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quite a different matter, however, if, to earn this largesalary from fees, the help of partially qualified or too
frequently changed assistants is called in. It is not a matterof the amount of salary at all. The question is, Does theprofessor earn his whole salary, or does he do a more thanfair share vicariously? With classes of the proportions ofthose in Edinburgh and Glasgow, the latter must neces-sarily be the case, and some very sweeping changes will, inthe interests of the student, have to be made. The pro-fessors who have obtained and hold their appointmentsunder existing conditions cannot be expected to agree toany radical changes unless they are to receive ample com-pensation for any monetary losses involved in the altera-tions. These claims cannot be met without a substantialaddition to the sum of £42,000 mentioned in the Bill, how-ever the funds of the Universities may be redisposed.
Edinburgh University Summer Gathering.The arrangements for the summer gathering at the
University are now in a pretty forward state. Althoughthe summer gatherings have for some time been arrangedin several of the American university towns, and last yearin Oxford, the idea is new as far as Edinburgh (or any ofthe Scottish universities) is concerned. It is proposed that:short courses of lectures shall be given, on a variety of sub-jects, by those connected with the University-professors,lecturers, and others,-and that these lectures shall be soarranged that even those who have not had the advantageof a university training may be able to derive benefit fromattendance on the short courses. This is only part of awide movement to bring the elements of culture, at least,within the grasp of an intelligent and hard-headed working-class population, and at the same time to bring together allthose, from whatever grade of society, who have a realinterest in national education. From the list of names ofthose who are taking the matter up, it may be anticipatedthat the gathering will be a success, and that some at leastof its objects will be attained.
The Final M.B. Examination.The first list of passes has already been published. Of
about 290 candidates seventy have been examined, and ofthese forty-one have satisfied the examiners, and three havepassed with distinction, forty-four in all. One would have- expected that, after all the weeding out that has takenplace at the first and second professional examinations, thenumber of rejections would not be so high as it is at theFinal examination this year.
Edinburgh Out-door Recreation Union.This Union is comparatively young in years, as it only
celebrated its fourth birthday last week, but it has alreadygiven signs of a most vigorous existence. Its office bearershave taken under their charge everything that can conduce’00 the provision of healthy out-door recreation for the
working classes. The Braid Hills, the Botanical Gardens,the Meadows, the Queen’s Park, and the rest are all lookedupon as recreation grounds for the people, and every effortLs made by the Union to render them fit for recreation pur-poses and to keep the rights of those who use them intact.Edinburgh, June 25th.
DUBLIN.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
Lunacy Commission.IT is stated that Mr. McCabe, medical member of the
Local Government Board, has been selected with twoothers by the Government to constitute a special commissionto inquire generally into the administration of lunacy inIreland.
Rotunda Lying-in Hospital.An inmate received injuries on the 29th ult. from jumping
out of a window in the third storey of the auxiliary hospitaland falling through the glass roof of the porch. This tookplace one night while the nurse in charge of the ward, it isalleged, was asleep. The sufferer died from the effects of thefall last week, and at the coroner’s inquest which was heldevidence was given to the effect that the deceased showedno symptoms of not being in her right mind, and it wasnever suspected that she had any intention of committiugsuicide. The jury exonerated from blame all the officialsconnected with the hospital.
Mercer’s Hospital, Dublin.The new wing is rapidly approaching completion, and is
expected to be finished about autumn. It will be a hand-some addition to the hospital-one of the oldest in Dublin,-and the increased accommodation will supply a wantwhich was urgently felt. Yesterday, by the kindness ofMr. F. Alcock Nixon, I had an opportunity of seeing himperform a Syme’s operation for gangrene of the foot ; andafterwards saw some interesting cases in the wards underhis care, including one of necrosis of the lower jaw, a caseof infantile paralysis, and a well-marked example ofsyphilitic rupia.
County Armagh Infirmary.In consequence of the recent railway accident at Armagh,
the resources of this institution have been severely tried bythe large number of the injured who have been admittedwithin its wards. It is proposed that, in recognition of theadmirable skill and attention shown to the sufferers, theinfirmary, which is old and ill-endowed, should be re-con-structed and endowed, or at all events some of the wards,and subscriptions for that purpose will be received at theBranch Office of the Bank of Ireland at Armagh.
Proposed S’mall pox Hospital for Derry.A special meeting of the Derry Town Council was held
recently for the purpose of considering a motion to rescinda former resolution relative to the erection of a small-poxhospital. Councillor Pollock moved that the considerationof the erection of the hospital be postponed, in order thata more suitable site might be obtained. The proposed sitewas, he considered, most unsuitable, and would be attendedwith danger to the public. Mr. McCaul was of opinion thatthe site was an excellent one; he owned houses nearest tothe proposed hospital, and had no fear that his propertywould be depreciated. The motion was carried by 6 to 4votes. It is thought by some that the erection of a feverhospital would be more advantageous to the citizens ofDerry than the establishment of a small-pox hospital, whichprobably might not be utilised for many years.
