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MANCHESTER.(From our own Correspondent.)

WHITSUN WEEK IN MANCHESTER.

THIS might not inaptly be termed "Carnival week"; from.Monday morning until Saturday night more "play" is donethan work. As usual, yesterday many of the Church

Sunday-schools paraded in Albert-square, upwards of 20,000children being assembled, and went in procession to the-Cathedral. Fortunately for the little ones the weatherwas favourable, and the minimum amount of mischiefwill be done by the sudden change, for many of thechildren, from winter clothing to muslin and other likesummer costumes. Amongst all classes who are this weekseeking recreation and a change from their daily toil are.most of our local Volunteer regiments, the Lancashire coastbeing dotted for miles with the white tents of their- encampments. The youngest of our corps, the Medical StaffCorps, are on Friday and Saturday going out into Derby-,shire for a two days’ route march. A working lads’ campis also pitched for a week at Bollington, this being a com-.mendable effort to take out a number of our poor city boysand give them a healthy change of air and recreation for ashort time.

HOSPITALS.And yet more special hospitals. It is difficult to see any

-legitimate raison d’être for another Eye and Ear Hospital,"yet such a one has been started. With an ophthalmic depart-ment at the infirmary, the magnificent Eye Hospital inOxford-road, and the branch thereof at St. John’s-street,surely ample accommodation exists for this specialty, whilstwithin a stone’s thrown of the new venture is the old-established Ear Institution, with an active and efficientorganisation.— At the annual meeting of the Lock Hospitallast week, a record of useful work, done in an unostentatiousway, was presented. Owing to an impoverished ex-

chequer, however, only twenty beds had been keptoccupied out of a total of sixty which are avail-able. It was proposed and carried that the skin de-,partment, hitherto an integral part of the institution,though carried on at different premises, should be severedfrom it and henceforth conducted as a separate skin hospital,at Dale-street, where for some four years past Dr. Brookehas devoted his attention to this branch of work. TheYvacancy caused by the death of Mr. Clubb has been filled upby the promotion of Mr. A. Blackmore from assistant surgeonto surgeon. For upwards of half a century the name ofBlackmore (in the person of the present surgeon and of his-father before him) has been connected with the staff of thischarity.—An example of the extreme care required to admitand treat small-pox cases in the same hospital, under thesame staff as other infectious diseases, has lately had an un-fortunate illustration here. A patient admitted for scarletfever contracted small-pox during her convalescence. Sincethe commencement of the present year about seventeen.deaths from small-pox have occurred, and several cases arestill in hospital; but all fear of anything like an epidemic,has for the present passed away.

OWENS COLLEGE.

A large number of invitations has been issued by thePresident and Council of the College for a conversazione onthe 8th prox., to inaugurate the opening of the new Imuseums. A very large gathering is expected on theoccasion. The vacancy in the chair of Surgery, caused by Ithe resignation of Mr. Lund, will shortly be filled. Severalcandidates are in the field, but it is probable that the finalselection will be between Mr. T. Jones and Mr. F. Southam,both of whom have for a long time taken part in thesurgical courses of the College. Mr. Hardie, who as

surgeon to the infirmary enjoys a wide popularity amongthe students as a clinical teacher there, is also mentionedas one of the candidates, though he has not hitherto takenpart in the special College work.

DEATH-RATE, OVERCROWDING, ETC.The articles which lately appeared in THE LANCET on

"sweating" appear to have stirred more than one of ourlocal authorities as the subject has been mentioned atboards of guardians, Jewish boards, local boards, as well asin the city council. The articles have certainly done goodand directed attention to other matters of a like nature,

particularly overcrowding, and some reports given to theguardians by their relieving officers as to the latter have beenbrought under the notice of the health authorities. In tworooms, with only 858 cubic feet each, were found a man, hiswife, and four children, a lodger and his wife with five morechildren. With a view to calling public attention moreforcibly to our shockingly high death-rate, the Manchesterand Sanitary Association have arranged for a publicmeeting early next month, and Dr. Ransome, Dr. Leech,Dr. H. Simpson, Sir Wm. Roberts, and other local sanitariansand professional men, will, it is hoped, be present, when itscauses and its remedies will be discussed.Manchester, May 22nd.

___ __

LIVERPOOL.

(From our own Correspondent.)

FUNERAL OF DR. A. C. RICH.

THE high esteem in which this lamented young practi.tioner was held was shown on Saturday last, when his mortalremains were borne to the grave. They were followed by alarge number of representatives of the postal and telegraphdepartment, the city police, ambulance corps, and the shoe.black brigade, in addition to many professional and otherfriends, who followed the cortge from the residence of thedeceased to the church of which he was a member, wherethe first part of the burial service was read. At the cemeterythere was, in addition, a large concourse assembled, includ.ing members of the profession, members of the 4th LancashireVolunteer Rifles, to which the deceased was surgeon, some ofthe county constabulary, and others. The funeral arrange.ments were of the simplest character.

