560

LIVERPOOL.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

THE opening of the new hospital at Bootle, which is nowan independent borough, has been made the occasion of greatrejoicing. The hospital contains thirty beds, but is capableof extension. It is officered by the staff of the Bootle

Dispensary. It, in fact, replaces the latter institution. TheEarl of Derby, who gave the land, and about a year agolaid the foundation-stone, attended, and formally openedthe building. He was afterwards entertained at a luncheonby the Mayor and Corporation of Bootle, at which he madea very excellent speech on domestic sanitary measures.The new hospital was much needed, being in a neighbour-hood which has become within the last ten years denselypopulated with the working classes.At the Medical Society’s meeting last Thursday, Mr. F.

Lowndes brought under notice the scheme issued by theObstetrical Society of London for the examination of mid-wives. After an animated discussion, a resolution approvingthe scheme and advocating its adoption in this town wasagreed to. The class of midwives in this town are certainlyno improvement upon their London sisters; their ignoranceis great, and the difficulties in the way of training themhave been to a very little extent overcome by the systemwhich the committee and staff of the Lying-in Institutionhave for some time followed.The sad death of Mr. Bickerton, the senior surgeon to the

Eye Infirmary, has elicited general sympathy in profes-sional circles as well as among his friends and patients.As an oculist he held a very high position, and, being a par-ticularly skilful and neat operator, he attained a’ largesuccess in ophthalmic practice.April 16th,1S72.

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

THE number of deaths from small-pox registered in thiscity for the week ending April 6th amounted to 44; ofthese only 22 occurred during the week, showing a slightdecrease on that of the preceding week. The epidemic hasbeen a severe one, no less than 581 deaths having takenplace in the first quarter of the year. In Cork, 6 deathstook place last week, and at a meeting of the guardianslately held, it was stated that there were upwards of 500cases of small-pox in that town, besides those undergoingtreatment in hospital, and it was decided that the Poor-lawBoard, conjointly with the Corporation, should build aconvalescent home for patients. The attention of the lawofficers of the Crown was also directed to be called to thestatute giving power for the compulsory removal of personssuffering from contagious disease, with the view of havingits provisions put in force in Cork.A benevolent donor, who does not wish his name to be

known, has just presented a cheque for £500 towards thefunds of the Coombe Lying-in Hospital of this city.On Saturday last at the Pathological Society several cases

of interest were brought forward. One was a case of Ileucocythsemia, by Dr. J. H. Benson, in which the spleen weighed 6 lb. 10¼ oz., and the liver 6 lb. 14- oz. During Ilife a large tumour was perceptible in the left hypochon-driac region, and microscopical investigation showed thatthere were as many white as red corpuscles existing in theblood. The thymus gland was hypertrophied, measuring2 in. long by 1 Mn. broad; whilst in the brain fully fifty dis- tinct extravasations of blood, eight or ten being as large asa walnut, were found. Cerebral hasmorrhage ha.s withinthe last couple of years been proved by the French pa-thologists to be a natural result of this disease, and not, aswas previously taught, a mere coincidence. Dr. Littleexhibited an interesting case of scirrhous cancer of the liverin a woman aged fifty.At a previous meeting of the same Society, Dr. Foot

showed a specimen of encephaloid sarcoma of the lung.One lung only was diseased, the other being perfectlyhealthy.From the report of the Registrar-General for the quarter

ended March 30th, I find that the births registered inDublin during that period amounted to 2213, being equalto an annual ratio of 1 in 35, or 29 in every 1000 of the

population, and the number of deaths to 2826, affording anannual ratio of 37 in every 1000. The principal causes ofdeath were as follows :-Small-pox, 581; bronchitis, 418;phthisis, 327; convulsions, 148 ; fever, 105; heart disease, 94;scarlatina, 47; paralysis, 45; pneumonia, 40; hydrocephalus,39; cancer, 37; apoplexy, 33; diarrhoea, 31; liver disease, 30;mesenteric disease, 28; croup, 23; measles, 21; kidneyaffections, 20; whooping-cough, 14; and 45 deaths resultedfrom violence, 6 homicidal and 2 suicidal.Dublin, April 16th, 1872.

Obituary.DR. THOMAS BARNES, F.R.S. EDIN.

THE father of the profession in the northern counties haspassed away in this able and accomplished practitioner,who died on the 31st ult., at his residence, Bunker’s-hill,near Carlisle. Dr. Barnes was born in 1793, at DockrayRigg House, near Wigton, and while still in his teens was

apprenticed to the late Dr. Joshua Rigg, the only medicalpractitioner in that town, and indeed in the district. His

duties were of the multifarious character usual at that

time-something between an assistant-surgeon, a horsedoctor, and a grocer-which complex curriculum he ex-

changed for the more stringent régime of Edinburgh Uni-versity, where he entered as a student of medicine in 1817.He spent two winter sessions there, and a summer sessionat the London Hospital, winning golden opinions from theteachers at both schools. In 1815 he took the diploma ofthe Royal College of Surgeons of London, after which hevisited the hospitals in France and Germany. While astudent at the Paris Faculty of Medicine he was present atthe Battle of Waterloo, of which to his dying day he re-tained a vivid recollection. He revisited Edinburgh in1816-17, and after nine months’ attendance at hospital andclass-room, he graduated M.D., his thesis (written, as wasthen the custom, in Latin) being " De Erysipelate." A

professional vacancy occurring in Carlisle, he applied for it,more at the solicitation of friends than of his own choice,which was bent towards London. He was immediatelyappointed physician to the local dispensary, and in privatepractice made steady, if slow, advances as a consultingphysician, a branch of the profession to which he strictlyconfined himself. Such was the reputation he thus ac-

quired, that twenty-five years ago he stood alone as a

consultant in the northern counties for sagacity in dia-

gnosis, for effective treatment, and combined courtesy andfirmness of demeanour. He was an accomplished horseman,and has been known to ride more than sixty miles a day ; onemorning surprising, before breakfast, a surgeon whom hehad to meet in consultation, by trotting from Carlisle toKeswick. In spite of his large and increasing practice, hewas a frequent and valued contributor to the medical

journals and to general literature. Among his writings wemay mention " Observations on Fever and Vaccination atCarlisle," in the Edinburgh Medical and Surgical Journal,vol. xv., 1819; "Cases of five Individuals in one Familyhaving Small-pox twice," in the same volume; "Sketch ofan Epidemic of Varicella," in vol. xc. of the same journal;"Account of William Dempster, who Swallowed a Table-knife nine inches long," in the London 31-medical and PhysicalJournal for 1824; "Case of Vicarious Menstruation withDischarge from the Ear"; "An Uncommon Case ofLaborious Parturition"; and "A Table of Diseases treatedat the Carlisle Dispensary from 1826 to 1827," all in theEdinburgh New Medical Journal; "Account of Mr. RobertBowman of Cumberland, set. 116"; and "Notice of MaryNoble, of the same county, set. 107"; both in the EdinburghPhilosophical Journal, and both valuable contributions tothe qucestio vexata of centenarianism; &c. Other papers ofgeneral scientific or antiquarian interest, published in the"Transactions of the Royal Society of Edinburgh," thePenn,y Cyclopcedia, and elsewhere, show the versatility of histastes and the energy of his mind. He was one of theearliest members of the British Medical Association, and was