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guarantee of a true finding of the cause of death is clearfrom the ludicrous, and I trust exceptional, examples quotedbefore the Parliamentary committee-viz. : 1. "Death fromstone in the kidney, which stone he swallowed when lying ona gravel path in a state of intoxication." " 2. "Child, threemonths old, found dead, but no evidence whether born alive."It is believed that bodies are disposed of as still-bornwhich are, in fact, those of live-born children, thus openingthe door for crime, as the still-born are regarded by the lawas non-existent. Again, the local registrar is appointed byone authority, controlled by another, and neither of these isthe authority which appoints and pays the coroner. The localregistrar is .often unversed in medical terminology. Sucha certified cause of death as the classical barbarism ‘° angeio-leucitis " might well overawe a local registrar, while it

might also cover a case of blood poisoning, due to prevent-able cause. Then, again, the coroner’s officer is an officialunknown to the law and often little acquainted with medi-cine or law, yet he makes the delicate preliminary investi-gations on which the decision whether to hold an inquest ornot is based. In some instances such officials have beenfound to be corrupt as well as uninformed. The percentageof reported cases in which inquests are held even inLondon varies from 90 in Westminster to 70 in a

southern district of London. Even coroners are not alwaysproficient in law and in medicine, though the LondonCounty Council in its recent appointments has endeavoured tosecure men with the double qualification. As Lord Herschellonce observed, " Certain legal and judicial qualities are

essential to the efficient discharge of the coroner’s duties. If

you can find them pre-eminently in a medical man by allmeans appoint him; but I own I should no more expect tofind them there than I should expect to find amongst mybrethren of the bar one skilled in the diagnosis of disease."The Medico Legal Society would therefore respectfully pressupon your lordship that the law should be amended so that:(1) no human body, whether of one born alive or still, shouldbe buried or otherwise disposed of without a certificate eitherby a competent medical man or by a coroner ; (2) that suchcertificate should show the fact of death as well as its causeand also vouch for the identity of the deceased ; (3) thatspecially qualified and independent medical men should beappointed as medical investigators or assessors to assist thecoroner in preliminary inquiries, in scrutinising the causesof death, and in post-mortem examination ; (4) thatmortuaries with proper equipment for thorough investiga-tion into the causes of death should be providedunder the same authority as makes disbursementsfor inquests ; (5) that the records of all such inquestsshould be public property ; sixth and lastly, the societycalls attention to an incidental advantage that shouldarise from such reforms-viz., the development of a

school of medical jurisprudence in London worthy of themetropolis and associated with its University. This countryhas lagged behind France and Germany in the study andteaching of forensic medicine. The first work in English onthe subject appeared in 1787, the first chair in Britain wasfounded at Edinburgh in 1801. Fodere, Orfila, and Tardieuhad developed the science and Caspar in Germany hadcodified our knowledge in his classical work. By unitedeffort and under improved administration a worthy schoolof forensic medicine should arise in London. We ask

your lordship respectfully to give your best attentionto these considerations. In turning over the pages ofthe autobiography of my kinsman, Sir Samuel Romilly, I

alighted the other day on this passage: "Whatever justreforms are to be made in the civil and criminal juris-prudence of the country are wholly in the power of a LordChancellor." It is, my lord, because we fully realise thetruth of that observation that we ask you, unlike your noblepredecessors who, either from want of inclination or lack ofopportunity, have left the Select Committee recommendationsundealt with, to give your early and earnest consideration tosecuring a remedy for the unsatisfactory state of thingswhich we have felt it our duty to lay before you.The Lord Chancellor, in reply, promised to personally in-

vestigate the facts and to give his serious consideration tothe whole matter laid before him.

LONDON TEMPERANCE HOSPITAL.-H.R.H. Prin-cess Louise, Duchess of Argyll, has consented to open thenew out-patient hall of the London Temperance Hospitalon Tuesday, May 14th next.

MEDICINE AND THE LAW.

Dangerous Dogs and the Laiv.RABIES has been stamped out in Great Britain by regula-

tions which cause inconvenience to no one except those whoare desirous of importing foreign dogs or who insist ondragging their pets about with them when they travel.Further advance towards securing the safety of those whodo not keep dogs themselves has been made by two recentdecisions in the King’s Bench Division and by the publicitygiven to them. The first of these laid down no new versionof the law, but only gave a final blow to a time-honouredsuperstition which has been kept alive by the catch-phrase tothe effect that a dog is " entitled to his first bite." In thecase in question a firm of dressmakers kept a chow bitch inthe garden behind their premises, which on the occasioncomplained of got into one of the workrooms and bit anapprentice. The county-court judge found as a fact fromevidence before him that the bitch had a propensity to bevicious, either generally or when she had puppies (as she hadat the time when she bit the plaintiff), and awarded damagesaccordingly, although there was admittedly no evidence thatany one had been bitten by her before. In dismissing thedefendant’s appeal Mr. Justice Darling said that it was notnecessary in such a case to show that the owner of thedog knew that it had already bitten someone or thatit had in fact bitten someone. It was only necessaryto prove knowledge by the defendant that the dog was likelyto bite without provocation, either in particular circum-stances or generally. Mr. Justice Lawrence concurred inthis view and the same two judges a few days later, sittingwith the Lord Chief Justice, had another case before themin which also a dog was concerned. On this occasion a manhad been summoned for not keeping a " dangerous " dog underproper control, but the justices had refused to convict, afterexcluding evidence that the dog had been seen to kill lambs.The court, after referring to the case already mentioned, heldthat there was no reason why the word " dangerous

