829THE MULTIPLICATION OF MEDICAL SCHOOLS.

highly advantageous. The hospitals in all our great manu-facturing and industrial centres might easily be madeefficient for clinical teaching-and good clinical teachers

abound therein-but the great difficulty is to find well-

trained anatomists, biologists, physiologists, pathologists,and chemists, who should be so well endowed as to be ableto give sufficient time to teaching in a small school, and in

providing them with suitable laboratories and material forthe illustration of their lectures and for the practical workand instruction of their pupils. Unless this idea is heldfirmly in the foreground and practically insisted on, a propermedical curriculum can never be thoroughly carried out,and a medical school can only exist in name. The best schools

in the provinces which have grasped the necessity of fullysatisfying these requirements have increased in numbers.Leeds, Manchester, and even London are too near Sheffieldfor its existence as a centre of medical education, unless it

puts itself in a position to compete with, or even surpass,these in the completeness of its scientific arrangementsand work. Sheffield, like other places, wants some manlike Mr. OWENS of Manchester, or JOSIAH MASON of

Birmingham, to endow teachers and found laboratories

for its medical schools. Our own great aristocratic andcommercial leaders have only to reflect on the human

importance of medical science to deal generously with hos-pitals and medical schools. The State itself might do morein assisting the costly and less immediately profitable partsof medical investigation and research. Finally, our examiningauthorities should be more severe in their estimate of what

constitutes a medical school, and should withhold their

recognition from institutions where teaching power or

apparatus is deficient. In this way the number of our

medical schools would be kept in check, whilst they wouldbe fortified and improved in character. The Medical Councilhas committed itself to some inquiry into the efficiencyof medical schools, of which we may expect to hear some-

thing at the approaching meeting fixed for Nov. 16th.

Annotations."Ne quid nimis."

THE GENERAL MEETING AT THE COLLEGE OF

SURGEONS.

AT the general meeting of the Fellows and Members ofthe College of Surgeons, to be held in the College on Thurs.day next at 3.0 P.M., it is intended to move the followingthree resolutions-namely : 1. That in the opinion of thismeeting, it would conduce to the welfare of the RoyalCollege of Surgeons, and tend to promote the interests ofmedical polity and education, flrst, if Members of the

College were empowered to take part (separately or con-jointly with the Fellows) in the election of the Council;second, if Members of the College were eligible to sit in theCouncil, provided (a) that no Member of the College shallbe entitled to vote till he have been such member for a

period of ten years, (b) that no Member of the College shallbe eligible to sit in the Council till he have been suchmember for a period of twenty years, and (c) that notmore than one-fourth of the Council shall consist of Mem-bers of the College who are nnt, also Fellows. 2. That, with aview to give effect to the recommendations in the foregoingresolution, the Council be hereby respectfully requested to

empower certain members of its body to meet and conferwith the representatives of the Association of Fellows andof the Association of Members, together with, if necessary,an equal number of Fellows and Members who may notbelong to either of the Associations, to be selected in anymanner satisfactory to the Council. 3. That, in the opinionof this meeting, the method recommended by the Councilfor widening the basis upon which the Fellowship is ob-tained tends to lower the academic status of that diploma,and in the interest of surgical education is not advisable.We are requested to state that Fellows or Members

desirous of proposing resolutions at the meeting on Nov. 4thshould furnish copies thereof to the Secretary of the Collegeof Surgeons two days before the meeting.

THE ENTERIC FEVER EPIDEMIC AT SWANSEA.

HAVING completed his investigations into the circum-stances of this epidemic, Mr. Ebenezer Davies, the boroughmedical officer of health, has now issued a report on thesubject. Since the commencement of the outbreak 112attacks and seven deaths had taken place at the date ofthe report. Last year a similar epidemic occurred, andduring a corresponding period 277 deaths took place. Butin that case the disease was distributed somewhat generallyover the town, whereas this year it is limited to only twoof the several divisions of the borough, and it was thislimited incidence that originally led to a suspicion that thewater-supply was affected, and that the mischief had beenbrought about by the use of a water from a special reservoirwhich had only been used for the supply of the districts in

question. Although the actual source of the specificinfection of this special water has not been discovered, yeta spring flowing into the reservoir was open to con-

taminating matter from a farm or farm-houses on eitherside of it, and from privies and pigstyes; and chemical

analysis has shown it to be greatly polluted and to containforty times the amount of albuminoid ammonia that iscontained in the water supplied to other portions of theborough. The medical officer of health asserts that henot only had no acquaintance with the existence of this con-taminated spring, which is almost entirely hidden along itscourse, but he had been told, in answer to inquiries, that thereservoir implicated was solely supplied from anothersource. Mr. Davies was, however, by no means satisfiedthat the pollution of this water was the sole cause of thedistribution of the disease, and hence examination wasmade of the local circumstances of some of the streets whichwere most severely affected. The results show unventilated

sewers, and arrangements as to house-drains and closetswhich can only be effectually remedied by applying to themthe same action as is now required under the modern bye-laws with respect to all new drains and closets. In short,we imagine that the house-drains and appliances are so con-trived as to facilitate the entrance into dwellings of infectedsewer air from unventilated sewers receiving enteric feverdischarges. Fortunately remedies are being applied, andthere is every reason to believe that the epidemic is rapidlyabating. ---

THE BRADFORD FEVER HOSPITAL.THE Bradford Town Council have determined to adopt

.

the recommendation of their Sanitary Committee that

application should be made for Parliamentary powers toenable them to take over the local Fever Hospital; but acorrespondent, writing to a local newspaper, points out thatsome difficulty will be encountered in carrying out the pro-posal to acquire the hospital. This institution, it appears,was erected years ago by the charitable people of Bradford,and the committee who have the control of it have not

been asked whether they approve the scheme of the Cor-

830

for all classes of patients, but those sent to it by thesanitary authority constitute the greater number; conse-quently, it has occurred to the Corporation that, seeing theyhave no voice in its management, they might as well acquirethe power they desire by taking possession of the wholeinstitution. Another reason seems to have led to the sameconclusion: the Corporation were desirous that the HospitalCommittee should provide a special wing for small-pox, buttheir request was declined, and this has doubtless neces-sitated the town authority taking some steps to obtain

- accommodation for this disease. The main fault in the

proceedings appears to be the complete forgetfulness of thefact that the committee, as trustees of the funds that havebeen collected, are bound to see that they are properly applied,and their consent to the proposed change should thereforehave been obtained in the first instance. Nevertheless, weshall be glad to hear that the transference has been effected.The primary use of hospitals for infectious cases is the limita-tion of infectious disease. London particularly has sufferedmuch from this fact being overlooked. Upon the manage-ment of such institutions is dependent the question whether ,,

good or harm shall come from their existence, and their controlshould therefore be entirely in the hands of the authorityresponsible for the safeguarding of the public health.

CHEMICO-BIOLOGY OF MICRO-ORGANISMS ANDPTOMAINES.

PROFESSOR POEHL of St. Petersburgh, believing thatptomaines are usually due to the action of micro-organismsin decomposing the albuminoid constituents of the body,and knowing that they themselves ara of the nature ofreduction products, has made a number of observations onvarious micro-organisms for the purpose of determiningtheir capacity for reduction, and thus estimating theirpower of producing ptomaines. The substance employedfor the purpose of his investigations was Koch’s nutritivegelatine, to which was added a minute quantity, 0.05 percent., of perchloride of iron and ferro-cyanide of potassium.This admixture did not, he found, interfere at all with the

development of the micro-organisms. The substance was

placed in a test-tube with the usual precautions, and theinoculation made with a platinum needle thrust into it.In some of these cultures a distinct formation of prussianblue from the reduction due to the development of themicro-organisms was observed along the track of theneedle within from twelve to twenty-four hours. In othersthe blue colour was later in making its appearance, whilein some no blue was visible, even after the whole of themass had become liquefied. It was remarkable that

generally the blue colour was not formed in the trackwithin from four to eight millimetres from the surface,thus showing that the oxygen of the air is prejudicial tothe reduction process. After the track of the needle hadbecome coloured, the blue appearance began gradually tospread around it in the substance of the gelatine, buteven after a week anuncolourad superficial layer was alwayspresent of from four to eight millimetres in thickness.The chemical formation of prussian blue requires the

presence of a slightly acid condition, and as some of themicro-organisms refuse to develop except in a slightlyalkaline medium, the difficulty had to be overcome bywaiting until the development had taken place in the

slightly alkaline gelatine, and then adding nitric acid, when,if reduction had taken place, prussian blue was formed.Comma bacilli, typhus bacilli, streptococci, many of the

micro-organisms of the fsoces and the sputa, and of thoseexisting in the Neva and waterworks water, set up a con-siderable degree of reduction, while some, including Bacillus

subtilis, showed no signs of doing so even after a week hadelapsed. In the case of cholera and other bacilli in alkaline

media, Dr. Poehl observed that the addition of hydrochloricacid to the culture in process. of development gave rise toa red pigment of the same tint as acetate of iron, in additionto the formation of prussian blue. A similar pigment wasformed by itself in control experiments made with the samebacilli and nutrient gelatine containing no iron or ferro-cyanide, and is probably, according to Dr. Poehl, identicalwith the scatol derivative found by Brieger in pathologicalurines. The bacilli of Prior and Finckler found in choleranostras appear to require much less oxygen for developmentthan the comma bacilli, which are in a high degree aerobic.It would seem that in true cholera oxidising medicines, asperoxide of hydrogen and peroxide of manganese enclosedin keratin, so as to act specially on the small intestine,might be expected to act both in destroying ptomaines andin preventing their formation. Dr. Poehl thinks that much

practical information is to be obtained by chemico-biologicalinvestigations on comma bacilli and pathological micro-organisms generally. -

THE EASTERN HOSPITAL.

