. These sticks have been known to be used for the cauterization of infected umbilical stumps and in the treatment of nosebleeds too. They have been used in the treatment of warts as I told you earlier. Ayurvedic doctors are known to use Bhasmas (roughly equivalent to ashes) which contain various noble metals, of which silver may be one. Indian sweetmeat manufacturers often decorate sweetmeats with a paper thin sheet of silver, and consumers are known to consume sweetmeats along with it, but I am not aware of silver poisoning occurring by this means. Several other typical Indian preparations such as paan are also decorated in this way." "Does silver nitrate have other medicinal uses too?" "It is used as prophylaxis for ophthalmia neonatorum, which is an infective condition of the eyes in the newborn because of the gonorrhoea bacterium. Infants suffer from this condition when their mothers are known to be suffering from gonorrhoea. Silver nitrate is used in this condition, because of its known antiseptic effect against gonorrhoea bacteria. Dressings soaked in 0.5% silver nitrate have been extensively used in the treatment of burns. Topical use of silver nitrate in this way can produce poisoning although it is not common. Poisoning due to silver iodide nose drops has been reported. Silver is also used in dentistry for dental fillings. Silver salts, because of their germicidal properties, are also used as drinking water disinfectants. Such treated water may contain upto 50 mg/L of silver. Drinking water not treated with silver, usually contains extremely low concentrations of silver -up to 5 mg/L only." "So silver is used for disinfecting water too. I didn't know that. I thought only chlorine is used for disinfecting water." "Oh yes, silver indeed is used for disinfecting water. These days some companies are even marketing gadgets called "mobile electronic water purifiers" which work by generating silver ions. These are shaped like pens. The device is to be opened and dipped in water. In fact it has two silver electrodes and while in water, it is supposed to generate silver ions which in turn are supposed to kill microorganisms lurking in water. But as you know now, such disinfected water has more than the normal quantity of silver in it." "Can one ingest silver accidentally too" "Tarun, silver can be ingested accidentally in a most unexpected manner. To understand how it is possible, first of all I must tell you that sea water is known to contain silver in concentrations of 0.055-1.5 mg/L. Much higher concentrations have been reported in waste water effluents. For instance effluents entering southern California coastal basins have been known to contain silver in concentrations as high as 0.03 mg/L! Note that I am talking of milligrams here, not micrograms. Silver has been accumulated in concentrations of 14-20 mg/kg in bottom sediments in these areas. Molluscs ingesting this water accumulate seawater in their bodies. Molluscs collected from coastal areas of the North Sea have been reported to contain silver concentrations of up to 2.0 mg/kg. Ingestion of these molluscs as well as other marine food can thus lead to chronic silver poisoning!" "Oh, that certainly is most unusual!" "Exposure to silver can occur in other unusual ways too. For instance it can also occur from small amounts released from dental fillings and from eating out of utensils made of silver. Human activity has been known to increase silver concentration in the air. You perhaps know that a silver salt -silver iodide- is sometimes used to seed clouds precipitate rain artificially. The emission of silver iodide crystals during cloud seeding has been estimated to result in silver concentration in air of about 0.1 ng/m3. Silver concentrations in rainwater as a result of this process have been estimated to be between 0.04 pg/ml and 5 ng/ml. I must tell you that ng stands for nanogram and pg for picograms. 1 nanogram (ng) is equal to 10-9 g and 1 picogram (pg) is equal to 10-12 g. There is some amount of silver in tobacco too, but this is generally too low. Because of its high boiling point, most of the silver in cigarettes is not inhaled." "This is quite interesting information about silver. But what happens to silver once it enters inside the body? I know this is not a normal constituent of the body, nor can the body make any use of it. Then how does it handle silver?" "That's a good question Tarun. In humans, more than 50% of the body burden of silver goes in the liver. Elimination is mainly via faeces. The concentrations of silver in kidneys, liver and spleen of normal people have been reported to be about 0.4, 0.7 and 2.7 mg/kg respectively on a dry weight basis. This means that if these organs were dried into powder and then silver estimation done, one would get these figures. Normal