II, a hot poker, or some other instrument thrust up the rectum. We should also in this part of the dissection, ascertain whether any intus-susceptio has taken place, a derangement not very rare, and frequently fatal; it consists in a portion of gut passing for some length within another portion, and dragging along with it a part of the mesentery; it may take place in any part of the canal, but it more usually occurs in the small intestines, especially where the ilium terminates in the colon; in the examination of infants an intus-susceptio is not unfrequently found, which had been unattended with mischief, and in which the natural peristaltic motion of the intestines would have easily disentangled them; but, in other cases, an unrelenting obstruction is established, inflammation follows, and life is soon terminated, as was exemplified in the case of the infant Princess Elizabeth of Clarence. The liver may present several morbid phenomena, which, in a dissection instituted for the purpose of discovering the cause of death, ought not to be overlooked. It may also be found ruptured, an occurrence which may take place where little or no external injury can be perceived, as from a sudden fall, or from the application of strong pressure applied to the upper part of the abdomen, such as might be occasioned by the passage of a heavy carriage over the body. Morgagni relates several instances of ruptured liver, by mechanical causes, without any considerable injury of the integuments. In the Medical Transactions of the College of Physicians,[1] a very interesting case is communicated by Dr. George Pearson, of a young man who fell with his right
- ↑ Vol. iii, p. 577
