a
confession is an important point in China, since substitutes are
easily procurable at as low a rate as from 20 to 50 pounds a life.

The duties of a Chinese coroner are by no means limited to _post
mortem_ examinations; he visits and examines any one who has been
dangerously wounded, and fixes a date within which the accused is held
responsible for the life of his victim.

"Murders are rarely the result of premeditation, but can be
traced, in the majority of cases, to a brawl. The statute which
treats of wounding in a brawl attaches great weight to the 'death-
limit,' which means that the wounded man be handed over to the
accused to be taken care of and provided with medical aid, and
that a limit of time be fixed, on the expiration of which
punishment be awarded according to circumstances. Now the
relatives of a wounded man, unless their ties be of the closest,
generally desire his death that they may extort money from his
slayer; but the accused wishes him to live that he himself may
escape death, and therefore he leaves no means untried to restore
his victim to health. This institution of the 'death-limit' is a
merciful endeavour to save the lives of both."

One whole chapter is devoted to a division of the body into vital and
non-vital parts. Of the former there are twenty-two altogether,
sixteen before and six behind; of the latter fifty-six, thirty-six
before and twenty behind. Every coroner provides himself with a form,
drawn up according to these divisions, and on this he enters the
various wounds he finds on the body at the inquest.

"Do not," say the Instructions, "deterred by the smell of the
corpse, sit at a distance, your view intercepted by the smoke of
fumigation, letting the assistants call out the wounds and enter
them on the form, perhaps to garble what is of importance and to
give prominence to what is not."

The instructions for the examination of the body from the head
downwards are very explicit, and among them is one sentence by virtue
of which a Chinese judge would have disposed of the Tichborne case
without either hesitation or delay.

"Examine the cheeks to see whether they have been tattooed or not,
or whether the marks have been obliterated. In the latter case,
cut a slip of bamboo and tap the parts; the tattooing will then
re-appear."

In cases where the wounds are not distinctly visible, the following
directions are given:--

"Spre