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bestowed in the preparation of the awards they have recommended andfor the very efficient report of their proceedings.""That the thanks of the Council be and are hereby given to the

editors of newspapers who have pleaded the needs of hospitals andadvocated the cause of this Fund with a view to increasing this year’s :collection.

11 That the cordial thanks of the Council are now given to the RightHonourable Sir Walter Wilkin, Bart., Lord Mayor, who, as presidentand treasurer, has devoted his valuable time and made special efforts topromote the growth of the Fund."

THE INTERNATIONAL PERIODICALCONGRESS OF GYNÆCOLOGY

AND OBSTETRICS.

THE second session of the International Congress ofGynaecology and Obstetrics will be held in Geneva under thedistinguished patronage of the Federal Council of the SwissConfederation and of the State Council of the Canton of

Geneva. The meetings will be held in the great hall ofthe university, and Professor Auguste Reverdin will preside.The following is the programme :-Monday, Aug. 3lst.-At 3 P.m. a reunion of the permanent

international committee and original members of the Con-gress will be held. At 9 P.M. the members of the Congresswill be entertained at a reception at the Palais Eynardby the State Council and by the City Council of Geneva.

Tuesday, Sept..1st.-The Congress will be opened by thePresident of the Committee of Organisation (Dr. Reverdin)at 9 A.M. The President of the Swiss Confederation and thechief of the Department of Public Instruction will be presentand will speak. At three o’clock in the afternoon there willbe a discussion on the Treatment of Pelvic Suppurations.The following have been selected by the Committee ofOrganisation to open the debate :-Professor Sanger (Leipzig),Dr. Howard Kelly (Baltimore), and Dr. Bouilly (Paris).Among those who have signified their intention of takingpart in the discussion are Professor A. Martin (Berlin),Mr. Lawson Tait (Birmingham), Dr. Laroyenne (Lyons), andseveral others.

Wednesday, Sept. 2nd.-In the forenoon two subjects willbe discussed-viz., The Surgical Treatment of BackwardDisplacements of the Uterus, to be opened by Dr. Kilstner(Breslau), Dr. Polk (New York), and Professor Pozzi (Paris);and The Best Mode of Closing the Abdomen, to be intro-duced by Dr. Granville Bantock (London) and Dr. La Torre(Rome). In the afternoon various miscellaneous communica-tions will be considered.

Thursday, Sept. 3rd, will be entirely devoted to an excur-sion on the Lake of Geneva, dining at Vevay, and with anexcursion to Montreux-Chillon.

Friday, Sept..4th.-In the morning the subject will beThe Relative Frequency and most Common Forms ofPelvic Contractions in different Races, Groups of Countries,or Continents, and the following will be the reporters : Dr.Fancourt Barnes (London), Dr. Dohrn (Konigsberg), Dr.Fochier (Lyons), Dr. Kuff erath (Brussels), Professor Lusk(New York), Professor Rein (St. Petersburg), Dr. Pawlick(Prague), Dr. Pestalozza (Pavia), and Professor Treub

(Leyden). Dr. Berry Hart (Edinburgh) will also speak.The afternoon will be taken up with various papers not yetannounced.

Saturday, Sept. 5th.-The subject at the morning sessionwill be the Treatment of Eclampsia, to be introduced byDr. Charles (Brussels), Professor Charpentier (Paris), Pro-fessor Halbertsma (Utrecht), Professor Veit (Berlin), Dr.Mangiagalli (Milan), Professor Parvin (Philadelphia), andProfessor Byers (Belfast). Professor Tarnier of Paris willalso speak in the discussion. At five o’clock there will bethe closing meeting and in the evening a public banquet.

Those who have been appointed by the organisation com-mittee to open the various discussions will be allowed tenminutes each, while others taking part in the debates willbe allowed five minutes. Life members pay a subscription of£12, which absolves them from the payment of any futurepayment, while those who are only inscribed for one sessionpay 24s. This entitles them to membership of the Congressas well as a copy of the Transactions of the meeting. Therewill also be an exhibition of instruments used in midwiferyand gynaecology. Professor Cordes, 12, Rue Bellot, Geneva,and Dr. A. Bétrix, 33, Rue du Rhone, Geneva, are the

secretaries-general—the former for obstetrics, the latter fopgynæcology—with whom those who propose to take part inthe Congress should communicate. The special secretaryfor England is Mr. J. H. Targett, 6, St. Thomas’-street,London, S.E.

