Chapter XXIV: Introduction (6)

The following are the more usual additions made by the publican;
_beer-heading_, which is intended to impart the “_cauliflower head_,”
and consists of sulphate of iron, common salt, and alum, for which
several convictions have taken place, (_Minutes of the Committee,
above cited_); it is necessary to observe that the addition of this
“_heading_” is made with a view to restore the property of frothing to
the porter, which has been destroyed by dilution with table beer. The
extract of the berries of the _Coculus Indicus_, possessing properties
eminently narcotic, is added for a purpose too obvious to require
explanation, and is regularly sold by the brewer’s druggists under the
technical appellation of “BLACK EXTRACT.” There is also another
preparation, for a similar object, sold under the name of “BITTERN,”
and which is a compound of _black extract_, _extract of quassia_,
_Spanish liquorice_, and calcined _sulphate of iron_. “MULTUM,” used
as a substitute for malt and hops, consists of _Extract of Quassia_,
and _Liquorice_. We must close this note by expressing our regret at
the little assistance to be derived from chemistry in the detection of
such frauds; mineral substances, as _sulphate of iron_, or any of the
mineral _acids_, can certainly be recognised in our laboratories; but
when we attempt to identify vegetable principles, the resources of
analysis completely fail.

Footnote 581:

_Hydrometer_ employed by the excise, act 58, _G._ 3, _c._ 28 and 56
_G._ 3, 140. _Acetometer_ 58 _G._ 3, _c._ 65, _s._ 8.

Footnote 582:

We cannot follow the foreign writers who speculate on the possibility
of determining age from physiological criteria. Unfortunately the
ordinary mode of proof from parish registers is often defective, as
the act only requires the date of the baptism, and not of the birth;
many clergymen refuse to insert the latter under the plea that birth
and baptism should be nearly cotemporaneous. Every day’s experience
shows the contrary; and as many nice points may arise as to the very
day on which a person (for instance) attains the age of twenty-one, we
hope this practice will be amended.

Footnote 583:

But to avoid these questions, it is the practice of the insurance
offices specially to name gout and some other disorders in their
enquiries of the usual medical attendant of the party insuring.

Footnote 584:

For the doctrine of day of date exclusive or inclusive, see _Lord
Mansfield_, in _Pugh_ v. _Duke of Leeds. Cowp. Rep._ 714.

Footnote 585:

There is another case in which it is important to ascertain whether a
person was in imminent danger, for if a contract for the purchase of a
presentation be entered into while the incumbent is known by the
parties to be in great danger, it is simoniacal. In _Fox_ v. _Bishop
of Chester, Spring Assizes_, 1821, after a long consultation the
following issues were agreed to be put to the jury.

1st. Whether Mr. T. and Mr. F. or either of them knew, that Mr. B.
(the incumbent) was in great danger at the time of the execution of
the deed?—Verdict. That they both knew of it.

2d. Whether Mr. B. was afflicted with a mortal disease and in great
danger?—Verdict. Yes.

3d. Whether Mr. T. and Mr. F. or either of them believed that Mr. B.’s
life was despaired of at the time of the execution of the
deed?—Verdict. That his life was despaired of by both of them.

4th. Whether the life of Mr. B. was actually despaired of at the time
of the execution of the deed.—Verdict. That it was.

Footnote 586:

In a work lately published in Paris, entitled “_Rapports et
Consultations de Medicine legale, recueilles et publiées par_ J.
RISTELHEUBER, D. M. _Médecin en chef à l’hospital Civil de
Strasbourg_”, 8 _vo. p. p._ 172, the subject of insurance on lives and
annuities, is amply considered; and the following case is fully
detailed, which excited so much interest, some years ago, at
Strasburgh. M. FRIERD sold, on the 11th of March, 1809, a large sum in
the funds for the purchase of an annuity on his own life. He was at
the time of the bargain, and had been for ten years, afflicted with
Hemiplegia, in consequence of an apoplectic seizure; and he died on
the second day after the signing of the document. The question
therefore is, whether M. Frierd, on the day on which he signed the
papers, was, or was not, already under the influence of the disease to
which he fell a victim thirty hours afterwards. The question was
debated with much talent and ingenuity on both sides; and the volume
before us contains the various reports, opinions, and arguments,
written on the occasion.

Footnote 587:

See _Price_ on Annuities, and _Bailey’s_ Doctrine of Life Annuities
and Assurances.

Footnote 588:

Residence in great cities is almost universally believed to be
prejudicial to the duration of human life: and that it may generally
be so in some slight degree we are not disposed to deny. The Life
Insurance Offices however, offer a practical proof that the difference
between residence in London and the country, is not so great as is
generally supposed; since these bodies, whose interest and experience
constitute them the best judges of the subject, do not make any
difference in the premiums required, from this change of circumstance.

Footnote 589:

See _Park_ on Dower.

Footnote 590:

This was afterwards brought into B. R. by writ of error, as to the
mode of returning the jury. _Cro. Eliz._

Footnote 591:

This case is variously reported, in _Cro. Eliz._ 502 the son is stated
to have survived; in _Noy._ 64, that the father moved his feet after
the death of the son.

Footnote 592:

See _Mason and Mason_, 1 _Meriv._ 308, and articles of the _Code
Napoleon_ there cited. In this case it was referred to the master to
enquire what children the testator (who with one of his sons had been
lost at sea) had at the time of his death; the master reported that he
was unable to state whether Francis, the son, survived his father or
not. Sir W. Grant, M. R. directed an issue at the request of the
plaintiff. See also _Taylor v. Deplock_, 2 _Phill._ 281.

