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perpetuating it, whilst the other was internal and hereditaryand required to be estimated by the psychological and thepsycho-pathological method. Racial differences were not ofmuch moment except in regard (1) to the drink habit so

prevalent among the Celtic, Teutonic, and Slavonic peoplesin Northern France, the United States of America, NorthernGermany, Denmark, Sweden, Russia, Belgium, the Nether-lands, and Great Britain and Ireland ; and (2) to the habit ofcarrying lethal weapons practised by the Celtiberian peoplesof Spain, Portugal, the Balkan States, Italy, and along thelittoral of the Mediterranean. After a lengthy analysisof the statistics of crimes and petty offences in Scotlandand England for 1903 Dr. Sutherland said that withoutexception recidivism of every description was in the main inevery country a product of urban life. It was rarely metwith in rural districts. Recidivists lived in the insanitary,overcrowded, and wretched abodes which formed the slumsof towns and cities. With regard to the classification of i

criminals, Dr. Sutherland approved of the following classifi-cation put forward some years ago by Lombroso, Benedikt,Havelock Ellis, and others : 1. Criminals by passion. Thesewere persons who acted on the spur of the moment and wereknown by their good lives and genuine remorse. 2. Occa-sional criminals. These were not naturally inclined to crime,but were weak and easily led. Bad heredity was prominentin this class. 3. Habitual criminals (recidivists). Thesewere made up (a) of those who were weak and helplessmentally and physically and (b) of those who deliberatelyadopted a career of crime. The profesi-ional was thearistocrat among criminals and was often skilled and intelli-gent. 4. Instinctive criminals. To this class belongedthe congenital or born criminal, the uomo delinquente, whowas decreed by nature to be such. He was regarded byLombroso as morally insane. His type was clearly of thedegenerate stock. 5. Insane criminals. These were, in theopinion of the Italian school, a.n exaggeration of the in-stinctive criminals. On the subject of the punishment ofcrime, Dr. Sutherland expressed disapproval of solitaryconfinement and recommended the conversion of prisons intoindustrial reformatoiies with associated labour.

HYGIENE AND COLONIAL MEDICINE.

The Relations of the Mosquito to Yellow -Fever.

ON Saturday morning, April 21st, the section on hygienesat with the section on colonial medicine (Sections XIV. andXViL). The chair was taken by Professor RuBERT BoYCE ofLiverpool and the now well-known doctrine that yellow feveris propagated by mr squito bites was fully discussed. It wasmaintained that the yellow fever patient was only capable ofinfecting the stegomyia fasciata mosquito during the firstfew days at the beginning of the access of fever. Then itwas argued that this mosquito only bit in the day-time or byartificial light. Professor Boyce said that for prophylacticpurposes this did not much matter and the same precautionwould apply both to the day and the night.

Dr. H. W. AUSTIN of the United States Marine HealthService said that yellow fever was a disease which cameunder his supervision and it was his duty to see that prophy-lactic measures were enforced. These precautions were allbased on the theory that the mosquito was the cause ofyellow fever. At New OrlEans and elsewhere action hadbeen taken by local authorities and he could not answer forthe principles on which they proceeded. They mightpossibly differ with the central government of theUnited States. Where, however, the Federal autho-rities had interfered they invariably proceeded to screenthe patients so that mosquitoes should not be infectedby biting them. Then they endeavoured to destroyall the mosquitoes. They had been successful in a measure,notwithstanding that epidemics were in existence beforeany action was taken. Had they been warned sooner theresults would have proved much more beneficent. Doubtsmight be entertained that the mosquito was the only mear sof spreading yel’ow fever, but that was the general, the trueexplanation, and facts demonstrated that with the destructionof the mosquito the epidemic ceased.After this speech the discussion seemed to flag and might

have ceased altogether but for the energetic intervention ofProfessor BOYCE Speaking in French, he insisted on theimportance of the whole question, particularly if theyincluded the analogies and possible relationship betweenyellow fever and dengue and grippe or influenza. On this

