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death from cancer takes place in the same house then a redcard is substituted for the white one. Thus the prevalenceof red shows the proportion of houses where more than onedeath from cancer has been notified. This service was com-menced in August, 1906, and up to Dec. 31st, 1908, the deathsfrom cancer registered in this manner amounted to 6980. Onedeath from cancer took place in each of 5786 houses, and ofthese 922 houses were qualified as tuberculous houses-that isto say, they belonged to the second or the third class,according to the classification described above. Two deathsfrom cancer are noted in 442 houses, of which 142 houses arequalified as tuberculous houses. Three deaths from cancerare noted in 51 houses, of which 25 are tuberculous houses, and4 cancer deaths in 4 tuberculous houses, one of them being aconvent. Other deaths from cancer occurring in conventsand asylums may be set aside, as also 84 deaths in hospitals.They would only bear on the housing problem if the

previous history of the patients was forthcoming. The

point worth noticing which these records are already able toestablish is that one-fifth of the deaths from cancer havetaken place in houses that possess a sinister reputation forthe prevalence of tuberculosis. Then, when there is morethan one death from cancer in a set of houses, the proportionof tuberculous houses increased. Where there is but onedeath from cancer the proportion of tuberculous houses isone-sixth. Where there are two deaths from cancer the pro-portion of tuberculous houses is one-fourth. Where thereare three deaths from cancer then half the houses are tuber-culous. Finally, with four deaths from cancer in one housethen all the houses are tuberculous. It would seem alsothat the confined life in convents and asylums for the agedfavours the growth of cancer. Putting these institutions aside,and returning to ordinary dwelling-houses, during the course oftwo and a half years it has been found that among thehouses where a death from cancer has taken place 10 percent. of these houses have had more than one death torecord from this disease. This, it may be said, is not yetconclusive ; but when these observations have extended overseveral more years it seems from what we already see thatsome very useful deductions will be obtained.The collection and verification of such figures is one of the

services that a systematic record of the sanitary history ofdwellings has rendered, and they justify an attempt on ourpart to follow and improve upon the example given by thesanitary administrative services of the city of Paris.

BRISTOL AND THE WESTERN COUNTIES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

New University B1Ûldings.AT a recent meeting the University Council authorised the

building of new premises for the departments of physiologyand of chemistry. The work was begun within three daysand is now in progress. The site is a part of the groundsof the Blind Asylum, the purchase of which has beenalluded to in previous letters, and the new buildings willbe continuous with those already standing. They will cost35,000, exclusive of furnishing, and will be so arranged asto permit of further extension should the occasion arise.One entrance from Woodland-road is provided for in the

plans, and the University buildings will thus gain a doublefrontage. The plans for both departments have been mostcarefully prepared. Professor Stanley Kent has visited

many of the corresponding continental institutions, and has,in company with the architect, Mr. G. H. Oatley, inspectedthe majority of the physiological departments of the UnitedKingdom. The chemical buildings will also constitute avery complete and up-to-date equipment, and ProfessorFrancis is to be congratulated on so well deserved an outcomeof his labours on behalf of his department. In the buildingsof science, as well as of medicine, space is urgently needed,and this pressure will be greatly relieved by the migrationof physiology and chemistry to their new quarters.

A Silver Mace.The Council of the University has gratefully accepted the

offer of Mr. Stanley H. Badock, late Sheriff of Bristol, topresent a silver mace to the University.

The Medical School Dinner.Until this year it has been the custom to open the winter

session of the Bristol Medical School with a prize-givingceremony in the afternoon followed by the dinner in theevening. This year, however, the prize distribution was

dispensed with and the dinner was postponed from thebeginning of the session to a later date. On Nov. 23rd over100 past and present students, with the teaching staff, satdown to dinner at the Royal Hotel. The King’s healthwas proposed by the President, Mr. C. K. C. Herapath,an old Bristol student and a practitioner of high repute inthe city. The Vice-Chancellor, Sir Isambard Owen, in

proposing the health of past and present students,expressed his delight at seeing so large a muster, andpainted for his hearers a picture of the Universityof Bristol as he hopes it may be in the future, inwords which suitably clothed large and inspiring ideas.Sir Isambard Owen laid special stress upon the fact that thisis the day of opportunity for the provincial medical schools,a subject upon which his experience entitles him to speakwith unique authority. His health was proposed in termsof "Welcome to Bristol " by Dr. D. S. Davies. The toast of" The Medical School and other Departments of the Univer-sity " was entrusted to Dr. T. M. Carter, and that of "ThePresident " to Mr. Charles Corfield. Some excellent songshelped to add gaiety to a very cheerful and successfuloccasion, and everyone present must have felt that the" arrival " of the University has given a new momentum tothe progress of medical education in Bristol.

