IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) V.x LO l£|2S 1)2.5 •^ lii^ IIIII2.2 U 1 ,.6 I.I 1.25 v] tenu de la condition at de la nettetA de i'ej»'2fmpiaire filmt, et en conformity av«<^ ies conditions du contrat de fllmage. Original copies in printed paper ecvers are filmed beginning with the front cover and ending on the last page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, or the back cover when appropriate. All other original copies are filmed beginning on the first page with a printed or illustrated impres- sion, snd ending on the iaat page with a printed or illustrated impreaaion. Lea exemplairea originaux dont la eouverture en papier eat imprimte sont filmte en commen^ant par le premier plat et en terminant soit par la dernlAre page qui comporte une empreinte d'impression ou d'iilustration, soit par le second plat, salon le cas. 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Lorsque le document est trop grand pour dtre reproduit en un seul clichA, 11 est filmA A partir de I'angle supArieur gauche, de gauche A droite, et de haut en baa, en prenant le nombre d'images nteessaire. Les diagrammes suivants iilustrent la mAthode. 12 3 1 2 3 4 5 6 % I sssisssrr""-!??-' *3S^SSS9? 7 1 9IUU WllW |/* v^-***—- J . ^ 1^ Crowners' Quest Lav/. From /III- MoNriJEAL Hkuai-d, 18/h Januarij, 1879. ^ To tbe Editor of the Homtrial Hkrald. SiH, — Tbe Government of Quebec, having hononre>i me with an appuint- ment in connection with the inquest case of the late Mr. Patton, I think it is my duty to inform the Qovernment and the pnblic of the tvay in which inquests are held in Montreal. I have no per- sunal interest whatsoever in this mat- ter ; but I will make a short review of it fur tbe purpose mentioned, which will show the negliitenoe of the Coroner in not summoning important witnesses, his want of personal dignity, and his moral inability to keep proper decorum in bis own Court, thus allowing jury- men to make fdlse accusations against absent important witnetsea, just to in- fluence their fellow-jurymen; and the indecency of his allowing political squabbles and a censure of the Govern- ment whos3 ( ffi^er he is. Mr. Patton, a respectable and well - known business ma-i, whose lifj is insured for a considerable amount— which is forfeited in case of suicide— {ails in business. A few days after he suddenly disappears. After live days of reHearch he is fuuod dead, uuder tha suspicious cir- cumstances common in cases of suicide, — that is to Fay, in a sleigh, stored in a bay-loft of his residence. The Coroner empannels a jury, who take the following oath, which, with our present Coroner, is generuUy their only guide in coAing to a concluiiion : — " You shall present no man for hatred, malice or ill will, nor spare any through fear, favour or affection ; but a true verdict give accord ing to the evidence and the best of your skill and know ledfjp, so help you God." Here is, in substance, the evidence according to wnich only the jury wore sworn to bring in a verdict. Air. Williams merely swears to the finding < f the body. Mi. Thus. Shaw knew deceased fur 14 years, and had noticed for some time past thiit his spirits were considerably ditpressed. Two ether witnesses, Mr. A. C. Hutch- ison and Mr. li. T. Patton, deceased's son, testified to the same effect. But Mr. Shaw, having taken breakfast with deceased on tbe morning of the 14 h December, the date of bisdisappearanie, found bim mnch quieter than usual. He touk very little breakfast, walked down to the lane in rear of deceased's residence, which deceased entsred with- out farther remark. This was a litth; nnoommon, as formerly he used to say that he was going no further, or somo- thing to that effect. Apart from the medj.cftl jnd ubemical ev.dencp, this is all Vui; was submitted. However, to compleice that part of the evidence upon which, or rather against which, tbe jurymen must have foundc' their find- ing, if they founded it upon evidence of any kind, I will insert here that part only of the medical evidence contained in the following question and answer : — Question by a juryman to Dr. Reddy. if the circulation of tbe blood of the deceased were weak, so as to cause partial numbness of his hands, would excessive grief and mental prostration, combined with this weakuess, not im- peril his life P Anjwer by Dr. Reddy— It would not! Dr. Baddy is a experience and great ranks physician of learning, amongst the first of this city, and I mny say that he has expressed on thit point the opinion of the Faculty. Neverthe- less, twelve jurjmen, sworn to investi- gate the cause of the man's death, ac- cording i,9 the evidence only, return the following verdict : — ' That Rich ird Pat- tun bad, for 8>me time prior to his death, been in a weak conditiun of b idy, and in a desponding siate of mind, the jurors are of opiuion t.at the death of tbe said R. Paiton was caused by ex- haustion and grief." Kuw, any man may see that: l^it. There was not any evidence of a weak condition of the body ; 2nd. Nur of exhavstion. 