CHOLERA IN EGYPT AND THE SOUDAN,

PUBLIC attention is focussed at the present time upon theoutbreak of cholera in the Soudan and the effect which it

may have upon the campaign. For the moment everythingconnected with the merely military aspects of the expeditionis set aside ; the presence of cholera has temporarilyexcluded the Khalifa’s forces from consideration. Therecannot be any doubt that the epidemic in Lower Egypt andthe Soudan has been on an extensive scale, whether we

regard it in relation to the numbers attacked or the space theepidemic has covered. Since the beginning of this Egyptianepidemic there have been over 14,000 cases reported andnearly 12,000 deaths; and in a country like Egypt, wherethe system of registration in rural districts especially cannotbe relied upon, it is very probable that the actual number ofattacks and deaths exceed the number officially returned.We have to announce with great regret the deaths of two

more British officers serving with the Egyptian troops of theNile expedition-viz., those of Surgeon-Captain Trask andCaptain Fenwick, both of whom had distinguished them-selves by their energy and zeal and their brave devotion toduty. The almost simultaneous loss of these two officers,who perished within a few hours of their being attackedwith cholera, naturally cast quite a gloom over the force.Some other cases of cholera had also occurred at Koshehand the camp was shifted in consequence. Captain Fenwickwas a very gallant soldier and an immense favourite in theEgyptian Army, and Surgeon-Captain Trask had onlyshortly before his attack arrived from Korosko, where he hadbeen doing excellent work. This officer had served withmuch distinction in the action at Ferket, where he hadexhibited great bravery and coolness in attending to thewounded under a heavy fire. We are proud to say that themedical service has greatly distinguished itself in the

present expedition by its devoted zeal and untiring exertionsin attending to the sick and in devising measures

for limiting the spread of the disease. It is verygratifying to us as medical journalists to add that thelabours of the medical officers and the hopeful, pluckyspirit they have always shown under most trying cir-cumstances have been universally recognised. Only thosewho have had personal experience of cholera camps can formany adequate idea of the calls that are made upon a man’sfortitude and of the mental and physical strain which haveto be undergone under such depressing circumstances. Theheat in the Soudan has of late also been very great, the tem.perature in the shade having been over 120° F. In additionto the attacks of cholera at Kosheh there have likewise beencases at Suarda, Gemai, and Wady Halfa. The disease inLower Egypt is, however, slowly subsiding, and the latestaccounts from the Soudan are also more favourable. TheBritish troops forming the army of occupation have almostentirely escaped cholera, but the death of a man of the RoyalArtillery at Alexandria has to be recorded. In addition tocholera there have been some cases of enteric fever in thefield force and others returned as enteritis. The StaffordshireRegiment at Wady Halfa and the European part of the forceacross the frontier have, however, been relatively free fromcholera as compared with the Egyptian army and the civiliansaccompanying it. The water-supply for the troops hasbeen the object of vigilant attention on the part of themedical officers. The Nile has risen greatly, and its waters,derived from pure sources and moving rapidly, should, withordinary precautions and care, afford an abundant supply ofwholesome pleasant drinking water. The course of thecholera that has appeared along the banks of the Nile has,as we have said, and as is the case with cholera in India,where an epidemic commencing in the plains proceedsupwards to the north-west, the Punjab, and to the Himalayas.contrary to the course of the great Indian rivers, been movingupwards and against the course of the river. The medicalofficers have among other things had recourse to the shiftingof camps and change of site as one of the safeguards againstcholera, based presumably upon Indian experience. Great

