Forensic Science Fiction

Forensic Toxicology THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE APPEARED IN THE OCTOBER 2000 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS DEATH BY LITHIUM “Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a young man today. What happened to him? Please tell me.” “Good morning Tarun. The name of this young man is Vinod, and he was 23 years old. He was living alone in his flat, and was working as a steno cum typist in a local private office. Yesterday night one of his friends Sagar gave him a courtesy visit, and handed over a cheese pizza to him, which apparently he had baked at home. He said that he was learning the art of pizza making, and wanted him to taste one of his creations. After about one hour of taking the pizza, Vinod started having some strange symptoms. He was having slurred speech, vomiting, poor coordination, muscle twitching, severe tremors, severe diarrhea, trouble in walking and severe drowsiness. There was some mental confusion too. He called one of his neighbors whom he requested to accompany to the hospital. Vinod also told him how Sagar had delivered him a pizza and how after about one hour of eating that pizza, he had started those symptoms. It is from him, that we have come to know the whole story. He arrived in the hospital at about 11 pm. The doctors tried to arrive at a diagnosis, and till they could discover the cause of his illness, they decided to keep him on conservative treatment. However today morning Vinod died at about 5 am.” “Oh, that’s terrible. So do you think Sagar mixed something in the pizza to kill Vinod?” “Could be. I am not sure. But Sagar must have had some motive to kill Vinod. We have gone into the background of Sagar, and have found out that he was a chemistry graduate and passed his M.Sc . examinations in chemistry with flying colors. He got admission in a Ph.D. course too, but dropped off because of some family problems. On deeper probing we found out that both Vinod and Sagar loved a very beautiful girl Sudha. Sudha however had shown an inclination for Vinod and Sagar never liked that. Everyone was aware of this fact, but everyone took it very lightly. Nobody ever thought – nor are they convinced now – that Sagar could kill Vinod because of that. The police has caught Sagar and have asked questions from him. Sagar looks terrified, but he asserts that he did not kill Vinod. It is now up to me to find out how he died.” “So how did he die doctor?” “Tarun, from the symptoms that Vinod displayed, I can only think of one poison.” “Doctor, what is that poison? Please tell me. I am getting curious.” “Tarun. It could be none other than lithium. But I am trying to confirm it through post-mortem, so that we do not face any trouble in court later on.” “Lithium? Never thought it could be used as a poison. Looks like we are once again on to one of your great stories on exotic poisons. Please tell me about lithium from the beginning” “Tarun, Lithium was discovered by the Swedish scientist Johan August Arfwedson (1792-1841) in 1817, who believed it to be a new kind of alkali. Fellow scientist Jöns Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848) suggested that this substance be called “lithia” because it was obtained from the mineral petalite, which was stony in nature. I may tell you that in Greek, the word lithos means stone. This Greek word makes its appearance in many medical terms such as lithotomy , which refers to removal of stone from the urinary bladder. Berzelius perhaps wanted to highlight lithium’s origin from stone (by naming it after the Greek word for stone), because similar elements sodium and potassium had earlier been discovered in plants, and it appeared rather odd to him, that a similar element must now be found in a stony substance. However, later the British chemist Humphry Davy (1778-1829), changed the name to Lithium, which stuck. Well, that is as far as the naming of this element is concerned. Now, as you must be knowing, Lithium is the lightest of all metals (group Ia). Its atomic number is 3, and its molecular weight is 6.941 daltons. It is a soft, silver-white metal having a boiling point of 24480 F (13420 C) and melting point of 3580 F (1810 C). Its specific gravity is 0.534. As I told you earlier, it resembles sodium and potassium quite closely.” “Doctor has lithium been used as a medicine too?” “Lithium salts have been used in therapeutics for quite sometime. As early as 200 A.D., the Greek physician Galen was prescribing alkaline spring baths for manic patients. Interestingly lithium is abundant in some alkaline mineral-spring waters. In the 1850s, Lithium salts were used in the treatment of gout. Gout is a painful condition of the joints, in which sodium urate crystals are deposited in the joints. The aim of gout therapy is to somehow remove that excess sodium urate from the joints. When lithium salts are given to such patients, they would react with sodium urate and form lithium urate, which is highly water soluble. It was believed that in this way, it would “wash away” the excess sodium urate stored in the joints. It however proved worthless. In those days gout was believed to include symptoms of mania and depression, and by extension, it can perhaps be said that these salts were used for treating these symptoms as well. However it was later used “exclusively” for the treatment of psychiatric ailments, when in 1880s, John Aulde and Carl Lange observed that lithium could be used to treat symptoms associated with depression, independent of gout. However its use could never “catch on”, because of the serious toxicity associated with it. In the same era, lithium bromide was used as a sedative and anticonvulsant. Since lithium chloride has a salty taste, it was used as a substitute for sodium chloride, or common salt, in heart patients in the late 1940s. I may tell you that sodium chloride or common salt is strictly prohibited in heart patients, as it is known to increase blood pressure. However substituting lithium chloride for sodium chloride proved disastrous, as many persons suffered from chronic lithium poisoning, and some even died. Its use as a salt substitute was withdrawn immediately thereafter. Interestingly, it has also been used as a constituent of the soft drink 7-Up, which was once very popular in the US. In 1949, a little known psychiatrist named J.F.J. Cade in Australia “rediscovered” its use in the treatment of some mental disorders. He was looking for toxic nitrogenous substances in the urine of mental patients. He had to inject these substances in guinea pigs and see the effects. In one of the steps of these experiments, he had to administer lithium salts to guinea pigs. He noticed that the animals became lethargic. Cade immediately saw its use in manic patients, and prescribed it to them. It was met with remarkable success. However in the US, the doctors were so skeptical about it (because of earlier deaths of patients taking lithium chloride as salt substitute), that they did not use it till 1970! A case of over cautiousness undoubtedly.” “Doctor, you have used the terms mania and depression too often. Could you please explain a little bit more about these ?” “Sure. But let me tell you a little bit about mood disorders first. Mood disorders were earlier known as affective disorders. These are those disorders of the mind in which the mood swings regularly between mania and depression. Mania is a condition where there is extreme excitation, excessive elation, agitation, over talkativeness, flight of ideas, fleeting attention, and sometimes violent, destructive or self-destructive behavior in the patient. Depression of the other hand is a condition where there is an exaggerated feeling of sadness, melancholy, dejection and worthlessness. Mania and depression are thus two “opposite poles” of the mood. Unipolar disorders of the mood are those in which the mood remains at “one pole” (Latin unus , one) as in major depression . In bipolar psychiatric disorders, the mood cyclically switches between these two poles (Latin bis , two), with the normal symptom free period (called euthymia ) between them, which may last for weeks, months or even years. If the patient is passing through a manic phase, his disorder is diagnosed as bipolar disorder, manic and if through a depressed phase, as bipolar disorder, depressed . Patients may have depressive and manic features simultaneously. For instance a patient may have extreme fatigue (a symptom of depression), along with racing thoughts (a symptom of mania). Or he may have hypersomnia (a feature of depression) along with increased sexual drive (a symptom of mania). The