870 IRELAND.—PARIS.—BERLIN.

moreover, of a trivial nature and none of them impugnedin the slightest degree the character and efficiency as asurgeon of Mr. Mayne. The Local Government Board inquirycommenced on March 12th, the proceedings being opened’by Surgeon-Colonel D. E. Flinn and after three days’ hear-ing with the examination of Mr. Mayne and many wit-nesses, concluded on the 15th. The matter has been fullyreported in the Dublin and other daily papers and hascaused much interest. The award of the Local Govern-ment Board has not yet been given.

The Royal University of Ireland.The Chief Secretary for Ireland (Mr. Bryce) on

March 14th said in the House of Commons, in reply toMr. Lon.sdale, that Lord Meath entertained doubts as tothe competence of the Senate under the charter of theRoyal University to maintain order at the conferring ofdegrees and in consequence he proposed that the chartershould be amended or that he should be relieved of the

’responsibility of maintaining order The Government in-formed Lord Meath that it was advised that the Senatehad the power to maintain order and to take all stepsnecessary to that end and that an amendment of the charterfor that object was therefore unnecessary Lord Meath,however, continuing doubtful as to the Senate’s power,resigned the chancellorship, to the regret of the G )vern-ment. The action, or want of action, of the Senatehas caused many people to sympathise wish him. Withreference to the resolution passed by the Senate on

March 7th in regard to the report of the Royal Commissionit now appears that it was passed by a majority and notunanimously. At a meeting of the council of the R3,yalUniversity Graduates’ Association held on March 13 h resolu-tions condemning the resolutions passed by the Senate onMarch 7th were unauimously adopted.March 20th.

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Pernicious Anæmia treated by the X Rays and Ante-diphtheritic ’erum.

M. Renon and M. Rixier have recently been studying theeffects of arsenic, of the xrays, and of anti-diphtheritic serumin a patient suffering from pernicious anasmia. Arsenic, whichgives excellent results in ordinary anæmia, completely failedin the patient in question. On the other hand, good resultsaccrued from the employment either together or separatelyof the x rays and of injections of anti diphtheritic serum.The two observers who communicated their results to the

Hospitals Medical Society on March 8th insist less upon thecure of the patient, for amelioration in such cases is verytransitory, than upon the increase in the blood elementswhich occurred under the influence of the two agencies abovementioned. Examinations of the blood carried out at in-tervals for some hours after the sittings for the x rays andthe injections of the serum showed that the stimulation ofthe blood-forming organs was evidenced by a very notableincrease in the number of red blood corpuscles and by aneosinophilia which was remarkable for its constancy. These

results, which were so much alike, although obtained by pro-cedures apparently very different, showed the strikingparallelism which existed in the mode of action of the twotherapeutic agents. The presence in the b’ood of leucotoines

(products of the destruction of white blood cells by thex rays) or of hæmolysine following the injections of antitoxicserum is without doubt an indispensable and necessary factorfor determining the reaction of the blood-forming organs.

The New Chair of Clinical Therapeutics.On Thursday, March 8th, in the theatre of the Faculty of

Medicine at the Beaujon Hospital, Professor Albert Robininaugurated with an eloquent address a new chair of clinicaltherapeutics which has been given to the University of Parisby the Duc de Loubat. On the morning of Sunday, thellth, at 10 o’clock, in the same amphitheatre, a remarkableceremony organised by the pupils and friends of Pro-fessor Robin was held. To mark his advancement to- the rank of Commander of the Legion of Honour, and atthe same time to celebrate his taking the chair of.clinical therapeutics, a gold medal which was a beautifulwork of art from the hand of the master engraver,Vernon, was presented to him in the presence of M. Etienne,

Minister of War. M. Armand Gautier, the President of theAcademy of Medicine, in the name of the committee,Professor Joseph Renaut of Lyons, in the name of his

personal friends, and Dr. G. Beaudouin, the doyen of theformer internes of Professor Robin, respectively addressedhim and offered him their warmest congratulations. To thesespeeches Professor Robin, who was greatly moved, respondedin a few well chosen words On the obverse of the medal isthe singularly appropriate motto which was composed forthe occasion by Professor Renaut, "Lauriger ense prius,medicinaque amplius ultra.." Among those present were theDean of the Faculty of Medicine, M. Debove, Professor

Pozzi, and the following Doctors : Second, Richelot

Maygrier, Bazy. de Fleury, Blondel, and Cazalis, M. PaulDeschanel, and M. Henri Monod, together with a largenumber of the public who attended with the view of offeringto Professor Robin their hearty congratulations.