DR. CoLLm’s annual report for the year 1885 gives aninteresting account of the work of the hospital during thatperiod. Altogether 1033 patients were under treatment,813 of whom were admitted during the year. Of these,scarlet fever contributed 614 cases, and enteric fever 112cases, the mortality per cent. of these diseases being 12 forthe former and 19 for the latter; typhus fever had a

mortality of 46 per cent. In the small-pox wards 618patients were admitted, of whom 425 were vaccinated; in91 the vaccination was doubtful, and 102 were confessedlyunvaccinated, the general mortality per cent. being 22’6 forthis disease. Dr. Collie observes that the number of admis-sions of cases of enteric fever was less than in any yearsince the opening of the hospital in 1871. It is interestingto note that two nurses contracted enteric fever. It will berecollected that Dr. Collie some years ago contributed a

series of valuable papers on the communicability of thisdisease, and argued against the belief that any insanitarycondition of the hospital was responsible for the infectionof the nurses which from time to time took place. Sincethese papers were published, the drainage and sanitaryarrangements have been entirely reconstructed under thesupervision of Mr. Keith Young, and may now be consideredto be as perfect as they can be made. That the nurses havestill continued to suffer from enteric fever is strong evidenceof the correctness of Dr. Collie’s view, that the youth of thenurses employed in the institution is an important elementin rendering them susceptible to this disease.

NO MEDICAL EVIDENOE.

ON September 28th an inquest was held by Mr. F. S.Hawthorn, deputy coroner, on the body of George Ridley,aged thirty-seven. Deceased was found in an insensiblecondition on the Midland Railway with a scalp wound in theright occipital region and a small compound depressedfracture of the skull. He was removed to the Burton-on-Trent Infirmary, where trephining was performed. Death

ensued, however, without deceased having recovered con-sciousness. No medical evidence was called. The juryreturned a verdict of " Accidental death while trespassing onthe railway." We entirely demur to the course taken in theinvestigation of the above-mentioned case, and to the verdictwhich followed the evidence. It seems to us a matter ofdoubt whether the death was accidental, suicidal, or homi-cidal. Except for the fact that the man was in a place ofdanger to life and limb there was nothing to show how the

831

injuries were received, for " the railway officials had beenunable to trace the train by which the deceased was struck."A careful search ought certainly to have decided the latterquestion. The means by which any further light couldreasonably be expected to be thrown on the matter--viz., apost-mortem examination-was not employed. We are

decidedly of opinion that wherever the cause of death isequivocal, and especially where the liberty of another personmay be imperilled by suspicion of foul play, it is the boundenduty of the authorities to secure the best attainable evidence,and this can only be got in cases like the one under con-sideration by a carefully conducted necropsy.

THE VENOM OF POISONOUS SNAKES.

THE investigation of the poison which in the form ofsnake-bites kills nearly 50,000 human beings per annum inIndia alone, cannot fail to present many points of interest,and has just been undertaken by Dr. R. Norris Wolfenden,whose results are published in the last part of thedournal of Physiology. The poisons with which he experi-mented were obtained from the Indian cobra, the scientificname of which is Naja tripudians, and the Indian viper,named the Daboia Russellii. In the report of the last SnakeCommission, Dr. Wolfenden tells us, Mr. Pedler, one of thecommissioners, sums up the results of his chemical examina-tion into the nature of the poison with the remark that it isquite impossible to draw any deductions as to its nature,and he thought it was more than possible that the poisonwas a mixture of albuminous principles with some specificpoison. Sir Joseph Fayrer and Dr. Liuder Brunton com- ipared the action of cobra poison to the alkaloid conia.

Blyth thought that the poison could be separated from theproteids in the venom, and that it was not thrown downwith the albumens on the addition of alcohol. Walls, how-ever, with whom Dr. Wolfenden agrees, ascertained thatthis is an error, and attributable to the circumstance thatthe alcohol used was not sufficiently pure. If to a solutionof cobra poison absolute alcohol be added, a white precipitateis thrown down. After the precipitate has been thoroughlywashed with alcohol, it can be redissolved in water, and thesolution produces all the effects of cobra poison. Moreoverif dried cobra poison in a state of fine powder be added toabsolute alcohol, and the mixture be frequently agitated,the alcohol will derive no poisonous property from thecobra venom; but if rectified spirit be employed, the waterin the rectified spirit is capable of taking up a certainamount of the poison. This is just what might be expectedof an albuminous fluid, and tells in favour of the view thatthe cobra venom is of a proteid nature. The observationsand experiments of Weir Mitchell and Reichert upon thevenoms of several American snakes tend to prove that the

poisonous principle is resident in the proteid constituents.Dr. Wolfenden finds the venom is generally acid when quitefresh, but that it may become neutral when it has been keptfor a few hours. Experiment showed that dialysates of thevenom, free from proteid, were quite harmless; but that ifthey contained any proteid they became toxic. The activityof the venom, though reduced, is not entirely abolished bythe exposure to a boiling temperature. It is renderedinnocuous by the permanganate of potash outside the body, aswell as by tannic acid, metallic salts, and other agents whichprecipitate albumen. The albumens which Dr. Wolfendenfinds are present in the venom of the cobra are: First, aglobulin, which is always present, and probably kills byinterference with the respiratory mechanism—that is, byasphyxia, and without paralysis, causing local inflammation,but not of great intonsity. Secondly, an albumen resemblingacid albumen, which is precipitated, together with globulin,by saturation, and which is in some degree dialysable:

this proteid probably acts on the respiratory apparatuschiefly like the globulin, but less intensely. Thirdly, analbumen which is precipitated sodium sulphate out of themagnesia filtrate, and appears to be serum-albumen; thisis also toxic, and produces a kind of ascending paralysis,with fatal termination by suppression of the respiratoryfunction due to paralysis of the respiratory muscles. Lastly,he found some traces of hemi-albumose and of peptone.Similar compounds were found in the venom of daboia.

THE RIVER LEA.

Dit. TRIPE, the medical officer of health of Hackney, iswisely exercising watchfulness over the river Lea. Publicinterest in any subject cannot be maintained for any lengthof time, and officers are often powerless to procure remediesfor great evils except when popular feeling is aroused. Wemake no excuse, therefore, for again directing attention tothe condition of this river, and to Dr. Tripe’s statement thatit has gone back almost to its former state." Up to theend of September the Tottenham Local Board had beenpermitted by the Metropolitan Board of Works to dischargethe Tottenham sewage through a new sewer into the metro-politan system, but this privilege has now ceased, and welearn from a report which Dr. Tripe has presented to hisauthority that he found a scum on the water near theTottenham outfall, and many dead fish. Within fifty yardsfrom this outfall there was as much ammonia and organicmatter in the water as to equal a mixture of one-third ofsewage and two-thirds of distilled water, and on one

particular day the effluent contained as much of these con-stituents as did sewage taken from the sewer in Mare-street,Hackney, and it smelt worse. A member of the Hackneyvestry, who is also a member of the Metropolitan Board ofWorks, expressed the opinion that further assistance fromthe latter Board could not be expected, and that the onlyremedy was in the hands of the’ Tottenham authority,who must deal more effectually with their sewage beforedischarging it into the Lea. Finally, Dr. Tripe’s recom-mendation was adopted, that the attention of the TottenhamLocal Board and the Lea Conservancy Board be called tothe unsatisfactory condition of the Lea, since the effluenthas again been discharged into that river.

INTRA-CRANIAL HÆMORRHAGE.

