This paper has, at least, the quality of the unusual. It is a protest from a criminologist of repute against the holding of post-mortem examinations in cases where the cause of death can be inferred with reasonable probability from other evidence. The author is particularly opposed to the provision of the Prussian law which requires autopsies for legal purposes to be performed by two doctors in the presence of a magistrate. The grounds of objection appear to be partly sentimental and partly economical. If such a thing were conceivable about a German professor, one might suspect a ponderous jeu d'esprit.