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who signs an agreement, enters upon his new duties, and it isonly four weeks later that he is informed he has been actingagainst the interests of the profession and that the local prac-titioners will not meet him. He maintains that he did notknow that there was a financial difficulty. He was in-formed that the Oddfellows were quite willing to pay the4s. a year to their former medical officer, Mr. Dighton. Heknows that they are now actually paying that sum and more,but he understood that the Oddfellows had quarrelled withtheir medical officer because he was canvassing for theConservative Association’s club and as some of the Odd-fellows were strong Radicals they were not going to havetheir benefit society injured for the sake of an antagonistic political party. Still, common prudence would suggest thatsuch a story as this should not be accepted without someinquiry. As a result of this neglect the medical officer ofthe Friendly Societies Medical Association finds that if hewants a second opinion he must send to Gloucester or toWorcester for a consultant. This, he says, is a loss for theCheltenham medical men and he was quite emphatic on thepoint, insisting that many of his patients would willinglypay for consultants, thus indirectly admitting the existenceof much abuse, for if a member of a friendly society can payfor a consultant he can pay the ordinary small fee chargedby a general practitioner.Such is the present position at Cheltenham. The associa-

tion founded by the friendly societies has been in existencefor just one year and so far it has had considerabledifficulty in raising enough to pay its medical officer theminimum salary promised. Can the medical men of thetown organise matters so well as to prevent any other bodyjoining them ? It is an open question and it must be con-fessed that so far the medical union at Cheltenham is notso stalwart and well-disciplined a body as some of the otherorganisations which are engaged in a similar struggle indifferent parts of the country. In any case, thoughsuccessful at first, it must be confessed that for the momentit is under a cloud. Some of its members have losta considerable portion of their incomes and this is not

encouraging ; it does seem as if there had been, if notabsolute blundering on their part, at least some lack ofdiplomatic foresight. This is no reason why efforts shouldcease ; on the contrary, they should be resumed, the situa-tion being more carefully studied and future action beingplanned with more thoroughness and circumspection.

MANCHESTER.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The City Council and the Infirmary Site.AT the meeting of the city council on March 18th Sir

James Hoy moved that the report of the special committee rethe Manchester Royal Infirmary be approved and adoptedand that it be authorised and instructed to communicatewith the trustees of the Royal Infirmary and to take suchmeasures as the committee might deem necessary or desirablefor the purpose of giving effect to the recommendations con-tained in the report. The gist of the report was to advisethe council to give £400,000 for the whole of the infirmary site.No part of it will be retained as a receiving house or accidentward. No doubt there will be a paring from its outer borderfor widening the surrounding streets but the rest of the spacewill be free for the erection of the art gallery and free

library so much wanted in Manchester. After some discus-sion and a crude suggestion from one of the council thatthere should be shops in the proposed building the motionwas passed unanimously. Yesterday a special meeting ofthe infirmary board was held at which the offer of theManchester Corporation was discussed. It was resolved toconvene a special general meeting of the trustees on

April 3rd, when a motion will be submitted for approvalaccepting the offer of the corporation, deciding to build thenew infirmary on the Stanley grove site, and to acquire thesame and other adjoining property if expedient, includingthe site of the proposed Southern Hospital, to obtain plans,&c., and to take "such measures as may be necessary or

requisite " to give effect to the resolution. The matter hasnow, therefore, reached the last stage-reference to thetrustees-and it may pretty confidently be anticipated thatthis long-talked-of change will be carried through, to thegreat advantage of the community and of the infirmary.

Death of the City Coroner.The death of Mr. Sidney Smelt, the city coroner, on

March 14th removes from our midst a man well known inManchester. A barrister by calling, with decided views ofthe dignity and importance of the coroner’s court and

naturally, perhaps, more influenced by the legal bearingsthan by the medical aspect of the cases brought before him,he was not always in sympathy with the views of membersof our profession, "as to the necessity or otherwise of

holding post-mortem examinations in every case wheredeath occurred under suspicious circumstances." Thisdivergence of opinion not infrequently brought him intoconflict with some of our confreres who would, however,be ready to admit that if he differed from them he did sohonestly. He did good, it may be hoped, by the vigoroussanitary lectures which he was in the habit of addressingto the jury and witnesses when the occasion allowed of hisimproving it. Early and improvident marriages, the

improper feeding of children, the overlaying of infants, andthe dangers of flannelette were favourite topics. Among thepoorer and more ignorant classes it has been a commonarticle of faith that saffron whisky" is a remedy formeasles, and he has often spoken strongly against the follyof administering whisky so doctored to young children."But, as one of the local papers says, it may be feared thathis vigorous denunciations " were not always agreeable tothe impatient jurymen and negligent witnesses to whom theywere addressed. For 20 years he had acted as deputy to hispredecessor, the late Mr. Herford, who was a confirmedinvalid for the whole of that period, and was appointedcoroner in 1896 at a salary of E800 a year. Manchester hasnot apparently been favourable to medical coroners ; indeed,I do not know whether she has ever had one. Mr Smelt’sdeputy, Mr. L. J. Aitken, is also a barrister-at-law. Theoffice will not be filled up for about three months. Thereare available medical men with a knowledge of law andit will be a pity if the community is deprived of the

advantages resulting from such special knowledge by theelection of a merely legal official.

