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the troops in Egypt was lower than in 1896 and much belowthe average rate, the most notable decline being in entericfever, venereal diseases, and digestive disorders.

AN HISTORIC CRISIS IN THE MEDICALSOCIETY OF LONDON.

IN the course of some remarks made by the President ofthe Medical Society of London (Mr. Owen) at the anniversarymeeting on March 8th, an account was given of a "lock-out" which occurred before the society was two years old.It happened thus :-The first meeting of the society was held in May, n73,

at which 10 members were present, among them beingHulme, a retired naval surgeon, who was eventuallythe first librarian, Lettsom, the first treasurer, and Ford,who was asked to act as honorary secretary. Week by weeknew members were elected, amongst whom were JohnMillar, who shortly afterwards was voted into the presi-dential chair, Blizard and Bland, who successively helpedFord as secretary, and one, Pearce by name, who was, untilhe ceased to pay his rent, the society’s tenant at their housein Crane-court. The part of this house which the societyreserved for itself was the first floor, where, at a con-

siderable cost, they had arranged a large meeting room anda small council room. Everything was going smoothly untilthe autumn of 1774, when considerable unrest occurred inconnexion with the framing of rules. Party feeling ranhigh and the useful work of the society was seriouslyhindered. A special summons was sent out for a meetingof the society on Jan. 10th, 1775, for determining whetherthe report of the laws committee should be confirmed. Thiswas decided in the affirmative by 17 votes to 13, threemembers not voting. In the minority were the presi-dent (Millar), the two secretaries, and the late secretary,Blizard. On the vote being declared the president and thesecretaries resigned their respective offices but not theirmembership of the society. Now, the lease of the Crane-court house had been signed on behalf of the society by thepresident, the secretary (Ford), and the librarian (Hulme),and it, together with the minute books and the keysof the rooms, remained in their hands. On Jan. 18th,1775, the anniversary meeting of the society was tobe held, at which the officers for the ensuing yearwere to be appointed, but on the members repairingto Crane-court for that purpose they found the doorsof their rooms "unwarrantably locked" and themselveswithout secretaries or minute-books. They adjourned, there-fore, into one of the rooms which they had let to Pearce,where in considerable discomfort they elected their officers,with Lettsom at their head as president. The lock-out con-tinued for a month, in the course of which it was reportedto the Council that Millar, Ford, and Blizard had been heardto utter the impious statement that there was no such anassociation in existence as the Medical Society of London.Though by the action of their late president and secretariesthe society had lost possession of its lease, its rooms, and itsbooks, it considered that it had preserved its honour and itslife, and the Council recorded their opinion that the impiousexpression given vent to by those gentlemen warranted themin erasing their names from the roll of its members. Mean-while "the Millar and his men" had begun to realise the absurdity of the position in which their hasty act had placed i

them. If there were really no Medical Society of Londonwhat was the use to them of the lease which they hadsigned and impounded, and who was going to pay the rent,of the house for which they had rendered themselves;responsible? In these circumstances they sent Hulme, one’of the co-signatories, as an ambassador to the Council, sayingthat if the Council would take over the lease and indemnifythem from all future liabilities in connexion with it, theywere willing to hand it over, together with the keys of therooms and the minute-books. This the wise and gentleLettsom undertook to do, and on March 7th, 1775, he hadthe great delight of composing a presidential message whichwas to be sent to all the members of the society "acquaintingthem that harmony is restored, and requesting their attend-ance as usual." At the same meeting the Council, doubtlessat Lettsom’s instigation, advised the society to consider "the

Millar and his men" as members on their declaring them-selves to be " friends of the society." This of course was doneand as a proof that neither the society nor Lettsom boreMillar any ill-will for the very embarrassing and perilouscourse which, in the supposed interest of the society, he hadfelt compelled to take, the society paid him the high com-pliment of asking him to deliver the Oration in January,1776. This also, it is hardly necessary to say, Millar wasglad to do, and it is very gratifying to see by the minute-book that he had amongst his audience not only Hulme,Bland, Blizard, and Ford, but Lettsom who occupied thepresidential chair, and a large number of members whomust have voted against him on that momentous occasiontwelve months previously. Fortunately, the good feelingamongst its members which carried the infant society safelythrough the convulsion and the crisis of 125 years ago stillprevails and shows no sign of diminution.

Public Health and Poor Law.LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.

REPORTS OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH.

