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mach, and had obtained, by the tests, theclearest proof in the world.The evidence of Mr. Samuel Gould, clerk

to the de.ceased, was exactly similar to thatwhich he gave upon the former inquest.

William West, shoeing-smith in the esta-blishment of the deceased, confirmed the factsdetailed by Gould and Thomas, in additionto which the following particulars wereelicited :-On first entering the room wheredeceased lay (about 20 minutes to 3 o’clock)the witness was much struck with a peculiarodour, which he had never before smelled.Since then he has smelled some prussic acid,and then recognised that it was that acidwhich he must have smelled on the firstoccasion. In passing by the deceased’s bedhis foot accidentally struck against some-thing ; he stooped down, picked it up, andfound that it was a wineglass ; there wasnothing in the glass, but on putting his fin-gers to the bottom, he found a little mois-ture ; there was a great deal of dust anddirt around the edges of the glass ; he imme-diately showed it to Mr. Barrow, jun., whosaid that it was nothing. In a scullery ad-joining the room in which deceased lay, ona dresser, he also found a small bottle, with-out a cork, and quite empty ; thinks that heshowed it to Mr. Barrow, jun., but is notsure. The bottle had no smell of prussicacid when he found it. On the mantel-piecehe found a small cork which fitted the bottle; ;’,he put the cork to his tongue. (The Coro-ner did not inquire whether the cork had anypeculiar taste or odour, &c.) Mr. Ansell,the chemist (brother to the surgeon who gaveevidence), saw it next, in about five or sixhours afterwards ; he smelt the bottle anddesired witness to take care of it, as he wassatisfied concerning the contents. There wasno one on the premises with the deceasedexcept William Thomas, from a quarter pastten o’clock till two. Thomas was presentwhen the glass and phial were found, andhe thinks that Mr. Barrow was there also.

The other witnesses merely deposed to thestate of mind in which the deceased was pre-vious to his death. The lawyer who sat onthe left hand of the Coroner seemed deter-mined to elicit some point concerning a for-gery, and asked a witness (Dunsford)a ques.tion to that effect. Mr. Alexander Bartleyentered into full particulars respecting cer-tain forgeries which deceased had confessedto him (Mr. B.) that he had committed withinthe last three weeks ; they amounted in allto about £2000. A person named Weedonwas the chief cause of all his embarrassmentand of his death. Deceased said that he hadpaid Weedon :f2000 within the last year, asinterest alone, upon money advanced. (Weunderstand that this same Mr. Weedon wasone of the jurymen on the first inquest.)Mr. Bartley was confident that deceased

was in a state of temporary derangement forseveral days previous to death.The Jury, after a few minutes deliberation,

brought in a verdict,- That deceased tookpoison while labouring under temporarymental aberration produced by pecuniarydifficulties."

STATISTICAL TALENTS OF THE

NATIONAL VACCINE BOARD.

To the Editoi- of THE LANCET.SiR :-The Report recently issued by the

National Vaccine Board contains the fol-lowing passage :- In the next place wehave the opportunity of bearing our mostample testimony to the continuance of theefficiency of the original vaccine lymph, in-troduced by Dr. Jenner, through nearly amillion of subjects successively."

Calculating that an entire week is requir-ed for the formation of the vaccine vesicle,to reader it suitable for the successive pro-pagation of the disorder, it will he foundthat a succession of one million of subjectswill occupy 19,230 years and 9 months ! Iam, Sir, your obedient servant,

J. COCKER.London, March 4,1839.

J. COCKER.

FUNCTIONS OF THE LIVER.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR : Perceiving in THE LANCET of the

9th a paper by Mr. Ancell, on " The Func-tion of the Liver," I beg to forward youthe following extract from the works ofPaulus Ægineta, the Greek physician (trans-lated by Francis Adams, Esq.), which, Ithink, shows that his views are by nomeans new.

