The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-12-10 00:00:00

wine to parties who are not able to purchase it, but as
Timlin is not a poor man I did not do so in his case.
The parish patients get more attendance and visits than
Ouse do Who pay for' the services of a doctor. I
don't think it ,ifould have been better for me to have
galled to see the child iiptiq the Sattirday er Sunday.
would not;r:ie done,so, if the:Patient trod Peet paying
for my services.. I haie not piiblished anything, er
been d party to' th 7 pUblication ofi any, .comments on this
case in the LanCer nevrspaper. I have been in practice
at Birkenhead for three years. I haVe not been in
practice before, but was two years on boarda transport
ship in the Crimea. I was seven years a medical
assistant, but only as a practitioner for five years. I
have met with cases of pysemia before. The neighbour-
heed in which Timlin lives is one of the best street in
13irkeriheaci kit the residence,. of the poor. I attended
Timlin's child, who died after the decease of Francis
Timlin. It died, after seven days'. ilfn'ess; from in-
flammation, of the lungs. I was not awate his outer
children had, died young. Pymmia consists of poisonousrtiatter;,whiCh is injurious to, the, constitution, but the
absorption of ;,-ood matter is net, injurious. In the
abscess there was a great deal of matter. It was ,a
diffused abscess. The matter had gfit'her6d round the
thigh bone, not round the knee bone. 1. don't
know that a blow caused the abscess. It might
liate been formed before that blow was received.
n oyy matter does not form before a
person becomes dolisCiotts of it; because immediately
it begins there are symptom's, of palm I could
not say whether it would be nicheaithy, rnattet that
formed first, because I did not see it. I will not Asterar
that it is impossible that the matter could have hben'
forming for upwards of a fortnight. In my opinion, the
matter I saw when I made the post mortem examination
Was Unhealthy matter, The matter would go on forming
and totining, Until, it eame to a bead, which I expected
would haie been the ease Monday morning with the
deceaSed.
There
is a disease Called phlebitis; which
means iniiammition, of .thp vetas, and a sePiethties the
cause' of Pt*,rnia. examined the veins .of .this bay,
from the right leg to the h'eatj,and on the front of the
leg. The abcess was in the middle 8f the thigh ; and While
the matter was forming it would be extrernelY painful
to the child ; in fact it might have been agonising ; but
I have seen cases where there has scarcely been any
nain. Supposing there had been no bandages applied,
I do'if think the, child would have died, either on
the Tuesday off: Wednesday. The child might have
died in a week ; brit T,,cion:t think premia would
have set in at all if . the had. not been
applied by. means of the bandage-El; arid, if it he'd
had pymmia it would not have died for softie time ft' ft.
had received proper treatment. Cold will not produce
pyromia directly, but may indirectly, by causing phle-
bias: If the child was exposed to the cold, in crossing
the tiVer to ilverpeol; it might have been injurious ;
Iri .4 iiV.;!o„9' Well laippedypi I don't think it would. I
never knew a case,o pyrnna being fatal in two or three
days. The adhesions .L 10110 the pleutis had been
formed in thirty hours. Since ta,Cise was tried hefOire•
the magistrates, I have been reading plat a ,case th'ai
occurred in two or three days, which I had foititieni
and also upon the opinion expressed by the medical risen
who were called on Mr. Thomas's behalf. The unhealthy
&atter showed an unhealthy state of the constitution.
blb 1 the handle of a knife could not have caused
the rebseest.
. Serge* 11.i.rif--Siippbtinig ti party were to cut his
dd dipped it into the in your opinion
would it have wen iriiiiirionS
Witnesa-7-Well,' it wetd,dhOlid!Vety &deli u,potr the
constitution of the person &fog
SOpant parry—Supposing there had d'Otibt
about fh fictaure, do xpu, think it Would' haVe
proper to put ban'aelOs on the leg to steady in crossing
the water ?
Witness—No ; I think it would hoe been' improper
treatment. I would have steadied it by aIQ splint.
Sergeant Parry—Where inflammation has set, in tiP6ti
a limb, is it not difficult to tell whether there was a
fracture or not ?
Ifitriese-4t would depend upon the swelling. If it
were great Weald be difficult to ascertain, but if the
cohtrary it Would not:
Sergeant' Parry--Tfave' yotv known a doubt where
Parry,- gave'
there was a fracture ?
Witness—Oh, yes ; whete thetif had been a r atrident,
and the swellinc, was very great. ,
Re-examined by Mr. Giffard—There is lia•• irides of
phlebitis in any of the veins I examined. The &PO-
don of pus in the ventricle of the heart might hafd
originated there, but I don't think it did. When I saw
the child an the Friday, it did not present any of the
symptppis of pisemia. If it had the bandages would
have had the effect of accelerating the death.
Seigeant Polity—Did you sound the chest of the child
onyziday ?"
.Witness—Wo;, I did kid theta Was any reason. I saw
the prescription given by toting Mr. Thomas. It con-
tained quinine, which I think vial proper to give as a
tonic,
Matthew Sennett was next called.
Serjeant Parry took objection to the witness, nets-
much as the magistrates at the conclusion of the inquiry,
directed that if there was any fresh evidence to be p
whirch.
o-
diked, notice should be given to Mr. Thomas,
had not been done.
The Judge---I don't think it can be sustained as a
legal question. The jury can consider the matter for
what it is worth.
Tile examination of the witness was then proceeded
with. said he had been in practice as a surgeon
between thirty-one and thirtyHtwo years.--Assuraing
the descriptions giten of the thigh, of the leg; and of the
post mortem examination, / think the child had pyZnirc-
Sergeant Py—W are of nion.
Mr. Giffard arr
—Whate all that
do you thinkopi produced this
ppamia ?
'Witness—The treatment of the bandages might have
produced its,
By Sergeant Tarry :t I did not offer to give evidence
this morning, but was asked. I. am aware that other
gentlemen have formed different opinions to me.
Charles Howard Baileys was next called and examined
by Mr. Lloyd : Was a member of the College of. &a-
geons and had been in practice about twenty-three
years, Had heard the evidence of the last two wit
ness6sy and agreed with the general opinion as ex-
pressed by then/.
.1/2..8y• Sergeant Parry := Had not communicated anything
to the Lane et on this case.
It • was then stated that there were two other wit-
nesses who were examined before the magistrates, but
' the counsel for the prosecution did not intend calling

