Another ligature should be tied low down in the rectum, and the intestines removed and introduced into a separate vessel prepared for them and then examined like the stomach. Sometimes it may be necessary to remove the gullet in like fashion. As much blood as possible should be saved for the chemist, and a portion of the liver, if not the whole organ, should also be secured. When everything has been tied up, the jars should be sealed, numbered, labelled, and initialled, to prevent subsequent confusion and to facilitate identification. In women the vagina, uterus and ovaries must be inspected, the brain, spinal cord and thoracic viscera ought likewise to be examined, and portions of the spleen, kidneys, and muscles should be reserved for analysis. No antiseptic or preservative fluid is to be used. When possible it will be best to make the autopsy within twenty-four hours after death; taking care to make the examination patiently, thoroughly, and with a mind free from any bias. Poison may be found in a body, and yet a question may arise as to its having been the cause of death. Hence in these investigations every organ of the body is to be examined, in order to learn whether any disease has existed sufficient to account for the fatal result. Any suspicious conduct on the part of those surrounding the poisoned individual should be carefully noted. Acts of this kind arrange themselves in three heads, as occurring before, or during the fatal illness, or after death. With the first category the practitioner has ordinarily nothing to do, but his attention to those coming under the second and third is often of essential service to the ends of justice. The kind of acts will suggest themselves to every one, and need not be further referred to here. CHAPTER III. DUTIES OF THE PRACTITIONER—TREATMENT OF POISONING. When the practitioner is called in to a case of poisoning while yet there is life, he must set himself to preserve it in whatever way he best can; in this of course he must be guided by circumstances, but several broad rules may be laid down. All have one end, but the order may be varied. That is best which is readiest, the grand rule being to lose no time. Most of the modes of treatment come under one or other of the three following heads:—1. GET RID OF THE POISON. 2. STOP ITS ACTION. 3. REMEDY THE MISCHIEF IT HAS DONE. 1. _To get rid of the poison_ is ordinarily the first thing to be done, but not always. To do so when the poison has been swallowed two means may be employed: _vomiting_ or the _stomach-pump_.