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The size relation between the bullet calibre and the minimum diameter of the entrance hole in extracranial bones of predominantly spongy structure was systematically investigated. Test shots (cartridges .22 lr, 7.65 mm Brown. and 9 mm Parabellum) on bone specimens covered with soft tissue (coxal end of the femoral bone, ala ossis ilii, corpus sterni) showed the following results: The entrance holes in bone produced by solid-lead projectiles of calibre .22 showed a tendency towards larger diameters compared with the bullet (deviations at the proximal femur up to about 20%); full-jacketed bullets of calibre 7.65 mm and 9 mm mostly produced entrance holes which were smaller than the cross-section of the projectile (deviations at the sternum and os ilium up to about 12%). For perpendicular hits it was possible within one test-firing region to assign the minimum diameters of entry to one of the three calibres without any overlapping in the borderline area. The measurement results classified according to calibre and area of entry are indicated in diagrams.

A 57-year-old woman, who was unconscious due to apoplectic cerebral haemorrhage, was injured on the right thigh by dog bites while still alive. In addition to a soft-tissue defect of 10 x 9 x 3 cm (gnawing effect) there were numerous small single lesions in the form of slit-shaped skin cuts. The area around the wounds was discoloured by haematomata. The bite wounds were caused by the mongrel dogs living in the same household (2 parent animals and 6 puppies). The pattern of the injuries corresponded well to the anatomy of a dog's set of teeth.

The use of endoscopical methods augments the macroscopical diagnosis in autopsies. Cavities and sinuses which are hardly accessible may be inspected and photographically documented as well without damage of the anatomical context. In terms of forensic autopsies the endoscopical technique is mostly recommended for the inspection of the fundus of the eye, the external auditory meatus up to the tympanic membrane, the naso- and laryngopharynx. Pathological and traumatical changes can be valued at once in situ. Forensic evidence of postmortal endoscopical findings is exemplified.

The diameter of the pupils was measured in the bodies of rabbits under different ambient temperatures (2-4 degrees C, 10-12 degrees C, 18-20 degrees C, 28-30 degrees C). It was found that the pupils changed in three phases: Initial miosis, which set in within minutes after death, was followed by a mydriatic phase, which lasted several hours and was approximately synchronous with the post-mortem rigidity of the skeletal muscles. In the third phase the pupils slowly contracted in the course of several days. The higher the ambient temperature, the more marked was the dilatation of the pupils in the second phase. In contrast to this the reaction of the pupils was characterized by less pronounced changes in size and a longer duration of secondary mydriasis, when temperatures were low.

Healthy persons were each injected with 1 ml autoblood into the subcutis of the inner upper arm. Following this, different objects were applied to each haematoma area and kept pressed on the area for one hour by means of a sphygmomanometer cuff (30 mm Hg), to establish whether this would lead to secondary shape or pattern changes of the haematoma. When the haematomata were compressed by shaped objects, there developed patterned blanched areas or intensity differences, respectively, becoming more marked in the course of several days in the living experimental persons. In corpses greater quantities of blood were injected (10 ml) and higher contact pressures applied (up to 180 mm Hg). In some cases a markedly delimited imprint reflecting the configuration of the object became discernible already one hour post injectionem.

Diaphanoscopic postmortal examination of blunt impact injuries to the head sometimes revealed non-diaphanous regions deriving from intraossary haematomata. Precise delimitation of these haematomata in the diploe from haematopoietic foci or neoplastic lesions was possible by means of histological examination. The location of the intraossary skull-cap haematomata coincided with corresponding injuries of the scalp as contusions and lacerations; they were often accompanied by fissural bone lesions and linear fractures. As such a diploetic haemorrhage represents a facultative counterpart of scalp contusion, its demonstration allows conclusions to be drawn as to the area of the impact, even if, owing to postmortal changes, the scalp is no longer assessable.

The post-mortem examination of a 50-year-old man, who had died suddenly, revealed a massive intraabdominal hemorrhage resulting from the rupture of an ectatic vein situated in the gall-bladder bed; the consecutive hemorrhage first led to a hematoma of the gall-bladder and secondarily to a tear of its wall. A macronodular alcoholic cirrhosis of the liver had caused a thrombosis in the hilar branches of the portal vein. The link in the pathogenesis between this portal vein occlusion and the venous bleeding into the gall-bladder is to be seen in a collateral circulation between the portal and caval system via the vena cystica. This unusual portal bypass using the veins of the gall-bladder extends the wide scope concerning the differential diagnosis of sudden natural death.

