_Whether any and what remedies have been used; by whom recommended; and by whom administered?_—The importance of this part of the enquiry is too obvious to require explanation; we are to learn from it whether the administration of the medicines might not have accidentally contributed to the aggravation of the symptoms they were designed to allay; suppose, for instance, we were to be told that the patient had resorted to copious libations of brandy to mitigate the sufferings of the bowels, which were afterwards found to depend upon _Enteritis_; the inference is obvious—but in performing this part of our professional duty, the greatest caution is necessary, and we must take care that our own medical opinions do not carry us to an unjustifiable extent in our reprehension of the plan of treatment which has been pursued by others; a striking instance of this want of propriety occurred in the late celebrated trial of _Donnell_, and was very properly denounced by the court, (_see page 161 in the second volume, and Appendix, p. 304_.) But there still remains another reason why we should cautiously and attentively examine any medicine that may have been administered, and it would be right in the practitioner to procure a portion of such medicine, with a view to its future analysis; for it has happened that where the assassin has supposed that his first dose would be insufficient to effect his purpose, he has artfully insinuated an additional dose in the medicines which are administered for the relief of his victim, and thus the hand, which is treacherously held out with promises of succour, adds a stronger poison to the cup; this occurred in the diabolical case of _Mary Bateman_,[4] better known by the name of the Yorkshire witch, who having poisoned a family with arsenic, sent a jar of honey, mixed with corrosive sublimate, _for their relief_. A knowledge of the nature of the medicines that may have been taken, will also assist the chemist in his examination of the matter vomited, as we have fully explained under the history of Poisons. _Appearance of the evacuations._—This should always be attended to, for although it can hardly afford, in itself, a satisfactory indication, yet we have shewn, in the course of our history of poisons, that it may concur with the facts to heighten the probability of a case. The chemist will also require them for examination. CASE II. THE PATIENT IS DEAD.—THE ATTENDANTS CAN FURNISH ONLY AN IMPERFECT ACCOUNT OF HIS DISSOLUTION.