AT a meeting of the Pathological Society of Philadelphia,Dr. H. A. Formad read a paper upon Intra-cranial Hæmor-

rhage (Boston Medical and Surgical Journal, Sept. 30th),based upon an analysis of 143 cases occurring in medico-legal practice. He divided them into eight classes, andarrived at the following practical conclusions :-1. Haemor-rhages exclusively above the pia mater and above the duramater--that is, on the outside of the brain-are always dueto traumatism or to sunstroke, provided a cerebral sourcefor hæmorrhage be excluded, and the cerebral vessels andmembranes be not diseased. 2. Haemorrhage in the floorof the fourth ventricle is always traumatic, provided therebe no blood clots in the lateral ventricles or any other partof the cerebral substance. 3. Haemorrhage exclusivelybelow the pia mater, or in any part of the brain sub-stance, or in the ventricles (except the fourth), is alwaysidiopathic-that is, due to disease. 5. There must bea diseased condition of the cerebral vessels or substancefor haemorrhage to be a result of disease. There must betraumatism (a fall or violence) to account for a hæmor-

rhage in a normal brain. 5. The blood clot in concussionof the brain is not found at the point of application ofviolence, but always somewhere about the opposite sideof the brain, and always within the arachnoid-that is,between the pia and dura mater. 6, The blood clot in fracture

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of the skull is always found at the point of application ofviolence immediately below and always between the duramater and the fractured part of the skull itself. 7. A bloodclot found within the cranial vault is more favourable to the

patient if due to fractured skull than if due to a mere con-cussion. 8. Only clotted blood and infiltration of bloodcorpuscles into tissues indicate an ante-mortem hoemor-

rhage. Liquid blood is due to post-mortem oozing, and stains,but does not infiltrate, tissues. 9. Severe bruises and cutsof the scalp may be seen in cases of idiopathic apoplexy,when a sudden cerebral bæmorrhage causes a person to fall.10. In some cases it is impossible to decide by medical exa-mination alone as to whether a head injury and the result-ing haemorrhage is due to a fall or violence. 11. Externalmarks of violence may be invisible to the unaided eye insome cases of injury to the head or other parts, but areeasily detected and distinguished from post-mortem spotsby means of the microscope. 12. The bulk of an intra-cranial haemorrhage stands usually in inverse proportionto that of the external scalp haemorrhage.

HYDROPHOBIA IN CALIFORNIA.

THE San Francisco News Letter is publishing the replieswhich have been received from members of the medical

profession in regard to the non-appearance of rabies inCalifornia or on the Pacific Coast. The two questions towhich answers were solicited were as follows: (1) Has anycase of rabies, either in man or animal, come under yourpersonal notice, in this State or on this coast ? If so, pleasegive particulars. (2) Have you any theory as to the causeof the absence of this disease from our midst, and have youany facts to sustain your theory? The replies appear toprove pretty conclusively the non-existence of the diseasein the district respecting which inquiry is made. One corre-spondent during a residence of twenty-nine years has seenbut one case; the others unanimously answer the first queryin the negative. With regard to the second question thereis not such a similarity of opinion. One attributes Cali-fornia’s immunity to its climate, while another gives as hisopinion that the absence of rabies does not seem to beaccounted for on the basis of climatic conditions. Onealludes vaguely to the intervention between the east and

the west of vast arid plains, lofty ranges of mountains, andgreat rivers, which he surmises present insuperable obstaclesto infection by the direct transportation of infected animals;whilst another gravely states that the only theory that pre-sents itself to him "is that, however hot the days may bein California, the nights are always cooler." Whatever

may be the cause, however, California is to be congratulatedon the effect, and will, we hope, continue to remain free fromthe scourge which has within the last few months so

severely afrieted our own country.

DEATH FROM EATING HAW-BERRIES.

AN inquest was held by Mr. E. A. Carttar on Oct. 16thtouching the death of Emma Ponton, aged seven years.Deceased had eaten a quantity of haws-the fruit of thewhitethorn (Cratœgus oxyacantha). On the following dayshe became very ill and vomited. A medical man was called

in, but despite his efforts the girl died two days later. Dr.M’Mahon attributed the death to " suffocation arising frominflammation of the stomach and bowels caused by excessivenervous irritation, brought on by the swallowing of theseeds of berries which were not poisonous." As the coroner

observed, it was a remarkable death. Apart from thesuffocation induced as alleged, however, we can quiteunderstand that the haws may have caused death. In thefirst place they are astringent and somewhat acrid, and arenot unlikely, when eaten in quantity, to set up vomiting and

gastro-intestinal irritation. Further, the dense outer skinand the " stones " may excite digestive disturbances by theirmechanical action. Accumulations of such bodies may leadto faecal impaction, or a single stone may readily be lodgedin the vermiform appendix, and lead to ulcerative perfora-tion, with retro-peritoneal abscess and peritonitis as sequelae.From the evidence it does not seem certain that deceased

may not have swallowed other "berries" of a poisonousnature in mistake for haws-e.g., the fruit of the bryonyplant, which when ripe is found in scarlet clusters, one ofthe most beautiful ornaments of our hedgerows; or of thewoody nightshade (Solanum dulcamara). The usfortunateevent shows the necessity for instruction to the young ofthe danger that lurks in the ingestion of wild " berries,"whether reputed to be poisonous or harmless.

METROPOLITAN ASYLUMS BOARD.

AT the fortnightly meeting of the Managers of the Metro-poltan Asylums District, which was held on Saturday last,the Board considered a letter from the Local GovernmentBoard asking what steps were being taken to remedy thedefective drainage of the Western Hospital, and it was decidedto refer back to the committee of the hospital their reportrecommending that a firm of architects be employed tocarry out the work, and that the committee be empoweredto consult a sanitary engineer if they considered it neces-sary to do so. The returns of those under treatment showeda total of 622 patients, of whom 520 were suffering fromscarlet fever, 99 from enteric fever, and 3 from small-pox.Scarlet fever and enteric fever showed a slight tendency toincrease, but the metropolis continued almost free from

small-pox. The committee for the Western Hospital re-ported that they were of opinion that the practice of dis-infecting the Board’s ambulances at the hospital should bediscontinued, while the Northern Hospital committee

reported in an opposite sense. The arrangements for thelighting of the hospital ships by electricity are now completed.

THE BIARRITZ CONGRESS ON CLIMATOLOGY.

MORE than a thousand adherents were secured by theorganisers of the above Congress. Several Governmentssent representatives, and the presence during the monthof October of so many distinguished guests at Biarritz,helped to enliven this fashionable watering-place. Thereare few seaside resorts in France better situated than

Biarritz, and under the Third Empire it was often

frequented by the Court and the highest functionaries ofthe State. In the intermediary seasons, during the lateautumn and the early spring, Biarritz is an invigorating"half-way house" between the north and the south. It

does not, therefore, compete with the Riviera, but helpsrather to supplement the climatic advantages found on theshores of the Mediterranean. Indeed, a whiff from theAtlantic is always welcome to patients from the north, andthis can be safely enjoyed at Biarritz at a season when itmight prove fatal nearer to England. As if in acknow-

ledgment of the alliance between Biarritz and the Riviera,Dr. Colignon, chief physician of the Hotel Dieu at Monaco,was elected by the Congress secretary for the principalsection-namely, that dealing with scientific and medicalclimatology. Effectively the principality of Monaco occupiesthe most enviable site on the Riviera. The shelter enjoyedfrom the northern winds is not surpassed anywhere.Further, a certain portion of the principality - thatstretching towards the Eastern frontier, and known as

the Quartier des Moulins, where the lemon trees blossomall the year round - is not only marvellously sheltered,but does not suffer from stagnant atmosphere. Situatedon the ledge of a high mountain, dominating the sea,

833

it is sufficiently elevated to enjoy a constant breezewithout losing its advantages of temperature. Dr. Colignondoubtless made a good point of these qualifications, andwe are informed that his statistics concerning the cureseffected at the Monaco Hospital were considered veryconclusive by the Congress. Full reports of the pro-ceedings have not yet been published, but we can never-theless congratulate the town of Biarritz on the initiativeit has taken. The climatic treatment of disease is yearlybecoming more general, and all efforts to collect and

scientifically compare the results attained will render thismode of dealing with a numerous class of patients easier tofollow, without incurring the dangers that spring frominsufficient knowledge of local peculiarities.

PURPURA HÆMORRHAGICA IN ST. PETERSBURGAND HAMBURG.

