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No. 11. 5. For the first Medical Preliminary Examination, to be held under this Board in the spring of 1893, no candidate shall be required to pass on the higher standard in any subject. 6. The ensuing spring Preliminary Examina- Itions for Arts, Science and Medicine shall begin on Saturday,April 1st next. 7. For the Preliminary Examinations in April next each University shall accept the equivalents already announced in the calendar of that University.

The Waste of Water in Edinburgh.The Works Committee of the Edinburgh and District

Water Trust are taking further steps to check the waste ofwater in the city and district. Two large meters are to beplaced on one of the main pipes. The engineers have beeninstructed to report on the construction of a pressure re-

ducing tank to check waste during the night ; theyhave also been instructed to bring up a monthly report of thenight inspections and investigations for the prevention ofwaste.

Health of Edinburgh.At the meeting of the Public Health Committee held on

Dec. 6th the report was submitted on the health of the city forNovember. The total number of deaths was 495, making thedeath-rate 22-43 per 1000, as compared with 25’97 for thecorresponding month of last year and 1442 for November,1890. The average death-rate for the month during the pastfive years was 18’04 per 1000. The death-rate in the threemain divisions of the city was, in the New Town 17 ’38 per1000, in the Old Town 31-56 per 1000 and in the SouthernDivision 13 08 per 1000. Of the deaths, 47 88 per cent. were ofchildren under five years. Diseases of the chest caused 26 ’46per cent. of the deaths and zymotic diseases 30.30 per cent.Of the zymotic diseases, 1 was from typhoid fever, 7 fromdiphtheria, 12 from scarlet fever, 126 from measles, and 3from erysipelas. The birth-rate was 26’87 per 1000. Theintimations of infectious diseases during the month numbered2350 ; of these, 1 was typhus fever, 21 typhoid fever, 26diphtheria, 1 small-pox, 244 scarlet fever, and 2057 measles.

Health of Aberdeen.For last week the returns of zymotic cases were : Measles,

359; scarlet fever, 19 ; diphtheria, 4 ; erysipelas, 2 ; puerperalfever, 1 ; total cases, 385 ; being a decrease of 85 as comparedwith the previous week. The decrease is due to the declineof the measles epidemic.

Aberdeen University Senatus.At a meeting of the Senatus of Aberdeen University held

last Saturday it was reported that the Milne Medical Bursaryhad been conferred on Mr. Robert G. Henderson, M.A.; theDuthie Medical Scholarship on Mr. W. E. G. Duthie, M.A.;and the Gregor Medical Bursary on Mr. Andrew Thomson.Professor Matthew Hay was re-elected an assessor from theSenatus to the University Court. It was intimated thatMr. J. Scott Riddell, M.A., C.M., M.B., had been appointedassistant to the professor of surgery ; Mr. Alex. Brown, M.A.,B.Sc., to the professor of natural history ; and Mr. JohnMarnoch, M.A., M.B., C.M., to the professor of institutes ofmedicine.

Public Health of Glasgow.In the fortnight ending Nov. 26th, the death-rate was 22 ’3.

There were four deaths from small-pox-a male, aged thirty-seven, vaccinated ; a female, aged twenty-eight, vaccinated ;a male, aged twenty-one, "haemorrhagic," unvaccinated ; amale, aged four weeks, "haemorrhagic," unvaccinated. Thisnumber had not been equalled since the spring of 1884.Small-pox, however, is diminishing. Three weeks ago therewere fifteen fresh cases, two weeks ago nine fresh cases, lastweek seven fresh cases. The authorities thus seem to be

mastering the outbreak. Scarlet fever is decreasing, butmeasles is rapidly increasing.

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Outbreak of Fever at the Hibernian Military School,Phcenix Park.

SIR C. CAMERON, M.D., in his report to the Board ofWorks as to the outbreak of sickness among the boys in theHibernian school, states that the fever is of a non-entericcharacter, of short duration, and probably in origin dietetic.As stated recently in these columns the health of the boys hasbeen exceedingly good, the mean annual death-rate per 1000

during the last three decades having been 6 5, 4 5, and 3’75respectively, and there has not been a single death from anyof the principal zymotic diseases for the past ten years.Some months since the Board of Works made arrangementsto apply the oxygen process " to the school outfall in thecoming year, while the supply of sterilisers used on the irri-gation field has been increased. The cause of the outbreakwill, however, be investigated by a committee, of whom SirGeorge Porter, Bart., will be chairman, when the dietary ofthe boys, the water-supply and other matters will be dealtwith. It is rumoured that the water-supply of the school isinsufficient, and that water has to be stored in tanks for the.use of the inmates.

Transactions of the Royal Academy ofMedicine, Vol. X.

