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Mr. Edger qualified as far back as 1823. I hope in my next letter to say more about his career.

Odds and Ends.The annual dinner of the Newcastle Clinical Society took

place last Thursday, and it passed off very successfully.Mr. Galloway of Eighton Banks presided.-Our medicalofficer of health states that for the fortnight ending the15th sixty-seven cases of infectious disease were notifled asoccurring in Newcastle ; of these, fifty-seven were cases ofscarlet fever.-It is stated, as showing the pressingdemand for chloride of lime during the late cholera alarm,that a few weeks ago it rose to £ 15 per ton, and althoughthere is still a larger inqiiry than usual for it and the manu-facturers’ stocks are small, the price has now fallen below £8per ton on the Tyne.-Dr. Scott Purves, instructor of theambulance class at Long Houghton, has received a presenta-tion of a handsbme piece of plate from the members of theclass.—An earthquake tremor was experienced in Newcastleon Sunday night last.Newcastle-on-lyne, Oct. 26th,

SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

General Council of the University of Edinburgh.THE statutory half-yearly meeting of the General Council

of the University of Edinburgh will be held in the Universityon Friday, the 28th, at 3 P. M. At this meeting the reportsof the business committee, the ordinances committee and thefinance committee will be considered in addition to otherroutine business. These reports and their fate at the Councilwill be referred to in detail after the meeting of the Council.

New Municipal Bill for Edinbtirg7t.A new Municipal Bill has been under discussion in the

town council for some time. At a special meeting heldin the beginning of this week several important provisions Iin the proposed Bill were considered and approved or leftfor further report and consideration. One of these was aclause providing for the removal of the slaughter-houses andcattle market beyond the city’s boundary. This was re-mitted to the Lord Provost’s committee. The next set of

proposals bearing upon city improvements included proposals,to open up and improve the property immediately adjoiningthe University new buildings. This especially referred tothe property to the east of the University, which is in ancndifterent condition, and from its proximity to the Universitymars considerably its architectural effect. The acquisition ofthis property by the town and its conversion into an open spacewould be a great improvement to the locality as a whole, aswell as to the University buildings and the Students’ Union.The proposals were opposed by a few of the Council, on theground that it was done entirely for the sake of the University.This view, however, was not taken by many, and the proposalswere carried by a large majority. The next proposals dealt withthe acquisition of sites and the erection of refuse destructors.permission is sought for the erection of four destructorswithin the city. This also met with a good deal of opposi-tion, it being asserted that the destructors would be a nuisancein the localities in which they would be erected ; this wasdenied by various members, including the Lord Provost, whoreferred to the Bradford destructors and said that they wereworked without nuisance. Of course the carting of refusewould always be more or less of a nuisance, but it was thatat present. These proposals were also carried.

! Opening of the Royal Medical Society, Edinburgh.On Friday evening of last week the new session of this

’i Society was inaugurated by an address from Dr. Lauder

’ Brunton. The chair was occupied by the senior President,Dr. Miles, and the lecturer was well received.

Health of EdinburgA.’

The mortality last week was 123, making the death-rate24 per 1000. Diseases of the chest caused 64 deaths and’zymotic diseases 37, of which 27 were due to measles. Theintimations were : Typhus fever, 1 ; typhoid fever, 4 ; diph-theria, 9 ; scarlet fever, 66 ; and measles, 296.

Pauper Infirmaries and Medical Students., Professor Ogston, in performing the ceremony of opening’ a new infirmary for the Oldmachar Poorhouse, Aberdeen,

spoke of the benefit which would accrue to the students, tothe guardians of the poor and to the paupers themselves if thehospital were open for clinical purposes to students of medi-cine. Dr. Ogston continued : " I think I am quite correct insaying that the introduction of students into the wardswill be found to have a still further humanising effect uponthe institution ; for the more advanced and more intelligentstudents, who would be those selected, are really the mostadmirable critics and suggestors in regard to all that is mostbeneficial in such an institution, and their attitude towardsthe poor becomes speedily of itself an extremely humanitarianagency." The chairman promised that Dr. Ogston’s sugges-tions should have the consideration of the board.

Health of Aberdeen.Last week there were notified 388 cases of measles, 33 of

scarlet fever, 3 of diphtheria, 1 of typhus fever, 3 of whooping-cough, and 7 of erysipelas (a total of 435 cases), being adecrease of 10 as compared with the previous week.

Aberdeen University -Extension S’cheme.At a meeting of the University Court held this week, after

a long discussion, in the course of which several motions wereproposed, that of the Lord Rector was carried by a largemajority. His motion was that they proceed at once withthe extension of the north wing and the front wing at MarischalCollege, and with the erection of a new wing for naturalphilosophy at King’s College, and that the architect beinstructed to bring up detailed plans for the new graduationhall and students’ rooms and the addition to the anatomicaldepartment in Marischal College.