latter point he would ask Dr. Agramonte of Havana to givehis opinion.Responding, Dr. AGRAMONTE made a lengthy and interest-

ing speech. There had been at Havana a remarkable

epidemic of dengue. This disease had so many points incommon with yellow fever that he thought that it had cometo Havana from New Orleans, where the latter disease I re-vailed. In June last year the first recorded cases of undoubteddengue occurred in Havana. It spread more especially inthe thickly-populated district occupied by foreigners, yetduring a recent small epidemic of yellow fever there badbeen no cases in that quarter. Thus dengue did mostmischief where yellow fever had done no harm. In theisolation hospital 70 cases of dengue were carefullystudied from the first day until the end of the disease.During the first three days the symptoms in no wisediffered from those of yellow fever. Albuminuria wasbelieved to be a clear proof of yellow fever but it was alsofound in cases of dengue. It was accompanied with greatpain in the limbs and back. The symptoms, however, werenot perhaps quite so severe as in yellow fever. There werethe frontal headache and the aching back, and the tempera-ture was a little higher than was usual in yellow fever. Nodistinction between the two diseases occurred until the thirdday ; then it would be found that there was no correlationbetween the pulse and the temperature. There would he arather low pulse for a comparatively high temperature.Again, there was no eruption with yellow fever, thoughthere might be suffusion of the skin.

Professor BOYCE, again urging a continuation of thediscussion, pointed out that in Honduras albuminuria hadbeen found with grippe or influenza and they could not easilydistinguish these diseases from yellow fever. Therefore

patients suffering from yellow fever had been treated as ifthey had only grippe or dengue and thus the mosquitoes weregiven time to bite them and to spread the disease.

Dr. CARLOS M. CORTEZO (Madrid) new gave a totallydifferent turn to the discussion for he ventured to cballengethe mosquito theory. He pointed out that in 1876 there hadbeen an epidemic of yellow fever at Madrid. Some soldiershad returned from Cuba. These soldiers were immune ; rot asingle case of fever occurred among them while they were inMadrid. They went and lived in poor quarters of the town,narrow, ill-ventilated streets. Natives of Madrid living in closeproximity to these soldiers came to the hospital with feverand unfamiliar symptoms. No member of the hospitalstaff had ever seen a case of yellow fever but imagined thatthese might be cases of this disease judging from mere

theoretical knowledge. Physicians were immediately sentfor who in the colonies had acquired practical experienceof the disease and they confirmed the diagnosis. Then itwas that the belief that this disease could not travel so farinland was destroyed. Dr. Cortezo thought that the diseasewould travel wherever it found the necessary soil. Thesoldiers had brought sacks with them which had not beenopened since they left Cuba. The Paris commission thatinvestigated the matter found the state of the spleen, tteliver, and other organs the same as in cases of yellow fever.The disease did not spread to other parts of Madrid butremained in those quarters where its development was

favoured by insanitary conditions.Before the discussion thus raised could be taken up a

member present rose to urge that petrol should not be usedalone but that a mixture, in equal parts, of creoline and

petrol was much more effective in killing mosquitoes.The CHAIRMAN rising pointed out that Dr. Cortezo had

asked whether there were other sorts of mosquitoes capableof speading yellow fever and whether soiled linen could infectsuch mosquitoes ? This was a practical ques ion and must beanswered. Others thought that the soil in the sewers couldinfect mosquitoes and that there was danger in dredgingoperations. He would ask Dr. Agramonte what was hisopinion and whether there were other n eans than the

mosquito by which the disease could be spread.Dr. AGRAMONTE considered that at this late date it

was not admissible that the mosquito theory could bechallenged. This matter had been definitely settled bythe experiments made by the American Commission.These experiments clearly proved that the disease couldnot be conveyed from one person to another except bythe bite of the mosquito. 15 men-15 heroes-had con-sented to live in a small building where they were

absolutely screened off from mosquitoes. In this buildingwere placed the bedding and the clothing worn by yellow

