Book excerpt: Excerpt from Text-Book of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology At the present time the duties Of the coroner are chiefly to hold inquiry into the cause of death when there is any reason to doubt that death resulted from natural causes. When death results from natural causes, and under ordinary conditions, the medical attendant is bound, under a penalty of forty shillings, to certify as to the cause. The registrar of deaths accepts such a certificate when accompanied by oral testimony given by a person who was present at the time of death, and issues a certificate accordingly, authorising the interment of the deceased. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.