Report of the trial of George Stephen for murder at Aberdeen, 18th and 19th April 1865 / by Alexander Silver.

  • Silver, Alexander.
Date:
[1865?]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Report of the trial of George Stephen for murder at Aberdeen, 18th and 19th April 1865 / by Alexander Silver. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    with the increasing perfection of the respiration, but is very slight¬ ly augmented by imperfect respiration. 6. The proportion also increases with the duration of the res¬ piration, but appears to be less when respiration has continued more than one hour and less than twelve, than when it has lasted less than one hour. 7. The average proportion in mature children who have lived one month or less, exceeds that in mature still-born children ; the numbers being 1: 57 before respiration ; and 1 : S8 after respira¬ tion. 8. The proportions calculated from a small number of facts dif¬ fer widely from each other, and cannot be depended upon for me¬ dico-legal purposes. 9. The average proportions cannot be safely employed as stand¬ ards of comparison, and the extreme values, though more to be de¬ pended on than the highest and lowest weight of the lungs, are of very limited application. 10. If the average or extreme proportions are employed as stand¬ ards of comparison, the proportion obtained in any individual case must be compared with the average or extreme numbers cal¬ culated for the same weight of body. (See Table XXXII.) The observations contained in the present essay lend strong confirmation to the unfavourable opinion expressed on a former occasion of the static lung tests as tests of respiration. Whether employed to distinguish respiration from non-respiration, or res¬ piration from inflation, they are alike insufficient, except in cases of extremely rare occurrence, where we can make use of the ex¬ treme values. On the supposition that the question of inflation has no place, the static lung tests are as unnecessary as they are useless; if we have proved that either respiration or inflation has taken place, they can only be employed with advantage in the ex¬ tremely rare instances just alluded to, viz. where we can employ the extreme values. Hence, then, the proposition which concludes my first essay requires to be slightly modified, and will stand thus. The static lung tests are utterly useless for all practical pur¬ poses, and ought not to be relied on in medico-legal inquiries, except in rare instances, where the extreme values can be em¬ ployed. VRINTKI) BY JOHN STARK, OI,D ASSEMBLY CLOSE, EDINBURGH.
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