A manual of medical jurisprudence

Preface

TO

NINTH EDITION.

In preparing for the press the ninth edition of the Manual of Medical Jurisprudence, I have 'carried out the plan adopted in the previous editions. My object has been to make this a student's book, and at the same time to render it a useful guide on medico-legal subjects to medical men and lawyers.

The whole of the work has undergone revision, and such additions have been made in the form of cases and observations as the progress of time had rendered necessary.

In the section on Poisoning, notices of some new poisons have been introduced, as well as descriptions of improved methods for the detection and identification of poisons. Under this head the reader will find that the process of dialysis has been noticed, as one of the new methods of research for many mineral and organic poisons.

In the section on Wounds and Personal Injuries, two chapters have been added on the proofs of Personal Identity furnished by cicatrices and tattoo-marks. Some recent trials in England and on the Continent, have given a prominent interest to these subjects. The application of spectral analysis and of the guaiacum process for the detection of blood-stains on weapons and clothing has been described in the appropriate chapters.

The subject of Criminal Abortion has been almost entirely

A 2 iv

PREFACE.

rewritten, and to the chapters on Infanticide additions have been made, particularly in reference to medical responsibility in the examination of women charged with this crime.

This edition has been printed in a larger type and on a larger page, so as to render the book not only more convenient to the reader, but to allow the introduction of much additional matter. Seven new illustrations have also been introduced.

I cannot close this Preface without expressing my obligations to many known as well as unknown correspondents in the professions of law and medicine, for the reports of many recent cases introduced into this edition.

A. S. T.

Contents

MEDICAL EVIDENCE.

CHAPTEE 1.

The practice of medical jurisprudence — Medical and medico-legal duties — Dying declarations — Inspection of bodies in death fr®m wounds or poisoning — Use of notes — Medico-legal reports . . pages 1 — 17

Chapter 2

Coroners' inquests — Trial at the assizes — Obedience to subpoenas — Medical fees — Examination in chief — Duties of medical witnesses — Quotations from books — Presence in court — Technical terms — License of counsel — Rules for the delivery of evidence .... pages 17 — 39

Chapter 3

Causes of death — Sudden death — Syncope, asphyxia, coma — Signs or indications of death — Cessation of circulation and respiration — Cooling of the body — Cadaveric rigidity — Putrefaction — Changes produced in the body — Putrefaction mistaken for gangrene . . . pages 39 — 48

POISONING.

Chapter 4

Definition of the term poison — Mechanical irritants — Influence of habit and idiosyncrasy — Classification — Special characters of irritant, corrosive, and neurotic poisons ...... pages 48 — 58

Chapter 5

Evidence of poisoning in the living body — Action of poisons increased or diminished by disease — Symptoms connected with food or medicine — Several persons attacked simultaneously — Evidence from the detection of poison in the food pages 58 — 66

Chapter 6

On the evidence of poisoning in the dead body — Period at which poisons prove fatal — Chronic poisoning — Appearances produced by the different classes of poisons — Redness of the mucous membrane mistaken for inflammation— Ulceration and corrosion — Softening — Perforation of the stomach from poison and disease , , , pages 66 — 75

VI

CONTENTS.

i

IRRITANT POISONS.

Chapter 10

Phosphorus— Symptoms and appearances — Chronic poisoning — Chemical analysis — Red phosphorus pages 96 — 101

METALLIC IRRITANTS.

CHAPTER n.

