84 MAJOR W. McADAM ECCLES^ M.S.^ M.B.^ F.R.C.S.^ R.A.M.C., ON 



carelessness. An example is as follows :• — A man passes through 

 an open lift-well gate and falls to the bottom of the well, and is 

 killed instantly. His death is said to be from an " accident." 

 It was, however, occasioned by culpable negligence. The lift- 

 well gate should only be capable of being opened when the lift 

 is level with the gate ; no one should have left the gate open, and 

 the man who passed through the open gate should have looked 

 where he was going. 



Therefore, " accident " as a cause of death may be classified 

 as : — 



(a) An act of God." 



(b) Unintentional accident. 



(c) Intentional accident. 



(d) Gross carelessness. 



Death by Act of God." 

 Death caused by a so-called act of God "is said to occur 

 in the circumstances when human lives are lost by a ship founder- 

 ing in a terrific gale, or when a man is struck dead by lightning. 

 Whether it is right thus to attribute death to the Almighty 

 may be open to dispute, but it is a type of unforeseen death 

 over which finite man has little if any control. 



Death by Unintentional Accident. 

 A certain number of deaths occur in civilian life by uninten- 

 tional accident, that is, occur purely accidentally. A good 

 example of such a death is from drowning while bathing, cramp 

 seizing the swimmer. But death thus occasioned must be looked 

 upon as being uncommon. In war the number of deaths from 

 this cause goes up by leaps and bounds. A man happens to be 

 in a certain spot and a bullet strikes him dead by traversing his 

 heart ; if he had happened to be ten yards away, he would 

 still be alive. A body of men happen to be over a mine just at 

 the time it is exploded, and half of them are killed, the other half 

 escape. A torpedo strikes a ship ; those actually within the spot 

 struck are killed, all the others on board are saved, and so on. 

 Deaths from wounds may, of course, be dependent upon other 

 causes than the actual missile, as will be discussed later. 



Death fkom Intentional Accident. 

 This is only another name for suicide. A man deliberately 

 ends his life by a revolver shot. His death is accidental though 

 premeditated. He would not have died then were it not for 



