The Sun.
London, England, 1848-02-03 00:00:00

THURSDAY.

Handicap fordielt7lleger Stakes.
Mr. Harrison's Benincol, Bst 71b—Mr. Merry's Jock
Hazledean, Bst 71b—Mr. Merry's Mariner, Bst 71b.—
Mr. Meiklam's Be'lender, Bst 41b—Sir J. Gerard's
Matadore, Bst 21b—Mr. Moiklam's Otterburn, Bst 21b—
Mr. Green's Swiss Boy, Bst—Mr. Jaques's Ltindrost,Bst
—Sir J. Gerard's Rockley, list—Mr. Arrowsnaith's gr
c by Robin Gray, out of Queen of Carthage, 7st 131 b
Sir J. Gerard's Jest, 7st 1 lib—Mr. Conway's Snowball,
7st 1016—Mr. T. Parr's 151 r. Caudle, 7st 10Ib—Mr.
Jones's Enchantress, 7st Mb—Mr. Jaques's Referee,
7st Mb—Mr. Thompson's c by Morning Star, out of
Lady Frances, 7st.

INTERESTING SALE OP AUTOGRAPH LETTERS.—
An interesting sale of a collection of autograph letters,
the property of the late Rev. Thomas Smart Hughes,
was proceeded with yesterday by Messrs. Sotheby and
Wilkinson, the auctioneers of Wellingtoa-street, Strand.
The following were worthy of notice:—A letter of Sir
Walter Scott to Bishop Percy, dated Edinburgh, 1800,
respecting the publication of his " Border Ballads." It
sold for 21 108. An interesting but melancholy letter,
in the autograph of Mrs. Jordan, the celebrated actress,
to Mr. Vickery, the hairdresser, " regretting her in-
ability to pay his account in consequence of a most
painful and distressing illness," sold for 21. " Nell
Gwynne," a receipt for her quarter's allowance of 500/.,
dated August, 1684, sold for 21. 4s. A sketch of a latter
to Lord Palmerston, in the handwriting of Dean Swift,
dated January 31, 1726, and endorsed by the dean,
" Answer to Lord Palmerston's civil, polite letter," sold
for 2/. ss. " A Running Ilistory of Poetry," also in the
autograph of Dean Swift, sold for 1/. 10s.
HEAD MASTERSHIP OF BIRMINGHAM SCI100.1.:---
BIRMINGHAM, WEDNESDAY.—The Governors of Iling
Ed ward the Vl's School met this morning to elect a suc-
cessor to Dr. Lee, now Lord Bishop of Manchester..
There were 17 candidates, but of those the claims of
only three, viz.,—the Rev. S. J. Rigaud, ALA„ senior
assistant-master of Westminster School; the Rev. E. 11.
Gifford, M.A., Second Master of Shrewsbury School;
and the Rev. G. E. L. Cotton, ALA., one of the Masters
of Rugby School, were submitted to the ballot. Mr.
Gifford was duly elected.
THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY'S
The following announcement was made yesterday in
answer to iuquiries after the health of the Archbishop:
—" His Grace has had several hours of refreshing
sleep, and continues to amend. Lambeth P9laee, Wed-
, nesdey wonting, February 2."

