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LETTER FROM MR. SIMPSON.
535
tion, I must decline the invitation of your correspondent. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, J. HARRISON CURTIS.
2, Soho-square, Dec. 12, 1838.
dered at if what the aunt has stated is correct. Looking at all the circumstances of the case, I felt it my duty to request the parish officer to call on you, and also to make this I am, Sir, respectfully communication.
yours, IMPERFECT AND UNNECESSARY INQUEST AT ISLINGTON. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR:-Your valuable Journal has often taken up the subject of medical coroners, as the most fit persons to preside at inquests. I think the necessity was never more sti-ikingly exemplified than at an inquest held in Islington, at -the Albion Tat’e1’n, on Friday, the 21st inst., on the body of Mrs. Caseltine, who was found dead in her room. I have requested of Mr. Desormeaux, a copy of a letter which he furnished to the Coroner, previous to the opening of the court. He expresses in it his opinion that a satisfuctory verdict could only be obtained by a medico-legal - investigation. In the absence of it, in my humble opinion, the inquest was a mere mockery. It is as follows :"
To - Stirling, Esq., Coroner. Sir:-In the case of Mrs. Caseltine, of No. 18, Albion-grove, Thornhill-road, who was found dead in her room, I beg leave to state that on examining her I found a slight bruise on the left hip, with considerable ecchymosis about the left hypochondrium, and a groove round the neck, as if she had made an attempt to strangle herself. The depth of the groove, when I first saw her, was sufficient to lay the little finger in. The body had been moved and laid out before I was called in. The faeces had been discharged, and it appeared as if she had vomited considerably about the room, in variI have ascertained that she ous places. had been disordered in her mind for some years. The son was the only person living with hel’. Although he is living in the house, he says he has not seen her fO7’ seren aveelcs previous to this occurrence, and that by her death he shall come in for £ t0-0. As it is impossible to ascertain the cause of her death without anatomical examination, and anulyticul investigation of the contents of the stomach, and the matter thrown off from it, I requested that the corpse and the room might remained untouched until you were acquainted with the particulars, lest the public might be dissatisfied with a mere superficial investigation. If you think it necessary that further medical examination should be attended to will you please to request the gentlemen of the Jury not to "
"
D. DESORMEAUX.
"3, Brunswick-terrace, Barnsbury-road." I do not the
the
impugn uprightness Jury. respectable of decided according opinion of mean
who
to
were
to the
men, and the Corobefore them,
nen, and such evidence as came but that worthy officer appeared to me not only to be decrepid from age, but not quick to the points which ought to be attended to.
Had a medico-legal investigation taken it is most likely that the same verdict would have been returned ; but as in the absence of all proof by analysis, nothing could be discovered in what was vomited up, or by examination of the stomach and its contents, or in the many vessels of the room containing fluids, curdled milk, &c. &c., a verdict must ever remain unsatisfactory. I do not for a moment entertain suspicion against any one in this case, or believe that there has anything wrong been done ; but if persons are found dead under the circumstances of Mrs. C., without the most prying inquiry into the truth, what a door is open Some of the Jury inquired if it to crime! was not intended to have the body opened, when THE CLERK, who took the notes and putt the questions, said, if the Coroner thought it necessary, after examining the witnesses, he would give directions. Mr. Desormeaux stated openly in the court, that without inspection of the body, and chemical examination, he could not give an opinion as to the cause of death. The verdict of the Jury was,- Died by the visitation of Uod ! !" I am, Sir, your obedient servant, F. MORRIS.
place
3, Brunswick-terra’ce, Islington, Dec. 24,1835.
*-*’.1< A remonstrance should be entered in all such cases (in the manner which we have several times described in this Journal) against the payment of any fee to the Coro ner, for presiding at the " inquest." The public have the remedy in their own hands. - Irfl. L. LETTER FROM MR. SIMPSON.
