The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-02-02 00:00:00

LITERARY NOTICES.

The London Almanac, Official Register and Coat:ly Calendar
for England and Wales, for the year 1841. Scott, Web-
ster, and Geary, London ; Webb, Liverpool.
This useful and comprehensive work was handed to us
yesterday, but too late to do justice to its merits. As a
work of reference, it is invaluable ; and the information it
contains is highly important to all classes of society. Its
principal contents will be found enumerated in the advertise-
ment—but a complete list of its varied contents would occupy
more space than we have at command. To livery companies,
assurance offices, and charitable and other societies, the sta-
tistical tables and other necessary details furnished by the
volume before us are indispensable—whilst to the merchant,
clergyman,,and professional gentleman of every grade, the
miscellaneous, but important contents of the London
Almanac, will be found of the greatest utility at all times.
Although called an " almanac" it reaches very nearly to one
thousand pages.

Anti-Popery ; or Popery Unreasonable, Unscriptural, and
Novel. By John. Rogers. Simpkin, Marshall, and Co.,
London.' ' '

This is .a new edition of a work which originally appeared
under the somewhat whimsical title of " Antipopppriestian,"
which prOduced considerable sensation from the novelty and
power of its style and arguments. Mr. Rogers appears to, be
completely master Of the sophistries and tortuous winding of
the antagonisfhe has to contend with, and taking . weapons
from the well 400 armoury of scripture, reason, and anti-
quity, be demolishes with no ordinary skill the errors, absur-
dities, and'blasphetniei of tbe'llOrnisli creed. It requires no
grasp of mind to perceive the Nib, and novelty of most of the
idolatrous dogmas and practices of the Popish church, but
.considerable tact, perseverance, and knowledge of human
nature are indispensable requisites, for the purpose of ex-
posing the ingenious defences and ready denials put forth so
frequently by the hierarchy attached to that church, and
these qualifications Mr. Rogers has proved himself, in an
eminent degree, to possess. He leaves no question unan-
swered, and whilst a perusal of his publication will settle
every doubt of any wavering Protestant, it will serve to con-
vince all unprejudiced Roman Catholics of the errors of
the faith they profess to adhere to, and of the nefarious pro-
ceedings of their spiritual advisers. A chronolo6i9A, maN
showing the postapostolic and modc•rn orisiniitPopery, ac-
• •
companies this volun:j9. '"
I,.'t •

ROCK HARMONICON.—Mr. Davis's performance on this
instrument attracted literally crowds of visitors last week.
His execution is admirable, and he produces quite novel ef-
fects upon the instrument.

DEATH OF A CHILD FROM AN OVERDOSE OF LAUDANUM,.
—An inquisition was taken yesterday, before V.. V. Corry;
Esq., on view of the body of John ItAercer, a Child of 7 Months
old. The deceased had been sent out to nurse with a' Mrs.-
Lee, in *tgar-court;"Edgar-street. The deceased had Pre-
viously ban i'll in his bbirelsrand his mother had given him
three drops of faudunum • alter which he again, got Well.'
Lee afterwards laudanum several` times. -She
dropped the' laudanum but of. a bottle into a' teacup,
deceased was ill for about a w6e4. nio)iber. aart 4,e..itt tor,
but be died before. sjie reached jo' hp,oSci. he greatest
quantity Oct tandianom' qi‘re'n tO:014 i.'.ceased by Mrs. Lee was
four to f v clt'9,a§. VW, and she gave it to him frequently.
She r*- given the same quantities to her own children when
they were'the same age, without any bad effect, and larger
quantities when they were older. Mr. Wood, surgeon, made
a post mortem examination of the body, and guvc it 44 his
opinion, that death had been cansgd in the administration of
a narcotic poison, Ile hrata was. vaWLIII congested, and the
veins of the Ludo wore, very much gorged with blood. The
144riiid appearances left on dead bodies wheredeath has been
occasioned by narcotic poison were sometimes insignificant,
but in this case I have no doubt but that the death of the de-
ceased was occasioned by some narcotic poison. The coroner
summed up the evidence, and the jury, after retiring for sci Aid
minutes, returned an unanimous YcK4lCO:kr,‘ ChanceMeilley:!'
against Mrs. Lee. Tbo. ccroner'saidi'lliat eoncaried,with
1 the jury in this verdict—ras he'did•not think there was •on the,
part of 'WS. Ida, that culpable neglect which %would hive
justified a verdict of in3anslaughter.' 11e adthonished
Lee, who 'wet deeply affected; on the impropAety Of
tering any medicine stri;ingeethi4*t4. Oil or salts, without
consulting a.naedical maa,

