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centimetre. It was proposed to dig some thirty wells atabout 200 yards from each other, and a yield of 235,000cubic metres of water per day, it is thought, could beobtained. For Pesth half this amount would suffice, while:Rude, the other half of the town, being on the other side ofthe Danube, has a separate supply. The intake seemssomewhat nearer to Pesth, which is the more modern part cf fthese joint towns, and it is here that an extraordinaryincrease of population is taking place. Strict precautionswill be necessary to protect these wells.

THE SPREAD OF CHOLERA TOWARDSEUROPE.

THERE can be but little doubt that cholera is spreadingin Persia in a direction and on a scale that is likely to con.stibute a grave danger to Europe. In the district ofMeshed the deaths are estimated at from 150 to severalhundreds a day, and the approach of the disease to theRussian frontier is looked upon with serious apprehension.The Russian Government have appointed a Commission,and places of observation have now been established atBaku and Astara for the Black Sea and CaspianSea, besides a number of stations along the frontier;and by these routes alone will passengers and goodsbe allowed to enter Russia. This is the old route

by which cholera has travelled from east to west informer years, and there is no reason to doubt that the sani-

tary state of many places in Southern Russia is but littledifferent from that which prevailed in former years whencholera and the so called Astrakan plague were so life

amongst the inhabitants. The trade routes from Persiainto Europe in the neighbourhood of the Caspian and theBlack Seas are especially dangerous in the case of a diseasewhich is now shown on incontestable evidence to spread, inEurope at least, along the lines of human traffic and inter-communication. Hence other countries in Europe besidesRussia should be prepared for any emergency that mayarise, and our own sanitary authorities will not fail forwork if they seek to remove in advance all conditions intheir districts which are favourable to the diffusion of

imported cholera. -

THE COUNCIL OF THE ROYAL MEDICAL ANDCHIRURGICAL SOCIETY AND THE ASSOCIA-

TION OF FELLOWS.

OUR attention has been called by the honorary secretaryof the Association of Fellows, Mr. H. Percy Dunn, toa decision of the Council of the Royal Medical and

Chirurgical Society. The Association of Fellows of the

College of Surgeons of England, which was formed toadvance the social, professional, academical, and constitu.tional interests of the Fellows of the College, whichnumbers in its ranks about one-fourth of the constituencyof the Fellows of the College, and comprises several

present and past members of the Council of the RoyalCollege of Surgeons of England, has been in the habit ofholding its general meetings sometimes at the rooms of theRoyal Medical and Chirurgical Society, 20, Hanover-

square, sometimes at those of the Medical Society inChandos-street, and sometimes elsewhere. As severalmembers of the committee belong to the Royal Medicaland Chirurgical Society, and have held high positions inthat Society, the committee has given a preference to therooms of the Society, deeming that it would be an advantageto the Society in its new quarters to pay for the hire of oneof its rooms. In the ordinary course, the committee in-structed the honorary secretary this year to apply to theCouncil for a room in which to hold its annual meeting onJune 23rd. To the surprise of the committee the Councilhas sent a letter to the honorary secretary of the Associa-

tion informing him that the use of the room cannot beafforded to the Association on the ground that the Associa.tion is a political organisation, as if the combination ofFellows of the College for the purpose of securing due pro.fessional consideration for the order of Fellows, the mostcultivated section of the College constituency, were a highcrime and misdemeanour, and not in every way a consti.tutional and proper organisation. If it be alleged thatthe Society’s premises should only be used by associationswhose primary object is the advancement of science, it maybe answered that to draw closely the bonds of professionalunion between the Fellows of the College and its Council-the fundamental object of the Association of Fellows-mustbe conducive in every way to the prosperity of the Collegeof Surgeons, not merely as a so-called political but as ascientific body ; and all influences which tend to dissociatethe Council from the Fellows of the College must also tendto bring down the College from its high position as ascientific institution.

