the privates of the artillery stationed in the Mount’s Bay, amongst whom was a very powerful and athletic Irishman, of the name of _Burns_, who had lately landed, and immediately enlisted into the corps. _Burns_ was accordingly arrested on suspicion, when the purse of the deceased containing thirty shillings was found on his person. He was, moreover, unable to shew where he was at the time the deceased left Penzance, in the evening; and he was subsequently recognised by two witnesses who had seen him accompanying the deceased on the road towards the Land’s End. It is only necessary to add that he was convicted and hanged; and it is not the least satisfactory part of this case to state, that on the evening previous to his execution he confessed to the author, that all the circumstances of the case occurred precisely as we have stated, that he strangled his victim with a pocket handkerchief, but that from the difficulty of completing the act, he was compelled to press his knees upon his chest. In the year 1763, a person of the name of _Beddingfield_ was found lying near his bed, with his face on the floor, and with one hand round his neck. It was argued that he had probably fallen out of bed in a fit of apoplexy, and that the pressure of his own hand had occasioned the marks that were visible on his throat; and a verdict was returned in conformity with such an opinion. Circumstances,[14] however, arose which excited a strong suspicion against the wife and a man-servant named _Ringe_, and they were accordingly charged with the murder, tried at Bury St. Edmonds, and condemned. Before execution the man confessed that he had strangled the deceased, having seized him while asleep by the throat, with his left hand. _Whether the wounds observed in the body were necessarily of a mortal nature, or sufficiently severe to have caused immediate death?_—It will be generally impossible to solve this problem without the aid of dissection, for although such injuries may appear extensive, we have already in the course of the present inquiries shewn the fallacies to which such indications are exposed, (_see our chapter on wounds, vol._ ii, _page_ 116) and the practitioner who ventures to give his judgment on such an occasion, without adequate data, will render himself contemptible in the eyes of the profession, and dishonest in the opinion of the public.