The Express.
London, England, 1849-02-21 00:00:00

Ste Court.

The Queen and Prince Albert, etterded by the
Countess of Charlemont, Sir B. Bowater, and Col. Seymour,
went yesterday to Claremont, and paid a visit to the illus-
trious inmates.
The royal dinner party yesterday at Buckingham Passe
included the Prins Lowenstein, Viscount and Viscountess
de Mancuso, the Marchioness of Waterford, the Earl and
Countess of Mint*, Viscount and Viscountess Canning, the
Bight Hon. Sir Francis and Lady A. Baring, and the Bight
Hon. Thomas Wyse.

Sir Thomas Fremantle, Chairman of the Customs,
bad aa intarviaw with the Cbaneallor of the liz.F.hequenyeater
_

a;,. Mr. Highain, Elecietery and Comptroller aGeilral to
the Commisek?hen for the Reduction of the National Debt,
. .

and 111 r. Tldd Pratt had alp ea interview yesterday with
the right hon. baronet in
Mr. Anderson, GoverD7C.l:rtlelsitanritius, had an
interview with Earl Gray yesterday at the Colonial Moe.
Despatches were received yesterday at the Weigel
Odies from the Governor of Canada, and also feces the
Governors of the other North American Provinces.

COURT or ALDERMlCL—Yeaterday s Court wue
held for the despatch of public business. In the sheriffs'
returns of the state of the City prisons, it was Fermented
that several misdate who had been ordered by the Secre-
tary of State for the Home Department to he removed
from New gate to the Penitentiary at Milbank ware
sent back to the former prison by the Milbank gaol
governor as not being in a St Mate to be received, After
some coaversation, It wee agreed, upon the seggvetka of
the Recorder, that the lord mayor, sheriffs, and town
clerk, should request an Interview with Sir G. Grey ages
the subject, and the most confident ballet was
ing exj=
that the right hoe. gentleman would make reg
calculated to improve the mist system with tepid Is Ifs
detention sad rowel of convicts.

BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN LONDON.-By the Malin
of the r. gistrar general, fur the week ending Feb. 11, it
appean that the numbers were : births, 1,497; death., 11225.
The present return is of en u..favourable character. It
shows that 1.,22.5 dntls were registar. din the week, tfltile
the avenge se 1,169. The increase is still the effect of sepi-
aemies, to which 333 deaths are ascribed, or 112 coon then
have occurred on the enrage at this lesson Amongst
these, scarlatina and hots; lag-cough (which have doubled the
weekly mortality from them causes of previous years), diar-
Aces, and cholera, are observed to predominate. The mor-
tality irom cholera and typhus was lest week the same,
namely, 49 deaths—the latter disease having declined to near
the average. A conei !enable d. crease continues to I e ob-
served of deaths frame •naumpti,w ; they were 124, or 24 lege
than the average. inflammation of the lungs is also Ins
ttan the average, while bronchitis is considerably else* it,
th‘..ugh the two diseases usually rise end tall together. From
bronchitis the deaths were 103, the average being 78; from
pneumonia there were 93, though 183 is the avenge. Some
of the above facts have probably en intimate connexioa With
the unusual state of the atmosphere. The reading of the
ban neter was every day above 30 in. Of mean daily te &d-
-ings, the highest (which wee on Sunday) was 30 695 • the
mean of the weak was 30 492 At 9h. pm. on Sunday the
reading was 30 715, which continued till Monday at 2h..m.
The highest temperature was 57 8, on Thursday ; the th an
of the week was 40 7.