" shouldhave its meaning limited to danger affecting human beingsand sent the case back to the magistrates to be further heard.These two decisions have, we believe, to some extent

anticipated a private Bill dealing with dogs, the passingof which might have been postponed indefinitely, and theyshould have a wholesome effect if they cause those keepingvicious pets to consider their position. Hitherto many selfish

people have been in the habit of disregarding the fears andeven the remonstrances of their neighbours, secure in theknowledge that their dogs have not yet bitten anybody andbeing no doubt also of the opinion that the first bite" wouldnot be inflicted on their own persons.

Experinaents as .Legal Evidence. Inquest juries repeatedly have to take refuge in a self-

evident "open verdict " in cases where there is insufficientevidence adduced to enable them to decide whether thedeceased met his death by an accidental or a homicidal act,the latter, of course, including an act of self-slaughter. Theevidence of eye-witnesses of the fatal deed is rare, so thatthe decision rests on the balance of probabilities. Wherethe inquest closes the matter little harm is done by return-ing either an open or a definite verdict, but where proprietaryclaims may follow upon the death greater care is needed inarriving at or near the truth. Then the opinions of expertwitnesses may be heard for what they are worth. Now an

expert witness is one who poses as an authority on a givensubject from the fact that he has devoted considerable timeand study to that particular theme, and usually he has qualifiedto bear technical testimony by having made many personaltests and experiments bearing on the matters in dispute. Thecase of Thackman v. The Brotherhood of American Yeomen,recently tried in the North-Western courts of the UnitedStates of North America, gives an instance where previousexperimentation by a witness was allowed to give him astatus in court as one able to throw light upon a disputedcause of death. The action was on a mutual benefitcertificate under which a claim was made but contested bythe defendants on the ground that the assured deceased hadput an end to his own life. It appeared that the deceasedwas seen to go into a barn to get his team ; he wasdiscovered an hour later dead, being suspended bythe neck from a tie strap attached to a bridle whichwas hanging on a peg whereon the deceased usually

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iiung his harness. Everything pointed to death fromsuicide. A witness, however, came forward and offered tonarrate the results of some experiments he himself had made.In physical build he was about the same height and weightas the deceased. He stated that he had fixed the bridle andthe strap just as it had been placed before the fatal occur-rence, he had then walked towards them and just beforereaching them he had deliberately stumbled and fallen, sothat his neck was caught in the loop ; he would have chokedhad he been unable to regain his balance at once. He

repeated this experiment with the same result three timesout of four attempts. The court held that this testimonywas admissible as showing how death might have occurred.

American -7inned Provisions.Mr. D. L. Thomas, medical officer of health of the borough

of- Stepney, in giving evidence at the Thames police courtrecently in support of a summons for selling unsound con-densed milk, informed the magistrate that about 75 per cent.of the tinned foodstuffs imported from America are consignedwithout labels. This means that whatever information mayafterwards be afforded by the label upon the tin is affixed bythe firm selling it, with whom it rests whether the statementshall be accurate or not. As an American firm enjoying a-high reputation and anxious to maintain it would probably-insist upon its distinctive label appearing upon all its goods,the inference would seem to be that a large proportion of the,tinned provisions imported from the United States are not ofthe highest quality, and also it may be conjectured that theyare not sold as American products.

Looking Back.FROM

THE LANCET, SATURDAY, April 11th, 1829.

COMMUNICATION OF HYDROPHOBIA FROM RABID SHEEP

TO OTHER ANIMALS.

SOME very interesting experiments have lately been madeat the veterinary school at Alfort, with respect to the abovesubject. Two sheep, belonging to the flock of M. Yoart,’having been bitten by a dog, which soon afterwards diedwith the symptoms of confirmed hydrophobia, and having,about a month afterwards, evinced all the signs of rabies, ahorse, a dog, and two sheep, apparently in perfect health,were inoculated with their saliva ; the skin was in severalplaces slightly scarified, and the saliva applied to the

wounds ; at the same time the four animals were left inconstant contact with the two rabid sheep, which died onthe fourth day after the first symptoms of rabies. A fewhours previous to the death of one of them, a dog and a lambwere inoculated with its saliva.

Four months after the experiment, none of the six inocu-liated animals had exhibited any symptoms of the disease;it is accordingly more than probable, that the disease cannoti be communicated from sheep to other animals.

