The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-07 00:00:00

progress was still unsatisfactory. He thought sloop.
-would be or service to her; and he gave her a gentle
dose of ' In the course of that afternoon she
made complaints of the lingering nature of her
labour, and gave evident signs that she wished to
have assistance in the delivery of the child. Mr.
Ives then went for Mr. Carnes, his principal, but
not finding him at home returned, taking with him a
forceps. He then applied the blade of the forceps,
after which the pains increased. The learned coun-
sel, having explained the use of the forceps, said it
would be proved by Mr. Ives and other witnesses
that the deceased improved after this, and that no
injury could at that time have been inflicted. The
deceased, however, still expressed a strong wish to
have some operation performed which would relieve
her more rapidly. Mr. Ives endeavoured to soothe
her, but she insisted on another surgeon being called
in. Accordingly, Mr. M'Hugh, the prisoner, was
sent for about '9 o'clock. Mr. M'Hugh went, and
some of the witnesses would tell them that on en-
tering the house his manner was somewhat peculiar,
and his appearance was that of a man labouring
somewhat under the influence of drink. That fact
was of very. serious importance and significance in
this inquiry. The prisoner put his hand upon her
pulse, and remarked that it was very good. The
prisoner then proposed to perform the operation
of craniotomy. This operation, from its being
based upon the destruction of the child, was to be
resorted to only in the last extremity, when there
was no chance of a natural delivery. The learned
counsel explained at some length and great clear-
ness the nature and uses of the instruments used,
the cases in which it became necessary to use them,
and the manner in which they ought to be
used. They would see from the explanation he
had given them it was an operation requiring
great care. The prisoner proposed to resort to this
operation. Mr. Ives objected, but the woman in-
sisted. The operation was then performed, and
the woman died under it. Mr. Ives would tell them
that in his opinion great violence had been used by
the prisoner, and a post mortem having been made
it was clearly shown that the operation must have
been performed with great negligence, a wound
being discovered which was, in the opinion of all
the medical men who would be called, the cause of
death. The prosecution charged the prisoner at
the bar that he was responsible for the death of this
woman. They said, first, that under the circum-
stances it was most improper to resort to the opera-
tion of craniotomy at all ; and, secondly, having
resorted to it, the prisoner had been guilty of gross
and culpable negligence in the performance of it.
Mr. Robert Ives deposed to the facts as set forth
in the opening of the learned counsel, and then de-
scribed the conduct of the prisoner as follows :
Mr. M'Hugh introduced the perforator, and I
assisted him in holding one of the blades. The per-
forator was then withdrawn, and it was then intro-
duced a second time. The blades were separated a
second time, and a slight flow of blood followed.
They were afterwards introduced a third time and
forcibly separated. The prisoner made a remark at
that time, " I'll crucify the child." The consequence
was a considerable flow of blood, and the woman
became very faint. He afterwards introduced ano-
ther instrument (a crotchet), and brought away a
piece of flesh. He said, " I believe I have gone
through the walls of the uterus." The prisoner
afterwards introduced the perforator a fourth time,
separating them very widely. There was a gush
of arterial blood, and the woman died almost imme-
diately. The prisoner afterwards proposed to per-
form the caesarian operation. This is a most for;
midable operation, and is done to save the life of
the child. The child would at this time be dead.
Wben the woman was dying he said, " Christ, she
is dead !" He afterwards laid his hand on the
abdomen of the deceased, and said, " She's not with
child at all, or if she is, it is a devilish little one."
During the 'time he was attempting to deliver her
he also said, " D•— the' Devil, why can't I
deliver this woman ?" The prisoner used extreme
force in using the instruments. I was present on
the following day when a post mortem examination
was made. Mr. Carnes, Mr. Scott, Mr. Wharton,
and Mr. M'Hugh were also present. The prisoner
made the first incision. He said we should find a
rupture of the uterus, and rickets. We found a
jagged wound, but no rupture of the uterus and no
rickets. There was also a severe wound on the
right iliac artery, the length of my finger nail.
There would be a great flow of blood from this
wound. There were no appearances of rickets.
The wound in the uterus and that in the iliac artery
had not been produced at the same time. The wound
in the iliac artery was the cause of death. The po-
sition of the child was proper. There were no ap-
pearances to justify the operation of craniotomy.
Several women who were present in the house,
and the medical gentlemen who attended the post
mortem examination, corroborated Mr. Ives.
Mr. Dawson, who had practised 30 years, and at-
tended above 6,000 cases of labour, stated that,
having heard the particulars in this case, he was
decidedly of opinion the operation of craniotomy
was not necessary, and having heard a description
of the injuries done to the woman, he was of opinion
it had been performed with great negligence and
want of skill.
Mr. Wallis and Mr. Ridley, of South Shields,
concurred in the statements of Mr. Dawson.
Mr. Davison made an earnest address to the jury
on behalf of the prisoner.
His lordship then summed up with great care,
commenting on the most important points.
The jury retired, and after an absence of nearly an
hour returned into court with a verdict of guilty.
The prisoner, on being called up for judgment,
said, " I approve the verdict, because, from the tes-
timony given against me, the jury could not pos-
sibly have come to any other conclusion ; but I
.have fault to find with the .prosecution. God
Almighty forbid that 1 should unjustly attribute
false swearing to any one, but in this case I am the
victim of spite and malice, because my professional
success has interfered with Mr. Carnes, with whom
I was assistant for nine years, and who himself
always treated me as a confidential professional
adviser, but from the day I left him and started in
business for myself:he has been my bitterest enemy."
He was sentenced to 12 months' imprisonment,