Footnote 593:

Cum bello pater cum filio perisset, materque filii quasi postea mortui
bona vindicaret, agnati vero patris, quasi filius ante perisset, Divus
Hadrianus credidit patrem prius mortuum. _Dig. Lib._ 34, _T._ 5, 5, 9,
_S._ 1, _de rebus dubiis_.

Footnote 594:

Cum pubere filio mater naufragio periit: cum explorari non possit,
uter prior extinctus sit, humanius est credere filius diutius vixisse,
_l. c. lex_ 22.

Footnote 595:

_Contra Fearne, l. c. p._ 388.

Footnote 596:

The law of England recognises the same distinction between natural and
civil death, upon which the above case turns, as in cases of felons
after judgment of death; the question, however, can seldom, if ever,
arise, since the term _natural_ life is almost universally introduced
into assurances of property.

Footnote 597:

Recueil Periodique de la Société de Medecine de Paris.

Footnote 598:

La Medecine Legale relative a l’art des Accouchemens. A. Paris, 1821,
p. 135.

Footnote 599:

Medecine Legale.

Footnote 600:

Journal de la Société de Medecine de Paris, tom. viii.

Footnote 601:

Smith’s Principles of Forensic Medicine, p. 881.

Footnote 602:

The crime of arson, at common law, is the malicious and voluntary
burning of the house of another, by night or by day, whether in part
or entirely. 3 _Inst._ 66. This felony was without benefit of clergy;
but see _Poulter’s_ case, 11 _Rep._ 29, 2 _Hawk. P. C._ 503, 1 _Hale,
P. C._ 570. All doubts on this point are now taken away by _Stat._ 9,
_Geo._ 1, c. 22. _Britton_ saith, “Soit inquise de ceux que
feloniousment en temps de pace aient auters blees, au autres measons
arses, et ceux que serr de ceo attaint, soient arses, issint que its
soient punies per mesme le choz dont ilz pecherent.” But this mode of
punishment has been long changed, 1 _Hale, P. C._ 566; outhouses and
barns, parcel of the dwelling house and barns having corn in them were
included under the word house, for it was not necessary as in burglary
to say in the indictment _domum mansionale_ (1 _Hale, P. C._ 567,
_Barham’s case_, 4 _Co. Rep._ 20;) to take away clergy, these
distinctions are ended by 9 _Geo._ 1. See stats. 21 _H._ 8, _c._ 1; 23
_H._ 8, _c._ 1; 37 _H._ 8, _c._ 26; 1 _Ed._ 6, _c._ 12; 4 and 5 _P.
and M. c._ 4; 43 _Eliz. c._ 13; 22 and 23 _Car._ 2, _c._ 7; 9 _Geo._
1, _c._ 22, made perpetual by 31 _G._ 2, _c._ 42; 28 _G._ 2, _c._ 19;
1 _G._ 1, _c._ 48; 10 _G._ 2, _c._ 32; 9 _G._ 3, _c._ 29; see also
_Jac. L. dict._ tit. Burning, and _Hawk, P. C._ by _Leach_.

Footnote 603:

_Mr. Leslie_ has availed himself of this property in oatmeal, and has
applied the substance in the place of Sulphuric acid, in his ingenious
and beautiful experiment of freezing in the exhausted receiver of the
air pump.

Footnote 604:

Annals of Philosophy, vol. xvi, p. 390.

Footnote 605:

Memoires de l’Academie de Paris, 1743.

Footnote 606:

A _pood_ consists of 46 pounds Russian, or 36 English.

Footnote 607:

We also refer the reader to the article “_Combustions Humains
Spontanées_” in the _Dictionnaire des Sciences Medicales_; also to the
_Philosophical Transactions_ for 1745; and _Phil. Trans. Abr. v._ 10,
_p._ 1073.

Footnote 608:

This was the case of the priest _Bertholi_, described in one of the
Journals of Florence for October 1776, by _M. Battaglia_, the surgeon,
who attended him; we extract a short account of this extraordinary
event from _Foderé_ (tom. 8, p. 210) who to his own observations on
the subject adds those of _Fouquet_, _Marc_, _Koop_, and others. _Don
Gio Maria Bertholi_ having spent the day in travelling about the
country, arrived in the evening at the house of his brother-in-law; he
immediately requested to be shewn to his destined apartment, where he
had a handkerchief placed between his shirt and shoulders, and being
left alone, betook himself to his devotions. A few minutes had
scarcely elapsed when an extraordinary noise was heard from the
apartment, and the cries of the unfortunate priest were particularly
distinguished; the people of the house hastily entering the room,
found him extended on the floor, and surrounded by a light flame which
receded (_â measure_) as they approached, and finally vanished. On the
following morning, the patient was examined by _M. Battaglia_ who
found the integuments of the right arm almost entirely detached and
pendant from the flesh; from the shoulders to the thighs the
integuments were equally injured; and on the right hand, the part most
injured, mortification had already commenced, which notwithstanding
immediate sacrification rapidly extended itself. The patient
complained of burning thirst, and was horribly convulsed, he passed by
stool putrid and bilious matter, and was exhausted by continual
vomiting accompanied by fever and delirium. On the fourth day, after
two hours of comatose insensibility, he expired; during the whole
period of his suffering, it was impossible to trace any symptomatic
affection. A short time previous to his decease, _M. Battaglia_
observed, with astonishment, that putrefaction had made so much
progress that the body already exhaled an insufferable odour, worms
crawled from it on the bed, and the nails had become detached from the
left hand.