Arsenic — Arsenious acid — Symptoms — Chronic poisoning — Appearances after death — Fatal dose — Chemical analysis— Arsenites — Arsenic acid — Orpimeiit and other compounds .... pages 101 — 119

Chapter 12

Poisoning by mercury — Corrosive sublimate — Symptoms — Chronic poisoning— Appearances after death — Chemical analysis — Process for mercury in organic liquids — Calomel — White and red precipitates — Other compounds of mercury ....... pages 119 — 127

Chapter 13

On poisoning with lead — Sugar of lead — Symptoms — Appearances after death — Chemical analysis — Lead in organic mixtures — Carbonate or white lead — Chronic poisoning — Poisoning with copper — Blue vitriol — Symptoms — Appearances — Chemical analysis — Copper in organic liquids

CONTENTS.

vii

Conium maculatum — Hemlock — Conia — (Enanthe crocata — iEthusa cynapium — Aconite or monkshood — Aconitina . . pages 181 — 189

Chapter 21

Atropa belladonna, or deadly nightshade — Poisoning by atropia — Lobelia — Foxglove — Digitaline — Datura stramonium or thorn-apple — Daturia — ■ Other vegetable poisons pages 189 — 198 viii

CONTENTS.

WOUNDS AND PERSONAL INJURIES.

CHAPTEK 22.

Definition of a wound — Danger to life — Grievous bodily harm — Examination of wounds — Description of wounds — Characters of wounds inflicted on the living and dead body — Ecchymosis in the living and dead — Effects of violence on the dead body — Ecchymosis not always a result of violence.

Chapter 23

Evidence of the use of a weapon — Characters of wounds caused by weapons — Incised, punctured, lacerated, and contused wounds — Stabs and cuts — What are weapons? — Examination of the dress — Imputed or self-inflicted wounds ........ pages 207 — 218

Chapter 24

Wounds indicative of homicide, suicide, or accident — Evidence from the situation of a wound — Evidence from nature and extent — Evidence from the direction of a wound — Wounds inflicted by the right or left hand — Several wounds — Use of several weapons . pages 218 — 225

Chapter 25

Evidence from circumstances — The position of the body — Of the weapon — Evidence from blood, hair, and other substances on weapons — Marks of blood on clothing and furniture, on the deceased, and on the assailant

Chapter 26

Chemical examination of blood-stains — Stains of blood on linen and other stuffs — Age or date of the stains — Other stains resembling blood — Blood on weapons — Arterial and venous blood — Varieties of blood — Blood of man and animals — Microscopical evidence pages 234 — 249

Chapter 27

The cause of death from wounds — Wounds directly or indirectly fatal — Death from haemorrhage — Internal bleeding — Death from mechanical injury — From shock— Death from numerous personal injuries irrespective of any mortal wound pages 249 — 256

Chapter 28

Death of wounded persons from natural causes— Distinction between real and apparent cause — Death from wounds or latent disease — Accelerating cause — Death from wounds after long periods — Avoidable causes of death — Neglect — Imprudence— Unskilful treatment— Unhealthy state of body pages 256— 268

CONTENTS.

ix

Chapter 29

"Wounds indirectly fatal — Tetanus following wounds — Erysipelas — Delirium tremens — Gangrene — Death from surgical operations — Primary and * secondary causes of death — Unskilfulness in operations — Pyaemia — Medical responsibility in reference to operations — Actions for malapraxis

Chapter 30

Cicatrization of wounds — Evidence from cicatrices — Changes in an incised wound — Is a cicatrix always a consequence of a wound ? — Are cicatrices when once formed indelible? — Characters of cicatrices — Their age or date — Cicatrices from bleeding, cupping, setons and issues — Cicatrices from burns — Cicatrices from disease distinguished from those of wounds

Chapter 31

Medical evidence of identity from coloured cicatrices or tattoo -marks — Mode and date of production — Durability of these marks — Their alleged spontaneous disappearance — Cases of identity from tattooing — Simulated marks — Tattoo-marks on the dead — Medical responsibility

Chapter 32

Wounds of the head — Concussion — How distinguished from intoxication — Effusion of blood as a result of violence, disease, or mental excitement — Wounds of the face — Deformity as a consequence of wounds of the face — Injuries to the spine and spinal marrow — Fractures of the vertebras

