If it be determined that such wounds have been inflicted during life, it then becomes important to solve the following questions.
_Whether they resulted from an act of suicide or otherwise; whether from accident or design?_—There are certain acts of violence which we feel no hesitation in declaring are not likely to be accomplished by the individual himself; such are incisions, or gun-shot wounds on the back of the body, and, perhaps, fractures of the skull; with regard to wounds in the throat, the death of the _Earl of Essex_, during his imprisonment in the Tower, has given rise to much speculation, and the reader will find an interesting digression upon the subject in the history of _Bishop Burnet_. Some stress has, in a late case, been laid upon the fact of the wound being even and regular, which it was asserted would not have happened had it been inflicted by the hand of an assassin—_because any struggle would have made it irregular_. This is really a refinement that we do not pretend to understand. Is not convulsive action likely to disturb even the cold and calculating admeasurements of the suicide? instances have frequently occurred where even the chin has been cut during the operation, as in the case which lately occurred near the Serpentine river in Hyde Park, and yet no grounds existed to excite the least suspicion of murder.
Where the individual has perished by fire arms, the circumstance of his fingers being found discoloured by the combustion of the powder in the pan has been alluded to by authors as a proof of suicide, and it certainly carries some weight with it, although the crafty assassin might contrive to produce such an appearance. The state of the linen of the deceased, as indicating the effects of a struggle, may furnish some evidence upon these occasions; and cases have occurred where bloody marks have been discovered on parts of the body, which, from their situation, could not have been produced by the deceased. In _Hargrave’s_ State Trials[17] there is a very remarkable instance of a woman who was found in bed with her throat cut, and a knife sticking in the floor near her; three of her relations were in an adjoining room, through which it was necessary to pass to the apartment of the deceased; the neighbours were alarmed, and the body was viewed; these relations declared she must have destroyed herself; but, from a particular circumstance, they were suspected, and found guilty of the murder; for on the _left_ hand, was observed the bloody mark of a _left_ hand, which of course could not be that of the deceased. How often has the left hand[18] of the murderer betrayed his deeds of blood!