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progress has been made with the construction of the railway,and the supply of stores and the arrangements for an onwardmovement must have pretty well reached their completion.But cholera has, in the meantime, proved a more seriousenemy and cause of embarrassment to the expedition thanthe army of the Khalifa.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN thirty-three of the largest English towns 6144 birthsand 5167 deaths were registered during the week endingJuly 25th. The annual rate of mortality in these towns,which had increased in the three preceding weeks, from16 9 to 21-4 per 1000, further rose last week to 24’8. InLondon the rate was 25’3 per 1000, while it averaged 24’5 inthe thirty-two provincial towns. The lowest rates in thesetowns were 11-6 in Swansea, 13’0 in Brighton, 15’3 Black-burn, and 16’0 in Halifax ; the highest rates were 29’2 inPortsmouth, 30’7 in Wolverhampton, 31-7 in West Ham andin Liverpool, and 34’4 in Birmingham. The 5167 deathsincluded 1593 which were referred to the principal zymoticdiseases, against 845 and 1152 in the two precedingweeks; of these, 1177 resulted from diarrhœa, 155 frommeasles, 115 from whooping-cough, 74 from diph-theria, 40 from scarlet fever, 32 from "fever" (prin-cipally enteric), and not one from small-pox. The lowestdeath rates for these diseases were recorded in Halifax,Swansea, Blackburn, and Bristol; and the highest rates inWest Ham, Sheffield, Hull, Birmingham, and Leicester. Thegreatest mortality from measles occurred in Portsmouth,Norwich, Derby, Oldham, Hull, and Gateshead; from scarletfever in Plymouth ; from whooping-cough in Gateshead,Hull, Bolton, and Preston; and from diarrhcea in WestHam, Cardiff, Birmingham, Leicester, Wolverhampton, Liver-pool, and Sheffield. The mortality from I I fever showed nomarked excess in any of the large towns. The 74 deathsfrom diphtheria included 50 in London, 8 in Birmingham, 3in West Ham, and 3 in Liverpool. There were 37 casesof small-pox under treatment in the Metropolitan AsylumHospitals and in the Highgate Small-pox Hospital on Saturdaylast, July 25th, against 39, 47, and 40 at the end of thethree preceding weeks; 6 new cases were admitted duringthe week, against 12, 11, and 0 in the three preceding weeks.The number of scarlet fever patients in the MetropolitanAsylum Hospitals and in the London Fever Hospital atthe end of the week was 3207, against 2994, 3088, and3161 on the three preceding Saturdays ; 321 new caseswere admitted during the week, against 359, 319, and320 in the three preceding weeks. The deaths referred todiseases of the respiratory organs in London, which hadbeen 154 and 165 in the two preceding weeks, declined

again to 153 last week, and were 26 below the average.The causes of 69, or 1’3 per cent., of the deaths in thethirty-three towns were not certified either by a registeredmedical practitioner or by a coroner. All the causes ofdeath were duly certified in Portsmouth, Nottingham, Brad-ford, Leeds, Hall, and in ten other smaller towns ; the

largest proportions of uncertified deaths were recorded inWest Ham, Birmingham, Liverpool, and Preston.

HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in the eight Scotch towns,which had been 18’8 and 18’1 per 1000 in the two precedingweeks rose again to 18’3 during the week ending July 25th,but was as much as 6’5 per 1000 below the mean rate duringthe same period in the thirty-three large English towns. Therates in the eight Scotch towns ranged from 11-9 in Aber-deen and 15’4 in Edinburgh, Leith, and Perth, to 20’0 inPaisley and 20’7 in Glasgow. The 534 deaths in thesetowns included 57 which were referred to diarrhoea,25 to measles, 18 to whooping-cough, 4 to diphtheria,3 to scarlet-fever, and 3 to " fever." In all, 110deaths resulted from these principal zymotic diseases,against 91 and 121 in the two preceding weeks. These110 deaths were equal to an annual rate of 3’8 per1COO, which was 3’9 below the mean rate last week fromthe same diseases in the thirty-three large English towns.The fatal cases of diarrhcea, which had been 25 and 37 in thetwo preceding weeks, further rose to 57 last week, of which 28occurred in Glasgow, 6 in Edinburgh, 5 in Dundee, and 5 in