Chapter 33

Wounds of the chest — Wounds and ruptures of the lungs and heart — Wounds of large blood vessels — Wounds and ruptures of the diaphragm — Direction of wounds in the chest — Wounds of the abdomen — Death from blows on the cavity — Ruptures of the liver, gall-bladder, spleen, kidneys, intestines, stomach, and urinary bladder — Wounds of the genital organs pages 310 — 325

Chapter 34

Fractures — Produced by a blow with a weapon or by a fall — Brittleness of the bones — Fractures caused by slight muscular exertion — In the living and dead body — Has a bone ever been fractured? — Locomotion- Dislocations from violence or natural causes — Medical opinions — Actions for malapraxis ....... pages 325 — 329

Chapter 35

Gunshot wounds — In the living and dead body — Was the piece fired near or from a distance ? — Accidental, suicidal, or homicidal wounds — Position of the wounded person when shot — Wounds from small shot — Wounds from wadding and gunpowder . . . pages 329 — 338

Chapter 36

Death from burns and scalds — Symptoms — Stupcr — Gause of death — Post-mortem appearances — Burns on the dead body — Accident, homicide, or suicide — Wounds caused by fire — Scalding — Burns by corrosive liquids

X

CONTENTS.

ASPHYXIA.

CHAPTEE 37.

Drowning — Cause of death — Secondary causes — Post-mortem appearances — Medical proofs of death from drowning — Specific gravity of the body— Co-incidental causes of death — Marks of violence — Accidental fractures — Homicidal and suicidal drowning .... pages 347 — 365

Chapter 38

Hanging — Cause of death — Death from the secondary effects — Post-mortem appearances — Mark of the cord or ligature — Was death caused by hanging ? — Hanging after death — Summary of medical evidence — Marks of violence on the hanged — Was the hanging the result of accident, suicide, or homicide ? — The position of the body . . . pages 365 — 384

Chapter 39

Strangulation — Cause of death — Appearances after death — Was death caused by strangulation, or was the constriction applied to the neck after death ? — Marks of violence — Accidental, homicidal, and suicidal strangulation pages 384 — 401

Chapter 40

Suffocation — Erom mechanical causes — Cause of death — Appearances after death — Evidence of death from suffocation — Accidental, suicidal, and homicidal suffocation — Smothering .... pages 401 — 416

Chapter 41

Gaseous poisons — Carbonic acid — Symptoms — Appearances — Analysis — Effects of charcoal-vapour — Carbonic oxide — Coal and coke vapour — Sulphurous acid — Vapours of lime, cement, and brick-kilns — Confined air — Coal-gas — Carburetted hydrogen — Nitrous oxide — Sulphuretted hydrogen— Effluvia of drains and sewers . . . pages 416 — 443

LIGHTNING. COLD. HEAT. STARVATION.

Chapter 42

Effects of the electric fluid — Post-mortem appearances — Cold an occasional cause of death — Symptoms— Circumstances which accelerate death — Post-mortem appearances — Effect of heat — Starvation a rare cause of death — Symptoms — Appearances after death — Legal relations

CONTENTS.

xi

PREGNANCY.

Chapter 43

Signs of pregnancy — Suppression of the menses — Quickening — Sounds of the fcetal heart— Feigned pregnancy — Concealed pregnancy — Pregnancy in the dead — Impregnation in a state of unconsciousness — Legal relations

DELIVERY.

Chapter 44

Delivery in the living — Concealed delivery — Signs of abortion in the early stages of pregnancy — Signs of recent and remote delivery — Feigned delivery — Delivery in a state of unconsciousness — Signs of delivery in the dead — True and false corpora lutea — Characters of the ovum or embryo— Moles — Concealment of birth . . . pages 473 — 489

CRIMINAL ABORTION.

Chapter 45

Abortion from natural causes — Criminal causes — Mechanical means- Medicinal substances — Signs of abortion — Specific abortives — Local, applications — Feigned abortion — Meaning of the word noxious as applied to drugs — On inducing premature labour — Proof of pregnancy not necessary — Abortion of monsters— Moles and hydatids

INFANTICIDE.