DR. E. MASING compares (St. Petersbuyger MedicinischeWochenschrift, Nos. 39 and 40) a case of purpura hæmor-

rhagica of his own, together with 13 cases culled from thecase-books of the Mary Magdalen Hospital in St. Petersburg,with the 73 cases collected by Dr. Scheby-Buch, from therecords of the Hamburg General Hospital. Of the 14 Russiancases, 10 were complicated with pyrexia and 8 withdiarrhœa. Eight presented painful and swollen joints andmuscles, whereas in the 73 Hamburg cases only 27 are re-ported as having-had rheumatic symptoms. Haemorrhagefrom the nasal and other cavities of the body occurred in 6cases-i.e., in about the same proportion as in Hamburg.LTrticaria was not observed at all, though it was frequentlypresent in the Hamburg series. Youth is the most commontime for the disease to occur, 9 cases being under twenty-fiveyears of age. The disease would appear to be even more rarein St. Petersburg than in Hamburg, for there were only13 cases found in the Mary Dlagdalen Hospital Reports forthe last twenty years, during which time the total numberof patients was over 82,000; while the 73 Hamburg Hospitalcases occurred in the space of forty-one years out of a

total of 100,000 patients. The mortality was greater thanin Hamburg, 4 out of 14 being fatal in St. Petersburg andonly 10 out of 73 in Hamburg. One of the former series,however, died of phthisis. The author is quite unable tothrow any light on the etiology of haemorrhagic purpura,but he expresses the hope that bacteriological research mayhelp to clear it up. -

ERGOTISM IN COWS.

SOME discussion has been taking place lately with regardto ergoted grasses producing abortion in cows, and the

question does not yet appear to be answered as to whetherand to what extent the accident is due to the Clavicepspurpurea, which in some seasons is a very common parasiteon the herbage of pastures. By some authorities it is believedthat ergot is the cause of the widespread epizootics of abor-tion which are sometimes reported as occurring amongcattle, and which cause heavy loss to stock-breeders. Byothers this effect of ergot is doubted, and these doubts wouldappear to be justified by very conclusive evidence of an ex-perimental kind. It has been given in large and repeateddoses to cows, bitches, cats, swine, and rabbits in all stagesof pregnancy, but its ecbolic action has not been observedin them, and the conclusion arrived at was that amongstthe lower animals ergot, whether given by the mouth orrectum, in single large doses, or for some time continuously,has no tendency to expel the contents of the uterus at anyperiod of gestation. Abortion in cattle is undoubtedly dueto many causes. When sporadic, it may follow injury ordisease; but when it occurs in a herd of pregnant cows, allor nearly all aborting after the first case, then the occurrence

looks mysterious, and is popularly believed to be owing to"sympathy" among the cows, a kind of imitative actionbrought about by the animals’ imagination. This notion

has, of course, no foundation in fact, and multiple cases ofabortion can be truthfully accounted for by infection. con-veyed from one cow which has aborted to others which arein calf. Veterinary surgeons had long, from observation,come to the conclusion that septic infection, possiblythrough the genital organs, was the principal if not the solecause; and some years ago Franck, of the Alunich VeterinarySchool, made some interesting experiments on pregnantcows, which demonstrated that abortion could readilybe brought about by introducing a very small quan-tity of matter obtained from the vagina or after-birth of a cow that had slipped its calf into the vagina ofa pregnant one. This matter was found on examination toteem with micrococci. In order to prevent outbreaks of

abortion, viewing it as an infectious disease, cattle-breedersshould be thoroughly aware of the premonitory signs,which are usually well marked, and at once separate theanimal which shows them from its fellows. When theaccident has happened in a cowshed, then measures of asanitary kind should be speedily adopted, as if dealing witha most infectious malady. By acting in this way, the heavylosses which are so frequently reported as the sequel of" warping" would be no longer heard of.

THE SUCCI FAST.

THE "fast of Succi" is commented on with unsparingsarcasm by M. Loye in the pages of our contemporary, LeProgrès Médical (Oct. 16th). He has been surprised to seethat the physicians who had the control of the " experiment

"

allowing Sucei to receive visits, to take rides, baths, &c., and,in fact, to have a measure of freedom which would havediscredited the researches of Chossat and Voit, or Bidderand Schmidt, had they allowed it to the animals on whomthey studied the effects of inanition. The whole affairseems to him to be a juggling trick, aimed to mystifymessieurs les savants. But what, he asks, was the objectin view? Was it to demonstrate the absolute possibility ofliving without nourishment- to do work without any sourceof force ? That would have been a new search after perpetualmotion, and he would not insult his readers by discussingit. Was it to show that certain individuals can do withoutfood for some days? That is a common physiological fact,of which there are numerous instances, from the germinatinggrain to the hibernating marmot. Was it due to the facultyof simulation, which has too often upset the most cleversavants? ? M. Loye hints even that such suspicion mayreasonably attach to the Italian fasting man, who had

formerly suffered from mental alienation. The resultsof the fast confirm these latter suspicions, for, apartfrom loss of weight and diminution in urea, he showedno symptoms of inanition; there was no loss of mus-cular energy; the respiratory movements and cardiac pul-sations were as frequent as at the commencement. The

physicians in charge do not appear to have measuredthe work done-a grave omission, which if suppliedwould have enabled one to determine whether or notthere had been any introduction of food. The experimentthereby loses all scientific value. He only lost in weight441 grammes per diem, and can it (the writer asks) be

seriously maintained that this amount could suffice to main-, tain life and produce so much work ? Bidder and Schmidt’s

animals lost th of their weight da.ily with hardly any’ work; Sucei only lost th of his body weight, and yet took

long walks, swam, conversed, and performed all manner ofwork. Finally, M. Loye discredits the famous liquor which

t. Sucei took to assuage his hunger, for the sensation is central,; and not to be masked by anaesthesia of the stomach. He

834

regrets that his Italian cazzfreres should have accepted theoffice of detecting a trick, which is the business of con-

jurors and not of doctors ; and he concludes by trusting, forthe honour of French science, that the further challenge benot accepted. -

THE SCOTCH AND IRISH ELECTIONS.

WE think the merits of the Scotch candidates are nowwell understood. Dr. Morton’s personal qualifications areunexceptionable, but no ingenuity will get rid of the

argument that he is disqualified to represent the free prac-titioners of Scotland by the mere fact that he is the Pre-sident of one of its corporations, already strongly representedin the Council. It is an open secret that several distinguishedphysicians-notably, Sir Douglas Maclagan and ProfessorGairdner-have been mentioned as gentlemen who wouldhave had a large support as honoured members of the pro-fession in Scotland. It is understood, too, that either of thesegentlemen would have regarded it as an honour to be electeddirect representative for the northern division of the kingdom.But they judged that, strictly speaking, the seat was meantfor men representing the rank and file of the profession, andso judging, they decided not to complicate the election byallowing their names to be put forward. We venture to saythat by this decision they have done great honour both tothemselves and the general practitioners of Scotland, whoare now free to elect one of their own number. Two such

gentlemen are before the constituency, and we look confi-dently forward to the election of one of them. Dr. Sinclairof Dundee or Dr. Bruce of Dingwall would worthily repre-sent the practitioners of Scotland. It speaks well for thepublic spirit of this section of the profession that men inbusy practice can be procured ready to make the necessarysacrifice of time and convenience. The case of Ireland is to

. be regarded with more anxiety. Dublin threatens to seizethe new seat as she has appropriated all the rest since there

- was a Council, and general practice in Ireland, which has somany wants of its own, appears likely to go as unrepre-sented as if direct representation had not been granted. Letus hope that even yet the ofncial and consultant and Dublincandidates will leave the seat for those who sorely need it.But this " sublime repression" of themselves is not to berelied on too much, and, as in Scotland, the blame will ulti-mately rest on the general practitioners if they do not electone of their own order.

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PERNICIOUS AN/EM!A AND INTESTINAL

PARASITES.

THAT the condition produced on the system by theravages of the blood-sucking parasite, Anchylostomumduodenale, resembles in every particular the progressiveanaemia, which so often proves fatal, and is, so far as know-ledge goes, at once idiopathic and pernicious, is now a well-established fact. It has remained, however, for the pastfew months to see statements made and proofs advancedthat other intestinal parasites may be the means of inducingthis grave ansemia. We lately cited the paper of Dr. Renion the relation of Tricocephalus dispar to Beri-beri, whichwas intended to point to this connexion; and a paper waslately published by Dr. Reyher to prove that in some casesthe cestoid worm, Bothriocephalus latus, is the cause of a"pernicious anasmia." (An abstract of this paper will be foundin the International Journal of the Medical Sciences forOctober, p. 531.) Dr. Runeberg, of Helsingfors, read a paperat the Berlin Congress of Naturalists and Physicians in confir-mation of Reyher’s view. (Berl. Klin. Woche7ascla., Oct. 4th.)He averred that under certain circumstances the presence of

bothriocephali in the intestine might lead to true perniciousansemia; he had observed this connexion in twelve out ofnineteen cases, and was able to cure his patients by the free

use of anthelmintics together with arsenic and iron. In thedebate that ensued, Professor Biermer doubted if Dr. Rune-berg’s cases really came under that category, not presentingall its typical phenomena. He had never himself* met with

any such connexion with intestinal worms. Professors

Quincke, Immermann, and Heller all spoke in the same

sense, the last-named pointing out that bothriocephalus wasa common parasite, and often met with in great abundancewithout inducing any general symptoms.