disorder of these patients is diagnosed as bipolar disorder, mixed . Mood disorders are fairly common. It has been estimated that about 5% of the adult population in the US is suffering from clinically significant mood disorders. Interestingly, disability resulting from mood disorders, even those that are minimally symptomatic, exceeds that of most major chronic medical disorders such as diabetes, arthritis and angina. A distinction between unipolar and bipolar disorders is important from a clinical standpoint. It has been seen that bipolar disorders respond better to lithium than unipolar disorders. When given to manic patients who characteristically sleep very little, lithium corrects the sleep disorder as the mania abates.” “Doctor, have lithium salts been used in other diseases too?” “Yeah, they have been used in patients who have an abnormally low number of white blood cells in their blood. Lithium has been beneficial in increasing their WBC counts. It has also been used in some types of headaches. Lithium Carbonate is effective in the treatment of thyrotoxicosis (a condition in which the thyroid gland becomes overactive), and provides an alternate therapy when conventional antithyroid drugs can not be used because the patient is allergic to them. And of course the biggest use of lithium salts is in psychiatric conditions as I told you earlier.” “Doctor how does lithium act to help in psychiatric conditions?” “Nobody really knows, but there are interesting conjectures. You may be knowing that sodium and potassium, two elements which are very similar to lithium are very intimately connected with passage of nerve impulses. It is believed that lithium “mimics” these elements and in some way, alters the passage of nerve impulses in such ways that the patients of mania become relaxed. There are some other theories too, but they are also conjectural in nature. After Lithium is eaten, it is completely absorbed from the gut in 8 hours, with peak concentrations in plasma occurring in 2-4 hours after an oral dose. Approximately 95% of lithium is excreted in urine, 4% in sweat and 1% in faeces. About 80% of the filtered lithium is reabsorbed in the proximal tubules of the kidney. None is reabsorbed in distal tubules. Elimination half-life is 24 hours, which goes up to 60 hours during chronic lithium treatment. Half life refers to that period in which half of the ingested quantity of lithium is excreted from the body. Lithium is excreted in milk, so mothers taking lithium must not breast-feed their babies. “Doctor, is lithium available in the market?” “Oh sure. Lithium is available with the chemists mainly as lithium carbonate (300 mg tables) and as Lithium citrate syrup. The commonly available tablets are Licab (made by Torrent) 300 mg tablets or capsules, and Lithocarb (made by Merck) 300 mg capsules. The therapeutic index of lithium is very low, approaching almost 2-3)....” “Excuse me for the interruption doctor, but what is therapeutic index?” “Tarun, almost any drug which can be used as a medicine, can be used as a poison too. But generally for a drug to be used as a poison, it has to be used in really a great quantity. If, a drug is useful clinically in a dose of say, 1mg, it might be poisonous in a dose of 200 g. Thus to be used as a poison, it has to be used in a dose which is 200,000 times the therapeutic dose. Its therapeutic index thus is 200,000 – a very high number. High therapeutic indices show that a drug is quite safe to use. But now let us take the example of another drug. If it was useful clinically in a dose of 1 mg, and toxic in a dose of say, 2 mg, its therapeutic index would be just 2. Doctors would have to use this drug very carefully, because if by mistake they increase the dose just a little, the patient might have serious toxicity.” “Oh, I see. So the therapeutic index of lithium is just 2 or 3. This is really dangerous.” “Yeah. In fact, because of its low therapeutic index, plasma lithium concentrations in patients receiving lithium have to be monitored very carefully. Almost every week the plasma lithium concentration may have to be determined and dosage adjusted accordingly. Optimal concentration is supposed to be between 0.8 and 1.25 mEq per liter. This concentration is achieved by 900-1500 mg of lithium carbonate per day or about 3-5 tablets per day. The following table may give some useful figures regarding lithium toxicity. Severity of symptoms Toxic Stage Serum lithium concentration (mEq/L) Tablets of Lithocarb required to achieve this concentration No toxicity (therapeutic) 0 0.4-1.3 3-5 Mild toxicity I 1.5-2.5 6-10 Serious toxicity II 2.5-3.5 9-15 Life threatening toxicity III >3.5 20 Thus a total of 20 tables taken at a time may be sufficient to kill a person. I may tell you that Lithium may begin its own vicious cycle of toxicity in a very interesting way. It is known to antagonize the effects of antidiuretic hormone (ADH). This is a hormone, which reduces the formation of urine in the body, and thus preserves water in the body. By antagonizing ADH, the urine output may increase and the patient may become dehydrated. To compensate for this, there may be more tubular reabsorption of water in the proximal tubules, with associated increased reabsorption of lithium, and consequent toxicity.” “I see. Now I know enough about lithium to follow your conversation. Tell me how Sagar must have killed Vinod.” “Tarun, while I was talking to you, I was simultaneously determining the amount of lithium in Vinod’s blood, and I have found the concentration to be >5 mEq/L. I feel that Sagar bought some tablets of lithium carbonate or lithium chloride from a chemist, crushed them into fine powder and baked them along with pizza. He gave this pizza to Vinod knowing fully well, that he would die after eating it. He wanted to remove Vinod from his way, so he could marry Sudha. I have chemically examined the remaining piece of pizza found from Vinod’s home too, and have found an excessive quantity of lithium there too. He probably would never have done it for such a minor cause, but he was very sure, he would never be caught, because he used such an ingenious method to kill his rival. But the symptoms of Vinod and some shrewd thinking on my part exposed his plans. Come, let us tell the police that it is Sagar who has poisoned Vinod.” “That is very clever of you doctor. Without your clever deduction it would have been impossible to say how Vinod died and Sagar may have gone scot-free. What are you going to tell me next time?” “Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison – Akee.” **************** (To protect the identity of the individuals, their names, as well as the various dates of occurrence have been changed)

Reviewers' Board: Best Toxicology Books A journal affiliated to Anil Aggrawal's Forensic Toxicology Page V.V.Pillay, MD, DCL Professor, Dept. of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology Chief, Poison Control & DNA Typing Units, Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences & Research, Cochin 682026 South India E-mail: toxicology@medical.amrita.edu Professor V.V.Pillay has been in the vanguard of the movement among medical professionals in India to develop the neglected field of Toxicology. He has published extensively in both the scientific and lay press on matters relating to Toxicology, as well as his chosen discipline - Forensic Medicine. Dr.Pillay has authored 5 books on Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, and has received an award for one of them (Modern Medical Toxicology), generally considered to be a trend setter among books on the subject in India. He has reviewed several books on Toxicology for the Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Dr.Pillay received a scroll of honour in appreciation of work done in the field of Toxicology from the Medicolegal Society, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He is instrumental in establishing a state-of-the-art Poison Control Center at the institute where he is currently employed, which is among the few such Centers in India recognized by the World Health Organization. Among his most sought-after publications is a 700 page reference work on Toxicology. Dr. Pillay has recently started a professional organization exclusively dedicated to toxicology - The Indian Society of Toxicology, which has drawn membership of professionals and researchers from all over the country and abroad. The Society brings out a peer reviewed journal biannually (Journal of Indian Society of Toxicology). Professor Pillay is also an Executive Editor in Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Book Reviews.