concentrations in skin are 0.009 mg/g. This latter figure is on wet weight basis, i.e. estimation is done on the skin as such, without first converting it into dry powder. Daily excretion in urine is 0.006-0.015 mg/day and 0.02-0.11 in feces." "Doctor, how much silver is needed to kill a person?" "Tarun, fifty mg or more of collargol which is a silver salt has been reported to be lethal after intravenous injection for therapeutic purposes. Autopsy findings in such cases have included watery lungs, and destruction of bone marrow, liver and kidney. Silver nitrate has been used by quacks to induce criminal abortions. These are abortions done in a clandestine manner by quacks on girls who do not want a baby. Most of these girls are unmarried girls who contact these quack abortionists to get rid of unwanted pregnancies. They use all sorts of weird chemical compounds to get rid of these pregnancies. In a case which has been reported in medical literature, intrauterine administration of approximately 25 g of silver nitrate caused rapid death of the mother." "And what is argyria?" "The cases which I have mentioned above are cases of acute poisoning- cases in which silver is administered in one single big shot. Poisoning can occur in a chronic fashion, in which small doses of poison are administered slowly. In my earlier stories I told you about acute and chronic poisonings. Argyria is a chronic poisoning with silver. It is an interesting condition, which once seen is never forgotten. The patient- as in the case of Pyarelal- acquires a blue-grey color of the skin, especially over exposed areas. Silver bound to body proteins, is deposited widely in the body tissues. Internal body viscera may get discolored too. Pigmentation results partly from stimulation of melanin deposition but mainly from photoactivated reduction to metallic silver in the dermis- hence the distribution over areas exposed to light. It is like exposure of a photographic plate. The whole body -which has absorbed silver- becomes a kind of photographic plate which blackens on exposure to the sun." "Can you prove this in the case of Pyarelal?" "Yes certainly. In cases of argyrosis, microscopically detectable silver containing granules are found in the skin cells and particularly around the hair follicles and in the sebaceous and sweat glands. I have taken a skin sample from his neck area and have done electron microscopy on it. The dermis of this area showed irregular silver granules both inside as well as outside the skin cells. I also did a special investigation - neutron activation analysis. This technique can tell the exact amount of a chemical in a given sample. This technique showed that the silver concentration in his skin was 72 mg/g, far exceeding the normal 0.009 mg/g. You can plainly see that it represents an accumulation 8000 times normal. His total body content of silver is almost 8 g which is really quite high. In addition he shows a black colored line near the teeth, which is because of the deposition of silver there. It is called the silver line. I must tell you that although silver shines as a metal, in a colloidal state it appears black. That's the reason a photographic negative receiving more light becomes black. It is at these regions that silver halides are converted to colloidal silver by sunlight." "That certainly is quite interesting. If silver is administered slowly to a person, how much silver needs to be introduced before the person suffers from argyria?" "Tarun, it has been estimated that a total dose of about 1-8 g of silver is required by inhalation for argyrosis to occur. The dosage by ingestion seems a little higher; between 1 to 30 g of a soluble silver salt. Blond people are considered more susceptible than others. The reason for this is unknown. Argyrosis seemed to have become only of historical interest, but it has recently reappeared, especially in the West. Respaton an anti-smoking lozenge, available in the West from retail chemists since 1974, contains silver acetate and ammonium chloride. Another similar anti-smoking lozenge is Tabmint. Manufacturers of these lozenges claim that regular sucking of these lozenges can reduce one's desire to smoke. They recommend a maximum of 6 lozenges per day. Chronic use of these lozenges has caused argyria in several cases. The patient remains discolored for life and ironically the smoking habit for which he took all the trouble remains!" "That is certainly most interesting. Can argyria occur in other ways too?" "Tarun, repeated occupational handling of silver objects, especially if repeated minor injury is involved, may give rise to so called local argyria, which is bluish-gray discoloration of the skin at the exposed site. This condition is however considered harmless apart from aesthetic considerations." "So it is now almost