3id. As for despondency and grief. Dr. Reddy sayo emphatically that tt man cannot die of grief, under such circumstances, of course. I will next noiice the medical and chemical part of the evidence, not so much to criticize tbe verdict as t'> sug- gest whether tiie G jvernment would n .t do better to employ thi' expense for me- dical evidence, WQiuh is cuusiderab.e in "".ch caees, to a better purpose. It might be given, f.>r instance, to educational institutious, for the pur- pot^ti of instructing children in tbe rudiments of medic. 1 j jrisprudenci'. Are twf ive such men as are generally empaBUelled at an inquest, ur even men chosen amongst tht' in >8t intel ig.'Ut (!lassep, it they have rmt, made a H|>e \;\\ ttudy of pbysiol.jgj, (laihulo.'y and medical juriapruiieint', reanounbly to be expected tu undirntaiia ;ind jiMjje nf » post mortem ex-itaiuutu in or a ctiemicil evidr-nce. I example of appreciated Hnalysia? If they are seusible men they will accept tbd opinion of expert!, but ignorance is always presumptuous, and, in this Puvton case, one juryman went 80 far as to say that he did not care for the opinion of Dr. Girdwood, or any other M.D. If that opinion were expressed by an intelligent man, it would certainly not be very complimentary to tbe profession ; such as it is, ii amounts to nothing. This very omniscient jury- man apparently does not even know the difference between a fact and an opinion, for he asked whether, from the morphia found, we were prepared to swear as a fad that Fatten died of its effects? We might just as well have been asked whether we were prepared to twear as a fact that Mr. Patton was deed at ail ; never having seen Mr. Patton, dead or alive, the answer must have been no ; but we were of opinion that be was really dead and could so swear. So with our opinion as to the cause of thi death ; circumstantial evidence, as everybody knows, is in many cases more reliable than direct relate this incident as an how medical evidinceis by incompetent jurymen, and again ask, whetner Government is justified in incirring expense attended with such useless retults P Reverting to the medical evidence. Dr. Reddy in entrusted wiih the "post-mortem' ex- amination. He associutes with him Dr. Oalef, a clever and promising yonng practitioner. Dr. Reddy and Dr. Osier report the perfect healtbiaess of all tbe organs and tbe absence of all natural causes of death — with the ex- ception of the stomach, which they do not examine, but tie up carefully, and insinuate that there w'il probably be fuund tbe cause of death. They also advise the chemical analysis of its con- t. nil', which Dr. Girdwood and myself proceeded to make. We invited Dr. Reddy and Dr. Osier to be present with UH in order to give them the opportunity to complete their " postmortem." Dr. Osier being out of town, D-. Reddj alone came, and he will not object, I am Hure, to my relating what otherwise he wuuld, doubtli s-i, have said himself be> fore tbe juiy, bad he been asked t • at- t nd at its sub-equent meeting. After yivini^ us, from memory, a very graphic d'-soiiptiou ot ttie "post-mortem," he observed that: — " Wuat struck him '• uios'. of all, was the appearance of de- !' ceased, when be first saw him. He } LJ 1 fW^ Judktid ju8t U3 if he waa Hleupini;, and, " hud he uoi, known hiui doad, bis first " impulse would have boen to give h'm " a good push in the ribn, and be would " have expected him to wake up sud- " denly and exchiim, 'Hah)! What's " the matter ?• He was just liKe a mai! " that had passed from life to death in " a sound sleep " We conclude our analysis, find mor- phia in undoubted (quantities, and report acoordnuly to the jury. The only ques- tion I am asked lu whether doceuHcd died of the qunntity of morphia found in the stomach ? I am surprised tl at the Coroner should put 8U(!h a question. From his lonjj exp.'nence as Coroner be Bfaould havi! knoivn that it is not the quantity of poison found in a man's Btoinaoh that causes death, butthequan- tit. abdorbtd into the system ; and it is impossible to ascertain the quantity which is thus absorbed. Answi ring to what the Coroner probably n eant by the question, rather than to its literal meaiiing, I said that he might or he might not, aecording to circumstaneeB, and then I awaited the next question to explain my opinion of the cause of death. This, however, was not ai>ked. The question thit should have been put is this: — From your analysis of the contents of deeeai-ed's stomach, and from a careful examination ot the jiost- »)io)'te>i.'g report, what is your opinion of the cause o'' she Lite U. Patton's deith? Medical men are called before Coroner's inquests to give opinions