801COMPARATIVE INSENSIBILITY OF ANIMALS TO PAIN.

one man to faint, will be borne by another without

blenching, and there would even seem to be variations inthe capability of bearing certain kinds of injury; for whilstllegroes will batter each other’s heads with blows that would

probably prove fatal to a European, but which does them,partly on account of their thick hair and dense skull littleharm, yet a blow on the abdomen, or even it is said a cutwith a cane, which would cause little more than temporaryinconvenience to the European, is seriously depressingor even fatal to them. We may reasonably concludethat if such great variations exist in the human subjectthey would be still more apparent in animals. That

animals are conscious of pain there can be little doubt; norcan we doubt that there are great differences in the suscep-tibility to pain in different animals. The touch of a

whip which will make a dog howl, and a thoroughbredhorse to quicken his pace, will apparently be unfelt by anass. Again, some animals seem to be susceptible to acutepain in certain parts, while they scarcely feel pain in

others. A horse or cow will soon feed after a fracture

of the leg, but an attack of colic or of peritonitis atonce prostrates them, causes them to emit cries and groans,and entirely takes away the disposition for food. That

.some of the insensibility of the lower races of mankind isdue to a much reduced number of sensory nerves seems to

have been proved by late researches, but we are not awarethat any observations have been made on the relative

number of nerve fibres in the nerves of animals as comparedwith man, though such a research would unquestionably bevery interesting. It is often thought that muscular move-ments show that pain is experienced, but every physiologistis well aware that violent movements can be excited havinga tendency to withdraw the part irritated from the cause ofirritation without the least perception of pain on the partof the animal. This is most conspicuous where the spinalcord is divided ; the contact of a hot spoon with the sole ofthe foot will cause the leg to be violently drawn up, thoughneither in animals nor in man is there under such circum-

stances the slightest consciousness of pain. Cries againafford little information in regard to the endurance of pain,and indeed seem rather to be associated with the emotion

of fear, as is shown by the circumstance that many animals’caught in a trap will utter no sound, though severelylacerated, whilst they immediately emit cries on the

appearance of the hunter. Dr. COLLIER adopts this view,and argues, we think, very strongly in favour of it. He

points out that amongst the lower races of men the insen-sibility to pain is extreme, and refers to an examplegiven in the Spectator a few months ago, when a corre-spondent related the fact that on the introduction of bootsinto New Zealand the vanity of the natives was so greatthat when one of them was happy enough to becomethe possessor of a pair, and found that they were

too small, he did not hesitate to chop off a toe or two,stanch the bleeding by covering the stump with a littlehemp, and then force the feet into the boots. Dr. COLLIER

points out that animals are not liable to shock, and henceafter the severest injuries will continue to feed as thoughnothing had happened ; that many animals, as crabs, willthrow off an offending limb; and that most animals die indeadly conflict or under the occurrence of sudden wounds,when evidence derived from man shows that little or no

pain is experienced. Mr. ROWELL has accumulated in

his" Essay on the Beneficent Distribution of the Sense ofPain" a series of remarkable cases, showing the very lowsensibility of even the higher animals. He gives, for

example, the case of a post-horse, which was runningbetween Botley and Evesham, when it came down withsuch violence that the skin and sinews of both the fore

fetlock joints were so cut that on its rising the bones camethrough the skin and the feet turned up at the back of thelegs, the animal walking on the ends of the leg bones. It

was placed in a field till permission was obtained for

having it shot, and the next morning it was found quietlygrazing, with the feet and skin forced some distance up theleg bones. Dormice, rats, and even monkeys will nibble

away their own tails, and an old hyaena kept in the Jardindes Plantes at Paris had its leg broken, and one night bit offthe leg at the broken part and ate iu. It must be remem-

bered, too, as Mr. ROWELL has pointed out, that pain hasits beneficial aspect, being a guard against injury and acheck to excesses; the high sensitiveness of the lips inman, for example, preventing the introduction into the

stomach of food or fluids at too high a temperature, andthe pain of pleurisy or of pericarditis preventing the suf-ferer from taking any violent exercise. We are quite inaccord, however, with Dr. COLLIER, in thinking that abelief in the small amount of pain experienced by animalsshould not make us less careful in our dealings with them,but should strengthen our belief in the mercy and benevo-lence of the Creator, and should increase our pleasurein studying their habits and movements.

Annotations." Ne quid nimis."

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF THE QUALIFICATION OFL.S.A. PROCURED SINCE 1886.

WE publish in another column a communication furnishedus by Mr. Upton, the respected solicitor of the Society ofApothecaries. It is meant to define exactly the legal signifi-cance of the licence of the Apothecaries’ Society since andunder the Act of 1886. Prior to the passing of that Act anapothecary was qualified to practise only in medicine. Thelicence did not cover the practice of surgery or midwifery.In truth, there was no examination in surgery. Now,however, all that is altered in accordance with those pro-visions of the Act of 1886 which required-first, that noperson should after a certain date be registered in theMedical Register who was not possessed of a qualificationin medicine, surgery, and midwifery; and, secondly, thatthe Medical Council should appoint examiners to assist inand complete the examination of any corporation which,after due endeavours, had failed to combine with any othercorporation; so that henceforth its examination should bea test in the three branches of medical practice, and itslicence should cover all the three branches. The Societyof Apothecaries, and the sister Society in Ireland both tookadvantage of these provisions, and so saved themselves asqualifying bodies. This is the meaning of Mr. Upton’sletter. There is no change in the letters L.S.A. in the

qualification column of the Register, following the namesof those possessed only of this diploma ; but the lettersof the title acquired since the Act of 1886 came into forcehave a threefold signification, and imply as much qualifica-tion as the law requires.

802

SURGEON-GENERAL MARSTON, C.B.

THE Gazette of the 15th inst. intimated the retirementfrom the active list of the Army Medical Staff of Surgeon-General Marston, C.B. During the last thirty years Dr.Marston has done good and meritorious service as an armymedical officer, and has filled with distinction several im- ’’

portant appointments. In 1873, while employed at head-quarters, he drew up all the details connected with the fit-ting up of the Victor Emmanuel hospital ship for servicewith the expedition to Ashanti, with most satisfactoryresults. In 1877, as medical member of a committee

appointed by the Secretary of State for War, he drew upthe dietary for military prisons which is now in generaluse. In December of that year he was appointed secretaryto the Principal Medical Officer of the British Forces in India,in which capacity he had to prepare the scheme of field hos-pital organisation which proved so successful in the Afghanwars. He was also member of a committee appointed toconsider the steps to be taken for the withdrawal of thetroops from Afghanistan after the treaty of Gundamak, inconsequence of cholera having made its appearance on theCabul-Khyber route. For these services he was favour-

ably mentioned in general orders, and was appointedhonorary surgeon to the Viceroy. In 1882 he was

appointed sanitary officer to the Egyptian Expedition,was present at the battle of Tel-el-Kebir, and was

promoted to the rank of Deputy Surgeon-General. He

subsequently held the appointment of Head of theStatistical and Sanitary branches at the Army MedicalBoard, and was nominated a member of the commissionappointed to inquire into the education afforded by theQueen’s Colleges in Ireland. In 1887, at a very short

notice, he delivered a course of lectures on MilitaryHygiene to the probationers and medical officers at

the Army Medical School at Netley, during the illnessof Professor De Chaumont. In the autumn of the

same year he was sent by the War Minister as the

Army medical delegate to the ninth InternationalMedical Congress held at Washington. His valuable reportof the proceedings was published as an official document bythe Government (vide THE LANCET, March 17th, 1888). In1888 he was sent to Egypt as Principal Medical Officerof the British forces serving there, and organised the medicalarrangements connected with the contingent sent to Suakimunder Sir F. Grenfell. On his promotion to the rank ofsurgeon-general, he was transferred to Gibraltar, from whichhe has returned to retire from the service. In addition tomuch useful official work, Dr. Marston has contributedsome excellent papers to the Army Medical DepartmentReports. Of these we would only specify a Report onthe Fevers of the Mediterranean, in the volume for 1861;on Cerebro-spinal Meningitis, 1866; on Cholera, 1878;Enteric Fever, 1879; Sanitary Report of the EgyptianExpeditionary Force, 1881; and in 1884 a descriptionof huts designed by him for Suakim and hot climates.We cannot but think that the Army Medical Servib hassustained a great loss in Dr. Marston’s retirement, but,wetrust it may be a gain to the profession by enabling him toturn to good account the experience he has gathered in hisvaried service.

