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time being the property of the practitioner in attendance, withwhich another has no more right to interfere than he has to invadethe sanctuary of your dwelling. It is unnecessary to refer to the

annoyance which such a system would inflict upon patients, orto the evil consequences wh;ch would often ensue from an un-timely examination of their case.

I have only one remark more. You have prefixed to this cor-respondence the title of " Medical Jurisprudence and MedicalEtiquette in Scotland," which may be held as indicating youropinion that the point of medical jurisprudence which it involvesis of even more importance than that of etiquette; and in thisview I apprehend the profession generally will cordially concur.The case to which my correspondence with Mr. Burness refers,and other cases of a similar character which have recently oc-curred in this quarter, have distinctly raised the question,-Howfar the power of procurators fiscal in collecting medical evidenceextends? and whether that power can go the length of systema-tically ignoring the evidence of surgeons who have been first inattendance on cases of assault, and whose testimony is primary,and may be important to the conviction of the criminal; and oftaking in preference that of a surgeon who may not have seen thecase for many hours, or it may be days after, and whose evidenceis therefore secondary, and, it may be, worthless ? This questionhas been raised, and of the steps which have been taken to bringit to an issue, as well as of the issue itself, your readers will be indue time advised.

I am, Sir, you most obedient servant,Montrose, April, 1853. S. LAWRENCE.S. LAWRENCE.

MANAGEMENT OF COUNTY LUNATIC ASYLUMS.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—Very seldom do I inflict on your readers or yourself anyof my effusions, but I have something to say now, trusting toyour kindness and leniency in overlooking faults, &c., and givingme credit for wishing to do good.

Lately, we have had almost a surfeit of lunatic asylums andtheir management, of superintendents and assistant-superin-tendents, of medical men generally and their assistants, in theshape of a great variety of correspondence, signed by all kinds ofnames and initials-,, A Physician," an 11 Ex-Superintendent,"cu7n multis aliis. What I have now to bother you about youmay perhaps wonder-but hold, Sir! one or two words with

you-I ask a question: Are all the county asylums perfect intheir management? May I answer this by saying—Very farfrom it. Again: Why do not the Commissioners in Lunacymake them so ? Why do they not strictly and impartially in-vestigate every hole and corner-every bedstead and bed—all ,the clothing, &c.? and if they do, why do they not make altera- Itions which are much needed ? " Give a dog a bad name," &e.I hesitate not to assert, Sir, that if half, aye, a tithe, of the careand scrupulous prying were lavished in some of the county asthere is in the private asylums, there would be no need of mygrumbling now. Some of your readers will say, "Oh! I warranthe is smarting under a bad report." Nay. not a bit of it; but Ido think equal justice should be meted out to every asylumwithout favour or distinction.Why is it, Sir, that in some counties the superintendent is not

the head of the asylum? How can it be supposed that a medicalman can do his duty as properly when he has some one (a steward,perhaps) over him? Who suffers in these cases? The patients,primarily-then the different parishes-ultimately the rate-

payers,-because generally, in these cases, where the doctor isnot 2-cally the superintendent, his hands are tied, and his meansof cure much lessened. But why is not the doctor always thehead of the asylum ?-that’s the real question. Why is there asingle county asylum allowed to have a non-medical man as

superintendent, when every private asylum is compelled to haveits patients under the entire control of a medical superintendent?I should fancy if the Commissioners visited the county as oftenas they do the private asylum, they would soon find out altera-tions necessary to be made. I heard, a few days since, of aprivate asylum being visited three times during the last eighteenmonths; and of a 94 county asylum that had not been visited atall during that period;" but surely I must have been misinformedas to this last matter. Again : I heard of a county asylum abso-lutely in this enlightened period indulging all its patients withstraw beds, and keeping them-even the convalescent ones-fromfear of harm (how very kind ! ?) by preventing them using knivesand forks. What other luxuries (?) this said county asylumboas’s of, I have not time to say now; but every one ought to beexceedingly thankful that such care is taken of poor lunatics !A straw bed for every patient!—no knife and fork! I cannotbelieve it, Sir. Is it credible ? You must doubt it, I am sure ;but so I was told, and on " good authority," too; and I question

if I am not running the risk of ,an explanation being demanded"for my disbelief. I must put up with it, and will write you theresult.

