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too much a man of science to have attached any significanceto his solitary experiment. But the story suffices to show theintense earnestness of Pettenkofer as an investigator and thesincerity of his efforts to throw light upon a terrible scourgewith a view to its prevention. We now know that

Pettenkofer’s views on sanitation, pure air, and pure waterare correct and since the time when he expressed his viewswe have had ample practical confirmation of them. Nonewill dispute that with the increasing attention that hasbeen given to these specific matters the health of the

people in all parts of the world has improved or that

Pettenkofer, though an obstinate sceptic in certain matters,was a great sanitarian. Pettenkofer also turned hisattention to many physiological problems of the utmost

importance. His famous researches which establishedthe quantitative relations between the air inhaled andexhaled by animals have been proved to be a valuablecontribution to our knowledge of the metabolic pro-cesses of the animal body. Pettenkofer in conjunctionwith Voit made some most important observations on

the effect of muscular exertion upon the consumptionof oxygen and the production of carbonic acid. Arelated research was also conducted by these investigatorson the functions of particular nutritives in the animal

body which involved laying down a theory of meta-

bolism. In these researches Pettenkofer worked out

his now classical method for the estimation of car-

bonic acid gas in respired air and in the atmosphere.This method, as is well known, depends upon the action ofcarbonic acid upon baryta water, the gas being absorbedwith the formation of barium carbonate. Doubtless his

experiments on the processes of nutrition led him to seek ameans of detecting bile in urine. The Pettenkofer test for

biliary acids which he subsequently discovered dependedupon the formation of a train of colours when urine

containing bile was treated with common syrup and

sulphuric acid. The most marked colour produced wasa beautiful purple. The test has since been modified invarious ways, the most important improvement being theuse of glucose instead of cane sugar. Glucose does not charwhen dissolved in strong sulphuric acid, whereas cane sugardoes, and this occurrence is apt to mask any colour that maybe produced. The various schools of hygiene throughoutGermany contain professors of public health who were

formerly pupils of Professor Pettenkofer. The veteran savantdied at the age of 83 years and such a great length of lifewas consistent with his precepts.

THE CRUELTY OF COMPULSORY RETIREMENT.

A CORRESPONDENT is moved by " the lamented death ofour beloved Qaeen, and upon contemplation of the manyglorious and magnificent achievements of Her Majesty’slater years," to write to us upon the subject of the injusticeand cruelty of compulsory retirement. There is liberty inmost things, he says, but in the matter of labour liberty isin some quarters positively denied. Our correspondentfurther points out that the moment a man suddenly ceasesfrom his wonted labour he begins to deteriorate, andinstances a number of men and women who have done goodwork in old age. There is no doubt that a hard-and-fastrule of retirement acts in many cases both unjustly andinjuriously-unjustly because age has nothing to do witha man’s capacity for work, and injuriously because in somecases the retirement comes when the ripe experience of theworker is at its best. The old proverb, "A woman is as old asshe looks and a man is as old as he feels," is a very true one,and it is ridiculous to say that no one is fit for workafter 60. Some men are old at 40 while others are freshand juvenile at 80, and the personal equation must never beoverlooked. Compulsory retirement, so far as we know,

only exists in Government offices and hospitals. In trades,there is nominally no compulsory retirement, but if an

artisan is out of work at the age of 60 he will find hardly anyemployer who will give him more work although the sameemployer would probably have no hesitation in keeping on aman who had grown up to the age of 60 in his employment.In this way retirement is to a certain extent compulsory, forif a man cannot get work he is compelled to cease fromit. But in the liberal professions we think that compulsoryretirement does in many cases result in harm. Supposingthat the 65-year rule had obtained in the Church we shouldlong ago have been deprived of the services of the presentMetropolitan, a loss which would have been very great. It

would be undoubtedly difficult to decide without givingoffence as to when a man became unfit, but that some modi-fication should be made in the present inelastic system ofcompulsory retirement is, we think, certain.

SUTURE OF WOUNDS OF THE HEART.

