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.and is also a very ardent temperance advocate. The sugges-tion not to drink had an influence; but for the one suggestionmade at rare intervals under hypnotism there was the

hourly suggestion of the man’s life, habits, and companions.’The contest was too unequal in spite of the power of

:suggestion under hypnotism. Consequently Professor Foreldirected his suggestions not against drink but against thesocial habits and companions of the individual. He did nottell the drunkard not to drink but to change his social sur-roundings, to associate with non-drinkers, and finally to joina temperance society. When this had been achieved then a- direct suggestion against drinking might be of lasting effect.In any case, drunkenness is such an evil that any experimentconducted under proper and qualified auspices and on a.sufficiently extensive scale to provide statistics worthy ofconsideration must be welcome. The Russian experimentwill therefore be watched with interest. The followingonicial poster shows how the matter has been presented tothe general public ; it was issued by a committee of theSt. Petersburg municipality appointed to propagate temper-ance doctrines. This circular has been extensively dis-tributed and posted. It says :-

Drunkenness and the abuse of drinks which contain alcohol produceupon certain persons a dangerous morbid condition. This is calledalcoholism" and it causes much suffering and ruin.By acting upon the brain alcohol may entirely modify the character

of man and produce the decadence of all his intellectual faculties and.even madness. It is the will-power that alcoholism more particularlyaffects. The will is so greatly enfeebled, that even if desirous ofliberating himself from his intemperate habits the patient has not thestrength to accomplish his purpose.

There now exists, however, a new method of treating alcoholism. Itis known as hypnotic suggestion by which the medical practitioner actsupon the conscience and will of the patient.By means of suggestion the medical man succeeds in guiding the

will in the right direction, in giving the will the necessary vigour sothat the patient may without difficulty maintain his resolution not todrink again. It is also possible through suggestion to free the alcoholicpatient from the unwholesome craving, the insomnia and nausea bywhich he is tortured and which generally cause him to drink again.Anxious to provide for such patients all the possible means of cure

eo that they may deliver themselves once and for all from their fatalpassion, the St. Petersburg municipal committee for the popular pro-motion of temperance has opened the ancient glassworks as a con-sulting-room for out-door patients who desire to be treated for alcoholismby suggestion.The admission of the patients is gratuitous....... Entrance in the

Gloukhoozerskaia-street. On Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, fete daysincluded, from 7.30 to 8.30 P.M.Authorised by the Censor, June 5th, 1903.The regulations and instructions to be given to each

patient were drawn up and are signed by Dr. A. Oppenheimwho is president of the sanitary commission of the town. Theywere approved at the meeting of the municipal sanitary com-mission of St. Petersburg held on August 20th, 1903. The

following are some of the more important passages :-1. The first condition of success in the treatment of alcoholism by

suggestions is that the drinker shall be sincerely desirous of liberatinghimself from his unhealthy craving for spirituous liquors.

2. The time of treatment will be arranged after the patient’s namehas been entered in the books.

3. From the day his name is thus inscribed up to the end of thetreatment he is advised to abstain as much as possible from all alcoholicdrink, such as brandy, beer, wine, &c.

4. It is absolutely obligatory that the patient shall not drink anyalcohol whatsoever from the morning of the day he comes up fortreatment.

5. The duration of the treatment, according to the gravity of thecase, may vary from a few weeks to several months.

As a rule, the patients are at first hypnotised three times aweek and this is done less frequently as the suggestionstake effect. The methods and rules mentioned as relatingto St. Petersburg apply to the other towns where similarefforts are made to cope with the curse of drink.

NOTES FROM INDIA.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

The Demand for a fU’l’tlw’l’ Plague Commission.-The Declineof the Present Outbreak.—The Tata Research Institute.-Non-attendance of TIainen at Dispercsaries.—Overcrowdingin Jails.THE leading papers in India have joined in an appeal to

the Government for a scientific inquiry into the etiology andepidemiology of plague. The disease has been eight yearsin India, during which time there has been a steadyextension of the infected area until now it includesthe greater part of the country. The work of the PlagueCommission is already out of date and its report was

not sufficiently based on original research. The country

can hardly be said to have benefited by it except it be inthe amelioration of the plague measures which have sincebeen in force. Much work has been done in Hong-Kong,Sydney, and other places and the time has come for a greatinquiry along different lines. We have just passed througha season of exceptional mortality and there does not appearto be any hope that we shall escape a similar mortalityduring the next year. The present policy is one of laisserfaire and there is a general feeling that more should be donethan is at present being done.The mortality from plague throughout India for the week

ending June 18th has fallen to 5929 as compared with 7762deaths for the previous seven days. The Punjab had 4946deaths, as against 6491 ; Bombay districts, 361, as against 416 ;Bengal Presidency, 128, as against 133 ; United Provinces,126, as against 229 ; Mysore State, 199, as against 165 ;Bombay city, 56, as against 74 ; and Calcutta, 31, as

