child, whether such child died before, at, or after its birth, endeavour to conceal the birth thereof, shall be guilty of a misdemeanour.'

It will be seen, from the words of the statute, that the question of live birth does not arise in cases of concealment of birth. All that the medical evidence is required to prove is that the remains are those of a child, and whether the accused woman has or has not been recently delivered. It is uncertain, in the present state of the law, whether a fœtus before quickening would come within the meaning of 'a child.'

VOL. II.

Q

CHAPTER XXXVII

Birth in its legal relations-Monstrosity - Maternal impressions-Legitimacy-Normal period of gestation--Shortened gestation-Prolonged gestation-Paternity-Superfotation.

BIRTH IN ITS LEGAL RELATIONS

A MEDICAL practitioner attending a confinement should note the actual time and date of birth, as occasionally medical evidence is called for in courts of law on these points in cases where proof of the attainment of majority within a limited period of time is required, and also in some cases of contested legitimacy. The evidence of the medical jurist may also be required in contested suits concerning the succession to or the inheritance of property. A child that is born alive may, according to the law of England, inherit and transmit property, although its death may immediately follow its birth. Should the child die previous to its complete birth, then it does not become the possessor of any civil rights.

By birth is legally meant the complete delivery of the child from the body of the mother, with or without the severance of the umbilical cord. No child can be said to be legally and completely born until all its parts are external to the mother. This, however, does not imply that the placenta should have been discharged, or that the cord should be divided. In addition, in order to acquire civil rights, the child must show signs of having been alive after its complete delivery from the body of the mother.

Signs of live birth. The acts of respiration and crying are undoubted signs of live birth, but they are not essential to the

establishment of it. According to the law of England, the slightest sign of life manifested after the child is entirely outside the body of the mother is sufficient for the purpose. The pulsation of the child's heart, or pulsation in the cord, or the slightest voluntary movement of a limb, or twitching of any of the muscles, will constitute sufficient proof of live birth. Moreover the proof is complete if any one of these signs is manifested for the briefest space of time after entire delivery-their duration is immaterial. According to the law of Scotland, proof of respiration after delivery is required in order to establish live birth.

Tenancy by courtesy. The question of live birth is of especial importance in connection with what is known as 'tenancy by courtesy.' According to Blackstone, this phrase signifies a tenant by the courts of England'; it applies to the case of the husband of a woman possessed of estate, who, in the event of his wife's death, acquires a life interest in the property, provided a living child was born of the marriage, during the wife's life. If no such living child has been born, then the estate passes from the husband to the heir-at-law. The law runs as follows:- When a man marries a woman seized of an estate of inheritance, and has by her issue born alive, which was capable of inheriting her estate; in this case, he shall, on the death of his wife, hold the lands for his life as tenant by the courtesy of England.' This tenancy is, in contested cases, generally established or disproved by medical evidence. In all such cases the law requires the following proofs:

1. That the child was born alive.

2. That the child was born while the mother was living. 3. That the child was born capable of inheriting—that is, that it was not a monster.

With regard to the second proof, if a child be born by Cæsarean section after the death of the mother, the husband cannot claim the estate, because his wife was dead, and the marriage, therefore, legally dissolved just prior to the time of

birth. In such a case, the mother dies before the child is born, so that her estate at once passes to the heir-at-law, not being intercepted by the birth of a child. If a child born in such a manner survive, it is legitimate, and on attaining its majority can succeed to the estate.

Monstrosity. The law of England gives no precise definition of what is meant by a monster.' According to Lord Coke, it is a being which hath not the shape of mankind.' If a child be born without the shape of mankind,' it cannot inherit. Although the law does not define the expression shape of mankind,' something far more than mere bodily deformity is meant; the presence of deformed limbs, or of supernumerary fingers or toes, will not constitute a monster, provided the being have 'human shape.' The shape refers to external shape, and not to internal conformation; for instance, defects or malpositions of the internal organs will not constitute a monster. It does not rest with a medical witness to say whether the being was or was not a monster; that responsibility is left to the court, the decision being based upon the description given by the medical man. The majority of monsters are either born dead, or do not survive birth for long, but no person is justified. in destroying a living monster either at birth or afterwards.

Maternal impressions. The influence of maternal impressions during the period of pregnancy upon the production of deformities in the child, or upon the development of monstrosities, is a subject concerning which very little is definitely known. Certainly, the explanations given by mothers in the majority of cases when children have been born with deformities must be received with the greatest amount of caution, and in many cases with positive doubt. A mother is only too ready to find some explanation for the cause of a deformity of her child, which, otherwise, she would consider a reproach to herself. It is quite possible, however, that the influence of maternal impressions is greater than is suspected; the subject is one that deserves the attention of medical men, especially when they are able to obtain accounts of maternal impres

in

sions previous to delivery, and can then judge of any abnormality in the child, when born, in the light of the detailed. account previously given. The two following cases have been recently reported. Ross' relates the case of a married woman who had a most unconquerable desire for apples during her sixth pregnancy. She would refuse other food in preference, and would eat apples morning, noon, and night. Being in reduced circumstances, she had several disputes with her husband concerning her extravagance in this direction. Several times she got into a frenzy till her desires were gratified, her chief manifestation of temper being to drive her nails into the palms of her hands. This craving was steadily kept up from the first month of pregnancy till term. When the child was born, a small pedunculated growth, about half an inch in diameter, was found on the left hand attached to the hypothenar region at the base of the little finger. It distinctly resembled an apple appearance with the stalk attached; there was a depression at the insertion of the stalk, and a depression corresponding to the stigma at the opposite side. There was no evidence of any like deformity of the right hand. The growth, on section, was found to possess a cartilaginous nucleus. Garthright 2 reports the following case. The husband of a woman was severely burnt, by the explosion of a keg of powder, about the hands, arms, face, and neck. When taken home, his wife, who was five months advanced in pregnancy, met him calmly, and, according to her account, without the slightest trepidation. Later on she was delivered of a female child which possessed the following peculiarities. The eyelashes and eyebrows were absent, the eyelids thickened, and the conjunctivæ inflamed; its left ear, like that of its father, was doubled upon itself; on its chin was a large cicatrix, and the face was covered with dark brown blisters; on the neck was a large abraded surface; the hands and arms were blistered, the left thumb was bent over the index-finger, and the other fingers over the thumb, so that 2 Virginia Med. Monthly, 1894.

1 Brit. Med. Jour., 1893.