The condition of the lungs is of more importance than the state of the heart.
The chloroformist ought always to use the best chloroform.
An anæsthetic should never be administered except in the presence of a _third person_. This applies especially to dentists who give gas to females.
=Malpractice.=--In every case where a medical man attends a patient, he must give him that amount of care, skill, knowledge, or judgment, that the law expects of him. If he does not, then the charge of malpractice may be brought against him. It is most frequently alleged in connection with surgical affections--_e.g._, overlooking a fracture or dislocation. Before a major operation is performed, it is well to get a written agreement.
VIII.--PRESUMPTION OF DEATH; SURVIVORSHIP
=Presumption of Death.=--If a person be unheard of for seven years, the court may, on application by the nearest relative, presume death to have taken place. If, however, it can be shown that in all probability death had occurred in a certain accident or shipwreck, the decree may be made much earlier.
=Presumption of Survivorship.=--When two or more related persons perish in a common accident, it may be necessary, in order to decide questions of succession, to determine which of them died first. It is generally accepted that the stronger and more vigorous will survive longest.
=Assault.=--This is an attempt or offer to do violence to another person; it is not necessary that actual injury has been done, but evil intention must be proved. When a corporal hurt has been sustained, then _assault and battery_ has been committed. The assault may be aggravated by the use of weapons, etc.
=Homicide= may be _justifiable_, as in the case of judicial execution, or _excusable_, as in defence of one's family or property.
_Felonious homicide_ is murder. This means that a human being has been killed by another maliciously and deliberately or with reckless disregard of consequences.
=Manslaughter= or =Culpable Homicide= (Scotland) is the unlawful killing of a human being without malice--as homicide after great provocation; signalman who allows a train to pass, and so collide with another in front.
A wound may be defined as a 'breach of continuity in the structures of the body, whether external or internal, suddenly occasioned by mechanical violence.' The law does not define 'a wound,' but the _true skin must be broken_. Wounds are dangerous from shock, hæmorrhage, from the supervention of crysipelas or pyæmia, and from _malum regimen_ on the part of the patient or surgeon. _Is the wound dangerous to life?_ This question can only be answered by a full consideration of all the circumstances of the case; a guarded prognosis is wise in all cases.