460 sentecl in the case of a young lady, who having cut three of her wisdom teeth, all in irregular places, was waiting the appear- ance of the fourth, when an osseous tumour developed itself, involving the whole of the angle of the jaw as high as the condyle. It was deemed advisable that this tumour should be removed. No tooth was found in it, but a pulpy substance existed in the centre, and gave rise to the supposition that it was either the degenerated pulp of the tooth, or a malignant disease. The patient speedily recovered the operation, and three months ago the wisdom tooth appeared opposite the second bicuspid on the inner side of the jaw. Opera- tions and observations upon congenital tumours were referred to, and an interesting and original method of operating upon a n:evus of the tongue was demonstrated; and the removal of small nasvi by the pressure exerted by the peculiar stringent property of collodion was mentioned. The author then re- lated three cases of removal of cerebral tumours, arising from arrest of development: one in the parietal region, where there was deficiency of bone and protrusion of brain, nine years ago. The child is still living, and perfectly cured. The second arose from deficiency of occipital bone, and consisted merely of fluid and membranes. The operation was successful, and the child died fifteen months afterwards of scarlatina. The third, also in the occipital region, which was removed, the sac containing the whole of the cerebellum. The child lived seventeen days, not a symptom of disease occurring. The wound healed; the child could cry, feed, had power over all its movements, but suddenly, on the seventeenth night after the operation, died in a convulsive fit. Our limited space does not permit us to dwell further upon this paper, but many more interesting cases were related; and, in conclusion, the author offered some observations upon the local, constitutional, and operative treatment of tumours, and also upon the question whether it is expedient to operate upon malignant tumours or not, himself evidently leaning to the operative side. The meeting adjourned to Friday, the 1st of December, when Dr. Baines was announced to read a paper " On Diuretics and their Uses." Reviews and Notices of Books. A Practical Compendium of the Receot Stcctutes, Cases, and Decisions ctfectin(,lthe office of Coroner; coarzprisirg tlc’elYezo Enactments relating to the Poor, Police, Registration, General Rourcl of Health, Removal of -N7ztisa)2ces, Prevention of Disease; Sewers, &c.; also the Lazvs and Decisions in relation to Burial Clubs, Riotous Assemblies, Steam-boat Navigation, Railroad Travelling, Collisions, &c.; the Ex- plosions of Stea?)z-boile2-s, Mines, and Gas; and Cases of Poisoning. With Pnececlezats of Inquisitions and Practical Forms. By WILLLAM BAKER, Esq., one of the Coroners for Middlesex. London : Butterworths; Dublin : Hodges and Smith. 12mo, pp. 702. The Parish; its Obligations and Powers, its Officers and their Duties: zvith Illustrations of the Practical Working of this Institution in all Secular Affairs. By TouLnzm SMITH, Esq., of Lincoln’s-inn, Barrister-at-Law. London: Sweet, 1854. 12mo, pp. 611. THE works of Sir John Jervis, of Sewell, Umfreville, &c., have been for many years the text-books of coroners in what relates to the duties of their office. That of Mr. Baker, one of the present coroners for Middlesex, is, as he tells us in his preface, to be regarded "in many respects as a supplement" to those digests of the laws regulating the functions of the coroner’s court. But we may award to Mr. Baker’s work a higher merit than this, inasmuch as of itself it will serve as a text-book for medical practitioners and others to whom a know- ledge of the rules governing the proceedings of coroners may be requisite. It points out particularly that in which the elder works are unavoidably deficient-viz., the new duties incumbent upon coroners, and upon medical practitioners as well, which have arisen out of recent Acts of Parliament, chieily as having reference to sanitary measures, and other means for promoting and securing the public health, and safety of life and limb. It would naturally be expected,-from the nature of the localities in which a large proporation of Mr. Baker’s judicial functions are exercised, consisting of the densely-populated quarters and suburbs on the eastern side of the metropolis, which not only abound with the sources of disease, but are in- habited in a great part by a fluctuating population, subject to privation and exposure, and frequently of very irregular habits, - that the attention of the coroner should have been forcibly directed to the means of carrying out the intentions and pur- poses of the General Board of Health. It is obvious to every person acquainted with those localities-Wapping; Shadwell, Stepney, Spitalflelcls, Limehouse, &c.