It has been rumonred, that Sir ROBERT fell from his horse in an epileptic seizure, and that in his convulsive clutchings of the rein, his horse stumbled, and fell upon him. But there is, we are assured, on the best authority, no truth whatever in this story of an epileptic fit. Nothing of the kind was observed by those persons who were near him at the moment of the accident, nor did any of the subsequent symptoms point in the least degree to such an occurrence. The fall was accidental, and the

more »

... ubsequent insensibility was doubtless caused entirely by the shock of the injury. It is of im· portance, we should observe, that we have the best authority for stating that Sir ROBERT PEEL never in his life had a symptom which indicated any affection of the brain. I , As soon as surgical aid was procured, it was found that there was a comminuted fracture of the left clavicle, with considerable swelling from the first, which, together with the excruciating pain of the whole shoulder, rendered a ninute examination extremely difficult. A swelling as large as the hand might cover subsequently formed below the fractured clavicle, which pulsated to the touch synchronously with the action of the heart. When examined carefully by the eye, it was found that the movement of this tumour corresponded with the contractions of the auricle, and was, in some respects similar to the pulsations observed in the veins of the neck in very thin persons, and in certain forms of venous regurgitation. It was evident, from these signs, that some vein beneath the clavicle, probably the subclavian, had been wounded by the broken bone at the time of the fall; and that the subclavicular swelling consisted of blood effused from the wounded vessel. It was also evident, that the swelling was in this way connected with the heart, forming what might be called a diffused false venous aneurism. This was all that could be ascertained positively. Sir ROBERT PEEL was well known to be of a gouty habit, and he was at all times extremely sensitive to physical pain. His sufferings during the whole of his brief illness were of the most agonizing kind. This might have arisen from the laceration of some of the nerves converging beneath the collarbone, to form the axillary plexus; a complication which, as is well known, sometimes occurs from severe fractures in this situation. After death, one or two of the ribs on the left side were found to be fractured, which had not been detected during life. The injuries we have referred to would have been sufficient to cause death in such a subject; but there may possibly have been further injury, or disease, resulting from the accident, within the chest. This, however, was, as we have said, extremely difficult to make out. From consideration to the feelings and the express wishes of Lady PEEL and her children, no examination of the body has taken place, so that what we have here stated is probably the sum of all that will ever be known of the cause of the death of this illustrious statesman; but upon the authenticity of what we have now placed before them our readers may rely most implicitly. , larger expression of professional opinion on a vitally important subject than has ever yet been obtained in an equally short space of time, so that we may be allowed to congratulate ourselves upon the success of the plan adopted by us, at nd little expense of time, thought, and actual cost. We must, at the same time, express our cordial thanks to those gentlemen who have publicly and privately promoted the objects we had in view in issuing the balloting-papers. Our proceedings have been neither factious nor one-sided, in this matter. We have fairly placed before the profession the two great points of contention relative to medical reform. By the appointment of scrutators, the profession are assured that the result of the ballot will be made public, whether it be for or against the plans we have ourselves constantly advocated. It was announced in our last, that the Council of the Institute were issuing balloting-papers but slightly differing from our own, in which the two questions we had proposed were reduced to one, and the answer, "Yes," or "No," requested to be sent to the secretary of the Institute. Our own Balloting-Papers " contained no exhortations to the profession to vote one way or the other; but by all means to vote according to their unbiassed sentiments. The " Schedule" of the Institute is accompanied by a letter from the secretary, and a statement of the objects of the Institute; the letter assuring the profession that there is nothing to hope in the way of the reform of the College of Surgeons, the objects setting forth the assumed advantages of a new college. Thus we may fairly claim for ourselves the merits of the greatest impartiality. But our chief object, in making these remarks, is to express a hope that the " returns" made of the schedules to the Institute, will be as honestly placed before the professio