akin
Sergeant Parry then rose to address the jury on behalf
of the prisoner. He begun by commenting upon the
position of the prisoner, which Thomas was a very melan-
choly and unhappy one. Mr. was now in the
decline of life, at that period, of existence when the
shadows Were' lengthening every day more and more,
and he must Say that it Was a most melancholy and un-
happy
circumstance for hini that he should be arraigned
before twelve of his fellow-Men upon' a charge of felony,
and it seemed to him upon a charge of felony not
founded upon any matter-of-fact evidence, but simply
based upon scientific opinion. The learned counsel
then proceeded to criticise the conduct of Dr. Lambert,
who, he said, was in all probability the promoter of the
present enquiry. lie might he actuated by the highest
sense of duty, and simply to discharge his duty as a
Te.mber of an honourable profession ; but be did not
think he was far wrong When he said that if Mr. Evan
Inumus had had the
th goodmedica fortunel
genttoemen have
would never been a duly
qualified surgeon,. e l
have appeared agairrst him to-day; but, as he was only
what was called a bone-setter, without having a certifi-
cate from any apothecaries' association, it was mainly for
that reason. However good their motives, he did not at all
for one moment mean to blame the magistrates or
caroller's jury in sending this matter for trial, yet he did
Ilink it would never have been promoted against Mr.
Thomas had he been a duly-qualified practitioner, instead
ole being only known as a bone-setter, and carrying on a
large
and extensive practice in that. profession. He had
a Perfect right to make this observation, yet he did not
ask them to acquit the prisoner upon that ground, but
because Dr. Lambert's manner in the witness box had
eoftrinee'd him that there was a strong feeling mixed
up with the Case, and unless such was the fact Dr.
Lambert would never have originated the inquiry. His
friend Mr. Giffard might tell them that Dr. Lambert
was actuated by the purest and highest motives in the
matter, but he asked them to consider Mr. Giffard's
remarks and say whether he was entirely wanting in
justification in reference to the observations he had made
Upon the inquiry. Then, let them come to the inquiry
itself, and the mode it had been conducted that day.
Why, be fancied that if a stranger to their manners and
laws had entered that court, for the first time in an
English court of justice, and had been informed that a
man was upon his trial for his liberty, merely because
medical men held a contrary opinion to him, he would
have been astonished, highly astonished, that the liberty
of any man could be at stake under such circum-
stances. But such it was : the whole matter resolved
itself into a question of medical opinion ; and
he would ask them—not to insult them—if their
pursuits and education made them the fittest penuus to
try such a case. He felt certain, though he was sorry to
say it, that if they could act upon their own feelings in
the matter, that they would rather not sit in this case
against Mr. Thomas; and, as it was a matter of medical
opinion from the beginning, a person might well, and
undoubtedly, would, be astonished to hear that a man
was being tried for his liberty on such conflicting testi-
mony. But here Mr. Thomas was, and here his lordship
was to try the case; but he felt justified in saying that,
had not the law provided the case should be tried, he
would have dismissed it before it became his duty to
make a speech in defence of the prisoner. Now, what
was the case they were trying ? and what, in point of
law, was the question they had to try. Subject to any
corrections his lordship might be pleased to make of what
he was about to say (anil lie apprehended they would
pay implicit obedience to what corrections his lordship
might make), but, he said, subject to that, that the
question for them to try was not whether Mr. Thomas
was right or wrong in what he did, not whether he had
made a blunder, not whether he had done something a
more skilful man would not have done, not whether he
had done what a duly qualified practitioner would have
`done ; but whether he had been guilty of that gross
negligence which implied a criminal disregard of human

life.
His Lordship. said he should read Lord Lyndhurst's
remarks to the jury upon a case of this description.
Sergeant Parry thanked his lordship. He then pro-
ceeded to observe that the question for their considera-
tion was, had Mr. Thomas been guilty of that gross and
culpable negligence—not that which would render him
liable to an action for damages—but had he been guilty
of that criminal negligence which they would say ha
deserved punishment for—not whether he deserved to
be deprived of a portion of his property, but whether it
was such as to justify them in depriving him of his
liberty. The matter, then, which they had to try, was
criminal negligence, a disregard for human life, not a
mere mistake which the wisest and best of men were
liable to make, but gross culpable negligence, or gross
culpable ignorance. Now, while they had the facts of
the case before them; it was impossible for him, by any
mode of cross-examination,—and he believed it would
be impossible for any person—to break down a medical
man in the assertion of his opinion. Dr. Lambert had
given his opinion as to the cause of death, and conduct
of Mr. Thomas ; and if they were to take his opinion,
and were now going to act upon it, and he was not even
to place any evidence before them, he appealed to them to
say whether it would be sufficient to satisfy their minds,
and justify them in sending one of their fellow Christians
to a gaol upon the mere ground of medical opinion. He
admitted that the men had given their opinion in a clear
and emphatic manner, and supposing they were placing
confidence in their opinion ; then they would have to
eonsider the evidence he intended t 9 lay before them,
which would be the egression of an entirely different
opinion. The.learned-cotuisel then proceeded' to o,Ontend