-that Mr. Baker, in the course of his laborious career, must have acquired a large amount of experience in all kinds of cases which become sub- jects for inquiry on the part of a coroner. He correctly and very graphically remarks :- "The experience of twenty years in one of the most busy portions of the metropolitan district, containing a dense and, for the most part, a poor population, abounding in works of very considerable extent and magnitude, comprising almost every species of manufacture, a frontage to the river Thames for a distance of six miles, the whole of the collier pool, and near all the great docks for shipping, has enabled the author to collate, from time to time, some valuable information on the duties of coroner, whilst the practical execution of his office has brought under his notice almost every species of death arising from felonious, accidental, and other causes.’’- Preface, p. iv. No rational doubt can exist that Mr. Baker, during so lengthened a tenure of office in a district not surpassed, if equalled, in the United Kingdom, for containing within itself the sources of death from disease, violence, crime, and negli- gence, has become eminently fitted to write a work having for its object to convey information on the sphere, powers, and duties of the coroner’s office, and the advantages rendered to the community by that ancient institution, which has descended to us from the times of the Heptarchy. Accordingly, we have presented, in the treatise before us, a very complete summary of the matters engaging the attention of coroners and medical jurists, alphabetically arranged, and of which the following are some of the principal l2eads :- Assault ; Burial Clubs; Destitution; Drunkenness; Drowning; Fires and Gas Explosions; Homœopathy; Hydropathy; Infan- ticide; Insanity; Murder; Manslaughter; Poisons; Railroad Accidents, &c. &c.; and at the end of this portion of the work is a copious Appendix, consisting of the Acts of Parliament relating to Coroners, Medical Witnesses, Steam Navigation, Coal Mines, Poor-Law Relief, Contagious Diseases, and nume- rous other matters ; and a very large portion of print appro- priated to the consideration of measures calculated to assist the sanitary endeavours of the General Board of Health. It will be seen, therefore, that a great share of the work is de- voted to medical topics. The classification of the subjects might indeed, in a future edition, which we hope soon to see, admit of some alteration. The work of Mr. Baker will be found to contain, together with the standard works on medical jurisprudence, all that is necessary for the guidance of the members of our profession as to the duties they are called upon to fulfil in reference to evidence given by them in the Coroner’s Court. The work contains a vast fund of useful information on the subjects of which it treats. Mr. Toulmin Smith has highly distinguished himself as an uncompromising champion of ancient Anglo-Saxon institutions, amongst which the Coroner’s Court holds a prominent place. His work, entitled " The Parish," is a remarkable protest against a centralizing spirit, which is one of the characteristics of modern legislation ; and he inveighs with great earnestness and boldness against what he considers to be unconstitutional innovations on the old local customs and time-honoured laws of the country. His book displays considerable erudition, and is admirably written in an energetic, " sharp, short, and decisive" style. With the whole of the sentiments entertained, and the conclusions drawn by him, we certainly cannot agree ; but in a great many particulars we consider his reasoning and the domestic policy he advocates sound and trustworthy. We quote here the major portion of Mr. Toulmin Smith’s
