VETERINARY JURISPRUDENCE. 
117 
allow yourself to be further drawn out by the skill of counsel. 
For instance, you may be asked, “ How long, in your opinion, 
was a certain wound inflicted before your attention was called to 
it ?” To which you answer, and sometimes very properly, “ I 
don’t know.” Take care; that is your ultimatum, for the next 
question may be, “ Do you think it was a month before ?” and 
should you be tempted to say “ yes,” the next question is certain 
to be, u Was it two weeks ?—was it a week ?” and so on, until 
your original “ I don’t know ” appears, to say the least, ridicu¬ 
lous. 
There are certain cases where counsel may compel you to say 
yes or no to a question. Having done so, however, you have 
then a right to insist upon giving any explanation you see fit; 
and seeing how practically impossible it is at times to answer a 
question by yes or no, a witness should always, if circumstances 
require it, insist on his right in this respect, lest his answer con¬ 
vey a wrong impression. 
And now, in summing up the question of evidence, which 1 
think is the most important (next to knowledge of facts) to the 
medical jurist, I can do no better than to quote the advice of an 
eminent jurist to expert witnesses. 
He said : “ Be the plainest man in the world in a court of 
justice. Never harbor a thought that if you do not appear posi¬ 
tive, you must appear little and mean. Give your evidence in as 
concise, plain, and yet clear a manner as possible. Be intelli¬ 
gent, candid and just, but never aim at being unnecessarily sci¬ 
entific ; state all the sources from and 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, they must deem you an 
honest man. Never be dogmatic, or set yourself up for judge 
and jury ; take no side whatever, but be impartial, and you will 
be honest.” 
We will next consider a few circumstances which may at 
times give rise to no inconsiderable amount of doubt or inquiry, 
and perhaps be the cause of much thought to the practitioner; 
but before reviewing some of the cases and questions which the 