APPETITES OF A FUNERAL.—There was an increase in
the consumption of food in Paris in the month of Decem-
ber, 1840, amounting to 310 oxen, 44 cows, and 4,082 sheep.
The augmentation is accounted for by the great number of
strangers who arrived in Paris to assist at the funeral of Na-
poleon. The government will probably be obliged to permit
the free introduction of foreign young oxen into France.

MEDICAL REFORM.

The Provincial. Medical, and Surgical Journal of Satur-
day contains a letter from our respected townsman, Doctor
Jeffreys, in which he vindicates most satisfactorily the in-
terest felt in this important question by all members of the
medical profession, and by those of Liverpool in particular.
" In this great and increasing mercantile town," he says,
" there would seem to be three causes which operate power-
fully to encourage this veiata (patio,' Medical Reform.
" Ist. The supply of medical men, and medical talent, is
greater than the demand.

- " 2d. The immense extent of gratuitous services, amount-
ing in Liverpool, annually, to little less than 80,000 indi-
viduals.

" 3d. The negligent remuneration which medical men are
compelled to submit to."

To each of these heads he then addresses himself, and
upon each supplies facts, or observations, which certainly
leave a very strong impression on the mind that the medical
profession is very far from being placed on that footing in
this great town, which an avocation of so much dignity and
importance ought to be, as well for the protection of its
members, as for the advantage of the public generally.
As one means of effecting the desired reform, Doctor
Jeffreys is an advocate for extending the system of self-sup-
porting dispensaries, and his remarks on this point strike us
as being eminently deserving of attention.
In treating upon the third part in his arrangement,
namely, " the negligent remuneration which medical men
are compelled to submit to," the Doctor makes a statement,
which, for the honour of our town, we are concerned that
there should be a foundation ; nevertheless as seven cases
require a proportionably active remedy, we are far from say-
ing that he has committed an error in speaking out plainly.
On the contrary we rather commend his evident indepen-
dence of spirit. What he says on this head is as follows :
" I now proceed to the third part of my remarks, viz. the
negligent remuneration which medical men are compelled
to submit to ; and upon this point, perhaps, there is no town
in the United Kingdom, certainly none of equal importance,
where we labour more under this evil, than we do in this
great commercial community. It is true, that of late years
some improvement has been noted, but I very much doubt
whether the profession in general have any idea that the evil
has been carried to the extent we have experienced in our
day ; in proof of which, I may mention the common practice
which has crept in—no doubt from necessity—of employing a
collector, with a per tentage allowance, not only to him, but
even to the debtor, for the payment of physicians' and sur-
geons' fees, and which custom is, and has been, long so
common, that the practice of its being otherwise forms an
exception to the rule.
" We have had instances in this town, of which I have
undoubted proof, though delicacy will not allow me to enter
upon them in detail, of one of the most meritorious surgeons
of his time, and also of a physician, who had served all the
charities with indefatigable zeal during the whole of a prac-
tical life having due to them at the time of their death very
many thousand pounds, the former of whom never would
apply for remuneration for his services during his lifetime,
nor would allow any application to be made by his executors ;
consequently, little or nothing ever was, nor ever will be,
received by any of his ramily who survive him. The latter
not only died in very straitened circumstances, but was
severely punished by legal treatment for a debt of £2O, at the
time that he had many thousands due to him for professional
fees, but which of course were not available to him by the
same means for his pressing wants."
These statements are of a painful and humiliating charac-
ter ; but surely they do demonstrate that the medical men
stand in need of some better protection than what the law, or
the usage of society in its present state, affords them.