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agent for checking and thwarting the attacks, open and Ainsidious, which our profession has continually to meet. d

The Jubilee of Modern Spiritualism, h TDemonstrations were held in St. James’s Hall, Man- d

chester, at the beginning of April to celebrate the jubilee hof modern spiritualism, and were attended by a large nnumber of the supporters of the Spiritualists’ National t:Federation in Manchester and other parts of the country, tMrs. E. H. Britten of Manchester, described as "a notable Iapostle of spiritualism," opened a four days’ jubilee bazaar aand international fancy fair the object of which was to raise i£2000—a very material agent-towards a propaganda fund s

"to promote the spread of spiritual knowledge and enable those who sit in the Valley of Shadow, in fear of death and tthe hereafter, to realise that man is a spirit, naturally 1immortal, progressive, and responsible ; that there are no dead-all live, and under favourable conditions can

communicate with their friends and loved ones, andhelp, guide, comfort, and bless them." On the platform there was a reproduction of the frame house at Hydesville, New York, where on March 31st, 1848, it is stated that thespirits by I raps’ responded to questions and established a method of intercourse which has been adopted in all parts ofthe world." It is remarkable that the spirits in America-that ingenious and labour-saving land-should invent so

clumsy a mode of sending messages from another world.Mrs. Britten declared, "after nearly forty years’ experience...... that it was the first scientific religion that the worldhad ever known and came from the source of all light- Godour Heavenly Father-and from none other." She told howVictor Hugo had said to her again and again : " There is nomore death ; that which is called so is a splendid success," aremark characteristically French. During the afternoon agreat tea-meeting was held, at which, it is said, about2000 people attended, and this was followed by a massmeeting in the evening at which about 3000 people werepresent. The chairman, a Mr. Wallis, said that while fiftyyears since there were no spiritualists, in their sense of theword, to-day there were millions all over the world. Manyaddresses were given by apparently enthusiastic believers, and

(ording to one gentleman much has been done by the move-ment, for it "had had to educate the Church and men ofscience and the general population as well." Possibly thegeneral population is sadly ignorant of what has beendone for it. But "most of all," as he said, " they had hadto educate their own party and to develop their spiritualistsout of the spiritualism that the angels brought to them fromthe spirit world." This was a taek, and it is wonderfulhow Mr. Moore and his friends did it even with the help ofthe angels. Many of these people are no doubt sincere andbelong to the so-called educated classes, but education doesnot necessarily confer wisdom or judgment in the sifting and weighing of evidence. It would be impolite to speak of" cranks," and yet there is an old saying there’s nothingso queer as folk."

Convalescent Pavilions at Eady7vell Sanatorium.A resolution was unanimously adopted at the meeting

of the Salford Borough Council on April 6th in favour oferecting two convalescent pavilions on the land at Ladywell,one for scarlet fever patients with provision for 48 beds andthe other for typhoid convalescents with 32 beds. Theestimated cost of the new buildings will be 11,800.April 25th.

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

St. Andrens University and Dundee College.THE omens in connexion with the long-standing dispute

between these two bodies at last appear to be favourable.At the recent meeting of the University General Council amuch more reasonable and pacific tone prevailed and thereis reason to believe that a practical scheme of agreementwill soon be in operation. It is understood that theUniversity Court has arranged to spend a considerableannual sum on the medical school at Dundee and that assoon as funds are available further chairs will be establishedthere.

Glasgow University. ’

The classes for the summer session were opened on

April 19th. The class of practical pathology is to be con-ducted by Professor Coats, who to the general gratificationhas returned from his Australian trip in restored health.The new Professor of Forensic Medicine has commenced hisduties and he will also undertake the teaching of publichealth. Though no official action has been taken in con-nexion with the establishment of a chair in this last-men-tioned subject the proposal has by no means lapsed and inthe meantime laboratory work will be conducted underProfessor Glaister’s direction. The university court has re-appointed Dr. Charles Workman to be an extra examinerin the subject of pathology for degrees in medicine andsurgery. The court has adopted the report of the Uni-versities Joint Committee in favour of action being takento prevent any medical graduate using the name or title ofhis degree after his name has been removed from the MedicalRegister.

Glasgow Philosophical Society.The meeting of this society held on April 20th, Dr. Ebenezer

Duncan being in the chair, was occupied by a paper on theBubonic Plague by Dr. Alexander Ferguson of the WesternInfirmary Pathological Institute. Dr. Ferguson traced thehistory of the disease from outbreaks which occurred inLybia, Syria, and Egypt in the third century B.C. andexpressed the opinion that the present outbreak in Bombaywas probably due to conveyance of the disease from Hong-Kong. The bacteriology of the disease was then discussedand a description given of the insanitary condition of thenative quarters in Bombay; reference was also made to thevarious methods of serum treatment. The lecture was

illustrated by lantern slides and microscopic demonstrations.At the same meeting Mr. Addison of the Deaf and DumbInstitute, Langside, read a paper on Deaf Mute Education, inwhich he advocated the establishment of a college for pro-viding deaf mutes with opportunities for secondary andhigher education and quoted in support the success of snelaan institution in America. Dr. Ebenezer Duncan also advo-cated Mr. Addison’s suggestion.

