_If the deceased be found hanging by the neck, whether he was suspended during life, or hung up after death? Whether it was an act of suicide or murder?_—In cases where the deceased has been hanged alive, we shall find the trace of the rope in the neck very distinctly marked by a deep discolouration; whereas, the effect occasioned by such a ligature upon the dead body, will be far less striking. We have also to inquire whether the deceased has any wounds, or whether, upon dissection, the usual appearances are found which generally occur in hanged persons. But, should any marks of external violence present themselves upon such an occasion, we must judge of them with caution. They may perhaps be purely accidental. _Dr. Male_ supposes a case in which the person, with the view of speedily destroying life, may have thrown himself off with violence, broken the rope, and wounded himself by falling upon articles of furniture, and yet had sufficient fortitude again to suspend himself. “An apprentice boy, in my neighbourhood,” says this author, “working alone in an attic, tied one end of a rope loosely round his neck whilst his master was from home, probably without any intention of destroying himself, and twisted the other round the projecting part of the top of a door, the planks of which were irregular and somewhat divided; a small stool, on which he stood, slipped from under him, when he fell forwards, striking his temple against the corner of a box which cut him to the bone; he lay along the floor, his head and shoulders only elevated a few inches above it; the cord not being tied, had run nearly its whole length, and then caught between the planks of the door; in this state he perished. The wound was magnified by popular rumour into many, and vengeance was denounced against the innocent master, who was accused of having first killed, and afterwards suspended the boy. On examining the boy the mark of the cord was found to extend from ear to ear; the vessels of the brain were turgid, the thyroid cartilage broken; the nails blue, and the hands firmly closed. From this and other important circumstantial evidence, the coroner’s jury were convinced that the charge was unfounded.” _Dr. Smith_ remarks that, except in the instance of children, or extremely feeble persons, it is very difficult to hang an individual by force, unless the situation be remote, and no interruption likely to take place; or the assailants be numerous and powerful enough, (as in the celebrated case of _Porteus_) to set all interference at defiance.