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DEATHS UNDER CHLOROFORM.

AT an inquest recently held the particulars were given ofthe death of a child aged six years, who succumbed tochloroform at the Victoria Hospital for Children. Thechild was admitted for treatment of disease affecting theleft hip-joint. He had taken chloroform successfully upontwo previous occasions, but on the day upon which theoperation was to be performed the boy died, after havinginhaled the anaesthetic for fifteen minutes. A post-mortem

examination was held, and the medical officer is reported to,have said that there was fatty degeneration of the heart,

liver, spleen, and kidneys. The above record illustratedthe fallacy of two popular beliefs-first, that a personwho can take chloroform with impunity upon one occasionwill subsequently enjoy an immunity from danger; and,.secondly, that children, who proverbially take chloroformso well, are less liable to fatal accidents from its effects.than are adults. In the case in question the open methodappears to have been adopted, and a careful watch kept.upon the child’s respiration and pulse; but in spite of this,respiration and cardiac action stopped, and although means.of resuscitation were adopted they failed to save the boy’slife. Visceral degeneration is so commonly associated withchronic joint and bone disease that it is preferable, wethink, in ansesthetising a child having such a maladyto select either a mixture of ether and chloroform,or employ ether in succession to nitrous oxide gas.As was shown years ago by Pollock and WarringtonHaward, the youngest children take ether well whenthat agent is properly manipulated. With regard to.

prolonged operations upon very young children, the

chilling effects of ether vapour is a decided drawbackto its use, but to meet our requirements in these cases.

we have the mixtures upon which to fall back. Evenwhen nitrous oxide cannot be given, and the child struggles.against ether, a few inspirations of a dilute chloroform

vapour will lessen the irritability of the fauces and larynx,and allow the subsequent exhibition of ether without diffi-culty. There have now been so many deaths of childrenattributable to chloroform, that it seems time the anaestheticin question should not continue to occupy the position it.has hitherto held of being the routine agent of producinganaesthesia in young people.Almost before the ink is dry with which we record

the above fatality, the report arrives of the death ofa woman in a Dublin hospital to whom it was proposedto administer chloroform as a preliminary to amputationof a thumb. It appears before she was fully anaesthetisedshe collapsed and died. The jury’s finding that "thedeceased died from fatty degeneration of the heart" doesnot carry us very far. There has always been a strangefatality about minor operations conducted under chloro-form, so that it is hard to understand why, in a casesuch as that before us, the anaesthetic selected shouldbe the confessedly more potent and perilous chloroform,rather than ether. The most thoroughgoing opponents.of ether recognise that its bad effects, whatever they maybe, are only shown when considerable quantities are taken,and the operation is a very prolonged one.

STREET IMPROVEMENTS.

MR. DouBTjEDAY, of the London County Council, has beenmaking an ingenious calculation of the cost of narrow streets"which leads him to some very striking conclusions. For

example, he contends that the delay to the vehicular trafficconsequent upon the congested state of the Strand represents.a money loss at the rate of upwards of 47,000 a year. The

novelty and ingenuity of this argument cannot be denied;,nor, again, can the soundness of his ultimate conclusion besuccessfully assailed. But we are not at all equally clearthat his immediate inference is altogether irreproachable.Indeed, he appears to us to have lost sight of the factthat widened streets imply extended areas, and conse-

quently that it may well happen that the improvement ofsuch a thoroughfare as the Strand in the way of increasing its.breadth may add more to the distance of an average business.

journey than it deducts from the delay in making it. Butif we suggest a doubt as to the soundness of Mr.

Doubleday’s very plausible argument it is not because we

803

have any desire to resist his conclusion. On the contrary,it seems to us that it would be difficult to overstate the im-

portance of such improvements as he discusses. The exces-sive traffic through a narrow way which such a thoroughfareas the Strand exhibits is unwholesome both for body andmind. The turmoil and struggle are distressing to the nervesand destructive of serenity. The turbid atmosphere stirred intoomnipresent eddies is laden withgerm-infecteddust, while thenarrow and tortuous channel prevents the free circulationof fresh air, and the high buildings shut out the fitful sun-light. These are faults which it is well worth a liberal outlayto correct, and their correction would be an unalloyed andindisputable gain. We think therefore that there are goodgrounds for carrying out such work as Mr. Doubleday re-commends without regard to his perhaps questionablearithmetic, and we are glad to see that the London CountyCouncil is addressing itself to this kind of undertaking.We trust that the considerations which have led to thedeferment of this topic at the present time will have nomore than a temporary application.

HYPNOTISM RETAIL AND WHOLESALE.

HAPPILY for the credit of the profession, the facts of thehypnotic state are pretty widely known and appreciated. Ahalo of mystery, a spice of the unknown, a faint suspicion ofdalliance with occultism, render the so-called science of

hypnotism a refreshing and acceptable change to the over-wrought mind of the hard-working medical practitioner,and he is not backward to show his appreciation byjoining societies at which hypnotic seances are held, orin other ways to keep himself att courant with the matter.But he is not always able to see between the lines andsift the science from the chicane. Against alike all thebest feelings of humanity and the ethics of professionaletiquette are " show exhibitions " of hypnotic phenomena,when the unknowing public are invited to attend uponpaying an entrance fee. As well might the operatingtheatres of our hospitals, or the wards where our hystero-epileptics are treated, be made a focus for public attention,and afternoon receptions given, the proceeds of paymentbeing of course given to " a charitable object." But we reachthe climax of undesirability when the " charitable object" bethe promoter of the show, whether he call himself " experi-mental director," "professor," or what not. Hypnotism, if inany way a remedial agent, belongs to the therapeusis ofregular practitioners, and so falls within the scope of existingsocieties, such as the Neurological, Clinical, and Psycho-logical, and so there can be no raison d’être for a concernsuch as is proposed under the aggressive title of the

" Magnetic and Hypnotic Society of Great Britain"; andwhen we state that the " experimental director " has heldpublic performances, we need hardly offer further argu-ments against a concern which cannot be deserving of thesupport of scientists or the public.

SALE OF FOOD AND DRUGS ACT.

