Note 107 — Chapter XXIV · Dysuria, Enuresis, and Retention of Urine.

In the first volume of the “American and English Encyclopedia of Law” there is an interesting account of a young child (who had been bound out by the parish officials) who murdered his little bed-fellow and, on trial and conviction, was sentenced to be hanged, but who was reprieved by royal favor on account of his tender years, the sentence being changed to imprisonment for life. The little fellow was only eight years of age. On the trial the boy said he was driven to commit the crime because the other child soiled the bed. The two children being both paupers, it may well be imagined that their bedding was none of the cleanest at the best, or that their bed-room had the best of ventilation. As at the time the murder was committed English paupers were not treated in the most humane manner, it is not surprising that a nervous, sensitive child would, under such a combination of circumstances, be converted into an insane murderer.