915

in from three to four weeks. More recently the disease issaid to have shown itself at Rutschuk. At the close of Mayor beginning of June, cholera extended into the province ofWest Prussia, appearing in two small villages near to

Graudenz. About the same time the disease appeared inthe district of Dantzic amongst the raftsmen who had

brought timber-rafts down the Vistula from Poland andGalicia, in which latter province cholera had been presentthroughout the winter. This outbreak occurred at the

place where the timber is stored near the entrance of thecanal communicating with Dantzic, several miles from the

city. Up to the 21st inst. 42 raftsmen had been attacked,and 25 had died. The disease, to the time of the latest

report, had not shown itself in the city.Contemporaneously with these extensions on the Danube

and in Western Europe, the disease became more active inthe districts in which it had lingered throughout the winter.It reappeared in Pesth, and during the latter half of Aprilupwards of 200 cases are known to have occurred there,although no official returns have been published. Else-

where in Hungary the disease also began to spread. It was

most active in the provinces of Abanje and Saros. It was

reported also in the provinces of Berega, Gomor, Neograd,Torna, &c.; and it had shown itself in Kaschau. In Galicia

and Bohemia several newly infected places are also reported.The reported outbreak of cholera in widely separated

districts of the United States (New Orleans, Nashville,Cincinnati, &c.) is not yet confirmed. It is stated to have

appeared in New Orleans before the 24th April last, butthe American medical journals of the past month whichhave reached us do not contain any reference to this

asserted outbreak. At present there is an entire absenceof authentic detailed information on the subject. Judging,however, from a recent paragraph in The Times, the State

authority cf New York is taking precautionary measures

against the danger of cholera extending to that city fromthe inland States.

Medical Annotations."Ne quid nimis."

THE COLLECE OF SURCEONS’ ELECTION.

WITH seven candidates for three vacancies it becomes

necessary to analyse a little the claims of the gentlemenwho have come forward on the present occasion. We cannotbut regard both Mr. Savory’s and Mr. Southam’s candida-tures as premature. Cceteris paribus, the elections to theCouncil of the College of Surgeons have always been

governed by seniority in some degree, and we see no primâfacie reason why either of these gentlemen should be pre-ferred to Messrs. Henry Smith, James Lane, Lister, Barwell,Bryant, or Holmes-all of whom are senior to Mr. Southam,and the first two to Mr. Savory. Mr. Savory, it appears tous, stultifies his election as an examiner by thus comingforward, for he was elected expressly to be outside the

Council; and if he now comes forward at the instigation ofhis fellow examiners, he only furnishes a proof that thepower of the imperium in imperio has not been so thoroughlybrought under as was generally thought to be the case.Mr. Southam is put forward as the representative of theprovincial fellows, and they are doubtless entitled to such

a representative if he can and will fulfil the onerous dutieshe undertakes.Mr. Southam may succeed better than his predecessor,

who, with the best intentions, was notoriously unable tokeep himself au courant in College affairs. With the best

wishes for a provincial representative, we cannot but

regard the unscrupulous statements put forward in his

support by the Journal of the British Medical Associationas calculated seriously to damage Mr. Southam with allthose fellows who respect themselves and the Council ofthe College.Mr. Hussey may also claim to be a representative from

the country; but it is to be regretted that he should dividethe interest, though he is strictly within his rights in comingforward when fellows immediately senior and junior to himare about to try their fortune.From a letter which will be found in another column, it

will be seen that Mr. Wakley has withdrawn from thecontest. We think Mr. Wakley has exercised a wise dis-cretion in so doing, since his election would probably haveplaced both him and ourselves in a position from which weare very glad thus to be extricated.As regards the remaining candidates, all of whom are well

known in London, we can only wish it were possible forthem all to succeed. Each, no doubt, will have the supportof a certain body of friends, but it would be well that theelectors should pay less regard to private friendship than toa desire to return men who will be both an honour to theCouncil and who are known to be determined to push for-ward all matters of reform even to their own detriment.

THE HARVEIAN ORATION.

SELDOM has the duty devolving on the Harveian oratorbeen more loyally discharged than by Professor Rollestonat the Royal College of Physicians on Wednesday. Dr.