A VERY trivial error in a certificate given by a publicanalyst was a few days ago the cause of an unfortunatecollapse of proceedings under this Act against a dairyman ifor the sale of diluted milk. It is, no doubt, well thatgreat circumspection should be used about the infliction of Ipenalties, and it is right that a tradesman accused of in-fringing the provisions of the statute should have thebenefit of carefully devised machinery for protecting himagainst false charges or the untoward consequences ofoflicial mistake. But, precisely on that account, it isthe more important that the utmost care should be

exercised by public officers and others who have the

conduct of proceedings in a matter of this kind to i

avoid such a mishap as occurred the other day at theBath City Police-court. A local milk dealer was, as

we have said, charged with selling diluted milk, andwhatever may have been the merits of the case, his defencewas rested upon the narrow ground that the public analysthad entered the name of a Mr. Montague in his certificateas that of the person who had delivered to him the samplefor analysis, whereas he should have entered the name ofGosling in this document. Mr. Gosling is Mr. Montague’sassistant, and Mr. Montague, having effected the purchaseand sealed up a sample of the milk in question, sent it bythe hand of Mr. Gosling to the public analyst. For all

ordinary purposes, therefore, it would be held that whatMr. Gosling had done in the capacity of agent to Mr. Mon-tague had been done by Mr. Montague himself, and it isclear that the error of inserting Mr. Montague’s name inplace of Mr. Gosling’s did not in the smallest measure affectthe merits of the case. Nevertheless, it was held by themagistrates to be a good objection, and the charge wasaccordingly dismissed. The moral would seem to be that

public analysts must be as careful about the formalities oftheir procedure as about the substance of their analyses.

TUBERCULOSIS.

DR. GREFFIER (La France ltTedicccLe, Nos. 115 and 116),writing upon recent researches in tuberculosis, alludes toseveral papers on this subject read at the recent HeidelbergCongress of German Physicians and Naturalists. In thecourse of a discussion Professor Rindfleisch declared thatthere were two different bacilli in phthisis, and that he hadobserved that the bacillus met with in miliary tubercu-losis differed in thickness from that found in phthisis. But,as Dr. Heller pointed out, such differences may arise inthe same sputa examined at intervals of a few days ; andDr. Greffier is doubtless correct in regarding this notion asinsufficient on which to restore the doctrine of duality ofphthisis. Dr. Bollinger finds that dilution of the milk oftuberculous cows deprives that tluid of its infective property,whether the dilution be made with water or with themilk from healthy animals. If this be so, then it is a

point in favour of obtaining milk from large dairies, andalso should check the practice of consuming milk takenfrom one cow alone, and unmixed with that from others.Yet it was found that not even a dilution of 1 in

100,000 destroyed the virulence of bacillary sputa.The subjects of heredity and contagion in respect to

the transmission of phthisis were also discussed. Dr.Aufrecht held that the former was much more importantthan the latter, and declared that he had never met with,either in hospital attendants or in private practice amongstmarried persons, a single undoubted example of phthisisbeing communicated by contagion. On the other hand,Dr. Heller said that cases of phthisis did arise in hospitals;he had seen cases of croupous pneumonia which, insteadof resolving, passed into caseation which he attributed tobacillary infection. In the Section of Hygiene, Dr. Sonnen-berger, in a paper on the Risks of Bringing up Infantson Cow’s Milk, declared that the number of 11 tuberculous "

(perlières) cows in certain parts of Germany averaged 60 percent., and that in Paris the mortality of infants attributableto the consumption of such milk was frightful. Otherdrawbacks to the use of cow’s milk lay in the fact thatcertain vegetable poisons mingled with the food of theanimal may appear in the milk. He especially pointed tothe feeding on grains or bye-products of alcoholic fermenta-tion as liable to render milk poisonous and to account forgastro-intestinal catarrhs in children. Dr. Schottelius findsthat inhumation of tuberculous viscera does not, even afterthe lapse of a year and a half, destroy the bacilli or notablyimpair their virulence.

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THE DEATH UNDER NITROUS OXIDE.

THE record of so unusual an event as a fatality underthis anaesthetic has, through the medium of the daily press,received a widespread circulation, and has produced muchalarm and dread of the gas. Now that the facts are fullyknown, it becomes our duty to allay what at best are ground-less fears, and to remove the slur which rests upon nitrousoxide gas, as well as to reiterate that we believe nitrousoxide to be practically without danger if only patients, aswell as administrators of the gas, would take a few simpleprecautions. The patient whose sad death we recorded ina preceding issue was seventy-one years of age, she wassuffering from advanced fatty degeneration of the heart,and was fully aware of her condition. Although shebreakfasted at nine in the morning, and the teeth were notremoved until noon, digestion appears to have been whollysuspended by the intense terror she experienced at the

thought of submitting to the operation. She repeatedlytold her daughter that she " knew she would not survivethe operation." Added to the full stomach, and the extremeapprehension, both conditions liable to tell against even ahealthy, much more a fatty heart, the patient wore a verytight corset, so tightly indeed was she laced that it wasfound difficult to remove the stays even by slitting up thelaces with a knife. Although it would appear the dentistwarned the patient to loosen whatever she had on whichwas tight, she merely loosened the neck wraps, leavingthe more important corsets tightly laced. As soon as

nitrous oxide was commenced to be inhaled, the dentistnoticed that respiration was insufficient, and urgeddeeper inspiration. Doubtless this weak breathing wasdue to the tightness of the clothing. When eventuallythe patient became unconscious, two teeth were removedand a hole drilled into the antrum, giving vent to pent-upsecretion. Then the patient suddenly changed colour,became livid, while respiration and heart action ceased, itis believed, simultaneously. During the subsequent per-formance of artificial respiration the undigested contents ofthe stomach were voided. There seems little doubt in thiscase that the impairment of respiration from tight lacing,along with distension of the stomach, told upon a heartitself badly diseased and weakened by the fear to which thepatient had given way, and the most melancholy resultfollowed. There can be no question that when any knowndegeneration of the heart muscle exists the recumbent orsemi-recumbent posture should be adopted, as can easilybe accomplished in a dental chair, and corsets removed andall waistbands and strings loosened. Where fear exists inthe patient’s mind, it is important to avoid a full stomach ;a cup of beef-tea or a basin of bread-and-milk shouldform the meal preceding the operation. Reviewing all thecircumstances of this most sad fatality, there is, we think,no reason for going back from the position which modernanaesthetists have occupied, that nitrous oxide is not onlythe safest anaesthetic we possess, but that when it is

circumspectly given it is practically free from danger,save in cases of very advanced disease of the heart or lungs.

CONFECTIONERS’ DISEASE.

DR. RODIGUEZ MENDEZ, Professor of Hygiene in theMedical Faculty of Barcelona, has just published in anew Spanish journal, La Medicina Precetiect, some notesof a case of a peculiar affection of the fingers and nailswhich appears to have been due to the patient’s trade,that of a confectioner. Poncet of Paris, and Albertin ofLyons, have also observed the existence of this affectionamong those who are engaged in the calling of a con-fectioner. Dr. Mendez’s patient was a man about fortyyears of age. When seen first every finger on both hands

was affected, but not to the same extent. The worst wasthe middle finger of the right hand ; here the anterior partof the nail was thickened and flattened, so that it had theappearance of a spatula, which is one of the signs noted byAlbertin as occurring in his cases ; the base of the nail wascovered by a swollen portion of the soft parts which wasnot adherent to the nail, and which was of a bright-redcolour with fissures as well as ridges on its surface. In itthere were a number of minute abscesses, from the openingsof which little beads of pus could be made to exude bypressure. The disease was evidently a combination of

onychia with paronychia, and it was a remarkable

point in the history of the case that the man hadsuffered in a similar manner, only much less severely,some years before, when he first practised the tradeof a confectioner, and that when, for some cause totallyunconnected with his malady, he had given up the trade,his fingers quite recovered. After a time he again took tothe trade, but was at first engaged in making pastry andarranging the ornaments, during which time his fingersremained quite well. As soon, however, as he began towork on marrons glacées and on crystallised fruit his fingersbegan to become sore just as they had done in former times.There could be no doubt that the affection was due to theimmersion of the hands in hot and cold syrups and the

rubbing in of sugar, which, according to Remy and Broca,has the property of causing the tissues to become gan-grenous. Dr. Mendez suggests that in this way openingswere made by which pyogenic micrococci obtained access.His treatment consisted in washing the parts with a boraciclotion and wrapping them in boracic cotton wool. Of coursethe patient was enjoined to discontinue working at his trade.