The account given by the unhappy patient was, that he felt a stroke
like the blow of a cudgel on the right hand, and at the same time he
saw a lambent flame (_bluette de feu_) attach itself to his shirt,
which was immediately reduced to ashes, his wristbands (_poignets_) at
the same time being utterly untouched. The handkerchief, which as
before mentioned, was placed between his shoulders and his shirt, was
entire, and free from any trace of burning; his breeches were equally
uninjured; but though not a hair of his head was burnt, his coif
(_calotte_) was totally consumed. The weather on the night of the
accident was calm, the air very pure; no empyreumatic or bituminous
odour was perceived in the room, which was also free from smoke; there
was no vestige of fire, except that the lamp, which had been full of
oil, was found dry, and the wick reduced to cinder.

_Maffei_ (says _M. Battaglia_) would have found in the case of the
Priest _Bertholi_ a confirmation of the opinion delivered by him
(_Journ. de med. tome_ 68, p. 436) that lightning is sometimes excited
in us, and destroys us.

See the works of the _Abbè Fontana_, entitled _Ricerche filos, sopra
la ficic. animale_.

_M. Foderè_ observes, that the inflamed hydrogen, occasionally
observed in church-yards, vanishes on the approach of the observer,
like the flame which consumed _P. Bertholi_; and as he, in common with
others, has remarked that this gas is developed in certain cases of
disease, even in the living body, he seems inclined to join _M. Marc_
in attributing this species of spontaneous combustion to the united
action of hydrogen and electricity in the first instance, favored by
the accumulation of animal oil and the impregnation of spirituous
liquors.

Footnote 609:

See case of _Marie-anne Jauffret_, A. D. 1779, (_Foderé_, vol. iii, p.
200) where also see other cases in illustration of this curious
subject. _Foderè_ alludes to some cases where in consequence of
combustion, possibly spontaneous, persons have been accused and
condemned for murder. _Tom._ 3, _p._ 204. See also _Maclaurin’s Crim.
Ca. p._ 177 _n._ and 754.

Footnote 610:

The law of England justifies a woman killing one who attempts to
ravish her. _Bac. Elem. p._ 34. 1 _Hawk. P.C. c._ 38. _s._ 21. and so
too the husband or father (query also a brother or guardian, _in loco
parentis_) may justify killing a man who attempts a rape upon his wife
or daughter; but not if he takes them in adultery by consent, for the
one is forcible and felonious, but not the other. 1 _Hales P.C._ 485.
(yet this homicide may be excusable though not justifiable. See 1
_Hawk. P. C. c._ 28. _s._ 3.) And there seems no doubt but the
forcibly attempting a crime of a still more detestable nature, may be
equally resisted by the death of the unnatural aggressor. For the one
uniform principle that runs through our own, and all other laws, seems
to be this; that where a crime, in itself capital, is endeavoured to
be committed by force, it is lawful to repel that force by the death
of the party attempting. _Bl. Comm. c._ 14.

Footnote 611:

This statute was passed in consequence of a Wager of Battle offered by
_Abraham Thornton_, appealed for the murder of _Mary Ashford_. The
decision of causes by combat was always absurd, and it was certainly
full time that it should be abolished; but it is not equally evident
that the appeal ought to have been taken away altogether, especially
in cases of murder. The preamble of the Act states the proceeding to
“have been found to be oppressive;” certainly it was also rare; in
above one hundred years there had been only one execution on appeal,
and when the case of the _Kennedies_ (see _Bigby v. Kennedy_, 5 _Bur._
2648) is considered, it may fairly be doubted whether some
constitutional check ought not to have been retained against the
misdirection of the Royal prerogative. See also the case of _M‘Quirk_
for the murder of Mr. _Clarke_.

Footnote 612:

The injuries thus occasioned, consist in rupture of the hymen,
swelling, contusion, inflammation, or laceration of the parts,
discharge of blood; and in persons of extreme youth, the laceration of
the perineum is said to have sometimes occurred; and as Rape cannot be
completed without considerable violence, we should also expect to find
marks of force in other parts of the body, such as bruises about the
arms and thighs; but in appreciating the value of such indications,
let the practitioner remember, that the greater part of them may occur
where the connexion has taken place with the consent of the female, or
they may even be the effect of disease. Dr. _Percival_ relates a case
where the inflammation of the pudenda, and symptoms of defloration
occurred in a child four years old, which occasioned her death; there
were strong reasons for suspecting that she had been injured by a boy
of fourteen years of age, and he was accordingly taken into custody;
but the case received elucidation from several others of a similar
nature having been shortly afterwards received into the same hospital,
and of whose nature no doubt could be entertained. When Rape has been
committed, gonorrhœa, or lues venera are sometimes communicated,
especially in cases of young children, in consequence of a very
general opinion among the lower libertines of the male sex, that the
best possible cure for this disease, is intercourse with a virgin; if
then the accused should be found free from disease, where the female
is contaminated, and vice versa, it affords a strong presumption of
his innocence; in conducting, however, such an investigation, there
are several sources of fallacy, with which it is the duty of the
medical enquirer to be fully acquainted; he should know, that purulent
discharges, from other causes, do take place in children; and on the
other hand that a person, in whom no appearance of existing venereal
infection can be discovered, may communicate disease to others; this
fact was ascertained by Mr. _John Hunter_, and its truth has been
satisfactorily confirmed by the repeated observations of succeding
surgeons. Women labouring under leucorrhœa may impart a discharge to
the male; and Dr. _Male_ observes, that the latter, affected by a
gleety discharge in consequence of strictures, and other irritations
in the urethra, may also affect the females.

