Time of rigor mortis

[Normy]

Inspector Abberline said 'There were traces of a large fire having been kept up in the grate' in MKJ's grating.
Could this, in a fairly small dwelling, slow down the rate that rigor mortis sets in?


Cheers

[Bob Hinton]

Rigor.

Inspector Abberline said 'There were traces of a large fire having been kept up in the grate' in MKJ's grating.
Could this, in a fairly small dwelling, slow down the rate that rigor mortis sets in?


Cheers

Hi Normy,

There have been extensive posts on this very subject before, and it would be well worth your while to track them down.

However let's see if I can give you something to think about.

The very large fire in the grate could very will be a myth for reasons already posted, but if there was it would have accelerated rigor not delayed it.

Rigor is a result of a chemical reaction in the muscle tissue and like most chemical reactions is accelerated by warmth and delayed by heat.

I promise you the effort to find the other posts will be well worth it.

Good luck.

[Normy]

Hi Bob
Thanks very much for the tip, and a very very fast reply!

Cheers

[Wolf Vanderlinden]

Bob.

I think you meant accelerated by heat and delayed by cold (which is the correct answer).

Wolf.

[Normy]

Just been trawling, and found this in case anyone else is interested:

1. Variables which accelerate the onset of rigor

a. exogenous heat

b. violent exertion prior to death

c. seizure activity

d. alkaloid poisoning

2. Factors which delay the onset of rigor

a. exogenous cold

b. exsanguination hemorrhage

c. asphyxial deaths

d. poisoning by arsenic

Cheers

[Suzi]

Here we go again!!

Hi all
OK the facts re rigor mortis re heat speading UP and cold slowing DOWN are well known here (That's what Bob said...heat speeds up cold slows down) -Sadly, I think the old threads on this may have been lost. The fire etc aside for speeding up though must be taken alongside that Mary's body was pretty well laid open (!) to the chill November air through the broken window etc etc so maybe things started to 'balance out'....Ok here we go again........Fascinating subject though......

Good reference points there- think we can dismiss arsenic....can't we?? LOL

Suz x

[Suzi]

Quite a good intro for the layman on rigor-mortis....amazing how many threads you can get onto for rigor in rats,fish and even cats!!!

http://health.howstuffworks.com/rigor-mortis-cause2.htm

Also unbearably fascinating when on the right hand side you can't resist doing the 'Symptom Checker'!!!!!!! OMG WHY haven't I got Housemaid's Knee...c/o J.K.Jerome

[Normy]

Hi Suzi
Thanks for the link
Erm sorry, got carried away with the copy/pasting of the rigor info.
I thought it was interesting but, how to balance a body the circumstances: in a warm room, maybe struggling at some point (all speeding up the process) then with 'exsanguination hemorrhage' and 'asphyxial deaths' (possibly) that all slow it down again!?!?!?

Cheers