[Illustration: FIG. 33.—Hymen with anterior rudimentary Septum projecting in a opiniform Manner. ] [Illustration: FIG. 34.—Hymen with anterior and posterior rudimentary Septa. ] [Illustration: FIG. 35.—Hymen with filiform process projecting from the anterior margin. ] [Illustration: FIG. 36.—Hymen in which there are two symmetrically disposed thinned areas. The left of these is perforated. ] The illustrations we append, showing the various forms of the hymen, are taken from _von Hoffmann’s Handbook of Medical Jurisprudence_. (FIGS. 18–45.) [Illustration: FIG. 37.—Very unusual form of Hymen. ] [Illustration: FIG. 38.—Semilunar Hymen with cicatrized Lacerations in its Border. ] [Illustration: FIG. 39.—Deflorated Semilunar Hymen with laterally disposed Symmetrical Lacerations. ] [Illustration: FIG. 40.—Deflorated Annular Hymen with several cicatrized Lacerations. ] [Illustration: FIG. 41.—A. Septate Hymen in which Defloration has been effected through one of the Apertures. U. Urethra. Cl. Clitoris. H. Cicatrized margin. C. Septum. B. Lateral View of Septum. ] In some cases the hymen is exceedingly thin and delicate, so that it is liable to be torn if handled at all roughly; in other cases, on the contrary, it may be very firm, thick, and fleshy, interlaced with strands of connective tissue and muscle, so that it forms a veritable cuirass for the protection of physical virginity. [Illustration: FIG. 42.—Deflorated Septate Hymen. ] [Illustration: FIG. 43.—Hymen with larger anterior and smaller posterior Apertures. ] [Illustration: FIG. 44.—Carunculæ Myrtiformes in a Primipara. ] [Illustration: FIG. 45.—Vaginal Inlet of a Multipara, without Carunculæ Myrtiformes. Slight Prolapse of anterior and posterior Vaginal Walls. ] As signs of virginity in the female, a knowledge of which is required, not only for the purposes of medical jurisprudence, but for various other reasons, we may enumerate the following anatomical characteristics of the genital organs. The labia majora are elastic in consistence and are in close apposition with one another; the labia minora or nymphæ are covered by the labia majora and are but little pigmented; the vestibule and the vaginal orifice are narrow, and the vagina itself is narrow, tense, and markedly rugose; the hymen is normal and uninjured (this, of course, is the most trustworthy of all the signs of virginity); the breasts have the virgin conformation. In opposition to the plea that the hymen can be destroyed by other causes than defloration, as by a fall, especially a fall which brings the external genitals in contact with some hard body, or by diphtheritic, variolous, or syphilitic ulceration, _Maschka_ maintains that such occurrences are among the greatest rarities.