Gunshot Tl’onnds of the Intestine.On March 5th M. Picqu6 read before the Academy of

Sciences, on behalf of M. Pieri, a communication relatingto penetrating gunshot wound of the abdomen. M. Pi6rihad operated five hours after the accident and hefound the intestine perforated in 15 places, a state of

things which necessitated 13 different sutures and a

resection of a portion of the gut. In order to operate inthe most rapid way possible M. Piéri bad used the purse-string suture. In cases of this kind early surgical inter-vention is the most important factor from the point of viewof success and M. Piéri, although there were no definitesymptoms, had every reason for operating at once. M. Chaputsaid that he had once operated on an alcoholic patient,suffering from a gunshot wound of the abdomen and hadfound 15 perforations of the intestine which he had closed bypurse string sutures. The patient lived for 20 days butfinally died from pulmonary congestion. At the post-mortem examination, however, M. Chaput found that all thesutures had held perfectly.

Poisonous Beans.At the same meeting of the Academy of Sciences

M. Guignard read a note upon Poisonous Beans about whicha great deal is being said at the present time. The bean isan American species and the botanical name is Phaseoluslunatus. It is very commonly found among forage in alltropical regions of the world and a large quantity of thesebeans has recently arrived in Europe under varying names,such as Burma beans, Java haricots, dwarf haricots fromIndia, and the like. The shape and colour of these beansare very variable and afford no help in their recognition.All of them are capable of giving prussic acid in propor-tions according to the degree of culture of the beanbut which often attains sufficient proportions to killa man. Already cases of poisoning from these beans havebeen observed in Holland and in Germany. In Paris thereare said to be 160,000 kilogrammes which have cleared theoctroi but at present no deaths have been observed except- tmong some horses of a parcels delive’ y company. The rawbeans are the most dangerous, for the prussic acid doesnot exist as such in the beans but, as in the case of bitteralmonds, it is only formed when the grain is ground up withmoisture and the two elements which they contain-viz ,amygdaline and emulsine-react so as to form prussic acid.Prolonged cooking greatly minimises the danger and at thesame time gives warning of it, for the prussic acid is givenoff and is easily recognised by its smell. Chemists havefound a very sensitive reaction for the presecce of prusicacid which consists of a piece of paper moistened with picricacid and carbonate of sodium, which paper becomes of apinkish-purple colour in the presence of traces of prussicacid, but the odour given off by the beans when they aremoistened is perhaps the best and most simple test of itspresence.March 19th.

___________________

BERLIN.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Suicidal Poisoning by Lysol.THE Federal Council has decided to add lysol to the list of

drugs which may not be sold at the pharmacies to the publicwithout the prescription of a qualified medical practitioner.The reason is that lysol has lately become the poisonmost used by would-be suicides and the Berlin news-

871BERLIN.

papers almost daily report a case where some unfortunateperson has swallowed a quantity of the drug. A’thoughother poisons, such as potassium cyanide and laudanum,are of a more rapid and less painful action they are

now seldom used in comparison with lysol, as the latteris neither expensive nor difficult to procure. The numberof atttmpted suicides by lysol may be inferred from thefact that one of the three medical clinics of the Charité

Hospital in Berlin had to admit no less than 24 cases

of lysol poisoning within one year. Durirg- the same

period the number of attempted suicides by all the otherpoisons treated in this clinic was only 22, among which thepoisonous agent was corrosive sublimate in ten cases, hydro-chloric acid in two cases, morphine in three cases, potassiumcyanide in three cases, and carbolic acid, sulphuric acid,potassium permanganate, and coal gas in one case each.A description of the phenomena of lysol poisoningwas recently given by Dr. Kirchberg in the Aerztliche

Sachverständigen-Zeitung. The most striking symptom isa deep sopor which, according to the statement of thefriends of the patients, as a rule begins within a few minutes.Vomiting, convulsions, and diminution of the reflexesoccurred in a few instances only. The state of sopor wasalmost invariably accompanied by seiious disturbance of thecirculation, the pulse becoming weak, arrhythmic and muchaccelerated ; it sometimes even disappeared entirely.The respiration became superficial and slow and cyanosissometimes appeared. In all the patients the mucous

membrane of the palate, the pharynx, the tongue,the lips and their surroundings was corroded and be-came of a whitish grey colour. At the necropsies it wasfound that the lining membrane of the larynx, the bronchi,and the gastro-intestinal canal was also corroded. Only afew patients complained of severe pains ; the majority hadonly a slight burning in the mouth and pharynx and a painin the stomach. The urine was of a green or black colour ;albuminuria was observed in one case only and casts never.Broncho-pneumonia was an occasional sequel but stenosis ofthe oesophagus never occurred, as the corrosive action of thepoison on the mucous membrane is rather superficial. Whenthe patient has survived the first grave synptoms the

