In the case of young children, the anxiety on the part of the parents of the child to push the charge, and the story of the child and that of the parent heard apart, may assist in guiding the opinion. The lesson-like way in which the child tells her story, even to the minutest details, is always suspicious. The proof of a previous defloration negatives the pretended loss of virginity at the time of the commission of the deed for which the accused is being tried. In most cases, it is best to let the patient tell her own tale, and then cross-examine. An injudicious question may put her on her guard. =2. Examination of the Limbs and Body of the Female for Bruises, &c.=--Little value is to be placed on injuries said to be inflicted on the person of a female the result of a struggle, as these may be produced by the woman on herself in order to substantiate her story. In children, for obvious reasons, they do not occur. [Illustration: Fig. 20.--Virgin hymen, with central slit. (Glaister.)] =3. Examination of the Linen.=--In all cases a careful examination of the body linen of both parties should be made. With regard to the position of the stains on the chemise of the woman, M. Devergie insists that the stains on the front of the chemise are seminal, those on the back are due to blood. This distinction is too arbitrary to meet all the facts of these cases, for the position of the spots necessarily depends on the respective positions of the parties at the moment of ejaculation; and, moreover, the woman is more likely to wipe the parts with the front than the back of her chemise. Mistakes may arise from-- 1. The garments being intentionally soiled with blood. This is not infrequently done in cases of false accusations. 2. The menstrual discharge may be readily mistaken for that due to violence, as the two kinds of blood cannot be distinguished. 3. The red juice of fruits and grease spots have been mistaken for marks of blood and seminal stains on linen. The identification of blood-stains is not difficult when the stain occurs on pieces of white linen; but when, as it not infrequently happens, they have to be detected on the coarse, dirty, often stinking linen of the poor, the task becomes somewhat more difficult. The same may be said with regard to seminal spots. As a means of diagnosis in stains due to semen, the appearance and smell of the stains are of no assistance whatever. The microscope will alone give any trustworthy evidence as to the nature of the stain; and even here a caution must be added--for the fact is beyond doubt that the semen even of a healthy young man varies much, and is scarcely ever twice alike, so that the absence of spermatozoa is no proof that the spot is not seminal in its origin. The following are the tests used for the detection of semen: 1. _Characteristic smell when the spot is moistened._--This test is of no use, for the reasons before stated.