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SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION-14 CONTUSIONS - THE VITAL EVIDENCE A remarkable case came to me in the summer of 1992. Bali Ram, a nine‑year‑old stepchild of Hari Ram and Bhairon Devi had fallen down the stairs and had fallen down the stairs and had died. Actually, when he fell down the stairs, there was a big hue and cry in the neighborhood. Some neighbors came to the spot immediately and brought the child to LNJP casualty. The child was declared dead on arrival and sent to me for post mortem examination. A few facts about the family may be said her, before we go on further. HariRam had lost his first wife Kasturi about 5 years back. She had died of tuberculosis. Bali Ram was Kasturi's son. After Kasturi's death, Hari Ram became a recluse for almost two years, but gradually the shock of his wife's death faded and Hari Ram married for the second time. From the beginning, it was apparent that Bhairon Devi, the new bride hated Bali Ram intensely. In the beginning, she would merely ignore him but gradually she started handing him more severe punishment. She would often beat him and deny him food. I got this history from the neighbor. The moment I got this history, I became very cautious and decided to look for clues that might give me the correct story. The boy had died from head injury which he had sustained during the fall from stairs. There were several fractures on his skull, and the brain inside showed blood clots. This was ample proof that he had indeed fallen down the stairs. However, the clues that could give me some 'behind‑the scene' story still eluded me. Finally I turned over the body and looked for injuries more closely. There were several contusions on the back. these are also known as bruises. In common parlance, in Hindi, we know these as " Neel ". These are commonly caused by blunt force application. I had looked at these contusions before starting the post‑mortem, but at that time I thought that they were produced by fall from stairs. Contusions can indeed be produced by a fall from the stairs. However, when I looked at them closely, I found them to have some pattern. These contusions are known as patterned contusions and are quite helpful in the forensic work. They tell us the shape of the object which was used to hit the deceased. If the hitting object was a lathi or an iron rod, the contusions would be linear in shape. If a hockey stick was used to beat the deceased, the contusions would take the shape of hockey stick and so on. Look at the figure A and you would realize that the contusions indeed have a pattern. I tried to decipher what the object could be, but the exact object eluded me. Then suddenly, like a flash of lightning, the object came to my mind. It had to be a coat‑hanger. The contusions looked exactly like that. I told this fact to the police officer Tejpal. I thought that Bali Ram was first mercilessly beaten by Bhairon Devi and then pushed down from the stairs. If this point of view could be proved, it would change the whole scenario from an accident to murder! The case was beginning to take a serious turn. Bhairon Devi was summoned by Tejpal, the investigating officer, and questioned. She reaffirmed that Bali Ram had indeed fallen down the stairs and she hadn't beaten him. She asserted that she loved Bali Ram like her own child. How ever her neighbors refused to confirm her assertion that she loved Bali Ram like her own child. They asserted that she often beat Bali Ram. Finally Tejpal decided to search her house. The specific thing he was looking for, was the hanger with which Baliram was supposed to have been beaten. Finally he indeed found the hanger and brought it to me. When I matched the shape of the hanger with that of the contusions, the shapes corresponded completely. (See figure B). This testified that the boy was indeed beaten. This evidence broke Bhairon Devi and she confessed the whole crime. She was duly prosecuted by the court on my evidence and sentenced to life imprisonment. This case amply illustrates, how a seemingly trivial clue can turn a case entirely.

Discover critical reviews of key books in forensic science, toxicology, criminology, and related disciplines. Curated by experts, this journal guides readers through the most impactful academic and professional titles. ISSN: 0972-9666 (CD version) ISSN: 0972-9674 (Online version Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Book Reviews (Published biannually on the 1st January and 1st July every year) [Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Book Reviews is Indexed / Listed with Academic Search Complete, EBSCO, Gale Cengage, Humanities International Complete, Library Information Science & Technology Abstracts (LISTA) and MasterFILE Premier.] Combined index of all Issues Archives Issue Volume-1 Volume-2 Volume-3 Volume-4 Volume-5 Volume-6 Volume-7 Volume-8 Volume-9 Volume-10 Volume-11 Volume-12 Volume-13 Volume-14 Number 1 January - June 2002 January - June 2003 January - June 2004 January - June 2005 January - June 2006 January - June 2007 January - June 2008 January - June 2009 January - June 2010 January - June 2011 January - June 2012 January - June 2013 January - June 2014 January - June 2015 Number 2 July - December 2002 July - December 2003 July - December 2004 July - December 2005 July - December 2006 July - December 2007 July - December 2008 July - December 2009 July - December 2010 July - December 2011 July - December 2012 July - December 2013 July - December 2014 July - December 2015 (Archived issues can be accessed by clicking on them) IMPORTANT NOTE: ALL REVIEWS APPEARING IN THIS ONLINE JOURNAL ARE COPYRIGHTED BY "ANIL AGGRAWAL'S INTERNET JOURNAL OF BOOK REVIEWS" AND MAY NOT BE REPOSTED, REPRINTED OR OTHERWISE USED IN ANY MANNER WITHOUT THE WRITTEN PERMISSION OF THE WEBMASTER. Book Review Journal (Access the pages by clicking on them.) Aims & Objectives Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) Reviewers' Panel Interviews Editorial/Reviewer Board Featured Reviews Journal CD Be our Sponsor Anil Aggrawal's Books Cumulative index of Book Reviews Sorted by Publishers Subjects Cumulative Index of Multimedia Reviews (Sorted by Publishers) Books Reviews on Audio Cassettes (Sorted By Publishers) Combined Index of All Issues Editorial's Cumulative Index Cumulative index of Reviews with Quizzes Submit books/journals/software/multimedia for review (Book Review Policy )

< Back To Main Page. [Epub ahead] Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Volume 27, Number 1, January - June 2026 Contents Papers Posttraumatic Ischemic Brain Stroke After Sharp Neck Injury: A Case Report Based on Autopsy By: Ivan Tsranchev ¹ , Pavel Timonov ² , Stela Yancheva ³ , Kristina Hadzhieva ⁴ , Teodora Gudelova ⁵ , Mirena Sotirova ⁶ , Antoaneta Fasova ⁷ , Elizabet Dzhambazova ⁸ , Petar Uchikov ⁹ Read Ivan Tsranchev

< Back To Main Page. LinkedIn X (Twitter) Facebook Copy link Anil Aggrawal's Internet Journal of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Volume 27 Number 2 ( July - December 2026) Contents Papers Domestic Violence Leading to Pediatric Burns: A Clinical Forensic Case From East Java, Indonesia Ibnu Chaldun ¹ , Ahmad Yudianto ² , Putu Bagus Dharma Permana ³ Forensic Medicine and Medicolegal Specialist Program, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia Postgraduate Forensic Science Study Program, Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Surabaya, Indonesia DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.15743408 Read