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A FATAL FLY STING,

THE ad accident which has deprived Mr. Balfour of hissecretary, Mr. Frank J. Woods, is happily one of rare

occurrence, although the conditions for it are only too pre.valent. Mr. Woods died, after about ten days’ illness, fromerysipelas and septicsemia supervening on a sting on the lipinflicted by a gadfly. It was conjectured, and doubtlesswith truth, that the insect must have been in contact witha diseased animal ; but the transference of putrescentmaterial from any source may have been made by the gadflyto the wound it inflicted on a highly vascular part. The

only thing to be done under such circumstances is to subjectthe wounded part to powerful suction ; and in the case of abite on the lip this may be done fairly effectively by theindividual himself, for only in this way is it at all possible toextract the poisonous material. Yet this measure may failto effecb its object, since the facilities for rapid absorptionare so great and the point of entrance of the poison sominute.

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"CURES" FOR INEBRIETY.THE gold treatment for alcoholism and the morphine habit,

which has been so largely advertised in America, is nowabout to be introduced into this country. To-day (Friday)a meeting is to be held at the Westminster Town Hall,under the auspices of the Church of England Tern.

perance Society and the chairmanship of the. RightRev. Bishop Barry, at which information will be givenrespecting this treatment and its results in 60,000cases. We hope that this information will go further thana mere reference to so many alleged cures. The drugused by Dr. Keeley is stated to be a double chlorideof gold, but beyond this nothing is known. The formula,method of use, and dosage are kept quite secret. Fortwelve years Dr. Keeley is reported as having pur.sued this treatment at Dwight, Illinois, U.S.A., and inthat time 60,000 persons are said to have been treated atthe parent home and at the branches established in variousAmerican States, with only 5 per cent. of relapses. In onemonth more than 1000 persons were treated at Dwight alone.We are informed that" the treatment is tonic and healthytissue making, and no individual has ever received injury fromits use. It does not supplant moral influences, but uses themto develop, educate, and strengthen the moral sense when thephysical causes of disease have been removed." These ate" good worts," and we expect to see them soon in a pro.spectus issued by some company-promoting syndicate.Truly the methods adopted by some American physiciansastound us. The running of a secret cure for one’s

personal profit would in this country ensure the erasure

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of the inventor’s name from the roll of any college of

physicians or surgeons, university or medical society withwhich he might be connected. Professional usage and

etiquette demand that any method of treatment deemed z,useful in any class of diseases should be made thecommon property of the profession, should be as availablefor the welfare of the poor as of the rich, and should beopenly and without reserve tested and proved at some ofour numerous public institutions. This modern American

plan, which must give so great offence to the vast majorityof medical men in the United States, whom we know to beas scrupulously tenacious of the laws of professional etiquetteas our own physicians and surgeons, puts a method oftreatment-good, bad, or indifferent, we know not, for wehave nothing to do with secret remedies and cures-on thesame line with the latest patent pill. Professional decency,honour, and etiquette are alike passed by as unimportant.We need say no more, except to warn physicians andpatients against making use of a treatment of the debail of

which nothing is known and whica apparently there is nointention of submitting to the critical and open jueg nentof the profession. We hope that a society like the Churchof England Temperance Society will not lend the weightof its inflaence to such unprofessional methods. Itszeal for temperance should not overrun discretion, andtempt it into a false position in regard to the right andproper methods of professional procedure. There are otherAmerican physicians who claim results equal to Dr. Keeley’s(whether rightly or wrongly we know not), and we haveseen a letter from one who offers to come to England and49 overate side by side with Dr. Keeley; so that we maysoon expect to have other aspirants to the fame and fortunewhich are sure to attend, for a slight period at least, theintroduction of the latest American medical 11 boom."

THE HOSPITAL SUNDAY COLLECTION.