TVant of Sanitary Accommodation in Cork.The report of the executive sanitary officer of this place
for the past year shows that there are hundreds of houses inthe city without sanitary provision of any kind, upon manyof which it would not be worth the owners’ while to expendmoney; but, in consequence of lack of dwelling accommo-dation, the corporation are at present unable to move in thematter.
Dungannon Dispensary.A vacancy having arisen by the resignation of Mr. T. J.
Browne, appointed a Local Government Board inspector, Dr.J. C. Sugars has been unanimously elected as medical officer.
Adelaidc Hospital, Dublin.The annual distribution of prizes, including the Hudson
Scholarship, took place on Monday. The late Dr. AlfredHudson, an eminent Dublin physician, in the interests ofmedical education endowed the Hudson Scholarship at theAdelaide Hospital, with which institution he was connectedfor many years. At the recent examinations held for thescholarship this distinction was obtained by Mr. RobertLynn Heard, to whom has been awarded the gold medaland 30, while the Hudson prize, consisting of a silvermedal and £10, was bestowed upon Mr. Laancelot Hunger-ford. Both the medical and surgical prizes were obtainedby a lady student-viz., Miss Katherine Maguire.
Ledwich School of Medicine.At the examination in Forensic Medicine, held on Tues-
day, the 25th inst., Mr. Nathaniel George Cookman obtainedthe first piize, and Mr. W. H. Nash the second prize. Mr.Cookman had atotalof seventy marks out ofapossible eighty.Dublin, June 25th.
BERLIN.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
Cholera.
PROFESSOR WILHELM LOEWENTHAL, a Prussian physician,who began his investigation of the cholera bacillus underProfessor Koch in Berlin, and prosecuted it in the labora-tory of Professor Cornil in Paris, believes that salol is a
remedy against cholera, and wishes to test its efficacy.He has therefore asked the French Government for per-
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mission to make his experiments in the military hospitalsin Tonkin. The French Government not only hastened togrant him permission, but also appointed him assistantphysician in the navy, with the rank and uniform of thatoffice, in order that he might perform his scientific task inan official position and with official authority. It did notrequire him to give up his Prussian nationality, and lefthim free to leave the French service whenever he liked.This generous conduct of the French Government towardsa Prussian savant, not recommended in any way eitherofficially or non-officially by the authorities of his owncountry, is well worthy of record, and one can only hopethat it will be richly rewarded by his success.
The Legal Position of the Medical Profession.In answer to a communication, dated March 15th,
favouring the introduction into the Heichstag of a Bill
regulating the legal position of the medical profession,the Secretary of State, von Boetticher, acting on’ behalf ofthe Chancellor, wrote on May 3rd informing the businesscommittee of the German Physicians’ Union that it was notat present intended to formulate comprehensive regulationsdetermining the whole legal position of physicians, as theexisting system had, on the whole, stood the test of expe-rience, and there was at present no sufficient reason foraltering it. There existed to-day in by far the greater partof the empire, on the basis of legal prescription, professionalrepresentative bodies to which, besides the fostering ofscientific efforts and the safeguarding of professionalinterests, a limited participation in the medical administra-tion in the way of expressing opinion and giving advice,and in part also disciplinary power over the members of theprofession, were transferred. If it appeared that thesearrangements did not adequately correspond to the justinterests of the medical profession, it would be the primaryduty of the Legislature to remedy the defect by the furtherdevelopment of the institutions in question. Experiencehad not yet demonstrated any urgent necessity that theempire should give the medical profession one uniform legalorganisation with a view to investing a court of honourwith disciplinary power.
A Quack and his Victim.Wilhelm Schaller, a basket maker, aged sixty-eight,
appeared before a Berlin court recently to answer a chargeof causing death by bungling attempts to cure. He ad-mitted that he had for years past occupied himself with thecuring of external diseases or injuries, sprains, skin-diseases,&c., which "talent " he had " inherited " from his father,and had gradually added considerable experience of his own.On the 15th of December last the wife of a merchant namedBuschow fell in the street, and had to, be driven home.Though she had suffered a fracture of the thigh, no doctorwas consulted, but one domestic remedy after another wastried. On the 10th of January, when the patient’scondition had already improved a little, her husband,acting on advice from various quarters, requested theaccused to try to cure her. Schaller’s first step was totake a "measurement," in order to ascertain whetherthe suffering leg was shorter than the healthy one.
