357 



closed and the top fastened down, and encased in a box of pine. The- 

 grave was of ordinary depth, the soil in which the box and inclosed 

 coffin rested being the upper strata of blue clay — proverbial for its 

 compactness. 



The body was exhumed on January 29, 1890, the pine-box being little 

 decayed and the coffin apparently in perfect condition, but on removing 

 the cover of the latter, the body, though exhibiting little indication of 

 putrefaction, presented a very mutilated appearance with every indica- 

 tion that the missing portions had been attacked and destroyed by some 

 clement other than natural decay. 



The front walls of the abdomen and thorax were gone, except small 

 portions of the ribs and sternum, which were so friable as to be easily 

 broken in the fingers, the ribs being readily severed by a pair of ordi- 

 nary surgeon's scissors. The thoracic organs were gone, but the back 

 wall of the thorax was only slightly imperfect. The front wall of 

 stomach gone, back wall perfect, as also was the left kidney and spleen, 

 lying beneath, and also portions of the intestines. The liver was un- 

 attacked but converted into adipocere, while the right kidney was de- 

 stroyed. The back wall of abdomen was perfectly preserved ; no trace 

 of decomposition being visible. The flesh from the face had entirely 

 disappeared. All of the tissues affected appeared to have been con- 

 verted into grumous, viscid matter, of small bulk. 



A considerable number of the flies were observed by the doctor mov- 

 ing about over the corpse, and living larvae were noticed in the flesh, 

 while the whole exposed surface of the body was quite thickly covered 

 with pupae, giving it the appearance of grains of wheat having been 

 strewn over it. Analysis of that portion of the abdominal contents 

 which would have included the contents of the stomach revealed 

 arsenic in small quantities, as did also the liver. 



That the larviB of these flies might subsist upon the flesh of bodies 

 killed by arsenic is by no means surprising, as they are, doubtless, very 

 tenacious of life ; yet it will be observed that the best preserved por- 

 tions of the body and organs were those which would be the most 

 likely to come in contact with the poison contained in the stomach. 

 This, however, must not be taken as proof that the larvte could not 

 have subsisted upon slightly poisoned flesh, but the following state- 

 ment found in Woodman and Tidy's " Forensic Medicine and Toxicology,''^ 

 p. 303, copied from " Lancet,^^ August 23, 1856, p. 231, requires con- 

 siderable verification before it can be accepted: 



A curious case ia recorded, where about one hundred and fifty pheasants were 

 poisoned from eating the maggots generated in some animals destroyed by a strych 

 nia vermin-killer. 



These flies, both sexes of which were secured, were entirely new to 

 me, not having before observed anything like them, and while the pres- 

 ence of arsenic in the stomach did not render the presence of these 

 ghoulish feasters more surprising, still, I was and am yet unable to 