SWING-BOAT FATALITY.

An inquest was held to-day at Bootle on the body of ayoung woman, aged twenty-two years, whose death wascaused by falling out of a swing boat on Whit Monday.It appeared that there was in the swing boat at the sametime a young man under the influence of drink; also thatwhile the deceased was in the act of falling to the groundanother swing boat struck her on the head, the two boatsbeing only 3 ft. 7 in. apart. The jury returned an openverdict, expressing also an opinion that there should be acompetent man in charge of the swing boats, and that thespace between them should be enlarged, so that personsfalling out of one boat should not run the risk of beingkilled by an adjoining boat.Liverpool, May 23rd, 1888.

NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.(From our own Correspondent.)

LEAD POISONING.

AN inquest was held in Newcastle last week upon thebody of a girl aged fifteen, who died rather suddenly in afit. It appeared from the evidence Lhat she was employedat some lead works until October last, when she was seizedwith a fit which compelled her to give up work. Since thenshe has complained of pain in her head, until at last it

brought on a convulsive fit in which she died. The verdictwas in accordance with the evidence: "Death from naturalcauses accelerated by lead poisoning." Seeing the suscepti-bility of young girls to the action of lead as a poison, and thenumerous cases reported here amongst workers, it would bewell if some rule could be adopted to prohibit females under-taking this dangerous employment unless of adult age.

HARTLEPOOL.

The Hartlepool Port Sanitary Authority, at its meetingon the 17th inst., received a report from Dr. Briggart, themedical officer, stating that the late outbreak of fever hadcaused three deaths, while there remained in the hospital upto date four patients.

CARLISLE.

The annual collections for the principal medical charitiesof Cumberland and Westmoreland were taken on last Sunday.I have not yet heard of the comparative amount. At theCarlisle Cathedral the preacher mentioned incidentally that

at the Cumberland Infirmary much expense was being, incurred at present in adapting the building to modern

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sanitary requirements, and that the Carlisle Dispensary wasso much in need of funds that unless more income could beobtained the services of two medical onicers would have tobe dispensed with. The extensive alterations in the build-

ings of the Silloth Convalescent Institution, to which I re-ferred to in a previous note, are to be commenced forthwith.

RIPON.

The annual hospital services were held at Ripon on lastSunday, when collections were made for the dispensary andJepson’a Hospital. The local Volunteers, with the FriendlySocieties, formed a procession to the cathedral, which wascrowded.

GUARDIANS’ FINANCE.The Local Government Board having declined to sanction

the proposed rearrangement of the salary of Mr. Horne, thesurgeon to the workhouse at Stockton, by which the extramedical fees above a certain sum should revert to the Board,the Finance Committee of the guardians have recommendedthat the salary of Mr. Home be fixed at X190 as districtmedical officer and ;E140 as medical officer of the workhouse,plus the vaccination fees, estimated at ;E45, and that theLocal Government Board be requested to suspend theoperation of the order requiring the payment of extramedical fees. Several of the guardians took exception tothis proposal of their Finance Committee as unfair, and asvirtually reducing the salary of the medical officer from the

terms of the advertisement on which he accepted the appoint-ment. The majority of the guardians took this view, andreferred the report back to the Finance Committee.

A HEALTHY PARISH.

I thought I had given you in my last some rare instances ofold age in my account of persons who have died at Whitleyduring the present spring, but a correspondent of the New-castle Journal fairly surpasses my account, inasmuch as hisinstances are alive in the parish of Castleton, Roxburgh-shire, on our borders. He says that at the last census thepopulation of the parish was 2256, which cannot have in-creased much, if any, since then. In the parish at the presentthere moment are twenty-one persons (eight males andthirteen females) whose ages conjointly number 1800 years;the youngest is eighty, and the oldest ninety-eight. Thelatter is a widow, who, though blind, enjoys excellent health,and converses intelligently. There are three persons of theage of eighty, two of eighty-one, one of eighty-two, two ofof eighty-three, one of eighty-four, four of eighty-five, threeeighty-six, one of ninety, one of ninety-eight. Most personswill agree with the conclusion of the correspondent of the oNewcastle Journal that "there are probably few parishesin the kingdom with such a record."Newcastle-on-Tyne, May 23rd.

DUBLIN.

(From our own Correspondent.)

PROPOSED AMALGAMATION OF THE DUBLIN MEDICALSCHOOLS.

