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mated with silver wire, the ends of the wire being left pro-jecting from the wound. The patient was afterwards in-valided to India, with every prospect of good union takingplace.-Case 5: Malignant-looking ulcer of the pubes of180 days’ duration. The ulcer measured 3 in. vertically and2 in. transversely. Its edges were irregular, raised,rounded, hard; base firm, indurated; inguinal glands slightlyenlarged. Under chloroform, the mass was removed, afterwhich a flap of skin was brought down from the right ofthe middle line, twisted at its base, and attached by its freeend to the loose skin of the penis, so that the wound wasalmost wholly covered. The patient was subsequently in-valided to India, and was soon quite convalescent. Thedressings used were carbolised oil lint and iodoform tenax.

Mr. KEETLEY read a paper on Antiseptic Surgery at theWest London Hospital. During the years immediately pre-ceeding and including 1880 the course of wounds had beenso unsatisfactory that towards the end of that year the staffheld meetings to consider the matter. These resulted inrecommendations for the provision of better means ofcarrying out antiseptic surgery and certain minor improve-ments in the drainage and ventilation. The drainage is,however, to this day old-fashioned, and the faults of venti-lation are not very materially removed. Anything likesystematic registration of cases in detail had been absentfrom the hospital till recently, so the only reliable statisticsthe author possessed were those of his operations. In thefirst five years ending August, 1881, he had only sixty-nineoperations to record; eleven of the patients died. He nowbecame acting full surgeon, and in the year immediatelyfollowing, the improvements as regards provision of anti-septic materials &c. having taken place, he had seventy-fiveoperation cases and no death. In the period of four yearsand a quarter from August, 1881, up to the present, he hadhad 438 operations with 16 deaths. The percentage ofmortality was therefore in the first period 16, and in thesecond 3’6. The fatal cases were then considered in detail,and it appeared that the majority in the first period mightbe referred to septic causes, while an entirely different stateof things prevailed in the second period. The class whichbore the most striking testimony to the value of antisep-ticism was that of operations affecting the larger bones andjoints; of these the author had performed, since January,181, 235, with the loss of only four patients in thehospital, and a fifth who died shortly after leaving it.All the fatal cases were complicated in the mostserious manner, one being a double amputation ofone leg and the other thigh; one being a patient withadvanced phthisis; two having died of tubercular menin-gitis when they were far advanced in convalescence fromthe operations which had been done ; and a fifth died, sevenmonths after being trephined, of cephal-hydrocele. The 235bone and joint operations included twenty-two majoramputations, all but four through the lower extremity, withone death (in the previous period there were seven majoramputations with four deaths) ; seventy-four osteotomies,with no death (in the preceding period only one osteotomy,which inflamed and suppurated seriously). Of the osteo-tomies, twenty-three were of the hip and 32 of the femurnear the knee-joint; fifteen excisions, including three of thehip, five of the knee, and three of the elbow; seven excisionsof tarsal and carpal bones; seventeen partial excisions anderasions of the larger joints, including seven of the hip andfive of the knee; many cases of antiseptic drainage of thelarger joints; eight sutures of the patella; seven scrapingsout of the medulla of long bones (the femur five times) ;three direct operations for caries of the spine; four formalunited and ununited fractures (femur and tibia), &c. Theother classes of cases, such as excisions of tumours, myotomies,and rectal and genito-urinary cases, caused no death, andotherwise showed a clean sheet, except as regarded about onecase of erysipelas. An account was then given of the anti-septic methods practised at the West London Hospital. Thisshowed a transition from strict use of the spray and carbolicgauze dressings, through what might be described as aniodoform period down to the present time, when the doucheand turf moss pads charged with sublimate were being used.But Listerian principles had never been lost sight of, andthe author believed that the choice of any particular anti-septic appliances was far less important than thorough-ness in the use of those chosen. Lastly, he statedthat the results and principles of his colleagues didnot essentially differ from his own. They were nowall antisepticists at the West London Hospital. - Dr.