Forensic Toxicology FOR JANUARY 2001 ISSUE THE POISON SLEUTHS DEATH BY MANDRAKE -Dr. Anil Aggrawal “Good morning doctor. Oh, my God, what are you doing today? You have the dead body of a young man today. What happened to him? Please tell me.” “Good morning Tarun. The name of this young man is Sukhram, and he is about 23 years old. He had a friend called Mansukh about the same age. Both of them loved the same girl Sudha, and often there used to be some tension between the two regarding her. Yesterday night Mansukh came to Sukhram’s house along with a bottle of alcohol, and the two had alcohol together. After Mansukh left, Sukhram started feeling sick. He complained of dryness of mouth, with nausea and vomiting, difficulty in swallowing, blurred vision and drowsiness. He was living alone, so there was no one to take him to the hospital. He immediately contacted some of his neighbors who took him to the local hospital. There the doctor started investigating him, but today morning he died. I have talked to the doctor in the local hospital, and they tell me that his pupils were very wide, he had a dry hot skin and he suffered from hallucinations too.” “So what do you make of his death doctor?” “Tarun, after studying his signs and symptoms, I can think of two or three poisons, but the one most likely in this case is mandragorine.” “Mandragorine? Never heard of this poison. Looks like we are once again to one of your classic poison stories. Let us first know a little bit about mandragorine.” “Tarun, Mandragorine is an alkaloid, which comes from the Mandrake plant. Before proceeding further, I may tell you that alkaloid is a term used for certain plant poisons, which are bitter in taste and they are mildly alkaline in reaction. Most of them contain a nitrogen atom in their molecule. They are poisonous to both animals and man, and plants presumably produce them to save themselves from being eaten by animals. An interesting fact is that all alkaloids are so named that their names end in a suffix “–ine”. Many alkaloids are known, some of the better known being morphine, codeine, nicotine, strychnine, quinine, cocaine, atropine and so on. Mandragorine is also an alkaloid as I told you earlier, and now you can perhaps know it yourself by seeing that its name ends in “-ine”.” “Yeah, I can make that out. It is really an interesting fact.” “Tarun, the name Mandrake is generally given to any of six plant species belonging to the genus Mandragora . These plants are native to the Mediterranean region, i.e. Southern Europe and North Africa and also the Himalayas. It belongs to family Solanaceae. The best-known species, Mandragora officinarum, has a short stem bearing a tuft of ovate flowers, with a thick, large brown fleshy root – resembling quite like a carrot - that is often forked and running 3 to 4 feet into the ground. The leaves are long - nearly a foot long, and 6” wide. The flowers are solitary, with a purple bell-shaped corolla, and the fruit is a fleshy orange-coloured berry. Another species of mandrake, Mandragora autumnalis , flowers in winter on the island of Rhodes, and has beautiful mauve and mauve-white blossoms. The fruit, the golden red love apples, ripens in May.” “Doctor, you talked about the family Solanaceae. I think we have talked about some poisons belonging to this family before too.’ “Yeah, we talked about Capsicum annum before (See Science Reporter NOVEMBER 1997), which also belongs to Solanaceae. Not all plants of this family are poisonous. In fact, some are edible plants too! Among the most important of these edible plants are the potato (Solanum tuberosum), eggplant (Solanum melongena. Known in Hindi as Baingan) and tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum). Capsicum or pepper (Capsicum annuum and Capsicum frutescens) is commonly used as a condiment in foods, but it can be poisonous too, as we have seen in one of our earlier meetings. Among the poisonous plants of this family are tobacco (Nicotiana tabacum), deadly nightshade, (Atropa belladonna), the poisonous jimsonweed (Datura stramonium) and nightshades (Solanum nigrum, Solanum dulcamara, and others). Many garden ornamentals also belong to this family such as the genera Petunia, Lycium, Solanum, Nicotiana, Datura, Salpiglossis, Browallia, Brunfelsia, Cestrum, Schizanthus, Solandra, Streptosolen, and Nierembergia. In all the family Solanaceae contains about 95 genera and at least 2,400 species, but the single genus Solanum contains almost half of all the species. It may be interesting for you to note that the term Solanaceae comes from Latin solor, which means “to comfort” or “to soothe”. It appears that this name came from those members of the family which were earlier used as soothing agents, perhaps of datura or tobacco groups. In fact Mandrake too was used as an anaesthetic in olden days. Mandragora Officinarum, of which I am talking about is also known as the European Mandrake. There is another plant known as American Mandrake, which is Podophyllum peltatum. In common parlance, it is known as mayapple. It belongs to the order Ranunculales. It is a completely different plant, with completely different properties, and we must not confuse the two together. There is yet another plant, the English Mandrake which belongs to the genus Bryonia. It is also a comletely different plant.” “Doctor tell me something specific about European mandrake.” “Tarun, the history of Mandrake goes back thousands of years. It was one of the best known of all aphrodisiacs. It has been mentioned in the Bible and in the Song of Solomon , where it is referred to as dudaim . The Hebrew word dudaim has been translated in the Song of Solomon as “mandrake.” The word dudaim refers to a fruit with a sweet and agreeable odour much in demand by the male sex. The word is probably derived from dudim (the pleasure of love) and has been translated as “apples.” The Sumerians referred to mandrake as nam-tar , or ‘plague god plant’. The ancient Egyptians used it to increase potency, as an aphrodisiac and to ensure fertility. A mandrake beer was very popular in ancient times. It was also valued in ancient Greece and Rome for its narcotic properties and was used as a surgical anaesthetic. One Coptic name of the plant was devil’s testicle . Even today, the mandrake is a sacred plant among the Bedouins of Israel. A lot of myths and fancies are associated with Mandrake. Perhaps no other plant has as many myths associated with it as Mandrake. Many of the myths arise from the fact that its root is forked and looks very much like a human figure. Technically speaking, mandrake’s root is anthropomorphic, i.e. it resembles a human. Because it had such an eerie resemblance to a human, Columella named it planta semiliominis which means ‘semi-plant, semi-human’.” “Who was Columella doctor?” “His full name is Lucius Junius Moderatus Columella and he lived in 1st century in Spain. He was a Roman soldier and farmer who wrote extensively on agriculture and allied subjects in the hope of arousing a love for farming and a simple life. Reference to this plant is also made by Dioscorides (A.D. 40-90). He was a Greek physician and pharmacologist whose work was the foremost classical source of modern botanical terminology and the leading pharmacological text for sixteen centuries. Dioscorides’ travels as a surgeon with the armies of the Roman emperor Nero provided him an opportunity to study the features, distribution, and medicinal properties of many plants and minerals. Excellent descriptions of nearly 600 plants, including cannabis, colchicum, water hemlock, and peppermint, are contained in his De materia medica. Written in five books around the year 77 A.D., this work deals with approximately 1,000 simple drugs. The medicinal and dietetic value of animal derivatives such as milk and honey is described in the second book, and a synopsis of such chemical drugs as mercury (with directions for its preparation from cinnabar), arsenic (referred to as auripigmentum, the yellow arsenic sulfide), lead acetate, calcium hydrate, and copper oxide is found in the fifth book. He clearly refers to sleeping potions prepared from opium and mandragora as surgical anesthetics ‘to such (people) as shall be cut, or cauteried .... For they do not apprehend the pain because they are overborn (overcome) with dead sleep .... But used too much they make men speechless’. Although the work may be considered little more than a drug collector’s manual by modern standards, the original Greek manuscript, which was copied in at least seven other languages, described most drugs used in medical practice until modern times and served as the primary text of pharmacology until the end of the 15th century.” “Doctor, you were telling me that many myths and fancies are associated with Mandrake. Please tell me something about them.” “Tarun, because of its eerie similarity to a human form, it was said to possess a spirit, and was associated with a lot of occult powers. Many so-called witches used to