A MEETING was held at the Royal College of Surgeonson the 18th inst., in reference to the proposed amalga-mation of the private medical schools in Dublin withthe medical school of the Royal College of Surgeons,but a few remarks may be necessary to explain howmatters stand. The two private schools are the Car-michael and the Ledwich School, and these, it is proposed, i

shall be joined with the school of the College of Surgeons. IAmalgamation of the Carmichael School with the College I

WM tried last year, but failed ; and on this occasion the ILedwich School, which hitherto has been ignored by those I

taking an active part in the agitation, has been admitted Ito the proposed union, evidently not from any desire tosecure the services of anyone belonging to that institution,but for the purpose of disarming the hostility of its pro-pnetors. The terms arranged upon have not yet been dis- 1ctfaed. In the meantime, there are a few circumstances cto which attention may be drawn, as showing the difficultiesWhich must arise in carrying out the amalgamation of theseraedical schools. There are in the three schools (not includ-

4night lecturers) five lecturers in anatomy, five in surgery,k4d five in physiology and histology; and if the scheme

1 The report of this meeting will be found on p. 1050.

becomes an accomplished fact, there cannot well be morethan two lecturers appointed in each of the subjects, with a.result that three must be removed in each of the chairs ofanatomy, physiology, and surgery. In all equity compensa-tion should be given to gentlemen having vested interestswho are summarily removed, and can the College be calledupon and be expected to pay large sums of money for thispurpose? If this is expected by the promoters of the-scheme, the Fellows of the College will no doubt have some-thing to say in the matter. Next it is alleged that one ofthese private schools has incurred a considerable debt, andis this to be paid off by the College also? Lastly, to bringin the staffs of what up to the present have been rival’institutions, and to expect them to work harmoniouslytogether, only shows how sanguine are the promoters of theproposed amalgamation scheme. This was pointed out inthe recent debate at the College by Professor Hamilton, who-believed-and many will endorse his words-that it will giverise, on the contrary, to a great deal of unpleasantness. Thisscheme ought to have been reserved for discussion on June 2nd,.when the provincial Fellows will be up in town to receivethe annual report of the Council, for at the meeting heldlast week only fifty-five Fellows voted, a very insignificant-number as compared with the list of Fellows on the roll of-the Cjllege.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.

The portrait of Her Majesty was unveiled at the College.tha morning (Tuesday) by his Excellency the Lord-Lieu-tenant. An address was presented by the President andCouncil, to which his Excellency returned a written reply.The portrait, which was specially ordered by the College asa memorial of Her Majesty’s Jubilee year, is a full-length-figure of the Queen standing on a dais, and dressed in-satin, with ermine and white lace, and decorated with theOrder of the Garter. His Excellency will dine at the College-this evening. In addition to the names mentioned lastweek of candidates for a seat on the Council may now beadded that of Mr. Henston, lecturer on anatomy in the’Carmichael School of Medicine.

ROYAL UNIVERSITY OF IRELAND.

At a meeting of the Senate last week, it was resolved toadd to the list of recognised medical institutions the Eyeand Ear Hospital, Nile-street, Cork. The following altera-tions in the regulations were adopted :-The Senate havemodified the rules respecting the standing candidates forthe Travelling Medical Scholarship ; so that, in and afterthe year 1889, any persons who may have passed theexamination for the Primary Medical Degrees, either in theyear in which the Scholarship Examination is held or inthe year immediately preceding, shall be eligible to compete-for it. The Senate will admit to the degree of Bachelor ofSurgery all graduates who obtained medical degrees in theRoyal University in the years 1882 to 1887 inclusive, uponpayment of the fee of E5 and upon passing an examination.in operative surgery only, provided such graduates hadobtained at least 50 per cent. of the marks assigned to,surgery at the Medical Degree Examination. The Senatewill also admit to the degree of Master of Obstetrics all,such graduates as above mentioned upon payment of the-fee of .62, without further examination, provided suchgraduates had obtained at least 50 per cent. of the marksassigned to midwifery at the Medical Degree Examination.

KILKENNY DISTRICT LUNATIC ASYLUM.His Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant has promoted Dr..

William Zachary Myles to the post of resident medicalsuperintendent of this asylum, in the vacancy caused by thedecease of Dr. Barry Delaney. Dr. Myles, who has beensenior assistant at the Richmond Lunatic Asylum, has hadtwelve years’ experience, and it must be said that, in everyrespect, he is well fitted to discharge the important dutiesaf the post to which he has been appointed.

DEATH FROM ALCOHOLIC POISONING.

A death resulted in one of the inmates of a Dublin hospital’last week from alcoholic poisoning caused by repeated dosesjf methylated spirits.

HEALTH OF IRELAND FOR MARCH QUARTER.The birth-rate in Ireland for the March quarter was I’l

per 1000 under the average rate for the correspondingquarter of the past ten years; and the death-rate was 0’1).-over the average for the same period. Compared with thecorresponding quarter of 1887, the returns of pauperism