The _foramen ovale_
becomes obliterated at extremely variable periods, and may continue open
even in the adult.
Importance of late has been attached to the _stomach-bowel test_. If the
stomach and duodenum contain air, and consequently float in water, the
chances are that the child did not die immediately after birth; this is
known as Breslau's second life test, and the lower the air in the
intestinal canal, the greater is the probability that the child survived
birth.
The umbilical cord in a new-born child is fresh, firm, round, and bluish
in colour; blood is contained in its vessels. The cord may be ruptured
by the child falling from the maternal parts in a precipitate labour,
and the ruptured parts present ragged ends. It is seldom that a child
bleeds to death from an untied or cut umbilical cord, and the chances in
a torn cord are still more remote. The changes in the cord are as
follows: First it shrinks from the ligature towards the navel; this
change may begin early, and is rarely delayed beyond thirty hours; the
cord becomes flabby, and there is a distinct inflammatory circle round
its insertion. The next change is that of desiccation or mummification;
the cord becomes reddish-brown, then flattened and shrivelled, then
translucent and of the colour of parchment, and falls off about the
fifth day.
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