certain that Pyarelal was being given some silver salt in low concentrations by his son and daughter-in-law." "Yes it is. Here comes the chemical analysis report of the food and milk submitted by Pyarelal. Oh it shows a rather high concentration of silver nitrate. So my worst fears have proved correct. His daughter-in-law was taking advantage of her position as a chemist and was regularly giving him silver nitrate in his milk and food- probably just a drop or two in his milk. But over the years this has caused silver poisoning in this poor fellow. We have all the evidence now. Let us go to the police and tell them the whole story." "Sure we should. And thank you doctor for telling me about such an interesting poison. What are you going to tell me next time?" "Tarun, next time I shall tell you about vanadium which as you shall see is a very important poison. "

Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE JANUARY 2000 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS DEATH BY SUCCINYLCHOLINE -Dr. Anil Aggrawal "Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a young boy today. What happened to him? Please tell me.” “Good morning Tarun. The name of this 26 year old young boy is Subodh, and he was a post-graduate medical student in a leading medical college of this city. For the last few months, he was in love with a fellow medical student Rita. Recently she had ditched him and had got married to someone else. This had hurt him very much. Actually a few days before her marriage, he had got a hint that she was going to ditch him. So he had gone to her to plead his case. At that time she was reportedly sitting with his fiancée Suresh, who literally pushed him out. There was a minor scuffle too, and Suresh had threatened to kill him, if he ever troubled Rita again. Today morning Subodh did not report at the O.P.D. his fellow doctors got suspicious, and went to his hostel room. There they found his dead body.” “Oh, that is indeed very unfortunate. So do you think that Suresh has carried out his threat?” “Let us get all the facts straight, before we can say anything. The body of Subodh was lying on his charpoy (a charpoy is a popular hand woven bed used in India mostly by villagers). A syringe was inserted in his leg vein. And there were two empty vials of Anectine lying on the floor beside him.” “What is Anectine doctor?” “Tarun, Anectine is the trade name of a very useful drug in medical practice. Its chemical name is succinylcholine, and it is a very useful drug for surgical operations.” “Oh, so obviously Subodh has not died of Succinylcholine. How has he actually died doctor? And do you think he has committed suicide?” “Why can’t he die of succinylcholine Tarun?” “How can a useful drug kill a person doctor? He must have died of something else.” “This is a mistake Tarun. All drugs are poisons in large doses, and many poisons may act as useful drugs in extremely small doses. Some time back I told you the story of a death by Digitalis (See Science Reporter Death By Digitalis (August 1999, Pages 22-24). Now Digitalis as you know is a very useful drug in several heart ailments, and yet it killed when given in more than the required dose. So it is incorrect for you to think that a useful drug can not kill. Now to your other questions. No one knows how he has actually died, and that is indeed why the police has handed over his dead body to me. As far as your conjecture concerning suicide is concerned, he might indeed have committed suicide. The scene certainly appears as if he has committed suicide. Had the room been locked from inside, and a suicide note found, we would have very strongly thought that he has committed a suicide. But neither was the room locked from inside, nor was any suicide note found. The police knows that Suresh had threatened to kill him some days back. Suresh - like Subodh - is a medical student and knows about drugs like succinylcholine. So it is quite clear that Suresh is the prime suspect with police. In fact, Subodh’s parents have lodged an FIR with the police, naming Suresh as the possible killer.” “Doctor, is succinylcholine very commonly used as a homicidal poison?” “No, not at all. In fact, I am aware of only one instance, when a person has been convicted of murder by succinylcholine. In 1983, a Texas-licensed vocational nurse Genene Jones was tried on a single charge of murder, even though those who had worked with her believed she had been responsible for the deaths of more than a dozen children under her care. In her first 31 days of work for a child specialist, nine incidents of respiratory failure involving eight patients occurred before Jones was finally arrested. She was finally sentenced to 99 years for the murder of one patient and 60 years for the attempted murder of a second. So succinylcholine