prognosis is relatively good. It is impossible to ascertainthe minimum fatal dose of the poison, as this dependson the resisting power of the patient. The treatment con-sists in the use of the stomach pump to remove the poison,after which the stomach is irrigated until the returning fluidis no longer opalescent and has lost the smell of lysol. Ifsome hours have elapsed since the taking of the poison, sothat a considerable quantity has probably been absorbed,calcined magnesia should be administered to produceinsoluble, non-absorbable combinations. The cardiac

debility is to be treated by tonics, such as camphoroil, and a light diet is necessary afterwards becauseof the lesions of the gastro-intestinal canal. Among24 cases that are known there have been only two deathswhich occurred in patients who were taken to the hospitalin a hopeless state. The necropsy showed corrosion of the

palate, the oesophagus, the stomach, and the jejunum.bronchitis and incipient nepbritic. Dr. Kirchberg is ofopinion that the public sale of any new chemical compoundwithout a medical practitioner’s prescription should be

prohibited until an official commission has decided that it isnot poisonous.

Health of the Prussian Army.At a recent meeting of the Hygienic Society of Berlin

Surgeon General Dr. Werner read a paper on the Health ofthe Prussian Army and it has since been published in theDeutsche Atedicinische Wochenschrift. He said that in 1903the death-rate of the army was 2 1 per 1000, whilst amongthe civilian population at the ages between 20 and 25 years,corresponding to the average age of the soldier, it was 5’ 2per 1000. The improvement in the hygienic conditions ofthe army became evident when the former mortality of themilitary and civilian population was compared. In the"twenties" and "thirties" of the nineteenth century thedeath-rate of the army was 14 per 1COO, while amongcivilians between 20 and 25 years of age it was 10 5per 1000, and it was only in 1880 that the mortalityof the army became as low as that of the civilian. Trust-

worthy statistics of the diseases occurring in the army areavailable from the year 1873 onwards and Dr. Werner hasgiven the following extracts from them, the figures quotedin connexion with the respective years being ratios per 1000 :infectious and general diseases, 92-4 in 1873 and 29.5 in

1903; nervous diseases, 5-4 in 1873 and 6-0 in 1903;.diseases of the respiratory organs, 73’4 in 1873 and 82’3 in1903; diseases of the circulation, 10’9 in 1873 and 12’ 7 in1903 ; diseases of the organs of nutrition, 153’ 5 in 1873 and89 4 in 1903 ; diseases of the uro-genital system (venerealdiseases excepted), 7’ 3 in 1873 and 5.1 in 1903 ; venerealdiseases, 38-4 in 1873 and 19-4 in 1903; diseases of the

eyes, 36 6 in 1873 and 15 - 0 in 1903 ; diseases of the ear,6 9 in 1873 ar.d 12 - 4 in 1903 ; diseases of the skin, 161 9 in1873 and 145-1 in 1903; diseases of the motor organs,30 - 2 in 1873 and 67-3 in 1903 ; wounds, 146-4 in 1873and 1Z6 6 in 1903 ; other diseases, 1.1 in 1873 and0-42 in 1903; and men under observation, 5-7 in 1873and 8.6 in 1903. The above figures show that diseasesof the nervous system and of the circulation have sligLtlyincreased, corresponding to an increase of the same com-

plaints among the civilian population. The increase of thediseases of the respiratory organs is caused by the prevalenceof influenza during the last few years ; the increase of disease-of the motor organs is mainly an artificial result of re-

airangement of the figures and of a more careful diagnosis,by the use of x rays in tender states of the feet. All the-other diseases have considerably decreased, so that the totalnumber of cases treated has fallen from 1312 per 1000 menin 1873 to 620 per 10CO men in 1903. Dr. Werrer then.discussed the reason of the satisfactory hygienic condition ofthe army during recent years and came to the conclusionthat the better hygienic training of the Army MedicalCorps has had a good deal to do with it. Until 1875 thetraining of the army medical officers terminated, as a rule,with the State examination. Since that, year, however,systematic post-graduate study, consisting in attendaucc-at special courses and lectures in Berlin and in other

university towns, has been made compulsory, so that everyarmy medical officer has to go through a series of course5and lectures on an average every fourth year and in thelower grades even more frequently. Moreover, since about-ten years ago a great many medical officers have been

