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' That the present system of investigation of deaths referred to a Coroner,
viz., by an officer having no special qualifications for the discharge of the
duty, is unsatisfactory."
It follows, as a corollary to this proposition, that the
preliminary enquiry should be made by an expert.
The subject of uncertified deaths was considered last
Session by a Select Committee of the House of Commons
appointed, on March 27th, 1893, "to inquire into the sufficiency
of the existing law as to the disposal of the dead, for
securing an accurate Record of the Causes of Death in all
cases, and especially for detecting them when death may
have been due to Poison, Violence, or Criminal Neglect."
The recommendations of the Committee were summed
up in ten paragraphs, of which it is only necessary to cite
the first two, as follows :—
(1) " That in no case should a death be registered without production of a
cate of the cause of death signed by a registered medical practitioner, or by
a Coroner after inquest."
(2) "That in each sanitary district a registered medical practitioner should be
appointed as public medical certifier of the cause of death in cases in which
a certificate from a medical practitioner in attendance is not forthcoming. '
No Parliamentary action has been taken, hitherto, to
give effect to the recommendations of the Committee.
INQUESTS.
Two hundred and ten inquests were held on parishioners
133 in the Town sub-district,41 in Brompton, and 36 at places
beyond the Parish, mostly at Public Institutions (hospitals)
to which the deceased had been removed for treatment:
twenty-five of these cases belong to the Town sub-district,
and 11 to Brompton. The subjects of inquest were: males
124 and females 86. The ages at death were : under five
years 74, including 51 under one year; between 5 and 60