The daughter of the plaintiff swore, that the defendant _Stapleton_ was first sent for to take off the bandage from the plaintiff’s leg; when he came he declined to do it himself, and desired the other defendant _Baker_ might be called in to assist; when _Baker_ came he sent for the machine that was mentioned; plaintiff offered to give _Baker_ a guinea, but _Stapleton_ advised him not to take it then, but said they might be paid all together when the business was done; that the third time the defendants came to the plaintiff, _Baker_ took up the plaintiff’s foot in both his hands and nodded to _Stapleton_, and then _Stapleton_ took the plaintiff’s leg upon his knee, and the leg gave a crack when the plaintiff cried out to them and said, “you have broke what nature had formed;” _Baker_ then said to the plaintiff _You must go through the operation of extension_, and _Stapleton_ said we have consulted and done for the best.
Another surgeon was called and swore, that in cases of crooked legs after they have been set, the way of making them straight is by compression and not by extension, and said he had not the least idea of the instrument spoken of for extension; he gave _Baker_ a good character, as having been the first surgeon of _St. Bartholomew’s_ hospital for twenty years, and said he had never known a case where the callous had deossified.
Another surgeon was called who swore, that when the callous is formed to any degree, it is difficult to break it, and the callous in this case must have been formed, or it would not have given a crack, and said extension was improper, and if the patient himself had asked him to do it, he would have declined it, and if the callous had not been hard he would not have done it without the consent of the plaintiff, that compression was the proper way, and the instrument improper; he said the defendant _Baker_ was eminent in his profession. Another surgeon was called who swore, that if the plaintiff was capable of bearing his foot upon the ground, he would not have disunited the callous if he had been desired by him, but in no case whatever without consent of the patient; if the callous was loose it was proper to make the extension to bring the leg into a right line. A servant of the plaintiff swore the plaintiff had put his foot upon the ground three or four weeks before this was done.