George Burrows presided, and the audience, including manydistinguished savans from the sister island and north of theTweed, was unusually large. Professor Rolleston set out

by passing in swift review the more important of the ad-vances made in the anatomy and physiology of the circula-tory apparatus. Some of these were due more or less toDr. Rolleston himself; most of them, however, to others,notably to Dr. J. B. Pettigrew. From this stage of his lecture,rendered doubly effective by the diagrams exhibited in itsillustration, Dr. Rolleston proceeded to vindicate Harveyfrom the various attempts to rob him of his fair fame.Those of Riolanus, and others of the classical school, havebeen pretty well disposed of, but Dr. Rolleston deserves parti-cular credit for the effective and final exposure of the preten-sions of Walter Warner, the mathematician-the "Claimant,"as he termed him,-to Harvey’s discovery. Well, indeed,might Harvey, prescient as he was of the opposition hewas to encounter, describe his grand contribution to bio-logy as " adeo inauditum ut verear ne habeam ut inimicosomnes homines." Nothing could be more conclusive thanDr. Rolleston’s indagatio of the pretensions of Warner,from whom, as a man of ability and scientific habit, betterthings might have been expected. The third and conclud-

ing part of the oration consisted of an eloquent and philo-sophical estimate of the relations held by Harvey, and,indeed, by other discoverers, to their times and contempo-raries. Though Harvey could justly say of himself in thewords of Lucretius-

" Avia Pieridum peragro loca nullius anteTrita solo,"

or in the parallel expression of the English poet-"I was the first that ever burst

Into that silent sea,"still he was but a link in the grand chain of inductive con-

916

quest-a chain in which, to quote the profound saying ofKant, each link may be alternately regarded as effect andcause.

___

THE ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE.

THE recent deputation to Mr. Cardwell traversed a

wide range of subjects in connexion with the latelyissued Army Medical Warrant: in fact, they embodiedin their statement the various points presented in themedical as well as in the military journals, and in thememorials from the medical corporations and the medi-cal officers. The Senatus Academicus of the Universityof Edinburgh have addressed a petition to Parliament onthe subject; and the Royal College of Surgeons of Edin-burgh have likewise forwarded a memorial to the Director-General of the Army Medical Department praying that hewill afford a speedy remedy for the alleged grievances. Weare not speaking without some authority and knowledge ofthe facts in saying that it is both unjust and ungenerous tosaddle the medical direction with a responsibility that doesnot rightly belong to it. We have heard, and believe, thatthere are but few subjects, for example, which have of latebeen urged upon Mr. Cardwell’s attention from withoutthat had not been already submitted for the considerationof the War Office from within. Be all this as it may, weare glad to notice that the principle of unification, forwhich we have so long contended, was fully recognised bythe deputation as a correct one, and that they only re-gretted, as we do, that it had not been more firmly enun-ciated in the new Warrant. We venture to prophesy thatit will prove the foundation of better things in the future;and if the department be only true to itself it must becomea source of power and independence to the Service as wellas of benefit to the State.The opportunity afforded by this reorganisation has been ’,

selected, however, for introducing a number of clauses andconditions in the new Warrant which have naturally enoughbeen resented ; and the medical officers, backed by the civilprofession, have on their part claimed that the whole subjectof the existing state of the service should now be recon-sidered. It cannot be concealed that the conditions of themedical service have not only not advanced with the re-quirements of the age, but have absolutely lagged behind.To begin at the head, the Director-General’s duties are

twice as responsible and onerous as they were, while thestipend attaching to his office has been diminished £500 perannum. Young men on entering the service are subjectedto a competitive examination, have to undergo a training atNetley, and are subjected to other examinations, competitiveand qualifying; they now have to be the possessors of twoqualifiations instead of one, the cost of living has increased,the number of pleasant stations has diminished, and therate of promotion-taking the promise of it at fifteen yearsinto consideration -is actually slower than it was. No

doubt the last has been in a great measure due to the con-gestion resulting from the retention of the men who en-tered the service at the time of the Indian mutiny. Mr.

Cardwell’s difficulty has been in regard to the allowancesattached to rank. These, having been once guaranteed, can-not equitably be departed from. His course, under the

circumstances, appears to us to be a very obvious one-viz.,that of consolidating the pay and allowances in such a waythat the officers shall know exactly what they have to expect.The department is to all practical intents and purposesunified, and the sooner it is assimilated to that of a scientificcorps, like that of the Royal Engineers, the better.

