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satisfactory. It is to be hoped that financial difficulties(the committee of the Society, we see, appeal for funds) willnot.be allowed to cripple the well-intentioned efforts of theAssociation towards raising the health status of the popula-tion amongst which it works.

Small-pox has assumed such proportions at Bolton that ahouse-to-house visitation, to ascertain the state of vaccina-tion in the district, has been instituted.An Italian barque put in at Greenock last week, in the

course of the voyage of which from Pensacola the captain,mate, and two of the crew had died from yellow fever.In Chicago, recently (says an American contemporary),

the health officers visited two churches on Sunday, andvaccinated the entire congregations.The outbreak of small-pox in Maidstone is reported not to

be extending, and instructions have been issued that nomore prisoners be sent there for the present.

THE SERVICES.

Brigade Surgeon Samuel B. Roe, C.B., Surgeon-MajorHeather, and Surgeon Chester arrived from Natal in thes.s. CMc<6rM, on the 29th ult. and disembarked at Portsmouth.Dr. Roe accompanied the Gordon Highlanders from India tothe Transvaal with the reinforcements last spring.Brigade Surgeon Watts and Surgeon W. Donovan,

A.M.D., have arrived in Bombay in the steamer Hankow,from Natal.Surgeon-Major J. Reynolds, V.C., has been ordered from

Aldershot to Gibraltar for a tour of duty.The Bearer Company of the Army Hospital Corps, under

the command of Surgeon-Major W. Johnston, A.M.D.,arrived from Natal in the s.s. Duart Castle at Portsmouthon the 28th ult., and proceeded to Aldershot. Surgeon-MajorT. Faris, Surgeon Drury, and Lieutenant of Orderlies Pikewere on duty with the company in Africa and accompaniedit to England. ,

Yellow fever having disappeared from the island of Bar-badoes, and the Colonial authorities having issued cleanbills of health, the Government have decided to send aregiment from Malta to take the place of the 1st Royal Lan-caster Regiment, which was withdrawn in the autumn inconsequence of the severe epidemic. The lst BattalionLothian Regiment has been selected, and will leave Maltain March for the West India Islands.Enteric fever, in a severe form, has appeared at Newcastle,

South Africa, amongst the regiments marching back fromthe Transvaal stations.

0

Surgeon-Major R. Tate, M.D., Army Medical Department,died at Dublin on the 19th ult. from renal disease. Deceasedhad been in delicate health, but was able to attend to hisduties up to the day of his death. He joined the Army in1859, and became Surgeon-Major in July, 1874.ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.-Surgeon-Major William

Curran has been granted retired pay, with the honoraryrank of Brigade Surgeon; Surgeon-Major Thomas YoungBaker, from half-pay, to be Surgeon-Major.ADMIRALTY.-The following promotion has been made :

- staff Surgeon Ingham Hanbury to be Fleet Surgeon inHer Majesty’s Fleet, with seniority of 15th ult.Deputy-Inspector-General Dugald M’Ewan, M.D., has

been reappointed to the Victoria and Albert, from the dateof promotion ; Surgeon Nicholas C. Ross has been appointedto the Orwell, vice Kelly.

MANCHESTER MEDICO-ETHICAL ASSOCIATION.-The thirty-fourth annual meeting of this Association washeld at the Grosvenor Hotel on Friday, January 27th. Thereport of the Committee showed the growing prosperity ofthe Association, the number of members and the fundshaving steadily increased. The following is a list of office-bearers and Committee for 1882 :-President : Mr. Hardie.Vice-Presidents : Mr. Dacre Fox, Dr. John Roberts, Dr.Henry Simpson, and Dr. Stevenson. Treasurer : Dr. JosephStone. Secretaries: Dr. A. Wahltuch and Mr. J. Broad-bent. Committee : Dr. Barlow, Mr. Crosbie, Dr. Culling-worth, Dr. A. M. Edge, Dr. A. Emrys Jones, Dr. Mallett,Dr. Pierce, Mr. Reston, Dr. D. Lloyd Roberts, Dr. Thorburn,Mr. Walmsley, and Mr. Westmorland.

THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS.

AT the ordinary meeting, on Thursday, the 26th ult., afterconfirmation of the minutes of the previous meeting, thePresident directed attention to the almost verbatim reportswhich had appeared in some of the medical journals of thespeeches made at the last meeting of the College, and ex-pressed, for himself and others, the opinion that such a pro-ceeding was calculated to prevent free discussion, and thatthe practice was contrary to all precedent, and most un.desirable.