Section LXVII. " According to the viewsof the ancient physiologists, the liver is theseat of the natural powers, being the grandorgan of sanguification, and the blood beingthe pabulum which nourishes the wholebody. That the liver performs an import-ant part in the fabrication of the blood,seems probable from all the veins of thestomach and upper portion of the intestinespassing to the liver, whereby it is to be sup-posed that a considerable proportion of thenutritive juices will be conveyed to it; andfrom this viscus being proportionally largein the foetus when it is much required toform blood, and cannot be supposed neces-sary for any other purpose." In fact the lateexperiments of Professors Tiedemann andGmelin seem to prove that the liver is con-cerned in carrying off the excrementitiouspart of the blood, or, to use the language ofmodern chemistry, in decarbonising it. The

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ancients taaght that the liver, by its attrac-tive potver, attracts the chyle from the sto-mach ; that by its retentive it retains thesame until the alterative convert it intoblood ; and then the expulsive separatesthe superfluities of the blood, viz., the bi!e;and conveys them to the gall-bladder.-See Galenus, tom. ii. page 285. Ed. Basiland Avicenna, lib. iii. fen. 4, tr. i. I am,Sir, your obedient Servant,

J. G. P.St. George’s Hospital,

Feb.14,1839.

THE LANCET.

London, Saturday, March 9, 1839.

THE demand which has been unexpectedlymade on our space by the reports of the two

inquests which have just been held on the

body of Mr. BOUTALL, precludes us frompublishing the general remarks which weintended to make on the office of Coroner in

THE LANCET of this week. The account,however, which we elsewhere present toour readers, of the inquests in question,speaks more strongly to the conviction thanany general arguments which we could em-ploy to prove the necessity of electing to theoffice of Coroner gentlemen who have re-ceived a medical education.

WE earnestly direct the attention of ourreaders to the result of the interview of the

British Medical Association with the Poor-

Law Commissioners. The insulting systemof 11 Tender " having again been broughtinto action by the Boards of Guardians inthe Windsor Union, the Cirencester Union,and at Halifax, in direct opposition to therecommendations contained in the Reportof the Select Committee of the House of

Commons of last Session, the Council, atits last meeting, appointed a deputation towait upon the Commissioners on the sub-

ject, and also to inquire what alterationshad been effected, or were contemplated inconsequence of the Parliamentary inquiry.We rejoice to find that the Council of the

British Medical Association are not, like

the Councils of some other Associations,asleep at their posts, but continue alive tothe importance of this vital qliestion. We

can only this week refer to the account of

the proceedings of the Deputation so far asthey are reported.

THE OFFICE, DUTIES,AND

QUALIFICATIONS OF CORONERS.

THE Coroner is an ancient officer in

England. He is called Coroner because he

had principally to do with pleas of the

crown, or such wherein the King was moreimmediately concerned. In this respect theLord Chief Justice of England is the prin-cipal Coroner, and may, if he please, exer-cise the jurisdiction of a Coroner in anypart of the realm. There are also particularCoroners for every county in England, insome counties two, and in others a greaternumber.

This officer is of equal authority with the

sheriff, and was ordained, together with

him, to keep the peace when the earls gaveup the wardship of the counties.

Through the culpable neglect of gentlemenof property this office has, in later times,been suffered to fall into disrepute, and getinto low and indigent hands.Although formerly no Coroners were

paid, and by the statute of Westminster 1,they were expressly forbidden to take a

reward, yet for many years past they haveonly desired to be chosen for the sake of the

perquisites, being first allowed fees for theirattendance by the 3 Heary VII., c. 1, ofwhich Sir Edward Coke complained heavily.Since his time Coroners’ fees have been

much enlarged.It is unnecessary for us to inform the

public that until fees became attached to

the office of Coroner lawyers were not wontto crave election to it.

Coroners for counties (except where cus-tom to the contrary prevails) are chosen byall the freeholders of the county. Formerly