SINCLAIR THOMPSON said he was a strong believer inantiseptics. He approved of the douche, but now discardedthe spray.-Mr. TUKE described a case of sebaceous tumourof the scalp, which the patient refused to have removed.The cyst suppurated, and the cyst wall was taken away.No antiseptics were used, and the patient died in six daysof symptoms of blood-poisoning.-Dr. ALDERSON did notthink that in small operations, such as the removal ofsebaceous cysts, antiseptics were necessary. The worst caseof amputation of the breast which he had seen was one inwhich strict antiseptic precautions had been taken. - Dr.THUDICHUM said that where perfect cleanliness was observedno cases of hospital gangrene were met with. He describeda visit to a continental hospital where the wounds invari-ably failed to progress favourably, and this was distinctlytraced to dirtiness of the bandages, forceps, and splints. Inalkaline solutions salicylic was not an antiseptic.-Mr.EDwARDS did not use the spray, except in operation uponserous and synovial sacs. He thought cleanliness a verywide term. It was immaterial what the description of theantiseptic was which was used. The cardinal features ofwound treatment were pressure and drainage, and in thisconnexion he strongly advocated Esmarch’s bandage.-Dr.PoPE was glad that Mr. Keetley had discarded the spray.He related a case in which a knee-joint had been openedfive successive times without it.-After some remarks fromDr. BALL, Mr. KEETLEY replied.Dr. SINCLAIR THOMPSON read an interesting paper upona Trip which he had taken to Suez and back, and advocatedstrongly the advantages of a short sea voyage for the pur-poses of health.

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CAMBRIDGE MEDICAL SOCIETY.

Friedreic7’s Ataxia. -E, mbolism of Central Artery of Retina.AT the meeting held on Nov. 6th, 1885, Dr. Bradbury, M.D.,

President, in the chair,Dr. MACALISTER narrated a case of Friedreich’s Ataxia.

The patient, a labourer, aged twenty-nine, single, was

admitted to Addenbrooke’s Hospital in July, 1885. Thefather is living, but the mother died twenty-two years ago,complaint unknown. One brother alive in America, believedto be well; one brother died, having been " aficted" likethe patient; two sisters are also " afflicted." Patient thinkshe was " queer in his legs " about the age of nineteen, butcould do his work till three years ago. Then he began tofeel weak in his legs, and dizzy at times. This graduallyincreased till eighteen months before admission, when helost all power in his legs. During this time he sufferedfrom backache, but has never had pains of any kind inthe limbs. His speech also has gradually altered. He hadto go to the workhouse more than two years ago, and hasgradually got worse. On admission his legs were found tobe somewhat wasted; organs appeared sound. He could notstand even with his eyes open, nor move his legs and toeswhen lying or sitting. No abnormality of sensation.Patellar reflex entirely absent; no ankle-clonus; skinreflexes apparently normal. He had complete control overbladder and rectum. His head was in constant slow motionfrom side to side; he had a slight convergent squint. Com-plained only of backache, and of (apparently flatulent)distension of abdomen. No trace of syphilitic disease.Urine normal. Pupils reacted both to accommodation andto light; the fundus appeared normal. The back showeda slight lateral curvature of the dorsal and lumbar

spine to the left, but the ribs did not bulge and the trans-verse processes could not be felt. Speech slurred and

drawling ; no aphasia. He was given small doses of liquorstrychnise. On Aug. llth the arms began to be ataxic,especially marked in attempts to write. Five-grain dosesof iodide of potassium were ordered. On the 30th he com-plained of seeing double when looking at distant objects,and had pain in the right eye. The right pupil was some-what dilated and sluggish in reaction; left optic disc notquite clear; slight nystagmus. On Oct. 1st ataxia of thehands and arms was very marked, and the speech was verydrawling and indistinct. Legs weaker.

