INFANTICIDE. 



IM'ANTUY. 



me time that the air enter* the lung* in respiration. much larger 

 quantity of blood U lent to them from the heart than had before 

 circulated through them, anil they therefore become considerably 

 heavier. Ploucqtiet baa on this ground proposed what is called the 

 Static Lung Test, which U applied by comparing the absolute weight of 

 the lung* with that of the whole body. By subsequent observers it has 

 been determined that the weight of the lungs of still-born children is 

 somewhat less than fa of that of the whole body, and that of the lungs 

 of children that have breathed, rather more than . This difference, 

 though not sufficient to make this test by itself decisive, is yet of much 

 importance as an addition to other evidence, and is especially to be 

 considered in connection with the hydrostatic test, which is founded 

 on the specific gravity of the lungs. As the air and blood enter the 

 lungs at the same time, their relative weight is diminished, although 

 their absolute weight is increased ; so that a |x>rtion of the lung of a 

 still-born child U heavier than a portion of the same size from a child 

 which has breathed. The former is heavier, the latter lighter than 

 water ; and hence a simple test is obtained by observing whether the 

 lungs of the infant under examination will float or sink when thrown 

 into a vessel of water. When carefully employed, these two testa 

 cannot fail to decide whether the child bias breathed or not, but there 

 are circumstances which may in some degree obscure the evidence to 

 be drawn from them. First, there are those circumstances which may 

 cause the lungs of a child which has never breathed to float in water. 

 A certain degree of putrefaction may do this, by the quantity of gas 

 which is generated in their tissue. This however cannot take place 

 until the whole body of the infant is extremely putrid, for the lungs 

 are amongst the organs which remain longest unaltered after death. 

 Nor could a competent person fail to discover the difference between 

 lungs rendered light by putrefaction and those which hod breathed ; 

 the former present huge bubbles of gas on their surface, which may be 

 squeezed out by pressure under water, and when this has been done, 

 the portion of lung to which they were attached will immediately sink. 

 In some very rare cases emphysema of the lungs is produced during 

 birth, but this also can at once be known by the air being contained iu 

 large bubbles, from which it may be pressed out. Lastly, the lungs 

 may have been artificially inflated after death, but in this case the 

 alteration of colour and volume, though produced in the same manmer 

 as in natural respiration, are only partial ; some portions of the lungs 

 are spongy and ruddy, but others are solid and livid. All the doubt 

 that might arise from any of these circumstances may be removed by 

 cutting up the lungs into small portions and squeezing each piece 

 firmly under water : if natural respiration has been performed the 

 mllit portion of lung, unless torn by the continued pressure into 

 mere shreds, will continue to float ; but in every other cane, the air 

 may be so completely expelled that every portion will sink. In no 

 case moreover, except where natural respiration has taken place, will 

 the absolute weight of the lungs be increased ; for in no other does 

 the increased flow of blood from the heart take place. 



On the other hand, there are very rare cases in which, though the 

 child was born alive, the lungs will not float. They may be diseased, 

 or the infant may have been too feeble to breathe completely, but in 

 both these cases the same plan of cutting each lung into small pieces 

 and testing each will remove all doubt, for there will be at least some 

 portions into which the air has entered sufficiently to inflate them 

 completely. The static and hydrostatic tests therefore, when carefully 

 employed together, will prove whether the child have breathed, but 

 they afford no evidence as to whether it was murdered or not. For it 

 may have breathed during birth, and have died before it was com- 

 pletely born ; or, on the other hand, it may have lived for a short 

 time without breathing. These cases are however exceedingly rare, 

 and their occurrence is so clearly indicated by the appearances found 

 on the body, that they rarely embarrass the evidence that is given. 



The signs of a child having lived after birth, which are to be found 

 in the heart and other parts, afford no positive information unless life 

 has continued for at least a day, and then the lungs alone will always 

 suffice for decision. We need not here consider the evidence required 

 to prove whether a child born alive was murdered, or died from natural 

 causes, for it must be similar in all respects to that which is necessary 

 in CMOS of homicide. [HOMICIDE.] 



Law relating to Infanticide. U the result of the evidence be that 

 the child was born alive, and that it was destroyed, the offence is 

 murder, and punishable accordingly. [MURDER.] If a woman be 

 with child (that w, if she has felt the child move within her), it 



i a felony if she take, or any person administer to her, or use any 

 to procure abortion, and is punishable by penal servitude for 



life. 



The murder of bastard children by the mother was considered as a 

 crime so difficult to be proved, that the statute 21 James I., c. 27, 

 made the concealment of the death of a bastard child absolute evidence 

 that it had been murdered by the mother, except she could prove, by 

 one witness at least, that it had been actually born dead. This cruel 

 law was mitigated by the 48 George HI., c. 68; and now, by the 

 statute 9 George IV., c. 31, s. 14, the concealment of the body of a 

 bastard child is declared to be a misdemeanour, and made punishable 

 by imprisonment for any term not exceeding two yean, with or without 

 hard labour. 