Withington Urban District.-The compulsory notificationof measles was discontinued in this district during 1898, thecouncil relying for their future knowledge of both measlesand whooping-cough upon the public and private schoolauthorities and on the school attendance officers. When acase of either of these diseases comes to the notice of thesanitary authority the inspector of nuisances will at oncecall at the invaded house and will leave printed instructionsapplicable to the case, and, if a medical man be not inattendance, this same officer will call at intervals to ensurethe carrying out of the instructions. The inspector willalso endeavour to make the notified cases clues to furtherand unnotified cases in the manner suggested by us

recently in these columns. The day schools and Sundayschools involved will be notified of the cases and

printed precautions will be left at houses near to the onesinvaded. When five or more cases occur in connexion withany public school the average and present attendances ineach department will be ascertained, as also the number ofchildren known to be suffering from disease, and the numberof children absent owing to the disease in question existingin their homes. When the number of actual cases either ofmeasles or whooping-cough exceeds 10 per cent. of the

average attendance in any department that particular depart-ment will be closed unless there should be strong contra-indications to such a course, and if a Sunday school is heldin the same building a recommendation will be made to closethis also. During 1898 the schools did not, Dr. Railtonthinks, act as disseminators of either measles or whooping-cough.Newton Abbot Urban and Rural Districts.-Mr. W.

Harvey, in discussing the prevalence of enteric fever in theurban district during 1897, refers to two cases which, in hisopinion, contracted their infection from the consumption ofcockles, while a third person who partook of cockles at thesame time was attacked with gastritis. Having regard tothe interest which at the present time attaches to thequestion of infection by shell-fish it would have been helpfulhad the date of the cockle feast been furnished, as also somestatement as to the condition in which the molluscs werewhen eaten-i.e., whether cooked or raw. The typhoidbacillus is, as is well known, killed at a lower temperaturethan boiling-point. Mr. Harvey also refers to two cases oftyphoid fever which he regards as having had their origin inthe ingestion of water while bathing. In the report as tothe Newton Abbot Rural District Mr. Harvey refers to anoutbreak of diphtheria which he thinks was associated withthe local school, the disease disappearing on the closure ofthe school and recurring on its re-opening.Buckingham Rural District.-Dr. Philip Benson states

in his annual report that the council of this district haverefused to put into action the Dairies and Cowsheds Order,and he expresses the opinicn that the order should be madecompulsory by the central authority. Doubtless Dr. Bensonis here referring to the making of regulations under the

Dairies, Cowsheds, and Milkshops Order, as the order

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itself is already obligatory upon sanitary authorities. Hewould like to see "all cows with diseased udders or

otherwise found dangerous on inspection ...... got rid of,"the owners being compensated. It is by no means satis-factory for Londoners to hear that in the Buckinghamrural district, from which not improbably milk is sentto London, cowsheds, &c., are not properly controlled.Two villages in this district have recently been called uponby the Thames Conservancy Board to treat their sewage, andhence some progress in this direction has been made.Dr. Benson, however, has still to deplore the fact that thereis no isolation accommodation other than a tent in this

district, and he thinks that had the Buckingham CountyCouncil possessed a medical officer of health more progresswould have been made. Buckingham is certainly not a pro-gressive county as regards sanitation, although there is inthis county such an abundant harvest awaiting the successfulsanitary reformer.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN 33 of the largest English towns 6730 births and 4718deaths were registered during the week ending March 4th.The annual rate of mortality in these towns which had been19’5 and 20’6 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks furtherrose last week to 21-6. In London the rate was 22-1per 1000, while it averaged 21’2 in the 32 provincialtowns. The lowest rates in these towns were 13.1 in

Croydon, 14’6 in Leicester, and 14’8 in Burnley ; thehighest rates were 25.3 in Preston, 25’4 in Birkenhead,29’6 in Manchester, and 29-8 in Liverpool. The 4718 deathsin these towns included 437 which were referred to the

principal zymotic diseases, against 340 and 364 in the twopreceding weeks ; of these, 117 resulted from whooping-cough, 109 from measles, 96 from diphtheria, 43 from diar-rhoea, 40 from "fever" (principally enteric), and 32 fromscarlet fever. The lowest death-rates from these diseaseswere recorded in Croydon, Brighton, Bristol, and Preston,and the highest rates in West Ham, Swansea, Birkenhead,and Manchester. The greatest mortality from measlesoccurred in West Ham, Derby, Manchester, and Salford ;from scarlet fever in Sunderland; from whooping-cough inPlymouth, Swansea, Birkenhead, Bolton, Hull, and Sunder-land ; and from " fever " in Wolverhampton. The 96 deathsfrom diphtheria included 48 in London, 7 in West Ham, 7in Liverpool, 5 in Swansea, 5 in Sheffield, 4 in Blackburn, 4in Leeds, 3 in Portsmouth, and 3 in Leicester. No fatal caseof small-pox was registered last week in any of the 33 largetowns; and two small-pox patients were under treatment in theMetropolitan Asylums Hospitals on Saturday last, March 4th.The number of scarlet-fever patients in these hospitalsand in the London Fever Hospital at the end of last weekwas 2584, against numbers declining from 2939 to 2575 onthe nine preceding Saturdays ; 236 new cases were admittedduring last week, against 253, 202, and 241 in the three pre-ceding weeks. The deaths referred to diseases of the

respiratory organs in London, which had been 413 and 484 inthe two preceding weeks, declined to 470 last week, and were87 below the corrected average. The causes of 69, or 1-4 percent., of the deaths in the 33 towns were not certified eitherby a registered medical practitioner or by a coroner. All the causes of death were duly certified in West Ham, Bristol,Salford, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and in 13 other smaller

towns; the largest proportions of uncertified deaths were regis-tered in Liverpool, Preston, Sheffield, and Hull.

