three hundred days as the limit of utero-gestation, a period in precise accordance with the ancient Roman law of the Twelve Tables. Louis also wrote on death from hanging, and pointed out the mode by which we may distinguish murder from suicide under such circumstances. It is he who is credited with having been the first in France to publicly teach the just application of medical knowledge to jurisprudence. Foderé’s celebrated Traité de médecine légale appeared in 1798, and marks a new era in the annals of legal medicine.
No British author wrote systematically on forensic medicine till 1788, when Dr Samuel Farr published a short treatise on the Elements of Medical Jurisprudence; but this was merely an abridgment of an earlier work of Fazelius. Previous writers—as Mead, Munro, Denman, Percival and the two Hunters—had, however, dealt with fragments of the subject; nevertheless the science as a whole was little appreciated or recognized in this country during the 18th century.
In the 19th century France took the lead; and the institution of three professorships of forensic medicine at the end of the 18th century produced excellent fruits. In 1814 Orfila, a Spaniard by birth, but naturalized in France, published his Toxicologie, a work which revolutionized this branch of medical jurisprudence, and first placed the knowledge of poisons upon a scientific basis. Since the time of Orfila, France has never ceased to have one or more living medical jurists, among the most recent of whom we must enumerate Tardieu, whose treatises on abortion, on poisons, on wounds, &c., are justly celebrated. Germany too industriously pursued the subject, and Casper’s great work on forensic medicine will ever remain a classic in the science. In Russia Dragendorff greatly contributed to our knowledge of poisons.
Though forensic medicine may be said to have been entirely neglected in England till the beginning of the 19th century, its progress has since been by no means slow or unimportant; and the subject now forms a recognized and obligatory portion of medical study. The first lectures delivered in Great Britain were given in the university of Edinburgh in 1801 by the elder Dr Duncan; and the first professorship was held by his son in 1803. Dr Alfred Swaine Taylor gave the first course of lectures delivered in England, at Guy’s Hospital in 1831; and in 1863 the university of London made forensic medicine a separate subject for examination and honours for medical graduates. In 1822 there was not in the English language any treatise of authority either on medical jurisprudence or on any important division of the subject; for it was not till the following year that the useful compendium of Paris and Fonblanque was published; and even in the middle of the 19th century medical jurisprudence may be said to have been almost in its infancy as compared with what it is now. From 1829 Great Britain produced an abundant crop of literature on forensic medicine. Sir Robert Christison’s admirable treatise on Toxicology, Dr A. S. Taylor’s Principles and Practice of Medical Jurisprudence (1905 edition, by F. J. Smith), the same author’s Elements of Medical Jurisprudence, Dr Guy’s Forensic Medicine, and Ogston’s Lectures on Medical Jurisprudence have become well-known and widely circulated works. The separate memoirs of Taylor, Christison, Guy and others are also storehouses of facts and deductions in the science. America, too, has not been behindhand in the race. F. Wharton and M. Stillé’s Manual, Wormley’s Toxicology, and the works of Beck and Reese have furthered the study of the science.
See also Dixon Mann, Forensic Medicine and Toxicology (London, 1902); Wynter Blyth, Poisons: their Effects and Detection (London, 1895); Allbutt and Rolleston, A System of Medicine, vol. ii. “Intoxications” (London, 1909); Vaughan, Twentieth Century Practice of Medicine, vol. xiii. article “Ptomaines, Toxins and Leucomaines” (London, 1898); Maschka, Handbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin (Tübingen, 1881–1882); Hofmann, Lehrbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin (Wien, 1898); Strassmann, Lehrbuch der gerichtlichen Medicin (Stuttgart, 1895); Kunkel, Handbuch der Toxikologie (Jena, 1899); Brouardel, L’Infanticide, La Pendaison, &c. (Paris, 1897). (H. H. L.; T. A. I.)