To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR:-The readers of your valuable Journal must now be well convinced, asI have been for some time, that Dr. Geo. Gregory trample upon the spots in the room where is not only one of the most " distinguished," she h(ts ’Comited or thrown down her liquid but, also, one of the most " am using" food. The aunt informs me that when the writers of the day. He certainly excels in mother and son were together they quarrelled evading matters of fact. Aly first letter incessantly, which is not much to be won- was a mere statement of events as they
536 to none of which, in his brilliant institution, who may be consulted daily till he replied, but asserted, that I 12, and from 3 to 5." has epi5t!e, Such is the state of our profession, that was the only medical man from " Hydepark-corner to 1B,Iile-end," who had ever the President of the College of Physicians, complained of want of civility at the Small- a body which holds itself to be the highest pox Hospital. Mr. Chatto’s letter was evi- and most select in the three kingdoms, is not dence in support of my statements, and I ashamed expressly to patronise, and to intropreferred its publication to that of others, duce at court, the author of this advertiseSome have said that the Good because Dr. Gregory must have known of ment. Mr. Chatto’s complaint at the very time that Samaritan of the Scriptures was a physician, he was attempting to mislead the public in but we have now both this authority and the his reply to me. I shall leave your readers example of Sir Henry to the contrary. I am A CONSTANT READER. tojudge whether Dr. Gregory has not him- Sir, self confirmed my statement, and thus shown the propriety of inquiry upon the subDEGREE OF lfLD.-(Frorn a Correspondent.) ject. If they thinkthat the charge of rude- - The Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgw, ness and want of courtesy has been justified and St. Andrew’s, and the Colleges of by Dr. Gregory’s own letters, well and Aberdeen, require that candidates for their shall have attended courses good ; if not, he has pointed out where they degree of&I.D. can be well attended to, which is all that I of six months duration, and consisting of not wanted my medical brethren to know from less than one hundred and ten lectures, on the first. the following subjects :-Anatomy, chemisIf it be true that so many children were try, institutes of medicine, surgery, materia vaccinated last year by Dr. Gregory and Mr. medica and pharmacy, practice of medicine, Marson, I sincerely hope they used better midwifery and diseases of women and lymph than they were in the habit of giving to infants. medical men who applied for it then. I also The above number of lectures cannot be hope, that Dr. Merriman and others, in put- included in any course in which the lectures ting searching questions to the Doctor occa- are not given more than four times in each sionally at the Medico-Chirurgical Society, week during six months. on the subject of vaccination, will insist upon his keeping to the point at issue. BOOKS RECEIVED. I am confident that your medical readers will feel obliged for Dr. Gregory’s manly On Granular Degeneration of the Kidstatement of the rules and regulations of and its Coziiiectioil with Dropsy, Inneys, the place " over which he presides." Every and other Diseases. By Roflammation, person must admire the liberality of the bert M.D. Black, Edinburgh, Christisn, principles therein avowed. I had hitherto 1839. 8vo., pp, 288. understood that the subscribers wished The Discovery of the Vital Principle, or every encouragement and assistance to be Physiology of Man. Starling, London, to those who advocated and given practised 1838. 8vo., pp. 566. vaccination; but it appears, from Dr. GreEssays on the most Important Diseases of gory’s last letter, that I was mistaken, and Women. By Robert Ferguson, M.D., &e. that it is for the benefit of him, and his Part I. Puerperal Fever. Murray, London, " reports" alone, that the place was insti- 1839. 8vo., pp. 299. I am, Sir, yours most tuted or exists. Manual of Descriptive Anatomy, by J. F. obediently, Meckel. Translated from the French transW. SIMPSON. SrMPsoN. lation, by A. S. Doane and others. Hender111, Guildford-street, Dec. 24, 1838. 2 Vols. 8vo, pp. 1220. son, London. [Although much disinclined to encourage A DISPENSARY ADVERTISEMENT. second-hand translations, we cannot avoid recommending the present one of Meckel’s Anatomy.] To the Editor nfTHE LANCET. An Improvement in the Pathology and SIR:—Allow me to call your attention to the following advertisement in the " Morn- Treatment of Small-pox. By Robert Ste" ing Chronicle of the 19th of the month :- vens. Renshaw, London, 1838. " CANCER AND SCROFULA, &c., removed TO CORRESPONDENTS. without the knife.-The dispensary is open J. H. B. The case alluded to has aldaily for the reception of patients. Established in 1821, since which, upwards of 3250 ready appeared in THE LANCET. afflicted poor have been cured of glandular The communications of Messrs. Crowfoot, complaints by a means more easy and ef- Marshall, Jeffreys, and Walker, shall appear fectual than the knife. Supported by volun- next week. The paper on the plague, although evinctary contribntions. For particulars apply to Sir Charles Aldis, Old Burlington-street, ing considerable research, is not suited for St. James’s, the surgeon and founder of the the pages of this Journal.
occurred,
tion, I must decline the invitation of your correspondent. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, J. HARRISON CURTIS.
