FORENSIC PATHOLOGY REVIEWS Volume 1 - Securimetric

8 Bohnert
Fig. 1. Second-degree burns of the hand: whitish discoloration, swelling, and
wrinkling of the epidermis of the palmar skin mimicking washerwoman’s skin.
formed when the fire is maintained according to the wick principle: in those
parts of the body where the skin has burned away, liquefied subcutaneous
fatty tissue leaks out and maintains the fire (47,52,53). This process can go on
for several hours (53). The often bizarre distribution of the burn lesions in
such cases has given rise to the myth of spontaneous human combustion (54,55).
Heat changes of the hair occur at temperatures above 150°C. This can be
used to differentiate between burns and scalds or to indicate the approximate
temperature reached in smoldering fires. The hair gets frizzy and brittle and
assumes a fox-red or dark brown to black color. Temperatures of about 200°C
lead to the formation of gas bubbles in the shaft, at 240°C the hair becomes
frizzy owing to the melting of the hair keratins, and above 300°C charring
occurs (56–58). Singeing of the head hair is usually not associated with high
flames, but with a characteristic smell. In contrast to this, frizzy hair burns
with high, open, and sustained flames causing severe damage to the neighboring
skin or mucosa (59). The explanation for this phenomenon is the larger
distance between the individual hairs, which allows better access of oxygen.
2.3. Shrinkage of Tissue
The reason why the tissue shrinks is the loss of fluid caused by the heat.
Externally, it is characterized by tightening of the skin, splitting of the skin,