against 36.The sudden death of Mr. Tata threw some doubt upon the

future of the great Research Institute. It is satisfactory tolearn that he has left a will by which his heirs and trusteesare required to carry out his behest. Details in the schemenot having been settled it has been kept in abeyance for along time. Medicine and the allied sciences will be well

represented and besides attracting some of the best talentin the world it should add very largely to the materialinterests of the country.The seclusion of women in their homes, not attend-

ing hospitals and dispensaries for treatment, seems to befostered more by their male proprietors than by the womenthemselves. The provision of separate consulting rooms indispensaries upon which so much stress has been at timeslaid has not been successful in Assam, as a recent reportshows that there has been no increase in the attendance ofwomen.

The burden of nearly all recent reports of jails has beenovercrowding. In Bombay this has been more serious, eightout of 15 prisons in the province being overcrowded. In Bombaycity the common gaol has provision for 180 but the daily averageof inmates was 407. The death-rate of 49 per 1000 is notsurprising but it must be compared with the average forthe Presidency of 25. The building is said to be verydefective from a sanitary point of view. In other parts ofIndia overcrowding is also reported and when this is thecase the mortality is almost invariably very high. Identifi-cation of prisoners by finger-tip impressions has now beenwidely utilised and industrial enterprises have met withconsiderable success. It is regrettable, however, that theopportunities offered by jails for the scientific study ofmedicine are not more fully taken advantage of. It is onlyhere and there that an original worker makes use of theabundant material at his disposal and there is no organisedinquiry into the many Indian diseases which await solu-tion.June 30th.

__________________

LIVERPOOL.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Annual Meeting of the Liverpool Convalescent Institzction :A Generous Donation.

THE annual meeting of the subscribers to this institutionwas held at Woolton on July 9th under the presidency of theLord Mayor. There was a large attendance of ladies andgentlemen interested in the institution and much pleasurewas evinced at the announcement that Sir William Tate had

given 13 additional acres of land to the estate. This willsecure a park-like demesne in front of the institution andprovide in perpetuity that amount of fresh air whichis so essential to the welfare of the patients. Thehouse now stands in 70 acres of ground and at presentthere are 155 patients. The report stated that thenumber of convalescents who had passed through theinstitution in 1903 was as follows: male, 1370 ; andfemale, 1361; making a total of 2731, which was

almost the same as in the previous, and record, year.The financial position is thoroughly sound. The yearcommenced with a sum in hand of about 560, and takingthe receipts-which include the special donation of L500from the Transvaal War Fund Committee-and deductingexpenditure there was on Dec. 31st last a balance of upwardsof 900 to the credit of the institution. That amount would

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be reserved towards the cost of carrying out the scheme forlaying out the grounds and providing outdoor shelters.Special attention was drawn to the fact that the paymentsby and on behalf of patients for admission forms andextension of time remained about the same, and consideringthe free use made of the nomination and recommendationforms by subscribers it was very satisfactory that the amountwas maintained. £352 were received from the HospitalSaturday and Sunday Fund. The council had taken into con-sideration the advisability of laying out-the field in front ofthe buildings as pleasure grounds by making footwalks andplanting trees, flowers, and shrubs, and providing rusticshelters. Each year the appearance of the grounds as theyimproved by the growth and development of the trees andshrubs would be an additional inducement to patients toremain as much as possible in the open air-a most im-portant part of their treatment-and for that reason wouldamply justify the present outlay and also further increase thepopularity of the institution.

Liverpool -Tnfirmaryfor Children.The rebuilding of this charity is to be commenced shortly.

Mrs. Barron of Waterloo has- promised £1000 towards thisobject, but Z5000 more are wanted before any portion actuallyworkable can be completed and a further sum of £25,000will be needed in order to complete the scheme. The totalcost is estimated at upwards of 60,000.

Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine and the BritishMedical Association.

The Liverpool Daily Post states that the Council of theBritish Medical Association has felt itself unable to make a

grant to the School of Tropical Medicine, which has causedsome surprise in medical circles. Probably the reasons are tobe found in the fact that the Council is making a strongappeal to the Treasury to establish a national fund for thepurpose of stimulating research in tropical medicine.July 19th.