2, Soho-square, Dec. 12, 1838.
dered at if what the aunt has stated is correct. Looking at all the circumstances of the case, I felt it my duty to request the parish officer to call on you, and also to make this I am, Sir, respectfully communication.
yours, IMPERFECT AND UNNECESSARY INQUEST AT ISLINGTON. To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR:-Your valuable Journal has often taken up the subject of medical coroners, as the most fit persons to preside at inquests. I think the necessity was never more sti-ikingly exemplified than at an inquest held in Islington, at -the Albion Tat’e1’n, on Friday, the 21st inst., on the body of Mrs. Caseltine, who was found dead in her room. I have requested of Mr. Desormeaux, a copy of a letter which he furnished to the Coroner, previous to the opening of the court. He expresses in it his opinion that a satisfuctory verdict could only be obtained by a medico-legal - investigation. In the absence of it, in my humble opinion, the inquest was a mere mockery. It is as follows :"
To - Stirling, Esq., Coroner. Sir:-In the case of Mrs. Caseltine, of No. 18, Albion-grove, Thornhill-road, who was found dead in her room, I beg leave to state that on examining her I found a slight bruise on the left hip, with considerable ecchymosis about the left hypochondrium, and a groove round the neck, as if she had made an attempt to strangle herself. The depth of the groove, when I first saw her, was sufficient to lay the little finger in. The body had been moved and laid out before I was called in. The faeces had been discharged, and it appeared as if she had vomited considerably about the room, in variI have ascertained that she ous places. had been disordered in her mind for some years. The son was the only person living with hel’. Although he is living in the house, he says he has not seen her fO7’ seren aveelcs previous to this occurrence, and that by her death he shall come in for £ t0-0. As it is impossible to ascertain the cause of her death without anatomical examination, and anulyticul investigation of the contents of the stomach, and the matter thrown off from it, I requested that the corpse and the room might remained untouched until you were acquainted with the particulars, lest the public might be dissatisfied with a mere superficial investigation. If you think it necessary that further medical examination should be attended to will you please to request the gentlemen of the Jury not to "
"
D. DESORMEAUX.
"3, Brunswick-terrace, Barnsbury-road." I do not the
the
impugn uprightness Jury. respectable of decided according opinion of mean
who
to
were
to the
men, and the Corobefore them,
nen, and such evidence as came but that worthy officer appeared to me not only to be decrepid from age, but not quick to the points which ought to be attended to.
Had a medico-legal investigation taken it is most likely that the same verdict would have been returned ; but as in the absence of all proof by analysis, nothing could be discovered in what was vomited up, or by examination of the stomach and its contents, or in the many vessels of the room containing fluids, curdled milk, &c. &c., a verdict must ever remain unsatisfactory. I do not for a moment entertain suspicion against any one in this case, or believe that there has anything wrong been done ; but if persons are found dead under the circumstances of Mrs. C., without the most prying inquiry into the truth, what a door is open Some of the Jury inquired if it to crime! was not intended to have the body opened, when THE CLERK, who took the notes and putt the questions, said, if the Coroner thought it necessary, after examining the witnesses, he would give directions. Mr. Desormeaux stated openly in the court, that without inspection of the body, and chemical examination, he could not give an opinion as to the cause of death. The verdict of the Jury was,- Died by the visitation of Uod ! !" I am, Sir, your obedient servant, F. MORRIS.
place
3, Brunswick-terra’ce, Islington, Dec. 24,1835.
*-*’.1< A remonstrance should be entered in all such cases (in the manner which we have several times described in this Journal) against the payment of any fee to the Coro ner, for presiding at the " inquest." The public have the remedy in their own hands. - Irfl. L. LETTER FROM MR. SIMPSON.
