298 to 302.—Execution of Wirtz. Rope one-half inch diameter; drop
five feet; knot under left ear. Several slight shrugs of shoulders,
after which body was quiet; let down in fifteen minutes. No involuntary
evacuation. Face pale, placid. Eyes partly open; pupils dilated; slight
injection of conjunctivæ. Mouth open; tongue not protruding. Just
above thyroid cartilage extending on right side from median line in
front to spinous process was a dirty brown deep furrow with congested
walls; on left side a line of discoloration due to direct action of
rope. Soft parts above and below the line much swollen, particularly on
right side. Larynx and hyoid bone unnaturally mobile. Right trapezius
muscle torn; sterno-mastoid divided transversely, leaving an interval
of two inches. Slight ecchymoses between muscle and larynx. Ecchymoses
on _ligamentum nuchæ_. Hyoid bone, both greater cornua fractured and
dislocated from body; lesions more marked on right side. Several small
ecchymoses in vicinity. Larynx not injured. Brain normal. No bloody
or frothy mucus in air-passages. Lungs not congested. One drachm of
straw-colored serum in pericardium. Heart empty. Abdominal organs
normal. Bladder somewhat distended with urine.
See also Tidy, “Med. Juris.,” Cases 1 to 4 and 60.
ACCIDENT.