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The following is an outline of a medical report, which may be more or less modified to suit the requirements of the case :—

FORM OF MEDICAL REPORT.

A. Minute of the Examination.
1. External Inspection.

a. General condition of the body.

1. Well or ill nourished.

2. General colour.

3. Marks and scars.

4. Products of disease-ulcers, hernia, etc.
5. Injuries.

Caution.-There may be no external marks of
injury, and yet death may be due to violence.
Extreme difficulty in deciding if injury be in-
flicted before or after death.

b. Height.

Determined by measurement.

c. Age.

This can only be approximately guessed. d. Sex.

This is, of course, only difficult when putrefaction is far advanced. Hair found only on the MONS VENERIS or PUBES is characteristic of the female, but if it extends upwards on the abdomen, equally so of the male. No sex can be distinguished in the embryo before the third month of intra-uterine life.

e. Colour of the eyes.

Difficult of determination. Why?
1. Disagreement of observers.
2. Presence of putrefaction.

f. Colour of the hair.

This is necessary, in order to compare hair of deceased with that found on suspected party.

g. Position of the tongue.

Normal, abnormal, injured or uninjured.

h. Condition and number of the teeth. 1. Complete.

2. Incomplete.

3. Any peculiarity

as regards size or form, in order to compare with mark or bite on suspected party, etc.

i. Signs of death.

Presence or absence of rigor mortis or supervening putrefaction.

j. Condition and contents of the hands and nails. 1. In the drowned-weeds, sand, and signs of long immersion.

2. In those shot-scorching or blackening of the hand from powder, or injury from recoil of the weapon. Is weapon grasped firmly in the hand?

k. Condition of the natural openings of the bodynose, mouth, etc.

1. Presence of sand or weeds in mouth of those found in the water.

2. Presence of marks of corrosive poisons.

3. Presence or absence of the signs of virginity, or of recent injury about the parts.

7. Condition of the neck.

1. Presence of marks of strangulation.

2. Condition of the upper cervical vertibræ.
3. Dangers to be avoided in determining fracture
or dislocation of the cervical vertibre.

Great mobility of neck, sometimes present, not due
to injury of the bones.

2. Internal Inspection.

A. Cranial Cavity.

a. Condition of the bones of the skull.

b. Condition of the membranes and sinuses of the brain.

c. Condition and appearance of the brain substance. d. Contents of the lateral ventricles.

B. Thoracic Cavity.

a. Position of the organs on opening the chest. b. Condition of the heart, large blood-vessels, and pericardium.

c. Condition of the lungs, larynx, trachea, and gullet. C. Abdominal Cavity.

a. Position of the abdominal organs.

b. Healthy or diseased condition of the liver, spleen, stomach, bladder, and kidneys.

c. Contents of the stomach and bladder.

Should it be necessary to remove the stomach and intestines, a ligature should be placed at the cardiac extremity of the stomach, and another on the sigmoid flexure of the colon, and then a division beyond the ligatures will permit of the entire removal of the bowels.

d. Condition of the blood-vessels.

B. The Reasoned Opinion.

In this portion of the report the inspectors state the nature of the conclusions at which they have arrived, and their reasons.

B. ORAL.

A medical man may be called as a common witness, or as an expert or skilled witness. In the first case he has only to state, as any other witness might do, the facts that have fallen under his observation; in the second he has to interpret the facts he has himself

observed, or to give his opinion on facts noticed by others. A medical witness should remember that he is not retained for a party, but in the cause of justice. He must therefore be candid in his manner and simple in his language.

The advice given by Sir W. Blizard may not be out of place here: 'Be the plainest men in the world in a court of justice; never harbour a thought that, if you do not appear positive, you must appear little and mean for ever after: many old practitioners have erred in this respect. Give your evidence in as concise, plain, and yet clear manner as possible; be intelligent, candid, open, and just, never aiming at appearing unnecessarily scientific. State all the sources by which you have gained your information. If you can, make your evidence a self-evident truth; thus, though the court may at the time have too good or too mean an opinion of your judgment, yet they must deem you an honest man. Never, then, be dogmatic, or set yourself up for judge and jury; take no side whatever; be impartial, and you will be honest. In courts of judicature you will frequently hear the counsellors complain when a surgeon gives his opinion with any the least kind of doubt that he does not speak clearly; but if he is loud and positive, if he is technical and dogmatic, then he is allowed to be clear and right. I am sorry to have to observe that this is too frequently the case.'

SUBPOENA.-Except upon a subpoena, a medical man is not bound to attend as witness at a trial; and then it should be served a reasonable time before the trial, in order that he may make proper arrangements for the carrying on of his business during his absence. In civil cases his reasonable expenses should be tendered to him at the time the subpoena is served, or within a reasonable time of the trial; and he may refuse to give evidence unless his charges are paid, provided his objection be stated before he has been sworn.

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No tender of fees is necessary in criminal cases, 'except in the case of witnesses living in one distinct part of the United Kingdom being required to attend subpoenas directing their attendance in another, who are not liable to punishment for disobedience of the process, unless at the time of service a reasonable and sufficient sum of money to defray their expenses in coming, attending, and returning have been tendered to them.' When summoned to two cases, one civil, the other criminal, the witness must attend the criminal; when both cases are the same, the one to which he first received the subpoena.

C. EXPERIMENTAL.

Under this head will be treated the examination of the living and of the dead, identity, real and apparent death, cause of death, and experiments with the weapons alleged to have been used; exhumations, and autopsies.

EXAMINATION OF THE LIVING.

With regard to the identification of the living, the opinion of a medical man is seldom sought. It is only in cases where questions have arisen as to the presence and character of certain marks on the body, or of doubtful sex, that a medical man may be consulted. The marks which most frequently give rise to differences of opinion are nævi materni, scars, and tattoo marks. In cases of doubtful sex the male organs may resemble the female, the female the male, or they may be blended together in about equal proportions. The following questions may be put to the medical expert :

a. Do scars ever disappear?

b. Can the age of a scar be definitely stated?

C. Can tattooing, when once present, ever become thoroughly effaced by time?

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