How to Tell If Someone Is or Is Not Dead

c. 1380

“Moreover, if there is any doubt as to whether a person is or is not dead, apply lightly roasted onion to his nostrils, and if he be alive, he will immediately scratch his nose.”

Johannes de Mirfield, Breviarium Bartholomei

Don’t bother checking for a pulse—the onion reflex is the only reliable sign of life.