THE Medical Record of New York recently containedan important paper on this subject by Dr. L. L. Hill.A wound of the heart may be produced by a stab or bya blow upon the chest, especially after a full meal, whenthe distended stomach pushes the heart upwards andforwards and causes a larger area of the organ to comein contact with the thoracic wall. When haemorrhage intothe pericardium is not arrested a fatal result is inevitable,for when the limit of pericardial distensibility is reachedthe heart is unable to dilate and the cardiac movements are

mechanically stopped. Dr. Hill therefore insists that itis the duty of the surgeon to operate in every case ofwound of the heart. It is as important to do so as-

to relieve a strangulated hernia. In 45 collectedcases in which injuries caused rupture of the heart-without opening the pericardium a fatal result alwaysensued. Only one patient survived as long as 14 hours. Of

patients operated on for heart wounds 41 per cent. have

recovered, as against 10 per cent. of those on whom no

operation was performed. Operators agree that for closing awound in the myocardium interrupted sutures are preferableto continuous sutures. They should be close together and notinvolve the enoocardium. Silk is the best material. The

needle should be similar to that used for intestinal suture.The suture should be passed and tied during diastole. Thefirst suture may be used to steady the heart and to facilitatethe passage of others. Ollier was opposed to the use of a

general anaesthetic, but if the pulse was strong and the generalcondition was good chloroform might be given. Parrozzani

operated in two cases without anaesthesia and observed onlyslight movement when he cut the skin and when he passedsutures into the myocardium. Dr. Hill narrates the two

following cases. A girl, aged eight years, carried in her waista needle two and a half inches long which was driven intoher heart in falling against a tree. She was brought to hishouse with anxious countenance, rapid and weak pulse, andlaboured respiration. The needle had entered the left fifthintercostal space and the head could be seen moving underthe skin with the cardiac pulsations. 10 drops of a 4 percent. solution of cocaine were injected under the skin andan incision an inch in length was made down on theneedle, which was extracted with dressing forceps. Thewound was immediately closed. Recovery followed. Inthe second case a man, aged 28 years, received a stabin the left fourth intercostal space a little inside the

nipple. The limbs became relaxed and the pulse was hardlyperceptible. The sounds of the heart were indistinctand the area of cardiac dulness was increased. Evidentlythe pericardium was filling with blood and the heart’s

action would soon be stopped. External haemorrhage wasslight. The blood was let out by enlarging the opening in.

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’the pericardium and the patient’s condition at once improved.’He recovered though pericarditis followed. To expose theheart for the suture of wounds Dr., Rotter, writing in theMiinchener Medicinisclte Wochenschrift of Jan. 16th, 190J,p. 79, has recommended, as the result of experiments on thecadaver, that an incision commencing ,three-fifths of an inchfrom the left edge of the sternum be made outwards alongthe lower border of the third rib for a distance offour inches and a similar incision along the lower

border of the fitth rib for about three and one-fifth-inches. The external ends of these incisions are connected

by a third one. The incisions include the whole thickness ofthe thoracic wall and open the left pleural cavity. The fourthand fifth ribs are divided and luxated from their sternal

attachments and the whole flap, including the soft partsand the ribs, is turned inwards, like a door on its hinges. Theonly arteries which have to be ligatured are the intercostals.The lung projects into the wound and is pushed outwardsand held aside while the pericardium is opened by anincision extending from the upper and inner to the lower and

outer angle of the opening in the thorax. The heart is so

completely exposed that even the posterior surface can beTeached. If still more space is required the third rib may beincluded in the flap. -

THE PRINCE OF WALES’S HOSPITAL FUND FOR

LONDON.

WITH regard to this Fund we learn that the honorarysecretaries are authorised to state that there is no inten-tion of making any alteration whatever in the title ofthe Fund. Its full title is, it should be remembered," The Prince of Wales’s Hospital Fund for London to Com-memorate the Sixtieth Year of the Queen’s Reign." Weare glad to have the opportunity of giving publicity to

the above statement and are equally pleased to see thedecision which has been arrived at. First of all, thereis the sentimental reason. As the Preacher remarked, ina slightly different sense, " A good name is better than

ointment," and names, without doubt, have a great influ-ence. The title of the Fund could not be altered with

any regard to the new position of its Royal founderwithout doing away with the memorial idea. Secondly,there is the practical side to be considered. The Fund hasbeen known under its old name ever since its inception ;subscribers have got accustomed to the title, large legaciesand bequests may have been left to the Fund which if the.name of the Fund were altered would have to be re-

bequeathed and, therefore, probably legal worries and

expenses would have to be entered upon. For all thesereasons we are glad to know that the old title will be kept,a title which will ever recall the sympathy of the Heir

Apparent with the wants of the poor and needy, as well asthe memory of the gentle, kindly monarch so lately enteredon her rest to whom sorrow and suffering never appealed invain.

