Page:Transactions of the Provincial Medical and Surgical Association, volume 1.djvu/48

 courts of judicature. Valuable, however, as are the records which have been published of these proceedings, particularly by the medical jurists of Germany, they want, in the eye of the English reader, the interest possessed by domestic occurrences; they are apt, sometimes, to convey incorrect impressions of the scope of medical jurisprudence, and its influence on the administration of British law; and I cannot help adding that, in point of authenticity, the facts recorded must generally fall short of those determined in the course of judicial inquiries in this country; for, however imperfect our preliminary investigations may often be, the facts eventually brought out in evidence are in no other country so fairly stated, so minutely inquired into, and so completely put to the test as by the form of trial in Britain." The members of our Association will, I feel assured, maturely weigh the advantages to be derived from their devoting themselves to supplying this defect of medico-judicial facts in our own country; and, as we have already members, on the list for enrolment, from many and distant parts of the kingdom, there can be no doubt but that, by a moderate degree of industry, succinct reports may be published by the Association, of whatever instructive cases may occur in the provincial courts of judicature.

Medical Ethics, also, will claim some attention from an Association like ours. It is strange that, with the exception of a few meagre essays, no attempt has been made to establish a code for the guidance of those who need such direction. In a well organized profession, there could be no difficulty