The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-19 00:00:00

that th
by side

-Judge Bayley said :—" If a party is guilty of negligence,
and death ensues, the party guilty of that negligence is also
laughter. if you think there was negligence
1 find him guilty—if not,

lner yot

ound him guilty, And the Court sentenced hi

ation that there were four

-the father and mother of

He then recanitulatet

the t

that M

'-a-teaspoonful (or about :11l drops) At) be
taken, and afterwards drew back, and directed three or four
drops to be given, in which there was a very great difference.
The question was, whether there-was shown !,0 ttrelt. a want
of care and skill as to bring the act within the t.tw as man-
slaughter. If the liquid had been found to• be laudanum,
without syrup, and that it had been given, when syrup
of poppies was asked for, the offence would be manslaughter.
A mere administration, by mistake, of any medicine that
proved fatal, would not constitute that offence. He (Mr.
Curry) having had some doubts on the subject, had written
to Mr. Crompton, than whom he did not know a more acute
crown lawyer : •and that gentleman had kindly read the
depositions, and had sent his opinion in the letter beheld in his
hand. (Mr. C. hertrread the letter, the principal point of which
was, that if a medicine different from that asked for were given,•
and death ensued from its use, the offence would undoubtedly
be manslaughter.) The verdict could not affect Mr. Sheldon
himself, as it did not appear in evidence that be had autho-
rised the medicine to be dispensed. With respect to the wife,
unless she gave a drug different from that asked for, she
would stand acquitted of the manslaughter. Much depended
on the analysis, -and Mr. Brett said there was in the drug
some syrup, or saccharine, so that it might be that. which
was sold at Mr. Sheldon's for syrup of poppies, though not
properly compounded as it ought to have been It they
thought there was not sufficient evidence to affect Mrs.
Sheldon, they must then be thrown upon the consideration
whether the parents had not administered an overdose, in
which case. their verdict would be against both of them—both

t direct

having assisted to administer it—as-a
case of " chance med-
ley," which meant that the drug was administered with a
good intent, but produceld death.
The jury, after some minutes consideration, brought in a
verdict of " Chance medley," as affecting the parents, and
appended to their verdict their strong reprehension of the
negligent conduct of Mr. Sheldon, in conducting his busi-

The Coroner, addressing Mr. Sheldon. said this was not
the first, second, or third enquiry over which he had had the
painful duty to preside, in which death had ensued from drugs
prescribed from his (Mr: S.'s) shop. It was Mr. S.'s duty
to confine himself solely to the dispensing of such drugs as he
received prescriptions for from competent professional men.
From the time the jury had taken to consider their verdict,
it was evident to him that Mrs. Sheldon had had a narrow
escape from a verdict of manslaughter, in which case it would
have been his duty to commit her to Lancaster Castle for
trial. He hoped, however, the result, though not so serious,
would have a salutary effect.
Mr. Sheldon said he should take means to prevent a re-
currence of such a fatality, as regarded his shop, and added
that he would have attended the court at the appointed time,
but that he had been in the country on business, and that on
his return that morning a wheel of the coach in which he was
broke down, by which he was delayed.

UNION OF THE OPHTHALMIC AND EAR
INSTITUTIONS.

For some time it has been considered desirable that the
ophthalmic and Ear Institutions should be united, and we
have now the pleasure of stating that this object has been
accomplished. Yesterday, the annual meeting of the friends
and subscribers to both charities was held in the Clarendon-
rooms, South John-street,
.for the purpose of the business
usual on such occasions being transacted, and for their assent
being given to the proposed union. There were present
about forty, including the Rev. Rector Brooks, the Rev. T.
Bold, the Rev. R. L. Townsend, the Rev. J. Hoskins (of
Chester), Sir J. Sainsbury, Captain Cleather, Dr. Edwards,
and Messrs. John Crossfield, Gordon, Sharpe, R. C. Dawson,
Neill, Joshua Edwards,...Tohn- Ripley, Oxley, J. R. Chorley,
Wm. Chorley, Hadwemj Hutchinson, and Hamner..
ROBERTSON GLADSTONE, Esq., was unanimously called
to the chair.
The CHAIRMAN opened the propeedings by stating that
this was the annual meeting of the subscribers to the Ear and
to the Ophthalmic Institutions. The report of the com-
mittee of the Ophthalmic Institution Would firstbe read, and
afterwards a proposition would be made for uniting the two,
which, as far as he could see, appeared to be very desirable.
The TREASURER of the Ophthalmic Institution then pre-
sented a statement of his accounts. It appeared that in the
course of the year donations had been received to the amount
of £B3 13s. 11d, but that after including tie annual subscrip-
tions there remained a balance due to him of £66 14s. 10d.
Mr: NEIL, surgeon, then read the report, which was a
very long document. Owing to the accidental loss of the
records
of the charity, it commenced with a brief but inte-
resting history of its operations since its commencement. It
next expressed the regret of the committee at the treasurer's
statement showing a heavy debt, and explained that it had
been caused by repairing the house at the corner of Harford-
street, which had been granted to the charity by the corpo-
ration. • The annual income from subscriptions, the report
stated, was £lB7 ss. 6d., whilst the outlay in the past year
had been £354 135., thus leaving a large sum to be made up
by the chances of charitable donations. Alluding to the
utility of the charity, the report stated that since its com-
mencement no less than 92,19 persons had received surgical
assistance ; that in the past year 21,85 new cases had been
admitted ; that in the same period 49 persons had been ope-
rated upon for cataract dir artificial pupil. It further stated
that since 1835 no fewer than 233 persons had been operated
upon, in the house, for cataract and artificial pupil ; and that
the whole number of patients since the commencement of
the charity, 21 years
ago, was 31,330. Along with the re-
port Mr. Neil produced a statistical table of the cases treated
each month, and of the state of the atmosphere, which he
did not read, but which, he said, shewed that eye disease de-
creased from Christmas to July, and increased from July to

Christma
On the
WARDS,

Mr. Goßows, seconded by Mr. En-
•'s accounts, together with the ,report
:a to be printed, and circulated among

just read, we

the subm'xiber

Sir Jour. SALusuuus moved that the thanks of the meet-
ing he given to the officers of the charity, for their valuable
services during the past year.—The Rev. R. L. TOWNSEND
having seconded the ruotion,it was unanimously carried.
The business of the day,
with regard to the Opthaltnic In-
stitution, terminated with the re-appointment of the com-
mittee. _ —.-. •

The•
TREASURER for the Ear Institution then produced
his accounts. It appeared that, after defraying every expense,
there was a balance remaining or £7 18s. Bd. The Trea-
surer added, that if this institution were amalgamated with
the Ophthalmic, the greater part of its expenses would be saved
to the public, and a great deal of valuable time to the gentle-
men who formed the committee. As there was yet an ex-
pense of about £3O, it would be necessary to collect the sub-
scriptions for the present year.
Mr. NIEL then read the report—which was the first made
since the establishment of the charity 18 months ago. It ap-