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while traven,ing the pipes outside the bath it passesthrough a mechanical filter of pumice stone. By meansof suitable inlets it is also possible to aerate the bathwater. But the distinguishing feature of these baths isthe installation of spray baths which have been devised bythe superintendent, Mr. James Kane. These are for washingpurposes and are intended to take the place of the ordinaryslipper baths. Each spray bath is in a separate cubicle abouthalf the size of an ordinary bathroom and contains in addi-tion to a lavatory basin suitable apparatus for spraying thebody. The floor is impervious and slopes to a trappedoutlet. Each cubicle is provided with a dressing room fromwhich it is divided by a gangway. This enables Mr. Kaneto put into practice his contention that the room in whicha bath is taken should be of a higher temperature than theroom in which the bather dresses. At the Bristol baths thebathroom is heated to a temperature of 115° F. and thedressing room to 65°. In addition to the advantages claimedfor a spray bath over a slipper bath, it is said that not onlyis the initial cost of the spray bath less but there is only one-third of the quantity of water used. The establishment ofthese baths in a poor neighbourhood is important and theextent to which they are used will be watched withconsiderable interest.

Royal Deion and Eaeeter Hospital.The 167th report of this institution, which has just

been issued, states that 1317 in-patients were treatedduring 1903, against 1349 in 1902. The out-patientsnumbered 4970, compared with 5214 in the previousyear. The average daily number of in-patients was 150.The financial statement shows that the receipts amountedto f.7446 and the expenditure to .69122. The committeeurgently appeals for increased support, adding that an addi-tional 2000 per annum are needed to carry out the work ofthe hospital and unless this is forthcoming fome of theinvested funds of the institution will have to be sold to meetthe deficiency. During the year Lieutenant-Colonel Millerpresented a handsome marble bust of the late Dr. PatrickMiller who was an honorary physician for nearly 50 yearsand Mrs. Bnkart presented a large photograph of the lateMr. J. Bankart, a former member of the honorary surgicalstaff.

University College, Bristol.A deputation of representatives of university colleges,

including University College, Bristol, waited on the Chancellorof the Exchequer on Feb. 17th on the subject of the Govern-ment grant. The Chancellor intimated in his reply that hewas prepared to double the grant for the present year, so thatthe Bri-tol College will receive Z2400 instead of 1200.Feb. 23rd

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SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS)

Royal Medical Society of Edinbnrgh.A. MEETING of this society was held on Feb. 19th, Dr.

D. 0. L. Fitzwilliams being in the chair. Dr. Fitzwilliamsreferred to the great loss sustained by the society and by theEdinburgh Medical School by the recent death of Dr. RobertMilne Murray, an old member of the society. Dr. H. N.Fletcher showed a male patient, aged 57 years, sufferingfrom Nervous Symptoms There had been gradual atrophyof the intrinsic muscles of the right hand and other evidenceof progressive muscular atrophy. In addition the patienthad lately developed some ataxia, with well-marked Argyll-Robertson pupil, diminution of knee-jerks, and increasedsensitiveness to cold, symptoms pointing to locomotorataxia. The question of diagnosis elicited considerable dis-cussion. Dr. H J Dunbar read notes of four cases of Intus-susception recently successfully treated by operation at theEdinburgh Sick Children’s Hospital. The children, whoseages varied from six weeks to 11 months, were all boys andall well nourished, healthy children. In two of the casesthe invagination had begun, not at the ileo-casoal valve,but in a small pouch in the wall of the csecum. Dr.Dunbar attributed the success of the operation in these- cases very largely to the comparatively short time which hadelapsed between the onset of the condition and the opera-tion. The operation itself was one which every practitionershould be prepared to perform. A dissertation on An2as-thesia in Difficult Cases, by Dr. Sidney Gilford, was read in

his absence by Dr. H. D. Shepherd. Dr. Gilford contendedthat chloroform was the safer general anaesthetic at theextremes of life and in all operations on the head, thorax,and abdomen, and also in all cases of lung disease. In othercases ether should as a rule be employed. Deaths underchloroform occurred most frequently in the prime of life, atwhich time local anaesthesia could be most safely used ; andin very many of the recorded cases local anaesthesia couldhave been perfectly well employed. Dr. Gilford stigmatsiedas absolutely criminal the practice occasionally followed,especially in dental operations, of giving chloroform withthe patient in the sitting posture.

The Case of Dr. Laohlan Grant.At a recent meeting of the Ballachulish Workmen’s

Medical Society, which was held in the Public Hall, Balla-chulish, presided over by Mr. Donald Macmillan, it was

unanimously agreed that all legal expenses incurred by Dr.Grant and by the medical club during the recent disputeshould be paid out of the appeal fund. The fund receivedupwards of L900 from the public.

