974

last week that the defendant had issued certificates signedin blank for the use of an unqualified man named Cooper.Since the last hearing some correspondence has passedbetween Messrs. Berger, Wylde, and Moore, solicitors, tothe defendant and the Registrar-General and Mr. Townley,which resulted in Mr. Townley writing to Mr. Blount,saying that he would go to the court on the adjournmentand unconditionally and entirely withdraw the charge,he being satisfied that Cooper copied Mr. Blount’s sig-nature without that gentleman’s authority. Mr. Townleyadded that had Mr. Blount put himself in communi-cation with him or the Registrar-General, and given theexplanation he had since made, he might have savedhimself considerable trouble.-Mr. Besley replied thatMr. Blount was astounded at the course which had beenadopted. There was no intimation on the summons as towho had issued it; and, in fact, the defendant did not knowexactly what the charge was until he came into court.-Mr. Marsham said he was satisfied that Mr. Blount wasperfectly innocent of the transaction, and it was a pityCooper could not be brought to justice. He should dismissthe summons with JE5 5s. costs, and he would add that thedefendant left the court without a stain on his character.

SOMERVILLE v. ROSE.

(Fro7n a Correspoi dent.) ION Monday, Oct. 28th, consolidated action was brought

by a Mr. Somerville against Dr. H. Cooper Rose and ,,

Mr. Herbert Cooper of Hampstead for libel. On Oct. 10th, ’’,1882, they had signed a certificate of lunacy based on thefacts observed and communicated as set forth in the certifi-cate. Just within the period of six years, the completionof which would have barred the action as exceeding thestatute of limitation, a writ was issued, and after waitingfor hearing for a year or more the case was decided by theLord Chief Justice of England on the 27th ult. The counselfor the plaintiff, acting of course in accordance with hisbrief, made statements which were not founded on fact, andwhich would lead the public to believe that Dr. Rosehad exhibited a want of care in giving the certificate;lie stated, however, that no collusion or conspiracy had beensuggested. Had it been necessary for the defendants’counsel to reply, of course all the statements would havebeen refuted. The fact was elicited befo e the certificatewas given by Dr. Rose that the plaintiff had been in thehabit of taking sedatives in sundry forms and in largedoses. The rapid recovery of the patient when all thesesources of mental disturbance were removed can be easilyunderstood. About a fortnight was sufficient time toenable her husband to fetch her home. Mr. Walton, thedefendant’s counsel, relied on the fact that the right ofplaintiff to sue was barred by 8 & 9 Vic., c. 100,Section 105, and the Lord Chief Justice immediatelyassented, and gave judgment for the defendants, with costs,remarking that the question had been decided over andover again, and that if it had been otherwise the statutewould be most cruel and oppressive. Had the clause in8 & 9 Vict., c. 100, failed, the clause in the recently passedLunacy Law Amendments Act, which came into immediateoperation and is retrospective, would doubtless have beenpressed. This clause provides that no action shall lieagainst a medical man for giving a certificate in lunacy,unless it can be proved that he did not exercise due andordinary care in performing the function, &c. Thecertificate as handed into court is as follows: "Schedule A,No. 2, Sections 4, 5, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13. I, the undersigned,Henry Cooper Rose, M.D., being a duly registered prac-titioner, and being in actual practice as a surgeon, herebycertify that I, on the 7th day of October, 1882, at 11, Christ-church-road, Hampstead, in the county of Middlesex,separately from any other medical practitioner, personallyexamined Anne Elizabeth Somerville, married, of 11, Christ-church-road, Hampstead, in the county of Middlesex, andthat the said Anne Elizabeth Somerville is a person otunsound mind, and a proper person to be taken chargeof and detained under care and treatment, and that Ihave formed this opinion upon the following grounds-viz. : 1. Facts indicating insanity observed by myself.

