THE AUTOPSY

Abstract

The word autopsy is defined in Webster's International Dictionary for 1926 as a "dissection of a dead body for the purpose of ascertaining the cause, seat, or nature of a disease." The usual definition, however, fails to express the full significance of the procedure, and in this discussion I shall regard the term as meaning a postmortem examination of the body to determine the pathologic processes present, in their relation to clinical phenomena and history, their interest for the surviving relatives, their importance to the community as a whole, and their value in study of the cause, processes and nature of disease. In the modern sense, the autopsy is a complete examination of the thorax, abdomen, head and spinal canal, and such other regions as are necessary. The autopsy being a scientific inquiry, the record, both verbal and pictorial, should be objective, accurate and complete. It should cover not only