And if the party be dead “_the deposition_ of the girl taken before the committing magistrate and _signed by him_, may after her death, be read[642] in evidence at the trial of the prisoner, although it was not _signed by her_, and she was under twelve years of age; provided she was sworn, and appeared competent to take _an oath_, and all the facts necessary to complete the crime may be collected from the testimony so given in evidence.” _The King against Fleming and Windham_, A.D. 1779. _Leach’s C.L. p._ 996. But if the declaration be made _in articulo mortis_, the party knowing herself to be dying, then it is not necessary that she be sworn, for the solemnity of the occasion is more than equivalent to the form of an oath, yet it is necessary that the party should have so much sense and discretion, that, if in sound health, she might have been sworn; for if she have not, then even the fear of death and judgment may not have a sufficient impression on her mind. The melancholy case of _Coleman_ will impress every reader with the importance of carefully noticing the circumstances of dying declarations, lest, by receiving as evidence the ravings of delirium, or at least the imperfect impression of impaired faculties, the innocent should be sacrificed to the errors of the dying; and this is the more necessary in those cases where the atrocity of the crime committed creates an immediate prejudice against every party charged or suspected. END OF VOL. I. -------------- William Phillips, Printer. -------------- Footnotes Footnote 1: We have preferred this term, as best calculated to express, in the most comprehensive manner, the application of Medical Science to the purposes of the law. Different writers, however, upon this branch of knowledge, have employed various other terms for the same object, such as _Legal_, _Judiciary_, or _Juridical Medicine_; _State Medicine_, _Forensic Medicine_, _Medical Police_. The two latter terms, evidently cannot with propriety be considered synonimous with the former, for they are, strictly speaking, subordinate divisions. Some authors have objected to the term _Medical Jurisprudence_, as implying a knowledge of the laws relating to medical topics, rather than an acquaintance with the medical science necessary for the elucidation of legal subjects. As it is our peculiar object to unite the sciences, and to shew their mutual relevance, the title becomes most applicable to this, although it may have been improperly affixed to former works. Footnote 2: Chap. xiii. xiv. Footnote 3: So important was this act in the climates of Asia and Africa, that the Mahometan, if unable to obtain water in the Desert, was directed to cleanse his person by frictions with the sand. Footnote 4: See _Mill’s_ History of British India.