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MANCHESTER.

(FROM OUR OWN UORRESPONDENT.)

Manufacturers and River Pollution.THE decision given in the Queen’s Bench Divisional Court

- on the 27th ult. by the Lord Chief Justice and Mr. JusticeWills, however correct in law, is of evil omen as regards thepurification of rivers. Two cases had been decided by the.county-court judge against the River Ribble Committee,which had prosecuted two defendants for alleged pollution ofthe River Darwen by running solid putrid matter into the-stream. The defendants were millowners on the river andhad impounded the water in reservoirs, allowing it afteria time to flow out again into the river through sluices,one of them merely opening the sluices and allowing,the water and deposited matter to flow out as it would,while the other employed men to rake up the bottom of hisreservoirs so that mud and all should run into the river.’This was not held to make any material difference in the- cases. No solid matter was put in by the defendants, but’higher up the stream are paper-makers, who use esparto;grass largely and are really responsible for the solid matterf’lowing from the river into the defendants’ reservoirs. After

<being impounded for a time the matter in the water becomespmtrid and is then turned into the river, causing a greatpublic nuisance. Lord Russell said one question was, Did the.defendants put into, or allow to be put into, the RiverDarwen putrid solid matter ? As the analysis showed that’the effiuent where it entered the river from the reservoir gave.only 2’4 parts of solid matter the judges held that it couldmot be said that the water in the river was polluted by putrid’solid matter. What there was was put in by the paper-.makers higher up and it would be hard for the defendants tobe punished for the acts of others. The judges decided thatno offence had been committed by the defendants under: Section 2 of the Rivers Pollution Act of 1876 and thatthe summons should be dismissed under Section 17,’which allows of impounding of water. It is allow-able, therefore, to impound water, knowing it to con-

tain putrescible matter, to keep it till a fine putrescent.odour is obtained, and then to turn it into a river where it isabominably offensive for the delectation of the unfortunateslower down. The mud at the bottom of the reservoirs,lf shovelled by spadefuls into the river, would no doubt be.considered a solid, but according to this decision it seems’that all one has to do is to stir up the filth and diffuse itthrough the body of the water in the reservoirs and then runit off. Is there no way of dealing with the paper-makers ?The waste matter of the esparto grass would be a usefulmanure and it ought not to be very difficult to recover it.

The Training of the 1eebZe-minded.A meeting was held in Manchester on the 26th ult.

’two form a society for promoting the welfare of thefeeble-minded. The Dean of Manchester presided and:said he should have hesitated before taking part in

.-any new movement in Manchester amongst so many philan-thropic enterprises which were carried on in the cityhad it not been for the necessity of the case. From aniinquiry made under the auspices of the school board-ofwhich the Dean is chairman-it appears that of 39,600 board: school children 525 seemed more or less incapable of holding’their own in the ordinary classes. Dr. Ashby was

requested to see these children and he found that therewere 214 "dull and backward," 276 "mentally feeble,"’4 11 deaf-mutes," and 6 not sufficiently behindhand to need-special attention. The school board are about to erect

buildings both in the north and south of Manchester as: special schools for these children, but, as the Dean said, "the- children who might leave the schools of the board needed’further guidance." He moved a resolution-" That it is.desirable to form a North of England society for the pro-motion of the welfare of the feeble-minded." This was’seconded by Miss Dendy, a former member of the school’board, who may be said to have been the active spirit in thismovement. She said they wanted .620,000, which Man-chester could easily provide. " The price of a dinner party,of a ball dress, of a Saturday’s football match, andthe thing was done." By what process of mental arithmeticthis estimate was arrived at is not known, but a very small.amount of self-denial widely distributed would soon suffice.Dr. Ashby, in supporting the resolution, emphasised the

fact that other means than those provided by the schoolboards and the guardians of the poor were needed fordealing with feeble-minded children. The Duchess ofSutherland, as President of the National Society for Pro-moting the Welfare of the Feeble-minded, spoke stronglyin favour of the object of the meeting. Sir Wm. Houlds-worth moved the appointment of a committee with the Deanof Manchester as president of the society. He said thatapart from Christian duty an important argument in favourof the work it was proposed to do "was the nationalargument of preventing the propagation of the present stateof things to future generations."

Typhoid Fever at Stockport.Dr. Porter, medical officer of health for Stockport, reports

the prevalence of typhoid fever. He states that of 20 casesunder notice 15 are, in his opinion, the result of soil and airpollution and, as he has repeatedly pointed out, " so long assuch conditions continue just so long will very hot summersbe, with almost absolute certainty, followed by a correspond-ing severe incidence of typhoid fever."

