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from diseases of the respiratory organs in these towns,which had been 108 and 135 in the two preceding weeks,declined again to 128 last week, but were 19 above thenumber in the corresponding period of last year. Thecauses of 45. or nearly 7 per cent., of the deaths in theseeight towns last week were not certified.

HEALTH OP DUBLIN.

The death-rate in Dublin, which had declined in thethree preceding weeks from 33’7 to 27’3 per 1000, rose againto 28’3 during the week ending May 29h. During the pasteight weeks of the current quarter the death-rate in the cityhas averaged 30’7 per 1000, the rate during the sameperiod being 16’2 in London and 26 6 in Edinburgh. The190 deaths registered in Dublin during the week undernotice showed n increase of 7 upon the number in thepreceding week, and included 15 which were referred tothe principal zymotic diseases, against numbers decliningfrom 41 to 15 in the five preceding weeks; of these,25 resulted from measles, 4 from diarrhoea, 3 fromscarlet fever, 2 from whooping-cough, 1 from "fever,"and not one either from small-pox or diphtheriaThese 15 deaths were equal to an annual rateof 2-2 per 1000, the zymotic death-rate during thesame period being 1’6 in London and 5’2 in Edinburgh. Thefatal cases of measles, which had declined from 19 to 5in the five preceding weeks, were again 5 last week. Thedeaths referred to whooping-cough, which had been 6 ineach of the two preceding weeks, declined to 2 last week.The mortality from "fever" was below that recorded in

any recent week. The 190 deaths in Dublin last weekincluded 36 of infants under one year of ag; , and 51 ofpersons aged upwards of sixty years ; the deaths ofinfants showed a decline, while those of elderly personsexceeded those recorded in any recent week. Saven inquestcases and 6 deaths from violence were registered; and 68,or more than a third, of the deaths occurred in publicinstitutions. The causes of 14, or more than 7 per cent.,of the deaths in the city last week were not certified.

THE SERVICES.

ARMY MEDICAL STAFF.BRIGADE - SURGEON - LIEUTENANT - COLONEL MAURICE

KNOX retires on retired pay.Surgeon - Captain Thompson has been ordered to the

Curragh, and Surgeon - Lieutenant - Colonel Mapleton has’been ordered to the Station Hospital, Shorncliffe. Surgeon-Major R. J. McCormac joins at Woolwich.

INDIA AND THE INDIAN MEDICAL STAFF.

Surgeon-Captain Bedford (Bengal) is appointed to officiateas Chemical Examiner and Professor of Chemistry in theMedical College, Calcutta, during the absence on furloughon medical certificate of Surgeon-Major Waddell, or untilfurther orders. Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel W. Barren andBrigade-Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel S. M. Salaman haverespectively delivered over and received medical charge ofthe Yerrowda Central Prison. Surgeon-Major Pank hasassumed medical charge of the Jeypore Residency fromSurgeon-Major Harington.

NAVAL MEDICAL SERVICE.The following appointments are notified:-Fleet Sur-

geon Bernard Renshaw to the Pembroke. Surgeons : FrancisJ. Barter to the Medusa; Arthur W. B. Livesay to thePembroke; and Harold G. T. Major to the Blen7tein6.

VOLUNTEER CORPS.

Artillery : : 2nd Cinque Ports (Eastern Division, RoyalArtillery): Howard Marshall, M.B, to be Surgeon-Lieu-tenant. Royal Engineers 2nd West Riding of Yorkshire(Leeds): Surgeon-Captain James William Henry Brownresigns his commission, and is appointed Lieutenant. Rifle:2nd Volunteer Battalion the East Yorkshire Regiment:Burgeon-Lieutenant William Albert Wetwan resigns his com-mission, and is appointed Second Lieutenant.

THE LATE GRECO-TURKISH WARThe additional Parliamentary papers that have been pub-

lished are not, we feel bound to say, calculated to raise ourconception of the motives and conduct of Greece, or of thewisdom of the Hellenic Government in adopting a war policy

and undertaking a campaign against Turkey in oppositionto the advice oE the rest of Europe. The Greeks werequite unprepared for war against so formidable an adversarya9 Turkey. The military, commissariat, sanitary, and medicaldepartments of the Greek army seem to have been badlyorganised and quite inadequate to their self-imposed task,and the consequence has been that, not only have they beenseverely defeated, but an incalculable amount of unnecessarysuffering has been inflicted by the war upon the militaryforces and agricultural population of Greece. By theirprecipitate action in forcing on this foolish war they haverehabilitated the Sultan’s power and imposed a most difficulttask on the Powers friendly to them, when their real strengthwas, like the Israelites of old, to have sat still. All

independent accounts agree in stating that the Turkish warand hospital organisation and arrangements were superiorto those of the Greeks. The English hospital at Chalcis isstated to be excellent. The Queen and Princess Sophia wereexpected to visit and inspect the hospital and its arrange-ments. The total number of wounded admitted to the Athenshospitals was 2363 Of these, 836 are still under treatment,31 have died, and the rest have been discharged.