I have several other items boxed up for a future occasion; butshould the " cap find an owner," I will keep the rest to myself;at all events I shall tell you, Sir, that your eye now and thenmay cast a look towards those blest places of poor lunatics wheresuch " luxuries" as I have named do exist.I With much respect, I am, Sir, yours very truly,

April, !853. No FAVOUR."

House of Lords.TUESDAY, APRIL 12.

VACCINATION EXTENSION BILL.

LORD LYTTELTON, in moving the committal of this Bill, enteredinto details of cases tending to show the advantages likely to bebrought about by the measure. In the Bill as it stood there wasa clause which he should propose to leave out, although it wouldbe important as regarded prevention. It provided that all chit-dren, and indeed all persons unvaceinated, should be compelledto be vaccinated under a penalty. He thought it would bereasonable that a notice should be given by the registrar ofbirths to all persons to vaccinate their children, but it would berather hard to impose a penalty on them for not doing so withoutnotice. The Bill would extend only to England and Wales;Ireland and Scotland he could not touch, although the Irish

government had expressed a wish that a compulsory measureshould be extended to Ireland. With regard to the importationof individuals who were not vaccinated he was told that a largenumber of persons of that kind were to be found in the common

lodging-houses, and he thought the inspectors should have powerto interfere to cause the vaccination of persons inhabiting them.There was another point to which he wished to direct the atten-tion of the government, and that was the conveyance of small-poxpatients to hospitals which required regulation. He was toldthat there were difficulties in the way of a national system ofvaccination, and that the objection of the poor to have themselvesand their children vaccinated was that the system was so muchmixed up with the Poor-law, and that if it was separated fromthe administration of the Poor-law Board it would work better.He could not introduce any bill for any regulations in thatrespect so as to carry out a compulsory system; he could onlypoint it out to the government. With regard to objections whichhad been made to the Bill, such as that the infliction of a penaltywould not cause vaccination to be adopted, he could only saythat most persons would rather have the vaccination performedthan pay the penalty ; but at any rate it was all that could bedone. It was said that the establishment of a system of compul-sory vaccination would be undue interference with the liberty ofthe subject: but to allow infection to continue in a town by thewant of vaccination would be a criminal offence. Adverting tothe payment of medical officers of unions he could only say thatthe plan of paying them for vaccination was a part of the systemof their payment; but he could not help pressing on the govern-ment the fact that if it was made worth the medical man’s whileall over the country any necessity for a compulsory system ofvaccination would be done away. The noble lord concluded bystating that there were a number of alterations in the Bill, buthe thought it best to state them in committee.The Earl of SHATTESBCRY said that when the evil effects of

small-pox were considered, and that the system of vofuntaryvaccination had been tried and failed, there was every groundfor a compulsory measure, which was necessary to save the

community from the ravages of that frightful disorder. Theeffect of a compulsory system of vaccination in other countrieshad tended almost to the extermination of the smallpox. He

hoped the House ould go into committee on this Bill, and if it

passed he had no doubt that generations to come would bethankful for the passing of such a measure.The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH confessed that the present law on

this subject, which he had introduced some years ago, had notworked as well as was expected—and he thought a case had beenmade out for its amendment. He had no objection to a compul-sory system of vaccination, but he thought that if the poor werecompelled to be vaccinated, every facility should be given forcarrying out the system, and that their prejudices should be con-sulted. He should be disposed to adopt the plan pursued in othercountries, and fix a penalty on the admission of children intoschools who were not vaccinated; and he would go further, andenact that any person applying for relief to a board of guardiansshould be examined, and it he had not been vaccinated, and re-

fused to be vaccinated, that relief should not be granted. He would

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propose to the noble lord that his and all the other amendments tothe Bill should be printed, and then that it should be recommittedon another day.Lord LYTTELTON acceded to this proposal; andAfter a few words from Lord REDESDALE,The house went into committee on the Bill, and the clauses,’

with the amendments as proposed by Lord Lyttelton and the ’,Earl of Ellenborough, were agreed to, and the Bill was ordered tobe recommitted.