THE CHOLERA EPIDEMIC.

THE past week has exhibited a further decline in theextent to which cholera has prevailed in localities whichhave already been referred to as suffering from the epidemic.Trieste and Pesth are now the only two places from whichregular daily returns are received. As regards Trieste, thedaily mortality during the past week has varied from 4 to1; and at Pesth it has varied from 18 to 10. But, quite-apart from these towns, it is evident that cholera is stillsomewhat widely diffused over various parts of Austro-

Hungary, and recent information is to the effect that inCroatia an average of 12 attacks and 6 deaths, and in

Szegedin an average of 13 attacks and 7 deaths, still occur

daily. Fresh occurrences of cholera are also reported fromRaab, Theriosopol, and the village of Csebza in SouthernHungary. During the seven weeks ending Oct. 24th thecholera deaths in Pesth had amounted to 393, and it is esti-mated that the attacks had exceeded 1000.

"’AEROBiC" ANl3 dPlAER-I(;."A SUGGESTIVE idea, which has not yet led to any definite

results, has been taken up by M. Arloing, and concerns anattempt to learn more of the nature of infective diseases bythe aid of chemical physiology. The aerobic microbe, it isbelieved, would live at the expense of the oxygen of theblood, and we should consequently.expect that this wouldshow itself in the form of alterations in the quantity andquality of the chemical substances discharged from thebody. It has been found that the amount of carbonic acid

discharged from the lungs in cases of charbon and gangrenoussepticaemia diminishes during the whole course of the fever,and especially towards its termination. This diminution inthe discharged carbonic acid appears to have begun soonafter the inoculation of the poison in the case of charbon ;.whilst in the case of gangrenous septicaemia, for some hoursafter the inoculation the quantity of carbonic acid exhaledwas increased. It is believed that this difference in theamounts of carbonic acid discharged during the hours

immediately following inoculation is to be attributed to,the difference between aerobic and anaerobic organisms.

THE ADVANCE OF TEMPERANCE.

MosT of our readers will be pleased to see that, under theaction of healthy public discussion, temperance is becomingmore and more a custom with our countrymen. Alcoholic

drinks, which once were classed with daily bread in verymany households, rich and poor alike, are now luxuries lesscommon than tea, and have, indeed, in an ever-wideningrange of popular opinion, come to be no more than thestimulant accessories of impaired nutrition. They certainlyshould not, as a rule, be taken apart from food, and neglectof this precaution has probably much to do with theformation of the drinking habit. We have heard it

suggested, in conformity with this view, that licensedhouses should be required to supply food as well as

intoxicant liquor, and it is possible that in that case

the consumption of the latter would be less than it is.

Every means of restraining drunkenness is helpful to the .

835

cause of temperance, therefore we willingly note the sug-gestion. At the same time, it should be remembered thatthere is not for those whose health is good much help, ifany, in alcohol, that it rather hinders than assists their

energies, and that non-stimulant restoratives and food canbest recruit them after toil; while thirst, the want of water,is best allayed by merely making good that want.

’ LIGATURE OF ARTERIES.

PROBABLY few subjects have afforded more occupationto the surgical mind than that of the ligature of arteries,and there seems a probability that it will continue toexercise the ingenuity of surgeons for many years to come.The discussion at the last meeting of the Clinical Society,though it did not elicit the opinions of many surgeons,yielded at least a great variety of opinions, for no twospeakers appeared to agree in all particulars. The materialof which the ligature should be composed, the kind of knotto be used, whether the arterial coats should be divided,whether two ligatures should be employed and the arterydivided when deligation is practised in the continuity of anartery-are all moot points. Mr. Thomas Smith advocatedthe employment of the clove hitch, as being less liable toslip or to cause ulceration of the artery than the ordinaryreef-knot, which has been in almost universal use of lateyears. The absence of any necessity for division of theinternal coats of the artery seemed to be proved by the’experimental researches of Messrs. Ballance and Edmunds.Kangaroo tendon does not yet seem to have established itsreputation as a ligature to be relied upon in all cases.

THE INDISCRIMINATE SALE OF FIREARMS.

ON Thursday last Dr. Danford Thomas held an inqueston Edgar Wilkins Hanley, aged thirty-one, an artist, who,shot himself on the previous Monday. Mr. Sylvanus Hanley,the father of the deceased, stated that for several years hisson had been under medical care for a series of nervous

disorders, and he had an idea that he would die an idiot.Last February he was strangely affected by the suicide ofthe late Lord Shaftesbury. He was attended by his landlady,and also an attendant. At four o’clock on Monday thedeceased shot himself, a revolver being found afterwards bythe bedside. Since Christmas last, a friend had interceptedletters from the deceased to various London gunsmithsasking to be furnished with firearms and ammunition. One

gunsmith insisted on complying with the order, whereuponwitness threatened to put the matter into the hands ofSir Charles Warren. A juryman remarked that greater careought to be exercised in the sale of firearms to invalids.They should not be sent in this manner indiscriminately bypost. The coroner said, "All the gunsmiths want is themoney. They will evidently send revolvers by post toanyone." A verdict of " Suicide whilst of unsound mind"was returned. We must express our approbation of theremarks above quoted. Any infant, any lunatic at large,in fact any irresponsible person, can, as the law at

present stands, furnish himself with a weapon by whichhe can in a moment deprive himself or others of life.Such a state of things surely ought to be remedied. Wewould suggest that no person should, under any circum-stances, be allowed to purchase firearms of any descrip-tion except on a personal application to the gunsmith,accompanied by a written statement concerning the purpose’for which such weapons were required; and that, moreover,such statement should be accompanied by a guarantee froma householder, or some responsible person, that he believesthe weapon in question is to be used solely and oa /M<;for the purpose stated. Within a few years back we canrecall to memory cases of a boy who killed another with

a pistol, of a girl playing with a friend’s revolver who shotherself through the heart, of a man who shot a woman

through the chest, of a nobleman who shot himself in a cab,and many similar cases. These facts speak for themselves,and the mere mention of them ought to be sufficient toawaken the minds of the authorities to the necessity forlegislation on so important a subject.

PUBLIC HEALTH IN THE KINGDOM OF HAWAII.

FEW things are more significant of the progress which isgoing on all over the world than the establishment incountries not long removed from a state of barbarism ofboards of health and of organisations for securing efficientsanitary administration, such as were all but unknown evenin the most civilised communities during the past century.The kingdom of Hawaii is eminently a case in point, and weare glad to find that, as the result of the efforts going onthere, a manifest decline in the death-rate is in progress,and that the Hawaiian people are gradually being awakenedto an apprecation of the laws of health in many ways. ThePresident of the Board of Health, in his report for 1885, thethirteenth year of the reign of his Majesty Kalakaua, speaksin the most hopeful terms of the future of the kingdom,and he expresses the conviction that a race so vigorousin its rude uncultivated state, so healthy and prolific inits aboriginal condition, will not be overcome by the viciousconditions connected with the radical change in habits oflife and manners which is being brought about by the transi-

tion from a simple natural life to that of the more artificialone of civilisation. Great improvements are in progressas to the treatment and care of lepers. It has been deemed

necessary to separate from others the children of lepers,although not yet attacked with the disease. But latterly ithas been admitted that it is little short of an outrage thatchildren, only suspected of being tainted on the ground ofheredity and yet giving no sign of the disease, should bedoomed to lose all their opportunities in life and to associateonly with lepers. The result is that a special school forgirls has been opened by the queen, and a hope is expressedthat a similar institution may be erected and opened bythe king for the boys. The water-supply for some principaltowns has been largely improved; the question of hospitalconstruction generally is being considered; and it is urgedthat means of isolation in cheerful breezy spots should beprovided for infectious diseases, and that the question ofdrainage should be attended to. As to the importation ofinfection, a form of quarantine detention is largely trustedto, and the accommodation available seems to be morecomplete than that existing in some European communitieswhere profession of trust in the same expedient has longexisted; thus it was tested last year when 940 Japaneseimmigrants suffering from small-pox were landed; and noChinese are allowed to come ashore except after a quarantinedetention.

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NEURITIS AND NEUROSES.

