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Inquests.—Twenty-seven inquests were held during the
year, 14 of which were on deaths from violence: of the
latter, 12 were accidental, 1 suicidal, and 1 homicidal. 11
instances occurred in which the cause of death was not
certified by medical testimony, and in which, therefore, death
may have resulted from other than natural causes. In the
present state of the law the employment of medical
evidence in such cases rests with the discretion of the
Coroner, who, as a rule, does not employ such evidence
except where suspicion of crime has arisen. It is evident,
however, that the presence or absence of suspicion ought
not to be accepted as the exponents of the necessity for
enquiry or otherwise, for there may be suspicion without
crime, and, conversely, there may be crime without the
least suspicion of its existence. In order to protect society
to the utmost against the possibility of the perpetration of
secret crime, it is most desirable that there should be a
skilled investigation in every instance where the cause of
death has not been certified by a registered medical practitioner;
and, in all such cases, it should be observed, a
preliminary medical enquiry, in the place of the unskilled
enquiry of the Coroner's officer, would supersede the
necessity for the great majority of the inquests which are
now held, at the great loss of time and convenience of juries
and useless expense to the rate-payers.
Epidemic Diseases—Their prevalence and fatality.—
The following table shows the deaths which have resulted
from the 7 principal epidemic diseases during the past
and ten preceding years, and the relation which they bore
to the deaths from all causes.