Footnote 613:

Enfin il faut adjouter la comparison de l’organe offensant avec
l’organe offensé; car, ainsi que dans les autres blessures, il n’est
pas indifférent ici de présenter l’instrument à la plaie dont on le
suppose coupable, 4 _Fod. p._ 359.

Footnote 614:

In this case it was stated that the law of France did not make any
distinction between debauching a child under twelve, or a woman at
maturity. However this may have been, the cases afterwards quoted shew
that the breach of trust was severely visited on two priests. Arrêt du
Parliament de Grenoble, qui condamna un prêtre d’être pendu, puis
brulé, pour avoir abusé du sacrament de confession, porté ses mains
sur le sein et autres parties de plus de cent femmes, pendant qu’il
confessoit.

Footnote 615:

In France this crime is visited with additional severity when
committed by a person in trust, or by a Clergyman; _Penal Code, art._
333. This principle of apportioning punishment is recognised in our
laws of Petit-treason, and robbery by servants: it might be well
extended to Rape.

Footnote 616:

See also the case of _John Church_, convicted of an abominable attack.
On the expiration of two years imprisonment to which he was sentenced,
he resumed his methodistic (we cannot call them clerical) functions,
and is now attended by large congregations, especially of old women!!!

Footnote 617:

See also 1 _East. P.C._ 441. and cases there.

Footnote 618:

Vide ante. _p._ 185.

Footnote 619:

Elle a infiniment plus de moyens pour se defendre que l’homme n’en a
pour attaquer, ne fût ce que le movement continuel: Une Reine éluda
autrefois l’accusation d’une plaignante: elle prit un fourreau d’épée,
et le remuant toujours, elle fit voir à la dame qu’il n’etait pas
possible de mettre l’épée dans le fourreau. 4 _Foderè_, 358.

Footnote 620:

Virginity in females has been very differently estimated by different
nations; in the first ages of the Christian church so highly was it
honoured and esteemed, that women were admitted to make solemn vows of
it in public; and yet among the Jews it was held infamous for a woman
to die a maid. In Peru and several other provinces in South America,
we are assured by _Pedro de Cieca_, in the history of the Incas, &c.
that men never marry, but on condition that the next relation or
friend of the maid shall undertake to take away her virginity; and our
countryman, _Lawson_, relates the like of some of the Indian nations
of Carolina—So little is the _Flos Virginis_ valued in some places!

_De virginitatis signis._ This has been a very favourite subject with
the speculative writers of both ancient and modern times, but none
appear to have come to any very satisfactory result upon the question;
nor is it even yet agreed in what the quality consists; some will have
it a moral, others a purely corporeal qualification. “Porro
virginitas, dicit Zacchias, si magis materialiter sumatur, nihil aliud
est quam naturalis constitutio et cohœrentia vasorum mulibrium, quæ
sic accepta potest facillime amitti; destructa enim vel manibus, vel
alio quocumque instrumento naturali constitutione et cohœrentia earum
partium, illico destructa dicitur et ipsa virginitas.” 2 _M. L. 1._ 4.
_tit._ 2. If the words _culpa muliebri, aut coitu virili_, had been
added, we might have acceded to the latter part of this definition;
the matter however is rather one of etymological curiosity, than of
medical jurisprudence, and therefore we shall proceed to quote from
the best authorities we have been able to discover on the subject, the
various signs by which this state may be ascertained; with this
reservation always of our own opinion, that though the presence of all
the enumerated circumstances may be taken as sufficient proof of
virginity, the absence of some or many of them, especially if
explained by physical causes, is no evidence to the contrary. “Le
fanciulle sane ed intatte hanno le parte esterne della generazione
dure, sode, lucide, e di un colore incarnato; l’imene intero; le labra
della vulva bene unite; le nimfe picciole e coperte; la clitoride col
preperzio corto; le rughe della vagina eminenti, apparente e fra loro
contigue; i seni mucosi profondi; l’orifizio dell’ uretra
angustissimo. Lasciando a parte i ridicoli segni tolti dai peli del
petigone più o meno crespi, dalla sibilosa escrizione delle orine;
dalla voce; dalla grosseza del collo; dal odorato, come vien detto di
un bravo Religioso di Praga che al solo odore sapea distinguere una
vergine donna da una deflorata; dal resultato degli sperimenti fatti
colla polveri di agata, di succino, di ambra, che legonsi appresso
molte Scrittori, che se divertono con bagatelle: noi divideremo i
sobraesposti segni di virginità in primarj ed in secondarj. Tra i
primi, creduti i meno fallaci si contano le rugosità della vagina
lumide e spesse; l’oscula della medesima angusto; l’imene presente; ed
il frenulo alto e molto teso.” Such are the signs laid down by
_Tortosa_, vol. 2. p. 4.; following _Nessi_, _Zacchias_, and
_Rœderer_; the writer then proceeds to examine each of these
circumstances with considerable minuteness.

Footnote 621:

Many of the judges denied that carnal knowledge was necessary to be
laid in the indictment; but only that the defendant ravished the
party. _Hill’s_ case. _Tr. Term_, 1781.

Footnote 622:

_M. Capuron_, in his _Medicine Legale relative a l’art des
Accouchemens_, published at _Paris_, 1821, enters with some minuteness
into the discussion of these signs; and comes to the conclusion, that
we shall endeavour to impress upon the reader, that no one of the
signs is in itself sufficient to establish the fact; nor is the
absence of all, conclusive against its existence; all that the most
experienced medical observer can do, is to shew a strong probability,
which united to moral evidence of the character and conduct of the
party, will amount to proof. Χρη παντα θεασασθαι τα σημεῖα, και μη
πιστευειν ενι.