Mr. DEIGHTO remarked on a case of Embolism of theCentral Artery of the Retina. On Feb. 2nd, 1885, he was sentfor to see a woman, aged sixty, who said that as she was lyingawake in bed in the morning she suddenly lost the sight of herright eye. She had never had any previous attacks of loss of, 8iht or even of temporary dimness, and the other eye was

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not affected when this went blind; she did not feel giddy,faint, sick, or have any sensation of pain at the time of theattack. Never had rheumatic fever, chorea, or suffered fromfits of any sort. There was no albumen in the urine; the heartsounds were healthy. She had suffered for years with acough ; the apex of one lung presented well-marked evidenceof phthisis. The pupil of the affected eye did not actdirectly to light, but contracted on illuminating the othereye; with moderate pressure there was no sensation ofphosphenes. The next day vision had improved, and she coulddistinguish large objects in a small peripheral portionof temporal half of field. Ophthalmoscopic examinationshowed the optic disc blanched, the arteries very muchreduced in size but not filiform, the veins full and distinct.Round the optic disc and in the neighbourhood of the maculalutea a perceptible haziness of the retina was visible, butthere were no haemorrhages. The fundus of the other eyewas quite healthy. On Feb. 5th the retinal haze was verymuch more marked and of a white cloudy appearance, quiteconcealing the margin of the disc; at the yellow spot acherry-coloured spot, slightly oval in shape (transversely)and very clearly defined, stood out in marked contrast tothesurrounding cedema. This patient was seen again about sixmonths after. The ophthalmoscopic appearances were thoseof atrophy; the arteries were very small, but not obliterated.Vision the same as before. Afr. Deighton insisted upon theimportance of being able to distinguish between thrombosisand embolism.Mr. CARVER showed a specimen of Flat Foot taken post

mortem from a young man, aged about thirty, who hadfollowed the occupation of billiard-marker for some years.He remarked that after dissection of the parts the deformityappeared to be due, not to stretching or lengthening of thecalcaneo-scaphoid ligament, but rather to displacement ofthe scaphoid and astragalus downwards and inwards, thehead of the latter resting upon the anterior portion of theinternal lateral ligament of the ankle-joint, and not on thecalcaneo-scaphoid.

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MIDLAND MEDICAL SOCIETY.

.2Jfollities Ossium.-Foreign Body in the iEsophagus.-Fpithelioma.-Ziydronephrosas.- Wrist-drop.

AT the meeting on Dec. 9th, 1885, Dr. Holmes Joy in thechair, .

Mr. AUGUSTUS CLAY showed the sternum, portions of thefemurs, clavicles, and a part of the ilium from a case ofMollities Ossium in a woman aged thirty-nine, who hadbeen under the care of Mr. Pearse, of Brierley Hill. She wasby occupation a dressmaker, and her mother, sister, brother,and eldest son died of phthisis; she was the mother of fivechildren, the last confinement being a difficult one. Herillness extended over nine years, and at the time of herdeath the bones of both thighs and legs were fractured,none of them showing any tendency to unite.

Mr. BENNETT MAY showed a child, aged seven years, fromwhom he had removed, by oesophagotomy, a halfpenny whichhad been swallowed three years and a half before theoperation; it had ulcerated through the oesophagus andopened the right bronchus, and was lying partly in theoesophagus and partly in the bronchus. Its removal waseasily effected: the child was at first fed by nutrientenemata in order to avoid the possible entrance of food intothe bronchus or surrounding cellular tissues. At the presenttime there is a slight constriction at the seat of ulceration,but a bougie can be passed without any difficulty, and foodis easily swallowed.

Mr. JORDAN LLOYD showed the whol3 of an Epithelio-matous Tongue and Submaxillary Lymphatic Glands, whichhe had removed from a man by Kocher’s method, after Itemporarily ligating the tongue at its root in two separatehalves. The operation was practically bloodless. The mandied on the tenth day from exhaustion. Mr. Lloyd alsoshowed a Kidney with Dilated Pelvis as large as a foetalhead, which he had successfully removed from a boy fiveyears of age. Intermitting hydronephrosis, accompaniedby great pain and constitutional disturbance, were the indi-cations for removal. The operation was lumbar, and sevenor eight renal arteries were ligatured separately, the kidneyliberated with its pelvis unopened, and cut off throughhealthy ureter. The condition was probably congenital anddepending on a unilateral kink. The boy is now in perfecthealth.

