4. In all examinations of wounds, be careful to disturb as little as possible their outward appearance, in order to compare the wound with the suspected weapon.
5. All notes should be taken during such examination, or immediately after.
6. Make a careful examination of all the important organs of the body.
Why? In order to disprove the suggestion that death was due to other causes—poison, disease, &c. This is important, as in the case of a girl who, dreading a whipping, swallowed some arsenic, from which she died, yet her father was tried for causing her death by the severity of his punishment.
7. Only facts should be stated in the Report; no inferences should be drawn or suggested.
8. In describing the appearance of wounds use simple untechnical language, and avoid superlatives and high-flown words to describe and explain simple facts.
9. In gunshot wounds, note position of body, state and contents of the hands, and the direction of the wound in relation to external objects.
Note also in all kinds of wounds the relationship of the wound to cuts or rents in the clothes of the deceased.