Respect for the Jewish ritual, _Deut._ c. 22. has led a great part of
mankind into an error on this subject, and as it is one which has too
often destroyed matrimonial confidence, by exciting unjust suspicions,
we think it worthy of notice here, though not immediately necessary to
our subject. “L’hymen a été considéré comme le sceau de la virginité
physique. Mais pour admettre un pareil signe, il faudroit qu’il
existât naturellement chez toutes les vierges sans exception, et qu’il
ne se recontrât jamais chez celles qui auraient été deflorées; en un
mot, qu’il ne pût être détruit ou effacé que par la copulation.
D’abord la membrane dont nous parlons n’est pas universelle. A la
vérité, on ne peut contester qu’elle exist chez la plûpart, même chez
le plus grande nombre des vierges; celà est confirmé par le temoignage
de _Morgagni_, _de Haller_, _de Diermerbroeck_, _de Riolan_, _de
Bartholin_, _de Heister_ _et de Ruisch_.—_Dulaurans_, _Bohn_,
_Dionis_, _de la Mothe_, _Buffon_, _Palfin_, _Fallope_, _Vesale_,
_Colomb_, _Mahon_, etc. en ont formellement nié l’existance. [Nous
pouvons certifier nous-même ne l’avoir point trouvée chez plusieurs
petites filles, immediatement après leur naissance, tandis que nous
l’avons recontrée, sous la forme d’un anneau qui bordait l’orifice du
vagin, chez une femme célibataire de soixante-cinq ans. * * on le peut
rencontrer, non seulement chez les filles deflorées, mais encore chez
des femmes enceintes, et pres d’être meres!! Gavard rapporte l’example
d’une fille de treize ans qui avait gagné la maladie vénérienne dans
un lieu public, et qui neanmoins conservait encore cette marque de
virginité. Severin Pineau assure aussi que deux jeunes personnes
reçurent, dans le temps des règles, les embrassemens d’un homme sans
éprouver la moindre dechirure de l’hymen. On conçoit en effet avec
_Teichmeier_ et _Brendel_ que celà est très possible dans le temps de
la menstruation; car alors l’orifice du vagin devenant plus souple et
plus large qu’à l’ordinaire, peut admettre plus facilement le membre
de l’homme qui peut être aussi fort petit: ajoutons à cela que
l’hymen, surtout quand il est de forme semi-lunaire, humecté et
remolli par l’ecoulement du sang menstruel, peut offrir moins de
resistance, ceder et s’appliquer à la surface interne du vagin, et
permettre la copulation sans se rompre. _Mauriceau_ a cité plusieurs
femmes enceintes dont l’hymen etait dans son intégrité. _Ruisch_ parle
d’une femme dont la delivrance était empêchée, non-seulement par
l’hymen, mais encore par une autre membrane non naturelle. On trouve
des faits analogues dans _Meckel_ et _Walter_. _Beaudelocque_ rapporte
l’observation d’une femme primipare, dont l’hymen fut déchiré
brusquement par la tête de l’infant. Nous avons vu nous-même, la
resistance de l’hymen, ou nous n’aperçumes qu’une tres petite
ouverture qui avait sans doute permis la fecondation. Nous incisâmes
cette membrane avec le bistouri, et la patiente mit au monde très peu
de temps après, deux jumeaux vivans et de grandeur ordinaire.”
_Capuron. P._ 2. _quest._ 1.

Footnote 623:

In entering upon a disquisition on the tests of virginity, it is
hardly necessary to enumerate the many absurd marks related by the
more credulous, as indicative of recent defloration, such as, swelling
of the neck, rings around the eyes, the colour of the skin and urine,
&c. nor is it necessary to enter into a refutation of the story,
credited by _Mahon_, of a monk at Prague who could tell a maid by the
smell. We shall therefore proceed at once to consider the value of
that test which most commonly passes among us as the least equivocal
mark of virginity, viz. the presence of a peculiar membrane termed the
_Hymen_.

