134 T

FROST-BITTEN SEAMEN.

The steamer Rydal Water, of Liverpool, arrived in theTyne last week with two seamen very severely frost-bitter.while on the passage from New York, which port they left orDec. 18th last. They say that on the day the vessel left sh(was covered with ice, and that the spray from the sea n(sooner fell upon the crew than it was frozen. The sesswept over the vessel with great force, one wave broke thebridge, and the ship was hove to for three days during thEpassage, which lasted twenty days. Both men are severelyinjured in their feet and hands, and have been admittedinto the borough hospital, North Shields.

POISONING BY FLUORIC ACID.

An inquest was held last week on the body of a youngservant girl who had been living at Tudhoe Grange, nearDurham. It seems that on Sunday evening she drank aquantity of fluoric acid, which was used by her master forstaining glass. Soon after she took the poison she told thechildren to tell their mother. Dr. O’Hanlon was soon inattendance, using the stomach-pump and all other means,but his efforts were unavailing, and she died in greatagony in three hours and a half after taking the acid. Thejury, in giving their verdict, expressed the opinion thatsuch a deadly poison should have been kept under lock andkey. It appears to have been left in a cupboard.

THE CARRIAGE TAX.

An important meeting was held here last week on thesubject of the carriage tax, the speakers showing its

pressure on the medical profession, the trade, and the

general community.Newcastle-on-Tyne, January 14th.

SCOTLAND.

(From our own Correspondent.)

SCOTCH UNIVERSITY STATISTICS.

THESE statistics have some interest in view of the agitation at present going on in London for the establishmenof a teaching university there. The matriculation returnfor Edinburgh show these results :-The aggregate numbeof students matriculated during the year being 3401, a

against 3396 on the register of the previous year. Theswere divided between the different faculties as follows :-Faculty of Arts, 1064; Divinity, 113; Law, 500 ; and Medi-cine, 1724 ; the percentage composition being : in Facultyof Arts, 31’2 per cent.; Divinity, 3’2; Law, 14’7; and Medi-cine, 50’67 per cent. The entries in the register show thatof the 1724 students in the latter faculty, 689, or 39’4 peicent. were from Scotland; 605, or 35’1 per cent., from Eng-land, 44, or 2’6 per cent., from Ireland; 104, or 6’3 percent., from India; 247, or 14’3 per cent., from the differentBritish colonies; and 34, or 1’9 per cent., from foreigncountries. The following is an analysis of the respectiveages of students attending the university :-Under sixteenthere are 14 students, or equal to 0’41 per cent.; betweensixteen and twenty-one, 1573, or 45’7 per cent.; betweentwenty-one and twenty-six, 1401, or 41’2 per cent.; be-tween twenty-six and thirty-one, 317, or 9’3 per cent. ;between thirty-one and thirty-six, 64, or 1’9 per cent.; andbetween thirty-six and forty and above forty, 16 in each,or equal to 0’47 per cent. The register of members of theGeneral Council for the past year has just been completed,and shows an increase of 237, the number enrolled being5158, as against 4921 on the last register. In Glasgow thereis a slight, but very slight, falling off in the number ofmatriculated students, the number being 2091, as against2115 last year. In the faculty of Medicine, however, there is aslight increase, the figures being 557, as against 536 last year.

HEALTH OF GLASGOW IN 1884.

Dr. Russell reports that during 1884 there were 13,929deaths registered, a rate of 27 per 1000, being 1 per 1000below the rate of 1883, 1 above the average of the five yearsimmediately preceding, exactly the same as the average ofthe ten years 1874-83, and 4 per 1000 below the average of theten years 1864-73. Dr. Russell remarks that, high as thedeath-rate of 27 is, if we examine the records of theRegistrar-General for 1855, when his office was instituted,we shall find that from that date to 1879 the death-rate of

Glasgow never fell so low in any one year; and that onlyin four years of the 29 during which we have had a Regis-tration Act in operation, has it been lower than 27. In.

appreciating our present position it is always necessaryto remember what our death-rates have invariably beenuntil within the last few years. In these comparisons Ihave adhered wholly to the Registrar-General’s rates, whichhave, since the census, been based on a population belowthe reality. According to my estimate of the population,the death-rate last year was 25½. During the past fortnightthe death-rate in Glasgow has been very high, 36’8 per 1000.The proportion of deaths under five years to the total

mortality rose to the extreme figure of 52z per cent., thisenormous child mortality being due to the coincidentincrease of measles, whooping-cough, and scarlet fever.

It is announced that Professor G. H. B. Macleod ofGlasgow has been chosen a Foreign Corresponding Memberof the Académie de Medecine of Paris. He has also beenasked to accept the office of President of the Section ofSurgery at the approaching meeting of the British MedicalAssociation at Cardiff, but has not been able to accede to.this request.

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IRELAND.

(From our own Correspondent.)