Handsome Bequests to Glasgow Charities.By the will of the late Mr. Adam Teacher a sum of

S50 000 is left in trust to be divided among the infirmariesand other charities of the city. In addition, on the expiryof certain life interests, the further sum of £30.000 is tobe divided between the Royal, Western, and VictoriaInfirmaries.

Medical Appointments.The Govan District Lunacy Board have, on the nomination

, of Dr. Watson, the superintendent, appointed Mr. FrancisOdell Simpson, pathologist and senior assistant of the West

3 Riding Asylum, Wakefield, to be senior assistant medical

; officer in the Hawkhead Asylum. Mr. Hugh Galt, M.B.,B.Sc. Glasg., D.P.H. Camb., has been appointed Professorof Forensic Medicine and Lecturer on Public Health in

: St. Mungo’s College, Glasgow, in succession to ProfessorGlaister, resigned.April 26th.

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Important 1erdiet as to Medical Fees in Hositals.A RATHER important question as to the liability of

hospital patients for medical fees was investigated byMr. Justice Gibson and a special jury in the Nisi PriusCourt, Dublin, on April 20th. Dr. J. J. Cranny, one ofthe surgical staff of Jervis-street Hospital, brought an actionto recover £25, a fee alleged to be due to him by Mr. ThomasLee, recently a patient in the institution, to which he hadbeen brought with a compound fracture of his leg due to astreet accident. It appeared that the defendant’s leg wasset by Dr. Cranny, who afterwards visited him at thehospital on thirty occasions and twice subsequently at his

, private residence. In support of his claim Dr. Cranny statedthat it was the custom to charge medical fees to well-to-dopatients in hospital. The defendant being a gentleman ofconsiderable means he fixed 25 guineas as the amount of hisfee. He had been sent a cheque for 5 guineas, which hereturned. Mr. Meldon, the senior surgeon of the hospital,gave evidence as to the reasonableness of the amount

L claimed. The resident surgeon of the hospital, Mr. Caraher,

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deposed that he was paid a salary and not allowed to acceptmoney from the patients, while the visiting staff received nosalary or other emolument except the students’ fees. Thesecretary of the hospital, Mr. O’Brien, stated that there wereno fees prescribed in either the public or private wards, butthat people were supposed to pay according to their means.Dr. Cranny’s patient occupied a private ward and acknow-ledged that a good cure had been effected in hiscase. For the defence it was alleged that Dr. Crannyattended the defendant, not at his request, but atthe bidding of the governors of the hospital inhis capacity as surgeon to the hospital and that thedefendant by paying 3 guineas for treatment there haddischarged all claims against him for medical attendance.The defendant stated, moreover, that the 5 guineas whichhe had offered to Dr. Cranny were given for the two visitswhich he had paid to him at his private house. He hadbeen twice in the hospital and on each occasion beforeleaving gave £5 as a present to the hospital funds. Noquestion as to medical fees was raised while he was there.Mr. Justice Gibson said the question, which he wouldleave to the jury, was whether Dr. Cranny rendered serviceson the terms that he was to be paid by the defendant.There should be, he thought, a set of rules in Dublinhospitals such as existed at St. Thomas’s Hospital, London,where a man paid so much and received everything that herequired. It appeared that in Jervis-street Hospital therewas no formal rule. He trusted that in future when ahospital medical man intended to treat a patient as a

private patient and charge him fees he would have anunderstanding on the point. The jury found that theplaintiff did not render the services on the terms that thedefendant should pay especially therefor and judgment wasaccordingly entered for the defendant. The jury expressedtheir agreement with the judge that there was no reflectionof any kind on Dr. Cranny for having brought the action ashe did so honestly, believing himself to be acting rightly.

The Royal College of Physicians of Ireland and the t’ieeroy.On the evening of April 23rd Sir George Duffey, the

President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, hadthe honour of entertaining at dinner at the College the LordLieutenant of Ireland, K.G., and a number of distinguishedguests invited to meet his Excellency. The Presidentoccupied the chair. On his right sat the Lord Lieutenant,Lord Monck. Sir William Thomson, Sir William Kaye, SirWilliam Stokes, Sir William Kynsey, Dr. Grimshaw (theRegistrar-General), Surgeon-Major-General Preston, Dr. Bull,and Dr. Beatty; on his left were Lord Ashbourne (the LordChancellor), Sir David Harrel, C.B., Sir Charles Cameron,Sir F. X. MacCabe, Sir Philip Smyly, Sir C. Nixon, Dr.Atthill, Mr. Swanzy, and Dr. J. W. Moore.