can definitely be used for homicide, although its use is very rare. But before we come to any conclusions, we have to first prove that Subodh indeed died of succinylcholine poisoning.” “How are you going to prove that doctor?” “Tarun, to do that you must know a little bit about succinylcholine and how it actually kills. Succinylcholine actually mimics a natural chemical within the body, acetylcholine. The function of acetylcholine is to make a muscle contract. Whenever we make any muscular movement- be it walking, running, climbing, even laughing and crying - some muscle has to contract, and in most of the cases, it is the acetylcholine, which makes the muscle contract. First of all, a nerve impulse goes from the brain to the required muscle. Then a tiny amount of acetylcholine is liberated at neuro-muscular junction..” “Doctor, what is neuro-muscular junction?” “Tarun, it is technical name of the junction of that nerve with the muscle. It is also known as the myoneural junction. So I was telling you about acetylcholine, being released at the neuro-muscular junction. This small amount of acetylcholine starts a train of physical and chemical events at that junction, which ultimately leads to contraction of that muscle. Whole of this procedure takes a fraction of a second only. Of course, once acetylcholine has succeeded in making the muscle contract, it must be removed from the junction. For if it is not removed, the muscle would remain in a contracted position. And this can be very disastrous indeed. For instance, when the heart contracts, it is due to acetylcholine making the heart muscle contract. But if this acetylcholine could not be removed, the heart muscle would remain in a contracted state, and no useful purpose would be served. In fact, the person would die within minutes.” “Oh, I see. How does the body remove this acetylcholine then doctor?” “There is another chemical at the junction- acetyl cholinesterase. It destroys the acetylcholine, after it has done its work. Succinylcholine may be regarded as a sister chemical to acetylcholine. Earlier I was telling you that succinylcholine is widely used in surgery. Now you can understand why. In most abdominal operations, the doctors want that the abdominal muscles remain in a relaxed state. If the muscle is relaxed, doctors can make incisions easily, and make several manipulations in the abdomen easily. Succinylcholine is used to relax the abdominal muscles….” “Just a minute doctor. You said that acetylcholine makes the muscles contract, and also that succinylcholine is a sister chemical to acetylcholine. Doesn’t it mean that succinylcholine should also contract the abdominal muscles?” “That is an interesting question, Tarun. Actually succinylcholine belongs to a class of muscle relaxants, known as depolarizers. Let me first tell you the meaning of this new term. Earlier I told you that acetylcholine starts a train of physical and chemical events at the neuro-muscular junction, which ultimately leads to contraction of muscle. One of these events is the reversal of the electric charge normally found on the muscle fibres. In other words, the muscle is depolarized. Since succinylcholine depolarizes the muscle, it is known as a depolarizer or a depolarizing agent. There are several other depolarizing agents. One of these is decamethonium. It also acts very much like succinylcholine. All depolarizing agents, including succinylcholine, initially do act much like acetylcholine, i.e. they cause the muscle to contract. But since doctors give succinylcholine continuously in an intravenous drip, it keeps contracting the muscles. Finally a stage comes, when the muscle is exhausted, i.e. it can no more work. In other words it gets paralyzed. That is why despite acting very much like acetylcholine, succinylcholine paralyses the muscles, while acetylcholine makes the muscles contract. When an animal is injected with succinylcholine, the animal indeed shows repeated contractual movements of the muscles. These repetitive muscular movements have been given the name fasciculations. After a few minutes of fasciculations, the muscles get tired, and paralysis sets in.” “Doctor, is succinylcholine easily available in the market?” “Oh, yes. Succinylcholine is available as injections of Anectine. It is marketed also as a sterile powder. Injections are available in three different concentrations- 20 mg/ml, 50 mg/ml and 100 mg/ml. Now that you have understood some basic facts about succinylcholine, I can tell you, how this drug kills. It repeatedly stimulates and finally paralyses, respiratory muscles. This causes respiratory failure and death. The usual dose in surgical operations is 20 mg, but more can be given too. It is interesting to note that this succinylcholine not only relaxes abdominal muscles, but also respiratory