Anthropometrics in Salford Board Schools.Some interesting observations, which may lead to further

developments, are being carried on in three of the Salfordboard schools. At each of the three schools 30 boys weretaken and arranged in groups of ten, of the ages of eight,ten, and 13 years. The schools differ considerably as to thebuildings themselves and their surroundings. The John-street school, Pendleton, is described in the report as a

’’ poorly ventilated building, drawing its breath from thecomparatively stagnant pool of air " surrounding the pre-mises, while the children come from poor homes and havelittle opportunity for healthy recreation, living in a smoke-laden atmosphere and probably having insufficient and un-suitable food. It is not to be wondered at that their

anthropometric record should fall below that of the Grecian-street school, which is better ventilated, with more opensurroundings, where there is a better class of home, andconsequently better food and more of it, and whereexercises and swimming are encouraged. The record forthe Trafford-road school was slightly above the mean of theother two schools, the school and its surroundings beingfairly good. All the boys were weighed and measuredwithout clothing. In spite of their disadvantages it speakswell, as the report says, for the vitality of the children thatup to the age of eight years the battle is well maintained, butafter this the John-street schoolboys " fell below the averageto a marked extent, especially at ages 10 and 13." We arenot told of the mortality in the families of these childrenor if they represent the survival of the fittest, but we

may well believe the medical officer who " was con-

vinced that this could be remedied by fresh air, sunlight,suitable and sufficient food, and healthy exercise." The

problem still to be solved is how to bring this about, forthese children may well be called the creatures of circum-stances" over which they have no control." " The one

encouraging statement is that in the case of the Grecian-street boys there was evidence of some improvement intype as compared with the average boy of 25 years ago."The future well-being and healthy development of the

population will largely depend on the views of the neweducational authorities as to whether or not sound bodiesare as important for the race as sound minds.

Housing in Angel Meadow.The interest taken in the housing of the poor in the Angel

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Meadow district shows no sign of subsiding and since

writing last an important deputation has waited on the sani-tary committee, the outcome of a movement to help forwardthe provision by the municipality of houses for the peoplewhere houses have been condemned and destroyed. Alder-man McCabe said that the sanitary committee had closed agreat number of houses in the district, the improvementcommittee had pulled down many more, and the extensionsof the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway had also closedmany. The result had been increased overcrowding as thepeople had to live near their work. Mr. Schwann, M.P.,pointed out that whereas formerly one family would occupya four-roomed house it was now common for four familiesto live in it. Councillor Wells said that the majority of the4455 displaced within the last ten years were still living inthe St. Michael’s Ward and the sub-letting had enormouslyincreased. He knew of one person who rented eight housesat a rent of 5s. 9d. per house and let the rooms off at 5s. 6d.a week for each room. " These furnished lodgings weremainly occupied by the lowest class of the population-the’ scuttlers,’ ’ hooligans,’ and the women who lived withthem." Several clergymen of various denominations boresimilar testimony. In reply the chairman assured the

deputation of the sincere desire of the committee to

press on housing reform and said that one great diffi-culty was the high price required for the land bythe landlords who "resisted to the utmost the sell-

ing: of their property." Another was the opposition inthe council to comparatively unremunerative undertakings.The owners sometimes refuse to sell property which has beenclosed for years, preferring to wait until the value of theland had risen. The deputy chairman said that the questionfor the ratepayers to decide was-" Will you submit to thepresent condition of things or will you submit to another

halfpenny on the rates ? " The corporation will have to learn

how to build sufficiently well without extravagance-a lessonwhich seems difficult to learn.March 24th.

___________________

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

Administrative Diffleulties connected with Small po02tbreaks.

