The problem when is a man drunk'? has been lifted from the lowly level of the Police Court into the serener heights of the Old Bailey. The Recorder has tried a motor bus driver charged with injuring a woman when the police th, alleged that the accident was due to the driver's drunkenness.
The Recorder, Sir Ernest Wild, who has not long been appointed, and frequently evinces a desire to acquire knowledge, asked the police doctor what tests were employed.
The doctor said he used the light test which consists in flashing a light into the man's eyes and observing the speed at which the pupils contract.
Sir E. Wild asked: "Do you use the chalk line test?"
The doctor replied in the negative, and Sir E. Wild remarked "That's the unfairest test in the world." It is enough to make a man drunk.
The doctor interposed, remarking that he doubted if counsel could walk a chalk line.
Counsel, replied: Perhaps I
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.