Transcript
460
sentecl in the case of a young lady, who having cut three of herwisdom teeth, all in irregular places, was waiting the appear-ance of the fourth, when an osseous tumour developed itself,involving the whole of the angle of the jaw as high as thecondyle. It was deemed advisable that this tumour shouldbe removed. No tooth was found in it, but a pulpy substanceexisted in the centre, and gave rise to the supposition that itwas either the degenerated pulp of the tooth, or a malignantdisease. The patient speedily recovered the operation, andthree months ago the wisdom tooth appeared opposite thesecond bicuspid on the inner side of the jaw. Opera-tions and observations upon congenital tumours were referredto, and an interesting and original method of operating upona n:evus of the tongue was demonstrated; and the removal ofsmall nasvi by the pressure exerted by the peculiar stringentproperty of collodion was mentioned. The author then re-
lated three cases of removal of cerebral tumours, arising fromarrest of development: one in the parietal region, where therewas deficiency of bone and protrusion of brain, nine years ago.The child is still living, and perfectly cured. The second arosefrom deficiency of occipital bone, and consisted merely of fluidand membranes. The operation was successful, and the childdied fifteen months afterwards of scarlatina. The third, alsoin the occipital region, which was removed, the sac containingthe whole of the cerebellum. The child lived seventeen days,not a symptom of disease occurring. The wound healed; thechild could cry, feed, had power over all its movements, butsuddenly, on the seventeenth night after the operation, diedin a convulsive fit. Our limited space does not permit us todwell further upon this paper, but many more interesting caseswere related; and, in conclusion, the author offered someobservations upon the local, constitutional, and operativetreatment of tumours, and also upon the question whether it isexpedient to operate upon malignant tumours or not, himselfevidently leaning to the operative side.
The meeting adjourned to Friday, the 1st of December, whenDr. Baines was announced to read a paper " On Diuretics andtheir Uses."
Reviews and Notices of Books.
A Practical Compendium of the Receot Stcctutes, Cases, andDecisions ctfectin(,lthe office of Coroner; coarzprisirg tlc’elYezoEnactments relating to the Poor, Police, Registration,General Rourcl of Health, Removal of -N7ztisa)2ces, Prevention of Disease; Sewers, &c.; also the Lazvs and Decisions inrelation to Burial Clubs, Riotous Assemblies, Steam-boatNavigation, Railroad Travelling, Collisions, &c.; the Ex-plosions of Stea?)z-boile2-s, Mines, and Gas; and Cases ofPoisoning. With Pnececlezats of Inquisitions and PracticalForms. By WILLLAM BAKER, Esq., one of the Coronersfor Middlesex. London : Butterworths; Dublin : Hodgesand Smith. 12mo, pp. 702.
The Parish; its Obligations and Powers, its Officers and theirDuties: zvith Illustrations of the Practical Working of thisInstitution in all Secular Affairs. By TouLnzm SMITH,Esq., of Lincoln’s-inn, Barrister-at-Law. London: Sweet,1854. 12mo, pp. 611.
THE works of Sir John Jervis, of Sewell, Umfreville, &c.,have been for many years the text-books of coroners in whatrelates to the duties of their office. That of Mr. Baker, oneof the present coroners for Middlesex, is, as he tells us in hispreface, to be regarded "in many respects as a supplement"to those digests of the laws regulating the functions of thecoroner’s court. But we may award to Mr. Baker’s work a
higher merit than this, inasmuch as of itself it will serve as atext-book for medical practitioners and others to whom a know-ledge of the rules governing the proceedings of coroners maybe requisite. It points out particularly that in which theelder works are unavoidably deficient-viz., the new dutiesincumbent upon coroners, and upon medical practitioners aswell, which have arisen out of recent Acts of Parliament,chieily as having reference to sanitary measures, and othermeans for promoting and securing the public health, andsafety of life and limb.