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fever patients. The 15 men wore the dirty shirts of theyellow fever patients. They slept in beds befouled withthe fæcal matter of yellow fever patients and restedtheir heads on pillows stained with the black vomit. In

every way possible they exposed themselves to the con-

tagion, yet not one of the 15 caught the fever.Nor must it be imagined that these men were immune. Onthe contrary, after the experiment three of the 15 wereaccidently bitten by mosquitoes and then they did contract theyellow fever. As for sanitation, at Havana the authoritiescleared all filth out of the town and the greatest improve-ments were effected. Still, the yellow fever continued andit only stopped when they had killed the mosquitoes.An American naval officer whose name was not given out

here interposed saying that he was tempted to believe themosquito theory but that the work done by the AmericanCommission, however brilliant, could not be accepted as anabsolute proof. He believed that there were cases of yellowfever in places where the mosquito did not exist.

Dr. CORTEZO begged leave to insist on his point. Theheroic American experiments seemed to show that there wasno danger in soiled linen. From the administrative point ofview they must not allow such a conception to gain popularcredence. It was, on the contrary, essential to prevent soiledlinen being carried about from town to town and countryto country. Perhaps mosquitoes could infect themselves bycontact with such linen. Perhaps larvae had been broughtover in the dirty baggage and finding in the poorer quartersof Madrid congenial surroundings they developed andinfected the Madrid population.

Dr. ALBARRAN (Cuba) thought it was dangerous to expressany doubt as to the possibility of mischief arising fromsoiled linen. Commercial men would soon object to the

precautions now taken to disinfect linen coming from portswhere yellow fever prevailed.

Dr. CORTEZO added that he did not doubt the con-

clusions of the American Commission but those whowere protected against the stegomyia were also protectedagainst other varieties of mosquitoes. At Madrid no stegomyiahad been found but there were yellow fever and plenty ofother sorts of mosquitoes. These seemed to attack poor anddirty people especially. Then they had suffered from yellowfever not only in Madrid but in Andalusia and at Barcelona.

Dr. FERDINAND CARO (Madrid) also argued in the samesense. It seemed to be demonstrated by the actual state ofscience that mosquitoes were the sole cause but they mightstill have something to learn on the subject, and it would bevery unwise to cease to take measures to prevent the importa-tion of soiled linen from infected countries. In Cuba therewere places where no yellow fever existed till after thearrival of Spanish soldiers.

Dr. RAMOS and Dr. MAGALHAES, both from Brazil, spokeand did not seem to attach much importance to the mosquitotheory. They asked for information in regard to mosquitoesand paludal fever and what about the ships which had thefever, though there were no mosquitoes on board.

Dr. AGRAMONTE replied point by point, speaking this timein Spanish, as those who opposed his views seemed mostfamiliar with that language. He maintained the mosquitotheory and denied the possible importation of larvae as theymust have water to live. The mosquito could only infectitself with live blood. It bit only once and the person mustbe alive. It would not bite a dead body. The mosquitoeshad great powers of resistance and were sometimes able totravel with a ship ; then they went on shore when a shipreached a port. He thought that it was necessary to disinfectclothing and dirty linen for general purposes but not in sofar as yellow fever is concerned.

Dr. RICARDO JORGE, President of the Section of Hygiene,said it was a Portuguese medical man who was the first to de-scribe yellow fever which occurred during the siege of Lisbon.In Portugal they had numerous, continuous communicationsand traffic with South America. The predominating mosquitoin Lisbon, Spain, and Italy is the specific mosquito, the

stegomyia, so that it was necessary to take measures

against the possibility of another invasion. Thereforepassengers were watched for seven days. Though the periodof incubation was said to be 13 days it was not practicableto continue to watch passengers for so long a time, but alltheir soiled clothes and linen were disinfected. This hadbeen an established practice before the advent of the moderntheory in regard to mosquitoes. Since 1893 no infected orsuspected ship had entered Lisbon. In regard to Madrid hedid not see how a mosquito could travel so far inland.