ENTERIC FEVER AT BALRANALD, N.S.W.

THIS outbreak, which has been made the subject of avery exhaustive report prepared by Dr. J. Ashburton

Thompson, occurred in a small and isolated bush township con-taining a population of 670, of whom no less than 120 sufferedfrom enteric fever and 15 died. Every consideration callingfor investigation is dealt with in detail, and by a process ofexclusion water comes at last under grave suspicion; muchof the material on which this view is based being the out-come of some very careful investigations made by Dr. G. L. L.Lawson, the district government medical officer. The main

water-supply is derived from the considerable river onwhich the township lies, but rain tanks had recentlybeen filled by the rainfall of January, and at that seasonof the year these tanks afford a much cooler and moreattractive beverage than that supplied by the river. One

special tank seemed associated with the outbreak.

Amongst 124 persons known to use this tank water, therewere attacks at the rate of 33’8 per cent.; amongst theremainder of the population the attacks, which numbered47, were at the rate of 9’4 per cent. But amongst thelatter there occurred a number of secondary attacks, and,quite apart from households known to use the tank

water, it was incidentally drunk by other unknown persons,and it was supplied to at least one store where it was keptfor customers, and also to two hotels, where it was used inthe bars and at table. Under these circumstances, itbecame very difficult to eliminate all sources of error, andto assign every case occurring during the period precedingthe secondary attacks absolutely to the tank water; but thegeneral weight of the evidence is strongly confirmatory ofthe view taken by Dr. Thompson and Mr. Lawson. As tothe means of pollution to which the tank may have been sub-jected, there was unfortunately but little doubt; and whatwith neighbouring cesspits, overflows, together with therecent filling up of part of an adjoining basement withearth, and this after the occurrence of several cases of fever

805

in the house, it can hardly be doubted that means existedby which specific poisoning of the tank water can havetaken place. Much pains have evidently been bestowedupon the report, and the perusal of it can hardly fail toassist in educating the people as to the extreme danger ofallowing any such conditions to prevail in their midst aswill subject their domestic water-supplies to the risk ofcontamination.

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THE HOUSING OF THE WORKING CLASSES.

THERE are probably few Acts of Parliament more complexthan those which deal with the improvement of the housesoccupied by the poorer portion of the community, and thisis especially unfortunate, seeing that the constitution ofthe London County Council gives promise that the existinglegal powers for effecting this improvement will be morefully exercised than heretofore. An effort to make theseActs more intelligible is therefore very welcome, and forthis reason we have pleasure in calling attention to anadmirable little book on the powers of the London CountyCouncil in regard to the housing of the working classes, byMr. William Chance, Barrister-at-law. This work has the

advantage of discussing the whole subject with great clear-ness in the small compass of some sixty pages. Mr. Chancehas selected especially as the texts of his argument thoseprovisions which are the most obscure, and thus the readeris able to learn with little trouble the view which an

experienced counsel takes of the intentions of the Legis-lature. There is one point upon which we are disposed todiffer from Mr. Chance-viz., the power of the London

County Council to exercise, upon the report of its ownmedical officer of health, the powers which devolve upon itin the event of the default of a vestry or district boardto carry out the provisions of Torrens’ Acts. We may,perhaps, be misunderstanding him, and he may be assumingthat the Council and the vestries and district boards are

arranging by agreement for the making of the services ofmedical officers of health appointed by the former bodyavailable in the districts of the latter boards. There is noindication of this at present. We commend the book to allwithin the metropolitan area interested in the subject,feeling convinced it will serve to relieve them of much ofthe difficulty that has hitherto stood in the way of a clearconception of the intention and powers of these Acts.

HYPERPYREXIA IN HYSTERIA. ITHE Centralblatt für Klinische Medicin translates from

a Danish medical journal a notice of a case of hysteria witha rise of temperature to 113° occurring in the practice ofDr. Lorentzen. The patient was a nervous woman, whoafter an attack of haemoptysis suffered from severe dyspnoeawith cyanosis and temporary asphyxia several times duringthe night; after the attack the patient lost consciousness forsome time, and was then anxious and inclined to hallucina-tions. During the next two months she had, without anysigns of phthisis, repeated attacks of haemoptysis, with arepetition of the symptoms connected with the respiratoryorgans, added to which there was retention of urine. The

temperature varied for three days from 103° to 104:° F.; onthe fourth day at noon it rose to 113°. Dr. Lorentzenfound the patient without any other symptoms of inflam-mation, but slightly delirious; the temperature an hourafterwards had fallen to 108°, and in the evening it was1063°. The next day, after some paroxysms of dyspncea,the temperature rose again to 113°, but fell in an hour to99-5°. It varied in the next few days from 101-3° to 103-1°,and then became normal. The author considers the hæmo-

ptysis without the slightest lung affection as neuropathic,and the rise of temperature as hysterical, as there was noorganic disease, and the respiratory disturbance was typi-

cally hysterical. It may be remarked that Teale found the

temperature in a hysterical patient 122°, and Wunderlich109’4° (Archiv der Heilkunde, vol. eex.).

THE REDRESS OF CHILDREN’S GRIEVANCES.

SOME instructive notes on the working of the Act forPreventing Cruelty to Children are contained in the Octobernumber of the Child’s Guardian. One of the lessons to belearned from these reports is the necessity of coupling withany fine proposed the alternative of imprisonment. Anumber of the cases dealt with under the Act have beenthose of children belonging to poor and dissolute parents,to whom any but the smallest payment would be an impos-sibility. The abuse of child insurance is deservedly exposed.Its evil influence on the death-rate during infancy might beeffectively met by applying the remedy here quoted from acontemporary-namely, that any claim should be dischargednot in money, but by providing for needful funeral arrange-ments. There is difficulty in some cases in getting childrenwho have been cruelly treated to give evidence against theiroppressors. The testimony of one boy when called as awitness of his father’s ill-usage of him proved, either fromfear or some filial regard, probably the former, to be a meretissue of prevarication. In certain cases also magistrateshave had some difficulty in applying the Act. Thus a few

days ago a question of liability which is vested by the Actin the child’s temporary custodian remained unsettled be-cause a bench of magistrates were unable to decide betweenthe responsibility of a father at sea and a mother at hand.Sometimes the Child’s Guardian is needlessly severe, as, forexample, when it refuses to make allowance for errors ofignorance in infant feeding, and critically censures a jurybecause it showed in this particular a sensible degree ofmoderation.

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OPEN-AIR TRAVEL IN CONSUMPTION.

