Note 515 — POWERS AND DUTIES OF CORONERS AND MEDICAL EXAMINERS.

County of Fayette v. Batton, 108 Pa. St., 591. It appeared in this case, that nineteen persons came to their death suddenly and almost simultaneously by an explosion of fire-damp in a coal-mine. The coroner held a separate inquest over each body at the respective homes of the deceased, qualifying the same jury separately over each body, and the inquest returned a separate finding in each case. It was held that this was the necessary and proper course to pursue under the circumstances, and that the coroner was entitled to the legal fees in each case. In Boislinieu v. Board of Co. Commissioners, 32 Mo., 375, it was held that the coroner is the sole judge as to the propriety or necessity of holding the inquest, and his action in that respect is not subject to revision by the county commissioners, and he is entitled to fees under the statute notwithstanding the verdict of the coroner’s jury discloses that the deceased died of a natural death, and not by casualty or violence.