(_a_) Any recent signs of violence--blood, abrasions, ulcerations, &c. (_b_) Condition of hymen, and of the _carunculæ myrtiformes_. (_c_) Was the woman menstruating at the time? Signs modified or obliterated by menstruation. 5. Preserve any spots on linen, &c., for future examination. 6. In case of death after violence-- (_a_) Examine mouth for foreign bodies, &c. (_b_) Fractures or bruises on the body. 7. Examine spot where the crime is stated to have taken place. 8. Examine person of the accused. (_a_) Muscular development and strength. (_b_) Any abrasion about the penis, size of penis, rupture of the frænum, &c. (_c_) On linen, blood-stains, seminal spots, &c. (_d_) Marks on his body, scratches, &c., as evidence of resistance. _N.B._--The lapse of a few days may be sufficient to remove all traces of the violence done to the parts; and in most cases days, weeks, and even months may elapse before an examination is made of the alleged victim. VIRGINITY [Illustration: Fig. 22.--Deflorated hymen, after parturition, in adult woman. (Glaister.)] There is no one sign which may be considered as an absolute test for virginity. The presence or absence of the hymen is of no probative value one way or the other. Its very existence has been denied by Paré, Buffon, and others. It may be absent as the result of disease, or as the result of a surgical operation to allow of the free discharge of the menstrual flow. Its presence is no bar to conception; and cases are on record where it has been found necessary to incise it, to allow of the passage of the fœtus into the world. In fact, women who have been prostitutes for years have possessed to the last uninjured hymens. The changes in the breasts which proceed from impregnation do not occur where only defloration has taken place. The rugose condition of the vagina is only affected by the first birth, and not by sexual intercourse. What has been said of the above signs as tests for virginity may be said of a host of others which from time to time have, with varying success, been advanced as aids to the diagnosis. Casper, however, considers “that where a forensic physician FINDS A HYMEN STILL PRESERVED, EVEN ITS EDGES NOT BEING TORN, AND ALONG WITH IT--in young persons--A VIRGIN CONDITION OF THE BREASTS AND EXTERNAL GENITALS, HE IS THEN JUSTIFIED IN GIVING A POSITIVE OPINION AS TO THE EXISTENCE OF VIRGINITY, and _vice versa_.” CHAPTER XII PREGNANCY It not infrequently happens that a medical man is called upon to make an examination of a woman for legal purposes, in order to decide--(_a_) The existence of an alleged pregnancy. (_b_) The possibility of a previous pregnancy. (_c_) As to the existence of concealed pregnancy. The following are some of the reasons why pregnancy may be feigned: 1. _By a married woman, to gratify the desire of her husband for issue._