AT a meeting of the West of England and South Walesbranch of the Incorporated Society of Medical Officers ofHealth, held at Pontypridd on March 19th, a discussion tookplace upon some administrative difficulties connected withoutbreaks of small-pox. Mr. D. J. Thomas, medical officerof health of Merthyr Tydvil, pointed out the danger of

vaccinating’ "contacts," especially of the vagrant class,and then releasing them from observation. They might,he thought, be attacked with modified small-pox, takeno precautions, and thus be the means of spreadingthe disease, whereas if left unvaccinated they wouldbe sufficiently ill to require treatment, and would then beisolated and no longer a danger to others. Mr. Thomas

gave several instances from the recent outbreak at Merthyrin favour of the contention that small-pox is far more

infectious in the earlier than it is in the later stages. Inone case a woman infected seven persons in Merthyr whichtown she left on the third day of the disease, and althoughliving in common lodging-houses in Aberdare and goingfreely about the district during the following week yet nocases occurred in the latter town. Dr. Edward Walfordsaid that in Cardiff during the past 15 years wheneverthey had removed a case of small-pox in the earlystage they had never had any spread of the disease,but among the cases now in the Cardiff Hospitalthere was evidence that some had been infected froma patient in the first day of the disease. Several ofthose present at the meeting disapproved of the presentmethod of obtaining the vaccination of "contacts," thedelay in securing the services of the public vaccinatorfrequently resulting in a refusal of vaccination by those inthe infected house, although if vaccination could have beenoffered before the removal of the patient there would havebeen little or no difficulty in obtaining the consent of thoseconcerned. The Cardiff port sanitary authority has passeda resolution authorising the medical officer of health toobtain the vaccination of "contacts," and Dr. Walford asksthe nearest medical practitioner to vaccinate, the fees beingpaid by the authority. In Newport Dr. J. Howard-Jones

usually asks the public vaccinator to accompany him to a

house where there is suspected small-pox and thus procuresthe vaccination of " contacts " very promptly.

Death of .Jfr. John Paddon, M.B. Lond., .LlLR. C.S. Eng.Dr. John Paddon, who died at the Mumbles on March 14th

at the age of 86 years, retired from practice in Swanseaabout 15 years ago. He qualified as M. R. C. S. Eng. in 1839and as L. S. A. in the following year, when he also graduatedas a bachelor of medicine of the University of London.After practising for a few years in his native town of Trurohe went to Swansea in 1846, where he established a largepractice and was eventually elected on the staff of theSwansea Hospital. Outside his profession Dr. Paddon hadmany interests and took his part in the public life of thetown. He was one of the first officers to be appointed tothe Glamorgan artillery militia and was a great lover of allkinds of sport in his younger days, being a wrestler and aboxer of no mean capacity.

Farewell Dinner to Dr. W. G. Savage.The past and present students attending the public health

department of the Cardiff College entertained Dr. W. G.Savage to a farewell dinner on March 21st. Dr. Savage hasbeen for nearly four years the principal bacteriologist in theCardiff and County Public Health Laboratory and he hasalso during the same period given lectures in the CardiffCollege to those who were preparing for the public healthexaminations. He is leaving Cardiff to become medicalofficer of health of the borough of Colchester. The dinner,which was presided over by Dr. T. H. Morris, was attendedby most of the members of the Cardiff Infirmary staff andby many of the medical practitioners of the town. In thecourse of the evening Principal Griffiths, F.R.S., on behalfof the subscribers, presented Dr. Savage with an oak-framedbarometer.

Administration of the Vaccination Acts.The Worcestershire county council has passed a resolution

urging upon the Government the necessity for more stringentregulations for dealing with tramps infected, or suspected ofbeing infected, with small-pox, and also urging that revacci-nation at about the age of 12 years be made compulsory, andthat the administration of the Vaccination Acts should betransferred to county councils. Worcestershire is very wellprovided with hospitals for the isolation of cases of small-pox.

Abuse of Medical Charities.At the Exeter Police-court on March 19th a woman was

summoned for obtaining medical relief from the Exeter

Dispensary by false pretences and another woman and manwere also summoned for aiding and abetting her. The

prosecution was conducted by the trustees of the dispensary.From the evidence it appeared that the first defendant wasthe aunt of a child of whom the male and female de-fendants were the parents ; she obtained a recommendationfor the Exeter Dispensary from a subscriber by representingthat she had a child who required medical attention ; she thenused the recommendation for her nephew, representing to theauthorities at the dispensary that the father did not earn1 weekly, and the boy was treated there for about sixweeks. One of the rules of the institution stipulates that ifa person earns El per week he is not entitled to treatmentfor himself or family. As the parents of the boy earnedmore than this amount and were able to pay for medicalattendance the action was brought. Eventually the magis-trates dismissed the case against the male defendant, butthe two women were each fined 10s. and ordered to pay thesolicitor’s fees.

The Dentists Act.Before the stipendiary magistrate (Mr. T. W. Lewis) at

the Cardiff police-court on March 17th Mr. W. Bernstein wassummoned at the instance of the local branch of the DentalAssociation for implying that he was a person speciallyqualified to practise dentistry, whereas he was not registeredunder the Dentists Act of 1878. The defendant was fined20s. and costs.March 24th.

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Changes in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.DR. P. McBRIDE, who has been the senior surgeon to the

ear and throat department of the Edinburgh Royal Infirmarysince the department came into existence twenty years ago,