DR. H. 1. BOWDITCH of Boston (Med. News, Sept. 28th)read an interesting paper before the American Climato-logical Association to prove the value of open-air travel "asa curer and preventer of consumption," basing his remarksupon the records of a journey taken in 1808 by his father,then thirty-five years of age, and threatened with that

disease--cough, haemoptysis, anaemia, diarrhcea, generalmalaise, fever, and debility being the indications. In thisstate of health he started with a friend on a tour throughNew England in a one-horse chaise. After the first day’stravel-of twenty-five miles-he was so exhausted, and hadso much hsemoptysis, that he was advised to return " todie," but he courageously pushed on, and every day broughthim improved health. The benefit thus received made himresolve thenceforward to take daily regular open-air exer-cise ; and when in 1838 he died, at the age of sixty-five, fromcarcinoma of the stomach, one lung presented "evidencesof an ancient cicatrix at its apex, both being otherwisenormal." Dr. Bowditch also states that his father marriedhis cousin, who died of chronic phthisis in 1834. Of eightchildren, two died (at the age of eleven and at birth respec-tively), but all the others are either now living or arrived atadult life and married, and of the ninety-three direct de-scendants of his father not one is phthisical. This, Dr. Bow-ditch thinks, must be largely attributed to the above-namedjourney, and the subsequent careful regulation by his fatherof his own health and that of his offspring. We may appenda few of the practical remarks which Dr. Bowditch deducesfrom his own family experiences :- For my own part, Ifully believe that many patients now die from want of thisopen-air treatment. For years I have directed everyphthisical patient to walk daily from three to six miles;never to stay all day at home unless a violent storm beraging. When they are in doubt about going out, owing to

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* bad weather,’ I direct them to ° solve the doubt, not bystaying in the house, but by going out.’ A cloudy day, or amild rain, or the coldest weather, should not deter them. Ifthe weather be very cold, let them put on respirators beforeleaving the house and be thoroughly wrapped in properclothing for the season. I direct them never to stand still and

gossip with friends in the open street, as by so doing they aremuch more liable to get a chill than while walking. Hence,summer and winter alike, my patients usually get plentyof fresh air uncontaminated in a great part, at least, by theprevious breathing of it by themselves or by other occupantsof the house. This course, I believe, might be pursued inany part of our common country. I am certain that I knowof patients who have become well and able to attend thebusiness of life under this course. May we not also attimes send our patients over short distances in open

vehicles, instead of thousands of miles off in ill-ventilatedcars to an entirely different climate? Have any of us ever

sufficiently tried this open-air journeying at home, so tospeak-that is, in the region of the country where thepatient lives, wherever that may be?" There is soundcommon sense in these words.

STARVING SCHOOL CHILDREN.

THE report prepared by a special subcommittee of theondon School Board upon the problem of providing foodor the destitute children who are collected in the elementary;hools of the metropolis will draw public attention to one the most valuable channels of philanthropic effort. Theork of supplying wholesome food in sufficient quantity to

the children of the poor is one that has the merit not onlyof alleviating present and severe distress, but also of

redounding to the future advantage of the recipients andthe State. It is quite impossible that starving childrencan derive any adequate benefit from the instruction

provided for them, so that from the point of viewof the teacher it is of prime importance that his pupils’hunger should be appeased. Otherwise his labour will be,in large measure, thrown away. But it is not on this

ground only, not even on this ground chiefly, that thewisdom of this form of charity is to be vindicated: The

privations of childhood are responsible for much of theincurable misery of after-life; and the great principlethat "prevention is better than cure can have no morestriking exemplification than is afforded by the sequelaeof an insufficiently nourished childhood. Hence, the bene-factions which take the form of providing food for thechildren of to-day are conferring an incalculable benefitupon the manhood and womanhood of the coming genera-tion. It is, however, .made very clear by the com-

mittee’s report that the vices which commonly attach tounorganised and sporadic effort are abundantly exhibitedby the arrangements at present in operation for supplyingthis need. Thus, after enumerating the principal societieswhich are doing this work, the report states that "in somedistricts there is an excess of charitable effort, leading toa wasteful and demoralising distribution of dinners tochildren who are not in want, while in other placeschildren are starving." It is to be hoped that the stateof things thus indicated will not be suffered to continue.The work which these voluntary societies have so worthilycommenced is one that, both by its magnitude and

delicacy, demands the best efforts of those who undertakeits administration. On the other hand, the vast aggregateof 50,000 children who are daily sent to school in want offood presents a problem which by its magnitude rebukesthe errors, however venial in themselves, of overlappingactivity and disorganised effort which result in the wasteof energy and of material, whilst the serious if somewhatinsidious danger of pauperising the children and their

parents will cause a wise philanthropist to walk very cir-, cumspectly in this way. Altogether, therefore, it seems,

to us that the argument in favour of consolidating thesubsisting organisations and placing them under the controlof a strong central committee is irresistible, and we hopethat the very well considered scheme which has receivedthe subcommittee’s endorsement will commend itself tothose whose co-operation is necessary to its success.

THE BLOOD IN PHTHISIS AND CANCER.

DR. G. NEUBERT (a France Méd., No. 118, fromSt. Petersb. Med. Woch., No. 32) has examined the blood intwenty-four cases of phthisis at various stages, and foundthat in nine the number of corpuscles was normal, in threeit was above, and in twelve more or less below, the average.On the whole, there was an average diminution of about8 per cent. The increase noted in three cases might perhapsbe attributed to profuse night sweats. The hæmoglobinshowed a reduction to 73 per cent. in the females and 85 percent. in the males. There was no notable change in thenumber of leucocytes, but it was observed that multi-enucleated forms predominated. In five cases of cancer ofthe cesophagus and four of cancer of the stomach there wasan invariable diminution in the number of red corpuscles,and also notably of hæmoglobin. It is inferred that the

haemoglobin, being the more " sensitive element of redcorpuscles, is more profoundly affected in cachexia than thestroma of the corpuscles. A distinction was made betweenthe ansemie and marasmic types of cancer, the latter

exhibiting an average reducuion of 13 per cent. of corpuscles,whilst the haemoglobin fell to 87 per cent. of the normal ;the former showing a corpuscular reduction of 35 per cent.;whilst the haemoglobin was as much as 70 per cent.

SANITARY WORK IN ISLINGTON.

THE Islington Vestry, on the report of their medicalofficer of health, Dr. Meymott Tidy, have ordered thedemolition of nineteen dwelling-houses in Nelson-place,Holloway, and Aston-buildings, Holloway-road. One vestry-man is reported to have said that he had found all thehouses thoroughly rotten; not a closet was in repair, andthe stench in some of them was fearful; the closets and thecisterns were inside the filthy living rooms. Another

vestryman said he was a practical builder, and knewsomething of the places. Sixteen years ago he had to lookat them in the way of business, and then said they could notpossibly be put into repair. The brickwork was a completesponge, and the places were soaked through by every rain-storm ; if the lot of them were given him to-morrow, hewould pull them down in a week. We are glad to be ableto report that the decision of the vestry was unanimous, andthis augurs well for the sanitary administration of the parish.It would be well if Acts of Parliament were administeredwith the same vigour throughout the metropolis.

, UNIVERSITY OF SYDNEY.’

THE authorities of the University of Sydney are aboutto endow, with other professorships, a Challis chair of

Anatomy. The salary of the new professor will be at therate of £900 per annum, but without any participation inthe lecture fees, which is surely an unwise restriction inthe interests of a growing institution. He must devote hiswhole time to the duties of the office, and will not beallowed to engage in, private tuition or practice, or in anyprofession or business, except with the consent of the

Senate, and his salary will commence from the lst of Maynext. Applications must be made to the Agent-Generalfor New South Wales before the 19th inst.

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SWIMMING AS A PART OF SCHOOL TRAINING

SOME have impeached the administration of the Board ofEducation on the ground that it offers, practically withoutcost, instruction in studies which are not essential to themaintenance of an efficient average of national intelligence.Accomplishments, it is argued, not without reason, may bepurchased by those who value them without the expenditureof public money. No such objection, we feel certain, couldproperly be urged against the incorporation of a fairly exten-sive system of physical exercise into the ordinary schoolwork. True, in its general application, this assertion is

particularly true in its reference to the art of swimming. Asa form of gymnastic movement, and an aid to cleanli-

ness, it is alike valuable, especially to children attend-

ing town schools. As our principal safeguard against therisk of drowning it is simply indispensable. It is, further,most easy to learn, and once learnt is never forgotten. Wehave therefore observed with much satisfaction a growingtendency not only in Board schools, but in schools generally,to include the teaching of swimming in the regular courseof education. The latest advance in this direction is a verydecided one taken by the School Board of Aston Manor,Birmingham. It consists in a resolution to erect swimming-baths for the benefit of the scholars, and the project, it

appears, has been approved by the Education Department.Into the financial ethics of this new departure we need not- enter. In many districts, happily, no such extensivereform would be required in order to secure the end in view.Public baths are to be found in many inland towns, andmight at set times be utilised by the school children. Forothers educated at the coast no such provision is required.What is in every case necessary is that swimming shouldbe recognised in the regular educational course, and taughtby competent persons (who might hold some other officebesides) to every boy and girl.