Cotton Districts Convalescent Fund.The meetings of the governors of the above fund always

bring back the remembrance of the hard days of the cottonfamine, and the residue of the fund subscribed for the reliefof the operatives is still the means of giving invaluable helpto many poor convalescents. At the meeting on Oct. 24ththe report stated that during the nine months endingSept. 30th, 1898, 2295 patients had been sent to the con-

valescent hospitals at Southport, Buxton, and Cheadle, at acost of &pound; 3592.

Infectious Diseases Hospitalfor Oldham.The new infectious diseases hospital for Oldham was

opened on the 26th ult. by the Mayor of the borough,’

Alderman Waddington. The old temporary structures have, been swept away and replaced by a permanent building, the.

whole establishment being surrounded by a wall about half’

a mile in length. The wards will accommodate nearly 100patients and in times of epidemic the accommodation can

.

easily be increased.Nov. lst.

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Aberdeen Hospital for Sick Children.ON Oct. 28th, Princess Henry of Battenberg came from

Balmoral to Aberdeen to open a two days’ bazaar in theMusic Hall Buildings in aid of the Royal Hospital for SickChildren. The route from the Joint Passenger Station tothe hall was gaily decorated and the weather was fine.Previously to the opening ceremony several presentations,including the members of the hospital medical and surgicalstaff, were made to Her Royal Highness, who subsequentlymade a number of purchases, and before leaving the city wasentertained to lunch in the Palace Hotel by the directors vfthe hospital. On Saturday the bazaar was reopened by LordProvost Mearns. The proceeds of the two days’sale amountedto &pound; 1440.

University of St. Andrews.On Oct. 29th the recently appointed medical professors

were installed :-Professor Stalker to the chair of Medicine,Dundee College ; Professor Macewen to the chair of Surgery,Professor Muir to that of Pathology, and Professor Kynoch tothat of Midwifery. Principal Donaldson administered theoath. There was a large attendance of students and othersin the Library Hall, St. Andrews University, where the

ceremony took place. Professor Lawson (English Litera-ture) was installed at the same time.Nov. lst.

________

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Royal University of Ireland.THE ceremony of conferring degrees took place at

the Royal University of Ireland on Oct. 28th in the

presence of a very large and distinguished audience. The

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Marquis of Dufferin and Ava, Chancellor of the University,delivered an address, in which he alluded to the recentinstitution of diplomas in agriculture by the Senate and tothe work which the University had done in certain spheres ofphysical research. The degree of D.Sc. (honoris catisd.) wasconferred on Sir Richard Thorne Thorne, K.C.B., M.B.Lond., F.R.S., and Professor Thomas Preston.

Treatmeot of Epileptics in Irish Workhouses The Countess of Meath has recently addressed a letter to

the Dublin morning papers calling attention to the fact,elicited by her from the medical officers of several unions,that pauper epileptic patients are placed in the same wardsas lunatics.

Me.reer’s Hospital, Dublin.At a meeting of the Commissioners of the Pembroke town-

:ship, held on Oct. 30th, a letter.was read from the governorsof Mercer’s Hospital asking for a contribution in aid of thefunds of that institution and stating that the Corporation ofDublin had withdrawn a grant of Z300 which they hadannually made. The secretary was directed to reply that therequest could not be complied with.

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.The ceremony of opening the School of Surgery took place

on the afternoon of Nov. lst, when the medals and prizesawarded during last session were distributed by Mr. RobertL. Swan, the President of the College.No7’th of Ireland Braneh of the British Medical Association :

President’s Address.On Oct. 27th, in the presence of a large audience of

medical men, the incoming President, Dr. Henry O’Neill,inaugurated the present session by giving an opening addresson Recent Advances in Brain Surgery. After thankingthe members for the honour conferred on him Dr. O’Neillbegan by pointing out the special importance of head injuriesand discussed the question of localisation of functional andmotor areas in the brain. He thought that Professor.Chiene’s method for ascertaining the relations of the cerebralconvolutions to the scalp the best and he hoped themembers would soon have an opportunity of judging theundoubted value in surgical practice of a simple plandescribed by Professor Symington of Belfast at the late

.Edinburgh meeting for localising the motor areas of thebrain. Dr. O’Neill dwelt very fully on the aseptic manage-ment and the technique of the surgical treatment of cerebralwounds in the operation of trephining and he gave an

account of a series of cases to show the great success ofcerebral surgery, the patients themselves being exhibited.Finally, he discussed the indications for operation in

surgical injuries of the head. The address was illus-trated by limelight views, which made it much more clearand striking, and Messrs. Down Brothers lent a series ofrecent types of instruments used in Brain Surgery. On theconclusion of the address a very hearty vote of thanks toDr. O’Neill, moved by Professor Byers and seconded byLieutenant-Colonel Moorhead, I.M.S., was passed. Com-munications on medical subjects were then brought forwardby Mr. M’Harry, Dr. Dempsey, and Mr. Robert Campbell.