The Sanitary Congress, August, 1898.The committee of the section of Preventive Medicine and

Vital Statistics met on April 20th at the Offices of PublicHealth, Cork-hill. The chair was occupied by Sir GeorgeDuffey, the President of the Royal College of Physiciansof Ireland, and subsequently by Dr. Grimshaw, the Registrar-General and president of the section.

Belfast Corporation (Hospitals) Bill.The board of management of the Belfast Royal Hospital

have been compelled, as they say, "with sincere regret," tonotice certain statements which have been made in a petitionof Roman Catholic ratepayers and inhabitants of Belfast inconnexion with their opposition to the Bill promoted by theBelfast Corporation 1 to enable that body to grant a site tothe proposed Royal Victoria Hospital. In the reply issuedby the Royal Hospital authorities it is said that this regret ismuch increased by the fact that not only are several of thesestatements entirely destitute of foundation, but that theyare calculated to excite sectarian prejudice against an insti-tution the benefits of which have been always open to thesick of every creed and class with the most absolute im-partiality and in which questions arising out of differencesin creed, at all times exceedingly rare, have been formany years altogether unknown. Paragraphs 6 and 7 of theRoman Catholic petition contain the following statements :"Your petitioners will have no representation on the

THE LANCET, April 16th, 1898, p. 1083.

committee of management of the said hospital andno voice in the appointment of the managing, medi-cal, surgical, or nursing staffs of the said hospital.""It is understood and believed that the new hospital isto take the place of the existing Royal Hospital. Your

petitioners’ co-religionists have been almost entirely excludedfrom the management and staffs of the hospital, and not-withstanding repeated remonstrances no provision has beenmade for ministering to the spiritual wants of Catholicinmates. Moreover, the Catholic poor requiring hospitalaccommodation very often found it impossible to obtainaccess to the wards of the Royal Hospital in consequence ofthe system of nomination for admission to the wards of thehospital which prevailed and still prevails." In their replythe Royal Hospital board of management say it is difficultto understand how assertions so entirely contrary to fact canhave been seriously put forward. At no period did thereexist any religious test or qualification for becoming amember of the general committee or of the board ofmanagement or of the medical and surgical staff ofthe Royal Hospital. According to the charter, every-one who subscribes E50 in one payment or .g1O annuallyfor six years becomes thereby a life governor andmember of the board of management, and every sub-scriber of one guinea annually may be elected a member ofthe general committee and subsequently of the board ofmanagement. Of those qualified by payment of £50 8 areRoman Catholics; of those elected by the one guinea sub-scribers there are 3 Roman Catholics out of a total of 15,and of these one, an active and respected member of theboard, is a Roman Catholic priest. From 1837 till the closeof his valuable life the Right Rev. Dr. Denvir, RomanCatholic Bishop of Down and Connor, was one of the mostinfluential and respected members of the board of manage-ment. From 1839 until the present time the medical andsurgical staff have never been without one Roman Catholicmember, commonly there have been 2, and occasionally 3.The relations of these gentlemen with their colleagueshave been always of the most cordial and amicablenature. For many years a Roman Catholic surgeonfilled the post of secretary and for the last nine

years a member of the same church (Professor Cuming,M.D. R.U.I.) has been chosen by the suffrages of hiscolleagues to occupy the position of chairman of thestaff. The principle of non-sectarianism has been carriedout with the most scrupulous care in every detail of hospitalmanagement. No question as to his religious belief is everaddressed to any applicant for admission to the hospital, noilluminated texts or religious emblems are displayed on thewalls, no public prayers are recited in the wards, there is nochapel within the building,-in fact, the hospital is managedas an institution with the primary object of the cure andrelief of disease, while at the same time the committee hastaken pains to give to the sick every facility for obtainingthe aids and comforts of religion. The following notice isplaced in the hands of every patient on admission : "If atany time while you are an inmate of this hospital you feeldesirous of seeing a clergyman, on your communicating yourwish to one of the medical staff, the house surgeon,or a resident pupil, the clergyman you name shall besent for provided the visit is considered not injuriousby the medical attendant." And further information onthe same subject is given in a notice hung up in wardsand passages. Every possible provision has been madefor the convenience of clergymen called on to give theministrations of religion to any of the inmates. The chargethat the Roman Catholic poor found it very often im-

possible to obtain access to the wards of the Royal Hospitalis sufficiently met by the fact that while it is impossible tostate accurately the relative number of Roman Catholicswho have been treated in hospital, as no inquiry is maderegarding the religion of patients and there are consequentlyno records, it is the opinion of all those connected with theinstitution and who have the best opportunities of forminga judgment on the question that about one-half of thepatients admitted to the wards are members of that Church,while their co-religionists probably do not amount to morethan one-fourth of the population of the city of Belfast. Itis most unfortunate that this sectarian dispute should havearisen about the new Royal Victoria Hospital, towards thebuilding of which the inhabitants of Belfast so generouslycontributed over £100 000 as a memorial of the Jubilee ofHer Gracious Majesty Queen Victoria.

April 25th.