It would naturally be expected,-from the nature of thelocalities in which a large proporation of Mr. Baker’s judicialfunctions are exercised, consisting of the densely-populated
quarters and suburbs on the eastern side of the metropolis,which not only abound with the sources of disease, but are in-habited in a great part by a fluctuating population, subject toprivation and exposure, and frequently of very irregular habits,- that the attention of the coroner should have been forciblydirected to the means of carrying out the intentions and pur-poses of the General Board of Health. It is obvious to everyperson acquainted with those localities-Wapping; Shadwell,Stepney, Spitalflelcls, Limehouse, &c.-that Mr. Baker, in thecourse of his laborious career, must have acquired a largeamount of experience in all kinds of cases which become sub-
jects for inquiry on the part of a coroner. He correctly andvery graphically remarks :-"The experience of twenty years in one of the most busy
portions of the metropolitan district, containing a dense and,for the most part, a poor population, abounding in works ofvery considerable extent and magnitude, comprising almostevery species of manufacture, a frontage to the river Thamesfor a distance of six miles, the whole of the collier pool, andnear all the great docks for shipping, has enabled the authorto collate, from time to time, some valuable information onthe duties of coroner, whilst the practical execution of hisoffice has brought under his notice almost every species ofdeath arising from felonious, accidental, and other causes.’’-Preface, p. iv.No rational doubt can exist that Mr. Baker, during so
lengthened a tenure of office in a district not surpassed, if
equalled, in the United Kingdom, for containing within itselfthe sources of death from disease, violence, crime, and negli-gence, has become eminently fitted to write a work having forits object to convey information on the sphere, powers, andduties of the coroner’s office, and the advantages rendered tothe community by that ancient institution, which has descendedto us from the times of the Heptarchy.
Accordingly, we have presented, in the treatise before us, avery complete summary of the matters engaging the attentionof coroners and medical jurists, alphabetically arranged, andof which the following are some of the principal l2eads :-Assault ; Burial Clubs; Destitution; Drunkenness; Drowning;Fires and Gas Explosions; Homœopathy; Hydropathy; Infan-ticide; Insanity; Murder; Manslaughter; Poisons; Railroad
Accidents, &c. &c.; and at the end of this portion of the workis a copious Appendix, consisting of the Acts of Parliamentrelating to Coroners, Medical Witnesses, Steam Navigation,Coal Mines, Poor-Law Relief, Contagious Diseases, and nume-rous other matters ; and a very large portion of print appro-priated to the consideration of measures calculated to assistthe sanitary endeavours of the General Board of Health. Itwill be seen, therefore, that a great share of the work is de-voted to medical topics. The classification of the subjectsmight indeed, in a future edition, which we hope soon to see,admit of some alteration. The work of Mr. Baker will be found
to contain, together with the standard works on medicaljurisprudence, all that is necessary for the guidance of themembers of our profession as to the duties they are called
upon to fulfil in reference to evidence given by them in theCoroner’s Court. The work contains a vast fund of usefulinformation on the subjects of which it treats.
Mr. Toulmin Smith has highly distinguished himself as anuncompromising champion of ancient Anglo-Saxon institutions,amongst which the Coroner’s Court holds a prominent place.His work, entitled " The Parish," is a remarkable protestagainst a centralizing spirit, which is one of the characteristicsof modern legislation ; and he inveighs with great earnestnessand boldness against what he considers to be unconstitutionalinnovations on the old local customs and time-honoured lawsof the country. His book displays considerable erudition,and is admirably written in an energetic, " sharp, short, anddecisive" style. With the whole of the sentiments entertained,and the conclusions drawn by him, we certainly cannot agree ;but in a great many particulars we consider his reasoning andthe domestic policy he advocates sound and trustworthy.We quote here the major portion of Mr. Toulmin Smith’s
461
remarks on the Coroner’s Court, which will afford a very goodspecimen of the contents of his book :-
" One form of the courts and habitual inquiries that havebeen alluded to, does indeed still exist in active vigour; thoughnot without many attempts having been lately made at itsemasculation. The coroner’s court remains in daily use; andthere is no institution in England of more essential importanceand value.
’’ The coroner himself is an elected magistrate. He holdsthe next rank in the county to the sheriff; and is, indeed, inmany cases, substituted for the latter. It is greatly to be re-gretted that the true character and dignity of this office arenot better understood. The coroners are the principal con-servators or justices of the peace within the county; and soought to take precedence of all other justices, all of whom areof far more modern origin."-p. 333.