Phthisis in Bristol.The inadequacy of the means at present in use in Bristol

for the prevention of consumption and the treatment of con-sumptives has recently been forcibly stated by more thanone member of the health committee of the municipalcouncil. The chairman, Mr. Colston Wintle, at a meetingheld on Nov. 16th, said that the 20 beds which are providedfor by the city in the sanatorium at Winsley are quite inade-quate even for the very carefully selected cases which areconsidered suitable for admission ; while, in addition to thosepeople who are in a condition to benefit by sanatorium treat-ment, there is a very much larger class of more or lessadvanced cases for whom no provision whatever exists,although these are the very people who inevitably act asdisseminators of the disease. For such people Mr. Wintlewould like to see some kind of colony system established.At the same meeting Mr. E. M. Dyer spoke of the necessityfor compulsory notification as the basis of a successfulcampaign against phthisis.

The Bath Sewage Disposal Selaeme.The Bath Corporation recently applied to the Local

Government Board for sanction to borrow <E213,000 for

sewage disposal works. The Board has now written statingthat it approves the main principles of the scheme, butit will require some other additions to be carried out,including increased pumping plant.

Proposed New Sanitary District for Devonshire.At the last meeting of the Axminster (Devon) rural dis-

trict council a communication was read from the LocalGovernment Board stating that it was of opinion that thesuggestion that Honiton, Ottery St. Mary, Seaton, and Sid-mouth urban district councils and the Axminster and Honitonrural district councils should combine and provide an isola-tion hospital and elect a medical officer of health, who shoulddevote the whole of his time to the duties of the office,would be advantageous to all the districts concerned. TheLocal Government Board suggested a conference and saidit would instruct a medical inspector to be present. Aftersome discussion the council approved of the suggested con-ference and decided to send a representative. The proposedscheme has been generally favourably received, and recentlya large number of ratepayers of Sidmouth signed a petitionin its favour.

the Research Defence Society.The annual meeting of the Devon branch of the Research

Defence Society was recently held at Torquay, under thepresidency of Dr. J. Harley Gough. There was a largeattendance. The report showed that the branch had now100 members. Sir J. E. Moss, Lord Fortescue, Admiral SirW. Acland, Sir R. Lethbridge, Sir E. Satow, and Mr. EdenPhilpotts wrote expressing regret at their inability to attendthe meeting. Mr. Paul Swain gave an interesting addresson ’’ Some Recent Gains of Research by Experiments uponAnimals." "

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The Royal Albert Hospital, ])et’onport.The annual meeting of the working men’s committee of the

Royal Albert Hospital, Devonport, was recently held. The

report stated that &pound; 380 would be available for the institution -this sum was E93 less than that raised in the preceding

I

12 months. The chairman said that the deficiency wasprincipally due to a decrease in the receipts of the children’sdemonstration, but he considered they must be satisfied asthere was so much unemployment in Devonport.

University of B1’istol.The sixth annual " Long Fox " lecture will be delivered in 1

the Medical Library on Dec. 7th, at 3.45 P.M., by ProfessorE. Fawcett, the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, who Iwill take for his subject, "Some Researches in Embryo- ]logy." The Vice-Chancellor will occupy the chair. j

Nov. 30th. _________________

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LIVERPOOL.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

University of Liverpool : Nerv Pro- Ohaneellor.Sir John Brunner was elected Pro-Chancellor of the

University on Nov. 27th, in the room of the late Sir EdwardLawrence. He is well known in Liverpool as a devotedfriend of education. Two chairs at the University owe theirfoundation to his munificence-the chair of Economics andthat of Egyptology, and his advice is believed to have con-tributed largely to the prosperous financial position of theUniversity.

Female Employment and infant Morta7,2ty LiverpoolInlj1l/&Iacute;ries.

A Home Office Departmental Commission, with the

cooperation of the health committee of the Liverpool corpo-ration, has been inquiring into an extremely importantaspect of the industrial question-viz., as to the effect whichthe employment of women has upon infant mortality. The

subject has been engaging the attention of the Home Officegenerally for some time, and a carefully conducted inquiryinto the matter has been going on in Liverpool for a period ofsome 12 months. I understand that, notwithstanding thefact that the industrial employment of women is not commonin Liverpool, some very valuable evidence has been collectedby the health committee, which will be considered in duecourse, together with the results of inquiries elsewhere, andwill lead, it is anticipated, to some very beneficial results.

Liverpool Royal Infirmzacry.At a meeting of the election committee of the Royal

Infirmary held on Nov. 25th under the presidency of Mr.Ralph Brocklebank, the chairman of the general committee,Dr. R. J. M. Buchanan, physician to out-patients andassistant physician to the hospital, was unanimously electedan honorary physician. Dr. Buchanan, who is also the pro-fessor of forensic medicine at the University of Liverpool,has had a distinguished career at the University MedicalSchool.

