Excerpt from "A Study in Scarlet," by Arthur Conan-Doyle:
All these details I observed afterwards. At present my attention was centred upon the single, grim, motionless figure which lay
stretched upon the boards, with vacant, sightless eyes staring up at the discoloured ceiling. It was that of a man about
forty-three or forty-four years of age, middle-sized, broad-shouldered, with crisp curling black hair, and a short, stubbly beard. He was dressed in a heavy broadcloth frock coat and waistcoat, with light-coloured trousers, and immaculate collar and cuffs.
A top hat, well brushed and trim, was placed upon the floor beside him. His hands were clenched and his arms thrown abroad,
while his lower limbs were interlocked, as though his death struggle had been a
grievous one. On his rigid face there stood an
expression of horror, and, as it seemed to me, of hatred, such as I have never seen upon human features. This
malignant and
terrible contortion, combined with the low forehead, blunt nose, and prognathous jaw, gave the dead man a singularly
simious
and ape-like appearance, which was increased by his writhing, unnatural
posture. I have seen death in many forms, but never
has it appeared to me in a more fearsome aspect than in that dark, grimy apartment, which looked out upon one of the main
arteries of suburban London.