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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    apology offered by the Lord Chief .Justice for the counsel engaged in the defence of William Palmer, as conveyed in these words : lohen a man enters upon the consideration of a case with a strong bias on his mind, he is liable to be led into error. Now, if this remark applies to one profession, it must to another ; or if to one man, it must to another. I would, then, fain borrow it, for the benefit of certain members of our own profession, whose names are connected with the evidence on which the culprit was found guilty of the murder of his friend, and therefore executed. I would premise, that whatever the doubts and ditficulties in the way of getting at the truth in all its details, these could hardly have assumed the proportions they did during the twelve long days devoted to the investigation into the innocence or guilt of William Palmer, if the medical bearings of the case had been of another character; i.e., if the medical witnesses had not been brought into so objectionable an antagonism as they were ; if they had not been made (in point of fact; the supporters and defenders of either the prosecuting or defending party. It is quite impossible to do else than conclude that if, for example's sake, Mr. Curling, Dr. Todd, and Sir B. Brodie, *had met Messrs. Nunneley, Letbeby, and Partridge in quiet consultation, away from the bustle and excitement of the Old Bailey, and out of reach of all the stale and wearisome formalities of a public court, and where they would have escaped the cross-questioning and worry- ing of tlie bench and. the bar, their various opinions would then have approximated, and the medical chasms which now appear would have been bridged over in an easy, graceful, and truthful manner. I will place before you the salient points of the evidence given by Mr. Curling, Dr. Todd, and Sir B. Brodie, and afterwards the same afforded by Messrs. Nunneley, Letheby, and Partridge ; we shall then -be in a position to judge whether or not 1 am right in the statement here made. After describing the symptoms of traumatic tetanus, Mr. Curling, in reply to a question from the Attorney-General, says ; The time in which the disease causes death varies from twenty-four hours to three or four days, or longer. The shortest period that ever came to my knowledge was eight or ten hours. Tetanus, when once commenced, is continuous. Q. Did you ever know of a case in which a man was attacked one day, had twenty-four hours' respite, and was then attacked the next day ? A. Never. I should say that such a case could not occur—Q. You have heard the account given by Mr. Jones of the death of the deceased ; were the symptoms there consistent with any form of traumatic tenanus that has ever come under your observa- tion ? No.— Q. What distinguishes it from such cases ? A, The sudden onset of the disease. In all cases which have come under C