So long as the deputation confined itself to making astatement of the case, all went smoothly; but directly Mr.Cardwell took up a defined position, and asked for specific

information on the subject of forage, it got into a bog. The

position that a medical officer should be entitled to a certainallowance for forage, according to his rank, whether he keepa horse at the time or not, is obviously an untenable one.The point really is this-that a medical officer having, bythe terms of the Royal Warrant of 1858, been entitled tocertain privileges, he could not rightly be deprived of these ;that to introduce another ruling is a clear breach of faithwith all those, at any rate, who entered the service underthe terms of that Warrant. The War Office authoritiescannot be ignorant of the dissatisfaction which this tam-pering with warrants had caused both in the past andpresent.Mr. Cardwell having promised to furnish a reply to the

various questions raised by the deputation, we can onlyhope that he will give effect to his own words in the House,and afford explanations where such are needed, and revisionwhere explanations will not suffice to remove honest andreasonable objections. We have always maintained ourbelief in Mr. Cardwell’s entire honesty of purpose; and itis more than probable that, had he followed the dictates ofhis own understanding, unfettered by the judgment andprejudices of those about him, the results of this new War-rant might have been far otherwise.

ASYLUM AMENITIES.

EvER and anon we are scandalised by some tale of themaltreatment of lunatics, but the latest seems in somerespects the most harrowing. Indeed, had it not appearedin a journal so respectable as the Manchester Guardian, andbeen vouched for by a firm of solicitors, we should havedeclined to notice it; and even now we hope the authoritiesof the impeached asylum will avail themselves of the maximaudi alteram partem. The respectable widow of a Man-chester photographer, Mrs. Petschler by name, and residentin Bowdon, began to decline in health, owing to her exer-tions for the support of her family, till at the close of 1871her low nervous state induced religious melancholia. Shewas attended by the parish doctor, and was therefore re-garded as before the law a pauper. One evening, thenecessary certificates having been procured, she was drivento Macclesfield County Asylum, on the plea that she was toconsult a doctor. Her derangement, be it noted, was cer-tified to be neither dangerous nor suicidal. On enteringthe asylum she resisted violently, but was dragged strugglingand screaming to a room and locked in. Next she was putinto a dormitory where there were sixteen lunatics in bed." The horrors of that night," she says, " I shall neverforget; some swearing, some calling filthy names, somegoing into fits." The nurse, a big, raw-boned Scotch-

woman, frightened her by throwing the light of a dark-lantern on her, and was very cross because she entreatedto be allowed to sleep on the floor outside the room. Day-light enhanced her terror, revealing the repulsive aspect ofher sister lunatics, with whom she had to troop to churchand sit down at meals. The peculiar untidiness and smellof the wards were odious to her, but she had more to bear.She was often struck by the patients, once so severely thatshe was disfigured for weeks. At last, with Midsummer,came a letter from the doctor that she might be set atliberty, but it was not till October that she was allowed to

rejoin her family, distressed beyond measure at her longestrangement. Such is her story, attested by a well-knownfirm of solicitors and private friends; and again we hopethat the accused parties will lose no time in clearing them-selves. Her case was evidently one which ought to havebeen treated at home, and it illustrates rather painfully theslight provocation by which a real or putative pauper may,

917r?-

on the certificate of an apothecary and an order from aclergyman or overseer, be silently removed from kith andkin, and made the companion of the lowest and least

improving class of lunatics. We have already touched onthe necessity of our practitioners qualifying themselves byspecial study for the treatment of insanity. They wouldthen grant certificates of lunacy with less alacrity, and bebetter able to deal with such harmless patients as this poormelancholic widow at home.

SIR JAMES PACET.