- ..
INQUEST, YESTERDAY.-DEATH FROM CIILORO-
TORR.—Berne Mr. Bedford, at the Westminster ATM,
Market-street, Westminster, on Samuel Bennett, a labourer,
aged 3.6, whose death was caused by chloroform white he
cIE was under • surgical opera ion.—Julia Sinnott, wi of
the deceased, said that about six we. ke ago her hn tut
was employed at the Earl of Ellesmere's, Bridgewater use.
St. James's, when he received an injury of the rightekreat
toe, which confined him to his home. He was attend by
Mr. Frith, one of the surgeons at the Westminster Diapen-
sary, and, on Friday night last, four small bones were re-
moved from the toe. The following day some medical gen-
denser. came from the disponcary for the purpose of relnov-
ing the toe. Previous to the eperation they stated that
they would apply chloroform it her hushaed wished to
avoid pain. They tried some chloroform, but which had no
Effect. One of the medical gentlementhen asked the deceased
whether he would have the toe taken off without chloro-
form, when lie observed that he would suffer any pain, and
that he would submit to the operation without chloroform.
Some more chloroform was obtained. Witness was not in
the room when the second application of the chloroform
took place. In about two hours' time she was told that her
husband was dead. One of the surgeons said it was • bad
job, but that they had done their best —Mr. T. Cowing,
landlord of the house where the deceased lived, said that the
deceased was a strong hearty man. He mentioned to the
deceased on the Friday that it was the intention of the me-
dical gentlemen to amputate the toe cn the next day, and
observed to him that it was meet likely they
would use chloroform. The deceased said that
he had no objection. Witness was present at
the operation. Witne-s. by direction of one of the ens,
neon., went to Mr. Hooper, chemist, Pall-mall East, and
purchased en ounce of chl iroform. It was applied with a
handkerchief to the deceased's nostrils. The deceased got
very restless, and required tour persons to hold him. After
the " struggling " had ceased and the amputation was per-
formed, deceased went off apparently senseless. The medi-
cal gentlemen immediately tried to restore deceased to con-
sciousness. They opened the window, inflated his lungs,
threw cold water on his face, and poured some brandy
into his month, but he never recovered. Coroner :
Are you sure that the deceased was aware that
they were going to apply chloroform / Witness :
I am quite sure, and that he made no objection.—By the
Coroner : The operation was performed in about • minute
and a quarter, when the deceased ceased to breathe. The
widow of the deceased stated that while the last witness wee
gone for some chloroform, her husband expressed Isis objec-
tions to have it appliel.—Mr. Wm. Brown, assistant to Mr.
Nuno, surgeon to the Dispensary, stated that he was not
fully qualified to practise. He had seen hundreds of cases of
the application of chloroform. He assisted at the amputa-
tion of the deceased's toe, which was in a state of mortifica-
tion. Deceased expressed much fear about the pain attend-
ing the operation, on which witness remarked that it could
be taken off without pain by the use of chloro-
form. He approved of his (witness's) proposal. Half
an ounce of chloroform was used on the tint occasion.—
which bad no effect. The same quantity was used on the
second application. This was attended with the usual effect
till after the operation, when witness remarked an extreme
pallor over his countenance, and that pulsation at the wrist
diminished. Every effort was resorted to for the recovery
of the deceased, but without success. He had no doubt that
death arose from the action of chlorot rm on the nervous
system. There were no symptoms of disease, but the chlo-
roform had an effect on the d. ceased different to what it has
on most persons.—Dr. Arledge, Mr. Nunn, and Mr. Frith
zero present at the post marten examinations—Dr. Arledge
stated that he observed the walls of the heart deficient in
their muscular fibres. That would weaken the action of the
heart, which, in consequence, would be more likely to be
influenced by the inhalation of chloroform. The heart was
not in that state that its condition could be observed during
life. He was of opinion that every c :re had been used.
Much larger doses of chloroform had been given to patients
without injury.—Verdict, " That the deceased died from
the effects of chloroform, properly administered."

IRELAND.

DUBLIN, FEE, 20.

Mr. Butt commenced hie defence of Mr. Gavan
Duffy yesterday, and spoke throughout the day with
unusual vehemence. His speech occupied seven
hours in delivery. At the end of one passage he was
loudly applauded, and amongst others by one of the
jurors in the box, Mr. Burke, who was called to order
by Mr. Justice Ball.
Mr. Butt's concluding allusion to the Marquis of
Lansdowne's testimony that Mr. Duffy did not write
the articles, caused much sensation.
_ .

The SoliCitor-General will reply to-day, but there
is no chance of the trial terminatios before evening.
The surmise is general that the jurors will not be

The mortality in the staff of the poor law officials is
very fearful. In order to check the abuses attendant
on outdoor relief, both inspectors and vice-guardians
are obliged to pay domiciliary visits, in which they
are exposed to serious danger. To the deaths of Mr.
llandcock, Mr. Marshall, and Col. Jackson, another
has now been added by the loss of Mr. Stephen Barry,
the vice-guardian of Loughrea. In the whole staff of
the poor-law department there was not a more pains-
taking or efficient officer.
The project of a national rate in aid does not at all
please the people of Ulster, who wish to be looked
on as English, and not as Irish. The Belfast Chronicle
of yesterday thunders on the subject with great
energy, asking why the industrious people of the
north are to be charged for the improvidence of the
south