upon forensic scientists who are specialized inthese fields for help in a crime investigation.Toxicology is a branch of forensic science that deals with the adverseeffects of drugs and poisonous chemicals found in the home, at work or in theenvironment. All drugs have toxic effect but the effect is most often minor.The toxic effect of drugs may produce only a little discomfort or they may beserious enough to cause death. One of the most common cases of death bypoison is arsenic poison. Pathology is the branch of forensic science that determines the natureand course of diseases by analyzing body fluids and tissues. Pathology isdivided into clinical and anatomic pathology. Clinical pathologists contributeto the diagnosis of diseases by measuring chemicals and cells in blood,sputum, bone marrow and urine. Anatomic pathologists perform autopsiesand analyze tissues taken from patients during surgery or by biopsy.The medical examiner investigates many different types of violentcrime to determine whether a violent death was an accident, a suicide, or ahomicide. In cases involving gunshot wounds, the medical examiner looks forgunpowder residues on the clothing of the victim and around wounds. Theinformation is used to determine whether the gun was fired by the victim ofby someone else.In the case of knife wounds, the medical examiner must distinguishbetween a cut (an injury that is longer than deep) and a stab wound (an injurythat is deeper than long).He must also be able to identify a defense woundwhich is a cut caused when a victim grabs the knife in self-defense. Cuts areassociated with suicide. The body of the victim usually has numerous parallelcuts which indicate hesitant wounds or repeated hesitant trials before the finalcut is made. Homicides typically consist of one deep gash.Medical examiners are also called upon to investigate cases of asphyxiation or death form lack of oxygen in the blood. Asphyxiation may becaused in a number of d...