The Condition of Workers in Flax-scutching Mills.A case of great importance to flax-scutching mill-owners

was heard at Garvagh Petty Sessions (county Derry) onOct. 27th, when the proprietor of a flax-scutching mill wassummoned by the Commissioners, under the Factories andWorkshops Act, to show cause why the order for the erectionof a ventilating fan was not complied with. Her Majesty’sInspector under the Factories and Workshops Act broughtthe action in order to ameliorate the conditions of work infax-scutching mills, the idea being that dust and other im-purities were generated in, and inhaled by workmen in, thismill and that this could be prevented by the use of a fan orother mechanical means, which had not been providedalthough notice had been given, and that consequently thefactory was not kept within the meaning of the Act. Evidencewas given by the inspector, flax scutchers, Dr. Morrison(medical officer of the district), Dr. Steel (medical officerof health), and Dr. T. M. Legge (medical inspector offactories) to show that there was dust in the mill whichwas so fine that it would float in the air and would, afterbeing inhaled, cause injury to the lungs. For the defenceevidence was called to show that those examined had all had

experience of working in scutch mills and that they had notsuffered in health thereby. Mr. Cochrane testified that

scutching would not affect a healthy person but would aperson already diseased. The bench were about to impose anominal penalty, but at the request of the solicitor of themill-owner it was decided to impose sufficient penalty toallow the defendant to appeal, and this was accordingly done.Nov. 1st.

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Peritoneal Immunity to Certain Operative Infections.MM. AUCH&Eacute; and CHEVANNAY of Bordeaux were able to

communicate to the Society of Biology at its meeting onOct. 25th some interesting results obtained by experimentsin peritoneal infection. It is well known that in certainanimals the peritoneum is able to resist the introductionof virulent cultures and MM. Auch&eacute; and Chevannay havenow been able to prove that the human peritoneumpossesses the same power. They brought forward 5cases in support of their argument: 2 were cases oftotal abdominal hysterectomy for fibroma ; 1 an ovariotomyfor cystic epithelioma of the ovary ; 1 a laparotomy fortuberculous peritonitis, and 1 for contusion of the abdomen.All were operated on under the strictest antiseptic pre-cautions and all made a good recovery. In 3 of the casesthere was no peritoneal effusion ; in the other 2-i.e., thecontusion and the tuberculous peritonitis-there was effusion.From the first 3 towards the end of the operation a fewdrops of blood which had escaped into the peritoneal cavitywere collected in Pasteur pipettes, while from the other 2 alittle of the effusion was taken in the same way at thebeginning of the operation. Lastly, as drainage tubeswere employed in some of the cases fluid from thesedrains was collected at different periods. Cultivations weremade upon bouillon and various solid media, with the resultof convincing the experimenters that the peritoneum is alwaysinfected by an operation, as a rule by the staphylococcusalbus, even if previous to the operation the peritoneal contentshave been shown to be sterile. Fluid from the drainage-tubes taken three and five days after the operation showedboth staphylococcus albus and aureus. MM. Auche and

Chevannay conclude from these results that despite allthe precautions taken by surgeons the peritoneum is moreoften infected during an operation than is commonlysupposed, but that, as a rule, such infection does no harm.The influence of the personal resistance of the patient thusappears to be very considerable as was indeed always affirmedbefore the advent of micro-biology.

Splenectomy for Malarial Infection.A paper on 22 cases of splenectomy for malarial infection

was communicated to the Academy of Medicine on Oct. 25thby M. Jonnesco of Bucharest. The spleens removed weighedfrom 850 to 5750 grammes and in every case but one werefirmly fixed by adhesions, while most of the patients wereprofoundly anaemic and cachectic. One patient only died fromthe’operation and that death was from secondary hasmorrbage,while seven others finally succumbed owing to their

generally unhealthy condition or to some complicationindependent of their malaria. In all there was rapidimprovement in the proportion of red corpuscles and adiminution in the toxicity of the urine. These resultsM. Jonnesco considers enable him to confirm, as he hadalways been inclined to do, the theory of Laveran that sofar from the spleen being a protective organ against malariait is really a sort of reservoir for the h&aelig;matozoa where theyaccumulate in the intervals of the paroxysms. To do awaywith the spleen is, therefore, to do away with the storehouseof infection.

Meeting of the French Medical Associations.The annual meeting of the French medical associations

(syndicats) was held on Oct. 25th at the H&ocirc;tel des Soci&eacute;t&eacute;s

Savantes. Delegates attended from sixty associations. Anumber of subjects came up for discussion, of which thefollowing were the most important. Protests were madeagainst the new legal regulation concerning accidents toworkmen whereby a wounded workman is considered as apauper and the medical man is obliged to attend him at thetariff laid down by the Assistance Public for those patientswho are charged nothing. Objections were put forward tothe system of gratuitous medical assistance, and it was con-sidered that distant visits in the country should be paid