The external examination proved that: 

“1.  Theropont Smelkoff’s height was six feet five inches.

“Not so bad, that.  A very good size,” whispered the merchant, with interest, into Nekhludoff’s ear.

2.  He looked about 40 years of age.

3.  The body was of a swollen appearance.

4.  The flesh was of a greenish colour, with dark spots in several places.

5.  The skin was raised in blisters of different sizes and in places had come off in large pieces.

6.  The hair was chestnut; it was thick, and separated easily from the skin when touched.

7.  The eye-balls protruded from their sockets and the cornea had grown dim.

8.  Out of the nostrils, both ears, and the mouth oozed serous liquid; the mouth was half open.

9.  The neck had almost disappeared, owing to the swelling of the face and chest.”

And so on and so on.

Four pages were covered with the 27 paragraphs describing all the details of the external examination of the enormous, fat, swollen, and decomposing body of the merchant who had been making merry in the town.  The indefinite loathing that Nekhludoff felt was increased by the description of the corpse.  Katusha’s life, and the scrum oozing from the nostrils of the corpse, and the eyes that protruded out of their sockets, and his own treatment of her—­all seemed to belong to the same order of things, and he felt surrounded and wholly absorbed by things of the same nature.

When the reading of the report of the external examination was ended, the president heaved a sigh and raised his hand, hoping it was finished; but the secretary at once went on to the description of the internal examination.  The president’s head again dropped into his hand and he shut his eyes.  The merchant next to Nekhludoff could hardly keep awake, and now and then his body swayed to and fro.  The prisoners and the gendarmes sat perfectly quiet.

The internal examination showed that: 

“1.  The skin was easily detachable from the bones of the skull, and there was no coagulated blood.

“2.  The bones of the skull were of average thickness and in sound condition.

“3.  On the membrane of the brain there were two discoloured spots about four inches long, the membrane itself being of a dull white.”  And so on for 13 paragraphs more.  Then followed the names and signatures of the assistants, and the doctor’s conclusion showing that the changes observed in the stomach, and to a lesser degree in the bowels and kidneys, at the postmortem examination, and described in the official report, gave great probability to the conclusion that Smelkoff’s death was caused by poison which had entered his stomach mixed with alcohol.  To decide from the state of the stomach what poison had been introduced was difficult; but it was necessary to suppose that the poison entered the stomach mixed with alcohol, since a great quantity of the latter was found in Smelkoff’s stomach.