DEATHS FROM PARAFFIN LAMPS.

ON the 9th of this month two inquests were held in Liver-pool in regard to deaths occasioned by paraffin lamps. In onecasetheold mistake was made of trying to extinguish the lampby blowing down the chimney. The mixture of hot air and

vapour in the cistern were ignited and a man was burnt todeath. In the other case a woman went to sleep with alamp burning near her bed. It is said that during the nightthe lamp exploded and set fire to the bedding, and this timealso a life was sacrificed. The causes of such accidents andthe conditions of danger have repeatedly been explained,but as ignorance is still rife and fatal disasters still occur

very frequently, it is necessary from time to time to repeatthe lessons. First, then, let it be remembered that

petroleum oil -for it is almost certain that foreignpetroleum and not the artificially made paraffin oil wasused in the lamps--contains naturally a good deal of thelight, volatile, and easily exploded oil known commonlyas petroleum spirit. An Act of Parliament directs thatthis spirit shall be properly removed before the oil is soldin shops, and a vigilant supervision should at all times beexercised over the oil offered for sale to the unsuspiciouspublic. But this supervision is too often eluded or

neglected ; and if the facts are correctly reported therecan be no doubt that, at any rate in the second acci-dent, and probably in the first also, the oil usedwould not have satisfied the Parliamentary test. Ifthe oil had been examined, the " flasli point "-that is,the temperature at which a miniature explosion followsthe application of a light to the oil-would almost

certainly have been found to be too low. The spontaneousexplosion of a mineral oil lamp is fortunately not a commonalthough by no means a novel phenomenon. It points un-

mistakably to the use of an oil the sale of which is

dangerous and illegal. As to the other disaster, it is

foolish, dangerous, and totally unnecessary to put out alamp by blowing down the chimney. When the wick isturned down to a certain point, very easily found, theflame flickers and goes out in a minute or two. Butthe dangers of mineral oil lamps are by no means con.fined to the two which were illustrated by the latedeaths. An oil lamp should never be carried about,and if, as often happens, it be a small and unstable one,it should stand on a safe shelf or table, where there isno chance of its being upset. In the mean time, wecommend to the authorities of Liverpool and other townsand villages the importance of a frequent examinationof the oil sold in such enormous quantities in the shops.The use of mineral oil has increased rapidly of late, and hasbrought with it a great boon to the poor as well as the rich.But this renders it only the more necessary that vigilantcare should be exercised in regard to its quality. We seethat the Birmingham Watch Committee have decided tocall the attention of the Home Secretary to the dangersattending the storage of petroleum in shops. They arequite right, but we trust that, pending their petition, theyare using the powers they already possess by scrutinisingthe quality of the oil which is stored.

EPIDEMIC OF PEMPHIGUS.

AN epidemic of pemphigus has recently occurred amongstyoung children in Brussels, sixteen cases having beentreated in the Hospice des Enfants Assistes under the careof Dr. Max. The ages of the subjects varied from two daysto thirteen months. The eruption generally affected thethighs and abdomen, sometimes other parts of the surface,but never the palms of the hands or the soles of the feet.Red patches were first seen, and upon these there soon

appeared bullse, varying in size from that of a lentil to thatof a walnut. Their number was usually inversely propor-tional to their size and to their age, and their contents,which were quite clear, did not.become purulent exceptwhere the general health of the subject was bad. Thecases ran a mild course, and were treated by pricking thebullae and dusting them over with starch powder or sub-nitrate of bismuth. A starch bath was also given daily.No case of the transference of the affection to an adult was

observed, though it has been demonstrated by Vidal andby Colzat that adults can be inoculated successfully fromthe liquid in the bullæ, and a special bacillus has beendescribed by Gibier. -

CHEMISTS AND THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.

THE ancient grumble against the practice of prescribingby chemists has recently been revived in New Zealand, andhas followed familiar lines, and elicited the usual argu-ments in favour of and against the custom. The Medical

Association of New Zealand brought forward a MedicalPractitioners Bill which, amongst other things, providesfor the imposition of a heavy fine upon anyone who, notbeing a registered medical practitioner, " practises for gainor uses the designation’ ’consultant."’ Matters were not

improved when, in reply to remonstrances from the phar-macists, it was explained that the Bill was mainly directedagainst "quacks." So long as general practitioners con-tinue to dispense their own medicines these misunder-

standings are certain to arise, and chemists will claim toprescribe common and simple remedies for what theydesignate trivial ailments. In many cases, doubtless, thepatient may recover, but whether on account of the remediesemployed, or because the counter diagnosis was correct, isat least open to doubt. The due recognition of the trivialor serious nature of a malady is not a matter of indifference.

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The vis medicatrix naturce may often be trusted, and the Ichemist may be relied upon not to give dangerous doses;but in spite of these two comforting reflections, there isstill an element of danger. Faith healing is beneficial

occasionally, but it is not to be trusted too implicitly.

THE USURPATION OF HOSPITAL TITLES.

TllE French medical press has found it necessary to issuea protest against the usurpation of titles by medical men,a protest which is perhaps not unneeded on this side of the ,,

Channel. It seems that a good many practitioners are fondof describing themselves as ex internes des hûpitaux, whichis about equivalent to styling oneself " formerly housesurgeon (or house physician) to a London hospital." Insome cases these men have never been internes or even

externes-a class somewhat equivalent to our senior or fulldressers or clinical clerks,-and have never had the temerityto compete for these appointments, which are all given aftera competitive oral examination styled a C01WO’W’S. In othercases they have really been internes, but only in the pharma-ceutical department of one of the great hospitals, or perhapsin the wards of some workhouse or other infirmary in Parisor in the provinces, where the competition is not very severe,or where, as in some cases, the appointments are obtained byinterest. Another way by which practitioners sometimes en-deavour to impose on their patients is by describing them-selves as hospital physicians, and in order to give colour tothe statement these gentlemen tell their patients to addressletters to them at such-and-such a hospital, making it " allright," of course, with the porter, and ostentatiously drivingup to the door and letting their carriages be en evidence inthe court-yard. This reminds us of a well-known storyof a cheap dispensary practitioner near London who, itwas related, after a " chronic studentship, succeeded inpersuading the somewhat lenient examiners of a certainlicensing corporation that he was fit to be entrustedwith the lives of Her Majesty’s subjects, but who never-theless was firmly believed by many of his patients tohave the sole charge of his old hospital every Sunday. Itis difficult to suggest any legal means which would put astop to the assumption of titles by unauthorised persons,and it is probably hopeless to expect.

THE SEAMEN’S CONGRESS AND THEIRGRIEVANCES.