ON Thursday afternoon last a large and fashionable

company of ladies and gentlemen assembled in the GreatHall of St. Bartholomew’s Hospital to witness the Testi-monial Presentation to Lady Paget of a beautiful and life-like portrait of Sir James Paget, painted in oil by Millais.Dr. Burrows, President of the Royal College of Physicians,occupied the chair, and after announcing the object of themeeting, called upon Professor Humphry, of Cambridge,who, after paying a graceful compliment to the variedexcellences of Sir James, presented the portrait, which hadbeen executed at the request of a large number of pupils,friends, and admirers. Professor Humphry referred to thetime when the students of St. Bartholomew’s, thirty-fiveyears ago, petitioned the authorities to allow Mr. JamesPaget to lecture to them, and to the enthusiasm withwhich he was first received, for they knew they pos-sessed a man who had unusual capacity for teaching,and one who had dug deeply into the mines of know-

ledge. Sir James, in his own name and that of LadyPaget, eloquently thanked his friends for this testi-

monial, which was of the nature which he most wished,and begged the governors of the hospital to accept theportrait from Lady Paget, who would herself retain thecopy, which was a very accurate one. After referring tomany interesting associations during his connexion withthe medical school, and the just pride he felt in having inhis audience three of his old pupils, who are at the presenttime professors in the three most illustrious universities inGreat Britain, he sat down amid loud cheering. The

painting will be hung with those of Abernethy, Earle,Lawrence, and Dr. Burrows.

FRESH DISCOVERY OF HUMAN REMAINS.

WE recently called attention to a somewhat curious dis-covery of human remains in an Irish peat-bog near Omagh.A similar discovery was made during the present month ina moss near the village of Dervock, County Antrim, theparticulars of which have been kindly furnished us by Dr.Thompson, a physician resident in the neighbourhood, ac-companied by a rough sketch of the remains taken on theground by Mr. W. G. Hodson, B.A.T.C.D. It appears thatwhilst some men were engaged in "cleaning down" theface of a turf-bank the spade came in contact with whatproved to be the top of a human skull. On further exa-mination the whole body-or rather the skin and animalsubstance of the bones-of a woman was discovered. The

integument was thoroughly tanned and in a perfect stateof preservation, save at the hands and head, where it hadbeen injured during the disinterment. The remains wereat a depth of about ten feet below the surface; the

body occupied a crouched position, the elbows and kneesbeing drawn closely up towards each other, and the headbent forwards. Some shreds of sackcloth were found aboutdifferent parts of the body. It is an interesting fact in con-nexion with the remains, that the bones are said to havelost all their solidity, and in many places, such as the shaftsof the long bones, had disappeared altogether. They were

more perfect in form in the cranium and face and about thespongy ends of the long bones and in the neighbourhood ofjoints. Everywhere the bones were soft and compressible,but least so in the carpal and metacarpal regions, and in theankle-joint. Several of the teeth were also found in situ, butcrumbled on being taken up. The integuments of the facewere quite perfect, as were the ears, tongue, and pharynx.The tendons about some of the joints, and especially at thewrist and arch of the foot, were perfectly visible throughthe skin. In its present shrunken state the body measuresfive feet and one inch in length. The preservative actionof bog is well known, but we are not aware that it containsanything capable of exerting a solvent effect on the mineralconstituents of bone, although from the description it wouldalmost appear as if this portion of the bone had been re-moved, leaving the flexible animal portion, in a way similarto that which can be easily effected by steeping bone insome dilute acid capable of dissolving away the phosphateof lime and earthy salts. The skin and tendinous struc.tures would be preserved by the antiseptic action of peat,.and this probably accounts for the resistance of the bonystructures in their vicinity. These discoveries may merit.the attention of men like the Rev. Mr. Greenwell, of.Durham.

____

CHARINC-CROSS HOSPITAL.

DR. PooRE commenced his course of lectures on Electro-

Therapeutics on Tuesday evening, the 10th inst., and hascontinued them every Tuesday and Friday evening since at.8 o’clock P.M. The first lecture treated of the principles in-volved in the construction of galvanic batteries. The differ--ent varieties of cells were discussed; Ohm’s law was enun-ciated, and its bearing on electro-therapeutics fullyexplained. At the second lecture, on Friday, the 13th, thetheories of voltaic induction and magneto-electricitywere fully considered, and the mechanical construction of afaradising apparatus was explained by means of a dissectedinstrument. The various indispensable accessories of bat-teries-regulators, commutators, interrupters, &0. - were

fully explained, and the general management of batteries-charging, amalgamating, &c.-was practically demonstrated.The lecturer dwelt on the necessity of a. thorough compre-hension of the construction of a battery, and a knowledgeof its mode of action. The lecture was illustrated by a largenumber of different batteries, and a variety of subsidiaryapparatus lent by Messrs. Weiss, Mayer and Meltzer, Krohneand Sesemann, and Apps..The lecture on the l7th had reference to the physio-