THE growing conception of " neuritis" as an entity and afrequent cause of disease is leading to the explanation ofseveral functional derangements which hitherto have beenclassed under the wide but meaningless term of " neuroses."Dr. Max Meyer adduces evidence to show that even when" multiple neuritis" is exhausted to explain alcoholic andtoxic paralyses, there remains the large group of peripheralneuralgise which may have their starting-point in a neu-ritis ; and that motor spasms, tic douloureux, migraine, andeven epileptic attacks may sometimes be referred to the samesource. (Berlin. Iilin. WochenschJ’ift, No. 43.) He illustrateshis thesis by cases of sciatica, occipital neuralgia, migraine,epilepsy, and tic douloureux, in which there was distinct evi-

836

dence of neuritis; and we need hardly adduce the well-known fact of tender points in many neuralgiae which bearthis out. Granting this inflammatory origin, it points, hethinks, to therapeutic measures-in rigid antiphlogosis(i.e. leeching) at the outset, whereby may be avoided relapsesor secondary degeneration of the affected nerve. If theacute stage have passed, he considered that the best measurefor promoting absorption of the inflammatory condition isgalvanism, with which may be combined massage ; and that,lastly, nerve-stretching is of value in cases where there isold exudation in the nerve sheath and its vicinity in spotswhich are not accessible to galvanism.

PROFESSOR RUTHERFORD ON THE SENSE OF

HEARING.

IN the introductory address at the Edinburgh Universityon the Sanse of Hearing, Professor Rutherford discussed at

considerable length the theory of sound sensation which wasadvanced by Helmholtz, and the theory of the cause of con-cord between tones of the same pitch. According to Helm-holtz, a compound vibration is analysed in the cochlea. Ifthe blending of each sensation in a compound soundeventually takes place in the centre of perception, why,Professor Rutherford asks, is there any need to have thecomplex vibration analysed in the cochlea ? Those of ourreaders who are interested in this matter we must referto Professor Rutherford’s suggestive address.

VISCERAL TABES.

IF one were asked the meaning of "visceral tabes,"the reply would probably be given, without suspicionof being wrong, to the effect that the term implied a

wasting of the internal organs of the body. But, alas,visceral tabes has no such meaning. The origin of the

designation may be thus sk9tched: locomotor ataxy iscalled tabes dorsalis, and sometimes plain " tabes "; visceralcrises are remarkable symptoms of tabes dorsalis; a case oflocomotor ataxy in which the chief features are the occurrenceof visceral crises, is termed visceral tabes. Bronchorrhoel,gastrorrhoel, and entorrhoel are the visceral symptoms mostmarked in a case of "visceral tabes," recorded in No. 117 ofLx Frzrtce J.1Iidicale by 1-I. S-,ota3. In addition to the

"runnings" from the bronchi, stomach, and intestines, thepatient was the victim of pr0flBe perspirations and copiousdischarges of urine. Tne patient is a female, aged fifty,whose father died from disease of the spinal cord, and whosetwo sisters and one brother also succumbed to paralysis.The knee-jerk is lost only on the right side. The ataxy ofgait is not marked, but there is inability to walk well inthe dark.

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PERLECHE: AN AFFEC10 OF SCH30L CHILDREN.

AN affection which is common among school children in

parts of France, and which is knowa by the names of

perleche and braou, has recently been invegtigated by Dr.Justin Lemaistre, professor in the Hmoges School of Medi-cine, and found to be of parasitic origin. The parts affectedare the angles of the mouth and the skin immediately ad-jacent to them. The epithelium nrst becomes whitish,sodden, and easily detached; the skin then becomes involved,but as a rule only the superficial layers of the epidermis peeloff, the corium not being quite deaudel. Sometimes smallfissures make their appearance, radiating from the angle ofthe mouth, which occasion some pain and bleed slightlywhen the mouth is widely opened. The appearance is notunlike that of the mucous patches and rhagades seen in thesame situation in syphilitic children. The average durationof the affection is not more than a fortnight, but childrenare often affected several times a year, so that no protection

is afforded against subsequent attacks. Of course it is onlyof a slight nature at any time. Al. Lemaistre finds that it is.contracted through the vessels from which the childrendrink. He examined the epithelium and found a newmicrobe belonging to the sphero-bacteria or cocci of theSchizomycetes group. Cultivations in bouillon produced amass which gave the appearance of an immense number of &pound;chains intertwined; consequently M. Lemaistre proposes thename Streptococcus plicatilis. He succeeded also in culti-

vating the same from the water of a fountain. The wooden

drinking bowl in use amongst the poor plays, he thinks, animportant part in the etiology of the disease. He explains the-situation of the affection by supposing that the Streptococcusplicatilis is anasrobic, and that it finds in the commissures ofthe lips suitable moisture and sufficient protection. For-

tunately it does not multiply very rapidly, and consequentlythe affection it produces is not of a serious nature. Of the5500 children in the thirty-two primary schools in Limoges,312, or one in every 17, are affected with perleohe. The besttreatment is by means of copper and alum applications,boracic acid appearing not to be efficacious. The prophylaxis-consists in cleaning the drinking vessels and fountains.Though no attempts at inoculation seem to have been made,the researches of M. Lemaistre leave but little doubt of the

parasitic nature of this essentially school affection, whichvery probably is common enough, and may usefully be.looked for by rural practitioners in this country as wellas in France.

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THE CARDIAC GAN3UA.

DR. LUDWIG EiSENLOHB, assistant at the Munich Patho-logical Institute, has recently described the nerves and

ganglia of the human heart (Abstr. in Miinchener Med.Woch., No. 39). He describes ganglia cells occurringisolated and in groups, mainly in the auricular wall, more.rarely in the auriculo-ventricutar groove. They lie embeddedin the subperieardial connective and adipose tissue. In.the muscle the madullated nerve fibres lack ganglia cells.The sheath of the nerve fibres, on or between which thecells and ganglia lie, is prolonged over the surface of the

latter. Isolated cells show the following structure: Acentral protoplasmic cell body with vesicular nucleus andnucleoli, mostly excentric, invested by a capsule of nucleatedconnective tissue. From the cell proceeds a process whichcannot usually be traced. Certain ganglia cells giverise to medullated fibres; bi-nucleated cells are oftenmet with, and most of the cells contain pigment. In everyganglion occur twisted and looped fibres, which unite to’

form the nerve trunk leaving the ganglion, and break upinto smaller trunks. Some fibres do not enter the ganglia,but join the others in their course. No positive conclusionscould be arrived at as to the nerve endings in the musclecells.

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LEAD-P3)SON)N3 AND HOME-MADE WINES.

THE PVilt3hire Telegraph of October 23rd contains the

report of a very important and instructive investigation byDr. Campbell, Medical Officer of Health for Calne, into thecause of a certain outbreak of cases of lead-poisoning in themonths of August, September, and October, which hadpuzzled him for a long tim.3. The cases occurred chiefly,almost entirely, in men, and coincided roughly with harvestwork. Examinations of drinking-water, beer, tea, coffee,bread, and various cooking utensils gave no light. Theoccurrence of seven acute cases about three weeks since, twoalmost fatal, led to the discovery of the real source ofmischief. The wife of one of the men explained that herhusband had drunk some home-made rhubarb wine. She wassure "it could not contain poison of any sort, as she was verycareful in selecting and cleaning her rhubarb, and as for the

837

sugar and barm, they were all right. Beside,,?, the vesselwas a beautifully clean glazed earthenware pan, in which shesteeped it for a fortnight or three weeks to ferment." Herewas the source of the poison, as Dr. Campbell says: " As iswell known, this glaze contains 60 per cent. of white or redlead, and during the process of fermentation the acids ofthe fruit used, with the acetic acid or vinegar generated, acton the glaze and dissolve the lead, forming acetate or

sugar of lead, a powerful irritant poison even in small

quantities." Not only rhubarb, but red and black currants,sloe, and damsons are so used, and some thrifty wives havebeen able to supply their husbands with gallons for use in theharvest time. Dr. Campbell says that the same vessels areused for making bread, and that in one case there were

slight indications of lead-poisoning in a teetotaler appa-rently from eating the bread. He recommends the wine tobe made in wooden vessels. Dr. Campbell’s careful reportshould lead to much more care in the use of glazed vessels,in culinary operations, as many contain lead in easilysoluble forms. His work is an admirable illustration ofthe uses of an officer of health.

CHAIR OF MATERIA MEDICA IN ABERDEENUNIVERSITY.

AMONGST the candidates for the chair of Materia Medicain the University of Aberdeen is Dr. Alexander Napier, oneof the editors of the Glasgow Medical Journal, and assistantto the chair of Materia Medica in the Glasgow University,Dr. Gibson of Edinburgh, and Dr. Macgregor Robertson ofGlasgow, are also spoken of as probable applicants. The

patronage of the chair is in the hands of the Secretary ofState for Scotland.

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CAUSATION OF PNEUMONIA.

