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1737, contains 165 beds and there were admitted for treat-ment last year 1153 patients, of whom 1027 were dischargedduring the year; of the latter number 84 were cured, 871were much relieved, and three died ; the remainder leftfor various reasons. The expenditure incurred during theyear was .E5343, or C444 in excess of the income.

SwartS8a Hospital.Among many other charitable bequests of the late Mr.

William Williams of Swansea is a munificent one of .S2000to found and to maintain a bed in the Swansea General

Hospital. Dr. J. Arnallt Jones, medical officer of health ofAberavon, is a son-in-law of Mr. Williams.

The Vaccination Acts.

At the meeting of the Exeter guardians held on May 3rda communication was read from the Reading union askingsupport to a petition to Parliament for the repeal ofthe Vaccination Acts and the rejection of the VaccinationBill of 1904 on the ground that vaccination was dangerous tolife and limb and useless to prevent the infection of small-pox. The Exeter guardians, however, decided to take noaction in the matter.May 10th.

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

(}eneral Council of the University of Edinburgh.THE statutory half-yearly meeting of this body was held

on May 4th. There were no matters of distinctively medicalinterest before the meeting. A committee was appointed towatch the progress of the Education Bill and a discussiontook place on the merits of modern languages.

Lunacy in Scotland.The annual report by the General Board of Commissioners

in Lunacy for Scotland, which has just been issued, statesthat on Jan. lst, 1904, there were in Scotland 16,894 insanepersons under official observation. This number includedinmates of schools for imbecile children and of thelunatic department of Pert h General Prison. Of the totalnumber, 2532 were maintained from private sources,

14,309 by parochial rates, and 53 at the expense ofthe State. The total showed an increase of 236 over thenumbers of the previous year. When the Commissionersfirst took up office on Jan. 1st, 1858, the total number oflunatics officially known had been 5824, or 11,070 less thanthe numbers reported on Jan. lst, 1904. The numbers of

private patients in asylums had increased during the year by111 and in private dwellings had decreased by two, an

increase of 109 in all. The number of pauper patients inestablishments had increased during the year by 80. This

figure did not include inmates of training schools. As, how-ever, the average annual increase of pauper patients in estab-lishments had been 293 during the pat ten years the increasefor last year was 213 below the average. The number of

pauper lunatics in private dwellings had increased during thelast ten years from 2566 to 2658. Of registered lunacy as awhole the increase of 205 was the smallest increase recordedsince 1891. Of the total increase of 205, 191 rose from anincrease in the number in establishments and of this number30 were pauper patients. This increase in pauper patientswas the smallest that had occurred during the past 19 years.16 counties show a total increase of 178 and the remaining17 counties a total decrease of 98. The most prominentcontribution to the increase was the county of Edinburghwith 48, or 27 per cent. of the whole. Inverness, Ross, andSutherland showed together an increase of 41, or 23 percent. of the whole. Aberdeen and Renfrew showed anincrease of 29, or 17 per cent. ; while Forfar with a growingpopulation showed 21 fewer than last year. Lanark,Linlithgow, Dumbarton, Selkirk, as well as Oaithness,Orkney, and Shetland, all showed a decrease. The number ofpauper lunatics in establishments now amounted to 249 per100,000 of the population, as against 250 per 100,000 in 1892.21 years had elapsed since a similar fall had been recorded.It might be merely a passing phenomenon but it alsopossibly might be an indication that pauper lunacy, whichhad lately been so rapidly increasing, was at last reaching apoint beyond which it would not materially rise.

University of Glasgow Court.At a meeting of the University of Glasgow Court held at

Gilmorehill on May 5th, Principal Story presiding, thefinance committee reported that it had agreed to purchasefrom Mr. Alexander Stenhouse certain property in Uni-

i versity Avenue, consisting of dwelling houses and shopswith hall adjoining, at the price of .E3800, subject tothe court granting the vendor a lease of the shops forfour years from Martinmas next. The report was adopted.This property is at present partly occupied by the WesternMedical School. Lord Kelvin, who was recently appointedChancellor of the University in room of the late Earl ofStair, has nominated Mr. Henry Gordon of Aikenhead as hisrepresentative on the University of Glasgow Court.

Annual Meeting of the Aberdeen District RegisteredPlumbers.