logical relations of electricity ; the scientific basis of electro-therapeutics. The ordinary and extraordinary manifesta-tions of electricity in healthy subjects, and the effects of,and modes of death by, lightning were expounded. Theelectrical relations of nerve and muscle, electrotomes andthe experiments of Du Bois Reymond and Pflüger, wereexplained, and the conductivity of the various animaltissues and the path of electric currents in the human bodywere demonstrated.On the 20th the subject of the lecture was the applica-

tion of electricity, and the modes of using franklinism,faradaism, and galvanism ; the choice of rheophores andthe advantage of each variety; and the modes of influenc-ing the skin, nerves, muscles, and internal organs. Thesedifferent points were practically illustrated upon the livingsubject. On the 24th, the subject of the application ofelectricity was continued. Dr. Radcliffe’s " positivecharge " was explained, as well as the lecturer’s own methodof conjoining voluntary muscular exercise with galvanism.The different physiological and therapeutical results ob-tained by faradaism and galvanism were considered, and the

918

uses of both currents for the diagnosis and treatment ofthe different forms of paralysis were demonstrated. Thelast lecture of the course will be given on Friday, the 27th,when special attention will be paid to the surgical uses ofelectricity, as in the electrolytic treatment of tumours, thegalvano-cautery and ecraseur, and the treatment ofaneurism by galvano-puncture.The attendance at the lectures has been good through-

out, but we should have been pleased to notice more stu-dents present, the audience being in great part made up ofgentlemen in practice, who have no doubt become sensibleof the importance of electricity in the diagnosis and treat-ment of affections of the nervous system. Next year we hopethat these lectures will be more widely appreciated, andthat lectures on the same subject will be given at all themedical schools; for although a special clinique has been esta-blished at Vienna and most of the continental schools, thisis the first time that the subject of electro-therapeutics inits entirety has been publicly lectured. upon in London.Considering that the effect was spontaneous, and not

compelled by the regulations of the Examining Boards, theauthorities at Cbaring-cross Hospital and Dr. Poore deservegreat praise for establishing this course of lectures, whichwill in future form a part of the programme of the medicalschool.

__

MEDICAL MEN AND ACTIONS AT LAW.

THE conclusion of an important trial for alleged injuryreceived on a railway, which we publish on another page,has considerable interest for the medical profession. Thesevere strictures of Chief Justice Bovill on certain membersof the medical profession who appeared for the plaintiff inthe case will, we trust, not pass unnoticed by the corpora-tions from whom those gentlemen hold their diplomas.The case was one of a man named Tuckfield, a commission

agent, who prior to the accident appears to have been inconsiderable poverty. He sustained, as alleged, an injuryon the Metropolitan Railway in March, 1872, and was con-veyed home to Battersea, where he took the precaution toremove from a kitchen to a parlour before calling in adoctor. This gentleman treated him for the bruises, &c.,he had sustained, and seems to have acted fairly enough;but shortly there appeared upon the scene a Dr. Edgcome,of Brunswick-square, who, according to his own evidence,is "accustomed to railway cases," who assumed charge ofthe patient, though residing some five miles off, who intro-duced him to an attorney friend, and whose conduct in thecase drew down strong animadversions from the presidingjudge.

Dr. Edgcome is a L.S.A. of 1827, and M.R.C.S. of 1828.He obtained the M.D. of St. Andrews in 1862 (the year ofgrace), by payment of ten guineas; but he does not scrupleto give himself out as a physician, though he did nothesitate to cup his patient and to pass a catheter for him.This cupping was for the treatment of the supposed spinalinflammation under which the plaintiff was said to havesuffered, and which Dr. Edgcome swore was the cause of achronic curve of the dorsal spine, which had obviouslyexisted for years. Incontinence of urine and a whole hostof nervous symptoms were also alleged by Dr. Edgcome tohave resulted from the accident; but when we say that the

jury stopped the case, and gave a verdict for the companywithout hearing their medical evidence, it is pretty plainthat they put little faith in that gentleman’s statements.