Medical News.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.—The followinggentlemen, having undergone the necessary examinations forthe diploma, were admitted Members of the College at themeeting of the Court of Examiners on the Sth inst. :-BROWN, ALEXANDER, Hon. E.LC.S., Steeple Bumpstead,

Essex.DEBENHAM, HORACE KERSEY, Queen’s-road, Dalston.DEMPSTER, ROBERT, Sussex.DREW, JOHN HENRY, Southampton.EVANS, MAURICE GRIFFITH, Bleanafon, Carmarthenshire.HAWKES, JoHN, Wells, Somerset.JENKINS, ROBERT WALKER, Mansell-street, Goodman’s-fields.JoXES, JOHN, Swansea.MANLEY, WM. GEORGE NICHOLAS, Barking, Essex.ROGERS, THOMAS LAWES, Alvediston, Wiltshire.SMITH, WM. EDWARD, Bristol.SIMONS, ROBERT THOMAS, Sydney, Australia.The following gentlemen were admitted Members on the

College on the llth inst.:-CHAPMAN, CLARENCE, Devonshire-street, Portland-place.COGAN, CECIL CALVERT, WInsley, Bradford, Wilts.CREGAN, JAMES JOSEPH, Deptford.DODGE, WILLIAM HENRY, St. Anstell, Cornwall.Goss, WILLIAM FoRBES, Paternoster-row.HcDsoN, THOMAS WATSON, Whitehaven, Cumberland.MoRETON, JAMES EARL, Morton-place, Cheshire.PRATT, EDWARD, Appledore, North Devon.Ross, GEORGE, London.STUTTER, FREDERICK AUGUSTUS, Wickhambrook, Suffolk.ViNCEXT, CYRIL JOHN, Oxford.APOTHECARIES’ HALL.—Names of gentlemen who

passed their examination in the science and practice of medi-cine, and received certificates to practise on

Thursday, April 7th, 1853.BAKER, SLADE JAMES, Upper Hayford, Oxon.BIANCHI, ROBERT, Como, Italy. ICARDOZO, SAMUEL, Australia.EVAXS, MAURICE GRIFFITH, Bleanafon, Carmarthenshire.HARRfsoN, WILLIAM, Gargrave, Yorks.HEMMING, CHARLES, Kimbolton, Hunts.LEWIS, THOMAS, Llandilo, Cariiiarthensliire.LoxsHURST, ARTHUR EDwiN TEMPLE, Kirkby Mallory,

Leicestershire.

, MooRE, THOMAS ALEXANDER, Preston, Lancashire.SEDGWICK, CHARLES, Maidstone.TALBOT, DAVID AUGUSTUS MARTIN, Wraxall, Somersetshire.

TEAXBY, FREDERICK WILLIAM, Stert, near Bridgewater.VAUGHAN, WILLIAM EDWARD WEDGE, Crewe.WARD, JOSEPH HAYDON, Epsom.MEDICAL BENEVOLENT COLLEGE.---At the last

meeting of the Council, held at the Hanover-square Rooms, LordDynevor and Thomas Copland, Esq., F.R.S., were unanimouslyelected Vice-Presidents of the College. Thanks were voted tothe B shop of London, and to the Rev. Thomas Garnier of Tri-nity Church, St. Marylebone, for granting the use of his pulpiton that occasion. The latter gentleman was also elected honorarygovernor of the College.INQUEST ON DR. RICHARD CHAMBERS.—On Monday

Mr. Wakley held an inquest at the Weymouth Arms, Weymouth-street, Portland-place, on the body of Dr. R. Chambers, late ofWimpole-street. Dr. Marris Wilson, of Upper Charlotte-street,Fitzr,)y-square, who had made the post-mortem examination,stated that on opening the body he was struck, as were othermedical gentlemen present, with the odour of prussic acid. Hefrom the right ventricle of the heart double its natural size. Thephi-d found by the side of the deceased smelt strongly of prussicac:d, and upon reference to the prescription from which its con-

tents had been compounded, he found that the deceased had pre-scribed for himself six drops of prussic acid, of Scheele’s strength,with ten drops of Battley’s solution of opium, one drachm ofcolchicum, two of acetate of ammonia, and an ounce and a halfof water. He believed that the deceased had taken this as a

medicine, and that owing to the disease of the heart the prussicacid had caused death. The jury, after hearing other evidence,found " That the death of the deceased was caused by a diseasedheart, under the influence possibly of prussic acid taken medici-nally."