Permission was granted to hold in the College library ameeting of persons interested in the promotion of scientificresearches, with a view to establish a society. Similar per-mission was also granted to the General Committee of theRolleston Memorial Fund.A communication was received announcing that a Medical

Congress would take place at Seville on April 9th, 1882.The thanks of the College were voted to the donors of books.The following were elected Members of Council in the

room of four who retire in rotation :-H. W. ACLAND, M.D., Oxford.W. WOOD, M.D., Harley-street.W. ROBERTS, M.D., Manchester.G. HEWITT, M.D., Berkeley-square.

The annual report of the Examiners was received. Thereport stated that the number of candidates at the exami-nations for the licence had considerably increased during thepast year, it being more particularly noticeable in thenumber of those who had presented themselves at the firstof the three examinations which the College by its recentregulations requires all candidates to pass. In 1880 therewere fifty-seven candidates at the first examination; lastyear there had been 367 candidates examined; and of these,258 were approved, and 109 referred for three months’further study. At the second examination there had beenforty-six candidates during the year, of whom twenty wereapproved. At the third or final examination, of 116 candi-dates examined, ninety obtained the licence of the College,and twenty-six were referred for six months’ further study.Appended to this report is a tabular statement not intendedfor publication, showing the number of those approved andof those not approved at the final examination, arrangedunder the name of the university or medical school from whichthe candidates came.A report from the Council was read, and the first portion

was adopted. The remainder was ordered to be printed andcirculated among the Fellows prior to its consideration at thenext meeting.

A LONDON AMBULANCE SERVICE.

A rzEETixG to consider the advisability of forming aHospital and Accident Ambulance Service for London washeld at the United Service Institution on Thursday, the 2ndinst., H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge in the chair. The

Secretary of the London Hospital read letters from the Arch-bishop of Canterbury and many influential persons, includ-ing several members of Parliament, expressing sympathywith the movement and regret at their unavoidable absence.The Duke of Cambridge then opened the proceedingsin a speech evincing great interest in the enterprise,and pointing out that it was not proposed simply to

supply a means of ready transit to the hospitals, but toplace within reach of the general population a systemof conveyances by which the injured might be safely andexpeditiously removed to their own homes in case of acci-dent. Sir William Gull moved the first resolution, to theeffect, "That in the opinion of this meeting it is desirable taform a hospital and accident ambulance service for London."He strongly supported the movement, and insisted that notmerely accidents, but emergencies, could be helped by theambulance. 111 cases of sudden attacks of hoemoptysis, orapoplexy, quiet and prompt removal was necessary,and this the conveyances of the service would renderpossible. Mr. J. H. Buxton, the chairman of the LondonHospital, seconded the resolution, suggesting that theambulances should be kept at the docks and railway

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and police stations, instead of at the hospitals. Dr.Benjamin Howard, of the United States Army, theoriginator of the movement, then stated his view of theneed for a service of the kind he had proposed in London,,and explained the system which had at his suggestionbeen inaugurated by the Committee of the London Hos-pital. A full report of the address delivered. by Dr..Benjamin Howard on this subject before the MedicalSociety on Monday last appears on another page.The resolution was put to the meeting and carried- ?M?M. con. The second resolution was, "That a com-

-irittee be formed to carry into effect the foregoing reso-.lution; and that the following be requested to act upon.the Committee, with power to add to their number-viz.:.-H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge, President; the chairman,treasurer, and one or more members of the medical and sur-gical staff of each general hospital of London ; the ChiefCommissioner of Police; the Chairman and DeputyChairman of the Metropolitan Asylums Board ; theChairman of the Metropolitan Board of Works; theChief of the Fire Brigade; Sir E. Lechmere, Bart., M.P.;the Surgeon-General of Police; Sir William Gull, Bart.;Frederick Young, Esq.; Sir R. Macdonald Stephenson;Dr. Howard; the President of the National HealthAssociation ; the Editor of THE LANCET." This wasmoved by Mr. Croasman, to whom the successful com-

mencement of this enterprise is mainly due. Sir EdmundCurrie seconded the resolution, showing, in response to someremarks which fell from H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge as-to the expediency of combining a provision for the convey-ance of infectious cases with the proposed service, thatalready the Metropolitan Asylums Board had made suchprovision, and achieved considerable success. Sir SydneyWaterlow, to whom Dr. Benjamin Howard had givenletters of introduction, and who had seen the NewYork ambulance system at work, warmly supported theattempt to institute a service for London, and upheld thescheme submitted by Dr. B. Howard. Mr. T. Holmes,who spoke as surgeon to the police, while admitting,the necessity of the movement, defended the police, andin reference to the mistake made by constables in con-founding the " dead and dying," said that if they wereall members of the College of Surgeons there would

. still be mistakes. Sir E. Lechmere, Bart., M P., the chair-man of the St. John Ambulance Society, claimed creditfor the work done by that body. The proceedings were con-.eluded by votes of thanks to H.R.H. the Duke of Cam- ’,

bridge and Dr. Benjamin Howard. ’

Correspondence.LITHOTRITY.