THE first annual Congress of the Amalgamated Sailors’and Firemen’s Union of Great Britain and Ireland was heldat Cardiff last week, when about sixty delegates, represent-ing some 70,000 seafaring men, drew public attention toimportant subjects bearing upon the sanitary environmentof seamen afloat, specially to the case of firemen and coaltrimmers, a class who are practically the backbone in thesteam department of our British Mercantile Marine, uponwhose physical health, efficiency, and "staying powers" theengineers anxiously rely for maintaining the high rate ofspeed of our modern steamships. The grievances ofthis class may be thus briefly summarised :-Defectiveventilation of firemen’s rooms when situated on a lowerdeck near the hot machinery; when located on the upperdeck the absence of steam apparatus for warmth and dry-ness ; often no arrangement for drying their wet clothes else-where than in their rooms, or by hanging them in a positionexposed to the eyes of passengers, objected to, and properly so,by the commander ; bath-rooms for personal cleanliness arethe exception instead of the rule ; their duties too often ex-ceed the regulation four-hour watches, the strain of an

extra two hours acting injuriously on their health ; thatthe attention of the ship’s surgeon being mostly confined tcpassengers, he is not only discouraged in any inclination

to inspect their rooms, but is only sent for there to see afireman too ill to walk to the surgery; the surgeon, more.

over, is often young and inexperienced. These complaints,we are assured, are based upon facts, and we trust that onepractical result of the Congress will be improved sani-tation aboard, and on the part of the Seamen’s Union asupply of healthy, sober, and efficient firemen.

JAMES PRESCOTT JOULE.

FEW greater or more successful workers in science haveever lived than he who died at Sale on Friday, the llthinst., after many years of infirm health. It is too soon to

appraise the full value of his discoveries, but this much iscertain, that the name of Joule will take a place in thehistory of science parallel with, and in honour hardly in-ferior to, those of Dalton and Darwin. It may almost besaid that Joule made physics an exact science. Such a,statement would, of course, be paradoxical, for many goodworkers preceded, accompanied, and followed him. In his

greatest work, the determination of the mechanical

equivalent of heat, Joule was not wholly original,for that wonderful genius, Meyer of Heilbronn, aprovincial physician, had very shortly before, and un"known to the English physicist, worked out the mainconclusions on paper from theoretical considerations. Butall this detracts nothing from the glory of Joule, who,by the most patient and intelligent labour, did the workand fixed the equivalent, which is now the starting-pointin so many studies in physics, chemistry, and biology. Inthe lustre of Joule’s greatest achievement his minor dis.coveries may possibly be overlooked. Fortunately, the

Physical Society of London have recently collected and

printed his works, so that their full value may easily beestimated. In some of them he was associated with Sir

Lyon Playfair, who has given to statecraft a mind whichwas meant for science.

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THE MEDICO-PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION.

AN examination for the certificate in psychologicalMedicine, given by the Medico-Psychological Association.will be held in December. Candidates intending to presentthemselves for examination are requested to apply for par-ticulars, and give fourteen days’ notice in writing (unlessunavoidably prevented), to either the general secretary ofthe Association, Dr. Fletcher Beach, Darenth Asylum,.Dartford ; the secretary for Scotland, Dr. Urquhart,Murray’s Asylum, Perth; or the secretary for Ireland, Mr.Conolly Norman, Richmond Asylum, Dublin, accordingly asthey desire to be examined in London, Edinburgh, orDublin. The exact date of the examination and further

particulars will be announced in due course.

DIPHTHERIA.

DR. T. G. ROBINSON of St. Louis, in a paper on Diph-theria read at the Association of American Physicians,.concludes that this disease is acutely infectious, doubtlessdue to a living organism (microbe), the exact identity ofwhich cannot yet be regarded as settled; that it is primarilylocal, the system being generally infected secondarilythrough absorption of poison generated at the primaryseat of inoculation ; that the contagium may be trans-ferred in a dry state through air for limited distances, iafoul clothing, and in polluted food and drink, especially milk.Until the problem of the conditions favourable to the-

growth and development of the germs is solved, and theirlife history and habitat are understood, no " definite plancan be formulated for the arrest of the contagium, nor for

I the hopeful treatment of the disease." He points out thatL although often not strictly a filth disease, nevertheless

809

certain kinds of filth-as the ordure of animals, and notablythe refuse of cowsheds and dairies-afford favourable con-ditions for the culture of the diphtheritic germ.

HOT-AIR INHALATIONS IN PHTHISIS.

AT the recent meeting of the Association of AmericanPhysicians (Med. News, Sept. 28th), Dr. Trudean reportedthe results of the treatment of four cases of pulmonarytuberculosis by Weigert’s method. Clinical evidence didnot show any appreciable result, and no effect was producedby the method either in diminishing the number of bacilliin the sputa or impairing their virulence, as tested byinoculation.

-

A " MUTUAL AUTOPSY SOCIETY."THE death of General Faidherbe, who was one of its

members, has brought this curious Society somewhat pro-minently into the light. Its existence is not a thing verygenerally known, although its origin is by no means ofquite recent date. According to M. Laborde, the vice-

president, who has recently been explaining the objects ofthe Society to the public, it was founded because up to thetime of its foundation the opportunities of making post-mortem examinations were almost entirely confined to

hospital physicians, and even then they made the examina-tion on subjects about whose previous history, outside theirmedical one, very little or nothing was known. But, therebeing an intimate relation between the structure of the brainand its functions, the members of the " Mutual AutopsySociety" hold that very little real scientific progress willbe made until it is possible to study the brains of persons Iipreviously known either by their deeds or by their works.The members therefore formed themselves into this Society,which addresses itself to everyone having the interests ofhumanity and science at heart, as well as to those who,having been useful during life, have the laudable ambitionto be useful after death. Enrolled as members are several

ladies; and amongst the remarkable men whose brains havebeen examined by the Society are Gambetta and Broca. Thethird convolution in the great orator’s brain was anticipatedto be well developed, and, as a matter of fact, it was foundpost mortem that this convolution so intimately associatedwith speech was much more developed than is generallythe case, even in intelligent men.

DIPHTHERIA AT UXBRIDGE.

WE learn that diphtheria has become persistently prevalentat Uxbridge, and that the local authority and their officershave, as yet, been unable to ascertain the cause of it. Bysome it is suggested that insuction into the water mains istresponsible for the outbreak; but water pollution, whetherbuy an occasional or a, permanent cause, cannot often becredited with the spread of diphtheria. Application hasbeen made to the Local Government Board for an inquiry ’,mto the subject, and the visit of a medical inspector hasbeen promised.

-

"COMPULSORY VACCINATION."IN our issue of last week under the above heading, we

commented on statements made at a recent meeting atGuildford. We said that the audience was told that inSheffield during the last small-pox epidemic, "eight cases,nurses and attendants in a hospital, who had all beenrevaccinated, occurred, and there were two deaths." " Wethen proceeded to show from Dr. Barry’s report that thestory as to Sheffield was without foundation. We havemow received a letter from Mr. Alfred Milnes, M.A. Lond.,F.S.S., stating that this event occurred at Perth, andasking us to withdraw our statement. He encloses a copy

of the Surrey Advertiser and County Times of Oct. 5th,which contains a report of his address and which showsclearly enough that Mr. Milnes referred to an outbreak inthe Perth Infirmary and not to any occurrence in Sheffield.We therefore owe Mr. Milnes an apology, and desire tostate that our comments were based upon a report ofhis address in the West Surrey Times of Oct. 5th, whichreported him as follows: "In Sheffield, where the per-centage of vaccinated persons was 95, between March andDecember, 1887, there were 2728 cases of small-pox. Eightcases, nurses and attendants in a hospital, who had allbeen revaccinated, occurred, and there were two deaths."At the present moment we are not in a position to discussthe accuracy of his story in its relation to Perth, but wemay do so on a future occasion.

APPOINTMENT OF MEDICAL OFFICER OFHEALTH AT WOOLWICH.

