X1000306-1961-62_Part02 — Page 7

TABLE 33

WORK OF THE FORENSIC PATHOLOGY LABORATORIES, 1961

Examination of victims and suspects

Attendance at scenes of crime

489 71

Attendance at couris

138

" ។

Medico-legal post-mortems

723

*

Medico-legal examination of weapons (knives, choppers,

hammers, etc., used in wounding, killing, etc.)

$1

Examination of hairs, fibres and other slides

406

Examination of clothing (suspects, victims, witnesses)

626

Miscellaneous examinations (instruments for abortions and other articles, e.g. shocs, stools, chairs, bedding, coins, watches, pens at scene)

376

C

Blood Grouping (Medico-legalı

M

1,613

Blood Grouping (Police Officers)

384

GLA

www

27

GOVERNMENT CHEMIST ́S LABORATORY

377. A wide range of analytical and consultant work for Govern- ment departments, for the Armed Services and for commercial and industrial concerns is undertaken in the Laboratory.

378. During the year the pressure on the biochemical section of the laboratory was appreciably relieved by the recently formed chemical pathology unit in the Government Institute of Pathology and although there was an increase in the other fields of work the total number of analyses and examinations carried out in 1961 decreased by 7% as compared to 1960. More time consuming and detailed analyses could accordingly be undertaken.

TABLE 35

WORK OF TILE GOVERNMENT CHEMIST'S LABORATORY 1961

Lectures to Police Officers including advanced course

Assistance in Raids:

Breach of Pharmacy and Poisons Ordinance and Penicillin

Ordinance

Unregistered Medical Practitioners

Abortionists

Unregistered Beatist

Public Mortuaries

14

Ми

Samples Analysed

1960

1961

Biochemical

20.230

15,720

Dangerous Drugs Ordinance

13.724

9,871

JS

Dutiable Commodities

7.148

8,029

*

Water and Waterworks Chemicals

731

2.513

Food and Drugs

353

1,128

་་་

Forensic

1,029

1,177

Toxicology

723

852

Dangerous Goods Regulations

230

1,498

Commercial

492

488

174

Import/Export (Prohibition) (Specified Anticles)

Orders Miscellaneous

11

11

553

787

45,224

42,074

376. The two public mortuaries, one on Hong Kong Island and the other in Kowloon are under the control of the Specialist in Forensic Pathology. It is to these institutions that all cases of sudden, unnatural or uncertified deaths are sent, including deaths in Police or Prison custody, exhumed bodies and human remains. An account of the work done in the mortuaries is in Table 34.

TABLE 34

PEJBLIC MORTUARIES 1961

Total number of bodies received

Pictoria Kowloon

1.095

2,827

Total number of autopsies performed

640

1,518

Number of bodies claimed Number of bodies unclaimed

683

1417

111

412

1,410

Deaths due to natural causes

Deaths due to unnatural causes

899

2,323

196

304

28

379. As shown in the Table above, the major part of the work is concerned with biochemical analyses, narcotics control and the assess- ment of dutiable commodities. The biochemistry section was largely engaged in essentially routine chemical analyses but it also dealt with a number of choline-esterase determinations in the blood of suspected cases of poisoning by organo-phosphorous insecticides. In the field of narcotics control the very energetic drive to stop illegal imports of addicting drugs resulted in a gratifying drop in the number of samples sent in for examination. The predominant drugs were again opium, heroin and barbitone in that order. Ten illicit heroin 'factories" dis- covered by the police were visited by Laboratory staff and a consider- able amount of apparatus and chemicals were examined in connexion with the police investigations.

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