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN IRELAND.

SEVERAL important alterations in the SupplementaCharter were agreed to by.the Fellows at a special meetingheld last week; among the rest being the admission o:

women to the Fellowship as well as Licence of the CollegeThe proposer of this latter resolution, I am informed, dicnot intend to include the word "Fellow" in the clausfadmitting them to the Licence in Surgery; but on a

division being taken an amendment removing the word" Fellow was lost by about four votes. There was a gooddeal of confusion at the time the division was taken, and Iam convinced that several Fellows who did not wish toallow women to the higher qualification, but had no objec-tion to their being admitted Licentiates, voted on the wrongside by mistake. The meeting was not so large as mighthave been expected; probably only about fifty Fellows werepresent at the proceedings, and not quite forty votes were re-corded on any division. The result of this resolution will bethat when it becomes law women will not alone be eligiblefor the Fellowship, but, when Fellows, can be candidatesfor places on the Council, for examinerships, and for variouschairs established by the College, and, lastly, can fill the-office of president when elected to that honourable position.

ACADEMY OF MEDICINE IN IRELAND.

A special general meeting of the Academy will be held onSaturday, the 17th inst., to consider the following resolutionspassed by the General Council :--1. " That it is expedientbhat a fixed salary shall be paid yearly to the generalsecretary of the Academy, in consideration of the fact thatthe editing of the Transactions is part of his duties.". "That the salary of the general secretary shall be fixed atE100 a year." 3. "That the following be nominatedHonorary Fellows of the Academy:-Sir James Paget,.Theodor Billroth, Professor Virchow, Professor Pasteur,?rofessor Charcot, Dr. Austin Flint, Dr. Keith, ProfessorSchroeder, Professor Kölliker, Sir Joseph Lister." 4. " Thatt be recommended to the Academy that application be madeo the Government for accommodation in the new science,nd art buildings."

SCHOOL OF PHYSIC, TRINITY COLLEGE, DUBLIN.At a meeting of the medical students of this institution,

Leld on the 9th inst., it was unanimously resolved to form aolunteer corps on the lines advocated by Surgeon-Majorwatt. It is expected that the latter gentleman willhortly visit Dublin and give a lecture on the subject.

DUBLIN ORTHOPÆDIC HOSPITAL.

The committee of this institution have made arrangements,)r holding a grand fancy dress ball for the benefit of theospital, there having been a large outlay consequent onioving to the present premises in Brunswick-street. Theall has been fixed for the second week in February, andill be held under distinguished patronage.

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CORK-STREET FEVER HOSPITAL.

Dr. Sydenham Chandlee has been elected resident medicalofficer and registrar to this institution, in the vacancy causedby the death of Dr. Maturin, to whose lamented decease refer-ence was recently made. The cases of measles in hospital aremuch beyond the average, and the disease appears to beassuming an epidemic form.The National Orthopaedic Hospital and the Pitt-street

Institution have been amalgamated, as the objects of thetwo institutions are identical and have members of themedical staff attached to both hospitals.

Dr. Stewart, dispensary medical officer of Donaghadee, hasbeen placed on the Commission of the Peace for co. Down.Dublin, Jan. 13th.

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PARIS.

(From our Paris Correspondent.)

THE ACADEMY OF MEDICINE.

DR. BERGERON, of whom I have spoken in my letterof Dec. 13th as having been elected Vice-President of thEAcademy of Medicine only two months ago, in the room 01the late Dr. Fauvel, has passed in the usual course to thePresident’s chair, which he will occupy for the present year;and Professor Trélat has been elected Vice-President in hisstead. M. Schultzember has been elected Member of the

Academy of Medicine in the Section of Physics and

Chemistry, in the room of the late Professor Wurtz.PLASTIC OPERATIONS ON THE PALATE.

Just before his election to the Vice-Presidentship of theAcademy of Medicine, Professor Trélat read a very interest-ing paper before that learned body on the relative merits ofplastic operations on the palate and the use of protheticapparatus as a substitution for the former. In giving thehistory of these operations, bi. Trélat stated that Rouxcreated staphylorraphy during the latter end of his practice,but he then only operated on small fistulae, the operationconsisting in bringing together the two edges of the gapin the soft and hard palate, in addition to which thepatient was obliged to wear a prothetic apparatus. Thisoperation, however, was never practised by him beforethe patient reached the age of sixteen. A few years laterSédillot performed staphylorraphy in a young girl of ten.Seeing this, several surgeons expressed the opinion thatthe operation might be performed at a much earlierage. Otto Weber, of Bonn, and Billroth, had recourseto the operation in patients only a few months old. Simonof Rostock operated on an infant of fifteen days old,and Rouge of Lausanne operated on an infant of only aweek old. The operations in these conditions were notgenerally attended with success, which induced Maison-neuve, Larrey, and Nélaton to declare that the resultsobtained from plastic operations on the palate were farinferior to those obtained from prothetic apparatus. Not-withstanding this declaration by such eminent men, M.Trélat believes in the superiority of plastic operations,though he admits that in certain circumstances protheticapparatus may be found useful as a dernier ressort when theoperation has failed, or when the condition of the parts doesnot permit of one. Moreover, it must be remembered thatthese apparatus are not always well borne, besides beinga source of much trouble and expense to the patient.M. Trélat performed forty-six plastic operations on the softand hard palate, and from his experience he concludes thatthese operations should not be performed before the ageof seven, nor should they be undertaken when the open-ing in the palate is too large, or when there would not besufficient substance in the soft parts. In concluding hispaper, M. Trélat insisted on the necessity of submittingchildren affected by this infirmity to a sort of phonetic edu-cation, before as well as after the operation, particularlythose who have a wide opening in the palate.

