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have, as far as possible, avoided all surgioal questions, andespecially any which involve differences in opinion witheminent surgeons, I may ask permission to state here thatI hold as strongly as ever the opinion that osteotomy forflat-foot is rarely, if ever, a justifiable operation, and cer-tainly not in such a case as that described by Mr. Hare,which I do not regard as extreme.

I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,Gloucester, Nov. 22nd, 1889. T. S. ELLIS.T. S. ELLIS.

AN EXPLANATION AND PROTEST.To the Editors of THE LANCET.

SiRs,-As the editor of Truth has chosen to connect myname with what has been termed the " Clifton Scandal," Imust ask you to allow me to state that my acquaintancewith Mrs. Smith orginated in her bringing her daughter tome for a tumour of the jaw, upon which I operated lastMarch in University College Hospital; that I allowed herto append my name to the perfectly unobjectionable pro-spectus of her school as a matter of charity, and only aftermaking inquiry about her at Clifton; and that I entirely

disapprove of her modus operandi, to which I never lentthe east support, although my name, together with thoseof several highly respected clergy and doctors, was printedby Truth as if it had been appended to that disgustingdocument. I am, Sirs, yours obediently, .

Cavendish-square, W., Dec. 3rd, 1889. CHRISTOPHER HEATH. ICHRISTOPHER HEATH.

THE LATE GLASGOW UNIVERSITYGRADUATION CEREMONY.

To the Editors of THE LANCET.SiRs,-In your last issue an account is given by a

correspondent of a disturbance or riot which recently tookplace among our students, and I see that he repeats a fablecurrent in the local prints that I had my gown torn off myback, while another medical journal adds that I was

° roughl,y handled." Though there is not a shadow offoundation for these statements about myself, seeing I hadno gown on and was subjected to no unbecoming treatmentwhatever, yet it is not to contradict such foolish assertionsthat I write, but because I feel that these accounts will beread with most painful surprise by our graduates, scatteredall over the world, unless they are put at their true value.The whole affair has been most grossly and unfairly exag-gerated in the local newspapers, and so far as I saw, themedical students, with a very few exceptions, had no hand-or part in the business.-I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,

Glasgow, Dec. 3rd. GEO. H. B. MACLEOD.GEO. H. B. MACLEOD.

COLOUR TESTS FOR RAILWAY SERVANTS.To the Editors of THE LANCET.

SiRs,-The method illustrated in your issue of Nov. 23rd,p. 1056, in which Dr. Lediard employs coloured glass is un-doubtedly very much better for railway purposes than thecoloured wool test. However, an ordinary railway servant’shand-lamp, provided with red, green, yellow, blue, and purpleglasses, would be far better than the appliance illustrated.Dr. Lediard appears to use his apparatus in a room ; nowthat being so, the test is practically useless. A man may<easily, for instance, see the red light in the doctor’s room,but can he see the three or four red lights on the back of atrain a mile in front of him ?-that is the question. And,further, where there are extra lines of rails a man must beable to know how many red lights there are, and their posi-tions.-I am, Sirs, yours truly,

CLEMENT E. STRETTON,Consulting Engineer, Asso. Soc. Drivers and Firemen.

Sa.xe-Coburg-street, Leicester, Nov. 27th, 1889.

CLEMENT E. STRETTON,Consulting Engineer, Asso. Soc. Drivers and Firemen.

A DIET OF LEAN MEAT AND WATER.To the Editors of THE LANCET.

SIRS,&mdash;I have been anxiously looking for some replies to’the very interesting question raised by Dr. Herschell’s

aper in THE LANCET of Nov. 9th. I entirely agree withhim that the time has arrived when our views as to animal-diet should be reconsidered. For two years past I have beentreating obese patients for limited periods on a diet mainlyof lean meat and water, and I must emphatically say such adiet is well borne, and is greatly beneficial to the general

health, especially in those cases previously suffering fromdyspepsia, and the experience of over 200 cases leads me tothink that the diet may be persisted in without any illeffects for long periods together. In most of my cases theaverage loss in weight was from 2 to 3 st. and 12 in. inabdominal girth. The stored carbon rapidly disappears..The Terra del Fuegans at Westminster, as Dr. Herschellurges, are good specimens of a diet almost entirelyconfined to lean horseflesh and water, and the all-im-

portant questions raised should be fully discussed. I

agree with all Dr. Herschell puts forward, but wish to addmy mite of experience gained in treating obesity by largelydiluted animal food, in order to elicit from some of the well-known men who make dietetics a specialty their views onDr. Herschell’s carefully considered paper.

I am, Sirs, yours obediently,Chancery-Iiuie. W.C., Nov. 28th, 1889. W. TOWERS-SMITH.W. TOWERS-SMITH.