Northern Distriet Asylum, Inverness.On Tuesday the vacancy in the superintendentship of this

asylum, caused by the death of Dr. Aitken, was filled by theappointment of Dr. Cumming Mackenzie, assistant super-intendent of Northumberland County Asylum at Morpeth.

Death of Dr. Cran of Ballater.Dr. Robert Cran (Ballater, Aberdeenshire) died suddenly

after a few hours’ illness at Wemyss Bay on Sunday, the 23rdinst. Dr. Cran had spent most of his professional life inAssam and had been but four years in practice in Ballater.At the time of his death he had been married only twelve daysand was on his honeymoon.

Death of an Aberdeen Graditate in Egypt.On Monday the sad news reached Aberdeen that Dr. William

Smith Robertson died that morning at Port Said, where heheld the appointment of senior medical officer in the EgyptianGovernment hospital. Dr. Robertson graduated at the Uni-versity of Aberdeen in 1877. He was only thirty-seven yearsof age and leaves a widow, who sailed for Port Said last week

to join her husband.Oct. 25th.

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Royal College of Surgeons.THE following address was presented to his Excellency

last week ;-TO HIS EXCELLENCY LORD HOUGHTON, LORD-LlEUTENANT-GENERAL

AND GENERAL GOVERNOR OF IRELAND.MAY IT PLEASE YOUR EXCELLENCY,-We, the President, Vice-

President, and Councillors of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland,desire to offer to your Excellency our most respectful congratulationsupon the occasion of your Excellency’s assumption of the high officewhich Her Majesty has entrusted to you. We beg to assure yourExcellency that the College which we represent has. since its incorpora-tion more than one hunared years ago by Her Majesty’s Royal pre-decessor, King George the Third, been animated by sentiments of loyaldevotion to the Crown and Government of the United Kingdom, by auanxious desire for the maintenance of prosperity and good order of thecountry, and by an earnest wish efficiently to discharge, by sound educa-tion and searching examination, the duties imposed upon it more thanone hundred years ago in its original charter, to provide " a suflicientnumber of properly educated surgeons, as well for the service of the publicin general as for that of our army and navy." The important publicfunctions which were confided to this College by its charters havebeen discharged faithfully, and, we venture to hope, with success.Your Excellency’s inherited, as also self-earned, claims to high literarydistinction will enable you to estimate at its proper value the fact thacthis College, from its foundation up to the present moment, never hasadmitted to even its lowest qualification anyone who had not pre-viously passed an examination in Arts ; and its early recognition of theimportance to the public weal of a knowledge of sanitary science maybe inferred from the fact that some fifty years ago it instituted its Pro-fessorship of Hygiene. We trust tha.t your Excellency will be pleased,

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by visiting our College, and by inspection of its various departments. tosatisfy yourself that it is in a condttion to fulfil satisfactorily its dutiesto Her Majesty and the public.The prizes obtained by students at the schools of surgeryduring the session 1891-92 will be awarded by Mr. EdwardHamilton, President of the College, at the opening of thewinter session on Nov. 1st.

Royal College of Physicians.The portrait of the founder of the College, Dr. John

Stearne, S.F.T.C.D., presented by Dr. Samuel Gordon, wasreferred to briefly in these columns last week. The picture,which is a half-length portrait, is a copy by Mr. CattersonSmith, R.H.A., of the original in the possession of the Uni-versity of Dublin. It represents the deceased in the scarletgown of a doctor and a voluminous wig of the Queen Anneperiod, and must be regarded as a worthy addition to theportraits of distinguished Fellows possessed by the College.

Rotunda Lying-in Hospital.An appeal has been made for funds to enable the

governors to place the hospital in a condition of thoroughefficiency worthy of its established and world-wide character.About .610,000 will be required to carry out the necessaryalterations, and of this some .E5000 have already beencollected. It is purposed to erect a new building for thetreatment of diseases peculiar to women ; to provide suitable day and night accommodation for nurses, probationers andfemale students ; to erect a lif t to convey helpless patients to thewards and to provide lavatories, bath-rooms &c. The sumnow required is not so much but that the charitable

public could easily supply the necessary amount, and I hopethat they will do so, for the institution is well worked anda credit to any city. I do not envy the feelings of thosemembers of the corporation who refused the trifling grant of£250 to the hospital, and trust their act of intolerance maystimulate the charitable people of Dublin to aid and assist tothe utmost an institution so worthy of support as the RotundaLying-in Hospital.Oct. 27th.