. ---
, • A-: - . 3
FATAL APPLICATjaS,S.,,.. . - :
CllL____......._olloFOR_"")'r:i.,:i.p,--,.,\.,\
.... _,
An inquest was held on Tue.sav . 7,.'..:ti .. "M.i ,?).4
meat from Saturday, at Winla ' Is"- s - kalfs.l I•i
har.l'"'lY!
from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, be r‘
~ N ..
coroner for the county of Durha ......,
body of Hannah Greener, aged 15. - a•
John Rayne said the deceased wallasAarigePe
suffered a good deal in her feet, and about four months
ago she became an inmate of the infirmary at New-
castle-upon-Tyne, where she had one of her toe-nails
taken off. After she left the infirmary her toes still
continued bad. Mr. Meggison, surgeon, of Whick-
ham, was called in to attend her, and it was considered
advisable to remove the nail from the great toe of her
right foot. Mr. 2deggison and his assistant attcnded
about one o'clock Jon Friday afternoon last to
perform that operation. No one was present wialn
the operation was performed but Mr. Meggison, his.
assistant, and witness. The dressed was seated on a
chair near the fire, and Mr. Maggison having put
something on a pocket handkerchief, held it to her
mouth and nose, at the same time looking at his
watch and feeling her pulse. She appeared to faint,
when Mr. Meggison told his assistant to rake the nail
off, and witness held her leg to steady her foot. He
took it off quickly. ;,,',Then he was taking it off de-
ceased shook her leg, but :MI not speak. She moancd
after the nail was off, (-1/ which Mr. Meggison
(lashed water in her face, when
.lier eyes moved. Ile
afterwards put some brandy into l'.'er mouth, and she
rattled in her throat. lie also Wen her in the urns
and neck, Int very little blood flowed. She never
recovered. When she had the nail taken utr in the
infirmary, some stuff was given to her, ag she told
witness, which caused her not to feel any pain.
Thomas Nathaniel Meggison, surgeon, having' been
duly cautioned, and asked if he wished to make .111 Y
statement, said—Hannah Greener died under .WY
hinds on Friday, while under the influence of chlota.'-
' form, which I had given her for the purpose of pro-
ducing insensibility during the operation of removing
the toe-nail. She was suffering from oynchia. 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 teaspoonful
of chloroform into a tablecloth, and held it to her nose.
After she had drawn her breath twice she pulled:my
hand down. I told her to draw her breath naturally
which she did, and in about half a minute I observed
the muscle of the arm become rigid, and her breath-
ing 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 off'. When the semicircular
insertion was made she gave a struggle, or jerk,
which I thought was from the chloroform
not having taken sufficient effect. I did not
apply any more. Her eyes were closed, and I
opened them, and they remained open. Her mouth
was open, and her face and lips blanched. When I
opened her eyes they were congested. I called for
water when I saw her face was blanched, and dashed
some of it in her face. It had no effect. I then
gave her some brandy, a little of which she swal-
lowed with difficulty. I then laid her down on the
floor, and attempted to bleed her in the arm and
jugular vein, but only obtained about a spoonful.
She was dead, I believe, at the time I attempted to
bleed her. The last time I felt her pulse was imme-
diately previous to the blanched appearance coming
on, and when she gave the jerk. The time would not
be more than three minutes from her first inhaling
the chloroform till her death. I purchased the
chloroform from Messrs. Dagleish and Ismay, of
Newcastle. I have used chloroform from the same
place before with good effect, and with no ill
consequences. I did not apply more than a drachm
to the deceased—probably less. One person I gave
it to required upwards of half an ounce, at four re-
petitions, before she became insensible, and she com-
pletely recovered afterwards. I have used it to a
p?rson who was very drunk, and had dislocated and
fractured his ancle. Two -spoonsful were given in
that case, and they had the desired effect, as he would
not lie still without it. Mr. Lloyd, who was present
with me in the case of the deceased, is a regularly
educated medical man, and he also has been in the
' habit of using chloroform.

Mr. Lloyd, assiitant to Mr. Meggison, confirmed
that ge►►tleman's statement.

