Page:The Art of Cross-Examination.djvu/211

 Witness (excitedly). "No, sir; I say no."

Counsel (calmly). "But I presume you embodied in your own book the results of your reading, did you not?"

Witness (a little apprehensively). "I tried to, sir."

It must be explained here that the attending physicians had said that the pupils of the eyes of Helen Potts were contracted to a pin-point, so much so as to be practically unrecognizable, and symmetrically contracted—that this symptom was the one invariably present in coma from morphine poisoning, and distinguished it from all other forms of death, whereas in the coma of kidney disease one pupil would be dilated and the other contracted; they would be unsymmetrical.

Counsel (continuing). "Allow me to read to you from your own book on page 66, where you say (reading), 'I have thought that inequality of the pupils'—that is, where they are not symmetrically contracted—'is proof that a case is not one of narcotism'—or morphine poisoning—'but Professor Taylor has recorded a case of morphine poisoning in which it [the unsymmetrical contraction of the pupils] occurred.' Do I read it as you intended it?"

Witness. "Yes, sir."

Counsel. "So until you heard of the case that Professor Taylor reported, you had always supposed symmetrical contraction of the pupils of the eyes to be the