" The coroners ought, by law, to hold their inquests morefrequently than they do, and in a wider range of matters. *But, though their office is a far more ancient one, and of farhigher dignity, than that of ordinary justices of the peace,modern legislation has done all it can to destroy the valueof the institution, by making the payment of the coroner’sfees subject to the supervision of the latter justices. t A greaterabsurdity cannot well be conceived: a thing more diametricallyopposed to the very spirit of the institution it were impossibleto devise. The great object of the common law, in this insti-tution, is, that no man shall die otherwise than by the clearlyordinary course of natural disease, without searching inquiryas to the causes:-and this, whether or not there be any actualsuspicion of foul play. Every case of sudden death, or ofdeath by force of any kind, ought, without exception, to beinquired into. Besides this, all cases of death under specialcircumstances-such as of persons in prison.; or in hospitals-ought to be inquired into. The common law of England setsso much value on human life that it requires this. It is need-less to point out how the true principle of watch and ward isthus carried practically out, and the public protection served.In addition to these instances, every case of suspicion or doubtshould be inquired into. The result that may happen to befound in any case is no test of the propriety of inquiry;-asthe marvellous wisdom of justices would often endeavour torepresent. If the result could be known beforehand, no inquiry,on any subject, need ever be held. It ought to be satisfactoryto find that there has been no foul play. It is a most un-wholesome state of mind and reasoning which seeks to makeout that, in every case, there must be a foregone conclusion offoul play; and which only considers inquiry satisfactory whensuch is the result. This is the very opposite of the spirit andprinciple of the institution itself. It is, in fact, only offering apremium to the bad, when the searchingness and inevitablenessof inquiry are checked, by the practical threat that the pay-ment of fees will be disputed, unless the verdict in every casetallies with a foregone conclusion.
" Many other unlawful and most mischievous attempts have ebeen of late years made, and are being continually made, totamper with the institution of the coroner’s inquest. Everysuch tampering is a premium upon crime; a publication of thedetermination,-however disguised, and even not consciouslyintended by the promoters of it,-to shelter and so foster crime.There is no one of our existing criminal courts so valuable asis that of the coroner’s inquest; serving so many public inter-ests ; so great and daily a protection alike against private crimeand malice, and against the uncarefulness (not to say reckless-ness) of public companies, and the risks arising from competi-tive enterprise.’’-334-6.
" It must always be remembered that the coroner’s court isnot a court for prosecution. It is a court simply of inquiryhow the person dead (or wounded) came by his death (or wounds).It is to find out whether there has been any wrongdoing or foulplay-not to try a charge of wrongdoing, and put an accusedon his defence. It is this specialty and impartiality that con-stitute its characteristics and its value. He is an enemy tothe institutions of his country, and the safety of the citizens,who, either by fettering the action of this court, or otherwise
* " Where any be slain, or suddenly dead, or wounded, or where houses arebrokeit, or where treasure is said to be found," are the express words of the4 Edw. I.
t "7 Will. IV. and 1 Viet. cap. 69. There are other attempts continuallygoing on, on the part of justices-that is, of some few of the body who areunable to appreciate the institutions of their country-to undermine the officeof coroner altogether ;-by illegally detaining accused persons from attendingthe inquests, and by various other means as contrary to law and right as theyare to the common interests of the public and of justice.
t " An illustration of the importance of this was afforded in the year 1853;when, solely owing to an inquest held on a death within the prison, certaintyrannical and illegal proceedings of the prison authorities of Birminghamwere exposed, and so put an end to.
tampering with its due and ordinary course, would impart toit a different tone. or destroy these its principles and charac-teristics."*-p. 337-8.
-
INTERMENT OF THE BODIES OF CHOLERAPATIENTS.
JOHN N. RADCLIFFE.
T. TAYLOR, Secretary.
To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,-I beg to lay before you the following copy of a corre-
spondence with the General Board of Health on the intermentof the corpses of cholera patients, and request its insertion inTHE LANCET.-I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
. Dewsbury, Nov. 1854. JOHX N. RADCLIFFE.