Chapter 46

Nature of the crime — Medical evidence at inquests — Uterine age or maturity of the child — Characters of the child from the sixth to the ninth month — Signs of maturity — Rules for inspecting the body

Chapter 47

Evidence of life before respiration — Putrefaction in utero — Evidence of life after respiration — Colour, volume, consistency, and absolute weight of the lungs — Static test — Weight increased by respiration xii

CONTENTS.

Chapter 48

The hydrostatic test — Sinking of the lungs from disease or atelectasis — Life with perfect atelectasis or entire absence of air from the Lungs — Erroneous medical inference from sinking of the lungs — Floating of the lungs from putrefaction — Effects of putrefaction on the lungs

Chapter 49

Floating of the lungs from artificial inflation — Inflation not distinguishable from imperfect respiration — Results of compression — Improper objections to the hydrostatic test — Respiration before birth — Respiration a sign of life, not of live birth — General conclusions . . pages 533 — 540

Chapter 50

On the proofs of a child having been born alive — Evidence from respiration — From marks of violence — From natural changes in the foetal vessels — From the discovery of food in the stomach — General conclusions

Chapter 51

Causes of death in new-born children — Proportion of children born dead — Natural causes of death — A protracted delivery — Debility — Bleeding from laceration of the navel-string — Compression of the navel-string — Malformation — Destruction of monstrous births — Death from congenital disease pagks 551 — 558

Chapter 52

Violent causes of death — Suffocation — Drowning — Death of the child from cold and exposure — Starvation — Death from immaturity — Wounds in new-born children — Fractures of the skull, accidental and criminal — Twisting of the neck — Violence in selt-delivery — Power of locomotion and exertion in females after delivery . . . pages 558 — 573

Chapter 53

Death of the child from strangulation — Strangulation by the navel-string — Accidental marks resembling those of strangulation — Constriction before and after death — Before and after breathing — Before and after the severance of the navel-string — Examination of women — Medical responsibility

BIRTH. INHERITANCE.

Chapter 54

Live birth in civil cases — Date of birth — Signs of live birth independently of respiration or crying — Vagitus uterinus — Tenancy by courtesy— Legal birth — Post-mortem births — Minority and majority — Plural and monstrous births pages 584 — 595

CONTENTS.

xiii

LEGITIMACY.

Chapter 55

Presumption of legitimacy — Natural period of gestation — Duration of pregnancy from one intercourse— Premature births — Short periods of gestation — Viability — Earliest period at which a child may be born living — Evidence from the state of the child — Protracted births — The period of gestation not fixed by law . . . pages 595 — 614

PATERNITY.

Chapter 56

Disputed paternity — Parental likeness— Affiliation — Posthumous children — Superfcetation in relation to legitimacy — Supposititious children — Sexual malformations pages 614 — 626

IMPOTENCY. STERILITY.

Chapter 57

Impotency — Causes — Procreative power in the male — Puberty — Age for virility — Virility of crypsorchides and monorchides — Sterility — Procreative power in the female — Earliest and latest periods for child-bearing— Legal relations pages 626 — 646

RAPE.

Chapter 58

Sources of medical evidence — Rape on infants and children — Marks of violence — Purulent discharges from the vagina — Evidence from gonorrhoea and syphilis — Rape on girls after puberty — Defloration — Signs of virginity pages 646 — 665

Chapter 59

Rape on married and adult women — Circumstances under which it may be perpetrated on adult women — Loss of physical evidence — Pregnancy following rape — Microscopical evidence — Sodomy . pages 665 — 679 xiv

CONTENTS.

INSANITY.

CHAPTEK 60.

