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49
Deaths not Certified.—Of the 68G deaths, 32 were
registered as not certified—that is, the deceased had no
qualified medical attendance—and were registered and
buried without any medical certificate of the cause of
death. The Board, it will be remembered, petitioned
Parliament in favour of supporting Dr. Lyon Playfair's
amendment in the Registration of Deaths Bill, that every
death should be iegally certified, and that where no
certificate of death was forthcoming an inquest should be
held, and a post-mortem examination made, if considered
necessary, but unfortunately no law touching the matter
was made. I say unfortunately, for as the law stands it
offers a ready mode of hiding crimes, of getting rid of
single girls' shame, and of encouraging the continuance of
a great social evil. There is nothing to do but to say the
child had had a fit, Bronchitis, Diarrhoea, or any other
disease, when the dea,th is at once registered, 110 inquiry
is held, and the undertaker's certificate for burial is given
as a matter of course. 20 of these deaths were of children
under 1 year old, which is an age when these little ones
are entirely powerless to protect themselves, and therefore
require the protection of the law. Why Dr. Playfair's
amendment, which fully dealt with the matter, and would
have answered every purpose, was not carried, I am at a
loss to conceive. "Until legislation shall be brought to
bear upon this question, and the power removed from
the registrars of registering deaths without medical
certificates or coroner's inquiries, we cannot hope that
uncertified deaths will cease to be recorded in these
reports.
Mortuary.—The want of a Mortuary has been much
felt during the year, persons dying suddenly, and bodies
found in the Eiver or elsewhere, being taken to the only
available place, viz., the small room, about 9 feet by 6, at
the rear of the Clock-House Tavern, which, I understand,
is used for cleaning pots and for other purposes of a like
nature. I have had occasion to make post-mortem
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