possess this plant, and in fact, in some areas of Europe, possession of Mandrake root was punishable by death. Because it was associated with witchcraft, it was commonly known as Satan’s apple or Circe’s plant . Circe, as you perhaps must be knowing was a sorceress in Greek legend. She was the daughter of Helios, the sun god, and of the ocean nymph Perse. She was able by means of drugs and incantations to change humans into wolves, lions, and swine! This plant was used to invoke not only Circe, but other deities too such as Diana and Saturn.” “Doctor, you mentioned about some witches. Surely there are none. You are a man of science. Why should you mention these things at all?” “You are right Tarun. There are no witches, and there never were any. But to understand the significance of this plant, we must go back in history, and it is a historical fact that at one time, several persons - mainly old women - were tried and executed for being witches. It is now known that many of them were politically inconvenient to the rulers of those times, and that is why they were executed under the pretext of being a witch. The fact is that in mediaeval Europe, a common man strongly believed in witches, and many persons involved in clandestine activities were termed as witches. So when I use the term “witch”, it’s in a historical context only. It was commonly believed, that the witches (in medieval ages) harvested the root at night beneath gallows trees - trees where unrepentant criminals, evil since birth, were supposed to have died. The root purportedly sprang up from the criminal’s body drippings, such as semen. In fact, because it was collected from beneath the gallows, in Germany, it came to be called Galgenmännlein , or ‘little man of the gallows’. According to Christian lore, the witch washed the root in wine and wrapped it in silk and velvet. She fed it with sacramental wafers stolen from a church during communion. Because the witches were supposed to be able to fly on their broom-sticks, it was believed that it was Mandrake, which somehow made it possible for them. Because of this, some people made flying potions – solutions which could literally make you fly – with the help of these plants. Perhaps because it was believed to spring from such substances as a dead criminal’s semen, mandrake root was often used in love potions. The fruits of the plant, also called love apples, were believed to increase fertility. Another name by which this plant was known is dudaim , as I have told you earlier. Many strange effects were supposed to be caused by this plant. It has long been known for its poisonous properties. In ancient times it was used as a narcotic. The crushed root was purported to have caused hallucinations followed by a death-like trance and sleep. The root was also said to have caused insanity. It was used to increase the sexual powers in males, and was given to females to facilitate pregnancy. Another strange belief associated with this plant was that whenever this root was unearthed, it gave a very hideous shriek, and anyone who heard this shriek would either go mad or die soon after. Because of this, an amazing method was developed to unearth this plant.” “Really? What was that doctor?” “It was believed that the mandrake could be safely uprooted only in the moonlight, after appropriate prayer and ritual. If one drew three circles around the plant with the tip of a willow wand and tied a black thread from the plant to the collar of a white dog (according to some versions, the dog had to be black!), one would be safe from the demon’s spell when the mandrake was pulled from the ground. Frequently the ground around the root was consecrated with urine, menstrual blood, or sperm. As early as AD 93 the historian Flavius Josephus (37 AD- 100 AD) described the process, stories of which were embellished over the years. To avoid hearing Mandrake’s shrieks when it was being unearthed, dogs were used to gather the root. The dog was starved for several days and then tied to the root, around which a trench had been cut. The owner stood out of earshot and threw a piece of meat, and as the dog leapt for the meat, the mandrake root was pulled from the ground. Some writers actually stated that the dog immediately died, presumably because he had heard the hideous shrieks. There are also references to the use of a sword to draw three circles around the plant and to the fact the plant could be removed only after sundown. In Rumania, sexual magical rituals for excavating the root have continued into the twentieth century. You may be surprised to know that it was believed that there were male and female mandrakes! The female form had its roots forked and looked like a pair of human legs. It was the one most sought after by everyone, especially the witches. The male, on the other hand, had a single root. Now it is known that it was some normal variation of the root. It was the female form that was carved in the Middle Ages (in Germany and France) into manikins. It was believed that they brought good luck and wealth! It was supposed to be the plant of the Gods, a food of the satyrs, and a magical weapon with miraculous powers. In Germany, peasants took great care of their little mandrakes - bathing them, dressing them, tucking them in at night (sometimes in a coffin) - in order to consult them on important questions. In France, they were considered a kind of elf, called the main-de-gloire or magloire. Often they were stashed in secret cupboards, because possessing one could be dangerous on other counts, too. As I told you earlier, it could expose the owner to the charge of witchcraft and possible execution. It is a historical fact that in 1630, three women in Hamburg were executed on this evidence, and in Orleans in 1603 the wife of a Moor was hanged for harboring a “mandrake-fiend,” purportedly in the shape of a female monkey. In ancient times, it was a common practice to carve these roots into amulets of protection, love attraction, aura purity, or as a sign of magic (depending on the preparation). The planetary rulers of Mandrake were supposed to be Uranus, Mercury, and Pluto. A piece of the root immersed in a chalice of water and set in the moonlight each night until the moon became full, was supposed to create ‘Moon Water’. It was used in purification & lunar rituals. Needless to say, Mandrake also played a part in several very potent sex-magic rituals. Because they were supposed have such magical powers, the roots of mandrake used to be as expensive as gold! Because it was so costly, many other plants were flaunted and sold as mandrake by tricksters. Among the plants which were sold as false mandrake were Ginger, Ginseng, Orchids, Celandine and of course the American and English Mandrakes about which I have told you earlier. All these plants were sold as true Mandrakes, because it was needed for healing and mainly for magic. So commonly was Mandrake associated with magic, that when Lee Falk and Fred Fredericks were searching for a name for their cartoon character having magical powers, they thought the term Mandrake. Now as we all know, the cartoon and comic strip character “Mandrake the Magician” created and developed by them has become a household name!” “Did the medieval doctors used this root in medicine?” “Oh yes. It was used for several purposes. It was used as an anodyne or pain reliever much like aconite, belladonna, & coca leaves. It in fact causes nerve endings to lose sensation, making them less aware of pain. It was used as an emetic (a drug which promotes vomiting), causing the stomach to contract and induce vomiting. You might wonder why any doctor would like his patient to vomit at all. Well, if a patient had accidentally ingested a poison, one of the most popular remedies was to cause the patient to vomit, and Mandrake was a very good emetic. Some people used to drink it to inactivate snake poisoning. When used externally, it was supposed to help reduce infections. It is supposed to have laxative properties when ingested in a suspension. It was known to be helpful in easing rheumatism primarily due to it’s pain-relieving properties. It was used to cure sterility, to promote pregnancy, as a narcotic and inducer of sleep. It was usually considered to enhance creativity because it is a narcotic. I may tell you that many narcotics such as opium are supposed to enhance creativity, but it is a fact which is not medically proven. Ingestion of minute prepared portions was reputed to enhance psychic awareness & abilities. When used properly in magical spells mandrake was used to increase sexual desire (aphrodisiac). Its poisonous effects were known to ancient people. It is interesting that Gaius Plinius Secundus (23-79) wrote the following with reference to this plant: ‘If one drinks a large amount of its sap, one is doomed to death. The one who uses it in a normal quantity is exposed to its soporific effect.’ Plinius Secundus’ statement summarizes the effects of the plant, pointing out not only the danger of its use but also the healing effect, which was much exaggerated in the past. It has also been used as an anaesthetic. In fact many ancient surgical operations are supposed to have been performed under its effect. Surgeons could treat fractures and dislocations, repair hernias, and perform amputations and a few other operations. A mixture of opium, mandragora and alcohol was usually prescribed to deaden pain. I may tell you that all these drugs do cause a remarkable lessening of the sensation of pain, and it is quite possible, that in combination, these drugs worked quite well. I may tell you that a Roman physician reported complicated surgical operations having been performed in Alexandria under the anaesthetic effect of mandrake. Arabian physicians also used it for anaesthetic purposes. In 11th and 12th centuries, mandrake was recognized as an effective painkiller by the famous at that time Universities of Bolonia and Salerno.” “This is indeed quite remarkable. What are its constituents doctor?” “The plant contains upto 0.4% of alkaloids. The principle active components of mandrake are scopolomine (hyoscine), atropine, hyoscyamine, apotropine, cuscohygrine, solandrine and mandragorine and some other active tropane alkaloids. It is exceptionally rich in mandragorine (C17H27O3N) which is a powerful narcotic and hypnotic. These active principles are responsible for causing the symptoms, which Sukhram felt. In higher doses, these constituents can cause death due to respiratory paralysis. In 21st Century, the century when we are living, much of the mystical aura around this plant has vanished. Scientific research is going on, on this plant. There is an on-going research project going on in the San Francisco Bay area about the medical uses of Mandrake in treating people with HIV and AIDS.” “Doctor, now I know enough about Mandrake to understand this poisoning. Tell me why you think Sukhram had been poisoned with Mandrake?” “Tarun, first of all the typical symptoms, which Sukhram experienced. The police investigated into Mansukh’s antecedents, and came to know that he had studied botany and chemistry in his college. In fact, he was a bright student in these subjects. So it was not very far-fetched for me to deduce that he might have used an exotic plant poison to kill his friend, who also loved the same girl whom he loved. He probably mixed a powder made from the roots of this plant in the alcohol that he brought to Sukhram’s house. I may tell you that Mandrake is very bitter, and has to be mixed with something bitter to mask its taste, and what could be better than alcohol for this purpose. It appears that they both shared the first glass of alcohol together. After Sukhram became a little tipsy, Mansukh who was making the drinks spiked his subsequent glasses with mandrake powder, which he had in his pocket. While I was talking to you, I was examining Sukhram’s blood and internal organs, and I have found substantial quantities of mandragorine in his blood. Look! here comes the police constable. He is coming from Mansukh’s house. I sent him there specifically to look in his backyard, and do you see what he has in his hands. It is a typical Mandrake plant. There is no doubt now, that Mansukh is the culprit. He had these unusual plants growing in his courtyard. The court would have no difficulty prosecuting him, when all this evidence is presented to them.” “That is amazing doctor. Without your clever deduction it would have been impossible to say how Sukhram died and Mansukh may have gone scot-free. What are you going to tell me next time?” “Tarun, next time, I would tell you about a very interesting poison – Strophanthus.” **************** (To protect the identity of the individuals, their names, as well as the various dates of occurrence have been changed) **************** Captions to the figures: 1. dioscorides.gif: Dioscorides being handed a mandrake uprooted by a dog, which dies in the process . 2, 3, and 4. mandrake_001.jpg, mandrake_002.jpg, mandrake_003.jpg: Root of mandrake, shown in ancient texts as a semi human . 5. mandrake_004.jpg: From an old text, where the root is shown being uprooted by a dog . 6, 7, and 8. plant001.jpg, plant002.jpg, plant003.jpg: True representations of the plant . (Dr Anil Aggrawal is working as a professor of Forensic Medicine at the Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi-110002. His E-mail is dr_anil@hotmail.com , and his website is http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/simak/76/default.html . His address for correspondence is S-299 Greater Kailash-1, New Delhi-110048: Phone: 6465460

Explore a unique collection of forensic science fiction curated by Dr. Anil Aggrawal. Blending medical accuracy with thrilling narratives, these stories captivate students, professionals, and lovers of scientific mysteries alike. Anil Aggrawal's Forensic Science Fiction Page Hi, I am Professor Anil Aggrawal from India. I teach forensic medicine and toxicology at the Maulana Azad Medical College, New Delhi. I love reading and writing science fiction, especially that related to forensic medicine. My favorite SF author is....yes, you guessed it right- Isaac Asimov! Unfortunately he was not a forensic man, and so not many stories related to forensic medicine exist in current SF literature. Although I am no Asimov, I have made a humble attempt and tried to fill up this gap by writing SF stories related to forensic medicine. Some of these stories have been hosted on the net by science fiction enthusiasts. Anyone wishing to exchange ideas with me on forensic medicine, science, and science fiction is welcome. Many of my Science Fiction stories have been published in Spandan, the inhouse magazine published by the students association of Maulana Azad Medical College. You may want to go to this site for some other very interesting articles. Anil Aggrawal's Forensic science fiction stories ~ ( click on title below to access ) The mysterious old man The Freak A tale of detection The New Antibiotic The mystery of the drowned man The mystery of the burnt bride The mystery of the electrocuted man The mystery of the slain General The mystery of the dead infant The mystery of the assassinated prince Anil Aggrawal's other science fiction stories Why dinosaurs became extinct ? The Weird House. (click on title above to access) My favorite science fiction pages Isaac Asimov Check Website DO YOU HAVE AN INTERESTING TALE TO TELL? E-MAIL ME, AND I WILL PUT YOUR STORY ON THE WEB WITH CREDIT TO YOU. YOU WILL FIND NEW STORIES ON THIS PAGE VERY OFTEN. BOOKMARK THESE PAGES. YOU MAY WANT TO COME TO THESE PAGES AGAIN! Contact