Dr. Edgcome’s evidence was supported by a Mr. Kellett,M.R.C.S., who allowed that he had changed his residencefive times in two years, and whose contradictions in givinghis evidence brought down upon him a severe caution fromthe bench. This gentleman called himself a "consultant," ’

but the plaintiff’s counsel indignantly repudiated the grossovercharges he had made upon the railway company. Sincethis gentleman’s charges against the Company amounted to.854, and Dr. Edgcome’s to .8165, for attending a pauper, itwill be pretty obvious that they had good reason to regretthe view the jury took of the case. We beg to recommendthem both to the notice of the Council of the College ofSurgeons.

------

DR. LIVINCSTONE.

THE great missionary explorer has at length received asubstantial recognition of his services. Concurrently withthe suppression of the slave trade by the Sultan of Zanzibar,Livingstone, but for whom that philanthropic triumphmight not have been achieved, has been placed on the Civil *List by the Queen, with a pension of 013300 per annum.Will the donation induce him to return and weave into a.connected narrative, before it is too late, his wondrous ex-periences ? or is he still to wander on,

" ripse ulterioris amore,"

and haply disappear like his old Hellenic counterpart, whosepurpose held

To sail beyond the sunset and the bathsOf all the western stars,"

until he died f Livingstone is no longer a young man, andthe risk is ever increasing that the world may have to re-gret that, oblivious of Hallam’s memorable warning-a myown advancing years and the gathering in the heavens,"-he did not take in his sheaves betimes ! At the same meet-

ing of the Geographical Society at which the Presidentannounced the grant of the pension, Livingstone’s daughterreceived, on behalf of her father, the King of Italy’s goldmedal-a graceful compliment from the country of MarcoPolo.

____

THE ROYAL WARRANT AND THE MEDICALOFFICERS AT THE CURRACH.

WITH the sanction of the Major-General commandingthe.district, and on the permission given by Mr. Cardwellin the House of Commons, the medical officers at the

Curragh held a meeting on the 19th of May last. The re-solutions have been embodied in a memorial addressed tothe Secretary of State for War, through the Director-General of the Army Medical Department, which has beensigned by all the medical officers serving at the Curragh.The document concludes with an expression of obligation toMr. Cardwell for the permission accorded to medical officersto address him on the subject of their grievances, and ahope that these have been respectfully stated. We arebound to say that the criticism on the new Warrant, andthe objections to it, as stated in this memorial, are veryjust and temperate in character, and we can only hope thatthe Minister for War may be led, on reconsideration, toamend some of the clauses of the Warrant in the directionindicated.

____

POISONINC OF FORTY-THREE OXEN BYCENANTHE CROCATA.

DR. CHARLES A. CAMERON, Professor of Hygiene, RoyalCollege of Surgeons, Ireland, and Analyst to the City ofDublin, sends us the following case of cattle-poisoning.A herd of seventy-four oxen were at the end of last April

turned into the demesne of Lord Dunraven, Adare, Countyof Limerick. In a few days the animals began to sicken,and in about a week forty-three died. Mr. Keyes, V.S.,who saw some of them, stated that in most of the casesdeath took place very soon after the illness was observed.The animals foamed at the mouth, had distended nostrils,shivered at the loins and hind extremities, the respiration

919

was rapid and laborious, and they had tetanic spasms, the Ineck being curved laterally. Some of the animals reeled ina circle for several minutes, and then fell and died in-

stantaneously. As it was suspected that the animals hadbeen poisoned, the stomachs of one of them were sent toDr. Cameron for examination. He could not detect any ofthe ordinary poisons, but in the herbage found in the firststomach he observed numerous fragments of a plant whichhe suspected was the water dropwort ((Emo.M.e crocata).Dr. Cameron sent for some of the herbage of the demesne,and this was found to include a large proportion of thewater dropwort, one of the most virulent of British poisonousplants.

There are on record a few cases of poisoning of man andsome of the lower animals by water dropwort. The sym-

ptoms noticed by Mr. Keyes are similar to those observedby M. Bellamy, and described by him in the Recueil deMédecine Vétérinaire for 1856.

THE BALY MEDAL.