The annual meeting of the Aberdeen, Kincardine, and,

Banff district plumbers, registered by the National Registra-tion of Plumbers, was held on May 4th in Robert Gordon’sCollege, Aberdeen, Professor Matthew Hay, president, being

I in the chair. There was a good attendance. The fourteenthannual report submitted by the council stated that the

, plumbing clashes carried on at Robert Gordon’s College byMr. W. A. Watt and Mr. A. Forbes, members of thecouncil, continued to do excellent work, and the instruc-tion and training which they afforded must have an im-portant bearing on the qualifications of young plumberswho had the foresight to attend them during their

apprenticeship. The number of students in attendance

during the session was 43. The classes were arrangedin three different grades of proficiency. A special featurewas instruction in "lead burning"—a part of plumb-ing work hitherto confined to a very small section ofthe craft. Ex-Bailie Pyper had kindly renewed his generous

, donation of prizes, but the awards would not be announcedL till the end of the session. A balance of Z15 Is. 6d.

remained in hand after paying all accounts of the registra-tion. Professor Hay commented cn the satisfactory stateof affairs and moved the adoption of the report. CouncillorRobertson, vice-president, seconded the motion and thereport was unanimously adopted. Both of these gentlemenreferred to the Plumbers’ Registration Bill and hoped thatat no distant date they would see compulsory registration ofplumbers. The following motion was proposed by Mr. JohnClarke, lecturer on education at the University of Aberdeen,and was unanimously passed :—

That the annual meeting of plumbers registered by the Aberdeenand district council for the National Registration of Plumbers recordsits emphatic opinion that the time has arrived’ when the voluntarysystem of registration of plumbers carried on in Aberdeen and in theother large centres of population in the United Kingdom by the jointaction of the public authorities and the plumbers should be placed ona statutory basis, on lines already approved by the Local GovernmentBoard, in the interests of the public health and economy, and thatsuch legislation is a necessary adjunct to the powers already exercisedby sanitary authorities and the water undertakings of the kingdom,and resolves to transmit a copy of this resolution to the PrimeMinister, the President of the Local Government Board, and the localMembers of Parliament.

Tragic Death of a Stonehaven Medical Man.The body of Dr. James Gordon of Stonehaven was

found by two lads on May 8th suspended by a rope froma tree in a wood at Carsegownie Muir, about five miles fromForfar. Dr. Gordon succeeded to the late Dr. W. B. Leslie’spractice in Stonehaven some two years ago. He was anative of Aberdeen and graduated with distinction at theUniversity of Aberdeen. Deceased was, in not a few respects,a young man of great promise. After graduating he spentsome time in practice in Aberdeenshire and in England andWales, gradually building up a considerable reputation andsound knowledge of his profession. He was unmarried.The utmost sympathy is expressed for his father and motherand other relatives in the painful circumstances which haveattended their sad bereavement.May 10th.

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IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Meath Hospital and County Dublin Infirmary.Dr. F. Conway Dwyer, professor of surgery, Royal College

of Surgeons in Ireland, and surgeon to Jervis-street Hospital,has been appointed surgeon to the Meath Hospital andCounty Dublin Infirmary.

Cork-street -Fever Hospital, Dublin.The James Weir Nurses’ Home in connexion with the

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Cork-street Fever Hospital was opened on May 7th by hisExcellency the Lord Lieutenant who delivered an interestingaddress on the occasion.

The Westmorland Lock Hospital, IhlQlin.Mr. George E. P. Meldon has been appointed surgeon to

the Westmorland Lock Hospital, in succession to Mr. M. A.Donnelly, recently deceased.

Sanitary State of LiSQurnThe medical inspector of the Local Government Board

(Dr. C. J. Clibborn) has drawn attention to the fact thatno inspector of dairies, cowsheds, and milkshops has beenappointed in Lisburn and the Local Government Boardadvises the Lisburn urban council to adopt a code ofregu’ations for these places. It is reported that the sewerageof the town is defective and the Local Government Boardadvises steps to be taken to have maps of the seweragesystem completed as soon as possible. A properly equippeddisinfecting apparatus for use in the district is much neededas 66 cases of infectious disease (38 of scarlet fever, 10 oferysipelas, 16 of enteric fever, and two of diphtheria) werenoted during the year.

Nemry Fever Hospital.At the annual meeting of the friends of this charity, held

on May 6th, it was reported that the public subscriptions Ifor the year were .E310 98. which with the county councilgrant of 400 make the annual income E710 9s. It takesE800 a year to maintain the hospital and at the end of 1903there was a balance due to the bank of .6182 17s. The countycouncil proposes to reduce the grant per annum to E300and when this is done, unless the public come forwardwith a generous and hearty support, the operations of this Imost deserving hospital will have to be curtailed largely. ’

Derry eye, Ear, and Throat Hospital. ,In place of the late Mr. E. Donaldson, former surgeon to

this hospital, two appointments have been made-Dr. W. B. Hunter and Dr. bi. K. Smiley. :

Medical Relief in Coleraine Union.Dr. H. S. Morrison, medical officer of Aghadowey dis-

pensary district, has pointed out to the Coleraine guardiansthat in his district he had to attend on red ticket shop-keepers, tradesmen, dealers, road contractors, and mill-owners, and in two cases he had to attend on families whohad a credit account in the bank of over E500. He had since the beginning of the year 250 new cases in the dispensary,many of which were unnecessary and would not haveoccurred if the people were farmers and had to pay. Inreference to this the Local Government Board wrote thatin order to enable the issuers of tickets to be in a position tojudge whether applicants for medical relief are or are not "poor persons" the board of guardians may invite each of their medical officers to furnish in writing a scale of chargesfor attendance upon persons whose circumstances would notadmit of their paying the medical man’s usual fees. A

special form of ticket, different in colour and wording fromthe medical relief tickets, has been adopted in some unions.It was decided by the Coleraine guardians to consider thequestion at a general meeting to be held in a fortnight. May 10th.

