The atlanto-occipital distance is the major factor which limits extension of the head on the neck. It varies widely in the population at large. When the posterior tubercle of the atlas is already in contact with the occiput in the neutral position, attempts to extend the head result in anterior bowing of the cervical spine, and forward displacement of the larynx. This may be a cause of difficult laryngoscopy.

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From time to time questions are asked about the origins and history of anaesthetic and postoperative recovery rooms. Early accounts of the use of these facilities, and their introduction into hospital planning, are reviewed.

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On 17 May 1902, at the age of 48, after a brief illness, pneumonia, Athelston Braxton Hicks, coroner for the SouthWestern District of London and the Kingston District of Surrey, died.1 He was the son of the eminent obstetrician and gynaecologist, consultant to Guy's and St Mary's Hospitals, whose name is still attached to the irregular painless uterine contractions that occur during pregnancy.2 Originally he had been intended for the medical profession, and had been a student at Guy's for several years. He had been called to the bar in 1875, had been coroner for 17 years, and deputy before that. He had performed good public service in many ways. He had secured the regulation of the licensing of small boats, and of the sale of carbolic acid. He had campaigned against the evils of baby farming, and for fireguards in homes where there were small children. He was an authority on coroner's law, had been a very distinguished secretary and vicepresident of the Coroner's Society, and had served on the Joint Committee of the British Medical Association and the Coroner's Society. "Though a member of the legal profession", in the words of his obituarist, he had taken a great interest in medical questions affecting his office. Many coroners and doctors attended his funeral, and the Medical Defence Union was represented. Had the term carried its present-day connotation, the Association, which was campaigning for the appointment of medically qualified coroners, might well have described him as "one of us". His successor, Mr John Troutbeck, was quite a different kettle of fish. Coroners and the Law By the beginning of the nineteenth century the courts and the local justices had taken over so many of the functions of the coroner that his office seemed to be in terminal