TUANSACTIONS OV TIIK SECTIONS. 217 



France is to record still-birtlis in the death register, and tliis course, I apprehend, 

 is approved of by some medical practitioners and others in our own country. But 

 I venture to recommend a different plan. 



" It will perhaps he alleged that the events in question must be regarded as either 

 births or deaths, and registered accordingly ; i. e. either in the bu-th or in the death 

 register. If the question is to be thus limited , I should incline to prefer the hirth 

 to the death register, iuasnmch as a stiU-birth caimot be scientifically regarded as 

 a true death ; and is, indeed, more of a birth than a death. But it does not appear 

 to follow that still-bu'ths should find their way into either the birth or the death 

 register. For many reasons, a separate register, specially prepared for the purpose, 

 would be the best aiTangement — to be transmitted from time to time to the Gene- 

 ral Registry Office as its pages are filled, and not annuaUy as in the case of the 

 duplicate registers of births, deaths, and marriages. It appears to be quite unne- 

 cessary that such register should be kept in duplicate ; and at the end of every 

 quarter the number of still-births would be reported by the Registrar in his return 

 of births, deaths, and marriages. As to the form of the register, I would propose 

 that it should embrace the following particulars : — 



" 1. Number of the entry. 



"2. Sex of child. 



" 3. Date and place of birth. 



" 4. Age of child in months and days, from date of conception. 



" 5. Number of the mother's pregnancy, whether first, second, &c., and whether 

 she has had any previous still-born children. 



" 6. Names, ages, and designations of the parents, and the date of their mar- 

 riage. 



" 7. Signature of the informant. 



" 8. Date of registration and signature of Registrar. 



" As to the age of the child, probably considerable difficulty v,-ould be experienced 

 in ascertaining this particular. _ The precise period of conception, and consequently 

 of gestation, cannot be determined by the date of intercourse, and the real dura- 

 tion of pregnancy is, of course, the interval between conception and parturition. 

 In most cases, however, a sufficiently near approximation to the truth would pro- 

 bably be attained. 



" As to the party who should sign the register as informant, this might be tlio 

 duty of the medical practitioner or other professional person in attendance ; and 

 where no such person was in attendance, the nearest female relative of the mother, 

 being of full age, present at the birth. Another course would be for the medical 

 attendant to transmit to the Registrar, as in the case of a death, on a form sup- 

 plied for the purpose, a certificate relative to the still-birth, the event beino- re- 

 corded under the provisions of the statute applicable to births generally (17 & 18 

 Vict. c. 80, § 27). In lieu of the extract furnished to the informant of a living 

 birth, in terms of the 37th section of the Registration Act, the Registrar should 

 be required to give a burial certificate, analogous to that furnished to the informant 

 of a death {Ibid. § 44). It is to be feared that imder the existing state of aii'airs, 

 many still-born children are interred not in cemeteries, but in back greens, water- 

 holes, quarries, and such like places, being treated as brute-beasts and not as hu- 

 man beings. 



"The ."ubject appears to be a very important one, and I humbly comnieiul the 

 suggestions which I have ventured to offer to the favoui-able consideration of 

 statists, philanthropists, and the medical profession." 



On certain Cases of Questioned Ler/itimacy binder the Operation of the Scottish 

 liegistrution Act (17 Sf 18 Vict. c. 80). By Geoege Seton, Advocate, M.A. 

 Oxon., Secretary in the General Registry Office of Births, ^t. (Scotland). 



"It i3 a wise father that knows his own child." — (Merchant of Venice.) 



This paper had reference to the subject of adulterine bastardy. After alluding 

 to the well-known legal presumption which assigns the status of legitimacy to a 



