EXCUSABLE HOMICIDE.

Evening Star, Issue 4010, 3 January 1876, Page 3

EXCUSABLE HOMICIDE.

To the Editor. Sir,—The recent inquest on a young woman ■ who die-1 aftsr the use of a subcutaneous in- ' jection of morphia, end the astounding verdict ' of the Coroner's jury thereupon, have been very imperfectly'reported in tin columns of your morning contemporaries. As I was piesent while the medical evk'ence was given, I will, with your permission, give a somewhat more extended account of it. It appeared from 1"t Surley's evidence that the deceased applied to Lim on Tuesday ksc, a out 2SO p.m., complaining of ncualgi?, Io:ss of nppntite, and other stomach derangem?:):;. Shu had had no food (so she stated) tor between two and three days. Dr Sorley inj\»..ted for the neuralgu a solution of a quarter of a <>rain of morphia. Tl 1b operation I may explain is performed by means of a small glass syiiuparm' d with a sharp perforated gold noKz'.e The nozzle is thrust under the skin of the arm in this case, and a few drops of the solution are slowly injected under the skin. The syringe is thou carefully withdrawn so as not to allow the injection to escape by the small wound made. Solutions of various kinds aie used ; morphia, atropine, strychnine, and many others. Morphia is commonly used for nenI ralgia, and a qua: tor of a grain is a medium dose, the British Pharmacopoeia seating the doae to be "£ to A grain" Ed. 1807. Dr Sorley also # prescribed for the disordered stomach, but thi3 medecine, it apj e.iru, was never taken. Between five and six the employer of the deceased went, or sent, to l)r sorley, stating that she was very ill, end wished Dr iiorley to go up to see her. 'i hi*, he appears to have declined to do, on the ground that there was no reason for alarm, as the small do:-e of morphia could not have prodved any dangerous symptoms. Mrs Sorley, however, sent for Mr,tduipby, and a;ked him to >jo up and sou tiiecue. As it appearqd by his ovideuc*, the palieutwasalmostiusensiblu, making only somo inarticulate sounds when roust-d, the pupils slightly contruccud ; her pulse was nrnall, feeble, and rapid (110) ; her couulonancs pale, and on examining the heart with the stethescope a hruit dc soriffle, (a technical term for a diseased heart sound) was heard. The symptoms being so serious Mr Murphy went back for Dr Sorloy. Tho two gentlemen saw the patient together, and she then seemed to have rallied a little ; seemed (so I understood) more conscioui - tho pupils not so much contracted, no peropiratioD, ro turgidity of the face, but a pulse, Dr Sorley stated, of lIS to 120, Binall and feeble, and iho patknt unable to Bwallow. There was no stertorous breathing, tome ammonia was given, but no -continued or sustained efforts to rou-o her up wer? usad, as Ur Sorley did not think it advisable to do ao. Dr Sorley saw tho patient again, alone, tt a lat r peslod of the evening, and she diad the sit e night between eleven and twelve, never having peimanently r.dliei. At tho ti • e when Mr Murphy saw h-r for the second time v.ith Dr fcforh-y, he thought her so f.ir im[iroved that ate might recover. The poet mortem examination m de by Dr Fergus«o i

I reyealeJ three important facts. Fiit-t, th -t th.< pupils were dilated; second, that the ducccs:d was consumptive, and had a small cavity in on -> lung; third, tliat the heart contained a fibrinous coagulation ; the rest of Iho post mortem appearances (except that the aortic valves were healthy, which was affirmed by Dr Ferguson and disputed by Mr Murphy), were rot of importance. The question wa-i what was the cause of denth? It was not from disease of tho brain, for the brain waa healthy. It was not from disease of tho hmgß,[for th y were not nearly so far advanced in disease as t < arise death especially a death 90 rodden and raj.hl. Was it the heart ? i he prwwweof a fibrinous dot in the heart is in-

evitably a oauaa of dpath, and there is ro doubt that it was the immediate cause of death in this caso. Of cause, even a nonprofessional reader can mulei stand that the ] rescues of a'Bolid nr-.ss in one oi' the cavities of the heait must cause death simply by stoppir. : the supply of bloctl to tho brain and other parts of the body. But then, why or how did this fibrinous dob form ; I\V.v, V /e find that i:i all exhaustirg disease* then.' is a tendency t*.» the formation «f theso cUts in the heait, and that in mn.ny chioi'io wastiug dis:a:es tho formation of a libfirnv.is ci-1 is the. mode of death. My friend, Dr YV. LI, Richardson, ]■'. U.S., was the lifst to d-aw attention to i.he*" ..aies w;>roo twenty yea:s ;ig<>. and mwo ih".n m.m.y observations have bi;eu mudo on Uivra. 1 have teen several castr; whir? without any ps\ > iou?; rip prehv.nsion of immediate d:uu;vi t! o ;-,(',;c;:t inn beon se'zed with shorlnes-i < f breath, rapid feeble pulse, fainting, insensibility, and in a few hours death. The only medicine that l>v Richardson can suggest was given by Dr hVu ley, and that is ammonia. In such a caso possibly even a quarter of a grain of morphia piodueing a hoavy sleep after three nights without rtwt. may have predisposed to the formation of the clot, but against this supposition is to be set the fact that the pupils instead of being contracted after death were dil ued. Now mor-

phia never dilates the pupil. I think, therefor*?, ihe veulict entiuly wrong, and palpably absurd, ! : >ur<posin i < a nurse to be feeding n pationl whose arme ;;r» so burnt or wounded th.it, he cannot use them, and the patient is accidentally c:n Iced by some-of the food it; the n;irae to I>j hian.-ed a3 guil'y of " excusable homioii'.e V'' 1.homicide ever excusable? It may he j'ifinable in aolf-def- i.oe, but I should like to hc.ii some of the l;-gal iratomity a.5 to what her if, is "excusable" or not. All this comes of having medical coroners. Thank God we have aMr Bradshaw iu the House of Representatives, and long may he live to go there ! I tins; thai the tyranny of these medical c roneis will not be of long duration, and that they may s<,mo day or other experience the delights of bci; g "sat upon" themselves. WhaCcan be more absurd than to have a man ignorant of law sitting in judgment—for that is v.-hat it amounts to—over a man senior !u and of higher professional qualifications '? It is to be h'.pju th.it this scindal of me.iicd coroners p g their pvofeswion v.'ill socn hj; alolidiul, for .v. it is vye do no; feel safe Our professional rcpu fattens, even our liberties, nrc iu the hj ind-t of men whose peivona! and pi.-r.-uimvy ink rots are to ruin us. 'lhe beat ir-formed, th?> mw! studious tho m-st caivful aro liable to make mUtdccs, or to meet with accidents, and common sonso teaches us that when pro fe.-fcioual rival y in i ; ouodion, it is asking to; much from ordinaly human nature to expect parfect impartiality in such case.?. When th.y must oscur, dtenum won hi suggest tha ! . the Deputy Coroner should olficiate/if he is not in tho R. H. Bakeweix, M.D. Duuedin, Jany. Ist 1810.