MR. HENRY BAKER of Lansing, Mich., contributes a noteto Science (Aug. 27th) in confutation of Dr. Siebert’s con-clusion that pneumonia most prevails in such atmosphericconditions as are marked by a low temperature and excessivehumidity. Mr. Baker points out that the absolute humidityof the air varies with the temperature, and that when theair is coldest it is then absolutely driest. He showed at alate meeting of the American Climatological Associationthat pneumonia, in any given place, wherever studied, isquantitatively proportional to the coldness and dryness of theatmosphere. He rather ingeniously accounts for this by sucha condition requiring a greater exhalation of watery vapour,whereby the non-volatile chloride of sodium is left behindin the air cells, its presence favouring the osmosis of fibrineelements from the blood into the pulmonary parenchyma.Thus would be explained the known excess of this salt inthe pneumonic lung, and its diminution in or disappearancefrom the urine.

_ __

SPONTANEOUS SHEDDING OF NAILS IN HYSTERIA.

DR. T. FALCONB of Naples records a case of hysteria,prolonged and aggravated, in the course of which there wasspontaneous shedding of the finger- and toe-nails (Deutsch.Med. Woch, Oct. 14th). The patient was fifty years of ageand since 1870 had, after a mental shock, been subject tohemicrania and other nerve symptoms, including paraplegia,hyperaesthesia, globus, &c. She recovered, but after remain-ing well for six years the symptoms returned on the occasionof her first visit to the grave of her son, whose death had inthe first instance been the exciting cause of her attacks.The affection of the nails was preceded by tingling in thefingers and toes, especially the thumbs and great toes,followed by suppuration in the bed of the nail. It wasnoted that on the right thumb the new nail was formeddirectly from the bed of the nail by proliferation of epithe-

lium, which assumed a horny character; but on all the otheraffected fingers and toes the repair took place in the usualway-viz., by growth from the matrix. The condition

altogether was regarded as a dystrophic one due to disorderednerve function.

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OPENING OF THE SESSION AT BRUSSELS.

THE public opening of the winter session in the Universityof Brussels seems to have been attended with more disturb-ance on the part of the students than is usually the casewith this ceremony, the differences amongst the professorialstaff during the past academical year having given occasionfor the display of some feeling. One of the orators gaveconsiderable offence by omitting all reference to three pro-fessors&mdash;MM.. de Roubaix, Thiry, and Crocq, who have beensuperseded. M. Crocq’s entrance after the speech referredto was a signal for prolonged cheering. The students alsomanifested their approbation whenever the name of the out-going rector, M. Rousseau, was mentioned, and subsequentlymet together to arrange a "manifestation" in his honour.

THE TERM" RHEUMATISM."IN the course of a paper on Rheumatism, read at the

recent Berlin Congress of Naturalists and Physicians,Professor Senator, who adduced evidence to prove thatrheumatism is a specific disease, made some remarks upon.the popular acceptation of exposure to cold being a cause ofdisease. (Deutsch. Med. Woch., No. 41.) He said that

undoubtedly many painful affections of the locomotor

system, many neuralgise and paralyses-e. g., facial,-arisefrom sudden exposure to cold, especially if the surface beheated and bathed in sweat. But the term "cold" should-

only be applied to cases where the history of such exposure-was quite clear, and the diseases produced thereby should betermed "refrigerant" rather than "rheumatic." The useof the words "rheumatism" and "rheumatic" should then.be reserved for such cases of disease as are not due to mere

cold, but to a special kind of miasmatic infection, likethat which excites acute rheumatism-the prototype ofrheumatic disease,-and are amenable to specific treatment.Although this may be merely a matter of words, yet, as he-truly remarked, correct nomenclature implies correct con-ceptions of the conditions named. -

UNUSUAL COINCIDENCE.

0 N the 18th of this month a man and his wife were admittedinto St. Thomas’s Hospital suffering from acute pneumoniaof respectively three and four days’ duration. Each was

aged thirty-two years. The disease ran an acute course, beinglittle influenced by treatment, and they died at the end offour days within a few hours of each other. At the post-mortem examinations, which were made on the same day,acute inflammation of the right lung was found in each; thishad attacked chiefly the base in the case of the man, and*the apex in the woman. It would appear that they had lefttheir house, and moved into lodgings only two or three daysbefore the commencement of the disease, on account of thebad smells, making it probable that the disease was of septicorigin. _

MICROBES OF THE SOIL.

L THE value of the action of microbes in the soil would not

, be questioned by anyone who had given the matter suffi--B cient thought. But to establish a conclusion by means of, experiment always commends itself to the scientific mind., M. Laurent has made a series of comparative experiments inI order to ascertain the influence of the microbes on vegetable- life. Seeds of buckwheat were sown in four different kinds of &pound;

838

mould. In the first flowerpot natural mould was employed,in the second the same earth sterilised and then inoculatedwith bacteria of the soil, in the third simply sterilised

mould, and in the fourth sterilised mould with the additionof chemical manure. Precautions were taken to preventcontamination of the four receptacles (Journal de Phar-macie et de Chemie, No.7). The production of wheat in eachof the pots respectively was in the proportion of 94, 96, 23,66. In all the experiments the third series was inferior tothe others. The value of microbes in soil rich in organicdetritus seems thereby to be proved.

THE MEDICAL COUNCIL.

THE Medical Council is summoned to meet on Nov. 16th,in its present imperfect form. The direct representativeswill not come into office before January, 1887, though theelection may be expected to take place about the end ofNovember.

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CHOLERA ON BOARD A BRITISH TROOPSHIP.

ON the 24th instant telegraphic information was receivedfrom the island of Perim, at the mouth of the Red Sea, tothe effect that four deaths from cholera had occurred onboard the troopship Euphrates since that vessel left Bom-bay. The Enphmtes was reported to reach Suez on the

30th, and information as to the action which may have beentaken there with regard to the ship and those on board hasnot yet arrived. -

BOWMAN LECTURE.

THE Executive Council of the Ophthalmological Society.are to be congratulated on their enterprise in having securedthe services and talents of Professor Zehender of Rostock,who will deliver the Bowman Lecture this year at the roomsof the Medical Society, Chandos-street, on Friday, N ov.12th,at 9 P.M.

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NEW ENTRIES.

The following returns arrived too late for publication in- our last issue :-

Cambridge University.-116 freshmen, a number whichwill be increased when the lists of the previous examinationare published.

Bristol Medical S’c7aool.-First year students, 18 ; occa-sional, 1.

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FOREIGN UNiVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

THE following agr&eacute;g&eacute;s (assistant professors) have beenappointed to lecture on their respective subjects in the<lifferent French Faculties of Medicine:&mdash;Bordeaux: M.Moussous, Medical Pathology. M. Pousson, Surgery. M.

Ferre, Anatomy and Physiology. M. Nabias, Natural History.-Lille: MM. Lemoine and Chuffard, Medical Pathology. M. deLapersonne, Surgery. M. Assaky, Anatomy and Physiology,M. Barrois, Natural History. MM. Lambling and Morelle,Chemistry. M. Thibault, Pharmacy. Lions M. Weil,1tfedical Pathology. MM. Rodet and Jaboulay, Anatomyand Physiology. M. Hugonneng, Chemistry. M. Didelot,Physics. M. Florence, Pharmacy. lVlontpellier MM. Forgue.and Truc, Surgery. M. Gerband, Midwifery. M. Gilis,Anatomy and Physiology. M. Malosse, Physics. Nancy: :M. Vautrian, Surgery. MM. Rene and Nicholas, Anatomyand Physiology. M. Gnerin, Chemistry. Paris: M. Quenu,Anatomy and Physiology. Al. Villejean, Chemistry.

Brussels.--The death is announced, at the age of eighty-four, of Dr. E. Lequime, who was for many years HonoraryProfessor of Clinical Medicine in the University. He editedthe Archives 1’Vledicales Belges, and afterwards La BelgiqueM&eacute;dicale, and wrote a good deal, especially on cholera. He

, was officer of the Order of Leopold, and, notwithstanding. his advanced age, attended regularly the meetings of the. Academy until quite recently.

Dorpat.&mdash;Dr. Julius Kennel of Wurzburg has been appointed; Professor of Zoology.

Valencia.&mdash;Dr. Don Enrique Ferrer y Vinerta, Rector ofthe University and Professor in the Medical Faculty, hasreceived the Grand Cross of Isabel the Catholic.The editorship of the Wiener Medicinische Presse, which

is being given up by Professor Schnitzler, will, at the com-mencement of the new yar, be taken over by Dr. AntonBum.