Dr. KOPKE replied that the eggs might be infected andthey could travel any distance. The real question, and thisshould be experimentally studied, was whether the taint ofyellow fever was hereditary among mosquitoes.

Dr. CORTEZO explained that in speaking a language withwhich he was not familiar he had used the word larvæ whenhe obviously meant eggs. He of course knew the formercould not live without water. Perhaps they had in the here-ditary and egg theory the explanation of the discrepanciesthat still exist in the theory of the infected living mosquito.This insect was not ubiquitous ; it could not go everywhere,following soldiers from Cuba to Cadiz in a steamer and fromCadiz to Madrid in a railway carriage.

Dr. AGRAMONTE replied, admitting the possibility of thislatter hypothesis. The egg had not been proved to beoffensive or inoffensive. Perhaps the egg might bring forththe pathogenic mosquito and this might explain facts thatseem to contradict the mosquito theory.Thus the debate concluded and the egg supplied the link

to bring the contending parties together. The tremendousclatter of voices, however, that broke forth the moment thePresident left the chair proved with what interest the dis-cussion had been followed and that the somewhat largeaudience had been worked up to a considerable pitch ofexcitement.In the afternoon Professor RuBERT BoYCE delivered a

lecture onThf1 Prophylaxis of Yellow Fever,

in which he insisted on many of the points elucidated by thedebate described above and the lantern views showed howthe patients and the water-butts were screened against theapproach of mosquitoes. Of course he insisted on immediatenotification and isolation of cases. He then also showedhow houses were to be fumigated and otherwise treated so asto kill all the mosquitoes lodged within. Further, he insistedthat success was often only partial because the necessarymeasures were only partially applied. Still great progresshad been achieved and thousands of lives had been saved.

Tuberculosis and C7talk and Lime Dust.

On Monday morning in the Section of Hygiene the dis-cussions commenced at 10 o’clock.

Dr. GASPAR FISAC read a paper to show that lime andplaster workers were immune from pulmonary tuberculosis.Many provincial medical men had observed this fact. Itwould seem as if breathing the dust of lime and chalk actedas a preventive, for in the same districts other sections of thepopulation suffered as usual from this disease.

Councillor Dr. G. ENNES thought the suggestion made wassomewhat empirical. No theory had been advanced. Limedust might have some action but plaster was quite neutral.

Dr. LoEFFLER inquired whether any experiments had beenmade with animals.

Dr. FISAC replied in the negative but said that he hadmade patients breathe a mixture of lime and plasterpulverised and with good results.

llfont Estoril as a Winter Station.

Dr. D. G. DALGADO then read a lengthy paper on theclimate of Mont Estoril which is a popular health resortwithin half an hour’s railway ride from Lisbon. It isadvertised as the Portuguese Riviera and aims at beinglargely frequented by those who desire to escape from therigour of northern winters. After criticising some writerswho had not spoken favourably of the climate of Lisbonand its neighbourhood, he proceeded to explain the

topographical position. Mont Estoril was in the same

latitude as Palermo and 500 kilometres south of Nice.He would compare its climate with that of Catania,Nice, and Biarritz because official statistics existedin regard to those celebrated climatic resorts. Hemaintained that the climate of Mont Estoril was as

uniform as that of Nice and more so than the climate ofBiarritz. It lay directly under the influence of the GulfStream and in winter was from 1° to 3°C. warmer

than its close neighbour Lisbon, the latter town not being sowell sheltered and standing a little further inland, whileMont Estoril was immediately on the shores of the Atlantic.Cintra, which was 1775 feet above the sea, helped to shelterMont Estoril from northerly winds and its average tem-perature was some four degrees Centigrade lower than thatof Lisbon. In regard to humidity this was well within thedesirable limit of 70 to 80 degrees of relative humidity. Onthe whole the winds were stronger in summer than in winter.