THE HYMEN (so named from the Greek word ὑμην, a membrane) is formed by
four angular duplicatures of the membrane of the vagina, the union of
which may be discovered by corresponding lines on the hymen. At the
upper part there is a semilunar vacancy, intended for the transmission
of the menses, so that it assumes the form of a crescent: a
circumstance which affords the true explanation of the origin and
meaning of the symbol so characteristically assigned to _Diana_. (See
_J. G. F. Tolbeng, de varietate hymenum. Hal._ 1791, 4to.) In some
rare cases, the hymen is an imperforate circular membrane, attached to
the edge of the orifice of the vagina in every part, so as to close
the canal completely, (we have already noticed this fact under the
subject of Impotence, p. 207). The girls, in whom this fault of
conformation existed, were called by the Greeks ἁτρηταὶ; physicians
who have written in Latin amongst us, have given them the name of
_Imperforatæ_, _clausæ_, or _velatæ_; and the Italians that of
_Coperchiate_. The Romans had no appropriate word to denote this
malformation, and they were therefore obliged to express it by some
circumlocution; it is thus that CICERO (_De Divinat: Lib._ II.) speaks
of a dream, where a woman was seen, “_quæ obsignatam habebat
nuturam_;” and that PLINY (_Hist. Nat. Lib._ VII. _c._ 16) relates,
_Cornelius_, the mother of the _Gracchi_, “_concreta genitali nata
fuerat_.” In many cases the membrane appears never to have been
formed; while in others, its extreme tenacity has occasioned its
rupture and destruction in early life; it may, moreover, have been
destroyed by disease, by noxious habits, or by acrimonious discharges.
This extreme uncertainty has led many authors, of no inconsiderable
eminence, to deny its existence, while others have acknowledged its
occasional presence, but have attributed its formation to disease.
GRAAF, PENIUS, BUFFON, DIONIS, declare that, by dissection of girls of
all ages, they have never been able to discover it; on the other hand,
the reality of this membrane has been maintained by BERENGER DE CORPI
(_In Isagoge Anatomica_), VESALIUS (_De Corp. hum. fabric._ v. _c._
15.) FALLOPIUS (_In Observat. Anatom._) VOLCHERUS COITERUS (_In Tabul.
Anatom._) VAROLIUS (_Anatom. Lib._ iv. _c._ 4). RIOLANUS (_Anthropog.
Lib._ 1, _c._ 16). BARTHOLIN (_Anat. Lib._ 1. _c._ 31). WEIRUS
(_Observat. Lib._ 1. _et de Lamiis Lib._ iii. _c_ 20). SPIGELIUS (_De
Hum. Corp. fabrica Lib._ viii. _c._ 18). DIEMERBROECK (_Anatom. Lib._
1. _c._ 16). SWAMMERDAM (_De Uteri Mulieb. fabrici_). TECHMEYER
(_Institut. Medicin. Legal et Forens. c._ iv.) and all the more
learned and able anatomists of the sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries. HEISTER (_Compend. Anatom._ and _Ephem. Nat. Curios. Cent._
viii. _Observ._ 69). FREDERIC RUYSCH (_Thes. Anatom._ iii. _No._ 15;
vi. _No._ vii. _No._ 60.) MORGAGNI (_Adversaria Anatom._ i. 29-iv.
23.) and WINSLOW (_Exposit. Anatom. No._ 653), all describe this
membrane, and assert that they have found it in every young girl they
have had occasion to examine. _Astruc_ (_On the diseases of Women,
vol._ 1. _p._ 123), in referring to the above learned authorities,
observes that, “the inference must necessarily be, that those who deny
ever to have seen it, must either have examined only such girls as had
lost their virginity; or, prepossessed with the false notion that the
_hymen_ must always close the entrance to the _vagina_ entirely, they
have mistaken it at the time it was before their eyes, and have even
sometimes given the description of it, without mentioning the name.”
After this literary history of the question, we may very safely
conclude, that the _Hymen_ is a perfectly natural structure, occurring
in the virgin, and that by sexual intercourse it is ruptured; after
which it is shrivelled into several small excrescences at the orifice
of the urethra, called the _Carunculæ Myrtiformes_. But since it is
liable to such variations in appearance, and to accidental rupture
from the slightest causes, its absence can never be received as
evidence of defloration; nor can its presence be considered as an
unequivocal proof of virginity; for it has been asserted by
indisputable authority, that it is not always ruptured _in Coitú_.
RUYSCH has said, that if the coitus take place immediately after the
menstrual excretion, this membrane is often not ruptured, (_Observ.
Anat. Chirurg._ xxii). And we have already alluded to cases, wherein
the Hymen was actually entire at the time of delivery. (See p. 203,
and note.)

Some authors have talked of the renewal of the hymen after its
rupture; this we apprehend can never happen, although a spurious
reparation of certain local consequences, incident to the loss of
virginity, may certainly occur from the effects of adhesive
inflammation.

Having thus disposed of the subject of Hymen, we next come to consider
the state of the Vagina, as an indication of Virginity, upon which
some authors have attached considerable weight, especially the Italian
medico-jurist TORTOSA. In a healthy virgin it ought certainly to be
rigid and narrow, since the only function which it has to perform is
that of giving transit to the menstrual flux: the parts may however
become dilated, and their natural rugæ be obliterated from various
innocent causes. Certain mal-practices will likewise occasion the same
relaxation as sexual intercourse. Some authors have considered a
rigidity of the _frenum labiorum_, at the inferior, or _posterior
commissure_ of the _pudenda_, as a proof, if not of virginity, of a
rare indulgence in sexual intercourse. The Mosaic test of Virginity,
the effusion of blood, however conclusive it might have been among the
Jews, certainly cannot be received as unexceptionable in these
Northern climates. The Jews, it would seem, placed so much reliance
upon appearances, that the nuptial sheets were constantly viewed by
the relations on both sides; and the maid’s parents preserved them as
a token of her virginity, to be produced in case her husband should
ever reproach her upon that subject. In case the token of virginity
was not found on them, she was to be stoned to death at her father’s
door. This evidence is still required by some of the tribes inhabiting
the banks of the Indus.—_Pottinger’s Travels, p._ 70. In some cases
the effusion of blood during the first act of coition, is very
considerable, and is liable to be confounded with the _Catamenia_; we
have however already observed (p. 187, note) that the menstrual
excretion does not, in its natural state coagulate; and yet this
assertion requires some qualification; for it is well known, that when
the discharge is superabundant and attended with great pain, it often
comes away in coagula, in which case there is probably an admixture of
common blood.