AMBULANCE SIRVICE ON JUBILEE DAY.The London companies of the Volunteer Medical Staff

Corps are to be requisitioned to augment the Medical StaffCorps in view of the possibility of accident on June 23nd.Mr. Arthur S. Dale, of the Sj. John Ambulance Association,has issued an appeal to the public in view of the largenumber of fits and accidents which may occur on that day.As it will be inconvenient to treat such cases in the road,and as ambulance stations are too few and far between,householders on the line or contiguous to the route who canplace a back room at the disposition of the ambulance servicewill confer a benefit on the afflicted ; and if hotel proprietorsand licensed victuallers will afford ice for ambulance cases itwill be most serviceable in the alleviation of suffering.Offers of help should be made to the Brigade Chief Superin-tendent, Mr. W. Church Brasier, of St. John’s-gate,Clerkenwell.

’

THE EXAMINATIONS FOR NAVAL SURGEONS.

The undermentioned gentlemen, who competed on the17ch inst. and following days at Examination Hall, VictoriaEmbankment, for appointment as surgeon in the Royal Navy,have been granted commissions :—

Brigade-Surgeon McLeod, retired from the Indian MedicalService, has been selected for appointment as Professor ofClinical and Military Medicine at the Army Medical School,Netley, to succeed Deputy-Surgeon-General Cayley.

THE HEALTH OF THE ARMY IN INDIA.The Pioneer Mail of May 13h states that the Simla

committee on the contagious diseases question did not finishits report early enough to enable the Indian Government toframe its dispatch to the Secretary of State in time for themail, but that it will probably be sent by the next. Mean-while, some additional Parliamentary papers-one of a

statistical nature on the prevalence of the disease in thei Army for many years past, and embracing periods when the

Acts were in force and since their repaal-have been issued.When the proposals of the Indian Government have beenreceived at the India Office we may expect that the questionwill again be taken up in earnest.

THE PLAGUE IN INDIA..We are extremely glad to learn from the Anglo-Indian

papers and the telegraphic report of the Governor of Bombayto the Secretary of State for India that bubonic plague is fastdisappearing in Bombay. The authorities are still, veryproperly in our opinion, exercising the powers conferred uponthem by the Epidemic Diseases Act, and there are no signsof relaxation in their efforts to eradicate the disease fromthe whole Presidency.

ESTERIC FEVER IN INDIA..We regret to learn that (nteric ftvar is prevalent at

Lucknow, the Duke of Cornw.1)l’s Light Infantry being the

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chief sufferers. The outbreak among the troops at Subatbahas ceased. A provisional scheme for the temporary water-supply of the station has been adopted pending the com-pletion of the larger project at present in hand.

DR. KOCH IN INDIA.

The Times of India of May 15th states that Dr. Koch hasreceived telegraphic instructions from the German Govern-ment to remain in India and continue his investigations andexperiments in regard to rinderpest, and in all probability hewill proceed to Bengal shortly, where rinderpest is said to

prevail.Surgeon-Colonel W. F. Stevenson, Professor of Military

and Clinical Surgery at the Army Medical School, Netley,will attend as a representative of the Biitish Army at theInternational Medical Congress to be held in Moscow fromAug. 19th to Aug. 26sh.

Correspondence."Audi alteram partem."

"THE APPROPRIATION OF FINES UNDERTHE MEDICAL ACT."

To the Edit09’8 of THE LANCET.

SiRS.—In the leading article in THE LANCET of May 22ndupon the important subject of the alienation of penalties fromthe General Medical Council, in re prosecutions under theMedical Act, you state that in all other parts of the countryother than the metropolis the fines go to the General MedicalCouncil." This is, unfortunately, not the case. Certainboroughs claim, and have claimed successfully, under localActs the penalties inflicted upon persons convicted under theMedical Act, 1858. The matter has been brought to theknowledge of the General Medical Council by the MedicalDefence Union lately, and it is to be hoped that some legalsteps will be taken to prevent the alienation in future. Ifnothing be done by the General Medical Council, prosecu-tions in the country will be as rare as they are in the

metropolis, and for the same reason. I may mention that itwas at the instigation of the Medical Defence Union that thequestion was raised by Dr. Glover in May, 1891, with theresult that a deputation was sent to the Home Secretary, asdetailed by you.-I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,

May 21st, 1897.A G. BATEMAN,

General Secretary, Medical Defence Union.

"DEFECTIVE" CHILDREN IN SCHOOLS.To the Editors of THE LANCET.

