"A communication was received from the guardians of the poor of
the parish of St. Pancras, stating that there was an increase in
the number of inquests held upon the bodies of persons dying in
the workhouse, and that a majority of them were unnecessary; but
the guardians were powerless to prevent such inquests being
held, and were of opinion that if the fees receivable by the
medical officers of the workhouses in the metropolis were
abolished, a number of such inquests would no longer be held."
The insinuation against the metropolitan Poor-Law medical officers of a
charge of obtaining fees under false pretences, does credit to the
shopkeepers in limited lines of business out of whose inner
self-consciousness it sprang. Of course the inquests held upon many of
the paupers who have died in the St. Pancras Workhouse have been
unnecessary. There, not very much more particularly than in other
workhouses, can the majority of paupers be supposed to perish from
special neglect. Most of them, no doubt, die of mere misery.
* * * * *
=Victoria and Hahnemann.=
"The QUEEN has been pleased to send a present of game for the patients
of the Hospital for Consumption, Brompton."
_Similia similibus._ HER MAJESTY treats, by promoting consumption. But
the First of Lady Doctors does not "exhibit" infinitesimal doses. Truly
Royal practice of homoeopathy.
* * * * *