Page:The Art of Cross-Examination.djvu/93

 Doctor. "Well, no, I cannot remember that I had."

Counsel. "Did you have one two years before?"

Doctor. "I cannot say."

Counsel (forcing the issue). "Did you have one within five years preceding the plaintiff's case?"

Doctor. "I am unable to say positively."

Counsel (appreciating the danger of pressing the inquiry further, but as a last resort). "Will you swear that you ever had a case of 'Potts fracture' within your own practice before this one? I tell you frankly, if you say you have, I shall ask you day and date, time, place, and circumstance."

Doctor (much embarrassed). "Your question is an embarrassing one. I should want time to search my memory."

Counsel. "I am only asking you for your best memory as a gentleman, and under oath."

Doctor. "If you put it that way, I will say I cannot now remember of any case previous to the one in question, excepting as a student in the hospitals."

Counsel. "But does it not require a great deal of practice and experience to attend successfully so serious a fracture as that involving the ankle joint?"

Doctor. "Oh, yes."

Counsel. "Well, doctor, speaking frankly, won't you admit that 'Potts fractures' are daily being attended to in our hospitals by experienced men, and the use of the ankle fully restored in a few months' time?"