ON Wednesday, at the conclusion of the Harveian Oration,the President of the Royal College of Physicians presentedthe Baly Medal to Professor William Sharpey, in recognitionof his assiduous and successful labours for the advancementof physiology. Dr. Burrows was highly impressive in hisstatement of the unanimity with which the Council awardedthe medal to Dr. Sharpey. That gentleman, in a cha-racteristically modest reply, disclaimed all pretensions tohaving been more than an expositor of physiological sci-ence, and congratulated himself that the honoured namewith which the medal was associated was that of a favourite

pupil of his own. The ceremony was one of unusual inte-

rest, not the least element being the vigorous appearance ofDr. Sharpey after his recent operation.

THE COLLEGE OF SURCEONS.

AT the meeting of the Council on the 19th instant, thesecond report of the Committee of Reference for a ConjointBoard of Examiners, which has already appeared in THELANCET, was received and adopted, with the exception ofthe clause relating to the treasurer, the Council of the Col-lege of Surgeons declining very properly to allow theirfunds to be administered by other people.A special meeting of the Council is summoned for Tues-

day next, when the vacancies in the Court of Examiners,caused by the death of Mr. Partridge and the expiry of Mr.Lane’s term of office, will be filled up. At the same meetingMr. Quain’s proposition to establish a voluntary examina-tion in State Medicine will be discussed.

UNITED HOSPITALS ATHLETIC SPORTS.

THE seventh annual contest of the United HospitalsAthletic Club was held at the Lillie-bridge Grounds, onMonday last, when the weather proved unusually favourablefor the sports, which were well attended, considering theother more accessible amusements offered on that day.The One Mile Challenge Cup, presented by Guy’s Hospital,

was won by E. B. Turner, of St. George’s; which is remark-able, as it has already been held for three successive yearsby G. Norman of the same school; and for a similar periodby A. B. Kelly, of University College. On this occasionSt. Bartholomew’s men were first in five events, and secondin one; whilst King’s carried off three first, and a likenumber of second prizes; and Guy’s took one first, and alarge number of second places; so that now Bartholomew’swill, for the first time, be the champion hospital; Guy’shaving secured the championship three times, King’s twice,and St. George’s once.

It will be interesting to see to what conclusions the

present personal experience will lead the future practitionersin deciding upon the medical influences of 11 training " forathletics, which exercise, among the mass of medical men,was confined, until lately, to those who entered the pro-fession from a university.

The long programme was punctually and successfullycarried out; the performances were above par, but not ex-traordinarily good. The selection of prizes was the bestwe have seen ; as their value, utility, and appearance hadbeen carefully considered. -

MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH.

DR. LusH has given notice of his intention to move fora Parliamentary return relative to the appointments ofmedical officers of health under the Public Health Act of1872, which, if granted, as it undeniably ought to be, willprove extremely interesting to all who are striving-atpresent somewhat vainly, it may be said-to find out uponwhat principle these appointments have been made. It is

proposed that this return shall show whether the appoint-ment is for a single urban or rural district, or for a largecombined group of urban and rural districts; whether thehealth officer is also a Poor-law medical officer or not;whether the salary is wholly or only in part paid by thelocal authority ; whether the health officer is or is not re-quired to give his whole time to his public duties; and inall cases the area and population of the district, in con-junction with the name, qualifications, and salary of thehealth officer, are to be given. We trust that all membersof the House of Commons who desire to see an efective

sanitary organisation established in this country will, ifnecessary, support Dr. Lush’s motion for this return, whichcannot too soon be forthcoming. We would suggest thatits value would be further increased if the dates of theseveral appointments were included in the return.

THE ICNORANCE OF MIDWIVES.

A New and remarkable instance of the ignorance of mid-

wives has just been brought to light at Liverpool before Mr.Clarke Aspinall, the borough coroner, who had to inves-tigate the cause of death of the new-born son of a joiner.Shortly after the child’s birth he was found to be bleedingfreely at the mouth. The midwife, on being asked the rea-son, said, " The little rascal was tongue-tied, so I have cutit a bit with my scissors; but they must have slipped." Mr.Dale was called, and applied caustic, which stopped thebleeding till the next day. Haemorrhage returning, he ad-vised its removal to the infirmary, where it died, accordingto the evidence of the house-surgeon, of haemol’rhage. Themidwife told Mr. Dale that she had performed this operationin 100 cases or more. The ignorance manifested in theperformance of the operation is, perhaps, exceeded in think-ing that such an operation was necessary in 100 other cases.The jury properly, but too leniently, reflected on the mid-wife for taking on herself duties which belonged only tomedical practitioners. It is lamentable to think that so

many of the respectable poor should be in the hands of suchpeople as the midwife in this case.

