THE CASE OF ROBERT HUNTER

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THE CASE OF ROBERT HUNTER.

ROBERT HUNTER surrendered to his bail on Saturday last,at the Marylebone Police Court, on the charge of committinga rape on Mrs. Annie Merrick. It having been stated that thecase for the prosecution was closed, Mr. Sleigh addressed themagistrate for the defendant in a lengthened speech. He con-

tended that the statements of the prosecutrix were altogetheruncorroborated, and that they were most improbable; and hefelt assured the case would not be sent for trial after the wit-nesses he should produce for the defence had been heard.These witnesses were Dr. Caleb Wills, Licentiate of the Collegeof Physicians and Surgeons, Ireland ; William Davis, hall-

porter to Hunter; Mr. Henry Melville, a "registered practi-tioner ;" Mr. George Munns, " a medical man registered inEngland;" Dr. John James McGregor; and Mr. B. J. Sasch, amember of the American Bar. The evidence of these witnesseswent to contradict the statement of Mrs. Merrick as to thedays when she saw Hunter; and to show that she had beenvisited by Dr. Wills and Mr. Melville several times afterthe alleged violation, and that she said nothing to either ofthem respecting it. The professional witnesses spoke in highterms of the moral character of Hunter.At the close of the case Mr. Mansfield said: "This is a very

important case, and to none more so than to the prisoner him-self. He has been most ably defended, but it seems to methat there is such a conflict of evidence that it is essential thecase should go to a higher tribunal. He is committed for trial."

After the usual caution that what he might say would bereduced to writing, the prisoner remarked, " I say the chargeis deliberately false in every particular."The prisoner was then fully committed for trial at the next

Central Criminal Court sessions. He was admitted to bail,himself in £4000, and two sureties in f:2000 each.

THE CATTLE PLAGUE COMMISSION.

THE Report of the Cattle Plague Commission was publishedon Saturday last. We had furnished an anticipatory summaryof this able document. We are glad to see that the obviousand logical force of the conclusions of the "majority’s report"is generally admitted. The further question of expediency isone which we are not in so good a position as others to estimate.The Government have so long neglected the warnings and advicetendered from the outset, that it is now difficult to decidewhether greater loss will follow in cattle from allowing theplague to run its course, or in specie from interfering withtrade to the extent necessary to arrest the extension of themurrain.

Medical News.ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND.-The

following gentlemen, having undergone the necessary examina-tions for the diploma, were admitted Members of the Collegeat a meeting of the Court of Examiners on the 14th inst.:—

Adams, James Edward, Finsbury-circus.Barry, Edward Joseph, M.D. Edin., Ramsgate.Body, Henry Martin, Cheriton, North Devon.Brockman, Edward Forster, L.R.C.P., Brunswick-gardens,

Kensington.De Tatham, Hamilton, Dorset-square.Digges,.Charles John Stokes, Dublin.Grace, Edward Mills, Downend, Bristol.Jackson, Andrew Christopher, Cape Town.Kesswill, John Bedford, St. Germans, Cornwall.Land, William John, Exeter.Lewis, Charles Gray Montgomery, Scdgley.Lovell, Francis Henry, Aspley, Woburn.Perkins, John Shirley Steele, Exeter.Prince, Frederic Tickell, Lawston, Cambridgeshire.Simpson, Eeginnid Palgrave, Norwich.Smith, Charles, M.B. Lond. and L.R.C.P., Basingstoke.Taylor, Theodore Thomas, Cricklade, North Wilts.Thomas, William, L.S.A., Birmingham.Walker, Alfred, Albion-road, Stoke Newington.Ward, Frederic Henry, L.S.A., Scarborough.Willoughby, Edward Prancis, Bristol.Wood, Robert, L.S.A., Uttoxeter, Staffordsliire.