The woman, whose age was fifty-eight, and who weighedabout sixteen stone, had to lie on her back, whilethe accused attempted to bring the right elbow into contactwith the knee of the broken left leg, which was swollenup to the hip. The woman cried terribly, but " the doctor" told her not to make such a fuss-he would now try the so-called "back-measurement." The unhappy woman wascompelled to lie on her face, the strong male servantemployed in her husband’s business was called in to
assist, and the accused exerted all his strength to bringher right hand into contact with the sole of the foot ofthe broken left leg over her back, her screams mean-while ringing through the house. All attempts to bringthe extremities together failed. He then ordered cream oftartar to be rubbed in to alleviate the fever symptoms, andafter three days came again, when the poor woman wassubjected to still more horrible tortures. The "measure-ments" were repeated, but death speedily ensued. Themedical experts, Drs. Wolff and Long, declared that shedied of apoplexy in consequence of the pain caused bySchaller’s treatment. The opinion of the latter that the headof the femur was only out of the acetabulum was erroneous;the femur was splintered, and the violent bendings of theleg had driven the bone splintei s into the inflamed flesh. Theexperts declared that the treatment was nothing short of
barbarous, and that the pain it must have caused was beyonldescription. Schaller was sentenced to imprisonment fotwo years and six months.
Berlin, June 3rd.
EGYPT.
(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
mccsr ec Ainn Hospital.AMONG recent improvements the Government has just
laid down the necessary pipes for a supply of filtered waterto the hospital, which is of paramount necessity. Furtherwork which is now in progress consists of a service of hotand cold water throughout, and an English hand laundry totake the place of men who at present wash the linen in tubswith their feet, native fashion. The hospital sinks are all tobe placed outside the walls, with pipes trapped and discon-nected at every floor, and discharging into an open gullytrap, leading into a cesspool with sides cemented till itreaches the subsoil water. The urine and fæces have forthe last three years been removed in tubs. The Englishnursing staff, created with difficulty less than a year ago,now consists of a superintendent and three lady nurses,two of whom are available for private cases at their ownhomes. Two ovariotomies have lately been performed byMr. Milton: one, on April 30th, complicated by muchascites, left the hospital cured on May 22nd ; the secondcase was only operated on three days ago, and is doing well.Ovarian tumours seem to be rare in Egypt; possibly manyof them are mistaken for ascites, and tapped till they die others, when operated upon, are found to be complicatedwith so many adhesions that the extirpation has to beabandoned. During the last twenty years, only about sixovariotomies have taken place in Alexandria. In the tw now reported sterilised water has been employed to washout the abdominal cavity, and in the last case a cleverlymanaged syphon with a glass tube emptied the cavity bysuction as fast as it was filled, thus preventing all spongingand drying. A curious operation took place a month agoin consequence of a native assistant being unfortunateenough to cause rupture of vagina and uterus during anattempt at craniotomy. Mr. Milton was at once sent for,and performed abdominal section, excised the uterus, andremoved all clot in eight minutes. The woman died anhour and a half afterwards of exhaustion from haemorrhage.The hospital has been rather empty during May, becausepatients are not disposed to enter it during the month ofRamadan, when Mussulmans fast by day and feast bynight. The sick, however, are relieved from all necessityof fasting. The out-patient department continues to growin popularity. In the section for women and children,which is controlled by Mr. Sandwith, more than 8000 newcases have been seen in the past five months.
Water-supply.Several improvements have taken place here, though
the Government has unfortunately given away a mono-poly to a company. The intake is now from theNile itself, and not from an unclean canal; the desert,sand is procured from a perfectly clean region ; muchmore filtered water is supplied to the town than for-
merly ; and the official in charge, who was a platelayeron the railway, is being exchanged for a competent engineer.There are now eight filter beds, each of 2700 square yards,and 2 ft. 4 in. deep. The top layers of sand are well washedbefore being used, and are changed every four days insummer and eight days in winter, when the water contains,less suspended matter. A careful analysis of the Nilewater has been made by an experienced English chemistevery fortnight during the last twelve months. The average-result of the year compares favourably with the watersupplied to London by the New River Company, and theaverage of the winter months alone is much purer than theaverage of the year. The chlorine and nitrates are muchless than the London water, and the hardness is 7 onWanklyn’s scale instead of 15. The analyses showed no-trace of iron, poisonous metals, or nitrites ; and Heisch’s.sewage test never showed any evidence of sewage contami-nation. The most extraordinary feature of Nile waterbefore filtration is the amount of suspended matter therein.Calculated in grains per gallon, it varied from 161’8 inSeptember, when it is richest in fertilising power, to 1’2 inMay, 1889.