The President of the Republic has undoubtedly considered the general feeling of the country, which does not like the idea of a shrieking, hysterical creature in petticoats be-dragged to the scaffold by mep—the kind of scene that occurred at the last execution.of a woman some forty years ago. In one case, however, the President delayed his decision to such an unusual extent that the prisoner's counsel becanio, uneasy and went to the prison at Versailles to satisfy himself that no preparations were being made to Euillotine his client next morning, The lady in question was convicted of killing her husband by turning: on the gas while he was asleep. She paid visits to the room to see that "all was going on nicely, and when she was satisfied that he wae dead she aired the room and Iny. down by his side. It was such cold-blooded crime that many people thought M. Doumergue intended to depart from the usual practice and allow the offender to suffer the full penalty, but apparently he cam to the conclusion that even in this case it was preferable to avoid an The "'unustial suspense does not seem to have had effect on the culprit. When her counsel informed her of the reprieve she said she was never in any doubt about the result of her appeal, because women, were never guillotined in France nowadays, She added that she would now be able to take the job head washerwoman at the prison, which would give her congenial employment until she was let out The legal gentleman had not the heart to tell her that she would have to spend the rest of her life in gaol, so he wished her good luck went back to his office, Frs, 200,000 for a Leg The case in which a young Woman sued a surgeon for half million franes damages for the lose of a Jeg has resulted in her favour. As I mentioned last week, she was Gissatisfied with the shape of her ces, and, as she was engaged to married, she determined to make great sacrifice in the cause of beauty, She consulted a surgeon, who, she says, assured her that he. could cut away portions of the leg without danger. The result was that gangrene set in and the Hind had to be amputated to save her life. The doctor's version is that -te performed the operation reluet= cantly, his patient having asserted that if he did not undertake it she would "commit suicide, Ho also offered to prove that he took all possible precautions and that it was of "his fault if the operation not succeed. The Court, however, ied to consider this' aspect of matter, and decided, on grounds of public policy, that surgeon hae no right to operate on a pitman Ueing except with the objec: of relieving pain or curing: that it was a serious professional error to endeavour to alter the shape of. a healthy limb by meant of the knife, The Court accordingly ordered the surgeon to roy 200,000 franes damages. The con= sequences of this judgment may be far-reaching. A surgeon cannot be expected to take risks if he has the fear of a civil action before his yes should the operation fall, and he will also be tempted to remember that if he abstains from operating he runs xo danger.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.