OWING to some oversight in the legislation of the past,Woolwich has hitherto been in the rather curious positionof being under no obligation to appoint a medical officer ofhealth. Now at last the local authorities have been com-

pelled to do as their neighbours do, and so they are pro-posing to appoint a medical officer at a salary of 9100 ayear, which, as such appointments go, may be regarded asa fair remuneration, considering the limited area of thetown and the fact that a large part of it is under the chargeof the military authorities, who usually appoint one oftheir most efficient medical officers to perform the "sanitaryduties." The principal practitioners of Woolwich have

petitioned the Local Board to appoint some gentleman whois not in practice in the locality, but who is fully acquaintedwith the conditions under which practice is carried on.

THE NEW ENTRIES.

THE following is a list of the fresh entries for the currentwinter session (1889-90) at the various medical schools fromwhich returns have been received, together with a columngiving the totals for the winter session of 1888-89, forpurposes of comparison.

-. -

* Students for the Preliminary Scientific Examination are not countedas students of this hospital. † No return.

TUBERCULOUS MEAT.

THE recent decision at Glasgow respecting tuberculousmeat has naturally occasioned increased vigilance on thepart of meat inspectors, and has already caused in Sheffielda movement among butchers to attempt the establishmentof some definite rules for the condemnation of the flesh oftuberculous beasts. It is contended that when the affectedanimal is in the early stage of the disease the meat cannotbe considered unwholesome, although this contention, how-ever, did not find favour with the experts examined atGlasgow. This view was, indeed, expressed by a deputationof the Sheffield Butchers’ Association to the Health Com-

10 T

mittee on the 10th inst., which requested that the medicalofficer of health in the examination of carcases of suspiciousquality should act in conjunction with a jury of three

butchers, and a veterinary surgeon appointed by them.After hearing the deputation the committee adjourned theconsideration of the question until its next meeting.

CASEINE.

AN investigation that adds to our knowledge of thenature of a substance of physiological as well as of chemicalimportance, such as the albuminoid body caseine, cannot failto be full of interest. Hlasiwetz and Habermann sometime back obtained leucine, tyrosine, glutamic acid, asparticacid, ammonia, and a viscid uncrystallisable liquid by treat-ing caseine with stannous chloride and strong hydrochloricacid. Since then E. Drechsel has turned his attention tothe uncrystallisable liquid so obtained.1 He has found that

by treating this liquid with phosphotungstic acid a pre-cipitate is produced. This was washed with dilute sul-

phuric acid, heated with baryta water, and filtered. Theclear filtrate, after removing excess of barium, was thenevaporated with hydrochloric acid. In this manner he gotthe hydrochloride of a strong base, having the formulaC7HHN202C12. This yielded when treated with chloride ofplatinum long reddish-yellow prisms of the platinochlorideCHNPtClg+4HO. Platinic chloride gave also withthe mother-liquor from the hydrochloride above a platino-chloride which, as may be seen from its formula,CSH16N 202 Pt Cl6, is homologous with the first.

PROFESSOR JOHN MARSHALL.

WE are glad to learn that Professor John Marshall,President of the General Medical Council, has quiterecovered from his recent indisposition. It will beremembered that Professor Marshall was prevented by asomewhat severe cold from delivering his introductoryaddress at the sessional opening of the School of Pharmacy,the address being accordingly read on his behalf by Pro-fessor Attfield.

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INFECTIOUS DISEASES IN SALFORD.

THE want of accommodation for infectious diseases in

Salford, together with the existence of overcrowding in theWilton Hospital, is causing a good deal of feeling in theborough, and the Working ialen’s Sanitary Association havenow taken up the question, and have passed a resolutioncondemnatory of the present state of affairs. Probablysome temporary arrangement will at once be made for theisolation of the excess of diphtheria and scarlatina patients;but we trust that after the present experience no furtherdelay will occur in proceeding to complete adequate per-manent accommodation for the borough infectious cases.

FOREIGN UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

- BM-.PgsA.—A special examination was recently held,by direction of the Minister of Education, for the purpose of"Nostrificating" " the Edinburgh M.D. held by Dr. JohnBrodie, who is engaged in attending the workpeople of acompany in Nagy-Bnya. As the candidate was not

acquainted with the Hungarian language the examinationwas conducted with the help of a sworn interpreter. The

subjects included were Surgery, Medicine, Forensic Medicine,and Hygiene, and the examination seems to have been

entirely oral. Dr. Brodie satisfied the examiners, and wasgranted the ad eundem, degree of the University, this beingthe first instance in which such a circumstance has occurred.

Usually any foreigner desiring to obtain an Austrian

1 Journal für Praktische Chemie [2], vol. xxxix. pp. 425-429.

medical degree is required as a preliminary step to becomean Austrian subject. It is not stated that this conditionwas insisted on in the present instance.

G6ttingeit.-The new surgical clinic in the Ernst-August,Hospital has just been opened.Heidelberg.-Dr. Fritz Bessel-Hagen, whose researches in

anthropology are well known, has been raised to the rankof Extraordinary Professor.

Z<MM<MM<c.&mdash;Dr. Bourget of Geneva has been appointedProfessor of Materia Medica and Therapeutics.Zg. - Dr. Fraipont has been entrusted with the

theoretical and clinical lectures on Midwifery. A gooddeal of discussion has recently taken place concerning themedical arrangements connected with the University.Amongst other matters there seems to be a great want ofteachers of clinical specialties, and, on the other hand, a,

redundance of surgical and medical assistants, includingseveral chefs de clinique, who are said to be superfluous.Comparisons are freely drawn between this, which is 6" State University," and Brussels and Louvain, which arefree universities, these latter institutions being, as it wouldseem, better provided with clinics and clinical teachers.Munich. -An Extraordinary Professorship of Clinic0i

Medicine and another of Inorganic Chemistry is to be

founded, and a Pharmacological Institute established.The last is to cost about E1500.

DEATHS OF EMINENT FOREIGN MEDICAL MEN.THE deaths of the following eminent foreign medical men

are announced:&mdash;Dr. Emil Zeising, Assistant Physician inthe Dermatological Clinic, Breslau.-Professor Nagous ofLyons, who was, together with a Sister of Mercy, stabbedby a patient upon whom he was about to operate, and who,not being as fully under the influence of chloroform as was,supposed, was so enraged at the touch of the knife that hesnatched the instrument, and before he could be stoppedhad plunged it into the hearts of the unfortunate professorand the sister in attendance. The Courts will have to-

decide how far the man was morally responsible.

THE Library of the Royal College of Surgeons of Englandwill be kept open until 9 P.M. for the remainder of the year.There has been a wish expressed by various members of theprofession that the Library might be available for a longertime during the day, and the Council agreed at the quarterlymeeting held on Thursday, the 17th inst., to keep it openfrom 11 A.M. to 9 P.M. Should sufficient readers availthemselves of the advantages thus offered, the hours willprobably remain as thus changed.

CESENA, in the Romagna, not far from the Adriatic sea-board, is now a health resort, in which the resources of theplace for mineral baths and for the "climatic cure" areintelligently and carefully utilised in a well-appointedestablishment. Year by year Italy is availing herself ofher natural advantages for such institutions, in pursuanceof the movement initiated ad hoc at Bologna, and continuedat the thirteenth congress, which lately concluded its

sittings at Padua. -

THE next meeting of the Royal Medical and ChirurgicalSociety will, as announced in our advertisement columns, beheld on Tuesday, the 22nd inst., at the Society’s new house,20, Hanover-square, in a portion of the library temporarilyadapted for the purpose. -

Or the 557 members returned at the recent generalelections to serve in the French Chamber of Deputies, 48are doctors of medicine, 4 are druggists, 1 is a dentist, and1 a veterinarian.

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