(2) The parts of the body where they are, and those from which they are absent. They are never found on vital parts, but always where there is little danger of doing harm. They are present on parts accessible to the individual. The hands are seldom wounded, and if they be, not severely. (3) The clothing may not be cut, and if it be, the cuts may not go right through, and if they do, they may not coincide with the position of the wounds. The person should be clothed in order to determine this. Blood-stains on the cuts in the clothing may be erratic in distribution, some being on the inner layer only, some on the outer, and rarely soaking through all, pointing to the probability of its having been artificially applied. Such self-inflicted wounds are usually produced for the purpose of bringing a fictitious charge of assault, feigning self-defence or provocation on the part of the assailant when accused; and in order to divert suspicion, as in the case of a person who alleges he has received the injuries by an assailant who was committing robbery while he himself is guilty of it. THE CAUSES OF DEATH FROM WOUNDS Wounds may prove fatal from results which are (1) =directly= due to injury--_hæmorrhage_, _shock_, or _mechanical injury to some vital organ_, _e.g._ the heart or lung; or (2) =indirectly= from _complications_ which may supervene such as infective processes--erysipelas, tetanus, septic infections, gangrene,--exhaustion, or the effects of surgical operations; or (3) _malum regimen_ (_a_) on the part of the patient, (_b_) on the part of the medical attendant. 1. Direct Hæmorrhage.--Hæmorrhage may be profuse and cause rapid death if a large blood-vessel, more especially an artery, has been injured. The hæmorrhage may take place internally, in which case it need not necessarily be profuse; it will depend upon the position; a small hæmorrhage into the pericardium or in the brain may prove rapidly fatal. Shock.--Death from shock is generally associated with severe injury, either a single one, or from several smaller injuries, any of which alone would not be expected to prove fatal. Death may occur from shock when the visible injury may be slight, as in blows over the heart and abdomen, the latter causing fatal syncope from dilatation of the splanchnic vessels. Repeated lesser injuries as in flogging may cause death through shock; and fatal psychical shock may be caused by mental excitement, as, for instance, in an encounter when no physical injuries have been received. Mechanical Injury to Viscera.--This causes rapid death, more especially when the viscus injured, as the heart or medulla, is necessary for the immediate functions of life; injuries to other organs may not be followed by immediate death unless very severe and with great shock. A wound of the lung may not be followed by death for some time.