What is insanity ? — Medical definitions — Distinction of sane from insane persons — Moral insanity — Legal definitions— ' Non compos mentis' — Symptoms of incipient insanity — Hallucinations and illusions — Lucid intervals pages 679 — 686

Chapter 61

Varieties of insanity — Mania — Abstinence from food — Delusions regarding poison — Delirium distinguished from mania — Monomania — Dementia — Idiocy — Imbecility — Hereditary transmission — Feigned insanity — Appearances after death — Eccentricity . . . pages 686 — 697

The plea or defence of insanity — Circumstances xinder which it is admissible— Homicidal insanity — Moral insanity — Symptoms— Legal tests — Medical tests — Delusion — Tests of irresponsibility — Medical evidence

Chapter 66

Puerperal Mania — Pyromania — Kleptomania — Dipsomania — Responsibility of drunkards — Delirium tremens — Somnambulism . pages 740 — 749

ILLUSTRATIONS.

PIG. PAGE

1 Beaker and tube for dialysis 79

2 Crystals of oxalic acid ........ 88

3 Crystals of oxalate of lime obtained by dialysis . . . ,89

4 Octahedral crystals of white arsenic sublimed . . . .104

5 Eeduction tube with sublimates of metallic arsenic . . .104

6 Crystals of arsenious acid from a solution 106

7 Deposits of arsenic from Marsh's process . . . . .108

8 Apparatus for separating arsenic from the tissues . . .110

9 Apparatus for testing chloride of arsenic obtained from the tissues 112 10 Deposit of arsenic from arsenuretted hydrogen . . . .112 .1 1 Flask and funnel used for Reinsch's process . . . .114

12 Stellated crystals of corrosive sublimate obtained by sublimation . 122

13 Prismatic crystals of corrosive sublimate from solution . .123

14 Sublimate of mercury in globules . . . . . .124

15 Crystals of acetate of lead from a solution 128

16 Crystals of tartar emetic from a solution ..... 136

17 Leaves of savin magnified . .141

18 Crystals of cantharidine from chloroform ..... 148

19 Crystals of morphia from a solution in alcohol . . . .153

20 Crystals of morphia from the hydrochlorate, by ammonia . .153

21 Crystals of cyanide of silver from the vapour of prussic acid . 159

22 Berry and kernel of Cocculus indicus 171

23 Seeds of henbane . .173

24, 25 Seeds of Nux vomica 177

26 Hairs or fibres of Nux vomica seeds 177 xvi ILLUSTRATIONS.

FIG. PAGE

27 Crystals of strychnia from alcohol 178

28 Crystals of strychnia from the sulphate 178

29 Crystals of chromate of strychnia . . . . . .179

30 Crystals of brucia 180

31 Seeds of hemlock 182

32 Seeds of (Enanthe crocata 184

33 Seeds of JEthusa cynapium 185

35 Boot of horseradish 187

36 Seeds of aconite 188

37 Seeds of belladonna 191

38 Seeds of Lobelia inflata 194

39 Seeds of foxglove 195

40 Seeds of Datura stramonium 196

41 Crystals of daturia .197

42 Blood corpuscle magnified . . . . . . . .241

43 Blood corpuscles on linen ........ 242

44 Human blood corpuscles with fibrin ....... 243

45 Blood corpuscles from a dried specimen ..... 243

46 Blood crystals from human blood 246

47 Section of skull and the three membranes of the brain . . 305

48 The ergot of rye with a magnified section ..... 501

49 Granules of wheat-starch and arrow-root ..... 545

50 Oil-globules of human milk and cow's milk ..... 546

51 Oil-globules of human milk and colostrum ..... 546

52 Epithelial scales 547

53 Meconium and cholesterine ........ 550

54 Spermatozoa magnified 672

55 Spermatozoa in stained linen after two years .... 673

MEDICAL JURISPRUDENCE.

MEDICAL EVIDENCE.

Chapter 1. The Practice Of Medical Jurisprudence. — Medical And Medico-legal

DUTIES. DYING DECLARATIONS. INSPECTION OF BODIES IN DEATH FROM

"WOUNDS OR POISONING. — USE OF NOTES. — MEDICO-LEGAL REPORTS.