SCIENCE IN CRIME DETECTION-27 DEATHS FROM HANGIING The dead body of 67 year old MangeRam was found hanging from the ceiling fan of his room by means of his loin cloth on 23.4.1991. He was deeply in debt, and from the reports of his neighbors and friends it appeared that he was lately in great mental agony. He went to bed as usual on the night of 22nd April at about 9.00 PM. On the next day at 6.00 AM, when his daughter-in-law, knocked at the door, to wake him up and give his morning cup of tea, there was no response from the inside. Soon the neighbors gathered. At about 8.00 AM on 23rd April, the police was summoned. When the door was forced open by the police, the body of MangeRam was found hanging as described. From all accounts, it appeared to be a clear cut case of suicidal hanging. But one small point caught the fancy of the police. The window was found open. Was it possible for someone to enter the room through the window at night, kill MangeRam by some other means such as by throttling ( putting pressure on the neck by hands), hang his body from the ceiling fan, and then leave the scene through the window? This possibility was perhaps far-fetched, but in view of the facts that MangeRam lived on the ground floor, and that he had generated many enemies by not repaying debts of several people, such a possibility could not be ruled out easily. Moreover it was also necessary to tell when exactly MangeRam had died, if only to satisfy the curiosity of his relatives. He had certainly died sometime between 9.00 PM on the 22nd and 6.00 AM on the 23rd, but nobody knew the exact time. When the police handed me the body of MangeRam, I was asked to tell precisely these two points- Did MangeRam really die of hanging, and when had he died? Of course if I could tell any other additional information, the police would love it. Hanging does leave its tell-tale signs on the dead body of the deceased. What the forensic expert does is to look for those points and then opine whether the person really died of hanging or not. It is necessary to delve briefly into the mechanism of hanging before we could properly appreciate the tell-tale signs of hanging. Hanging is a mode of death in which a ligature is wound round the neck and the noose is then tightened, the constricting force being the weight of the body. This is an important fact to appreciate. In strangulation too, a ligature is wound round the neck, but the constricting force is not the weight of the body. in these cases, the noose is usually tightened by hands. Strangulation is usually employed by criminals to do away with their victims. While hanging is generally suicidal in nature, strangulation is usually homicidal, but cases in reverse are not unknown. Rarely but quite definitely, cases of suicidal strangulation and homicidal hangings are encountered. It is reasonable for many people to assume that the cause of death in hanging is asphyxia ( exclusion of air from the lungs ). The noose is there on the neck, and through the neck pass the air passages, so this is a very reasonable assumption to be made. However only in a minority of cases of hanging does asphyxia really cause death. In a majority of cases the death is due to sudden stoppage of heart! In such cases the face of the victim appears very pale. Why should the heart stop in a case of hanging? Actually there are certain sensitive structures sitting at the carotid arteries ( the two arteries going up by the side of the neck, taking blood to the brain ). These are called Carotid bodies. They are sensitive to pressure. Whenever they `sense' pressure, they cause heart to slow down. Nature `invented' these structures in a remarkable flash of ingenuity. If for some reason, the blood pressure of a person were to rise ( as in disease ), Carotid bodies would sense the increased pressure and slow down the heart. Slowing down the heart would reduce the blood pressure and tend to bring it back to normal. When the blood pressure is restored to normal, the Carotid bodies cease to get activated and the heart beat returns to normal. The sensitivity of Carotid bodies differs in different people. In some people, especially women, the Carotid bodies are so sensitive to pressure that a mere touch on the neck would cause the heart to slow down or even stop. In fact, cases are on record, when the woman partner in a dancing sequence, suddenly dropped dead because the male partner had put his hand amorously around her neck! Hanging puts tremendous pressure around the neck. This causes the Carotid bodies to interpret ( although falsely ) that there was an abnormal rise in blood pressure. The pressure is in fact so great that the heart is not only slowed down, it is actually stopped. Thus the wisdom of the body turns into a folly! How do we know that the person did not die of shortness of breath, but of stoppage of heart? The tell-tale signs on the body of the deceased lead us to that. In cases of heart attack ( and any other cases of stoppage of heart), the face is usually pale, because the heart fails to supply blood properly to the various regions of the body (reproduce fig. 15.23 on page 352 here ). If the person were to die of asphyxia, the face would be congested i.e. the vessels in the region of the face would be full of blood. Because there is shortage of oxygen in the blood, the body compensates for it by sending more blood to all organs, and this accounts for the congestion of face. In cases of hanging quite a number of cases are seen where the face is pale, which tells us that the major cause of death in hanging is not asphyxia, but stoppage of heart. Nevertheless asphyxia does occur in a small number of cases of hanging, because we do see congested faces in a small number of cases of hanging ( Reproduce fig. 15.26 on page 353 here). When it does occur, it may be thought that hanging obstructs the air passages at the level of the wind-pipe. This is certainly the level at which the ligature is found tightened. But this is not so. In fact the obstruction occurs at a much higher level- at the level of the tongue. The pressure of the rope in fact lifts up the base of the tongue against the soft palate. This causes the air-passages to get blocked at the level of the tongue itself. A peculiar and somewhat misunderstood form of hanging is Judicial hanging. This is the form of hanging employed by the jail officials to impart the Capital sentence to a criminal. It is generally thought that the mechanism of judicial hanging is the same as seen in suicidal hanging. This is not so. In suicidal hanging, as we have seen, the death is either due to stoppage of heart or due to lack of oxygen. Neither of these two mechanisms operates in the case of Judicial hanging. In Judicial hanging, the noose is wound round the neck in such a way, that the knot is either at the angle of the jaw or beneath the chin. Then the victim is made to fall through a trap door. The drop is usually about 8 to 10 feet, but this may be less or more depending on the weight of the victim. A lesser weight would call for a longer drop and vice-versa. The long drop and the peculiar position of the noose, breaks the joints of the neck and in the process the spinal cord in the region of the neck is crushed. Thus the victim meets an instantaneous death. In cases of hanging a very peculiar thing that is seen is the ligature mark. This is a deep impression, made by the ligature material (such as the rope or the loin cloth with which the victim hangs himself ) and is seen on the neck ( Reproduce fig. 15.27 on page 354 here). This mark tells many important things to the forensic pathologist. Among other things, this mark tells the position of the victim at the time of fixing the noose ( Reproduce fig. 15.29 on page 355 here). Another important feature of the ligature mark of hanging is that it is not found completely around the neck. There is a little gap in the ligature mark at the suspension point ( reproduce fig. 15.24 on page 352 here ) . This is in sharp contrast with the ligature mark of strangulation which is seen all round the neck. This is one of the several ways in which we can make out whether the death was due to hanging or strangulation. The ligature mark around MangeRam's neck was quite pronounced, which told me that he had indeed died as a result of hanging. This ruled out any foul play. His face was pale, which told me that his heart had stopped as a result of pressure on the neck. A look at the post-mortem staining on the legs told me that he had been dead for about 10 hours (Reproduce fig. 2.4 on page 52 here) . Post-mortem staining is a bluish coloration, which develops as a result of blood gravitating down to the most dependent parts of the body. When I pressed the areas on the legs showing post-mortem staining, I could not blanch the staining, meaning thereby that the post-mortem staining had become `fixed'. This told me that MangeRam had died about 10 hours previously. Since I had conducted the post-mortem at about 10.00 A.M. I could say with reasonable certainty, that MangeRam had died around midnight. On the basis of the post-mortem report, the police closed the investigation and the creditors of MangeRam escaped unnecessary harassment.