______________

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Legality of Bequtests to llledical Attendants.IN England one hears occasionally of a professional brother

having his grief at the loss of a profitable patient by deathattenuated by a more or less important legacy bequeathedhim by the deceased. In France, such a compensation is, inmost cases, out of the question, for, by the terms of Pro-vision 909 of the Civil Code, a practitioner is debarred from

inheriting from a patient whom he attended during his lastfatal illness, provided the will containing the bequest wasmade during the said illness. It was, however, ruled

by the Court of Cassation in 1834 that the above lawdid not apply to a doctor called merely in consultation.It is therefore necessary, in order to establish the nullity of atestamentary bequest made in favour of a member of ourhard-worked profession, to prove-(a) that the would-belegatee was actually treating the patient ; (b) that the

bequest was made during the course of the disease, which(c) proved fatal. A short time ago the heirs of a gentle-man were cited before the tribunal of Angouleme, at theinstance of Dr. Fournier, to show cause why a legacyof 21,500 francs should not be paid to the doctor. Fortu-nately for our confrere he was able to show that, as he

only replaced for a time the deceased’s regular attendant,the validity of the bequest could not be impugned. I maymention that chemists, sage-femmes, and indeed any un-

qualified person who undertakes the care of a malady whichproves fatal, enter within the scope of the above law. In thecase, however, of a sage femme in whose house a lady diedthe validity of a bequest made in favour of the midwife wasupheld, it having been proved that a medical man called inwas responsible for the treatment pursued.

Preca1ltions against the Spread of Tuberculosis.The Sanitary Commission of the 10th Arrondissement,

which comprises the populous district radiating from theSt. Louis Hospital, have, with the view of stemming the tideof tuberculosis, proposed the following measures : That thedwellings and clothing of tuberculous patients be submittedto the same process of disinfection as in the case of

other contagious diseases ; that all railway compartments,cabs and omnibuses, or at least the floors of suchvehicles, be disinfected daily with a solution of zincchloride. MannerN as regards what may be dubbed publicexpectoration are disagreeably free amongst this other-wise very polite people, and this consideration, together withthe undoubted contagiousness of tuberculosis, renders thepurification of public conveyances very necessary. The-Parisian has an unwholesome dread of fresh air when

travelling, and the tyranny exercised by the lively but stuffyGaul in the matter of sealed windows is well known to allBritisli tourists.

A Congratulatory Banquet.On Thursday last Dr. Pietra Santa, editor of the Journal

d’ Hygiène, was entertained at dinner at the Grand Hotel bya large gathering of admiring colleagues, the occasion beingthe fiftieth anniversary of his appearance on the world’s stageas a doctor of medicine. Dr. Pietra Santa’s fearless advocacyof sanitary reforms during the many years he has directedhis valuable journal rendered him worthy of such a compli-ment, the remembrance of which will be made more durableby the presentation of a handsome gold chronometerand chain.Numerous English confri-res were amongst the subscribers,Another veteran in sanitary science was present in the personof Dr. Benjamin Ward Richardson, who triumphantly accom-.plished an unusual feat for a Briton-viz., delivering an admir.able discourse in French. The opportunity was seized for com-memorating the visit of Dr. Richardson to Paris in June lastat the head of the Association of Sanitary Inspectors of Great, .Britain. With this intent the Société d’Hygiene offeredDr. Richardson, through Dr. Bremond as their mouthpiece,their bronze medal. Everybody-and their name is legion-acquainted with Dr. Richardson’s lifelong efforts in the causeof public and personal health will rejoice at the great honourpaid him by such a distinguished body as the Société d’Hygiène.

Paris, Oct. 26th.

BERLIN.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Cholera in Russian Poland.

THE Prussian Commissioner for the basin of the Vistul2states that there were 54 cholera cases and 12 deaths inWarsaw between the 13th inst. exclusive and the 18th exclu-sive, 45 and 24 in the governmental district of Kielce betweenthe 9th and the 14th, 74 and 37 in that of Radom between ther7th and the 14th, 235 and 128 in that of Lublin between the12th and the 16th, and 132 and 46 in that of Siedlee betweenthe llth and the 16th.

Guttmann’s -Reicks-Nedizinal Iicclender.’ The first part of Guttmann’s Reichs-Medizinal Kalender

(Medical Calendar for the German Empire) contains an essayby Professor von Pettenkofer on the Hygienic Lighting ofDwellings. The second part contains a list of all theGerman doctors, a list of the officers of the ambulance corps.according to rank and seniority, and statistics concerningmedical men, apothecaries’ shops, hospitals &c. -

AppoLntmer2ts &c.Dr. August Wagenmann of Heidelberg has been appointed

Professor of Ophthalmology at Jena. He is a frequent con-tributor to Graefe’s Archiv fur Ophthalmologie.—Dr. KrehJ of Leipsic has been appointed Professor and Director of theMedical Policlinic at Jena. His special field is heart disease.He has published most of his writings in the Archiv fürPhysiologie and in the Arclciv fiir klinische Medixin. He isonly thirty-one.

Professor Bechmann of Giessen has been appointed Pro-fessor of Pharmacy and Director of the Pharmaceutical Insti-tute at Erlangen.The sentence of Dr. M. Wiederhold, head of a private’

hospital at Wilhelmshoe near Kassel, to three months’ im-prisonment, for whipping one of his lady patients, has beeDcommuted by the Emperor into the much less disgraceful one’of three months’ confinement in a fortress. This act of grace-is said to have been actuated by the circumstance that the-convict belongs to the military profession as an assistantdoctor of the first class.

Berlin, Oct. 25th.