These are the regulations of the English law directly designed to 



prevent infanticide. There are however institutions in this country, 

 as well as many other European countries, which have been founded 

 with the view of restraining the commission of the crime, of which an 

 account is given in the article FOOXDI.IXO HOSPITALS : but the history 

 of these establishment* shows that though they may have rendered 

 infanticide less frequent, they have by no means tended to preserve 

 the lives of illegitimate children ; for in all of them, except the London 

 Foundling Hospital, which is a comparatively wealthy establishment, 

 their records show an astonishing amount of mortality, in some ones 

 as high as eleven-thirteenths. 



I N I'AXTKY is a name given to the soldiers who serve on foot. It 

 is immediately derived from the Italian word /ante, which, though in 

 strictness denoting a child, U in general applied to any young person. 

 From the latter word comes fantaccino, and this is the origin "' /""- 

 Inivin, a name which was once so commonly applied to a foot-soldier. 

 During the time that the feudal polity was in vigour the numerous 

 dependants of the nobility served in the wars, for the most part, on 

 foot; and being called children, because they were so considered ith 

 respect to their patron lords, or to the towns from whence they were 

 drawn, the word infantry became at length the general name for that 

 species of troops. Boccaccio, who wrote in the 14th century, desig- 

 nates by the word fanlcria the men who marched on foot in rear of 

 the cavalry. 



Among the ancient nations of Europe the foot soldiers constituted 

 the chief strength of the armies. In the best days of the Grecian and 

 Roman states battles were mainly won by the force and discipline of 

 the phalanges and legions, and the number of the infantry in il 

 far exceeded that of the cavalry. The cavalry were then, as at present, 

 employed chiefly in protecting the wings of the army and in com- 

 pleting the victory which had been gained by the infantry. It may be 

 .i-d also that most of the writers on tactics, from Folard down- 



wards, express a decided preference in favour of the infantry. 



The French historians agree that the ancient Franks, when tli 

 the forests of Germany, were accustomed to march and fight on foot ; 

 and they persevered in this practice even after they had ol>' 

 possession of the country of the Gauls, which abounded with horses. 

 In this country also the greater part of the Anglo-Saxon forces con- 

 sisted of infantry, the cavalry being formed of the thanes, or rich 

 proprietors of the land : the infantry were divided into heavy and 

 light armed troops ; the former being provided with swordg and spears 

 and large oval shields, and the latter having only spears, clubs, or 

 battle-axes. 



But soon after the time of Charlemagne the institutions of chivalry 

 began to be generally adopted in the kingdoms of Europe. These led 

 to frequent and splendid exhibitions of martial exercises on horseback 

 in presence of the sovereigns and assembled nobles ; and the interest 

 in-j.ii. il by the achievements of the knights on those occasions was 

 naturally followed by a high regard for that order of men. By degrees 

 the cavalry, which was composed of persons possessing rank and pro- 

 perty, and completely armed, acquired the reputation of being the 

 principal arm in war; and the foot soldiers, ill armed and disciplined, 

 were held in comparatively small estimation. 



From the capitularies of the French kings of the second race it 

 appears that the foot soldiers who served in the armies of France con- 

 sisted of slaves and freed serfs: the latter were either peasants or 

 artificers, who, for the benefit of the army, occn reined their 



particular trades, as shoeing horses, forming intrenchmeuts, &c. ; and, 

 in action, like the men of the inferior class, were employed as skir- 

 mishers or light-armed troops. Similarly the infantry of this country, 

 for some time after the Conquest, consisted of the yeomanry, vassals . 

 and dependants of the feudal tenants ; and occasionally foot soldiers 

 were engaged by the kings, under indentures, to serve in the wars. 

 The English troops at that time wore a plain iron helmet called a 

 Itatcinel, and a linen doublet stuffed with wool deration ; their arms 

 were generally pikes, but frequently they had swords and battle-axes. 



Under the third race of kings in France the possessors of fiefs were 

 not compelled to furnish infantry for the armies ; and it appears that 

 this duty was then imposed on the towns. The troops thus raised 

 were obliged to serve only in or near the towns to which they belonged ; 

 or, if they were marched to a considerable distance from thence, they 

 received pay. In the reign of Philip Augustus this militia must have 

 been very numerous ; for in some districts it was formed into legions, 

 and was commanded by persons of distinction. At the bnt< 

 Bovine* (1214) the municipal militia funned the first line of the I 

 army, but it was defeated by the German infantry which was more 

 numerous, and even then of better quality, than that of France. 



In 1448, Charles VII. instituted the militia denominated Franrs 

 Archer*, which consisted of 16,000 foot soldiers armed with bows. 

 But this Imly existed only about 40 years, when it was suppressed by 

 Louis XI., who formed a standing army of 10,000 French infantry, to 

 which were joined 6000 Swiss; and subsequently Charles VIII. added 

 a large body of Lansquenets, or German infantry. The reputation of 

 the native troops in France seems to have been then at n low ebb ; for 

 Brantome, in his ' Discours des Colonels,' describes them as ' 

 mostly the refuse of society men with matted hair and beards, who 

 fur their crimes had had their shoulders branded and their ears cut off. 

 On tha other hand the Swiss soldiers were inured to discipline ; they 

 were protected by defensive armour and formed into deep battalions, 