Test shots (cartridges .22 lr and 9 mm Parabellum) were fired on skin preparations taken from the lumbar region. As anticipated, with caliber .22 the outer diameter and the area of the abrasion ring were smaller than with the 9 mm caliber. This was true of both orthograde and inclined angle shots. In the case of vertical projectile impact, the outer diameter of the epidermis-free area was either smaller or only slightly larger than the cross-section of the projectile. The area of the abrasion ring exceeded the area of the entrance hole in the proportion of 3:1 (.22 lr) and 2.45:1 (9 mm Para), respectively. The epidermis bordering immediately on the abrasion ring was lifted off, with irregular and torn-in edges. Progressive drying up of this border zone simulated a time-dependent increase of the abrasion ring. If the bullet penetrated at an oblique angle, the eccentrically enlarged drying-up collar (on the side from which the bullet came) showed a tongue-shaped area of unaffected epidermis with an intact stratum corneum. This phenomenon can be explained by the wound-ballistic behaviour of the skin in inclined angle shots. Skin covered with a layer of water showed no abrasion collar around the entrance hole.

Stabbing experiments with a single-edged blade on skin preparations taken from three regions of the body (anterior chest wall, abdominal walls, lumbar region) showed the following results: The most gaping stab wounds were found, as anticipated, if the blade was stabbed perpendicular to Langer's lines. If the blade entered parallel to these lines, which depend on the pattern of cutaneous fibres, narrow slit-like wounds were produced; the dimensions of wounds from stabs at an angle of 45 degrees were between the two extreme patterns. The length of the skin wounds in orthograde stabbing (without cutting movement) was greater in the abdominal region than in the chest and lumbar regions, but never reached the full width of the penetrated blade, not even after restoration (by approximating the edges of a gaping wound).

Smoothbore shotgun barrels can fire cartridges with common pellet loads as well as shotgun slugs and rubber bullets. Other than conventional shot, the cylindrical Brenneke-type rifled shotgun slugs sometimes cause perforating wounds. The shotgun ammunition for use in self-defence can have a single projectile or several rubber pellets. Where the propellant is black powder, short range shots will probably leave searing marks and intensive soot deposits. Fired at close range, rubber bullets can penetrate through the skin into the body, fired at greater distance they cause contusions. A case of homicide (repeated firing with a 12-ga. pump gun) is used to present and discuss the injury patterns and X-ray findings after impact of Brenneke-type slugs and rubber bullets as well as of "classical" shot pellets.

Experiments were conducted on soft-tissue and bone preparations to determine the morphological characteristics of angle grinder injuries. The grinding effect of the rotating cutting-off wheel causes severances with local loss of tissue, resulting in tool-specific wound features. Superficial skin notches and (incomplete) severances of bony structures are of particular significance. Mutual trace transfer is a valuable means for determining the tool used and for interpreting the scene.

Improper rescue or transportation of a corpse by gripping the neck or using a sling can cause traumatization that might erroneously suggest strangulation in subsequent autopsy. On the basis of 3 observations, postmortal damages which, at first sight, had seemed suspicious are presented and discussed. In the first case a drowned person's neck showed a dried skin line simulating a strangulation by ligature. The 2nd case dealt with a male person who had died ventricumbent in consequence of an apoplectic cerebral haemorrhage, and who had been lifted by embracing the neck shortly after death; at the post-mortem examination, massive blood extravasations were found in the cervical musculature. In the 3rd case, a strap was slung around the neck of a male epileptic--subsequently found to have served for carrying a saxophone. Both great hornes of the thyroid cartilage were fractured. Inquiry revealed that the undertakers had used the sling to hoist the corpse in which changes due to decomposition had already developed.

Report on two suicidal deaths by carbon monoxide, deriving from the exhaust fumes of gas water heaters. In the first case the exhaust system intentionally had been disconnected. In the second case a gas water heater with known defect (largely obstructed burner) acted as source of carbon monoxide; it had caused an accidental death some weeks before. Both suicides were aware that incomplete combustion of natural gas produces carbon monoxide. In one of the cases the CO poisoning remained undetected until autopsy.

In the absence of her parents, a girl of 4 months was killed by a 2-year old male Rottweiler dog belonging to the same family. The dog's front teeth left marks of individual, circular or scratch-like abrasions as well as slit-like severances of the skin, arranged in curved lines. The pattern of the skin-lesions largely correspond to the anatomy of the dog's set of teeth. No tissue defects (effects of devour) could be detected. Multiple traumatization of the trunk had led to serial rib fractures and ruptures of several organs.