and nothing more. If the opinion is not to be accepted, it is no use for them to be called. The question put to me is asked of Dr. Girdwood, who iinawers in the same sense, and goes on to expinin his opinion, when a juror orders aim to cease. The Doctor endeavours to pro- ceed, when he is again interrupted, in grossly, unoomplimentary style, by such expressions as " I do not cure for youi opinion, 1 care for no M. D.'s opinion," and so on. Nevertheless", after cnsider- able difficulty. Dr. Giruwood con»rivea to give his evidence, to the tffect, that Laving examined the post mottem le- port and other oircume ances, he is of opinion th.t deceased died from the eifects of morphia. To reca- pitulate, shortly— there wan at external evidence, except that -f the ordinai-y anxious state of a man in business trou- bles, nor any natural causes of death. But poison was found in the stonuuh, and the medical opinion, strongly ex- pressed, was that the death was caused by poiaon, consistently with thep'"'- viortem inilications. The novel tl.eory of dying from grief was emphatically rejected by medical evilence. But veidict, "Died of grief! '." ^Vfier making the poor m.in die of grief, this most in- telligent jury add : '"He did not die of morphia!" Bither evident. After this, surely, they should apply for a patent. Suppose the fo!lowin(^ identi. calcase: A disappointed lover is found dead with a dagger through his heart. The " PiJtton patenttd jury" would sniely return the following verdict; " Died of love and grief — the dagger having no'hing to do with the man's death ! !"' I add a few remarks as to the negligent, irregular and undecorous manner in which this inquest was con- ducted. Ist. Thechemioal analysis hav- ing been decid'd on, the Coroner should havesubmitt> dforan.ilysis -,he stomach, the liver, the bladder, w'th whatever urine it contained, and a part of the brain, in air-tight vessels, sealed with wax. In this case the sti.mach only was submitted in an unsealed vessel. Two days before the hist meeting of the jury. Coroner Jones was informed, by one of the analysts, that niortihia wns detected. The same day friends of Mr. Palton were apprized of the fact. Hence that disgraceful >cene in the jury room before our arrival — when the. corre»pou- ilence with the Government was asked and subiiitted; when attacks ag-iinst the G vernment, their followers and their nomini-es were freely maoe ; and when false and most absurd accusati(jns about insurance iailuences were uttered, in the most ungev ''T.Biinly and vulgar m inner, in the presence of the Coroner, with the evident intention of influenc- ing the jury. It the Coroner had had a proper sen^ie cf his duty, and of '-he im- portance of his office, he would have ad- journed the inquest to another day, and not allow, as he did, the jury to return a Verdict while labouring under such false iuipressione. Jervis, on the offloa and duty of Coroner, says : " Whore the jury suspect that undue influence has been used, the Coionev may, in theexer- cise of a sound discretion, adj.iuin the ii;qiie8t to a future diiy." It was plainly a case to adjourn. Next; when Drs. Reddy and Osier were asked their opinion as to the cause of death, at the second ui' etiiig of the jury, they re- served their anewjr till the stomach should be analysed. Why did not the C ironer sumuioii them to be present at the last meeting? They had made the pont-mortem, and, being afterwards in- loruied of the results of the analysis, were certainly most important witnesses. They were not p esent. Previous to the last meeting it was currently reported, and known to some of the jurors, that a certain druggist had sold poison to the late Mr. Patton. Why was not that druggist summimed P I respect Mr. Jones for his great age and amiable social quelities; and what remaiks I make m this letter concirn only his functions as a public officer. But the only conclusion that could be arrived at, after the consideration of the present case, is, that Coroner Jones is not sufTioiently qualified to fulfil the duties of a Coroner, which, besides, re- quires a great deal of physical activity. Coroner Jones is bordering on 72 years of a^e. He has b'en employed in the service of his country for ovei' forty years. He has, no doubt, discharged his duties to the best 1 his abilitiea. He should be allowed to retire for his own good and that of th2 public, with a gratuity equal to his position in society. Economy is very good- -t'Ut should not interfere with public interes —and a well qualified person, wtll versed in medical juri -prudence should be named m his pliice. A fixed salary should also be attached to tue situation, to render the Coroner independent, and not, as nww, dependent on the number of inquests, or the time they occupy. I have the honour to be, P. O'Lbary, M.D., McGill. Montreal, Jan, 17, 1879,