Royal Southern Hospital.The Lord Mayor of Liverpool paid a state visit to St.

Paul’s Church on Sunday, Nov. 28th, when the anniversaryservice on behalf of the funds of the Royal Southern

Hospital took place. The Lord Mayor was accompaniedby the Lady Mayoress and numerous members of the CityCouncil. Representatives from the honorary medical staffand the committee of the hospital also attended the service.The collection realised .f:92.

Municipal Lunatic Asylums: Are they Needed? ?The question has recently arisen as to whether it would

not be cheaper for Liverpool to build her own lunatic asylumsand maintain her own lunatics instead of discharging thoseduties in conjunction with the Lancashire Asylums Board, towhich Liverpool representatives are sent by the city council.Under the present system the city council and the countycouncil contribute to the cost of the five asylums on adefined basis. In a report on the subject, whichcontains statistics as to the relative cost of buildingsand the maintenance of lunatics in other parts ofthe country, the town clerk says that the Lancashireasylums board has built the asylums cheaper in somecases than the municipalities who have had sole control of

their own asylums; and the cost of maintenance in theLancashire asylums is less than in the municipal asylums.If, therefore, the corporation of Liverpool were to buildand equip its own asylums the cost per head would probablyexceed that already incurred. The town clerk drawsattention to the report of the Royal Commission on

Local Taxation, 1901, in which it is stated that the Com-missioners consider the maintenance of pauper lunatics and the

provision of asylums (inter alia) to be services of a nationalcharacter, and the Association of Municipal Corporationsis making representations to the Government with a view tohaving the same paid for by the State. In these circum-stances, the time is not opportune for making any change inexisting arrangements. Last year the Liverpool ratepayerspaid over E100,000 towards the cost of county asylums andthe maintenance of lunatics ; hence the question arose in thecity council as to the expediency of Liverpool providing herown asylums.Nov. 30th.

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

l’7’inUy College and the Ruyal University cf Ireland.OFFICIAL information has just been made public of the-

rules which embody the terms of admission of Royal Uni-versity students and graduates as adopted by the board andcouncil of Trinity College, Dublin. The terms practicallymean that the University of Dublin is prepared to acceptstudents of the late Royal University of Ireland accordingto their standing in that institution without passing anypreliminary examinations, and, by a slight rearrangementas to fees, they can continue their education in TrinityCollege precisely as if they had been original students.Many will avail themselves of these generous terms.

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Obit2tary Andrerv MeConnell, L.R. C. P. 4- S. Edin.I regret to record the death of one of the best known of

the older Belfast practitioners-Mr. Andrew McConnell, whodied at his residence, Belfast, at the advanced age of71 years, on Nov. 16th, after a prolonged illness of sixmonths’ duration, during which he was confined to bed. Anative of Doagh, co. Antrim, Mr. McConnell studied atQueen’s College, Belfast, and in 1867 became a Licentiate ofthe R3yal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons of Edinburgh.He shortly afterwards began practice in Belfast ; in 1867 hewas house surgeon in the union infirmary, in 1869 hebecame a dispensary medical officer, and at a later period’he was appointed visiting surgeon to the union infirmary,a position he resigned a few years ago on accountof advancing years. He was an official in the medicalservice of the Poor-law board for a period of 32

years, and during all that time he discharged hisduties with a zeal and conscientiousness worthy of all praise.In 1889-90 he was President of the Ulster Medical Society.He took no part in the public life of the city, being a manof a retiring habit, and thoroughly devoted to practicewhich, apart from his dispensary elientele among the poor,was large. A devoted student of literature, he was apleasant companion, and being gifted with a retentive

memory he was shrewd and skilful in debate. In privatelife he was one of the most unassuming of men, and in hiswork amongst the poor, with whom he was first brought incontact in his professional capacity, he was invariably kindmd considerate. Mr. McConnell is survived by his widow,)ne daughter, and two sons, both of whom are graduates,)f Trinity College, Dublin. He was buried in Brough-;hane, co. Antrim, on Nov. 19th.

Belfast Organisation Sooiety.At the annual meeting of the Belfast Charity Organisation

30ciety held on Nov. 29th attention was drawn in the reporto the fact that the society has decided to adopt a schemeor the collection of subscriptions to the various charities,,he association acting as the central agency. It is to come-nto force in next January. The principal medical charities,iowever, like the Royal Victoria Hospital and the Mater:nfirmorum Hospital, have refused for various reasons to;ome in, so that the scheme is merely an experiment.attention was also drawn in the report to the proposedeform of the Poor-law system, but many feel, so far as Ireland is concerned, tha enough attention has not been.