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884. Can we say that she was gradually recovering ?—She was gradually recovering; that is the best way to put it. 885. We will leave her for the present ou the 22nd July. The next operation you performed was on Mrs. S , was it not ?—Yes. 886. That was also an operation for Emmet ? —Yes. 887.' Before that operation, had you examined her to ascertain if she was in a lit condition to be operated on ?—Yes ; I made several examinations. 888. I suppose that what you have said in regard to the other cases in this respect applies to this case? —Yes. I examined her under chloroform. 889. Was the operation successful ? —lt was very successful. 890. What was the next thing you heard about Mrs. S——•'?—Next morning, when I visited the ward, I saw the temperature-chart, which I had been looking at daily, and saw that it was abnormal; there was a rise to 101° indicated on the chart, and I made a remark about it. I asked my clerk to make a note of it, which he did. I drew his attention to the fact. 891. The Chairman,'] What day in the week would that be ? —I operated on the Tuesday, and it would be Wednesday morning that I visited the ward, and saw from the chart that there had been a rise in her temperature. Tuesday was the 16th. 892. Mr. Solomon.] Did she get better, or did she develop septic symptoms'? — For the rest of the week she remained in a fairly satisfactory state; at all events, there was nothing very marked in her condition, and I saw her daily, but on the Saturday night she developed symptoms of septic mischief, and her temperature ran up to 105°. 893. There had been nothing very marked in Mrs. Snowden's case, you say, up to that time ? Nothing very striking. 894. She had developed no marked symptoms up to that date, but on that date her temperature ran up to 105° ? —Yes. 895. From that time onwards until the poor woman's death she got rapidly worse ? —Yes. 896. And died when ?—On the Monday, at about' 6 o'clock p.m. 897. Of what ? —Septic peritonitis. 898. Do you say that the septic poisoning arose in the same way that you have already told us poison is introduced into a person's system ? —Yes, I do. 899. Does this case of Mrs. S throw any light in your mind as to the cause of death in the previous case, Mrs. Sophia M ?—Yes. A very remarkable feature was present in this case of Mrs. S , but I shall have to refer to the post-mortem to explain it. 900. You were present at the post-mortem in this case ?—I was. 901. Did the result of the post-mortem satisfy you as to the course which the septic poisoning had taken'? —Yes. At the time of Mrs. M — - death there was an important link in the chain of evidence missing, which I was never able to fill up until Mrs. S— - post-vio-rtem. I can fill up that missing link now. 902. The Chairman.] You are now able, you say, to form an opinion as to the cause of death in Mrs. M case ?—Yes. 903. Mr, Solomon.] You were never satisfied in your own mind about it before? —No. I had formed all sorts of theories, and written several theories about it. These latter I have in print. 904. The theory you now have is that the septic poisoning spread from the uterus along the tubes to the peritoneal cavity ? —Yes, which is a very rare thing indeed in a case of ovariotomy. 905. Do you say that the same thing occurred in Mrs. S case?— Yes. 906. You say that you are supported in that contention by the results of your experience of the post-mortem ? —Yes. I think that that is a very important matter indeed. 907. The Chairman.] You did not perform the post-mortem yourself? —I did not. 908. Can you undertake to say that the septic poisoning which Mrs. S was allowed to get after her operation was positively caused or introduced into her system in consequence of the insanitary condition of the Hospital ?—I have formed a very strong opinion indeed about that. 909. Please give an answer to my question?—l would not like to swear to it. 910. Can any medical man swear positively, in your opinion, to such an opinion as that ? —1 do not think that he can, conscientiously, to one case. 911. Are the results that you found in Mrs. Snowden's case, and which you have already told us you have never seen before, such as any medical man might reasonably expect with healthy surroundings ?—No ; certainly not with healthy surroundings, and the precautions that would be taken. 912. And with the precautions which I suppose you did adopt?—l did. 913. But were the results at all surprising in the surroundings in which the patient was?— Not at all surprising. 914. You have already told us that, in your opinion, Listerisin in the present day can entirely cope with the dangers of such an operation as this—dangers which would be likely to arise intrinsically. Am I right in assuming that proper antiseptic treatment almost entirely counteracts any symptoms of blood-poisoning?—l would not say that it does so absolutely, but it diminishes the risk enormously. 915. To such an extent that, though you have had thirty operations, you have never had a patient who died?— Quite so. 916. In such operations as these, given in the use of all known anti-septic treatment, can you counteract or contend against the possible dangers of an unhealthy atmosphere ?—I do not think I could, even if I took such means. I will not enter into details, but had better say that I could not do so with safety to the patient. 917. You say that you could not counteract unhealthy influences?— Not with safety to the patient.