Dr. SL"CKLING showed a man, aged thirty-five, who wassuffering from wrist-drop, due to progressive muscular

atrophy. There was complete paralysis and atrophy of theextensor muscles of both forearms, the supinator longus oneach side escaping. Other muscles of the hand and front ofthe forearm were also affected. The paresis and atrophy hadgradually supervened and advanced together. There wasno history of lead-poisoning and no hereditary syphilis, buthe had acquired syphilis four years previously. There wasno response to faradaism or galvanism of the muscles of theback of each forearm. Elsewhere there were no qualitativechanges.

Dr. FOXIVELL showed a man with atrophy of the extensormuscles of both forearms and the short muscles of thehands, whose symptoms did not fully agree with any recog-nised form of such lesion.

Dr. SIMON showed a case of Aphasia, in which thepower of writing was retained.

NOTTINGHAM MEDICO-CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY.

Treatment of Congenital Talipes Eguino-varus.AT the meeting of this Society on Dec. 4th, Mr. J. Whitea

President,Dr. LEWIS W. MARSHALL read a paper on the Treatment

of Congenital Talipes Equino-varus. The author calledattention to the unsatisfactory condition which existed inreference to the treatment of this congenital deformity.Quotations were given from recent papers published in thevarious journals, illustrating the want of unanimity betweenthe opinions of surgeons. A brief summary of the methodadvocated by Mr. Barwell without division of tendons, andan account of the imperfect success obtained by Dr. Marshall,if slight cases be excepted, was read. Also the most recentpathological opinions as expressed in the joint paper ofMessrs. Parker and Shattock at the Pathological Society inMay, 1884, were touched on. Dr. Marshall stated that heconcurred in the views contained therein, and believed inthe mechanical production of this malformation. The factof the males to females being in the ratio of 4 to 1 in hislist of cases was thought possibly to be an additionalargument in favour of Cruveilhier’s theory, because ofthe usually smaller size of the female offspring. Intra-uterine pressure would therefore be less easily effected.The opinion as to most children having at birth a ten-dency to varus was also concurred in. Stress was laidupon the fact that the majority of congenital cases aredue to paralysis of the peronei, together with displace-ment and altered relationship of the tarsal bones. Theannotation published in THE LANCET a year or two agosumming up the treatment of talipes equino-varus byplaster-of-Paris, was freely criticised, and an adverseopinion expressed. Dr. Marshall confined the use of thissplint to the time anterior to the eleventh month, the periodat which he preferred to divide the tendo Achillis. Thislimited use even was thought to be prejudicial. Mr. Davy’scuboid operation on infants was also objected to, and a caseof Mr. Davy’s was shown in which one foot had been treatedby this method, and the other by division of the tendoAchillis by Dr. Marshall, and subsequent treatment byMr. Barwell’s springs. Dr. Marshall said that he adoptedthe following system: First, division of the tendo Achillisonly at the eleventh month-i.e., at or about the time ofwalking; secondly, ten days after division Mr. Barwell’&springs were applied; thirdly, a removable splint on thesame lines was adopted ; fourthly and finally, shampooing,faradisation, and exercises by Ling’s system as advocated byDr. Roth were used. Cases and photographs were shown?supporting the assertion that perfect and good results couldbe as easily obtained in this way as by any other. It waspointed out that no other tendon had been divided in anysipgle case, nor was it believed ever to be necessary. Thereceived doctrine that tendons should be cut in the front ofthe foot first was deemed to be wrong, because inversion ofthe foot was clearly obtained after excessive contractionof the calf muscles, and division of the tendo Achillisreleased this in part. The main points of differencebetween the method recommended by Dr. Marshall andthat of orthopaedists generally are included under the fol-lowing heads: 1. Time of operation. 2. Tendons to becut, and the order of doing this. 3. The apparatus usedfor after-treatment.