Medical Jurisprudence, Volume 1 (of 3)

This volume brings together a leading physician and a seasoned barrister to map the relationship between medicine and law in Victorian Britain. It first examines the authority and duties of medical bodies—physicians, surgeons, apothecaries—and the legal obligations that accompany their practice, including public health, quarantine, and the handling of the dead. The authors blend scientific observation with statutory interpretation, offering clear guidance on how contagion and epidemic control were understood in the courts.

The book also explores medical evidence in personal law, covering marriage, divorce, and the legitimacy of children. It discusses physiological causes of impotence and sterility, the legal status of hermaphrodites, and criteria for determining recent childbirth and permissible interventions such as Caesarean sections. Additional sections assess mental illness, identify feigned diseases, and consider environmental nuisances that affect public health. Its systematic, case‑by‑case approach makes it a useful reference for historians, legal scholars, and medical professionals.