1. An Examination of the Parts of Generation.
(a) More or less inflammatory redness and abrasion of the mucous membrane lining the parts, which is never absent in children, and may last for some weeks. “In adults, virgins up to the time of the commission of the crime, this appearance is either not found at all or only faint traces of it. In those previously deflowered it is never observed.” In the case of young children the genitals may be so injured as to cause death in a few hours. The parts may therefore present all varieties of injury, from slight bruising and redness to the most fearful lacerations.
Caution.—Inflammatory irritation due to catarrh may occur, and be apt to mislead.
(b) A muco-purulent secretion, from the mucous membrane lining the vagina, of a greenish-yellow colour, more or less viscid, and soiling the linen of the girl. This secretion, in colour and consistence, cannot be distinguished from that the result of gonorrhœa. The usual period of incubation of gonorrhœa is from three to eight days; among young girls, however, this period may be shortened. The incubatory stage of soft chancre is from three to five days (Diday); that of hard chancre somewhat longer, varying from fifteen to twenty days. Enlargement of the inguinal glands and the persistence of the discharge after the use of simple treatment will tend greatly to confirm the suspicion of venereal disease. The genital organs of the male may have to be examined as to the presence of gonorrhœa or syphilis. Syringing the urethra may remove for a time the gonorrhœal discharge; care must therefore be taken in forming an opinion.
Caution.—Unhealthy children, and those recovering from some debilitating diseases—fever, &c.,—may suffer from purulent discharges from the vagina. Small ulcers may also be present, and may be mistaken for syphilitic ulceration Infantile leucorrhœa is not uncommon. (Percival‘s Medical Ethics.)
(c) Hæmorrhage or Dried Blood about the Genital Organs.—(1) Frequently absent in young children. (2) Always found in adults, virgins at the time the rape was committed, when the vessels of the hymen are ruptured.
(d) Destruction of the Hymen.—Most frequently, and especially in young girls, one or more lacerations of the hymen may be seen. These lacerations must be looked for within five or six days of the alleged rape, as they soon heal up, and then no certain opinion can be given as to the date of their infliction. They may also be produced by any foreign body to substantiate a charge of rape.
(e) Dilatation of the Vagina.—This condition may be produced by the passage of hard bodies in order to substantiate a false charge of rape. Casper once examined a girl, only ten years of age, whose mother had gradually dilated her vagina with her fingers, in order to fit her for sexual intercourse with men.
(f) General Signs of Rape.—To the above are added certain general signs, as a difficulty in walking, attended with an involuntary separation of the thighs, common to both children and adults; pain is also not infrequently present in passing water, and when the bowels are relieved. In determining the truthfulness of the statements made as to an alleged rape, the character of the woman, and the obvious inconsistencies of her statements must be taken into consideration. Moreover, if, in addition to the injuries found on the external genitals, spermatozoa be detected in the vagina, a presumption in favour of the injuries being due to sexual intercourse will be clearly made out, but the presence of spermatozoa in the vagina of a woman is no evidence of rape. Care, however, must be taken not to confound with spermatozoa an animalcule—Trichomonas vaginæ—described by M. Donné as being sometimes found in the vaginal mucus. The head of the animalcule is larger than that of a spermatozoon, and is surrounded by a row of cilia.