AC this point the inquiry was adjourned, and on
the jury re-assembling on Tuesday, the Coroner
stated that he had called in Sir John Fife and Dr.
Glover, of Newcastle, to make a post mortem exami-
nation of the deceased. Sir John Fife was a medical
practitioner of extensive practice and long standing,
on whose judgment great reliance might be
placed ; and Dr. Glover had paid great attention to
the nature of chloroform, and had written several
articles on the subject. One of these articles appeared
in the Medical Gazette of December 3, 1847, in which
he referred to the recent application of chloroform in
surgical cases by Dr. Simpson, of Edinburgh ; and he
stated that the effect of chloroform on the animal
system had been known for some years; and he re-
marked, 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 was danger to
be apprehended from its indiscriminate use. As the
subject was of great importance to the medical pro-
fession and the public, he considered it proper to have
the opinion of Dr. Glover on this case, conceiving
that from the attention he had paid to the subject, it
would be of great weight.
Sir John Fife said—l made a post mortem exami-
nation along with Dr. Glover. In my opinion the
cause of death was congestion of the lungs, and that
congestion I ascribe to the inhalation of chloroform.
Of the power of chloroform to occasion such conges-
tion no doubt can be entertained, after the experi-
ments of Mr. lArakley, jun., and Dr. Glover on ani-
mals. There does not seem to have been anything in
the previous condition of the young woman to have
prevented the surgeon from having recourse to chloro-
form as a 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 suffer-
ing, and the small degree of danger attending its
application in the cases that I have seen, that if I
were myself required to undergo an operation 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 pain was
published, 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 3lbs., and
distributed over a surface a foot square, Dr. Glover
and I administered about eight times the quantity of
chloroform that was used in the case of the deceased.
She recovered quickly, and was not worse after the
operation than might have been expected from its
formidable character. I have used it frequently in
amputations, lithotomy, and a great many severe
surgical operations, and never knew any bad conse-
quence to arise from it. I attribute the fatal effect
of the chloroform in the present instance to pecu-
liarity in the constitution of the young wo-
man. I am doubtful whether it arose from
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 26th
of October in the infirmary. I have no hesitation in
saying that the fatal issue of this case might have
occurred in the hands of the most prudent and skil-
ful surgeon that ever lived. It sometimes happens
that a person will die from the shock of the operation,
within a very few minutes after, and with nothing to
show the cause, merely from the shock it gives the
system. These cases are rare. I think in such cases
the same individuals would be influenced in a similar
way with chloroform. The same susceptibility of
nerve that would render the shock fatal would render the
chloroform fatal. No human foresight, no human
knowledge, no degree of science, could have fore-
warned any man against the use of chloroform in this
case. I have refused to apply it in some cases where
the operation could be done in a moment, and was
not attended with severe pain ; but in every painful
case I use it, and unless it produced insensibility I
would go on repeating it to double the quantity used
in this case, and more if it were necessary. A case
occurred lately in the infirmary where a great deal
of blood flowed during the operation, which was *
very tedious one, and chloroform was repeated during
the operation without any bad result afterwards.
Robert Mortimer Glover—l am a surgeon, but
practise as a physician, and was formerly lecturer at
the Medical School in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. I have
heard the evidence of Sir John Fife, and fully agree
with it. Having heard the evidence of Mr. Meggison,
and the parties who were present when the operation
was performed under which the deceased died, I am
of opinion that the after-treatment to restore life
was proper under the circumstances, and in ac-
cordance with the views of the highest medical
writers. I think chloroform is safer in larger
operations, where there is great less of blood, than
in smaller operations. I have examined the chloro-
form, and find it pure. I consider chloroform more
dangerous than ether, and that has been my opinion
from the first. The effect of the chloroform will
depend much on the constitution. There is a case
reported in the Medical Journal of last Friday, in
which half the quantity of chloroform employed in
this case was used, and produced very serious effects.
Previous to the present case I should have had no
hesitation in using it ; chloroform is in use all over
the kingdom.
The CORONER then addressed the jury, briefly ex-
plaining the law of the case.
The jury then retired, and, after a few minutes'
absence, returned with the following verdict :—" We
are unanimously of opinion that the deceased, Hannah
Greener, died from congestion of the lungs, from the
effect of chloroform, and that no blame can be at-
tached to Mr. Meggison, surgeon, or to his assistant
Mr. Lloyd."