famous Burking case. A woman was struck down to a sitting posture.
Burke then threw himself on her, kept her down by the weight of
his body, covered her mouth and nose with one hand and placed his
other hand under the chin for ten to fifteen minutes, till she died.
Necroscopy showed a severing of the posterior ligamentous connections
of the third and fourth cervical vertebræ, with blood in spinal canal
but not under the dura mater; cord not injured. Christison made
experiments to ascertain if the injury to spine had been made during
life.