From the description of rabies in sheep, as observed in the above cases, it appears, that it is not accompanied by thedread of water, and that, therefore, in these animals, as well as in dogs, it is improperly called hydrophobia.-Magendie’s I- Journal.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN 76 of the largest English towns 8269 births and 5492" deaths were registered during the week ending April 6thThe annual rate of mortality, which had been equal to 16 ’ 8and 17’ 7 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, further

’ rose to 17 ’9 per 1000 during the week under notice. Duringthe 13 weeks ending March 30th the death-rate in thesetowns averaged 19’ 0 per 1000, the rate in London during thesame period being 19’ 2 per 1000. The lowest rates last weekin the 76 towns were 6’ 3 in Handsworth (Staffs), 7’ 0 inHornsey, 9 - 1 in Croydon, and 11 ’ 1 in East Ham ; amongthe other towns the highest rates were 24’ 4 in Grimsby,24-5 in Portsmouth, 24.6 in Birkenhead, 26’ 9 in Oldham,

and 27.7 in Wigan. The 5492 deaths in the 76 townsshowed an excess of 43 over the number in the

preceding week, and included 568 which were referredto the principal infectious diseases, against 469and 559 in the two preceding weeks ; of these, 251resulted from measles, 170 from whooping-cough, 59 fromdiphtheria, 36 from scarlet fever, 34 from diarrhoea, and18 from " fever " (principally enteric), but not any from

small-pox. No death from any of these epidemic diseaseswas registered in Bournemouth, Devonport, Wolverhampton,Coventry, York, South Shields, or Tynemouth ; the annualrates from these diseases, however, ranged upwards to 5’4 4in Hanley, 5’5 5 in Portsmouth, 7’9 9 in Birkenhead, 8. 5 inSt. Helens, and 8-9 9 in Giimsby. The 251 fatal cases ofmeasles were 18 in excess of the number in the precedingweek, the highest annual rates therefrom being 4’ 1 in WestHartlepool, 4’ 3 in Portsmouth, 5’1 1 in St. Helens, 5’ 2 inGrimsby, and 7’ 0 in Birkenhead. The 170 deaths referredto whooping-cough showed a decline of five from thenumber in the preceding week, the rate from thisdisease, however, ranging upwards to 1’ 8 in Salfordand Preston, 2’1 1 in Willesden, 2’ 7 in Bury, and 3’ 0 inGrimsby. The 59 deaths from diphtheria also showed afurther decline from the numbers in recent weeks, thehighest proportional mortality being recorded in Sunder-land and Gateshead. The fatal cases of scarlet fever,of "fever," and of diarrhoea were not excessive in any ofthe 76 towns. No case of small-pox has been under treat-ment in the Metropolitan Asylums Hospitals since theend of June last. The number of scarlet fever patientsin these hospitals and in the London Fever Hospital, whichin the 14 preceding weeks had uninterruptedly declined from3846 to 2657, had risen again to 2666 at the end of lastweek ; 352 new cases were admitted during the week, against327, 312, and 330 in the three preceding weeks. Thedeaths in London referred to pneumonia and otherdiseases of the respiratory organs, which had been 403, 353,and 354 in the three preceding weeks, rose again last weekto 412 and were 99 in excess of the corrected averagenumber in the corresponding week of the previous five

years. The 17 deaths referred to influenza in London werefour below the corrected average. The causes of 44, or 0’8 8per cent., of the deaths registered during the week werenot certified either by a registered medical practitioner orby a coroner. All the causes of death were duly certifiedin London, Leeds, West Ham, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Salford,Leicester, and in 47 other of the 76 towns ; the propor-tion of uncertified deaths, however, showed a marked excessin Liverpool Birmingham, Sheffield, Bristol, Bradford,Portsmouth, Reading, and Warrington.

HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in eight of the principalScotch towns, which had been equal to 20’ 6 and20’ 3 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, further declinedto 19’ 4 per 1000 in the week ending April 6th, but was1’5 per 1000 in excess of the mean rate during thesame period in the 76 large English towns. The rates in theeight Scotch towns ranged from 12’ 9 Paisley and 16 1 inAberdeen and in Greenock to 21’ 9 in Glasgow and 24’ 0 inPerth. The 673 deaths in the eight towns showed a declineof 33 from the number in the preceding week, and included114 which were referred to the principal epidemic diseases,against 100, 102, and 107 in the three preceding weeks.These 114 deaths were equal to an annual rate of 3’ 3 per1000, which exceeded by 1’ 5 per 1000 the rate from theprincipal epidemic diseases in the 76 English towns ; theyincluded 48 which were referred to "fever," 40 to whooping-cough, 14 to diarrhoea, five to diphtheria, four to scarletfever, and three to measles. The deaths referred to "fever,"which had been 48 and 39 in the two preceding weeks,rose again last week to 48, and included 32 in Glasgow,seven in Edinburgh, six in Leith, two in Dundee,and one in Aberdeen ; 29 of these fever" deaths inGlasgow, six in Edinburgh, five in Leith, and the two inDundee were certified as cerebro-spinal meningitis. Thefatal cases of whooping-cougb, which had been 33, 33, and34 in the three preceding weeks, increased last week to 40, ofwhich 31 occurred in Glasgow, three in Edinburgh, three inDundee, and two in Aberdeen. Eight of the 14 deaths fromdiarrhoea were registered in Glasgow, three in Dundee, andtwo in Edinburgh. The five fatal cases of diphtheria in-cluded four in Gla3gow ; two of the four deaths from scarlet