THE collection which is to be made to-morrow in thevarious places of worship throughout the metropolis will,withoub a doubt, result in a munificent tribute, to bededicated to the service of the sick poor ; but although weentertain no anxiety upon that point, we do strongly feelthe necessity for a great effort on the part of all who areinterested in this good work, if the present year is not tosuffer by comparison with some that are past. Last yearthe collection reached an aggregate considerably in excessof any that had been realised before that date, but this emi-nently satisfac bory result was attained by the aid of some verylarge gifts, such as cannot be counted upon for renewal on thepresent occasion. Under this point of view, tberefore, thesuccess of 1891 argues rather that it will be difficult thanthat it will be easy in the present year to secure a collectionwith which the contributors and the Council of the Fund maybe content. Indeed, were it not for the continual growthof the metropolis-a subject which we have sufficientlyillustrated in our Special Supplement published last week-it would be unreasonable to expect that the collectionshould continue from year to year to increase. Sbill,while London continues to expand and thicken on theground at the rate of growth which at present obtainswithin the metropolitan area, it would be supine, indeed,on the part of those who are charged with the conductof this undertaking if they were content to allow anyyear to mark a culminating point in the history of thecollection. Year by year the wealth and magnitude of ourvast city are augmented in a measure which the imagina-tion fails to apprehend, and if the charity of the metropolisdoes not expand in a commensurate proportion some onemust be seriously to blame. The meeting which assemblesat the Mansion House to-day (Friday), and which will bereported in our second edition, will, we hope, have the effect

of quickening the widespread interest which already existsamong a large number of supporters of the Fund beyondthose who will actually assemble to listen to the addressof Mr. Egmont Hake and the appeals of other well-knownspeakers. Important as are such methods of evokingenthusiasm, the main reliance of the hospitals and dis-

pensaries must be placed upon the spontaneous efforts ofthose ministers of religion and others whose advocacy oftheir cause in public and in private has effected so large aresult in the past. Among these advocates of the charitywe are glad to know that we may reckon the great body ofour professional brethren in London and its neighbourhood.Their inflaence has always been cast in this scale, and itwill not now be withheld. We trust they will on thisoccasion be not less successful than in the past.

POISONING BY STRYCHNINE.

WITHIN the last few years strychnine has been used some-wha’) frequently for the purposes both of suicide and of

homicide; while within the last few weeks what would

appear to be a series of cases of poisoning by this alkaloid hasoccurred. As this matter is still sub fudice, we withholdfurther comment, and pass on to the general considerationof the subject, which deserves the very gravest considera-tion of the Legislature, the medical profession, vendors ofpoison, and the general public. In the first place, strychnineis much too easily procurable in the shape of vermin killerpo wdera. These have been distinguished by different names,but all are equally dangerous, a threepenny packet con-taining more than a grain of this deadly alkaloid. It istrue that these powders are sold according to the regula-tions of the Act of Parliament, names and addresses beingrequired, as well as entry and signing in the book keptfor that purpose. It is equally true that all these maybe false. Again, while it is required that the poisonmust be mixed with some colouring matter, this latterhas in the case of some powders been found to havethe dangerous faculty of being destroyed by the gastricjuice. The sale of strychnine or any of its compoundsunder these circumstances ought to be absolutely for-bidden. Rats and mice, cockroaches, and beetles can becaught in traps and destroyed without danger to anyone.Whether the sale of these powders be profitable or not wedo not know; but until some additional restriction has beenplaced upon their sale, we would urge upon all respect-able chemists and druggists the great desirability ofnot selling these powders except to customers whom theyknow well, and who are not likely to make an improper useof them. Passing on to members of the medical profession,we would remaik that while the symptoms of strychninepoisoning are well known, they vary very much accordingto the surrounding circumstances. When the dose has been

large the tetanic spasms will be well marked, but when aminimum fatal dose has been given these will be modifiedinto a species of convulsions which may be regarded as un-connected with poison. Hence the importance of not onlyobserving the symptoms of any sudden attack of convulsionsvery carefully, but also of duly weighing all the surround-ing circumstances, the previous taking of food or medicine,the absence of any former similar attack, and the appear-ance and manner of those around. Some years ago aman who went in the morning to his work in his usual

health, who had never had a day’s illness, came home tohis dinner and died suddenly in convulsions. A surgeoncalled in did not see him until after his death, andgave a certificate of death from sunstroke. It was thethird death in the same family within a very short

period under very similar circumstances, and all three,father and two children, had been secretly insured. Therecan be no doubt that strychnine had been given and had