muscles, so the anesthetists maintain the respiration of the patient artificially throughout the operation. If however the same dose is injected by a person for suicidal purposes, or by someone with homicidal intentions, it would easily kill, because there is no one to support the respiration artificially. In other words, the same dose helps a surgeon in operation, and the very same dose would kill a person, if it were given with homicidal intentions.” “Doctor how are we going to prove that Subodh indeed died of succinylcholine poisoning?” “Tarun, in the body, succinylcholine is broken down by enzymes in human plasma, especially by one known as pseudocholinesterase, into succinic acid and nitrogen containing choline. Both of these are normal components of human tissues. That is why it is indeed difficult to say by chemical examination of Subodh’s viscera alone that he died of succinylcholine poisoning. However, I have found the lungs to be swollen and loaded with water. In technical terms we say that the lungs are oedematous. This is a sign that Subodh’s respiration was compromised just before his death. If we couple this finding with other findings at the scene of his death, it becomes very plain and simple that Subodh has died of succinylcholine poisoning. Regarding the manner of death, I do not think, Suresh has injected this drug into Subodh’s body. Subodh would simply not allowed him to do that. It appears that Subodh has committed suicide because of failure in love.” “Doctor, had someone caught him during the act, or just after it, could he have been saved? In other words, what is the antidote of succinylcholine?” “Tarun, unfortunately there is no antidote to succinylcholine. The only thing one could have done is to give artificial respiration as the respiration is compromised in succinylcholine poisoning.” "This was a most interesting discussion doctor. Tell me what are you going to tell me the next time?" "Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison - Gold."

Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE MARCH 2000 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS DEATH BY RADON -Dr. Anil Aggrawal "Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a middle aged man today. What happened to him? Please tell me.” “Good morning Tarun. The name of this 45 year old man is Ramlal, and he was working in a drug factory. He was living with his invalid wife and a 20 year old son, in his ancestral house for the last so many years. For some months now, he was not feeling well. His friends and relatives were constantly advising him to see some doctor, but he refused to believe he was sick. He died today morning. Normally in such cases, no police enquiry occurs, but this man was a Union leader, and there have been widespread rumors that the management somehow managed slow poisoning in his case. It has been alleged that this was particularly easy for the management to do so, as he was working in a drug factory, and all sorts of harmful drugs were available to the management. The pressure of the workers was so much, that the police had to arrest the top management people. Currently they are in police custody, and can’t meet anyone." "So what do you think doctor?" "Tarun, I have just now conducted a thorough autopsy on him, and I found that he has died because of lung cancer. Now there is no poison except one that can induce lung cancer, and that is the Radon gas." "You mean someone gave him radon gas to kill him? That sounds preposterous." "I will talk about it later. But first some investigations that I did in this case. When I found that his body was unusually radioactive, I visited his house, and was not very surprised to find a great amount of radioactivity in his house too. In fact this is what I had expected." "From where is that radioactivity coming doctor? Did someone from the management lace his house with radon gas?" "Tarun, the radioactivity in all probability is coming from the underground." "From the Underground? I really don't understand that. Now doctor, I feel I must know the radon story from the beginning. Otherwise I won't be able to follow you intelligently. Kindly tell me the radon story from the beginning." "Tarun, Let me tell you about some general facts about Radon first. It is a colorless, odorless, and tasteless gas found in Group 0 of the Periodic Table. It has a density of 9.25 g per cubic decimeter. In fact, it is the heaviest gas known. It is 7.5 times heavier than air and more than 100 times heavier than hydrogen. The gas liquefies at -61.80 C (-800 F) and freezes at -710 C (-960 F). On further cooling, solid radon glows with a soft yellow light that becomes orange-red at the temperature of liquid air (-1950 C [-3190 F]). Natural radon consists of three isotopes. They have the atomic weights of 219, 