Murder of Henry Long, Esq. 321 
left breast,) of which wound he instantly died. And that imme- 
diately after the felony they all fled.” 
On which the said H. Danvers having been outlawed, he sued out 
a Writ of Error, assigning various exceptions, viz.— 
1. ‘That whereas the inquest was described as haviug been held within the 
Liberty of our Lady the Queen, of her town of Cossam, it had not been alleged 
how far the Liberty extends, or whether any and what part of the town was in 
the Liberty ; so that it did not appear whether the Coroner had jurisdiction in 
the place where the murder was committed and the inquest holden. As, there- 
fore, it was not stated whether the town of Cossam was in the Liberty of Cossam, 
the indictment was uncertain.” 
Sir John Popham, C.J., overruled this exception, on the ground ‘of too great 
nicety.” It was to be understood, he said, that the Liberty of Cossam must 
include the town of Cossam. Perhaps the Liberty might contain more than the 
town; but that the town itself should be supposed to be out of the Liberty of 
the town, was a strained interpretation which the law does allow (‘‘ que le ley 
ne allow.” ) 
2. “‘That the Latin word for breast, spelled ‘‘ Mamiilla,” was no Latin at all ; 
for that the proper word for breast was Mammiila [with a double m]: and that 
bad Latin quashed indictments.” A case was cited where burglariter had 
been spelled burgalriter, and the exception had been admitted. 
The Court: ‘Bad Latin is not to quash indictments” (‘‘ Faux Latin ne 
quashera inditement”). ‘If by the mis-spelling a different meaning had been 
introduced, that was another case ; but where the sense remained the same, 
every body knew what was meant. And besides, mamilla with one m was as 
good Latin as mammiilla with two.’’! 
3. ‘That vulnus was a wrong word for a wound: that plaga was the word 
commonly used in indictments.” The whole Court said that plaga and vulnus 
are synonymous. 
4, “That the dimensions of the wound were not stated.” Also overruled. 
‘Dimensions of a wound are only alleged in order to prove it to be mortal. 
Here it had gone through the whole body, and was sufficiently proved mortal. 
5. “That it was not the wound which penetrated the body, as stated in the 
indictment, but the bullet.” ! The Court thought the sense plain enough. 
6. ‘‘The word “‘ percussit” (he struck) was omitted.” There were, says Coke, 
many precedents of cases where the wound had been inflicted by a bullet from a 
gun, in all of which, nevertheless, the word had been used. 
After much splitting of hairs, the last exception was held to be 
fatal. The coroner’s indictment was accordingly found bad; the 
outlawry was reversed; and Sir Henry (then Lord) Danvers was 
discharged. J. E. J. 
1 Not only as good but better. So at least thought Juvenal. 
“Scilicet arguitur quod leva in parte mamille,” &e. (vii, 159.) 
er 