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HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in the eight Scotch townswhich had declined in the three preceding weeks from 31’2to 24’1 per 1000 rose again to 25’1 during the week endingMarch 4th, and exceeded by 3’5 per 1000 the mean rateduring the same period in the 33 large Englishtowns. The rates in the eight Scotch towns ranged from19’7 in Dundee and 24-4 in Aberdeen to 26’3 in Glasgow and28’2 in Leith and in Greenock. The 765 deaths in thesetowns included 33 which were referred to measles, 31to whooping-cough, 21 to diarrhoea, six to "fever," five toscarlet fever, and three to diphtheria. In all, 99 deathsresulted from these principal zymotic diseases, against 76 and64 in the two preceding weeks. These 99 deaths were equalto an annual rate of 3-2 per 1000, which was 1-2 above the

mean rate last week from the same diseases in the 33 largeEnglish towns. The fatal cases of whooping-cough, whichhad declined from 43 to 23 in the four preceding weeks,rose again to 31 last week, and included 11 in Glasgow,seven in Edinburgh, six in Leith, and five in Dundee. Thedeaths from measles, which had been nine and 19 in thetwo preceding weeks, further rose to 33 last week,of which 19 occurred in Aberdeen, seven in Glasgow, andfive in Edinburgh. The six deaths referred to differentforms of "fever " exceeded by two the number recorded inthe preceding week and included four in Glasgow. The fivefatal cases of scarlet fever corresponded with the number inthe preceding week and included four in Glasgow ; and ofthe three deaths from diphtheria two were recorded in

Edinburgh. The deaths referred to diseases of the respira-tory organs in these towns, which had been 285 and 233 inthe two preceding weeks, further declined to 213 last week,but were 71 above the number in the correspondingperiod of last year. The causes of 52, or nearly 7 per cent.,of the deaths in these eight towns last week were netcertified.

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HEALTH OF DUBLIN.

The death-rate in Dublin which had been 27’3 and 30’3per 1000 in the two preceding weeks further rose to31’9 during the week ending March 4th. During the pastfour weeks the rate of mortality in the city has averaged30’3 per 1000, the rate during the same period being 21-4 inLondon and 26’2 in Edinburgh. The 214 deaths registeredin Dublin during the week under notice showed an increaseof 11 upon the number in the preceding week, and included17 which were referred to the principal zymotic diseases,against eight and 12 in the two preceding weeks ; of these,six resulted from "fever," five from whooping-cough, fourfrom scarlet fever, two from diarrhoea, and not one eitherfrom small-pox, measles, or diphtheria. These 17 deathswere equal to an annual rate of 2-5 per 1000, the

zymotic death-rate during the same period being2 0 in London and 3’1 in Edinburgh. The deaths referredto different forms of ’’ fever " which had been two and fourin the two preceding weeks further rose to six last week.The fatal cases of whooping-cough which had been four andtwo in the two preceding weeks rose again to five last week.The four deaths from scarlet fever exceeded the numberrecorded in any week since November last. The 214 deathsin Dublin last week included 25 of infants under one yea?of age and 55 of persons aged upwards of 60 years; thedeaths of infants showed a marked decline, while those ofelderly persons slightly exceeded the number recorded in thepreceding week. Eight inquest cases and eight deaths fromviolence were registered ; and 90, or more than a third, ofthe deaths occurred in public institutions. The causes of13, or more than 6 per cent., of the deaths in the city lastweek were not certified.

THE SERVICES.

ROYAL NAVY MEDICAL SERVICE.THE following appointments are announced :--Staff Sur-

geon W. J. Colbourne to the Boscarven, additional for theAgincourt. Surgeons : H. Huskinson to the Cambridge, andG. B. Brown to the Vivid, additional.

ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE.

Surgeon-General H. S. Muir to be Deputy Director-General, vice Surgeon-General. W. Taylor, C.B., who hasvacated that appointment.

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.

Captains A. H. Bray and J. H. Rivers, and Lieutenant,S. L. Cummins and H. G. F. Stallard are directed to pro-ceed to Egypt for duty with the Egyptian Army. MajorH. J. McLaughlin, half-pay, is posted to the WesternHeights, Dover, for duty.

ARMY MEDICAL RESERVE OF OFFICERS.

Surgeon-Lieutenant Conrad Theodore Green, 1st VolunteerBattalion the Cheshire Regiment, to be Surgeon-Lieutenant.

VOLUNTEER CORPS.

Artillery: lst Aberdeenshire : Surgeon-Major R. J. Gardenresigns his commission ; also is granted the rank of Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel with permission to continue to wear the