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obtain medical assistance for the deceased was culpable, inasmuch
as the illnesses must often have extended over many
days, and been attended with obvious symptoms of a more
or less serious and painful nature. The mere finding of the
"cause of death" in such cases, seems scarcely to satisfy
the requirements of justice, considering that the death of
any person—but particularly of one very young or very aged
—from such diseases as pneumonia, bronchitis, &c., when
there has been no medical attendance, raises a presumption
of neglect which would justify a verdict of "manslaughter,"
just as much as in the case of the "peculiar people," who,
whilst treating their sick with care in other respects, refuse,
on so-called "conscientious" grounds, to employ medical
assistance, and who, as a consequence of such refusal, death
having ensued, have on several occasions been found guilty
of manslaughter.
METEOROLOGY.
The mean temperature of the air at Greenwich in 1883 was
490.4 Fahrenheit, the same as the average of 42 years; the
means of the four quarters respectively being 40o.0, 53°.0,
590.5, and 44°.9. The highest reading by day (85°.1) was
registered in the week ending August 25th, and the lowest
reading by night (20°.6) in the week ending March 24th; the
means of the highest weekly readings by day, in the four
quarters respectively, being 51.9, 71.0, 75.9 and 56T, and of
the lowest readings, by night, 28.9, 37.6, 46.2, and 35.9. The
hottest week in the year was that which ended July 7th,
(64.3), and the coldest week that which ended March 10th
(33.8). August was the hottest month, mean temperature
61.9, and March the coldest, mean temperature 36.1. May
was characterised by the greatest range in temperature, viz.:
50.7—from 81.0 to 30.3, whilst February exhibited the
smallest range, viz.: 24.3—from 55.2 to 30.9. The dryness
of the atmosphere, i.e., the difference between dew-point
temperature and air-temperature was 5.8; the same as the