In addition to the papers noticed in this column last weekI may allude to some others in the sections of Surgery and;Pathology. I I Ballooning of the Rectum " is the title of acommunication by Mr. Hamilton. Attention was drawn tothis condition in THE LANCET of 1889 by Mr. Bryant, butMr. Hamilton described the symptom in 1883. He has seenthis condition under the most varied and dissimilar circum-stances, but cannot fix its value as applied to the purpose ofdiagnosis or prognosis of disease of the intestine higher up.There are three papers on cerebral surgery : one of a case oftraumatic epilepsy, aphasia and paralysis of six years’duration, treated by trephining, and in which recoverytook place, by Mr. Heuston ; trephining for cerebral cystby Mr. Wheeler, and for uncomplicated word blind-ness by the same operator, in the last case with success ; ;’and trephining for meningitis, by Mr. McArdle. In the Sec-tion of Pathology Mr. Patteson describes two cases ofadenoma of the breast observed in two children, aged thirteenand twelve years and nine months respectively; and Dr. E. H.Bennett has an excellent paper on the Rarer Forms of Fractureof the Carpal Extremity of the Radius, and gives some ex-amples illustrating more particularly fracture of the radialstyloid and longitudinal fracture or fissure of the lower endof the bone. Dr. James Little has a short account of a case;of painless cancer of the liver, the organ weighing 178 ounces;and Dr. A. W. Baker contributes a report on the Present Aspectof Dental Caries. Space will not admit of further references ; pbut the present volume is not less valuable than its prede-cessors.

County Wexford Infirmary.Mr. Gibbon, one of the governors, is plaintiff in an action

against the management of the infirmary with a view to-

restraining the defendants from applying the interest on£ 1000-money left to the infirmary-towards increasing thesalary of Mr. Hadden, the surgeon of the institution. Thefacts are as follows :-Mr. Hadden was elected about fouryears since, the advertisement of the vacancy stating thatthe salary would be £ 120 yearly, with residence ; but it couldonly be, as a matter of fact, £ 94 per annum, the sum pre-sented under the statute by the grand jury. It was chieflyin consequence of this that the governors devoted the interestof the £ 1000 bequest towards increasing the surgeon’s salary.Whichever way the matter may be decided, the interests ofthe infirmary must necessarily suffer.

Health of Ireland September Quarter.The births registered during the quarter amounted to.

25,340 and the deaths to 17,167, or 14 8 per 1000. The birth-rate was 0 ’5 under the average for the corresponding quarterof the past ten years, and the death-rate was 0 ’2 over therate. There was a marked subsidence of the epidemic ofmeasles in Dublin and Belfast. Scarlet fever proved very fatalin Castlereagh Union, and whooping-cough was prevalent insome unions in Connaught, but the general mortality fromthese diseases was below the average. Compared with thecorresponding quarter of 1891, the returns of pauperismshow a decrease of 279 in the average number of workhouseinmates on Saturdays during the quarter, and a decrease of3384, or 5 ’5 per cent., in the average number of persons onout-door relief. The fever (typhoid) at present prevailingin Cork is of a mild type, and consequently the mortalityis very low.

Entries at the Belfast Medical School.During the present winter season 164 students are attend-

ing the Royal Hospital, being only three less than last year-At the Queen’s College there are 220 in the medical faculty,being between thirty and forty students less than in 1891-92.This falling off is in the number of the first-year men

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principally, but it must be recollected that Itist year’s entries(to avoid the fifth year) were phenomenally large.

The Samaritan HospitaL.A meeting of the committee of this hospital was held on

Dec. 6th for the purpose of appointing two honorary attend-ing physicians, when Dr. Campbell (Demonstrator of Anatomy.at Queen’s College, Belfast) and Dr. St. Clair Boyd (Surgeonto the Western Hospital for Women and Children) wereelected.

The Belfast Medical S’tudents’ Association.A deputation from the above association, consisting of the

secretary and ex-secretary, presented a memorial to theBelfast Board of Guardians on Tuesday last. It appears thatAn 1891, at the request of the Students’ Association, theboard granted the privilege to the students of entering thewards of the union infirmary for the purpose of receivingclinical instruction, of which the students availed them-selves, but that, on the ground that the teaching staff wasnot sufficiently large, the Senate of the Royal Universityrefused to accept the certificates of the medical officers. Thememorial referred to the difficulty students had in gaining ex-perience in certain diseases which would be obviatedwere they able to attend the infirmary, and they beg, as

now an election is about to take place owing to twomedical resignations, that the board of guardians willincrease the number of their medical officers. The chairmansaid that what the students wanted was to have the staffincreased and the infirmary thrown open in the same way asthe Royal Hospital. If they had power to do this they wouldbe most happy to meet their views, but he was afraid that itwould be objected to, as they could not increase the staffwithout expense. One of the deputation said this could bemet by the students’ fees. Ultimately it was agreed that asubcommittee of the board should meet the Medical Students’Association and the President of Queen’s College, ProfessorRedfern, and Professor Cuming, on Tuesday, Dec. 13th, toconsider the subject.The Cork Dispensary Committee have elected Mr. Callaghan

medical officer in the room of Dr. Townsend, resigned.December 6th.

______________

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Medical Students v. Tonn Councillors: Termination of the-Dispute.

