Page:The Art of Cross-Examination.djvu/94

 Doctor. "That may be, but much depends upon the age of the patient; and again, in some cases, nothing seems to make the bones unite."

Counsel (stooping under the table and taking up the two lower bones of the leg attached and approaching the witness). "Will you please take these, doctor, and tell the jury whether in life they constituted the bones of a woman's leg or a man's leg?"

Doctor. "It is difficult to tell, sir."

Counsel. "What, can't you tell the skeleton of a woman's leg from a man's, doctor?"

Doctor. "Oh, yes, I should say it was a woman's leg."

Counsel (smiling and looking pleased). "So in your opinion, doctor, this was a woman's leg?" [It was a woman's leg.]

Doctor (observing counsel's face and thinking he had made a mistake). "Oh, I beg your pardon, it is a man's leg, of course. I had not examined it carefully." By this time the jury were all sitting upright in their seats and evinced much amusement at the doctor's increasing embarrassment.

Counsel (still smiling). "Would you be good enough to tell the jury if it is the right leg or the left leg?"

Doctor (quietly, but hesitatingly). [It is very difficult for the inexperienced to distinguish right from left.] "This is the right leg."

Counsel (astonished). "What do you say, doctor?"