SiRs,-The leading article on Ophthalmia in the LiverpoolSchools which appeared in THE LANCJ1T of May 15th appealsvery strongly to all those who have anything to do withelementary education in our poorer districts. Your pregnantdeclaration that in a large proportion of cases there can belittle doubt that overcrowding, dark and ill-ventilated rooms,damp soil, and insufficient diet are very efficient agents indeveloping and in promoting the extension of the disease "is capable of wide application. In London especially bothteachers and managers of elementary schools are con-

tinually hampered in their educational work by tt’e exactconditions you mention, which unfortunately apply to a

large proportion of the children of the poor. The result isthat in every school in the poorer localities there are a

number of cases of "defective" scholars, who, owing togeneral home neglect and bad nutrition, are physicallyincapable of receiving any advanced instruction. Of thechildren who attend the London Board Schools nearly60,000 go to school breakfastless every day, and a muchlarger number are ill-clad and ill-nourished. Fortunately,the Education Department is taking this matter in hand, andspecial arrangements will now have to be made for groupingthese defective children together, providing them with aspecial teacher, and giving them the most suitable instruc-tion for their special needs. To-day I was in a school whichconsists largely of the children of casual dockers, (jofj 10 percent. of the scholars had to be scheduled for this special treat-ment. But, unfortunately, the causes of defect ’H a largedegree remain untouched by school care, while the defective

homes exist under our present social system. My object inwriting to you is to humbly point out that no greater servicecould be performed by the medical profession to the children,to the nation at large, and to the coming generation than theusing of their powerful and unequalled influence to assist inraising such a conscience and opinion in the community aswill ere long make the conditions which now literally manu-facture defective children things of the past.

I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,

Aberdeen-road, N., May 19th, 1897.

HERBERT BURROWS,London Board School Manager.

"URIC ACID IN THE BLOOD."To t7to Editors of THE LANCET.

SIRS,-Dr. Luff has missed the point of my objection tohis experiments. If he will allow me to correct him, hestated in the Goulstonian Lectures that when he added knownquantities of uric acid to blood the quantity which he e-tracted was estimated by the Gowland Hopkins method to befrom 80 to 87 per cent. In his description of this method hesays :

I 1 milligramme [should be] added to the final resultfor each 15 c c. of the filtrate present-this need never bemore than 20 to 30 c.c." " In the absence of any statementto the contrary, the assumption is that the known quantitieswere suitable for estimation by this method-i.e., from 20 to40 milligrammes, and there is no evidence in the lecturesthat quantities ranging from To two 2 milligrammes, addedto 500 c.c. of blood, were subsequently extracted andproved either by the Gowland Hopkins method or themurexide test. The extreme delicacy of the murexidetest, to which Dr. Luff calls my attention, ought to enablehim to prove his point without question. If he adds";0 milligramme to 500 c c. of blood he can (so he saysin effect) extract Th milligramme, which will give themurexide reaction. But no such experiment is recorded.With regard to the "abundant quantity" of uric acid inbird’s blood, it would certainly be more satisfactory tostate the necessary and sufficient proportion on the hypo-thesis that uric acid is derived from blood, as it wouldshow at once whether the methods adopted were suitablefor the purpose. Dr. Luff has undertaken the difficult taskof proving a negative, and before accepting his conclusionone must know what the "known quantities" were andhow they compare with the necessary and sufficient quanti-ties in animals and birds.

I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,

I Norwood, May 22nd,1897. DONALD F. SHEARER.

" OPHTHALMIA IN LIVERPOOL."To the Editors of THE LANCET.

SiBS,—I have obtained liberty to send you the followingletter, which I received from Professor Jacob last week. Ihope you will be able to insert it as a very interesting andable contribution to the question of granular lids.

I am, Sirs, your obedient servant,W. ALEXANDER.

. -

W. ALEXANDER.Rodney-street, Liverpool, May 25th, 1897.

DR. AiExkNDER.

11 Ely-place, Dublin, May 23rd, 1897." DBALEXANDER." DEAR SIR,—An editorial in THE LANCET informs me that in a con-

troversy with Mr. Fuller you have resisted the assumption thatgranular ophthalmia is, in its nature and in fact, an unquestionablycontagious disease. It is, perhaps, well that I have seen neitherMr. Fuller’s report nor your reply, for I am thus enabled to give aperfectly independent opinion on the subject, and that opinion isstrongly in support of the view attributed to you. If there be any eyedisease respecting which Irish ophthalmologists may claim to havespecial knowledge it is this. I see at my extern about 3000 casesannually, and I do not hesitate to say one-third of these are casesof granular ophthalmia or its sequelse. Without asserting thatsuch cases are altogether non-contagious, I say that my expe-rience is dead against the contagion theory. Upon this pointI note that the most ardent apostles of contagion and THELANCET itself venture no further than to express their belief thata specific contagium must exist somewhere and will be found sooner orlater; and Dr. Stephenson, in his recent monograph on the subject,admits that the announcements from time to time that such con-tagium had been identified’have not stood the test of experience.’ Iam, from practical experience, somewhat sceptical of the existence ofsuch specific agency, because I see scores of instances in which one ortwo members of a family suffer without any extension to the othersand scores of cases in which one eye is affected without any extensionto the other. Perhaps more striking evidence is afforded by the factthat the surgeons, nurses, and students of eye hospitals are, so tospeak, up to their elbows in the various forms of granular ophthalmia)