appointed by special arrangement with the civil authoritiesas extraordinary assistants to university and municipalhospitals and also in hygienic and bacteriological labora-tories, where they remain for two or three years engagedin scientific work, without having to do any militaryduty. These men are then placed at the head ofthe hygienic laboratories of the army, which are estab-lished for every army corps and have to supervise theh3gienic conditions of their respective military districts-Great improvements have also been made in the construc-tion of barracks, where the pavilion system has been

adopted instead of the unhygienic buildings of a former-period. The same improvements have been made in

military hospitals, where special stress is laid on the port-able barracks which are supplied to the troops in the case-of an epidemic. In garrison towns where the usual water-supply is of doubtful pmity a supply has been obtained by

artesian wells and other means. The report furtherstates that during the great cholera epidemic in 1892 thevarious garrisons were almost exempt from the disease.The food of the soldier was in every gbrrison under-the supervision of a commission which included the armymedical officers and bathing arrangements were liberallyprovided in new barracks. When a comparison is madebetween the attack-rate and the death-rate from entericfever in the German army on the one hand and the armies ofsome other nations on the other it is found that the figuresare respectively 0 - 85 and 0 - C9 per 1000 for Germany, 4.3.and 0’59 per 1000 for France, 1-9 and 0-2& per 1000 forAustlia, and 4.1 and 0 - 78 per 1000 for Italy. The malariaattack-rate has decreased from 31.7 to 0 16 per lOCO, H)that the disease has practically disappeared in the army.With regard to venereal disease in the different armies itis stated that the ratios per 1000 of men suffering from thesediseases were 19 4 in the German army, 29 3 in the Frencharmy, 57 5 in the Austrian army, 91.5 in the Italian army,and 122 7 in the British army. The report concludes-that although the hygienic improvement of the army wasenormously expensive, there was a compensating advantage-in the fact that fewer men had to be admitted to the hos-pitals than formerly ; the new hospitals might therefore be-on a smaller scale, and there would be a considerable savingin the cost of medical treatment. Finally, a comparison ofthe death-rates of 1873 and 1903 showed that im the latteryear there was an actual saving of 2462 lives.March 19th.

872 EGYPT.-CANADA.

EGYPT.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Persian Festival of Hosain.THIS is now the first month of the Mahomedan year

and the tenth day is important for several reasons, one ofwhich is that on that night the Persian Shiite Mussulmanscelebrate the death of Hosain, the grandson of the ProphetMahomet. About 9 o’clock we were ushered by our

Persian hosts into the large courtyard of a house near thenative bazaars which for 13 days in this month is speciallyset apart for this festival. On these sacred days free dinnerand supper are given to any poor who choose to come,irrespectively of race and creed. The courtyard was coveredin with tenting and brilliantly lighted with chandeliers sus-pended from the houses surrounding it, while the windowsand ledges were ornamented with mirrors and candlesticks,between which were framed illuminated texts and strips ofold embroidery decorated with Persian writing. A pulpitdraped in black formed the centre-piece of the decorationsand faced the windows of the house which were crowdedwith sight-seers of every nationality. Seats were arrangedall round the stone yard, leaving as much space as possiblein the centre, and to while away the time coffee and cigaretteswere handed round and an old sheikh chanted to us

historical romances. The procession, which had startedabout a mile away near the mosque where Hosain’s head issaid to be buried and which on this night is jealously guardedby the Egyptian Sunnites to prevent its being entered anddefiled by the bloodstained Persians, always finishes at thecourtyard where we were sitting. Presently the shouting ofthe crowd outside reached us and above all the fierce cries ofthe fanatics who were torturing themselves in honour oftheir martyred lord. The pioneers of the procession werepolicemen and kawasses, then followed a number of mencarrying banners on long poles, school children with candle-lanterns, several officials of the Persian Committee headed bythe Consul-General, and a great number of shouting andexcited youths. This concourse would have filled the yardif they had not dexterously been passed through the houseto a street beyond. The yells of the performers came nearerand nearer till they were evidently at the entrance, whereorder could only be maintained by a free use of the stick.First came four brawny men stripped to the waist who

punished their shoulders with heavy chains swung overtheir heads as they and the crowd shouted " Ob, Hosain."Dozens of men and boys had bared their left breasts, alreadyecchymosed scarlet from the resounding whacks which theycontinued to give themselves with the open right hand.Two ponies were led rapidly through the yard on whichwere the two boys clothed in white with bleeding heads,who represented Hosain and his brother Hassan, andthen came 40 men, also dressed in white, with heads