APPOINTMENT.—Mr. Athol A. Johnson, of Albe-marle-street, one of the lecturers at the Kinnerton-street Schoolof Anatomy, &c., has been appointed to the post of surgeon tothe Hospital for Sick Children, Great Ormond-street, vacant bythe resignation of Mr. G. D. Pollock.MEDICAL BENEVOLENT FUND.—At the last meeting

of the Committee it was announced by the treasurer that one ofthe annuitants who was blind had lately died, leaving his widowand child in great distress. Resolved, that the sum of £10 begiven. Letters of acknowledgment of the receipt of moneys votedat the previous meeting having been read, the treasurer statedthat since July, 1852, the sum of £500 15s. had been received inannual subscriptions, and .i:296 14s. in donations; that the ex-penses had been £51 12s.3d., and £ 469 has been spent in grants,leaving the sum of .i:20 due to the treasurer.

CASES.-1. The widow of a surgeon of Nottingham, who diedin February last, having practised there thirty years, leavingeleven children, eight of whom being unprovided for-voted .i:25.2. The widow of a physician, lately practising in London. Leftin great distress-voted £ 5. 3. The wife of a medical man whosehusband is imbecile, and who supports herself, husband, and twochildren by letting lodgings. Relieved twice previcusly-voted£5. 4. The widow of a medical man, also relieved previously.She supports herself by going out as a governess, and her twodaughters, who are in bad health, endeavoured to support them-selves by working as milliners; all at present in difficulties-voted .610.

BOARD OF HEALTH.—Deputations from Ryde andPlymouth, the former, consisting of Dr. J. Bell Salter and Mr.D. Barrow, and the latter of Messrs. Gill, Mortimer, Stephens,and Elseworthy, had interviews with the Board of Health atWhitehall, on Tuesday.

SUPPRESSION OF CITY SEPULTURE.—With a fulldetermination of putting down, as soon as possible, burials withinthe City, the authorities have advertised for 100 acres as a ceme-tery, north of the river Thames. They have also applied to the

Woods and Forests for ground in Epping Forest.! HAMPSHIRE COUNTY HOSPITAL.—A vacancy hasjust been declared in the medical staff of the Hampshire CountyHospital at Winchester, in consequence of the resignation of Dr.Phillips, for many years senior physician to the hospital.ADMIRALTY APPOINTMENTS.—Surgeon E. Notlath,

M.D., to the Hercules-Assistant-Surgeon Arnot, M.D., to theWaterloo.—Assistant-Surgeons Robert P. Chapman and AndrewClark to the Victory.THE" AGAMEMNON."—On the 12th ult. no less

than sixteen new cases of fever appeared on board the Agamemnon.The men so attacked had just left Haslar Hospital.THE COMMISSION OF LUNACY ON MR. FEARGUS

O’CONNOR —A jury, consisting chiefly of magistrates of thecounty of Middlesex, met at Chiswick on Tuesday last to try the

sanity of this unfortunate gentleman. Mr. Bariow was the Com-missioner. The leading particulars which led to Mr. O’Con-nor’s confinement as a lunatic are matters of notorietv. Dr.Tweedie, Dr. Couolly, and Dr. Tuke, in whose asylum Mr.O’Connor has been connned, gave evidence testifying to his

insanity. No opposition was offered to the commission, althougha barrister attended to watch the proceedings on behalf of thealleged lunatic. Mr. Jacob Bell, late M.P. for St. Albans, de-scribed the circumstances connected with Mr. O’Connor’s con-duct in the House of Commons. A verdict of lunacy wasreturned, dating the insanity back to the period of his committalto the custody of the Serjeant-at-arms.

QUARANTINE LAWS.—In answer to a question fromMr. Hume, in the House of Commons respecting the conferenceon quarantine laws in Paris, Lord John Russell replied, thatcertain sanitary regulations were suggested which on considera-tion were found impracticable. But the other measures wouldbe shortly suggested best calculated to suit the maritime ports of

the different nations.