118 
t>. P. YONKERMAN 
veterinary practitioner may meet with, a few remarks on their 
classification may not be amiss. 
The veterinary medical jurist does not^meet with the great 
variety of cases which fall to the lot of our medical brethren, the 
physicians. The life of a person can scarcely be said to depend 
on his evidence, as is often the case with the physician. An in¬ 
heritance or the future welfare of his heirs may not depend on 
our findings at an autopsy, but these facts in nowise detract 
from the importance of those findings, for if the case comes 
before a judge or jury at all, whether a human life, a certain sum 
of money, or a person’s rights and justification are at stake, all 
demand that truth and justice shall be done and the same exact¬ 
ness and obstacles may have to be overcome and combatted in the 
one as in the other, and the medical jurist can distinguish him¬ 
self as well in a case where the mere rights, money or property 
of an individual are in the balance, as when a human life hinges 
on his knowledge or testimony. 
I would be taking up too much of your time were I to con¬ 
sider the modus operandi of the various procedures which char¬ 
acterize the routine of the medical jurist. Suffice it to say, that 
facts must be sought and established, one (and not the least im¬ 
portant) of which may be the death of the subject. It may seem 
to some of you an easy matter to do this, but after comparing the 
various signs of death and the numerous symptoms which fre¬ 
quently occur simulating death, you will find that in many in¬ 
stances it will require all your professional skill to even diagnose 
a case involving the question of death. I might here cite a case 
which came under my notice, in fact occurred to me. 
I was called to see a dog, the pet of a family. When I ar¬ 
rived I found the dog—a skye terrier—apparently dead. I could 
not feel the heart beat, the eyes were glassy in appearance, and 
there was no movement perceptible. From these indications I 
did not hesitate to pronounce it dead, and the owner threw it into 
the yard, with a view to burying it on the following day; but 
imagine my surprise when the next morning both dog and owner 
walked into my office, the dog apparently in excellent health. 
Since this occurrence I have always found the majority of death 
symptoms present before I passed judgment on a case. 