Main page > Vol-15 No-1 > Book001 LinkedIn WhatsApp X (Twitter) Facebook Copy link Anil Aggrawal's Book Review Journal Volume-1, Number-1 ( July - December ) Book Review (Technical Section) Basic Sciences as applied to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology By Anil Aggrawal A forensic masterclass in basic sciences for postgraduates. The current book by the Author is an attempt- novel and unique, in the sense that the effort is inspired by the Indian post-graduate curriculum designed by the erstwhile Medical Council of India (known as National Medical Commission now) for M.D. course in the discipline of Forensic Medicine, more specifically the Paper-I of the Theory examination. The import of the title “Basic Sciences as Applied to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology” is very wide in scope and pertains to all the relevant anatomy, biochemical and physiologic principles, etc which is the basis of understanding the morbid anatomy and application of those to better understand the core Forensic Pathology. The book is an attempt to provide a one stop solution to the postgraduates in the discipline who earlier had to scroll through voluminous texts of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, etc to derive examination oriented content for better presentation in the examinations. Although the relevant basic sciences applicable to particular topics of interest in Forensic Medicine have already been provided by the Author in his earlier books viz. Textbook of Forensic Medicine & Toxicology, Injuries- Forensic and Medico Legal Aspects and Clinical and Forensic Toxicology, the present book goes several leaps ahead to explain most commonly asked topics from the entire ream of basic sciences which are some of the emerging domains e.g. stem cells, immunohistochemistry and molecular pathology- to name a few. Yet, the book remains connected to the very soul of Forensic Medicine, Traumatology and Toxicology by referring back to prior cited texts and thus avoiding repetition and maintaining chronology stimulating the reader and allowing for both horizontal and vertical integration, which is also the essence of Competency Based Medical Education Curriculum. The text is amply studded with memory aids and some of the handmade diagrams by the Author- one of particular note is memory aid designed for remembering cranial nerves on Page No 18, which makes the anatomical orientation of the various cranial nerves with respect to each other as well as vastly simplifies the topographic anatomy. Not to suffice, the text contains numerous demonstration videos which are a rarity in the existing literature and help the reader in grasping the basic concept e.g. experimental demonstration of the law of Laplace given on page no 51, which helps in conceptual understanding of the abstract terminologies. General Pathology given in Chapter 4 is a welcome inclusion as it helps in understanding the basic pathologic principles which are the basis for understanding and interpreting Forensic Pathology. A clear differentiation between Septicemia, sepsis and septic shock, based on updated scientific criteria is heartening to see on Page no’s 96 and 97. Another exciting feature of the book is the innumerable case studies which make the topics both entertaining to read and further act as reminders how one particular development has a legal bearing or implication. Chapter 6 discusses general pharmacological principles which have importance in the field of clinical and forensic toxicology. Questionnaire towards the end of each topic are though provoking e.g. anti-neoplastic drug for homicide brings one to an old case of murder by means of Lomustine, which is a drug employed for brain tumor treatment but the aplastic anemia and multi-organ failure which are the consequence of it’s overdose resemble natural death. This is significant for even clinicians/ emergency physicians who treat a significant number of accidental drug over-dosages to be mindful of the drug history- both prescriptions as well as Over-the-counter (OTC). The chapter on “Radiology as Applied to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology” is very thoughtfully designed considering the advent of Virtual Autopsy at AIIMS in 2021 by the Government of India after the Virtopsy project under Prof Richard Dirnhofer of the Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Bern, Switzerland. The radiographs important from the point of view of a forensic practitioner have been given along with comparative diagrammatic representation for simplification purposes. Readers shall be in a better position to interpret the basic postmortem radiographic findings if and when needed. National Board of Examinations (NBE) has been asking one question every year in Paper I of Forensic Medicine DNB Theory Examination based upon biostatistics accounting for 10 marks. The inclusion of statistics as applied to Forensic Medicine and Toxicology in Chapter 8 of the book is a welcome step to strengthen the students with the most essential and desired topics e.g. Null Hypothesis, P-value, Z score, etc. which could be asked. The next chapter on Research Methodology is educative for the thesis going and any researcher to understand the various study designs and how to calculate the sample size for a proposed research study. Types of citations and referencing systems have also been elaborated upon and the various indexing systems have been deliberated upon. This is very much needed for a novice researcher as imprecise understanding of these may create impediments in the growth and advancement of the latter. The last few chapters focus on infrastructural requirements related to setting up of a Museum and Analytical Toxicological Laboratory in the Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology. Basic chemistry has been given at the end to simplify the understanding of subtlety and nuances of Forensic Toxicology. Few sample questions have been provided in the appendix which could further be enhanced through the addition of previous year questions from various universities. Tentative thesis/ research topics given in the appendix give important food for thought to the examinees and the research oriented ones. Overall the book is a novel and fresh initiative in an unexplored genre/ theme which will bode well to the lot to whom it is intended to cover- postgraduates in Forensic Medicine & Toxicology and the faculty. - Dr. Varun Modgil He is currently working as Assistant Professor at Dayanand Medical College & Hospital, Ludhiana, Punjab. He was Senior Resident at Postgraduate Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh. He deposed as an expert witness at various courts in Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh. He has completed his D.N.B. in Forensic Medicine and also published articles in various National & International journals and also delivered guest lectures in National Conferences on Forensic Medicine. He can be contacted at dr_varun_modgil@dmch.edu ,