The illustration represents an autopsy table placed in the Coroner's
Department of the New York Hospital, designed by George B. Post and
Frederick C. Merry.
An amphitheater, fitted up for the convenience of the jury and those
interested when inquests are held, surrounds the table, which is placed
in the center of the floor, thus enabling the subject to be viewed by
the coroner's jury and other officials who may be present.
The mechanical construction of this table will be readily understood by
the following explanation:
The top, indicated by letter, A, is made of thick, heavy, cast glass,
concaved in the direction of the strainer, as shown. It is about eight
feet long and two feet and six inches wide, in one piece, an opening
being left in the center to receive the strainer, so as to allow the
fluid matter of the body, as well as the water with which it is washed,
to find its way to the waste pipe below the table, and thus avoid
soiling or staining the floor,
The strainer is quite large, with a downward draught which passes
through a large flue, as shown by letter, F, connected above the water
seal of the waste trap and trunk of the table to the chimney of the
boiler house, as indicated by the arrows, carrying down all offensive
odors from the body, thereby preventing the permeating of the air in the
room.
[Illustration: IMPROVED AUTOPSY TABLE.]
The base of the table, indicated by letter, B, represents a ground
swinging attachment, which enables the turning of the table in any
direction.
D represents the cold water supply cock and handle, intersecting with
letter, E, which is the hot water cock, below the base, as shown, and
then upward to a swing or ball joint, C, then crossing under the plate
glass top to the right with a hose attachment for the use of the
operator. Here a small hose pipe is secured, for use as may be required
in washing off all matter, to insure the clean exposure of the parts to
be dissected. The ball swing, C, enables the turning of the table in any
direction without disturbing the water connections. This apparatus has
been in operation since the building of the hospital in 1876, and has
met all the requirements in connection with its uses.--_Hydraulic
Plumber_.
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