220 and 222, and thus are written as radon-219, radon-220 and radon-222 respectively. In chemistry the usual practice of writing the atomic weights is on the upper left hand side of the element symbol; thus the three isotopes are often represented as 219Rn, 220Rn and 222Rn. The half life of all three varieties is very short. But among themselves, the shortest half life is that of the variety having least atomic weight, and the longest half life is that of the variety having the maximum atomic weight. Thus the half life of 219Rn is only 3.92 seconds. Half life, as you surely know is the period, in which the original amount of a radioactive material is reduced by half. The half life of 220Rn is slightly more; 51.5 seconds. The longest lived of all is 222Rn, but even this variety has a half life of just 3.823 days. All the three varieties do not occur in nature as such, but are produced as a result of decay of other radioactive materials. 222Rn is produced by the decay of Radium; 220Rn from the decay of Thorium, and 219Rn from the decay of Actinium. In fact their parent elements give them their more popular names. 222Rn, since it is produced from radium, is known as radon. For similar reasons, 220Rn and 219Rn are known as thoron and actinon respectively. Thus when we speak of radon, we usually refer only to the isotope 222Rn. The other varieties, i.e. thoron and actinon, may be referred to as the isotopes of radon. I may tell you that the first isotope of radon to be discovered was thoron, which was discovered in 1899 by the British scientists R.B. Owens and Ernest Rutherford, who noticed that some of the radioactivity of thorium compounds could be blown away with the passage of time. Radon was discovered in 1900 by the German chemist Friedrich E. Dorn. The last isotope of radon to be discovered was actinon which was found in 1904, independently by Friedrich O. Giesel and André-Louis Debierne. Although these three are the naturally occurring isotopes of radon, now more than a dozen artificial radioactive isotopes of radon are known. I may tell you that radon and all its isotopes are rare in nature because they are all short-lived and because their sources, radium, thorium and actinium are rare. The atmosphere contains traces of radon near the ground as a result of seepage from soil and rocks, all of which contain minute quantities of radium. You may ask where the radium comes from within the soil and rocks. Actually Radium occurs as a natural decay product of uranium which is present in various types of rocks. It is now known that some tracts of land contain unusually high amounts of uranium beneath. This gives rise to more radium and more radon, which seeps up through the soil and collects in homes if they happen to be built on that land. Radon is now known to cause lung cancer in populations which are exposed to it. Indeed, radon is now thought to be the single most important cause of lung cancer among nonsmokers. By the late 1980s, naturally occurring radon gas had come to be recognized as a potentially serious health hazard. The gas, arising from soil and rocks, seeps through the foundations, basements, or piping of buildings and can accumulate in the air of houses that are poorly ventilated. Exposure to high concentrations of this radon over the course of many years can greatly increase the risk of developing lung cancer. Radon levels are highest in homes built over geological formations that contain uranium mineral deposits. I may tell you that 222Rn is itself radioactive, and it decays into 218Po, which in turn decays into 214Pb, 214Bi, 214Po. These four radionuclides are called the radon daughters. They all become attached to particles in the air and get breathed into lungs. 222Rn, 218Po, 214Po are all alpha emitters. Radiation can cause damage to biological molecules, and can induce cancers, genetic defects and accelerated aging." "Doctor, all this sounds very frightening indeed. You told me that by the late 1980s, radon had come to be recognized as a serious health hazard. Tell me how exactly scientists discovered that radon gas could be emanating from the soil and collecting in the houses." "Tarun, it is a very remarkable story indeed. It started on December 2, 1984, in Pennsylvania, USA. Before that it was known that radon occurs as a serious health hazard in mines, but its occurrence in ordinary homes was not known. During December 1984, the alarm bells in the Limerick nuclear power plant (in Pennsylvania, near Philadelphia, USA) were constantly ringing, indicating that someone had been contaminated with radioactivity. But it was not known who it was. There were concerns that the radioactivity might escape and pollute the environment. Then on the fateful day of 2 December 1984, a worker Stanley Watras was found to be unusually radioactive. When