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Scurvy supplies a clear illustration available to an 1864 candidate: an appropriate change in diet can act as a remedy. In A Treatise of the Scurvy by James Lind, James Lind described a shipboard comparison begun on 20 May 1747. Twelve affected sailors lived in the same sick quarters and shared a common basic diet, while pairs received different additions. The additions included cider, acidic preparations, sea water, a compound preparation, and fresh oranges and lemons. Thus the comparison asked whether a particular addition helped, rather than merely observing that patients ate while recovering.

The pair given fresh citrus each received two oranges and one lemon daily. Supplies lasted six days. James Lind reported that one was then fit for duty, while the other had recovered sufficiently to help nurse the remaining sick. The exact contrast matters: two recoveries are not proof that every sour substance is equivalent to citrus, and James Lind's physiological theories should not be confused with the observed result. The record is also a small comparison with incompletely specified allocation, rather than evidence for a modern randomized design. It nevertheless supplies a concrete, pre-1864 illustration of a therapeutic resource carried in food. ^[ref]

Present explanation. Scurvy is caused by deficient vitamin C intake. Humans require a dietary source of vitamin C; it is needed for normal collagen formation. Deficiency weakens connective tissue and can produce fragile small blood vessels, bleeding gums and poor wound healing. Suitable food can therefore correct the deficiency, not merely disguise its symptoms. This explanation is later knowledge: an 1864 candidate could cite the effect of fresh antiscorbutic food without knowing the chemical identity of vitamin C. The effective factor is not simply acidity, nor is the claim that more vitamin C cures every unrelated disease. ^[ref]

There is also a broader nutritional sense. In malnutrition, adequate food supplies energy and protein needed for recovery, and the composition and route of nutritional support depend on the person's capacity to eat and absorb it. Current guidance distinguishes ordinary enriched food and oral supplements from enteral or parenteral support when required. This extends the principle of using nourishment therapeutically, while distinguishing it from a specific cure such as correcting vitamin C deficiency. These present-day care pathways are not attributed to ancient practice or to the 1864 examiner. ^[ref]

The illustration therefore supports a specific relation between nutritional need, a suitable food, and a measurable clinical effect. It gives no warrant for replacing every other form of treatment with a general dietary slogan.

Examine the whole body before disturbing the wound, recording its situation, dimensions, margins and relation to damaged blood vessels. Then expose the wound track by careful dissection. An injury received while the blood circulation was active may show substantial hemorrhage, blood infiltrating the surrounding tissue, and adherent blood clots. Infiltration is more informative than loose blood merely lying on the surface: serial cuts can show whether blood has penetrated the tissue rather than simply coated it.

The interval of survival changes what can reasonably be expected. If the person survived long enough, surrounding inflammation, cellular reaction, formation of granulation tissue, or an established scar is evidence of a process that began during life. Such findings can make the conclusion much stronger than the appearance of a fresh cut. They do not furnish a universal clock: wound healing varies with site, severity, health and environment.

A post-mortem cut will often have relatively pale margins and little infiltration, although it can gape because skin and other tissues are elastic. Blood may still escape from a recently dead body, particularly from dependent or congested parts, and coagulation can occur around the time of death. Livor mortis can resemble bruising, while drying and putrefaction alter colour and consistency. A body moved, compressed or subjected to attempts at resuscitation presents further opportunities for artefact. Therefore neither “it bled” nor “the edges retracted” establishes that the wound was inflicted during life.

For modern corroboration, sample the margin, underlying tissue and an uninjured comparison site for histology, interpreting inflammation and other markers in the context of the whole examination. A primary study of decomposed forensic cases illustrates the use of immunohistochemistry while explicitly warning that extravasated red blood cells alone do not reliably establish wound vitality.^[ref]

Consequently, a rapidly fatal wound may be impossible to distinguish confidently from one inflicted immediately after death by gross aspect alone. Absence of developed inflammation is expected when survival was extremely brief; it is not proof of post-mortem injury. The answer should express the degree of support, rather than force an unwarranted yes-or-no conclusion.