The Express.
London, England, 1848-02-04 00:00:00

SCOTLAND.

ACCIDENT AT ST. ANDREW'S.—SEVEN LIVE:4 LOST.
—On Friday about raid-day, a brig was observed in the bay,
the sea at tne time rannieg very heavy, wind 8 E., and
snow. The crew were apparently strangers to the coast, and
the vessel drifted west of the bay till about two miles north
of the town, where she was brought to anchor in a very dan-
gerous situation. The li:e-boat was instantly brought to the
beach, but the crew of fishermen appoint, d by the town co until
to man her refused to do so, when a number of young *careen
volunteered, who, with the assistance of a number of the
town's people, leapt to the middle into the water, and, after
nearly half an-kour's work, got the life-boat afloat, when
an effort was made to reach the vessel, but the wind
and sea being m very high the seamen were, after a bold
attempt, compelled to return to the shore. By this time the
snow fell very thickly, and the night closing in the vessel
was lost sight of from the shore, and nothing further
passed till about half past 7 o'clock p.m., when a boat wee
east ashore bottom up on the West Sands. Next morning,
the sea had fallen but the weather was thick, and the vessel
could not be seen till about 11 a.m., when she wu again
visible. The life-boat was now manned by her own crew
arid captain of the Coast Guard, when there was no danger
in making the vessel, and it reached her. She proud to be
the Endeavour, of Mahlon, Jelin Finch, master, but net a
soul was on board, both chains broken, a.el drifting about.
The fishermen made sail on her, and took her to Dundee in
safety. The crew, consisting, as appears from the ship's
articles, of /even hands, hail lett the ves,el in their own boat,
and in endeavouring to gain the shore she had swamped,
and ell hands perished. The vessel sailed from Setharn on
24th current, bound to Malden with coals,. The fishermen
should have used every possible exertion to go off to the
vessel when she was first seen—the conaceneece of her not
being reached has been, that they are now entitled :o sal rage
for the vessel, while human life to a great extent has been
sacrificed. This is the second case of selvage that nu w-
eaned with the same fishermen within the last 12 6r 18
months.—Nortis Delilah Mail.