"Audi alteram partem."

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SiR,-The very able and succinct resacme of many of the

chief facts relating to lithotrity and its history, given in THELANCET last Saturday, calls from me, very reluctantly, oneword of dissent. One which is all the more difficult to utterbecause the manner in which my own name is there asso-ciated with the subject is very highly, I may say gratefully,appreciated by me.

It is, then, only in the interest of absolute historical accu-racy that I ask permission to state that the employment ofajisesthesia in lithotrity was the rule of practice some years’before the period of " four years ago," at which it is statedto have commenced. I am sure you will acquit me of anydesire to lessen, by one iota, the great claim which ProfessorBigelow has to be the author of the latest and one of thegreatest improvements in lithotrity. By words, and moreemphatically by my practice and remarks on it, just pub-lished, I have borne the highest testimony to the value ofhis idea. But this idea consists entirely in the proposal toremove the entire calculus, however large, at one sitting, byprolonged crushing and increased evacuation, and throughthe agency of larger instruments than have of late yearsbeen introduced into the bladder. Both anaesthesia and the

aspirator had been for years employed a-9 the almost inva-riable rule of practice, both by myself and others-a fact sonotorious to the numerous surgeons who have seen men

operate, that I am astonished to find any statement aboutit necessary. Since, however, it appears to be so, Mr. G. B.Browne requested Mr. Clover, who, like myself, keepswritten records of all his work, to state how often he gaveansesthetics for me during any years preceding 1878, thedate indicated. The following is his reply :&mdash;

" On referring to my notes, I find that I gave the anses-thetic one hundred and thirty times, whilst Sir HenryThompson performed lithotrity, in the two years 1876 and1877. And in nearly all these cases he made use of theaspirator to remove fragments. The exceptions would notamount to ten per cent."

"

I think this. should suffice to settle this question beyondall controversy, and therefore I do not lengthen this-letter;otherwise additional and abundant evidence in relation tothis and to an earlier period might be readily adduced.

I am, Sir, yours obediently,Jan. 31st, 1882. HENRY THOMPSON.

,HENRY THOMPSON.

FALL OF THE CHURCH, AT HEMPSTEAD, INESSEX, CONTAINING THE REMAINS OF

WILLIAM HARVEY.To the Editor of THE LANCET. ’

SIR,-I regret to say that the tower of the beautiful oldchurch at Hempstead, in Essex-a drawing of which I gaveto THE LANCET, as marking the burial-place of our

Harvey-has suddenly crumbled and fallen to the ground.During last week the old cracks in the tower extended,

and so many new ones were observed, that on Saturdayafternoon the Rev. John Escreet, the curate of Hempstead,gave orders about half-past four that the bells were not tobe chimed for the Monday services, nor the clock wound upany more. Returning home, he wrote to the vicar foradvice, but not under any idea that there was any imme-diate danger, for his examination of the tower externally,and of the winding staircase within, gave no indication ofunsteadiness. He had not left the place, however, threehours before the whole mass lay in ruins. Between six andseven the south wall of the tower and the winding staircasebegan to crumble away a few feet above the ground, and inless than an hour the whole tower, except a little of thenorth wall, which still stands as high as the wall plate of thenave, slipped down, bringing with it nearly one-half of theroof, and one arch from the south side of the nave, andletting down a good part of the roof of the south aisle.The vault in which Harvey lies is at the north-western

angle of the church, and is, consequently, uninjured; butthe beautiful old building, under the shadow of which he hasso long lain, and which was so well known as the landmarkof his resting-place, is gone.

I make this report at once, first, because of its historicinterest in relation to one of our greatest of great men of thepast; and secondly, that I may ask the profession to joinin subscribing to the restoration of a structure which toevery true aesculapian is of so much interest. It has longbeen my wish to invite my brethren to lend their handto this task, and now the opportunity seems to have comewith such pressing necessity that.the request will, I feelsure, meet with a ready response, not from England alone,but from America and from all parts where the immortalname of William Harvey is known and honoured.

I am, Sir, yours, &c.,Feb. 1st, 18S2. )3E-NJ--k--NIIN WARD RICHARDSON.BENJAMIN WARD RICHARDSON.

FULHAM SMALL-POX HOSPITAL.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-It is an "open secret" that Mr. Power’s report,referred to in to-day’s LANCET, is adverse to the hospitaland tends to support the theory of direct atmospheric in-fection as the explanation of the spread of small-pox in thelocality. Hence the appointment of the Royal Commission.Surely it is injudicious to make a secret of such an importantpublic document, which certainly bnght to be publishedwhilst the Commission is sitting/in order that its statementsmav be sifted by those who have been invited to giveevidence. I am, Sir, yours, &c.,Jan. 28th, 1882. EXPECTAXS.