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During the winter there were no snow-capped mountains nearat hand and that was an advantage. The nearest snow wasfar away in the extreme north of Portugal and there MontEstrelle had snow for six months of the year. Medically,the station of Mont Estoril was intermediate betweenthe tonic and stimulating and the tonic-sedative. It wouldact as a stimulant in cases of debility following uponfevers but was, perhaps, too stimulatirg for certain conditionsof heart disease. In cases of infantile wasting and of seniledebility and in some forms of dyspepsia the climate of MontEstoril has produced a tonic and a stimulating effect. As asedative and tonic combined it was useful, said Dr. Dalgado,in most cases of asthma, insomnia, and nervous irritability.The equable temperature and comparative dryness wereextremely useful in chronic rheumatism and gout. It was, hemaintained, an ideal place for rest. Some cases of consump-tion would also be benefited by this climate but theiradmission was not allowed. Going into the statistics oftemperature, Dr. Dalgado said there had been observationsmade at Lisbon for 46 years now and these showedthat during the three winter months, December, January,and February, the mean temperature was 10’ 63° C.and the diurnal fluctuations were for December 6’48°, forJanuary 6’55°, and for February 6’110 C. According tothe official figures given by Dr. Lalesque of Areachonthe mean temperature of Biarritz was 7’79° and of Nice7’ 91° C. The diurnal variations for the same three monthswere 6.56°, 6 57°, and 10.79° at Biarritz ; and 10’31°, 9.69°,and 10’79° at Nice. For Catania the statistics available applyto only one year and they state that the mean temperatureduring the three winter months was 10 .08° C. and the diurnalfluctuations were 4’ 050, 6 050, and 6’ .08° for the same threemonths. Therefore, these figures showed that the climate ofLisbon and Mont Estoril was better than that of Biarritzand Nice and nearly as good as that of Catania in Sicily.These observations also applied to the other seasons of theyear; in no month were the fluctuations greater than atBiarritz and Nice. Indeed, the yearly fluctuation was only11.42° C. at Lisbon, while it was 13.19°C. at Biarritz,15-61° C. at Nice, and 20’ 08° C. at Catania. ThereforeLisbon was more equable than any of the other three places.The mean humidity for the three winter months was 79 ’ 1,79 - 2, and 79’ 3 at Lisbon ; 73 - 6, 75 - 7. and 73’ 3 at Biarritz ;74 7, 75-1, and 74-6 at Nice ; and 70-7, 67-0, and 66-0 atCatania. According to Professor Jaccoud the ideal wasbetween 70 and 80. Of course, Mont Estoril would showsimilar but somewhat better figures than its close neighbourLisbon. Also, in regard to Mont Estoril it should beremarked that three out of the four winds were sea winds.The northerly winds were sea winds broken by the Cintramountains and the hill of Mont Estoril itself. These mightbe described as attenuated sea winds. But the north-west,the west, and the south-west blew directly up on MontEstoril from the broad expanse of the Atlantic.Mr. G. JACKSON (Plymouth) asked a few questions as soon

as Dr. Dalgado had terminated his paper. Before he couldventure to recommend his patients to winter at Mont Estorilit would be necessary to know some details as to the

drainage and general sanitation of the place. He had beentold that the sewer outfall was exposed at low tide. Then he

thought that there was not sufficient hotel accommodation.Also, if tuberculous patients were not admitted that was aserious obstacle and he wanted to know whether suchrestriction applied to the whole neighbourhood. It was justthe sort of place to which to send early cases. Again, werethe sewers ventilated and how ? Finally, what about thewater-supply ? He had been told that it was good in onepart of Mont Estoril and not in the other.