To the General Board of Health.GENTLEMEN,-I request most respectfully an expression of
your opinion on the following custom, practised by some of theclergy of the established church and ministers of other de-nominations, in the interment of those who have died fromcholera. During the epidemic of 1848-49 the corpses of thosewho died from cholera were in many places refused admissionto the churches and chapels used for public worship, and towhich were attached burial-grounds, and were immediatelyconveyed to the grave. Often also they were interred in aplot of ground set apart for those dying of the disease, nonebeing allowed to be interred in family graves. This course hasbeen adopted by the clergy and other ministers of this townsince the present outbreak of cholera in it, and the effect is thatof confirming the great fear which all classes entertain of thevirulently coutagious character of the disease-an opinionupon which the measure itself seems to have been founded.The same result was witnessed in the epidemic of 1848-9; andit is evident that so long as this opinion of the disease is enter-tained, so long it will be difficult to obtain proper attention tothe sick. Several painful instances of desertion and neglectfrom this cause have already come under my notice in this town,and I could refer to many examples which occurred in Leedsduring the prevalence of the epidemic in that town in 1849.As the late General Board of Health and other authorities
have taught that the cholera is not virulently contagious, and,indeed, generally speaking that it is not so at all, and as thedirections issued for the early burial of the dead do not reposeupon the doctrine of contagion, but upon the evil effects whichmay arise hygienioally in crowded houses from the presence ofa corpse; and as the rendering of the same duties to the deadfrom cholera as to the dead from scarlet or typhus fever orsmall-pox would, I believe, materially appease the great alarmfelt by all classes during the prevalence of the disease, andfacilitate the adoption of measures for its prevention or cure,I most respectfully request an expression of your opinion uponthe point.-I am, Gentlemen, your most obedient servant,Dewsbury, Nov. 1851,
_ _ ---
JOHN N. RADCLIFFE.
The General Board of Health, Whitehall, Nov. 16th, 1854.
SIR,-In reply to your letter of the 14th inst., in which yourequest to have the opinion of the General Board of Health asto the expediency or necessity of excluding the corpses ofcholera patients from churches and chapels during the per-formance of the burial service, and also of interring such
corpses in plots of ground set apart for the purpose, I amdirected to state that the Board, while they strongly recom-mend the speedy removal from dwellings and the early inter-ment of corpses during the prevalence of epidemic, (whatevermay have been the cause of death,) do not consider that suchprecautionary measures as your letter refers to are at all
necessary for the protection of the public health.I am, Sir, your obedient servant,
J. N. Radcliffe, Esq., Dewsbury. T. TAYLOR, Secretary.* "In 1854 occurred a case of unconstitutional interference with the
coroner’s court, which, however good the Jlwllves that prompted it, deservesthe strongest reprobation, and is of most dangerous precedent. Upon c.e parterepresentations made to him, the Secretary of State for the Home Departmenttook upon himself to order the Coroner for Middlesex to hold an inquest on achild (Alfred Richardson). The Home Secretary has no sort of lawfulauthority or power to interfere in the slightest manner with the Coroner’sjurisdiction. If the Coroner fails to hold inquest upon notice, he is bothseverely punishable, and can be compelled by NtuMfmM.t to hold it. Xothingcan be more reprehensible or alarming than such entirely illegal, and, in fact,purely arbitrary and despotic tamperings with our institutions, under coverof whatever pretences of humanity. There was a lawful, extremely simple,and regular course to have taken, in order to ensure the holding of this (orany other) inquest. The taking, instead, an illegal and irregular one, is strongproof that the case was not a fair one. The whole course pursued on thatinquest was, indeed, so grossly irregular, and so highly unconstitutional, thatsuch an inference is strengthened. Counsel was allowed to prosecute and todefend! and even to assume to appear as assessor’ for the Crown!! Nothingmore monstrous was ever heard of."