dripping with blood from wounds inflicted with the swordswhich they flourished. Three of them fainted fromloss of blood and had to be carried away and allwere in a frenzy of religious fervour aided by previoushasheesh. The cuts were mostly on the vertex of the scalpwhich had been shaved ; all had their heads bare and someof them presented a very ghastly spectacle with blood con-stantly dripping on their long white garments to their feet.The Consul-General induced them to desist after a time,their swords were taken from them, and they disappeared tohave their wounds dressed and to smoke hasheesh. No surgeonor barber is provided but there are servants who wash thewounds and apply ground coffee to check the hasmorrhage.Pads and bandages rolled in the form of turbans completethe dressing and many of them returned to the yard to hearthe sermon-in air which already smelt strongly of blood.Those who are faint have pounded sugar as well as

coffee applied to their wounds and are induced to lie still,but it is said that all of them are able to walk about on the

following day. Certainly I have never heard of any of thembeing brought for treatment after this annual procession.When quiet was restored the worshippers squatted on theirheels in the courtyard and the solemn service of atonementtook place. It began with much chanting to the chorus of-

" Oh, my friend; oh, Hosain,Light of my eyes, oh, Hosain.

Then followed a sermon from the pulpit which soon reducedmost of the congregation to tears and loud sobbing. It isalways an emotional and interesting spectacle, but this year

there were fewer performances than usual and certainlyless fanaticism. All these barbarous sights are graduallydying out, but 20 years ago in a procession in honour ofMahomet a man has been seen walking in a procession withhis bowels on a plate, after having ripped himself up!

Army Bacteriological Laboratory.One of the successful issues of the Advisory Board has been

the appointment of special sanitary officers to the British

Army, and to some important garrisons a laboratory hasnow been granted. That of the army of occupation inCairo under Major F. W. Hardy, R.A.M.C., consists oftwo rooms on the roof of the headquarters office.Cemented floors, oil painted walls with rounded corners, agas incubator, a steam steriliser, and a trained orderly havebeen provided. The microscope table has a glass top withalternate strips of black and white paint under the glass.Here much work is done for the two garrisons of Cairo andAlexandria- agglutination trials for enteric and Malta feversand analyses of water, food, beer, spirits, and so on. Butthe War Office gives the unfortunate bacteriologist nobooks, no journals, only an occasional blue-book. How ishe expected to keep abreast of the times’? I may herepoint out that there is no medical library of any kind forthe army surgeons in Egypt, though both the Egyptian andSoudanese Governments understand the value of supplyingtheir medical advisers with a few standard books ofreference.

l’lte Nile Flood.

Captain Lyons, R.E., who is, I think, the first resident ofEgypt to become a Fellow of the Royal Society, has latelyread a paper before the Cairo Scientific Society on themeteorological conditions which probably affect the annualflood. He maintains that the flood is entirely due to rainfallin Abyssinia, which is caused by the East African monsoon.Records of past floods show the range in time andamount of this rainfall. The East African monsoon iscaused by conditions similar to those of the Indian monsoon,yet the physical characters of Africa make it weaker andwe can compare the two rainfalls of Abyssinia and WesternIndia. Low-pressure conditions are naturally favourable toprecipitation and a close relationship is found to existbetween the Nile floods and the atmospheric pressure overNorth-East Africa. Various methods have been proposed forforecasting the Nile flood, but the safest is to follow thenorthward movement of the rains on the African continentfrom month to month and to study as thoroughly as possiblethe distribution of winds and pressure over a wide area. Inorder to study this and kindred phenomena many stationshave been erected in the last five years, stretching fromBritish Central Africa to the Mediterranean, but unfor-

tunately there is as yet no trustworthy information from

Abyssinia., Cairo, March llth.

CANADA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Protestant Hospital for the Insane, Quebec.THERE were admitted into the wards of the Protestant

Hospital for the Insane at Verdun, Quebec, during the year1905 190 new patients, a large proportion of whom were

persons born outside the Dominion of Canada. Of the numberso admitted 103 were men and 87 were women, making, withthose in the institution at the close of the previous twelvemonths, a total of 654-343 men and 311 women. Of thepatients received 113 were native born Canadians, 48 of otherportions of the British Empire, and 29 of foreign birth. Dr.Burgess, the medical superintendent, states that there couldbe no more striking commentary on the inefficiency of ourimmigration laws than this record. The gross receipts onmaintenance account amounted to$107,447 and the expendi-ture to$107,496.

The Chair of Ophthalmology at McGill University.Dr. J. W. Stirling of Montreal has been appointed to fill

the chair of ophthalmology in McGill University, renderedvacant through the death of the late Dr. Frank Buller. Dr.Stirling has also been appointed to the position of ophthalmicsurgeon at the Royal Victoria Hospital which is in connexionwith the medical department of McGill University, resigningfrom a similar position in the Montreal General Hospital.Dr. Stirling- was born in Halifax in 1859 and graduated