Medical Jurisprudence — or, as it is sometimes called, Forensic, Legal, or State Medicine — may be defined to be that science which teaches the application of every branch of medical knowledge to the purposes of the law ; hence its limits are on the one hand, the requirements of the law, and on the other, the whole range of medicine. Anatomy, physiology, medicine, surgery, chemistry, physics, and botany lend their aid as necessity arises ; and in some cases all these branches of science are required to enable a Court of law to arrive at a proper conclusion on a contested question affecting life or property.

The purpose of this work is to bring as far as possible within a small compass those subjects which especially demand inquiry, and which more particularly concern the duties of the educated physician and surgeon. The definition above given necessarily implies that a medical jurist should have a theoretical and practical knowledge of all branches of the profession, a large range of experience, and the rare power of adapting his knowledge and experience to emergencies. He should be able to elucidate any difficult medico-legal question which may arise, and be prepared at all times to make a cautious selection of such medical facts, and a proper application of such medical principles, as may be necessary to enable a judge to place the subject in an intelligible light before a jury, and to enable a jury to arrive at a just conclusion.

The variety of subjects of which a medical jurist is required to have a knowledge, may well alarm a student and lead him to suppose that, as he cannot make himself perfectly acquainted with all, he may well forego the labour of preparing himself in any. But this

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DUTIES OF PHYSICIANS AND would be taking an erroneous view of his position. This description of the qualifications necessary to constitute a normal witness in a Court of law must not deter him from entering on the study. It is assuredly beyond the mental power of any individual that he should be at the same time profoundly versed in all the principles of medicine and jurisprudence, and that he should be able to answer all possible questions, and encounter and remove all medical difficulties that may occur during the trial of a civil or criminal case. All that the law expects from a medical man is a fair average knowledge not merely of his profession, but of that which falls more peculiarly under the province of a medical witness. There can be no doubt that the more perfectly a man has made himself master of his profession, the better will he be fitted to follow the principles and apply himself to the practice of medical jurisprudence ; but he must divest himself of the notion that these principles can be spontaneously acquired, or that they are necessarily derived from thestudy of those isolated branches of medicine upon which medical jurisprudence is based. The materials for the medical jurist undoubtedly exist in these collateral sciences : but they require to be assorted, selected, and moulded into shape, before they can be applied to any useful or practical purpose.

The duties of a medical jurist are distinct from those of a physician or surgeon ; the latter looks only to the treatment of disease or accident and the saving of life ; but the object of the former, in a large proportion of cases, is, whether in reference to the living or dead, to aid the law in fixing on the perpetrator of a crime, or to rescue an innocent person from a falsely imputed crime. Thus he may be required to determine whether, in a particular case, the cause of death is natural or violent ; and for this purpose it will be necessary for him to make an entirely new application of his professional knowledge. He has now the difficult task of making a selection from those parts of the medical sciences which bear upon the legal proof and development of crime.

Some members of the profession have been inclined to look upon medico-legal practice as an unnecessary addition to their ordinary duties ; but there are few who have been long engaged in practice, who have not found themselves occasionally placed in situations of difficulty from the accidental occurrence of cases demanding medico-legal investigation. A medical man is summoned to attend a person labouring under the effects of poison criminally administered, but at the time he may have no knowledge or even suspicion that poison is the cause of the symptoms. In spite of the best treatment, death ensues : here the functions of the medical man end, and those of a medical witness begin. It is utterly impossible that he can now avoid giving evidence, or shift the responsibility on another — the law will insist upon his appearance, first in the Court of the Coroner, and afterwards at the Assizes. It will here be assumed that as a registered member of the profession he is fully competent to answer every question put to him by judge and coun-

SURGEONS IN ACTING AS WITNESSES.

sel relative to the general effects of poisons ; the quantity required to destroy life ; and the time within which a poison may prove fatal. It may be objected to his evidence, that the deceased had died from the effects of disease and not from poison, in which case the cross-examination will lead to a searching inquiry into all those diseases which resemble poisoning in their symptoms and post-mortem appearances as well as the means of making a certain distinction between them ; and the fallacies to which the chemical processes for the detection of poison are liable.

