In the case of R. _v._ Wooler, Baron Martin, who tried the case, in his charge to the jury, stated that, in his opinion, the medical men in attendance ought, “when the idea of poisoning struck them, to have communicated their suspicion to the husband, if they did not suspect him; and if they did suspect him, they ought to have gone before a magistrate.” Suppose they had acted as the learned judge suggested, and spoken to the husband, who, had he been guilty, would in all probability have desisted from his terrible design for a time, then a great criminal would have been let loose on society, and without punishment. Then, again, had they applied to the magistrates, the delay caused by the indecision of the magistrates how to act in so delicate a case would have allowed the criminal to remove all traces of his design, and the means of testing their suspicions would have been lost; and, along with this, would have been lost the professional character and fortunes of the authors of the investigation. “There is a third course,” said the late Sir R. Christison, “and in my opinion it is the fittest of all: When the medical attendant is satisfied of the fact of poisoning, he should communicate his conviction to the patient himself. His predicament, in every other way, is so embarrassing, that he ought not to be deterred by the chance of injury to his patient from making so dreadful a disclosure.” (See an account of the same course being adopted in the case of Mr. Blandy by his physician, Dr. Addington, reported in Howell‘s _State Trials_, vol. xviii.) Table giving the names of Diseases, the Symptoms of which resemble those the result of Irritant Poisons, together with such points of difference as may assist in distinguishing the one from the other: Irritant Poison.--Symptoms of violent irritation in one or more portions of the alimentary canal. Pricking and burning of the tongue and mouth, and intense thirst, frequently accompanied with great constriction in the throat. Great abdominal pain and tenderness. Vomiting and purging are also usually present. The skin is hot and cold at intervals; the pulse small, frequent, and irregular. In the last stage the skin may become icy cold. _An acrid, metallic, or burning taste in the mouth precedes the vomiting._ The vomit and alvine discharges are generally mixed with _blood_. Death occurs in from six hours to two days and a half. Cholera.--Extreme and sudden prostration. The breath is cold to the hand in the last stages. The body is cold, shrivelled, and livid, or of a leaden hue. Vomiting and purging are present; the former is never bloody, the latter resembling rice-water. The thirst is intense, and in this particular alone resembles the effects of irritant poison. Death in from one to two days, or even less.