A Peculiar Rule.

Manawatu Herald, 13 April 1897, Page 3

A Peculiar Rule.

In the English Court of Appeal the case of Beatty v. Collingworth oame recently before the Master of the Rolls, Lord Justice Lopes and Lord. Justioe Chitty. It relates to an aotion brought by a lady against the senior obstetric physician at St. Thomas' Hospital, London, to recover damages on the ground of a surgical operation upon her contrary to the directions which she had been* given to him. Mr Stokes, counsel for Miss Beatty, stated that the case for the plaintiff war, that although she had consented to an operation, she specifically limited its extent. Her object in giving these instructions was perfectly clear. She was a Roman Catholic, and was engaged to be married, and it was a rule of the Roman Catholic Church not to permit the marriage of a woman who was incapable of bearing children. The learned Judges expressed deep sympathy with the plaintiff, but stated that the jury were justified in coming to the con elusion that she had left the extent of the operation to the discretion of the defendant, who had only done what he believed was necessary to gave her life. The verdict which had been given for the defendant was therefore upheld and the appeal dismissed.