On medical evidence in our law courts : being an exposure of its present defects, &c., with a suggestion for its amendment / by James G. Davey.

  • Davey, James George, 1813-1895.
Date:
[1862]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On medical evidence in our law courts : being an exposure of its present defects, &c., with a suggestion for its amendment / by James G. Davey. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    — Q. Then is it your decided opinion tliat this lady—I use the expression which has been used or insinuated—could not have been tutored so as to suppress any evidence of insanity in these conversations? A. I do not think it possible. Let us next see what Dr. Winslow says on the subject of delusion, in reply also to Mr. James, one of the counsel for Mrs. (Slumming. Q. There was a question I omitted to ask you last evening ; there has been a suggestion, or an in- sinuation, made about this lady being tutored. You have heard the number of examinations from one side and the other, to which this old lady has been subjected ? A. Yes, I have.— Q. And you have heard, perhaps, of the medical men going with the knowledge of what are alleged to be her delu- sions, and putting them distinctly to her, and hearing her answers and conversations on the subject ? A. Yes.— Q. I will use the expression which has been insinuated, could she be tutored to conceal her delusions on these examinations ? A. I do not think she could.—Q. For a period ? A. For a short period. I do not think in Mrs. Cumming's case she could. In cases of diseased mind, if you refer to the delu- sion, or touch the chord that is diseased, or out of tune, the delusion becomes generally immediately obvious. The finale of the conversation between Dr. Winslow and Mr. James is remarkable for its boldness. I ask you, said Mr. James, in your opinion, could she (meaning Mrs. Gumming) be tutored to conceal her answers under any tutorage ? Dr. Winslow's reply was, It is impossible. Now, I do not think that discrepancies so palpable could ever attach themselves to medical science, or opinions so much at variance with each other be attributed to medical men, and these of the very highest eminence, if the present very objectionable manner of obtaining medical evi- dence in cases of lunacy, and in other cases, was got rid of. I speak this in all sincerity, though with every respect for Urs. Morison, Conolly, and Winslow. There is one other feature in the matter to which I would call attention ; I mean the character of a delusion, so called. SirF. Thesiger asked Sir A. Morison: .^'uppose a person has placed his affairs in the hands of an attorney, who has conducted himself witli the strictest propriety and integrity, and who has from time to time received money, and rendered due and proper account of the money, which has been sanc- tioned by the person by whom tlie attorney was employed, and