From what has been here related, we are bound to conclude, that there
does not exist any anatomical sign, by which the virginity of a female
can be unequivocally determined. By midwives and matrons however, the
subject has been treated with less diffidence; in the statutes of the
sworn matrons, or midwives of Paris, containing likewise divers
formulæ of reports, and depositions made in court, upon their being
called to visit girls that made their complaint of being deflowered,
they laid down fourteen marks on which to form a judgment. _Laur.
Joubart_, a celebrated physician of Montpellier, has transcribed three
of these reports—one made to the Provost of Paris, another in
Languedoc, and a third in Berne.

Footnote 624:

_Mahon_ mentions an instance in which he found a membrane at a
finger’s breadth within the vagina, _Med. Leg._ tom. 1. p. 118.

Footnote 625:

“Qualis imperfectus tamen coitus, quo mentula vaginæ uterique orificio
quodammodo tantum applicatur, hoc sub illius affrictione titillatur
ipsique semen virile adspergitur, juxta diversorum Autorum
observationes Medicas, ad impregnationem Mulieris alicujus interdum
sufficit. Valentini Novella Medico legales,” vol. 1. p. 33.

Footnote 626:

But _contra_ see _Hale P. C._ 628 & 8 _Inst._ 58.

Footnote 627:

The period and manner of mutilation have considerable influence on the
effects of the process. The complete removal of all the external
organs is a much more decisive method of annihilating the propensities
connected with them, than any partial amputation, or compression, or
ligature of the spermatic cords—“Si soli testiculi abscissi fuerint,
non auferuntur desideria; imo sunt valde magna, in quibus peccare
possunt ... sed possunt deflorare quamcunque mulierem, nullam tamen
impregnare. 1. _Valent. Pand. p._ 136, vide etiam a p. 62, usque ad
222. _De Conjugio Eunuchi._”

The operation is also more effectual when performed in early infancy,
than after the period of puberty; venereal desires have been known to
subsist in considerable force, and with the usual external signs, even
after the removal of the testes in the adult; thus JUVENAL, in
satirising the vices of the Roman women, says—

“Sunt quas Eunuchi imbelles, ac mollia semper
“Oscula delectant,”——

Footnote 628:

An important question here arises as to what shall be legally called
_Semen_, for the secretion emitted is composed of parts, the smaller
portion of which only possesses the generative faculty.

It appears from the experiments and observations of our most accurate
physiologists, that the fluid expelled in copulation is furnished in a
small proportion only by the Testes; that to this a peculiar secretion
of the Vesiculæ Seminales is added, and that the chief bulk is made up
of the Prostatic liquor, or secretion from the prostate gland; so that
the fact of emission in Eunuchs is not extraordinary, although the
discharged fluid cannot be said to be _Seminal_.

Footnote 629:

_Aut. more alieno retrahat._

Footnote 630:

We should indeed be inclined to question the veracity of a witness,
who under circumstances of extreme pain, rage and terror, should
pretend to any very great sensibility to minuter accidents.

Footnote 631:

The Faculty of Leipsic decided “Dormientem in sella Virginem insciam
deflorari posse 1. _Valent. Pand. Med. Leg._ p. 31. vide etiam _ib._
p. 33. De stupris in Somno à Fœminis admissis.” In stating the above
authorities we are not to be considered as implicitly confiding in
their truth.

Footnote 632:

Yet if she live long enough to make a deposition upon oath, it is
admissible. Vide post _Fleming & Windham’s_ case.

Footnote 633:

This belongs to a class of cases of which we shall take no other
notice, than by referring the reader to the authorities. We do not
believe that medical evidence can ever materially elucidate the fact,
unless the crime be violent and accompanied by material bodily injury.

Footnote 634:

In the celebrated case of _Mary Ashford_, the prisoner _Abraham
Thornton_, admitted the carnal knowledge, adding that it was with her
own consent, but the whole of the evidence repelled the latter
assertion; the death of his unhappy victim (however caused) rendered
it impossible to convict him of Rape.

Footnote 635:

It is possible that a woman who has consented to her dishonor by one
person, may on fear of discovery, or for some malignant motive, charge
the crime on another; or as in the cases mentioned by _Capuron_, she
may have produced external appearances of injury for the same
nefarious purpose.

Footnote 636:

_Farr_ and _Faselius_ incline to the same opinion. The Parliament of
Thoulouse passed a decree upon this subject, deciding that a woman
violated might nevertheless conceive; the physicians having on that
occasion reported, “posse quidem voluntatem cogi, sed non naturam, quæ
semel irritata pensi voluptate fervescit, rationis et voluntatis
sensum amittens.”

Footnote 637:

Or if she be a married woman, how is it possible to fix the filiation?

Footnote 638:

Sir _W. Blackstone_ does not appear to have adverted to this statute.
4 _Comm._ 314. See _Jac. L.D._ by _Tomlins, tit._ Rape.

Footnote 639:

All persons, whether men or women, aiding in the perpetration of a
Rape, are guilty of felony. Lord _Baltimore’s_ case, 2 _Burr._ 2179.

Footnote 640:

It is somewhat singular that several eminent writers should have
fallen into the error of citing Lord _Castlehaven’s_ and Lord
_Audley’s_ as distinct cases; _Mervin Touchet_ was Earl of
_Castlehaven_ in Ireland, and Baron _Audley_ in England.

Footnote 641:

For the opinion of the Judges on the question of penetration, arising
out of this case, see _Hutt. R._ 115.

Footnote 642:

The doubt in this case arose on the construction of the Statute 2 & 3
_Ph. & M. c._ 10. See also _Lambe’s_ case, 2 _Leach’s C.L._ 626.