LIVERPOOL.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) z

A Heavy Day at the Northern Hospital.BETWEEN 7.39 A.M. and 5.9 P.M. on Monday, the 25th ult.,

the horse ambulance of the Northern Hospital was outtwelve times. The following notes of the cases have beenkindly forwarded by Mr. George M. Arkle, the ambulancesurgeon. No. 1 : W. C-, aged twenty-seven ; fracturedbase of the skull; brought in dead. No. 2 : E. F&mdash;&mdash;, ,aged forty-two; concussion of the brain; admitted in-sensible. (Both these accidents were caused by fallingdown ships’ holds.) No. 3 : J. W&mdash;&mdash;, a male agedtwenty; extensive scalp wound and slight concussion ofbrain, from a fall into a graving dock. No. 4 : J. B-,aged fifty-one; two wounds of penis from being struck bya cart shaft, and shock. No. 5 : S. S-, a boy agedfourteen; leg crushed between two bales of cotton; sprainedankle. Neo. 6 : T. C-, male aged fifty-six ; fracture ofos calcis by fall from a scaffold. No. 7 : B. M-, femaleaged sixty-six ; bruised legs and side, sprained ankle, andshock, caused by being crushed beneath a falling bale ofcotton. No. 8 : B. S-, male aged thirty-two ; immer-sion, cut on forehead, and bruised hip, caused by a fall intoa dock while drunk. Neo. 9 : J. H- and W. T-,both males, aged thirty-eight and thirty; acute alcoholicpoisoning. No. 10: R. D-, male aged twenty-three;compound fracture of arm, for which partial excision ofthe elbow-joint was subsequently performed. No. 11 :E. S-, female aged twenty-four ; extensive wound offorehead and nose, wound of hand, with much haemorrhage.No. 12: W. S-, male aged twenty-eiglit; fractured ribsand severe shock from hll into a cellar. All the abovewere admitted as in-patients except No. 5 (made an out-patient) and No. 12, who went home against advice. Onthe evening of the same day an old man was admitted withstrangulated inguinal hernia, and herniotomy was performed.

Bequests to Local Hospitals and Dispensaries.The following bequests will be received from the executors

of the late John Farnworth, a former mayor of Liverpool,who died in 1869, and whose widow has recently died :-&pound; 1000 each by the Lying-in Hospital and the Northern Hos-pital, and f500 each by the Royal Infirmary, and the North,South, and East Dispensaries.

Students’ Dinner.The annual dinner of the students of the Medical Faculty

of University College took place at the Adelphi Hotel lastSaturday. There were about ninety guests, the majorityof whom were medical students. Professor Glynn presided, .,

and Professor Rushton Parker responded for the professors.Increased Prosperity and Intemperance.

In the annual report of the Head Constable for the yearending Sept. 29th last it is stated that " the number ofcases of drunkenness has again risen-the usual, thoughlamentable, accompaniment of increased prosperity." Thisstatement is abundantly confirmed by the number of casesbrought before the magistrates on the last few Mondaymornings, which has been increasingly more than for manyyears past. It is also clear that there are fewer un-employed labourers than there were some months ago. Itis an unfortunate fact that drink appears to be obtainable

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here even in bad times, much more so when they are pros-perous ; this is probably the case in other large centres ofpopulation, and Liverpool, while being no better, is probablynot worse than London, Glasgow, or Bristol in this respect.

Liverpool, Dec. 3rd.

NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Newcastle.THE Newcastle Saturday and Sunday Fund collections for

the year have every appearance of presenting a very satis-factory improvement over those of 1888. From the pub-lished statements of the committee it is shown that theChurch collections have been augmented by nearly 9100,and the workmen’s gathering by over .6500, so that even sofar there is an increase of .E600 over last year. Much of theworkmen’s increase is due to the exertions of the honorarysecretary of the fund, Mr. R. H. Holmes, who first, and aftermuch labour, induced the adoption of the plan of a systematiccollection in the factories of small weekly sums, and thismode of collection has fully justified his sanguine anticipa-tions.&mdash;A. very successful entertainment and conversazionewas held last week in aid of our newest medical charity,the Cripples’ Home at Wallsend. I am told that over 1000tickets had been disposed of, and that the use of the hallwas given free by Mr. James Deuchar. A very substantialsum is likely to accrue as a result to the charity.

. Sunderland. ’

A very characteristic lecture under the auspices of theSunderland Students’ Society was given last week by theRev. H. R. Haweis on Cremation.-At Dr. Collie’s ambu-lance class for ladies at Bishopwearmouth, the DuncanMemorial fund was referred to, and it was stated that sub-scriptions had been received from all classes, ranging fromdE25 each, from Lord Londonderry and the Earl of Durham,to the shilling of the railway porter.

Durham: Rashness of Miners.An inquest was held at the Durham County Hospital last

week on the body of a miner who died in the institutionfrom the effects of burns. It was shown that the deceasedhad set himself on fire by placing his pipe in the pocket ofhis coat, which presently burst into flames, inflicting suchsevere burns that Dr. Binnie of Brandon ordered his removalto the hospital. The coroner stated that he had known ofsimilar cases before of fatal burns from lighted pipes ;notably one where a miner put a lighted pipe into hispocket beside his powder flask, when an explosion tookplace and inflicted fatal burns about the chest and arms.

