Menenteau Sandra
Hist Sci Med. 2012 Apr-Jun;46(2):151-62.
Murder is perpetrated, suicide is committed and lethal accidents happen everywhere, even in the heart of the French country. In the 19th century, law often appealed to the lights of experts. During criminal investigation, improvisation and men's adaptation were important, although forensic autopsy was official and necessary. Sometimes the magistrates appealed to young people, not used to that kind of reports, who could only remind some bits of the forensic courses they had followed when they were students. As for the specialists, the circumstances often led them to examine--as Baudelaire would say--the "decaying carcass," in a dark and suffocating ruined house, on the kitchen table, and with a simple scapel.
谋杀时有发生，自杀屡见不鲜，致命事故随处可见，即便在法国乡村腹地也不例外。在19世纪，法律常常求助于专家的见解。在刑事调查过程中，即兴发挥和人员的适应性很重要，尽管法医解剖是官方规定且必不可少的程序。有时，治安法官会求助于年轻人，这些年轻人并不习惯撰写此类报告，他们只能回忆起学生时代所学法医课程的一些片段。至于专家们，种种情况常常迫使他们——用波德莱尔的话来说——在阴暗憋闷的破败房屋里、厨房餐桌上，仅用一把简陋的手术刀，检查那具“腐尸”。