To the Editor of THE LANCET. SIR:-The readers of your valuable Journal must now be well convinced, asI have been for some time, that Dr. Geo. Gregory trample upon the spots in the room where is not only one of the most " distinguished," she h(ts ’Comited or thrown down her liquid but, also, one of the most " am using" food. The aunt informs me that when the writers of the day. He certainly excels in mother and son were together they quarrelled evading matters of fact. Aly first letter incessantly, which is not much to be won- was a mere statement of events as they
536 to none of which, in his brilliant institution, who may be consulted daily till he replied, but asserted, that I 12, and from 3 to 5." has epi5t!e, Such is the state of our profession, that was the only medical man from " Hydepark-corner to 1B,Iile-end," who had ever the President of the College of Physicians, complained of want of civility at the Small- a body which holds itself to be the highest pox Hospital. Mr. Chatto’s letter was evi- and most select in the three kingdoms, is not dence in support of my statements, and I ashamed expressly to patronise, and to intropreferred its publication to that of others, duce at court, the author of this advertiseSome have said that the Good because Dr. Gregory must have known of ment. Mr. Chatto’s complaint at the very time that Samaritan of the Scriptures was a physician, he was attempting to mislead the public in but we have now both this authority and the his reply to me. I shall leave your readers example of Sir Henry to the contrary. I am A CONSTANT READER. tojudge whether Dr. Gregory has not him- Sir, self confirmed my statement, and thus shown the propriety of inquiry upon the subDEGREE OF lfLD.-(Frorn a Correspondent.) ject. If they thinkthat the charge of rude- - The Universities of Edinburgh, Glasgw, ness and want of courtesy has been justified and St. Andrew’s, and the Colleges of by Dr. Gregory’s own letters, well and Aberdeen, require that candidates for their shall have attended courses good ; if not, he has pointed out where they degree of&I.D. can be well attended to, which is all that I of six months duration, and consisting of not wanted my medical brethren to know from less than one hundred and ten lectures, on the first. the following subjects :-Anatomy, chemisIf it be true that so many children were try, institutes of medicine, surgery, materia vaccinated last year by Dr. Gregory and Mr. medica and pharmacy, practice of medicine, Marson, I sincerely hope they used better midwifery and diseases of women and lymph than they were in the habit of giving to infants. medical men who applied for it then. I also The above number of lectures cannot be hope, that Dr. Merriman and others, in put- included in any course in which the lectures ting searching questions to the Doctor occa- are not given more than four times in each sionally at the Medico-Chirurgical Society, week during six months. on the subject of vaccination, will insist upon his keeping to the point at issue. BOOKS RECEIVED. I am confident that your medical readers will feel obliged for Dr. Gregory’s manly On Granular Degeneration of the Kidstatement of the rules and regulations of and its Coziiiectioil with Dropsy, Inneys, the place " over which he presides." Every and other Diseases. By Roflammation, person must admire the liberality of the bert M.D. Black, Edinburgh, Christisn, principles therein avowed. I had hitherto 1839. 8vo., pp, 288. understood that the subscribers wished The Discovery of the Vital Principle, or every encouragement and assistance to be Physiology of Man. Starling, London, to those who advocated and given practised 1838. 8vo., pp. 566. vaccination; but it appears, from Dr. GreEssays on the most Important Diseases of gory’s last letter, that I was mistaken, and Women. By Robert Ferguson, M.D., &e. that it is for the benefit of him, and his Part I. Puerperal Fever. Murray, London, " reports" alone, that the place was insti- 1839. 8vo., pp. 299. I am, Sir, yours most tuted or exists. Manual of Descriptive Anatomy, by J. F. obediently, Meckel. Translated from the French transW. SIMPSON. SrMPsoN. lation, by A. S. Doane and others. Hender111, Guildford-street, Dec. 24, 1838. 2 Vols. 8vo, pp. 1220. son, London. [Although much disinclined to encourage A DISPENSARY ADVERTISEMENT. second-hand translations, we cannot avoid recommending the present one of Meckel’s Anatomy.] To the Editor nfTHE LANCET. An Improvement in the Pathology and SIR:—Allow me to call your attention to the following advertisement in the " Morn- Treatment of Small-pox. By Robert Ste" ing Chronicle of the 19th of the month :- vens. Renshaw, London, 1838. " CANCER AND SCROFULA, &c., removed TO CORRESPONDENTS. without the knife.-The dispensary is open J. H. B. The case alluded to has aldaily for the reception of patients. Established in 1821, since which, upwards of 3250 ready appeared in THE LANCET. afflicted poor have been cured of glandular The communications of Messrs. Crowfoot, complaints by a means more easy and ef- Marshall, Jeffreys, and Walker, shall appear fectual than the knife. Supported by volun- next week. The paper on the plague, although evinctary contribntions. For particulars apply to Sir Charles Aldis, Old Burlington-street, ing considerable research, is not suited for St. James’s, the surgeon and founder of the the pages of this Journal.
occurred,