Middlesbrough.It would appear from the statement made at the Board of

Guardians that the decrease in pauperism is almost pheno-menal. As compared with the corresponding fortnight oflast year there is a decrease of 530 in the number of personsreceiving out-door relief, and of &pound; 8 in the cost, altogetherpresenting good evidence of prosperous times.-Many willbe sorry to hear that the experiment of placing Loch Leventrout in the Park lake at Middlesbrough has failed. Abouttwo years ago some 1500 yearling trout were placed in thelake, and to all appearance were thriving, but the conservatorreported last week that they had been poisoned, probablyfrom some contamination of the water by chemical refuse.Licences were about to be issued to anglers.Newcastle-on-Tyne, Dec. 4th.

EDINBURGH.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Edinburgh Health Society.MR. SMITH CLARK, one of the members of a deputation

from the Edinburgh Health Society to the EdinburghTrades Council, was singularly happy in his choice of argu-ments in favour of a closer union between the Council andthe Society. To no one is a clear understanding of the lawsof health of greater importance than to the man whodepends upon his bodily strength and the clearness of hishead for his own maintenance and that of his family.

It is one of the main objects of the Society to promote theadvancement and well-being of the working classes gene-rally, by any means which, from time to time, may bedeemed advisable; and this deputation was sent to theTrades Council to ask them to interest the working classesstill more in carrying out the objects of the HealthSociety by inducing them, their wives and their families,the various unions and other societies that are influencedby the Council’s opinion, to come to the lectures that aregiven week by week, and also to become members of theSociety. Last week the lecture was on Home Sick Nursing,by Miss Musgrove, Superintendent of the School of Cookeryand Domestic Economy. It was full of sound advice andcommon sense, and was highly appreciated. The points onwhich special stress was laid were: as little furniture in asick room as possible, good ventilation, supervision ofvisitors, good organisation, great self-control, and considera-tion for the patient. In the management of children, warmwater and soap; regular, sufficient, but not excessive feeding ;confinement to bed, and such-like matters, were insisted on.Other most practical advice as to the kind of bed, the ad-ministration of medicines, and the substitutes for poultices,was listened to with the greatest interest by a very largeaudience.

Extil(to2,ctiiiary liraa11atwn t,’eremo7ty.At a meeting of the Senatus of the Edinburgh University,

held last Saturday, the degrees of Bachelor of Medicineand Master in Surgery were conferred on forty-five candi-dates who had been unable to graduate at the August cere-monial. At the same time the degree of Bachelor ofScience in the department of Public Health was conferred,after special examination, on nine graduates in medicine.It will be remembered that at the final examinations heldlast July a certain number of the candidates, who had

failed in one subject only, were referred for three months,and were alowed to appear for re-examination in October.

Of those so permitted to reappear forty-five were at thistime successful in satisfying the examiners, with the resultthat they have not to spend another year in Edinburgh orsome other medical school. Those who were rejected alto.gether have tQ take out two qualifying classes before theycan again present themselves for examination. This newarrangement is a great boon to those who are just on theborder line of the pass. It is certainly a great concessionon the part of the University, and as such is highly appre-ciated

New University Court Assessors.At the meeting of the General Council of the University

of Edinburgh held last week, Dr. John Duncan, Mr. McKie(Advocate), and Lord Kingsburgh were elected to act, alongwith Dr. P. H. Watson, as representatives of the Council onthe newly constituted University Court. Of these gentle-men, Dr. Duncan and Mr. McKie are spoken of as

advanced university reformers, whilst Lord Kingsburgh’saccurate knowledge of the New Universities Bill and of themeaning read into the various clauses by the framers of themeasure will be of great value to the Court. On Saturdaythe Senatus Academicus elected, as their additionalrepresentatives, Professor Taylor from the Faculty ofDivinity, and Professors Sir William Turner and CrumBrown, both from the Faculty of Medicine. ProfessorCampbell Fraser, of the Faculty of Arts, is the otherrepresentative.

The Royal SocietyAt a general statutory meeting of the Royal Society, held

last week, the following members of Council were elected :-President : Sir William Thomson. Vice-presidents : Pro-fessor Sir Douglas Maclagan, Hon. Lord M’Laren, Rev.Professor Flint, Professor Chrystal, Dr. Thomas Muir, andSir Arthur Mitchell, K.C.B. General Secretary : ProfessorTait. Secretaries to Ordinary Meetings: Professor Sir W.Turner and Professor Crum Brown. Treasurer: Mr. AdamGillies Smith, C.A. Curator of Library and Museum: Dr.Alexander Buchan. Ordinary Members of Council: Dr. J.Batty Tuke, Professor Bower, Dr. G. Sims Woodhead, Mr.Robert Cox of Gorgie, Professor Isaac B. Balfour, ProfessorEwing, Professor Jack, Professor Jas. Geikie, Mr. W. H.Perkin, jun., Mr. A. Beatson Bell, the Right Hon. Lord

Kingsburgh, C. B., and Dr. John Murray. By a resolution ofthe Society the following hon. vice-presidents, having filledthe office of presidents, are also members of Council:-HisGrace the Duke of Argyll, K. G., K.T.; the Right Hon. LorcitMoncreiff of Tulliebole.