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A METHOD OF DISTINGUISHING THE BLOODOF DIFFERENT ANIMALS.

IN the Deutsche Mediciniqche Wochenschrift of Feb. 7thStabsarzt Dr. Uhlenhuth describes some experiments whichhe has made with human blood and also with that of a

number of the lower animals, the result being that he

believes that he has discovered a specific reaction for humanblood and also for that of the common fowl, the horse, andthe ox. The process of testing for ox-blood is described byhim at length as follows. At intervals of from six to eightdays about 10 cubic centimetres of defibrinated ox-bloodwere injected into the peritoneal cavity of a rabbit and afterabout five such injections the blood serum of the animal was,fit for use. In the next place samples of the blood of a

number of different animals were diluted with about 100times as much ordinary water, making pale red solutionsof about an equal depth of colour. The insoluble stromawas removed either by subsidence or filtration. Of eachof the clear solutions thus obtained about two cubiccentimetres were put into test-tubes of about a quarter ofan inch in diameter, and then mixed with an equal quantityof a solution containing 1-6 per cent. common salt-i.e.,twice the strength of physiological salt solution. It is

essential to use this particular salt solution, for the normalserum of the rabbit mixed with plain water gives rise to aturbidity which might interfere with the recognition of thespecific turbidity. With physiological salt solution the addi-tion of rabbit’s serum never causes turbidity. Dr. Uhlenhuth

employed in his experiments both human blood and also thatof the ox, horse, ass, pig, sheep, dog, cat, stag, fallow-deer,hare, guinea-pig, rat, mouse, rabbit, common fowl, goose,

turkey-cock, and pigeon. To each of the test-tubes therewas now added from a tube drawn to a fine point six or

eight drops of the serum of the rabbit which had been

injected with the blood of the ox, whereupon therewas seen in the solution of ox-blood a distinct turbiditywhich was very evident by transmitted sunlight. Thecontents of all the other tubes remained perfectly clear. In

course of time the turbidity increased and ultimately a

copious flocculent deposit fell to the bottom. Normalrabbit’s serum causes no turbidity in solutions of ox-blood.By the addition of a few drops of serum from the injectedrabbit it was therefore possible to recognise ox-blood. Ina precisely similar manner injections of human blood weregiven to rabbits, and serum from the animals was addedto the 19 specimens of blood above mentioned,the result being that the solution of human blood,and that alone, became turbid and threw down a

deposit. All the other solutions remained perfectly clear.Normal rabbit’s serum causes no turbidity in solutionsof human blood. This reaction, therefore, enabled humanblood to be distinguished with certainty from the other kindsof blood above mentioned. The reaction Wa’3 extremelydelicate, only traces of blood being required for the deter-mination of the species of animal to which it belonged.By it Dr. Uhlenhuth succeeded in recognising samples ofhuman blood, ox-blood, and horse-blood which had beenallowed to dry on a board and after four weeks were dissolvedin physiological salt solution for the purpose of examination.His experiments were made in the Hygienic Institute of theUniversity of Greifswald. If his conclusions are verified the

reaction will obviously be of great use in medico-legalinquiries.

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THE WHITE CROSS LEAGUE AND QUACKERY.

WE have received from the White Cross League twoexcellent pamphlets, entitled, " Quacks and their Advertise-ments," published at the offices of the League, 7, Dean’s-yard,with a view of protecting young persons and others from

the machinations of a dangerous class of impostors. The

particular quacks aimed at are those who trade upon theignorance and fears of youth, who begin by alluring theirvictims by advertisements of cures for supposed sexualweakness or sexual disorders, and "remedies for concep-tion, and who end by extorting large sums of money eitherby selling sham, and possibly dangerous, medicines, or bythe simpler and more lucrative process of blackmail.The pamphlets in question are not intended for the

perusal of those liable to fall into the hands of the sexualquack, but are rather for the instruction and guidance ofparents, clergymen, and others from whom the word of warn-ing should most effectively come, but who are often silentsimply because their observation has not been aroused, whiletheir knowledge of the dangers to be feared and of themeans of guarding against them is insufficient. We