more investigations were done, it was surprisingly discovered that the radioactivity was coming from his house. Some people believed that he was stealing some radioactive material from the work place and taking it home, but none was found. Still more investigations showed that unusual amounts of radon were leaking in his house from the underground. The house of Watras was so radioactive that the health risk of living there was the same as smoking hundreds of cigarettes a day! On detailed investigations it was found, that his house straddled a vein of uranium ore. The authorities decided to investigate the levels of radon in other nearby houses and the results were worrying. By the end of 1986, about 20,000 houses had been checked in Pennsylvania, and one in eight were found to be overloaded with radon! Well, here in the table you can find some important dates in radon research in America. (N.B. The table is quite complex and is very difficult to put over the net. Readers desirous of having the table may want to get in touch with the webmaster.) "Oh, that is quite informative." "Gradually, the public became so concerned about radon, that the government found it imperative to decide upon a safe level of radon, which could be allowed in the homes and at workplaces. These levels were called Action Levels. Levels above these Action Levels were considered unsafe and legislations were passed, which could prosecute managements if they allowed radon levels to rise above these prescribed limits. Action Levels for homes were 200 Becquerels per cubic meters (200 Bq m-3), while those for work places were 400 Becquerels per cubic meters (400 Bq m-3).” “Sorry to interrupt you doctor, but I don’t quite understand the concept of Becquerels. Could you please explain me that?” “Sure. Antoine Henri Becquerel, as you surely know was a French physicist who discovered radioactivity through his investigations of uranium and other substances. In 1903 he shared the Nobel Prize for Physics with Pierre and Marie Curie. In his honor, scientists have named the unit of radioactivity. A sample of radioactive substance would be said to have a radioactivity of one Becquerel if in that sample one atom disintegrates per second. So if I say that the level of Radon in a particular home is 200 Becquerels per cubic meters, it means that there is so much Radon in that house that in every cubic meter of that house, 200 atoms of Radon are disintegrating per second. This is a very small Unit. A bigger Unit is Curie, which is equivalent to 3.7 X 1010 Becquerels. You might be surprised at this odd figure. Actually one Curie is the amount of radioactivity given off by one gram of radium. And it is seen that in one gram of radium, about 3.7 X 1010 atoms disintegrate per second. Hence this figure. You might think that the unit Curie is named after Marie Curie, the joint winner of Nobel Prize with Becquerel, but it is actually named after her husband Pierre Curie, who too shared the Prize with them. This is a little known interesting fact. Most people wrongly think that this unit is named after Marie Curie. While I am on the subject, I may tell you something more about the safe levels of Radon in houses. It was found that houses with levels of 2000 Bq m-3 and more were very dangerous places to live in. The house of Stanley Watras had fifty time more radioactivity than this - a radioactivity of 100,000 Bq m-3!” "Doctor, now I know enough about Radon and its dangers. Do you seriously think, someone from the management arranged for the radon gas to be accumulated in Ramlal's house so he could die of lung cancer?" "Tarun, theoretically speaking it is possible, but practically such a possibility is exceedingly low. Radon is not an easy gas to prepare. Concentrated samples of radon are prepared synthetically for medical and research purposes only and that too in highly specialized labs. Typically a supply of radium is kept in a glass vessel in aqueous solution or in the form of a porous solid from which the radon can readily flow. At intervals of a few days, the accumulated radon is pumped off, purified, and compressed into a small tube, which is then sealed and removed. The tube of gas is a source of penetrating gamma radiation, which comes mainly from one of radon's decay products, bismuth-214 (214Bi). Such tubes of radon have been used for radiotherapy and radiography. My initial thought was that Ramlal's house is built on a tract of land which is rich in Uranium, but I had to get the opinion of a geologist before I could finally say anything. I have got that opinion now, and the report says that my guess was correct. Ramlal’s house indeed is constructed over a land rich in Uranium. Come let us tell the police that those management people are innocent, and it was Radon, which took the life of Ramlal. "Unbelievable! This was a most interesting discussion doctor. Tell me what are you going to tell me the next time?" "Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison - Hydrogen Peroxide."

