with the bare right hand uplifted above the head, the formula being: 'I swear by Almighty God that I will speak the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.' The presiding judge should say the words, and the witness should repeat them after him. There is no kissing of the book, and the words 'So help me, God,' which occur in the English form, are not employed. It will be noted that the Scotch form constitutes an oath, and is not an affirmation. The judge has no right to ask if you object on religious grounds, or to put any question. He is bound by the provisions of the Act, and the enactment applies not only to all forms of the witness oath, whether in civil or criminal courts, or before coroners, but to every oath which may be lawfully administered either in Great Britain or Ireland.

A witness engaged to give expert evidence should demand his fee before going into court, or, at all events, before being sworn.

With regard to notes, these should be made at the time, on the spot, and may be used by the witness in court as a refresher to the memory, though not altogether to supply its place. All evidence is made up of testimony, but all testimony is not evidence. The witness must not introduce hearsay testimony. In one case only is hearsay evidence admissible, and that is in the case of a dying declaration. This is a statement made by a dying person as to how his injuries were inflicted. These declarations are accepted because the law presumes that a dying man is anxious to speak the truth. But the person must believe that he is actually on the point of death, with absolutely no hope of recovery. A statement was rejected because the dying person, in using the expression 'I have no hope of recovery,' requested that the words 'at present' should be added. If after making the statement the patient were to say, 'I hope now I shall get better,' it would invalidate the declaration. To make the declaration admissible as evidence, death must ensue. If possible, a magistrate should take the dying declaration; but if he is not available, the medical man, without any suggestions or comments of his own, should write down the statements made by the dying person, and see them signed and witnessed. It must be made clear to the court that at the time of making his statement the witness was under the full conviction of approaching or impending death.

III.—PERSONAL IDENTITY

It is but seldom that medical evidence is required with regard to the identification of the living, though it may sometimes be so, as in the celebrated Tichborne case. The medical man may in such cases be consulted as to family resemblance, marks on the body, nævi materni, scars and tattoo marks, or with regard to the organs of generation in cases of doubtful sex. Tattoo marks may disappear during life; the brighter colours, as vermilion, as a rule, more readily than those made with carbon, as Indian ink; after death the colouring-matter may be found in the proximal glands. If the tattooing is superficial (merely underneath the cuticle) the marks may possibly be removed by acetic acid or cantharides, or even by picking out the colouring-matter with a fine needle. With regard to scars and their permanence, it will be remembered that scars occasioned by actual loss of substance, or by wounds healed by granulation, never disappear. The scars of leech-bites, lancet-wounds, or cupping instruments, may disappear after a lapse of time. It is difficult, if not impossible, to give any certain or positive opinion as to the age of a scar; recent scars are pink in colour; old scars are white and glistening. The cicatrix resulting from a wound depends upon its situation. Of incised wounds an elliptical cicatrix is typical, linear being chiefly found between the fingers and toes. By way of disguise the hair may be dyed black with lead acetate or nitrate of silver; detected by allowing the hair to grow, or by steeping some of it in dilute nitric acid, and testing with iodide of potassium for lead, and hydrochloric acid for silver. The hair may be bleached with chlorine or peroxide of hydrogen, detected by letting the hair grow and by its unnatural feeling and the irregularity of the bleaching.

Finger-print impressions are the most trustworthy of all means of identification. Such a print is obtained by rubbing the pulp of the finger in lampblack, and then impressing it on a glazed card. The impression reveals the fine lines which exist at the tips of the fingers. The arrangement of these lines is special to each person, and cannot be changed. Hence this method is employed by the police in the identification of prisoners.

In the determination of cases of doubtful sex in the living, the following points should be noticed: the size of the penis or clitoris, and whether perforate or not, the form of the prepuce, the presence or absence of nymphæ and of testicles or ovaries. Openings must be carefully sounded as to their communication with bladder or uterus. After puberty, inquiry should be made as to menstrual or vicarious discharges, the general development of the body, the growth of hair, the tone of voice, and the behaviour of the individual towards either sex.

With regard to the identification of the dead in cases of death by accident or violence, the medical man's assistance may be called. The sex of the skeleton, if that only be found, may be judged from the bones of the female generally being smaller and more slender than those of the male, by the female thorax being deeper, the costal cartilages longer, the ilia more expanded, the sacrum flatter and broader, the coccyx movable and turned back, the tuberosities of the ischia wider apart, the pubes shallow, and the whole pelvis shallower and with larger outlets. But of all these signs the only one of any real value is the roundness of the pubic arch in the female, as compared with the pointed arch in the male. Before puberty the sex cannot be determined from an examination of the bones.

Age may be calculated from the presence, nature and number of the erupted teeth; from the cartilages of the ribs, which gradually ossify as age advances; from the angle formed by the ramus of the lower jaw with its body (obtuse in infancy, a right angle in the adult, and again obtuse in the aged from loss of the teeth); and in the young from the condition of the epiphyses with regard to their attachment to their respective shafts.

To determine stature, the whole skeleton should be laid out and measured, 1-1/2 to 2 inches being allowed for the soft parts.

IV.—EXAMINATION OF PERSONS FOUND DEAD

When a medical man is called to a case of sudden death, he should carefully note anything likely to throw any light on the cause of death. He should notice the place where the body was found, the position and attitude of the body, the soil or surface on which the body lies, the position of surrounding objects, and the condition of the clothes. He should also notice if there are any signs of a struggle having taken place, if the hands are clenched, if the face is distorted, if there has been foaming at the mouth, and if urine or fæces have been passed involuntarily. Urine may be drawn off with a catheter and tested for albumin and sugar.

If required to make a post-mortem examination, every cavity and important organ of the body must be carefully and minutely examined, the seat of injury being inspected first.

V.—MODES OF SUDDEN DEATH

There are three modes in which death may occur: (1) Syncope; (2) asphyxia; (3) coma.

1. Syncope is death beginning at the heart—in other words, failure of circulation. It may arise