Dr. DALGADO replied that no place in Portugal was sowell drained as Mont Estoril. In regard to ventilation, thehotels had ventilating shafts but whether they were intendedfor the ventilation of the soil-pipes or of the sewers was notstated. The fact that the whole place sloped towards thesea aided the drainage, said Dr. Dalgado, oblivious of thefact that steep gradients greatly complicate the ventilationproblem. As for hotel accommodation, there were onlytwo hotels at present, but there would be more as soou asthe demand made itself felt. There had been an increase ofaccommodation equal to 15 per cent. last year and to 30 percent. this year. In regard to tuberculous patients, it was

illegal for persons suffering from that disease to enter ahotel and the hotel proprietor would be punished for receiv-ing them. No country more early admitted the contagiousnature of pulmonary tuberculosis. A house or villa where

there had been a case might remain vacant for four or five

years ; no one would live there. Tuberculous patients mustgo to sanatoriums built expressly for them.

Dr. Loeffler’s New Method of detecting Typhoid Bacilli.On Tuesday morning, April 24th, the proceedings in the

section of hygiene were opened by Dr. LoEFFLER who spokeabout a new method of verifying the presence of the typhoidbacillus in liquid matter. These bacilli were rapidlydestroyed by the colon and other bacilli that grew at thesame time. If, however, they took a little peptonised beef-tea and phosphoric acid and added thereto some malachitegreen, the colon and other microbes would be killed butthe typhoid bacilli would not be destroyed. Should fseoalor such substances be added the typhoid bacilli would bedestroyed at 350 C. By adding gelatin, phosphoric acid,and malachite green the typhoid bacilli would multiply inabout 10 or 12 hours. If then a small quantity was put intogelatin and care was taken to maintain a temperature of24° C., the bacilli would grow in different directions formingcolonies. Under a magnifier these strange colonies werereadily seen. The method works easily and ProfessorLoeffler expressed the hope that it would be of practicalservice in the struggle against typhoid fever.

Professor Dr. UHHENBUTH (Greifswald) said a few wordsin German, to which Professor LoEFFLER replied that thebacilli in question all belonged to a great botanic familybut some branches could grow and others could not in

malachite green. If to this substance the bacillus coli wasadded its nature began to change. It would ferment and

green would appear on the surface. If the typhoid germwas added no change took place. Therefore, with the aid ofthis solution they were able to distinguish between differentmembers of the same family.

Miscellaneous Questions.Dr. RAMIRO ARROYO (Beja,r, Portugal) read a paper on

the injury resulting from drinking soft waters. He de-scribed a locality in Portugal where the water drunk wasalmost like distilled water and explained that salts had tobe added. The section generally agreed as to the injuriouseffect of waters that contained no salts, such as, for instance,melted snow.Senhor MELLO DE MATTOS followed on the necessity of

teaching hygiene in all the secondary schools and had a gooddeal to say on what he termed healthy thoughts or thehygiene of the mind.

Dr. OLIVEIRA LAZES (Lisbon) gave some figures takenfrom private practice to show that syphilis was a predisposingcause of tuberculosis. The effective control of prostitutionwas a means of checking the growth of tuberculosis. Aftera few remarks from different members the section adjourned.The Vital Statistics of Portugal.

There was a good discussion with a numerous attendanceat the last meeting of the section held on Wednesdaymorning (April 25th). First, the President of the Section,Dr. RICARDO JORGE, dealt with the vital statistics of

Portugal. Taking the last four periods of five yearseach, terminating in 1904, the population of Portugalincreased from the year 1886 to 1904 from 4,878,978to 5,556,814 and the average death-rates decreased. Theyamounted for each of the four periods of five yearsto an annual average of 22-71, 21-20, 21-29, and 19-98per 1000 of the population. The birth-rate, however,during the same five-year periods fell from 33’ 41 to 30 ’ 96,30-19, and then rose again during the last period of fiveyears to a yearly average of 32’11 per 1000 of the popula-tion. The increase of the population was nevertheless duerather to the saving of life than to the augmentation ofbirths. The sudden ris9 in the birth-rate was set down tothe fact that Portugal was recovering from a period of severefinancial depression.