Glasgow Southern Medical Sooiety.Sir J. Halliday Croom on Thursday, Feb. llth, delivered

an interesting address before this society, of which he isVice-President, taking for his subject "Moot Points inCancer." The lecturer was inclined to attach little im-

portance to the influence of heredity in malignant disease.Feb. 23rd.

________________

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Ultra-microscovic Disease Germs.Professor E. J. McWeeney, M.D , delivered an interesting

lecture on Feb 17Lh in the theatre of the Royal DublinSociety on Ultra-microscopical Disease Germs. After

showing on the optical screen projections of manywell-known parasites he dealt with the minute bacteriawhich cause disease through their parasitic mode oflite. He showed the large bacteria in anthrax and thesmaller kinds down to the germ of influenza whichis, of course, one of the smallest known. He then dealtwith the special subject of his lecture and stated that thelimit of microscopical visibility was set by the wave-lengthin white light at 1/43500th of an inch. Particles less thanhalf a wave-length in size could only be seen as small blurredspots called "diffraction d;scs," neither their shape nor theirstructure being discernible. There had been accumulatingevidence to show that certain infectious maladies, the courseof which had hitherto baffled the bacteriologist, were reallycaused by germs too small to be seen by our best micro-scopes and yet perfectly recognisable by their effects. Oneof these was the germ of pleuro-pneumonia in cattle, averitable scourge until about ten years ago when it wasstamped out owing to the labours and discoveries of thelate Professor Nocard, the very eminent French veterinarianwhose latest researches were carried out in Ireland underthe auspices of the Agricultural Department. The lecturerexplained the methods by which Professor Nocard made hisdiscoveries without any microscopical aid and concluded bymentioning many diseases the pathology of which is reallyin the domain of the ultra-visible rays. As regards hydro-phobia it is well known that the illustrious Pasteur failed tosee its germ but, acting in the belief that it must be existentand fatal, saved thousands of lives.

Shell;fish in Ireland.Dr. T. J. Browne, medical inspector under the Local Govern-

ment Board, states that periwinkles are collected all roundthe coast of Ireland to the measure of about 1500 tons per yearand are exported to the London, Liverpool, and Manchestermarkets. For some strange reason they are not consumedin Ireland as food. The inspector states that they are notcollected in the vicinity of sewer outfalls or in situationsliable to pollution. They are boiled before being eaten butDr. Browne seems doubttul whether they are sufficientlycooked to be safe from pathogenic organisms. He is unableto say whether they are completely sterilised but is of

opinion that if they are not properly cooked their consump-tion might be attended with a certain amount of risk.

Epidemic of Blood-poisoning in Cootehill Workhouse.Dr. E. Coey Bigger, medical inspector under the Local

616

Government Board; has reported in reference to the recentoutbreak of septicaemia in the infirmary of Cootehill Work-house which caused the death of four patients that hefound as a result of his investigation that the patients werein charge" of two qualified nurses who were present andassisted at the operations. The medical officer sterilised hisinstruments and dressings and the operations were carried outwith the necessary antiseptic precautions. The wards weredisinfected biennially. No sanitary arrangements were

provided inside the building and drainage and slops werecarried off in an open channel situated several feet from thewalls. The wards had not sufficient window space and sodid not receive sufficient sunlight. A direct and definitecause for the outbreak was difficult to assign but Dr. Biggerreports that the two main wards occupied by patients werere-floored some years ago and that the boards, which werenot closely joined, were laid on the top of the old floor,which might have contained disease germs. The medicalofficer was inclined to attribute the outbreak to this circum-stance. It has been advised by the Local Government Boardthat the Jf ever hospital should be enlarged and that betteraccommodation should be provided for all infirmary patients.

Queen’s:College, Belfast, and the Ulster Medical Society.The Ulster Medical Society at a recent general meeting

unanimously passed an important resolution having referenceto Queen’s College, Belfast. The resolution recorded thenecessity for the provision of increased facilities for higherscientific teaching in Queen’s College, pointing out thatthe faculty of medicine had always formed one of themost important departments of the College and must everremain in the closest touch with the progress of investigationand research in the various physical and biological sciences.The resolution also, while recognising and appreciating themanner in which Queen’s College had utilised the resourcesat its disposal in keeping abreast of modern methods ofteaching"medical science, pointed out that the training ofmedical students in the subjects of zoology, botany,chemistry, and physics is certain to suffer unless more ade-quate facilities for teaching these subjects are now providedand drew attention to the necessity for providing the Col-lege with the means of taking full advantage of the generousoffer of the Right Hon. W. J. Pirrie to build a laboratory forphysical science at his own expense. It is undoubted thatthe absence of sufficient laboratory accommodation and staffseriously interferes with the development of post-graduatework in medical science at Queen’s College and it is to be

hoped the Lord Lieutenant, the Chief Secretary, Lord

Londonderry, and the various Members of Parliament towhom copies of the motion have been sent, will take an activeinterest in’.the plight of the College.Feb. 25th.