MEDICI, the name of a family renowned in Italian history for
the extraordinary number of statesmen to whom it gave birth,
and for its magnificent patronage of letters and art. They
emerged from private life and rose to power by means of a very
subtle policy that was persistently pursued from generation to
generation. The origin of the family is buried in obscurity.
Some court historians indeed declare it to have been founded
by Perseus, and assert that Benvenuto Cellini’s bronze Perseus
holding on high the head of Medusa was executed and placed in
the Loggia dei Lanzi at Florence to symbolize the victory of the
Medici over the republic. But this only proves that the real
origin of the family is unknown, and equally unknown is the
precise signification of the Medicean arms—six red balls on a
field of gold.
The name appears in Florentine chronicles as early as the close
of the 12th century, although only casually mentioned in
connexion with various offices of the republic. The
first of the family to be a distinct figure in history
was Salvestro dei Medici, who, in 1378, took an active
part in the revolt of the Ciompi—so called because it
Early Bearers of the Name.
Salvestro.
was led by a wool-carder (ciompo), one Michele di Lando, and
because the chief share in it was taken by the populace, who held
the reins of government for some time, and sought to obtain
extended political rights. Although Michele di Lando was the
nominal chief of the revolt, Salvestro dei Medici was its real
leader. The latter, although a member of the greater gilds,
had joined the lesser and sought to be at their head, in order to
lay the foundation of his own power and that of his kindred by
attacking the Albizzi, who were the leading men of
the greater gilds. The victory of the Ciompi,
however, was brief, for the excesses of the lower classes brought
about a reaction, in which they were crushed, and Michele di
Lando sent into banishment. Nevertheless the lesser gilds had
gained some ground by this riot, and Salvestro dei Medici the
great popularity at which he had aimed. His policy during
that period had traced the sole possible road to power in
liberty-loving Florence. This was the road henceforth pursued
by the Medici.
On Salvestro’s death in 1388 the Albizzi repossessed themselves of the government, and conducted the wars of the republic. Vieri dei Medici, who seems to have been the next head of the family, understanding the temper of the times, abstained from becoming a popular leader, and left it to his successors to prosecute the task under easier conditions. Giovanni. Then, in the person of Giovanni, son of Averardo Bicci dei Medici (1360–1429), another branch of the family arose, and became its representative branch. Indeed this Giovanni may be considered the actual founder of Medicean greatness. He took little part in political affairs, but realized an immense fortune by trade—establishing banks in Italy and abroad, which in his successor’s hands became the most efficient engines of political power. The Council of Constance (1414–1418) enabled Giovanni dei Medici to realize enormous profits. Besides, like his ancestor Salvestro, he was a constant supporter of the lesser gilds in Florence. Historians record his frequent resistance to the Albizzi when they sought to oppress the people with heavier taxation, and his endeavours to cause the chief weight to fall upon the richer classes. For this reason he was in favour of the so-called law of catasto, which, by assessing the property of every citizen, prevented those in power from arbitrarily imposing taxes that unjustly burdened the people. In this way, and by liberal loans of money to all who were in need of it, he gained a reputation that was practically the foundation-stone of the grand family edifice. Giovanni dei Medici died in 1429 leaving two sons, Cosimo (1389–1464) and Lorenzo (1395–1440). From the former proceeded the branch that held absolute sway for many generations over the nominal republic of Florence, and gave to Italy popes like Leo X. and Clement VII. On the extinction of this elder line in the 16th century, the younger branch derived from Lorenzo, Cosimo’s brother, seemed to acquire new life, and for two centuries supplied grand-dukes to Tuscany.
Cosimo, surnamed Cosimo the Elder, to distinguish him from the many others bearing the same name, and honoured after his death by the title of pater patriae, first succeeded in solving the strange problem of becoming absolute ruler of a republic keenly jealous of its liberty, without holding any fixed office, without suppressing any Cosimo the Elder. previous form of government, and always preserving the appearance and demeanour of a private citizen. Born in 1389, he had reached the age of forty at the time of his father’s death. He had a certain amount of literary culture, and throughout his life showed much taste and an earnest love both for letters