This paper was followed by another demographioal stu6yby Professor SOBRAL CID of the Coimbra Faculty of Medicineon Infant Mortality in Portugal. It amounts to 137 per1000 for infants under 12 months of age and it is less thanin the other Latin countries, the figures being for Spain 191,for Italy 190, for France 168 and for Belgium 162. But theinfant mortality amounts to 222 at Oporto and 199 at Lisbon.The infant mortality at Oporto is in excess of that of theFrench and Italian towns, excepting the town of Rouen,while that of Lisbon is above that of the European capitalswith the exception of Rome and Madrid. Thus the lowinfant death-rate in Portugal is due to the predominance ofthe rural population.

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Mr. ADOLPHE SMITH attempted to deduce a moral fromthe facts which had been submitted to the section. Firsthe pointed out that the modern, more humane, and scientificmethods of medical inspection and disinfection which hadreplaced the antique and cruel practice of maritime quaran-tines had in no wise affected the death-rate. On the con-trary, there had been fewer, not more, epidemics. Secondly,the death-rates quoted had shown the indissoluble connexionbetween hygiene and political economy. When the nationalfinances of Portugal were at an exceptionally low ebb thedeath-rate reached its highest point. The geographical dis-tribution of a high infantile mortality showed that there wasthe greatest fatality where the pressure of economic neces-sity drove mothers from their infants’ cradles to attend themachines in large mills and factories. The best sanitationwas of little avail against the grip of starvation, andthe two preceding Portuguese speakers had rendered a greatservice by supplying statistics that conclusively demon-strated the intimate connexion between economic pressureand the high general, and more especially the high infantile,rate of mortality.These arguments were enthusiastically endorsed by the

section and its PRESIDENT moved a special vote of thanks tothe speakers.

Senhor FRIGUEIROS MARTEL, a civil engineer, submittedsome tables on the comparative amount of food consumed inLisbon and in Paris. These amounted in albumin to 105 407.grammes in Lisbon and to 107 630 in Paris per head per day,an advantage of 2’ 273 in favour of Paris, For fats or greasethe figures were 48’ 47 grammes for Lisbon and 56’ 54 forParis, again an advantage of 8 07 grammes for Paris.

Finally, the amount of carbohydrates is 398 99 grammes atLisbon and 400 10 at Paris, an advantage of only 1’ 11for Paris. In Paris also there is a much larger consumptionof alcohol, amounting to 9 - 5 cubic centimetres of purealcohol per head per day, whilst at Lisbon it is only 1’ 5cubic centimetres per head per day. The speaker insisted onthe necessity of more abundant food for the manual workers.He was followed by Dr. MASIP who wanted to improve thelaw on artisans’ dwellings, and by Dr. FRANCISCO NAMORADOwho advocated vegetarianism.

The Resolutions of the Section of Hygiene.The President then laid upon the table a large number of

papers which should have been lead to the section. Theirauthors, however, were not present; and even if they hadresponded when their names were called there remained in-sufficient time to hear them. The President now submitted tothe vote the various motions that had been introduced in thesection during the course of the debates. First, a motionwas adopted recommending the creation of anti-tuberculosisdispensaries to serve as centres of treatment, of educationfor the prevention of the disease, and for the early detectionof cases. Then a motion was approved in favour of com-pulsory disinfection under the control of State officials incases of infectious and contagious disease.

Opposition was made to a proposal demanding the con-vocation of an international conference on plague so as tohelp to find the methods and the money to combat thisdisease.

Dr. LOEFFLER said that various nationalities had sent outexpeditions to investigate this matter, notably France,Austria, and Russia, and he doubted whether anything morewas necessary.The PRESIDENT replied that though many countries had

made national scientific inquiries an international effort wasnow perhaps necessary.A DELEGATE objected that after all the principal seat

of plague was British India, and what would the BritishGovernment say to the proposal ?Mr. SMITH remarked that what the British authorities

needed was some means of overcoming the religious pre-judices of the native Indian populations which renderedit almost impossible to enforce the means of checking plaguewhich an international commission would probably recom-mend. The matter then dropped and no motion was put.A motion was brought forward to protect workers,

especially in unwholesome and injurious industries, and anamendment was carried to the effect that legislation for theprotection of labour should, so far as possible, be the samein all nations so as to prevent the cause of humanity suffer-ing from the exigencies of competition.With a vote of thanks to the presiding officials the section

then terminated its labours.