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Diagnosis of Actinomycosis.AT the meeting of the Academy of Medicine held on

Feb. 9th M. Le Dentu referred to the difficulties in the dia-gnosis of actinomycosis and to the necessity which existedfor a histological examination. He himself had just hadunder his own care a very interesting and deceptive case-namely, that of an old man, aged 75 years, who was sufferingfrom a tumour. The look of the growth and the multiplefistulæ in it led the medical men of Lyons to think that thecase was one of actinomycosis. Examination of the pus,however, revealed none of the typical granules, neither didcuretting the bone. Histological examination showed thegrowth to-.be a typical epithelioma. M. Cornil referred tothe possible absence of the characteristic granules. In onecase under his care these granules which could not be foundat the first examination were afterwards discovered in largequantities in the spongy nodules from the bone. This,however, is by no means always so even in marked casesof actinomycosis. The ray masses, easily stained by violet,are as characteristic as the granules for purposes of diagnosis.On the whole, however, the opinion was expressed that it isimpossible to make a diagnosis in actinomycosis without ahistological examination.

The Cctuses of Congenital -Dislocation of the Hip-joint.Congenital dislocation of the hip-joint, a fairly common

condition and one the explanation of which has often puzzled

the medical profession, formed the subject of another com-munication at the same sitting of the Academy of Medicine.M. Le Damany, professor at the Rennes School of Medicine,brought forward a theory based upon anthropological con.siderations. On the one hand, the upright position bybringing about a twisting of the femur and, on the otherhand, the large size of the head due to the developmentof the brain with its concomitant development of the pelviswould be the predisposing causes of this dislocation whichis altogether proper to the human species. Owing ’to theobliquity of the walls of the pelvis the head of the femur,being pushed forward by the twisting of the bone, has atendency to slip out of the acetabular cavity. As a matterof fact, in those persons who are the subjects of this lesion,either at the time of birth or in whom it develops at a veryearly age, the observer may note an exaggeration of thenormal twist of the femur and an excessive obliquity of thebase of the acetabular cavity.

Inspection of the Paris Hospitals.The authorities of the Assistance Publique have been

reckoning up the wastage which occurs in the hospitals ofParis and M. Mesureur has sent to all the hospital directors acircular announcing that he has inaugurated a system ofinspection for looking into the expenses of these establish.ments. Each of the inspectors, who are nine in number,will spend ten days in one of the hospitals to which theywill be allotted by the director of the Assistance Publique.At the end of this time they will send in a report upon theworking of the hospital, mentioning any particular pointswhich may have struck them. They will, of course, takeparticular notice of financial extravagances as well as oferrors of administration.

Presentation to Professor Bouchard.On Feb. 21st the ceremony took place at the

Academy of Medicine of the presentation of a medal toProfessor Bouchard which had been subscribed for by hispupils and friends. Speeches were delivered by, amongstothers, Professor Debove, dean of the Faculty of Medicine,M. Liard, the vice-rector of the Academy of Paris, andthe Minister of Public Instruction who presided. Thelast named in the course of his speech reminded hisaudience of the tact and prudence, the farsightednessand ’goodwill which Professor Bouchard had displayedthroughout his career, particularly as regarded the inspec-tions in the faculties of medicine with which he hadbeen charged. Knowing well how to recognise intuitivelyand to encourage good intentions and how to give timelycounsel in such a form that it would be well receivedProfessor Bouchard had been a brilliant representative ofFrench science in foreign countries at various congresses.Only last year he had presided over a congress at Cairowhere he had gained the respect and sympathy of all. Hisluminous and sound opinion together with bis accurate andprecise speeches had many a time been the determiningfactor in a decision. The Minister concluded by joining hiscongratulations to those of the pupils and friends of themaster. Professor Bouchard, who laboured under obviousemotion, spoke a few words which were almost inaudible-owing to the cheering.Feb. 23rd.

________________

BERLIN.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Administration of the Holy Communion.IN the present age even those rites of the Church which

the devout regard as being above question or criticism areliable to be scrutinised from the hygienic point of view.The communion cup, for instance, has been looked upon asendangering the bodily health of communicants owing to therisk of disease being conveyed by it and some reformers have.therefore proposed to replace the general communion cupby cups belonging to each individual communicant. Thesubject has been discussed at the last General Synod of th&Protestant Church of Prussia but the matter was adjourned.The daily papers now state that the vestry of St. Nicolas inBerlin, after hearing an address by the archdeacon, hasdecided to provide 40 communion cups to be used in takingthe sacrament and also to permit any communicant to bringhis own cup with him. For those who object to this inno-vation a cup in common will be provided as hitherto, so that.