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PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Alternate Administration of Arsenio and of Sulphate ofQuinine in Malaria.

AT the meeting of the Therapeutical Society held onApril 27th M. Goldsmidt read a paper pointing out thatarsenic would act favourably in cases of malaria wherequinine failed and vice versti. If, for instance, an attack ofmalarial fever would not yield to sulphate of quinine or toarsenic given in the second place it was almost sure to yieldto a second dose of quinine given after the arsenic. The useof arsenic consecutively to sulphate of quinine had beenfound successful in intermittent affections other thanmalarial fever. More than 30 years ago M. Goldsmidt hadcured in this way a young girl who suffered from intermittentattacks of torticollis. As regards the various preparations ofarsenic he considered that arrhenal had manifest advantagesover arsenious acid, especially from the point of view of its lesser degree of toxicity which rendered it easier to employ

subcutaneously. But it remains to be seen whether theresults obtained with arrhenal are better than those obtainedwith arsenious acid.

Antlv(3nomous Sera.M. Calmette of Lille, who has just been elected a corre-

sponding member of the Institute, read an important paperon May 5th before the Academy of Medicine upon the abovesubject. As is well known, the discovery of antivenomousserum is due to M. Calmette. But on continuing hisresearches he found that the venoms of differmt serpentswere not all of the same type. There are two main speciesto which all the others conform, cobra venom and viperinevenom. The first is especially toxic, the second produceshaemorrhages. M. Calmette has succeeded in preparing onepolyvalent serum which acts equally well in both kinds of

poisoning. By studying the action of the neurotoxins whichserpent venom contains upon the globules of the blood andupon gelatin M. Calmette has devised a method forstandardising the toxicity of venom with accuracy.

Death of M. Dic.r.lcz2cx.M. Duclaux, the director of the Pasteur Institute, died on

May 3rd from a seventh attack of apoplexy. M. Duclauxwas foremost among men of science and his researches uponmilk, amongst others, were a direct continuation of the workof his old master, Pasteur.

The Voices of Deaf-Mutes.M. Marge has for some time past obtained remarkable

results in the education of the voices of deaf-mutes by theuse of sirens and tuning forks In this way he makes thepatients appreciate the sounds for the obtaining of theenunciation of which he has shown them how their lips andcheeks should be placed. On April 26th he gave a demon.stration at the Academy of Medicine upon the pronunciationof the vowels. As a matter of fact, every vowel has morethan one sound and hitherto patients have been taught thesame method of emission for the a " sound, whether short orlong, or the "e" sound, whether mute or "e." By employ-ing sirens in a new fashion and by accustoming the patientto sing a given note in unison with the siren until hemastered how to dispose his vocalising organs in conformitywith the sound perfection has been nearly a,ttained.French Congress of Climatotherapy and Hygiene in Towns.The first French Congress of Climatotherapy and Hygiene

of Towns was held at Nice from April 4th to 9th, the sub-jects discussed being practically the same as stated in thepreliminary announcement published in THE LANCET ofJan. 2nd, p. 44 Discussions were held and papers were readon April 5th, 6th, 7th, and 9th, the work beginning at 8 A.M.each day. Each afternoon, and the whole of April 8th, wereoccupied in excursions and the evenings were devoted to fetes,receptions, or operatic performances. The Congress was inevery respect a great success. The attendance exceeded1000 and the arrangements were excellent not only withregard to the business of the sections but also in respect ofthe excursions and the various festivities. The bulk of themembers were naturally Frenchmen, with whom there werea few Belgians, Italians, and Swedes. The British con-tingent was unexpectedly small, only two names of Englishmedical men appearing on the list. Mr. S. Oaborn, F.R.C.S.,was present and Dr. I. Burney Yeo (London) read a paperentitled °° Les Auxiliaires de la Climatotherapie." "

Musical Expression in a Condition of Hypnosis.A hypnotic subject named Madame Magdeleine has just

been giving in public certain exhibitions of a very curiousand quite individual character. Madame Magdeleine, whois obviously of a hysterical nature, possesses the propertycommon to all persons like herself of being able vividlyto express while in a state of hypnosis the emotionswhich correspond to auditory impressions which she re-

ceives. She recently gave an exhibition at the Théâtredes Mathurins before the Association of the MedicalPress. When thrown into the hypnotic state by M. PaulMagnin, Madame Magdeleine, as soon as she heardthe music, appeared to attune herself to the instrument andtranslated into terms of the most expressive mimicry thevarious symptoms which the music expressed. By im.passioned gestures, by joyous dances, or by attitudes ofsorrow she gave a picture of emotions which even profes-sional actors were obliged to say were very remarkable.Selections from the works of Beethoven, Chopin, Massenet,and of Schumann, when played before her called forth on