A vindication of the opinions delivered in evidence by the medical witnesses for the Crown on a late trial at Lancaster for murder / by J. Gerard [and others].

Date:
1808
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: A vindication of the opinions delivered in evidence by the medical witnesses for the Crown on a late trial at Lancaster for murder / by J. Gerard [and others]. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    on his behalf, Dr. James Carson, a Physician, who has resided a few years at Liverpool. The appearances which we found on examining the body, led us to the conclusions, that the de- ceased had been delivered a few hours before her death, of a child, nearly full grown ; and that her life had, probably, been terminated by poison. But Dr. Carson, in his evidence on the trial, endeavoured to explain these appearances, on grounds different from ours : and it has been ge- nerally supposed, that in consequence of the doubts which he had thrown upon the opinions delivered by the medical evidence for the Crown, the pri- soner was acquitted. Whether this supposition is well founded or not, it is not to our present pur- pose to inquire. But when Dr. C. found, that the evidence which he had given on this occasion, had excited uncommon indignation against him, he proposed to publish a defence of that evidence. And in the mean time, whilst he was writing such defence, he addressed a note to different persons, desiring them to suspend their judgments, and to recommend their friends to do the same, as he was preparing a statement of the whole case, to be submitted to the Colleges of Physicians and Sur- geons at London and Edinburgh, and for publica- B2