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WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Cardiff Health Report.ONE of the features of Dr. Edward Walford’s annual

reports has always been the inclusion of a large number ofstatistical tables referring to a long series of years. Onesuch table in his recently issued report for 1903 shows thatin 1852 when Cardiff had a population of only 19,724 personsthe death-rate from all causes was 31’4 per 1000 and fromthe principal zymotic diseases 8’8 per 1000. In 1903 with a

population of 172,598 the death-rate from all causes was

14 4 per 1000 and from zymotic diseases 1 - 3 per 1000. Theinfantile mortality-rate in 1903 of 122 per 1000 births wasthe lowest ever recorded in the borough, the averagerate in the previous ten years having been 159 per1000 births. Dr. Walford deals at some length withthe question of isolating cases of scarlet fever in

hospital. He deprecates a comparison of results indifferent towns where the social conditions, age dis-tribution, and opportunities for personal infection are

not always the same and he thinks that a better methodis to compare the statistics of the same town at different

periods during which the amount of hospital isolation mayhave varied. Taking for Cardiff two five-year periods hestates that in the first period, 1890-1894, there were isolatedin hospital 16 per cent. of the cases occurring in the town,the attack rate was 6’1 per 1000, and the death-rate O. 28per 1000. In the second period, 1895-99, there were isolated50’ 3 per cent., the attack-rate was 3’5 per 1000, and thedeath-rate 0 - 08 per 1000. There is thus in Cardiff somestatistical evidence of the advantages of hospital isolation.Dr. Walford is of opinion that the benefit to the communityof isolation may be shown in other ways than statistically.For example, in educational matters it is of the utmost

importance that the school attendance in a district be inter-fered with as little as possible. The removal to hospital ofthe first cases of scarlet fever in a household will preventthe necessity of keeping other members of the family notattacked with the disease away from school. There arealso certain trades to which special legislation applies, suchas milk-sellers, tailors, trades connected with the manu-facture and sale of wearing apparel, and laundries whichmight be kept at a complete standstill unless an infected

person were removed from the premises. Contrary ’,to -,theexperience of some other districts the scheme of voluntarynotification of cases of phthisis has been successful inCardiff. In 1902 there were notified 109 cases and in (1903the number had increased to 163. Each case notified isvisited in the first instance by the woman inspector on thesanitary staff and subsequently by the medical officer ofhealth. The public health laboratory is placed at the dis-posal of the medical practitioners of the town for diagnosticpurposes.

Swansea General and Eye Hospital.This hospital, which is the oldest in Glamorganshire, was

established in the year 1817. There is accommodation in thewards for 130 patients and according to the report of theboard of management for the year ending June 30th, the,average number of beds occupied daily during that periodwas 112 compared with 101 in the previous year. InSeptember last the daily average was 126, but in viewof the limited income available the board has decidedthat not more than 110 beds should be occupied atone time. The income of the hospital during the,past 12 months was ,c6334 and the expenditure B7062.The adverse balances now amount to ,c1677. The weeklycost per bed, including the whole of the administrative ex-penses, was £1 3s. ld. As this sum covers the expenditureupon the out-patient department there would appear to bevery careful and judicious administration on the !part of theofficers of the institution.

Cardiff School for Midwives.In October next classes for the instruction of midwives will

be held in connexion with the medical faculty of the CardiffCollege of the University of Wales. It is anticipated that,students will attend these classes from the counties of SouthWales, Monmouthshire, and Herefordshire.

Gloucester Workhouse.At the meeting of the Gloucester board of guardians, held’

on July 12th, a letter was read from the Local Government’ Board stating that its attention had been called to a news-

paper report of a recent meeting of the guardians of theGloucester union, at which certain allegations were madewith regard to the treatment adopted in respect to restless-.paralytic cases in the wards of the workhouse infirmary.

L The Local Government Board added that " sleepingdraughts " should never be administered unless ordered bythe medical officer; nor should mechanical restraint be

employed except in cases of emergency, when the directions.of the medical officer could not be obtained. The Board, inconclusion, requested that these views should be broughtbefore the officers of the union. A guardian subsequentlyremarked that some of the patients were tied to thebedstead.July 18th.

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Local Government Board and Poor-law Medical Officers.IN pursuance of its declared intention to lessen the number

of the Poor-law medical officers in connexion with thedecrease in the population of Ireland the Local GovernmentBoard has recently addressed the following letter to the Birrboard of guardians :-

Dublin, July 8th, 1904.SIR,-With reference to an entry in the minutes of the proceedings

of the Birr board of guardians on June 4th, the Local GovernmentBoard for Ireland request that the guardians will be so good as to,appoint a committee to inquire and report whether the post ofmedical officer of the Birr dispensary district could be abolishedwithout inconvenience to the sick poor, and the medical officer ofthe Killyon dispensary district placed in charge of the two dis-pensary districts at an increased salary. The population of theBirr dispensary district in 1871 was 7760, whilst that of theKillyoh dispensary district was 2001. In 1891 the populationof Birr was 6310, and of Killyon 1449, making a total of 7759. Itappears to the Local Government Board that the guardians have nowan opportunity of dealing satisfactorily with the question of theincreased remuneration of one of their medical officers without inflict-ing any real hardship on the sick poor, or imposing further burdens onthe ratepayers of the union. The guardians should not take any steps.towards appointing a medical officer of the Birr dispensary districtpending the proposed rearrangement of the dispensary districts.

Your obedient servant,H. M. SWAINE, Secretary.

At a meeting of the guardians held on July 9th a