FARADISATION AS A TEST FOR DEATH.

During the recent epidemic of cholera, and owing to thegreat resemblance of cholera patients to those apparently orreally dead, certain physicians advised the adoption offaradisation to distinguish the one form from the otherbefore resorting to interment. Dr. Bochefontaine under-

took a certain number of experiments with the view ofascertaining the value of this test. The results he obtainedwere absolutely negative, in so far that faradisation did notpermit one to distinguish real from apparent death.ANTAGONISM OF THE SYMPATHETIC AND PNEUMOGASTRIC

NERVES.

At a recent meeting of the Société de Biologie, M. d’Arsonvalread a note from the unpublished papers of the late ClaudeBernard on the Antagonism of the Sympathetic and Pneumo-gastric Nerves, which contains the following conclusions :-1. The pneumogastric nerve is the antagonist of the sym-pathetic in the abdomen. 2. The pneumogastric plays thesame part with regard to the abdominal viscera that thecord of the tympanum does with regard to the salivaryglands. In this work M. Claude Bernard equally establishedthe fact that it is at the level of the duodenum that thetemperature of the blood is at its greatest height, on thecondition, however, that the temperature is taken when theanimals are fasting.

UREA IN THE BLOOD.

In a paper on the proportion of urea in the blood, MM.Gréhant and Quinquaud arrived at the following conclu-sions : 1. The venous blood, returning from the head orlimbs, contains no more urea than the arterial blood con-veyed to these parts; consequently, any urea from thesemust be carried away by the lymphatics. 2. Blood whichhas passed through the spleen or liver contains more ureathan arterial blood: the difference is greatest during diges-tion, and the quantity of urea may reach nine milligrammesin 100 cubic centimetres of blood.

Paris, Jan. 13th. _________________

Obituary.DR. HERBERT DAVIES, F.R.C.P.

IT is with deep regret that we record the death of Dr.Herbert Davies of Finsbury-square, in the sixty-seventh yearof his age. He had for some time been the subject of dilata-tion of the heart, but it was only during the last year thatthe well-known consequent obstructions to the circulationhad developed so as to occasion serious alarm both in hisown mind and to his friends, and which ultimatelyterminated in most distressing paroxysms of cardiac apnoea.

, Dr. Herbert Davies was born on September 30th, 1818,and was the son of Dr. Thomas Davies, a former physicianto the London Hospital, who on resigning general practicein the East-end of London went to Paris and studied auscul-tation and diseases of the chest under Laennec. On return-ing to London he devoted himself to the study of diseases ofthe heart and lungs, was one of the first, if not the first, tointroduce the use of the stethoscope in this country, andestablished the special hospital for diseases of the heart andlungs which is now represented by its successor in the

City-road.From 1828 to 1832 Dr. Herbert Davies was educated at

North End School, Hampstead, where he became head boy,and used to relate that on occasion of the distribution ofprizes he was sent to London to bring up Campbell the poet,who was to preside, and who it was feared might forget hisengagement. In 1836 he entered as a student at the London

Hospital and matriculated at Caius College, Cambridge, inOctober, 1838. In the Lent term of his second year he migratedto Queen’s College in the same university, and was a scholarand prizeman at both colleges. In January, 1842, he tookthe degree of B.A. as twenty-eighth wrangler, the year inwhich Professor Cayley was senior wrangler, and in whichthe late Charles Kingsley, the present Bishop of Ely, andseveral other distinguished men took their degrees. His

private tutor was Professor Potter, Professor of NaturalPhilosophy and Astronomy in University College, London.Dr. Davies, in the opinion of his contemporaries, would havestood much higher in the mathematical tripos had he notbeen disabled for more than a year preceding the examina-tion by an affection of his eyes, which prevented his workingby candlelight. In January, 1843, he took his degree ofM.B., and in 1844 was elected to the Edwards’ Fellowship atQueen’s College, and in 1847 to a Foundation Scholarship inthe same college. In July, 1848, he took his degree of M.D.After taking his B.A. degree he spent some time in the