DUNSTAN

Otago Witness, Issue 846, 15 February 1868, Page 8

DUNSTAN

(jmO^l OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT,) f

1 " ' Ci/toe, :6th' February, 1868. ''• 1 An ktiqxiii&t wWhteld on Monday iastf aY the Danstan District "Hospital, ; by ; H. W. Robinsony Esq., Coroner, <Jn tne'sbMjr' efa man, a patient in the Institution, named John H. Hardy, about 40 years of age'," it native of Dublin, and who was admitted from the Teviot district, suffering 1 'from, disease of the heart. Dr Charles Shaw, House Surgeon to, the Drfnsian Hospital, sworn, deposed' : Knew deceased. ' He was a patient in the, Hospital, and admitted on the 4th Decem- ■ ber Inst. On .his admission into the! Hospital he complained of a pain over the left region of the heart. He appeared* to be very weak, and was much- emaciated. • On examination^ I found a derangement of tho valves of -the -heart. ■ Under the'" treatment administered, he appeared t6"' be greatly relieved ; and within the last ten days he had been able to leave his bed. On the day of his death (the 31st January last) he had walked to ' Clyde*' about a mile distant from the Hospital. • I saw deceased as he was returning about half-past seven o'clock in the evening. He was then within two hundred yards of the gate. Deceased - said < that he felt himself very much better, that he would leave the Institution the next day, and return tb his work. He was in no way excited- A few minutes afterwards he was found dead at - the gate. The ( next morning T saw the/ body of deceased. There were a few scratches on the face, indicating that he had fallen on the gravel walk. There were no other external marks visible. I again saw the body this morning. It merely presented the iisual post mortem' appear- •■ auce. L believe death to have been caused " from disease of the heart. -

By the Police : When admitted in,to the - Hospital, deceased had a pocket-book^ * Since his death I examined the book, andf ound the letter now prpduced, dated 6th September last. It appears to be from, his brother, announcing the death of his father from disease of the heart.

Charles Perkins, a servant at the Hospital, sworn, deposed : Knew deceased. Recollected the 31st January last.' On that day deceased left the Hospital for Clyde, about a quarter to 6 o'clock in the evening. He appeared to be in good health. 1 again saw him about 8 o'clock lying on" his stomach just inside the Hopital gate. I lifted the body,' and. called for assistance. I felt no pulsation, but the body was warm. There was a slight scratch on the side of the cheek, as ' if made in falling. MArten, the wardsman, came to my assistance, and tried to restore animation ; but there was no sign of life. 1 then went to the town for the House Surgeon, and informed him of what had happened. He did not return with me, as he was engaged with a patient.

Arthur MArten, wardsman to , the Hospital, gave corroborative evidence.

Michael Fleming, a bootmaker, living at Clyde, deposed that he knew deceased in the Wakitip District. On the day of his death, he had spent some time with him at Clyde. He said that he felt all right, except that his heart troubled him a little while engaged washing some clothes.

Dr. Charles Shaw, recalled by the Coroner, deposed that the evidence as given by the different witnesses confirmed his opinion as to the cause of death, still, no such confirmation was necessary. Disease of the heart was oftentimes hereditary in families, but not necessarily so. It is* often caused by exposure to hot climates, or by fast living. Knowing that deceased was suffering from heart disease, and judging from the position that the body was found, I did not deem it necessary to return to the Hospital with the witness Perkins, as I was engaged with a patient.

The jury returned a verdict "oi " Died from disease of the heart."

A Surgical Riddle. — Broken heads are common enough in North Africa and in Greece. M. Martin, a surgeon-major of the French army, publishes an account of proceedings of certain families or tribes, whose privilege it is to trephine the cranium of every one of the inhabitants of the Djebel Anres who has the misfortune to receive "even the slightest wound." Of course, writes the British Medical Journal, wher,e whole families live by trephining, few heads are sacred. M. Martin has seen several; unfortnnates who had undergone the operation five or six times. The age and sex of the wounded do not interfere with the operation j and children, young girls, or women, submit with as much resignation to ;this cruel practice as the strongest and most courageona men. Besides riddling the cranium with holes, they add cauterization of the wound, and even the introduction into the cranial cavity of fluids intended to facilitate the ■exit of extra vasated blood. An astonishing proportion of the victims is said to survive this barbarous proceeding.