The following gentlemen were admitted Members on the15th inst. :-

Attwood, Frederick Lyndon, Marylebone-road.Attygalle, John, Calcutta.Ball, John Augustus, Stradbrook, Suffolk.Barker, Robert, Sunderland.Beechey, Frederic Mainzer Charles, Wokingham.Brennan, Hobert, Croydon.Burge, Frederick John, jun., L.R.C.P., Hammersmith.Chandler, Henry Parry, Berners-street.Cuddeford, Thomas, Plymouth.Freeman, Alfred John, Southsea.Gibbes, John Murray, Sidmouth, Devon.Greenaway, Eustace, Woodford, Essex.Harvey, James D’Arcy, St. Just, Cornwall.Hyde, Henry, Lamb’s Condnit-street.Kisch, Albert, Circus-place, E.C.Lethbridge, Alfred Swaine, M.B. Aberd., Musbury, Devon.Moore, John Murray, M.B. Edin., Liverpool.l’lowman, Richard, L.R.C.P., Coleshill, Warwickshire.Raby, John, L.R.C.P. & L.It.C.S. Edin., St. Germans, Cornwall.Stephens, Samuel Sanders, Tannton.Stubbs, Henry, L.S.A., Stourbridge.Wathen, John Hancockc, Fishguard, Pembrokeshire.

At a meeting of the Council on the 9th inst., the followinggentlemen were elected Fellows of the College, their diplomasbearing date respectively Oct. 31st, 1834, and Aug. 4th, 1840 :-

Sliillitoe, Richard Rickman (Dep. Coroner for North Herts),Hitchin, Herts.

Young, Francis Ayerst, Hawkhnrst, Cranbrook, Kent.

APOTHECARIES’ HALL. — The following gentlemenpassed their examination in the Science and Practice of Medi-cine, and received certificates to practise, on the 9th inst :-

Bell, William, Torrington-square.King’, William, Moreton-terrace, Pimlico.Thomas, David, Carmarthen.Woodford, Edward Russell, Ventnor, Isle of Wight.

i At the recent examination for Prizes in Materia Medica and

Pharmaceutical Chemistry, annually given by the Society ofApothecaries, the successful candidates were - lst, GeorgeRolph Raine (Guy’s Hospital), a Gold Medal; 2nd, WilliamBarnett Burn (St. Bartholomew’s Hospital), a Silver Medaland a Book.A MEDICAL PRI31E MINISTER.—The Premier of

Nova Scotia is Dr. Charles Tupper, a practising physician atHalifax.

MEDICAL CORONER.-At a meeting of the Mayorand Town Council of Thetford, held at the Town hall on the9th inst., Dr. T. R. Mitchell, F.R.C.S.I., was appointedcoroner for the borough.AT the Students’ Medical Society at Edinburgh

much discussion has occurred of the results of acupressure.It is stated that Professor Syme will try the method of tem-porary ligature, described by Mr. Churchill in a recent num-ber of this journal.

, MAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD). Sir Benjamin Brodie,Bart., M.A., Balliol College, has been appointed by the abovesociety Waynflete Professor of Chemistry. The acceptationof this appointment will render vacant the Aldrichian Profes-sorship of Chemistry, in the gift of the University, which willnot now be filled up.

QUACKS BEWARE.-It is stated that the Council ofthe College of Surgeons are adopting vigorous measures topurge the list of members of certain persons who have longand with impunity disgraced the profession to which theyhave been admitted. We hope shortly to publish proceedingson the part of the Council of the College towards a notoriousindividual which will give great satisfaction to the professionand the public generally.FEVER IN MANCHESTER.-At a special meeting of

the Chorlton Board of Guardians the consulting medicalofficer of the workhouse read a report showing an alarmingincrease of cases of fever lately. He said as many as 14 per-sons had been admitted into the house in one day, and at onetime the number in hospital amounted to 52. During thelast four months considerably more than 100 cases of typhusor typhoid, many of them of the most malignant kind, hadbeen under treatment at the Union Hospital. He attributedthe cause of this lamentable state of things principally to theneglect of the most ordinary laws of health, and to the pollu-tion of the neighbouring streams with sewage.

PHAROAH’s SERPENTS.--Now that these amusingand scientific toys are in such extensive demand, it is rightthat their nature and composition should be made generallyknown, with a view to determine whether their employment