A FORTNIGHT ago I communicated the particulars of theconflict that had arisen between the dressers of the HopitalSt. Antoine and the section of the Municipal Council chargedwith the superintendence of the Paris hospitals. The matterwas so warmly taken up by the entire mass of students thatthe competitive examinations for admission to "dresser-dom" had to be deferred sine die, and the expediencyof a general strike of dressers was even mooted. For-

tunately, more moderate counsels have prevailed, andthe reproach of having abandoned poor, innocent sufferersto their own resources has been spared the jennesseanedicale of this Faculty. The quarrel has ended, as

most quarrels should-viz, in a compromise. Acting inaccordance with a formal wish expressed by the Societ6Medicale des Hopitaux and the Conseil de Surveillance del’ Assistance Publique, the director of the latter departmentand the Municipal Council have consented to let bygonesbe bygones, and the offending externc, M. Salmon, has

accordingly been reinstated. Henceforth all such misunder-standings will be dealt with by a Commission of the Conseil

z de Surveillance mentioned above. The exarnens d’internal etd’external have been resumed as usual, and the sensitive andfiery Gaul, both municipal and medical, will, it is hoped,now that l’honneur est satisfait, "pursue the even tenour ofhis way. "

Approaching Removal of the Académie de Médecine.The ordinary tourist, however well acquainted he may be

with noteworthy buildings in Paris, would assuredly be puzzledto specify the situation of the dingy structure within whoseportals the learned members of the Académie de M6decineperiodically foregather. The reason is not far to seek. The

building is quite unworthy of the society it shelters, its aspectbeing forbidding and mean, and the Rue des Saints-Peresexceedingly narrow at that point. Many attempts havebeen made by the Academy to secure more fitting quarters,

and I am happy to be able to announce that a move will bemade at no distant date to the Rue Bonaparte, where, inexchange for t piece of land belonging to the Academy and263,500 francs, the Municipal Council have, on behalf of theAssistance Publique, agreed to cede a building hitherto occu-pied by a branch of the Mont-de-Piété or pawnbroking office.

A Sensible Measure.

The careful observer cannot fail to notice the ravagesmade amongst the working classes of Paris by the habitualabuse of such beverages as absinthe, vermouth, amer Picon,eau do melisse, vulnéraire &c. During a visit I paid toDr. Lancercaux’s wards at the Hôtel Dieu, on Monday last, Isaw two well-marked instances of paralysis of the extensorsin women addicted for years to the excessive consump-tion of vermouth and eau de melisse respectively. Inthe latter case the forearms as well as the legs wereaffected. In one man uncler Dr. Lancereanx’s care theabuse of these liquors had so exaggerated the reflexes,that a slight tickling of the soles of the feet made him boundviolently out of bed. Dr. Lancereaux, who has for manyyears paid special attention to alcoholism in all its forms, isnever tired of agitating for the repeal of the taxes on suchcomparatively innocent beverages as beer, cider and perry.These he distinguishes from their noxious congeners by thename of boissons hygiéniques. He contends, and rightly contends,in my opinion, that the cheapening of these drinks would con.tribute powerfully to the diminution of alcoholism. This viewappears to have gained some adherents in the Chamber ofDeputies, for Parliament is now considering a proposal to abolishall duty on wine, beer, cider, perry and hydromel. No beerworth drinking can be procured here for less than threepencea glass, which, with at least a penny for the waiter, bringsthe cost up to double what it is in England. In thecafés on the boulevards a glass costs forty or fifty centimes.It is to be hoped that the Chamber will, if it adopts the pro.posed measure, supplement it by increasing the duty onbeverages, the consumption of which, freely adulterated asthey are, constitutes a danger to the community. I am per-suaded that this would sensibly diminish the mortality fromphthisis in this city. About 10,000 victims succumb annuallyto this scourge in Paris.

AEsthetic Disinfection.The gratuitous disinfection of clothing and bedding pro.

vided by the municipality is happily becoming more and moreA la mode in Paris ; but side by side with the public ovensthere have sprung up private ones whose claims to patronage,as set forth in elaborate circulars, consists in the fact thatthe yellowing of the linen which occurs at the municipalestablishments is by their process counteracted by furthertreatment. The Conseil d’Hygiène will soon take the questioninto consideration and it is intended to have the operationsof these enterprising industriels carefully superintended bythe medical inspectors attached to the Prefecture of Police.A code of regulations will also be issued, so as to renderprivate disinfection a reality.December 7th.

BERLIN.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Choléra in Russian Poland.YESTERDAY’S official report of the state of cholera in

Russian Poland gave the numbers of cases and deaths in thevarious Governmental districts as follows : Radow 28 and 12,Siedlec 32 and 18, Lubin 8 and 6, Warsaw 4 and 7, Lomza2 and 3, in three days.

Remunerat-ion of Medieal Students who served in theHamburg Epidemia.

During the recent cholera epidemic in Hamburg a mis-understanding arose as to the remuneration of the medicalstudents who volunteered their services. The dean of themedical faculty here has now published the following:I "The Cholera Commission of the Senate of Hamburg, in aletter addressed to the undersigned dean, expresses its thanksto all the students of medicine who assisted in combatingthe cholera epidemic, and at the same time intimates thewish to send the undermentioned fee to all those who workedin the Hamburg hospitals in the belief that their serviceswere to be remunerated at the rate of 20 marks a day."