XI Contused Wounds and Injuries Unaccompanied by Solution of Continuity
If a blow be inflicted with a blunt instrument, there is produced a bruise, or ecchymosis, of which it is unnecessary here to describe the appearance and progress. A bruise may be distinguished from a post-mortem stain by the cuticle in the former often being abraded and raised. When an incision is made into the bruise, the whole of the subcutaneous tissues are found to be infiltrated with blood-clot, and there is no clear margin. In the case of a post-mortem stain the edges are sharply defined, not raised, and, on section, mere bloody points are seen which are the cut ends of the divided blood vessels.