On another occasion a medical man may be called to render assistance to one who has been stabbed in a quarrel, and who speedily dies from the wound. The office of the surgeon here ceases, while that of the medical jurist commences. He must now be prepared to answer numerous questions, all bearing upon the legal proof of crime, all necessary in law, although apparently superfluous in surgery. Thus he may be asked to state the precise characters of a wound inflicted upon the body of a man soon after death ; and by what means a particular wound was inflicted ? Was it homicidal or accidental ? The amount of blood lost ? Whether the person could have moved or performed any act after receiving it ? Are certain red spots found upon his clothes, or upon a knife belonging to him, owing to effused blood or other causes ? Whether any, and what statements were made by the dying man, and what were the precise circumstances under which they were made ? It need hardly be observed that questions of this nature are rarely noticed, except in a cursory manner, by professors of chemistry and surgery, and a medical man is not likely to acquire the means of answering them by intuition. On the other hand, regarding ourselves as living in a civilized state, in which the detection and punishment of crimes against life and property are indispensable to the security of all, it is impossible to overrate their importance. Unless a witness is able to return answers to these questions when a public necessity occurs, a guilty man may escape punishment, or an innocent man may be condemned. He may thus most seriously injure his own reputation, for it is certain that his qualifications as a physician, surgeon, • or general practitioner, however great, will not shield him from general reprobation.

Thus, then, it is obvious that the duties of a medical jurist are of a highly responsible nature and of great importance to society, while the cases which call them into exercise are of purely accidental occurrence. A medical practitioner who thinks himself secure in the most retired corner of the kingdom, is liable to find himself suddenly summoned as a witness on a trial, to answer questions which perhaps during a long period of practice he had been led to regard as unimportant. Under the circumstances it is scarcely possible that he can avoid exposing his deficiencies, and the final question will be, Have you ever attended to or thought of these subjects before ? A negative answer to this question, while it commonly

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MEDICAL CONTRASTED WITH brings with it public censure, will in most instances lead to the acquittal of the accused in spite of strong presumptions of guilt.

I have endeavoured to avoid overdrawing this picture ; its truth will, I am sure, be felt and acknowledged by those who have been a few years engaged in practice. The records of our Courts of law contain many unfortunate exposures, which might have been easily avoided, had the witnesses only availed themselves of the opportunities afforded to them while students, of acquiring a knowledge of the subject ; but they had unreflectingly acted on the principle, that medical jurisprudence was a dry, dull, and useless study, and that the practice of it was remote and speculative. This feeling is, however, fast disappearing. Those who have been compelled by circumstances to give their attention to it, have, in subsequent cases, taken care to prepare themselves for the ordeal through which every medical witness must pass.

Some medical men who have treated legal medicine with indifference have occasionally ventured to act as witnesses, thinking that the subjects on which they were likely to be examined were so little known to judge and counsel, that even hazardous or rash statements would escape observation : such witnesses, however, have often found to their cost that they were labouring under a fatal delusion. Various circumstances have led, in recent times, to the acquisition of much medico-legal knowledge by lawyers, especially in relation to questions connected with wounds, child-murder, and poisoning, and they are not slow in detecting and exposing a mere pretender who attempts to shelter himself by vague or evasive statements and technical language. Another fact must be borne in mind : — there are few counsel engaged in any civil or criminal case of importance who do not take care to fortify themselves, under medical advice, with a full knowledge of the views of standard medical writers on the subject in dispute ; and with these works before them, and with their proverbial acuteness, he must indeed be a clever witness who can succeed in passing off an erroneous or evasive answer to a medico-legal question.