According to the Statute 24 and 25 Vict. c. 100, sec. 48, rape in England is defined as the “carnal knowledge of a woman against her will.” In Scotland rape is held to be “the carnal knowledge of a woman forcibly, and against her will, or of a girl below twelve years of age, whether by force or not” (Hume, i. 303). An Act passed in 1885 (48 and 49 Vict. c. 69) has materially affected the law on this subject as regards the age of females. To constitute the offence of rape, there must be _penetration_, but proof of the actual emission of semen is not now necessary. Before the Statute 9 Geo. IV. c. 31, sec. 18, it was also necessary to prove emission, which might be proved either positively by the evidence of the woman that she felt it, or it might be presumed from circumstances; as, for instance, that the defendant, after connection with the prosecutrix, arose from her voluntarily without being interrupted in the act. The slightest penetration of the male organ within the vulva will be sufficient, and the hymen need not be ruptured (R. _v._ Russen, 1 East P.C. 438, 439). The resistance of the woman must be to the utmost of her power. If, however, the woman yield through fear or duress, it is still rape; but of course much will depend upon the previous character of the woman, and her conduct subsequent to the alleged outrage. The party ravished is a competent witness to prove this and every other part of the case; but the credibility of her testimony must be left to the jury. The defendant may produce evidence of the woman‘s notoriously bad character for want of chastity or common decency, or that she had before been connected with the prisoner himself; but he cannot give evidence of any other particular facts to impeach her chastity (R. _v._ Hodgson, R. & R. 211). She may be asked if she has had connection with other men, but she need not answer (R. _v._ Cockcroft, 11 Cox, 410, per Willis, J.). If she deny connection with the men named to her, they cannot be called to contradict her (R. _v._ Holmes, L.R. 1 C.C.R. 334).