’

LEGAL MEDICINE.

Professor ADRIANO X. LOPES VIEIRA, superintendent ofthe Morgue at Coimbra, read a paper upon

Tile Signs of Death by Dronning.He said that one of his principal objects was to considerwhether in the case of a dead body found in water the deathwas due (1) to asphyxia consequent on the immersion, or(2) to ione other cause. Most writers on legal medicinebelieved that in these circumstances death not due to

asphyxia was rare but Professor Vieira, on the contrary,believed it to be relatively frequent. Among the smallnumber of writers who had given attention to the subjectof death due to syncope as distinguished from deathdue to asphyxia he mentioned Dixon Mann and VivianPoore in England, Strassmann in Berlin, Vibert in

Paris, and Witthauss and Becker and Peterson andHaines in North America. After reviewing the classical

signs of death from drowning he said that they were notinvariably present. Moreover, when death was not due toasphyxia—that was to say, when death took place suddenlyso that the person had no time either to draw water into thelungs or to swallow it-the post-mortem appearances whichresulted from such drawing of water into the lungs or

swallowing it must be absent. At present there was hardlyany means of determining whether death in such circum-stances was due to respiratory syncope or to cardiac syncopeor to meningo-encephalic congestion or haemorrhage. As

illustrating his views he described a case in which t,he bodyof an infant was found in a well near Coimbra. The parentswhen brought to trial said that the body was not thrown intothe well until after the infant had died a natural death intheir arms. The body was that of a healthy infant, therewere no signs of strangulation, and the post-mortem appear-ances did not warrant the making of a more definite state-ment than that death might have been due to respiratorysyncope. The parents were therefore acquitted.

’

THE GERMAN SURGICAL CONGRESS.1

THE German Surgical Association held its annual meetingin Berlin from April 4th to 7Gh, Professor KÖRTE (Berlin)being in the chair. In his inaugural address the chairmanalluded to the ever-increasing number of members and saidthat in former times the progress of medical science

depended mainly on the work accomplished by men holdingappointments at the universities, but the great hospitalswere now to some extent making their influence felt in thisrespect. The first day of the meeting was almost exclusivelydevoted to military surgery, a subject which has undergonegreat development owing to the recent Russo-Japanese war.

Military Surgery.Professor ZOEGE VON MANTEUFFEL (Dorpat in Russia)

read a paper describing his expeiiences of first aid on thebattlefield. He spoke of the difficulties encountered in

establishing dressing stations, difficulties which were due tothe very long range of modern projectiles. The dressingstations, and still more the moveable field hospitals, musttherefore be p’aced at a g -eat distance from the scene of theengagement. A large number of transport vehicles wasessential and the hospitals should be established as near aspossible to the railway stations so as to facilitate the sub-sequent removal of the wounded. With regard to the natureot’ the wounds coming under treatment he said that woundscaused by shells were not often seen because they were liableto prove fatal at once. Shrapnel wounds, on the otherhand, were rather frequent and their action differed verymuch in individual cases. Once, for instance, the thoraxand the vertebral column were perforated, in anotherinstance 11 bullets were found under the kin of theface. They nearly always tore the man’s clothes and drovethe pieces into the wound so that the latter became con-taminated. Shrapnel was therefore more dangerous thanrifle bullets which produced simple wounds of entrance andexit. An explosive action was never observed. Professorvon Manteuffel then spoke of the number of cases which must

1 For this report we wish to tender our sincere thanks to the editorof the Deutsche Medizinische Wochenschrift, through whose courtesyit has been forwarded to us by our Berlin correspondent.