Book Review Policy Reviews of Forensic Books/Journals/Software/Multimedia SPREADING AWARENESS The journal strives to spread awareness about the latest forensic literature among the forensic professionals of the world. Every month tens of new books related to forensic sciences and allied subjects are published, but it takes a while before forensic professionals become aware of them. In several cases, they just remain unaware of these publications throughout. I have been personally handicapped by several such instances. I will tell you just one. In 1998, I went to Bijapur (a historical city in Karnataka State in India), to take a guest lecture, and as is my wont, was thumbing through their library books in my spare time. I was amazed to see a nice biography of Thomas Noguchi published sometime in the late seventies. It gave some of his best cases (among them the murder of Dorothy Stratten, Playboy Playmate of August 1979, who was killed by her lover Paul Snider, when she was six months short of her twenty-first birthday. I had been searching for the details of this murder investigation for quite sometime without any success!). I was completely unaware of this book for all these years , and would have given a fortune to possess this book, but alas, the book was already out of print. What pained (and annoyed) me most was that I have been frantically buying books since late sixties, and had I been aware of the existence of this book at the time it was published, I would have done anything to acquire it - even if it would have entailed writing to the publishers overseas. As I pined for this book (and several others - "Pathology of Homicide" by Adelson is another, "Guinness Book of Crime", which I saw at the British Council Library in New Delhi another, "Poisons, Antidotes and Anecdotes" by William Tichy (Sterling Pub. Comp., New York, N.Y., 1977) still another - the list is endless), I became acutely aware that there should be some surefire and foolproof system by which forensic professionals could become aware of important publications soon after they came in existence. We have been running this very successful Internet Journal for quite sometime now. This has become a sine qua non for most professionals around the world (its beauty is that unlike most other online journals, it is available free online to all), and they turn back often to this journal to see what is the latest happening here. And we at the Journal office decided that it would be best to use this journal as a forum to spread awareness. We wrote to several authors and publishers and the response was amazing. We received books from them regularly and as they came in we got down to scanning them, sorting them, describing them. As can be seen, our reviews are radically different from those appearing in most "Paper journals". We give the front and back cover in high color resolution, and also some of the key diagrams, contents, tables etc in full color, which can be enlarged further at the command of the viewer. The idea is to make the reader feel as if he is himself thumbing through the book, and can take an intelligent decision regarding it. We also began reviewing other items related to forensic medicine (Software, Multimedia, Journals). With time, this section also became really valuable for our readers. Encouraged by the response to reviews of Professional Publications, software and multimedia, we took to reviews of popular books on crime too. Again we wrote to several authors and publishers and again the response was encouraging. I think if somebody had been running such a journal twenty years back, all of us would have had much more books in our collection than we have now (I Certainly would have had Thomas Noguchi's book!). But better late than never! (The journal accepts important books, journals, software and multimedia (VHS, CDs, DVDs) related to Forensic Science, Forensic Medicine, Toxicology, Criminology and Allied subjects for extensive reviews. Both technical and general books are reviewed in separate sections. The journal is visited not only by Forensic Professionals from all over the world, but also by general public exploring subjects related to mystery, crime, suspense, intrigue, supernatural and horror. The reviews are usually hosted within two weeks an item is received at the journal office. For more details please visit our FAQ section.) Books and other items for review must be submitted at the following address Professor Anil Aggrawal (Editor-in-Chief) Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology S-299 Greater Kailash-1 New Delhi-110048 India Phone:+91-11-29235460