Transcriber’s Note

This print copy of the book had front matter labelled with small Roman numerals followed by an Introduction also labelled with small Roman numerals and beginning again with ‘i’. In this e-book version, the page numbers of the front matter have been suffixed with _a (i.e. i_a) and the page numbers of the Introduction have been suffixed with _b (i.e. i_b), in order to differentiate them.

This book uses inconsistent spelling and hyphenation, which were retained in the ebook version. Ditto marks and dashes used to represent repeated text have been replaced with the text that they represent. Some corrections have been made to the text, including correcting the errata noted, normalizing punctuation and correcting page numbers in the table of contents where errors were found. Further corrections are noted below:

p. v_b: weight of a religious ordonannce -> weight of a religious ordinance Footnote 41: Cours de Médicine -> Cours de Médecine p. xxxvi_b: Sir Henry’s Presidentcy -> Sir Henry’s Presidency p. xlvii_b: a sign of independant vitality -> a sign of independent vitality Footnote 75: suggested that Cardinel Wolsey -> suggested that Cardinal Wolsey p. 2: were repeated by the Act 14 and 15 -> were repealed by the Act 14 and 15 p. 20: the warden or goaler -> the warden or gaoler p. 31: the defendants,[95] plea was naught -> the defendant’s[95] plea was naught p. 42: beacons to avoid passed errors -> beacons to avoid past errors p. 48: fit to pratise in _another_ -> fit to practise in _another_ p. 59: and the evstravagant praise which -> and the extravagent praise which Footnote 134: minutes of the Royal Soeiety -> minutes of the Royal Society Footnote 148: jurisdiction of the Bishop or Winchester -> jurisdiction of the Bishop of Winchester p. 92: its most absurd superstititions -> its most absurd superstitions p. 95: health of the neigbourhood -> health of the neighbourhood Footnote 153: ground on which this cemetry -> ground on which this cemetery Footnote 158: Mémoires de la Societe Royale -> Mémoires de la Société Royale Footnote 177: Treasise on the Plague -> Treatise on the Plague Footnote 177: but carefuly avoived contact -> but carefully avoided contact Footnote 183: being communicated from person person -> being communicated from person to person p. 116: from the pen of Dr. _Brancoft_ -> from the pen of Dr. _Bancroft_ Footnote 195: _Medical Logic Eit. 2. p. 219._ -> _Medical Logic Edit. 2. p. 219._ p. 123: substance so analagous to -> substance so analogous to p. 131: from Symrna to the whole African coast -> from Smyrna to the whole African coast Anchor position Footnote 213 assumed p. 141: leaves a poisonons substance -> leaves a poisonous substance p. 152 witnssses, or even spectators -> witnesses or even spectators p. 152: the attention of Medical practioners -> the attention of Medical practitioners Footnote 254: hujusmodi morbornm quavis -> hujusmodi morborum quavis Footnote 263: the SIXT AGE -> the SIXTH AGE Anchor position for Footnote 393 assumed Footnote 347: See _Part_ 3. of _Personal Idendity_. -> See _Part_ 3. of _Personal Identity_. p. 223: we may doubt whether the Achbishop of Canterbury -> we may doubt whether the Archbishop of Canterbury Footnote 350: considering such a phecomenon as impossible -> considering such a phenomenon as impossible Footnote 351: shew that that there was living issue born -> shew that there was living issue born Anchor position for Footnote 401 assumed Footnote 408: Journal des Pratisch Heilkunst. -> Journal des Praktischen Heilkunst. p. 263: in a paper entiled -> in a paper entitled p. 281: he said to have been _born_ -> be said to have been _born_ Footnote 470: _Medico-Chirurg. Trans._ voi. 10 -> _Medico-Chirurg. Trans._ vol. 10 p. 287: The following remaks -> The following remarks Footnote 478: London Medical Repositoty -> London Medical Repository p. 288: see also Montaigne’s Esssay -> see also Montaigne's ssay p. 288: are very uncommon in occurence -> are very uncommon in occurrence p. 292: This succeeds to adolesence -> This succeeds to adolescence p. 296: whether by the Commisioners -> whether by the Commissioners Footnote 508: when is erred from -> when it erred from p. 301: any instrumeut to bind his property -> any instrument to bind his property p. 301: and responsable for his actions -> and responsible for his actions p. 304: formerly practised in Lunatic Assylums -> formerly practised in Lunatic Asylums Footnote 513 anchor position assumed p. 311: derangement into two classss -> derangement into two classes p. 319: betow his wealth upon a stranger -> bestow his wealth upon a stranger p. 331: the inhabitants of the metroplis -> the inhabitants of the metropolis Footnote 552: putrefacfion of a considerable heap of cabbages -> putrefaction of a considerable heap of cabbages Footnote 561 anchor position assumed Footnote 569: appear to be have been very similar -> appear to have been very similar p. 368: The last case which he rela tes -> The last case which he relates p. 372: brought close to his eyes, conclave glasses -> brought close to his eyes, concave glasses p. 377: if any butcher do sell contageous flesh -> if any butcher do sell contagious flesh p. 386: his life was depaired of by both of them -> his life was despaired of by both of them p. 389: if the daugther was the survivor -> if the daughter was the survivor p. 395: those who where found where -> those who were found where p. 405: and filled with_o atmeal_ -> and filled with _oatmeal_ p. 408: the philosopers of different countries -> the philosophers of different countries p. 416: for there were formery several -> for there were formerly several Footnote 622: _Vesale_, _Colomb_, _Mahon_, ect. -> _Vesale_, _Colomb_, _Mahon_, etc. p. 434: Mr. Justise _Foster_ -> Mr. Justice _Foster_