PROVINCIAL.
MAMA*.
FATAL APPLICATION OP CHLOROFORM.—AII in-
quest was held on Tuesday last, by adjournment from Satur-
day, at Winlat os, about five miles from Neweastle-upon-
Tyne, on the body of Hannah Greener, aged 15. John
Rayne said the deceased was his niece, She suffered a good
deal in her feet, and about four months ago she became an
inmate of the infirmary at Neweastle-upon4yne, wlnre she
had one of her toe-nails taken off. After she left tl.e infir-
mary her toes still continued bad. Mr. %agile:en, surgeon,
of Whickliam, was called in to attend her, and it was con-
sidered advisable to remove the nail from the gee .t toe of
her right foot. Mr. Meggison and his assistant attended,
about ono o'clock on Friday afternoon last, to per-
form that operation. No one was present when the opera-
tion was performed but Mr. Meggison, his assistant, and
ei•ners. The deceased was seated on a chair near the tire,
and Mr. Meggison hay.ng pot something on a pocket hand-
kerchief, held it to her mouth and nose, at the same time
locking at his watch, and feeling her pulse. She appeared
to faint, when Mr. Meggison told his assistant to take the
nail off, and witness held her leg to steoly her fnet. He
took it off quickly. When he was taking it oft the deceseed
shook her leg, but did not speak. She mooned after the nail
was elf, on which Mr. Meggson dashed weer in her face,
when her eyes moved. lie afterwards put eons° brandy into
her mouth, and she rattled in her throat. Ile also bled her
in the arm and neck, but very little bloat flowed. She
sever recovered. When she had the aaii taken off in the e
infirmary, some stuff was given to her, as she told wit-
ness, which caused her not to feel any min.—Thomas
Nathaniel Meggison, surgeon, having been duly cau-
tioned, and asked if he wished to make any statement,
said, Hannah Greener died under my hands on Friday,
while under the influence of chloroform, which I had given
her fur the purpose of producing insensibility durit.g the
operation of removing the tee-nail. She woe suffering from
nynchia. She never complained of pain in the chest to me.
The pain in her toes might cause her to become thinner. I
seated her in a chair, and put about a teaspoonfol of chloro-
form into a tablecloth, cud held it to her once. A"t.r she
had drawn her breath twice she pulled my hand down. I
told her to draw her breath naturally, which she dial. and in
about half a minute I observed the muscle of the arm
become rigid, and bar breathing a little quickened, but
not stertorous. I had my hand on her pulse. which
was natural until the muscles became rigid. It then
appeared somewhat weaker—not altered in frequency. I
then told Mr. Lloyd, my assistant, to begin the operation,
which he did, and took the nail on: When the 'semicircular
insertion was made she gave a struggle, or jerk, which I
thought was from the chloroform nut having taken suffi-
cient effect. I did not apply any more, IG r eyes were
closed, and I opened them, and they remained cpen. Her
mouth was open, and her lips and face blanched. When I
opened her eyes they were congested. I celled fur water
when I saw her face was blanched, end dashed some of it
in her face. It had no effect. I then gave her some
brandy, a little of which she swallowed with difficule.y.
then laid her down on the floor, and attempted to nleed
her in the arm and jugular vein, but only obtained about a
spoonful. She was dead, I believe, at the time I atternieted
to bleed her. The last time I felt her pulse was
immediately previous to the blanched appearance coming
on, and when mho gave the jerk. The time would we. la
more than three minutes from her flint inhaling the
chloroform till her death. I purchased the chletoforan from
Messrs. Dagleish and Ismay, of Newcastle. I have used
chloroform from the same place before with good effee*, and
with no ill consequences, I did not apply more than a
drachm to the deceased—probably lees. One person I gave
it to required upwards of half an ounce, at four repetition.%
before alto became insensible, and she completely recovered
afterwards. I have used it to a person who was very drunk,
and had dislocated and fractured his ankle. Two spoonfuls
were given in that cue, and they had the desired effect, as
he would not lie still without it. Mr. Lloyd, who was pre-
sent with me in the case of the deeeareed, is a regularly
educated medical man, and he also has been in the habit
of using chloroform—Mr. Lloyd, assistant to Mr. 111, Fee/i-
-ron, confirmed that gentleman's statement.—At this point
the inquiry was adjourned, and, on the jury re-arose-
bling on Tuesday, the coroner stated that he had called in
Sir John Fife and Dr. Glover, of Newcastle, to make a
post-mortem examination of the deceased. Sir John Fife
was a medical practitioner of extensive practice and long
standing, on whose judgment great re linnet might be
placed; and Dr. Glover had paid great attention to the
nature of chloroform, ae.d had written several articles on
the subject. One of these articles appeared in the Medical
Gazelle of December 3, 1847, in is hieh he referred
to the recent application of chloroform in surgie el cues by
Dr. Simpson, of Edinburgh : and he stated that the effect of
chloroform on the animal system had been known I r some
years ; and he remarked that unless its effect on the human
being was different from what it was on animals, as proved
by experiments he had himself made, there wan danger to be
apprehended from its indiscriminate use. As the subject
was of great import ma to the medical profession and the
public, he considered it proper to have the epiniou of Dr.
Glover of this cue, conceiving that from she attention he
had pa;d to the subject it would be of great weight. —Sir
John Fife said, I nude a post tauten& examination slime
with Dr. eliover. In my opinion the came of death was
cutemeion of the knits, and that oongtetien I ascribe to the
inhalation of chloroform. Of the power of chlorolerrn to
occasion suck congestion no doubt can be entertained, after
the experiments of Mr. Wakley, jun., and Dr. Glover on
animals. There does not seem to have been anything in
the previous condition of the young woman to have pre-
vented the •urgeon from having recourse to chloroform as
means of allaying pain in one of the most painful operations
of surgery. Such is my opinion of the effect of chloroform
in lessening human suffering, and the small degree of
danger attendieg its application in the cues that I have
seen, that if I were myself required to undergo an
operatioa I would have no hesitation whatever in taking it.
I have been using chloroform three or four times
a week ever since its efficacy in relieving min was pub-
lished, and I have never seen bad effects from it. In one
instance, that of a woman who had to submit to the removal
of a tumour, weighing about 'jibs., and distributed over a sur-
face a foot moue, Dr. Glover and I administered about
eight times the quantity of chloroform that was wed in the
case of the deceased. She recovered quickly, and was not
worse after the operation than might have been expect&
from its formidable character. I have used it frequently la
amputations, lithotomy, and a great many severe 'untied'
operations, and never knew any bad consequence to arise
from it. I attribute the fatal effect of the chloroform in the
present instance to peculiarity in the constitution of the
young woman. lam doubtful whether it arose front the
state of the lungs or the peculiar susceptibility of the nervous
system. No effect could arise in the present instance from
the ether she took on the 211th of October in the infirmary.
I have no hesitation in saying that the fatal issue of this case
might have occurred in the hand& of the most prudent and
skilful surgeon that ever lived. It sometimes happens that a
person will die from the &hock of the operation, within a very
few minutes after, and with nothing to show the caws,
merely from the shock it gives the system. These cues are
rare. I think in such taus the same individuals would be „..-
, a
influenced in a similar way with chloroform. The same sus-. • .
ceptibility of nerve that would render the shock fatal would .
render the chloroform fatal. No human foresight, no human' t'
knowledge, no degree of science, could have forewarned-- o.
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