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A CIRCULAR has been issued by the Local GovernmentBoard to all urban and rural sanitary authorities in thekingdom, drawing attention to the provisions of the

Contagious Diseases (Animals) Act, 1886, which transfers tothat Board the powers hitherto exercised by the PrivyCouncil for making regulations concerning cowkeepers,dairymen, and purveyors of milk, and transfers to the

sanitary authorities the duties of making regulations underand enforcing the provisions of the Dairies, Cowsheds, andMilkshops Order of 1885 issued by the Privy Council. Thecircular reminds the authorities that they are required toregister all persons who may carry on the trade of cow-keepers, dairymen, or purveyors of milk, and to look afterthe lighting, ventilation, cleansing, drainage, and water-supply of dairies. -

THE St. Giles’s District Board of Works have issued noticesto the tenants of some twenty-eight houses in a street off

Shaftesbury-avenue, the new thoroughfare recently formedby the Metropolitan Board of Works, requiring them, withinseven days from the 23rd inst., to yield up possession of thepremises for the purpose of closing the same. This actionhas been taken by the Board in consequence of the owner ofthe property, Sir T. H. Brinckman, Bart., having failed tocomply with an order issued by the Board to execute certainsanitary works and to make structural alterations in thewhole of the premises, to render them fit for humanhabitation. The order involves the removal of about 500

persons, but the clerk of the Board explains that as soon asthe work ordered has been completed the houses may bereoccupied.

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FROM the report of the examination made by Colonel SirFrancis Bolton of the water supplied by the several metro-politan water companies during the month of September, itappears that the Thames water sent out by the Chelsea, WestMiddlesex, Southwark, Grand Junction, and Lambeth Com-panies still maintained the character of the July and Augustsamples, the proportion of organic matter present beingagain, for river water, exceptionally small. The water drawnfrom the Lea and distributed by the New River and EastLondon Companies contained even less organic matter thanthe Thames waters. All the waters were clear and brighton delivery. -

PROFESSOR BROWN-SEQUARD brings forward a number ofpathological and experimental facts to show that it is anerror to suppose that cadaveric rigidity is due to a coagula-tion of the albuminous principle of muscle. The chief, andsometimes the only, cause of rigor mortis resides in a truemuscular contracture, which is a vital phenomenon, althoughoccurring post mortem. __

AN Act has received the Royal Assent by which a companyis incorporated to take over the existing partial system ofwaterworks at Sidmouth, and by the construction of furtherworks to give the town and neighbourhood a proper andsufficient system.

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IT will be of interest to those engaged in chemical research 1to learn that the French Senate has adopted a projet de loi .

to institute a prize for the discovery of simple and practicalmeans of determining the presence and quantity in spirituousliquors of other substances than ethylic alcohol, and theproposition now lies with the Chamber of Deputies. The

subject of wine adulteration is also under discussion at theAcademy of Medicine, which has been officially requested toadvise upon the question by the Government.

ON the 22nd inst., Dr. Alexander Dyce-Davidson, Professorof Materia Medica. in Aberdeen University, died suddenly inhis class-room. The bursting of a bloodvessel in the headwas the cause of death. The deceased was a native of

Aberdeen, and was forty-one years of age. He was

appointed Professor of Materia Medica in 1878.

DR. THOMAS SLEEMAN REED, of Pool, near Camborne,died on the 22nd inst., after a short illness, the immediatecause of death being blood-poisoning, contracted during theperformance of an operation on the foot of a miner. Thedeceased was well known and highly respected throughoutthe district in which he resided.

THE London Gazette of the 22nd inst. contained anannouncement that the date of the general order of theLocal Government Board prohibiting the importation of

rags from Italy, in consequence of the prevalence of cholerain several parts of that country, has been extended from the1st prox. to April 1st, 1887. -

DR. STIRLING, Professor of Physiology in Owens College,commenced on the 26th inst. to deliver a course of eightlectures on the Physiology of Food, Digestion, and Respira-tion in connexion with the Combe Trust. This is the firsttime that the Combe Lectures have been delivered in

England.

ARGUMENTS signed by Messrs. P. F. Coghlan, J. J. Jack-

man, and J. B. N. Cane, in favour of increasing the fees ofunion medical officers for inspecting the buildings to beerected under the Labourers’ Cottages Act, have recentlyappeared in the Water ford Times.

A GERMAN Anatomical Society has been founded, withProf. K&ouml;lliker as President and Prof. Bardeleben as Secre-

tary. ______________

THE FELLOWS, MEMBERS, AND COUNCIL OFTHE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.

HISTORY AND INFERENCE.

FoB many years before his death Mr. J. F. South wasknown to be engaged in collecting materials preparatory towriting a history of the College of Surgeons, but he did notlive even to arrange the mass of facts and papers which hehad gathered together. His manuscripts, having been sentto the College of Surgeons, have been edited by Mr.D’Arcy Power, and were published a few months agounder the title of " Memorials of the Craft of Surgery inEngland," with an introduction by Sir James Paget. It isnot our intention at present to criticise either Mr. South’scollection or Mr. Power’s editing, or to consider to whatextent these "Memorials" contribute to the history of

surgery in England. What we wish now to do is to makeuse of some of the data scattersd about the pages of these"Memorials," to elucidate some of the questions that havelately been exercising the minds of the Council, the Fellows,and the Members, and which are likely to come prominently

to the front again at the general meeting of Fellows andMembers of the College, to be held next Thursday. Inanother column we publish some resolutions which it is.intended to move at this meeting, and it will be seen thatthey refer to the corporate rights of the Members, theacademic status of the Fellows, and to the claim of theFellows and Members to sanction any alterations that maybe made in the constitution and relations of the College orin any of its bye-laws.

In order to understand the anomalous constitution of theCollege as it now exists, it would be necessary to trace thehistory of the rise and progress of the various companiesand corporations which preceded the College, and from whichthe College is descended. Mr. South’s " Memorials" in theirpresent form afford only casual and incidental aid in such atask. But fragmentary as they are, they do furnish suffi-cient evidence that the exclusive exercise of legislative-powers by the Council is a flagrant violation of the funda-mental principle of corporation.

Sir James Paget, in his brief and apologetic introductionremarks it is an error to suppose that English surgeons arein any fair sense, the descendants of barbers." Happily this isstrictly true. But to allege that "the surgeons from whomour College can trace an uninterrupted descent were notbarbers ".is not, in any fair sense, either historically trueor logically consistent. The constitution of the College, aslaid down in the Charter of the year 1800, is almost identicalwith that of the old Corporation of Surgeons, and this wasframed on the same lines as the Combined Company ofBarbers and Surgeons, which in its turn was merely anextension of the original Company of Barbers. Their prin-ciples of government are similar, their later policy andprejudices identical. It betrays a strange misapprehensionof the nature and history of these and kindred institutionswhen a writer usually so accurate as Sir James Paget cansuggest that the events recorded in these Memorials"should be studied "as the history of a development" ;whereas, on the contrary, they afford a most striking andtypical illustration of what Brentano, in his " History andDevelopment of Gilds," designates the degeneration of Craft

’ Gilds. A brief survey of the history of these Gilds, of which’ the Barbers’ Company, the Corporation of Surgeons, and the

College of Surgeons are ordinary examples, will make this.clear.

In the eleventh century the handicraftsmen of Europewere divided into two classes, the bondmen and the freemen.The latter belonged originally to the body of full citizens,and as members of the full Citizens’ Gilds, enjoyed under theprotection of their Gild immunity from external interference,while the former continued for some time subject to the"control of the town or other authority in all matters relatingto their trade. Even when the free handicraftsmen wereexpelled from the full Citizens’ Gilds they maintained theirindependence, and exercised their right to freely elect theirown warden. On the other hand, the Craft Gilds, made up ofthe whilom bondsmen, when obtaining their privileges, werefrequently compelled to pay certain imposts in return for theirgreater independence, and had to consent to have their wardenappointed by external authority. These and other considera-tions make it almost certain that the fraternity of Barbersconsisted originally of bondmen who had obtained a smatter-ing of medical knowledge and acquired some dexterity inperforming minor surgical operations. Persons of this classswarmed in Europe from the second to the eighteenthcentury. Oribasius, writing in the fourth century, deploresnot less the scarcity of properly educated medical men thanthe superabundance of pretenders of the medical art, who,though knowing only how to bleed, apply cupping glasses,make scarifications and other servile offices (rcai &tgr;&agrave;, &lgr;&lgr;a s-

), did not hesitate to arrogate to them-selves the whole of medical practice, to the great detrimentor actual destruction of their patients. Of such were th&barber-surgeons of the fourteenth and succeeding centuries.The idea implied in the foundation of all Gilds is that of

a brotherhood for mutual help and support. As Wilda aptlyremarks, the Gilds were "imitators of the family." TheCraft Gilds were, however, more especially interested in th&maintenance of the rights, privileges, and customs of theCraft. The essence of these Gilds was its general meetings,at which all the G-ildmen met. The president or wardenwho was always elected by the whole Gild, summoned themeetings and presided at them, and with the consent ofthose present enacted ordinances for the regulation of theCraft, and had to see that those ordinances were carried out.