Greenock. The deaths referred to measles, which had been39 in each of the two preceding weeks, declined to 25 lastweek, and included 22 in Glasgow. The 18 fatal cases ofwhooping-cough showed a decline of 6 from the number inthe preceding week, and included 12 in Glasgow and 3 inPaisley. The 4 deaths from diphtheria exceeded by 2 thenumber in the preceding week, and included 2 in Edinburgh.The fatal cases of scarlet fever, which had increased in thefour preceding weeks from 3 to 10, declined again to 3 lastweek, of which 2 occurred in Glasgow. The deaths referredto diseases of the respiratory organs in these towns, whichhad been 88 and 66 in the two preceding weeks, furtherdeclined to 61 last week, but slightly exceeded the number inthe corresponding week of last year. The causes of 30, ornearly 6 per cent., of the deaths in these eight towns lastweek were not certified.

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HEALTH OF DUBLIN.

The death-rate in Dublin, which had been 25’4 and 26-7per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, declined again to 23’7during the week ending July 25th. During the past fourweeks of the current quarter the death-rate in the cityhas averaged 25’4 per 1000, the rate during the same

period being 21-7 in London and 16-1 in Edinburgh.The 159 deaths registered in Dublin during the week undernotice showed a decline of 20 from the number in the

preceding week, and included 43 which were referred tothe principal zymotic diseases, against 29 and 34 in thetwo preceding weeks ; of these, 39 resulted from diarrhoea,3 from whooping-cough, 1 from scarlet fever, but notone either from small-pox, measles, diphtheria, or

fever." These 43 deaths were equal to an annual rateof 6’4 per 1000, the zymotic death-rate during thesame period being 8’1 in London and 2’1 in Edinburgh.The fatal cases of diarrhoea, which had increased in the

, five preceding weeks from 6 to 24, further rose to 39 lastweek. The deaths referred to whooping-cough, which hadbeen 5, 7, and 4 in the three preceding weeks, further de-

clined to 3 last week. The mortality from scarlet fever alsoshowed a decline from that recorded in the precedingweek. The 159 deaths in Dublin last week included44 of infants under one year of age, and 29 of persons

aged upwards of sixty years; the deaths both of infantsand of elderly persons exceeded those recorded in the pre-ceding week. Seven inquest cases and 5 deaths from violence.

were registered ; and 50, or nearly a third, of the deathsoccurred in public institutions. The causes of 11, or nearly7 per cent., of the deaths in the city last week were not

certified.

THE SERVICES.

ARMY MEDICAL STAFF.

SURGEON-MAJOR HENRY KINGSTON ALLPORT has beenposted to the Cork District for duty on his return fromCeylon. Surgeon-Captain J. F. Bateson and Surgeon-Captain T. Browning have embarked for service in SouthAfrica.

Grenadier Guards : Surgeon-Captain Edward N. Sheldrakehas been appointed Surgeon-Major, vice W. A. Carte, M.D.,retired.The undermentioned Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonels have

been appointed Brigade - Surgeon - Lieutenant - Colonels :William Donovan, vice H. Stannard, retired ; Richard H.Quill, vice H. J. O’Brien, retired; and M. Blennerhassett,C.M.G., vice J. Barry, retired.

INDIA AND THE INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICES.The services of Surgeon - Captain S. H. Henderson

(Bengal) are placed permanently at the disposal of theGovernment of the North-Western Provinces and Oudh.The services of Surgeon-Captain G. F. W. Ewens (Bengal),Medical Officer, 16th Bengal Infantry, are placed tempo-rarily at the disposal of the Government of the Punjab. Theservices of Surgeon-Captain C. E. L. Gilbert (Bengal),Medical Officer, 30th Bengal Infantry, are replaced at thedisposal of the Military Department. Surgeon - Major -General Warren, A.M.S., on. vacating the appointment ofPrincipal Medical Officer, Bombay Command, is permittedto return to England, and will accordingly be struck offthe strength of the Bombay Command. Surgeon-ColonelAtkins, A.M.S., Principal Medical Officer, Poona District,