When the dissection is determined on for the discovery of the cause of death, it should be attempted early, before putrefaction can have changed the appearance of the parts, and with as little motion as possible, that the relative situation of the viscera be not disturbed. The whole body, particularly the head, sternum, and abdomen, should be cautiously examined by gentle pressure. All the natural openings should be carefully sounded, and each part opened in succession, beginning with that which is most probably injured. The order of the examination is of more consequence than has been supposed. If, for instance, in the dissection of the body of a new born infant, to ascertain the cause of its death, the heart and lungs be first opened, the copious discharge of blood will drain the large vessels, which will be found empty, and a strong suspicion will consequently arise that the child died of an hemorrhage, by neglecting the ligature on the funis. So, in examining a wound and its direction, every thing must be avoided which can disturb the relative situation of the parts; for to establish the cause of death it is necessary that the direction of the instrument should be accurately ascertained. In ruptures of internal vessels this caution is of less importance; yet, when there is any suspicion of the cause, it should be traced with as little disturbance of the relative situation of the parts as circumstances will permit.

The mode of examination is known to every surgeon; but it is highly necessary that he should be acquainted with the natural bulk and colour of the parts, and with the changes which fermentation, inflammation, and putrefaction will successively, at different periods, produce. The swelled abdomen and livid spots on the side may give suspicion of poison; but they are the effect of a separation of air, and the necessary changes in consequence of a warm season. If an inconsiderable wound, from its place or its direction, proves fatal only-after some time, the previous inflammation will close it so that it shall appear too inconsiderable to be the cause of death.

Rape. The ancient authors on forensic medicine are full on this subject, and unnecessarily minute and indecent. The examination and marks of violence will alone determine the judgment of the practitioner; and for this purpose the English law has wisely determined that the complaint should be immediately made, since the injury can then only be best ascertained. The existence of the membrane closing the entrance of the vagina, deified under the name of Hymen by the ancients, has occasioned some controversy. The moderns have wisely cut the knot, and admitted, that though it is a sign of virginity, yet its absence is no proof of violation, since it may be destroyed in a variety of ways without suspicion of impropriety. An observation of Buffon, which we believe to be correct, will explain some of the apparent contradictions on this subject. He observes that this membrane is seldom found in young children, or in girls long previous to puberty. It is at that early period folded in wrinkles, and expands, as the custos horti, only near the age of womanhood. It is certain that its existence has been denied by anatomists of eminence, who, in order to"make assurance double sure," in such a doubtful point, have sought it in girls from four to ten years of age. The marks of violence, and the evidence of the young woman, according to our laws, alone decide, and these require no further medical discrimination than we have stated. The swelling of the neck, which the"hesternum monile" can no longer surround, the blackness under the eye, the sullied whiteness of the cornea, must be referred to the list of old women's stories, which sounder science spurns at.

Suspected pregnancy. On this subject a surgeon is often consulted, and we have already stated in different articles the foundation of the distinction. (See

Conceptio, Generatio, and Ascites.) We shall here, however, give a general connected view of the subject.

If a woman, who has been previously regular and in good health, at once complains of obstruction, without any well founded cause, as cold, fright, etc. suspicion must be kept alive, and active medicines avoided. The complaints which arise from pregnancy, though of a similar nature from those owing to suppression, yet greatly differ. In the first weeks the pregnant woman feels no inconvenience, and then only from sickness, and chiefly in the morning. In the intervals of sickness the spirits are free, and in the evening the appetite is also good; while, from obstruction, vomiting is an uncommon symptom, the languor comes on more slowly, and the symptoms are by no means worse in the morning. In the former case the complexion is clear, in the latter pale and dark: in the former the eyes often lively, in the latter uniformly dull. Not many weeks elapse before the breasts swell, and a pink or brown areola appears round the nipple. The former state of the breasts may not be known, and the areola in .many women is naturally dark. Yet in a thin woman it will be at once seen, if the breasts are disproportion-ally full; and even in a more lusty one their firmness will betray an increased bulk, while in suppressed menses the breasts are much extenuated. The areola in a pregnant woman is also unusually extensive. After the fourth month the swelling arises above the pelvis in the form of a round, circumscribed ball, and the sickness usually goes off, while the spirits become peculiarly free and cheerful. At this period the state of the os tincsae may be discovered by the finger, and will at once preclude all hesitation. See Praesentatio.

We have not mentioned the sensation of motion in the uterus, because we proceed on the supposition of concealment. The same cause may prevent our knowing the state of the menstrual discharge: but the vomiting, the tumour of the breasts, the darker areola, cannot be concealed, and the tumour of the abdomen at the subsequent period will be decisive. At this time, also, and often more early, a slight pressure will produce a flow of serum or milk from the nipple. Hebenstreit indeed observes, that many women, not pregnant, can bring on a discharge of milk at will; but we have no reason to think that moderate pressure, independent of long continued irritation, or suction, can produce it in this climate.