In the medicolegal study of cases of violent death the location and gross appearance of blood-stains at times become important factors. Their significance is, however, referred to but very briefly in works on medical jurisprudence, and the part which blood-drops falling vertically may play in solving the riddles which these cases present has been hardly noticed. A search through the available English, German and French works on the subject shows practically nothing regarding these latter blood-spots.
Witthaus and Becker's last edition1 says: ``Blood dropped perpendicularly on a hard smooth surface begins to spatter when the height reaches 3 or 4 inches, but may not spatter from a height of 2 or 3 feet. Dropped from a few inches on glass, the drop is compact with smooth edge; from a few feet, the drop is flatter, the edges may be moderately indented, and minute outlying drops may be present.''