I found her very much excited. She had smasheda mirror over the mantelpiece; and when I asked herwhy she did it, she told me she had done so becauseit was her birthday, and she wanted to call publicattention to the fact. She also told me that she heardvoices at night that kept her from sleeping. Her appear-ance and manner were both indicative of a person ofunsound mind. 2. Other facts (if any) indicating insanitycommunicated to me by others. Her husband, DavidHughes Somerville, told me she was often violent, that sheoften threatened to destroy herself, and that she behaveciwith violence towards her own children.-HENRY COOPERROSE, M.D.-Penrose Hou-e, Hampstead, Oct. 18th, 1882."

Dr. Maudsley, Dr. Schofield, T)r. Thompson, Mr. Boulting,and the two defendants, Dr. H. Cooper Rose and Mr. HerbertCooper, were all in court prepared to affirm that the plaintiffwas of unsound mind at the time the certificates were signed.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TJWNS.

IN twenty-eight of the largest English towns 5783 birthsand 3202 deaths were registered during the week endingNov. 2nd. The annual rate of mortality in these towns,which had been 17’5, 18 ’7, and 17’5 per 1000 in the pre-ceding three weeks, was again 17’5 last week. During thefirst five weeks of the current quarter the death rate inthese towns averaged 17’8 per 1000, and was 2’4 below themean rate in the corresponding periods of the ten years1879-88. The lowest rates in these towns last week were11-6 in Brighton, 13’9 in Cardiff, 14-3 in Oldham, 14’6inLeicester, and 14-7 in Nottingham. The rates in the othertowns ranged upwards to 22’5 in Halifax, 25’0 in Black.burn, 28’2 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and 32-0 in Preston.The deaths referred to the principal zymotic diseases, whichhad been 414 and 356 in the preceding two weeks, roseagain last week to 364; they included 79 from scarlet fever,62 from diarrhoea, 58 from measles, 55 from whooping-cough,59 from " fever " (principally enteric), 51 from diphtheria,and not one from small-pox. No death from any of thesezymotic diseases were registered last week in Brighton orin Cardiff; whereas they caused the highest death-rates inNewcastle-upon-Tyne, Sunderland, and Plymouth. Thegreatest mortality from scarlet fever occurred in Blackburn,Salford, and Plymouth ; from diarrhoea in Manchester,Bolton, and Preston ; from measles in Norwich, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and Sunderland ; from whooping-cough inPortsmouth; and from "fever" in Preston. The deathsfrom diphtheria included 31 in London, 6 in Manchester,and 2 in Portsmouth. Small-pox caused no death in anyof the twenty-eight great towns ; and no small-pox patientwas under treatment at the end of the week either inthe Metropolitan Asylum Hospitals or in the HighgateSmall-pox Hospital. The number of scarlet-fever patientsin the Metropolitan Asylum and the London Fever Hos-pitals at the end of the week was 1500, against numbersincreasing in the preceding eighteen weeks from 559 to1450 ; 135 cases were admitted to these hospitals duringthe week, against 188 and 182 in the previous two weeks.The deaths referred to diseases of the respiratory organsin London, which had been 300 and 281 in the precedingtwo weeks, rose again last week to 300, but were 117 belowthe corrected average. The causes of 84, or 2 6 per cent.,of the deaths in the twenty-eight towns last week werenot certified either by a registered medical practitioner orby a coroner. All the causes of death were duly certifiedin Nottingham, Portsmouth, Brighton, and in four othersmaller towns; the largest proportions of uncertified deathswere registered in Huddersfield, Blackburn, Bradford, andHull.

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HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in the eight Scotch towns,which had been 20’5 and 19’3 per 1000 in the precedingtwo weeks, rose again to 20’3 in the week endingNov. 2nd; this rate exceeded by 2’8 the rate that prevailedduring the same week in the twenty-eight large Englishtowns. The rates in the Scotch towns ranged from 11’6and 14’6 in Paisley and Greenock, to 23’7 in Glasgow,23-8 in Leith, and 25-3 in Perth. The 519 deaths in the