Definition of "post-mortem"

As the physician can obtain the faculty of making correct diagnoses of obscure diseases only by carefully attending to ante-mortem symptoms and post-mortem examinations, so the engineer must solve the mysteries of boiler accidents by studying defunct structures of many different types.

1880 January 1, The Locomotive, volume 1, number 1, Hartford, Conn.: The Hartford Steam Boiler Inspection And Insurance Company, page 9