SAT ITRDAY, MARCH 5.
Mr. Justice Wines disposed of the only four
cases left by half-past 12 o'clock, and then left for
York to open the oommission there.

BEULAII V. MAI tCHIONESS OF LONDONDERRY.
The action was to recover damages for excessive
distress and for tr espass. The defendant pleaded
not guilty.
Mr. Jones was for the plaintiff; Mr. Temple,
Q.C., and Mr. Clef tsby for the defendant.
The plaintiff became tenant to defendant on a
farm at Wolverton The rent was regularly paid
from 1856 till 1858;, when before May of that year
there was some d ifficulty about paying the rent,
and an applicatioja was made by Mr. Hornsby,
defendant's agent, which plaintiff could not comply
with, consequently .a distress was put in for £64,
and on the 25th of November a sale took place.
The property was w orth between £2OO and £3OO,
and £152 3s. 6d. -w us realised. The distress was
put in on the 13th I A' November, and on the same
day another half y ear's rent became due, but not
until after the distrie ss was put in. The beans, oats ,
&c., on the farm ere sold in a way contrary to
law—namely, to be consumed on the premises.
For the defence i t was contended that the plain-
tiff had taken the as le into his own hands, and the
auctioneer had actii d without any authority from
defendant ; but un ( ler his Lordship's direction a
verdict was entered for the plaintiff for £5l 10s.

WESTERN, CIRCI: TIT.—WINCHESTER, MARCII 5.
C- 13 :OWN COURT.
(Before :Hr. Baron Watson)
Benjamin Crook vas indicted for the manslaugh-
ter of James Wicks..
Mr. Russell pros, s cuted, and W. M. Cooke de-
fended the prisoner.
It appeared that ti he deceased, a -wheelwright, a
year ago suffered froi in a cancer in his lip. He went
to the Reading Infir i nary, where the cancer was cut
out, and he returned i home comparatively in good
health. In about aix months afterwards another
cancer appeared on the left side of his face. He
consulted the surgeo is who hadpreviously operated
upon him, and they I told him that it would be dan-
gerous again to use IL he knife, and that he had bet-
ter not by any meat is attempt it. The prisoner,
who was a blacksmit E t at Marlborough, was brought
to the deceased, and he he told him he would cure him.
The deceased, howel r 4 er, hesitated for several hours,
but upon the persua a ion of his family, he consented
to place himself in 1 J ie hands of the prisoner, who
then put some kind c d oil on his face with a piece
of whalebone, and tl u Mn applied some kind of powder
to the face. It mai h.l the poor man very sick, and
the part affected beg ain steaming and swelling most
wonderfully. He v Pas in the greatest agony, and
walked about near') r the whole night in great pain.
He was almost dist racted ; but at last he got into
bed, and never rose ) again, but died in nine days.
He suffered fearful 1-27 all the time. The prisoner
was 20 minutes appl y -ing the oil and powder. He
charged 505., but th. s deceased's son-in.law remon-
strated with the prik gmer at the charge. He said at
first he should not g until he had his money, but
wHaossgaiodinigt
Wtoouiddo
nwc
bats,
he eventually conse anted to take 255., which was
paid him. The deco; iced was 68 years of age. The
night he would be a ,ble
prisoner was asked )3, the family whether what he
health.altiknodecltoyhmaettoainniindljeursseseethhhiaimsn.a fo r_
Mr. &meeting, a a
ceased in July and nirgeo.n of
. Basingstoke, saw de-
event prove fatal,
told him it was cancer, and that
eventually it must
better not do asnaytwkand that he had
gto it. He was tolerably
good health.
I,n several times, and on the
i then appeared more cheerful
19th of November 7