QUARANTINE IN THE WEST INDIES.

DR. BowEBBANE, in two letters to the Colonial Standard,protests with great earnestness against the way in whichthe quarantine laws of Jamaica are administered. Heseems scarcely to believe in quarantine at all, but he is

clearly of opinion that the laws, as administered, are adelusion and a snare; that they deceive, and do not in theleast protect. He quotes, too, with great effect, Dr. Gavin

920

Milroy, who in 1872 suffered detention in Trinidad, in con-sequence of the presence of small-pox in Port of Spain.This detention led him to inquire minutely into the opera-tion of the existing quarantine laws, and the result of theinquiry was to satisfy him that the whole system requiresrevision. It does not keep small-pox out, and it imposesenormous hardship and cruelty on individuals, and greatlyinterferes with commerce. Dr. Bowerbank says that the

way in which quarantine has been carried out in Jamaicahas been a sham and a humbug. And the strong expressionis justified by Dr. Milroy’s experience, who says :-"As on former occasions, the small-pox found its way,

towards the end of 1871, into Trinidad, in spite of themedical officer of health and the quarantine regulations atPort of Spain. Again, while Trinidad had to undergo arigorous embargo, Jamaica not only continued to enjoyfreedom, and to issue clean bills of health from Kingston,although it was perfectly well known that the disease hadlong existed in its immediate environs, and occasionally inthe town itself, but actually to impose quarantine on arrivalsfrom infected ports."The whole sanitary system of the West Indies, including

the quarantine laws, evidently demands an inquiry at thehands of the Imperial Government.

SANITATION AT SIERRA LEONE.

FROM the days of Sir Charles Macarthy to the presenttime the question of improving the sanitary condition ofFreetown, Sierra Leone, has been discussed; but little ornothing has been hitherto done. It would seem that, atlast, the initiative has been taken under Governor Hennessy,and that some systematic method of procedure is to beadopted to give effect to the sanitary improvements of whichthe place stands so much in need. This has been mainlydue, we understand, to the strong representations of Dr.Waters, of the army medical service. The dry-earth sys-tem, which is said to have succeeded admirably at Tower-hill barracks, is about to be introduced generally. The re-commendations contained in the Government notice are ofa very simple though satisfactory kind, so far as they go;but we notice that the Acting Sanitary Inspector is an armyofficer. The Government might surely have secured theservices of some member of the medical profession at pre-sent in the colony with special qualifications for the post.It is a reflection on them to suppose that a captain in thearmy was alone fitted to discharge the duties of a sanitaryinspector.

THE QUEKETT MICROSCOPICAL CLUB.IT appears, from a circular issued to the members of this

club, that they have resolved to present a testimonial toMr. T. Charters White, who is about to retire from the I

honorary secretaryship of the club, the onerous duties of liwhich post he has most ably discharged during the pastfour years. All who are acquainted with the working ofthe club must have learned to esteem this retiring officer,and we heartily endorse the hope which the committeeappointed to raise the V’hite Testimonial Fund have ex-pressed, "that the above proposal will meet with the generalapproval and cordial co-operation of the club."

HEALTH OF THE ARMY.

ACCORDING to the Army Medical Blue-book just issued,the average strength, as shown by the weekly sick returnsof non-commissioned officers and men employed in theUnited Kingdom during 1871, was 92,667; the admissionsinto hospital among them amounted to 75,641, the deathsto 764, and the average constantly non-effective from sick-ness to 3594. The admissions were in the ratio of 8-16, the

deaths of 8’24, and the mean daily sick of 38’78 per 1000 ofmean strength. Compared with the results for 1870 therehas baen a slight increase in the admissions and mean dailysick, but a decrease in the deaths; they have all, however,been considerably under the average of the last ten years.

THE LAW OF OBSTETRIC FEES.

THE amount of bad law that medical men have to suffer

at the hands of County Court judges is becoming a veryserious matter. At the Lewes County Court, Mr. WilliamHenry Hepworth has had a midwifery fee disallowed in acase in which he was engaged, but not sent for. Not onlywas Mr. Hepworth not allowed the fee, but he was lecturedby the judge for bringing the action to recover it. Never-

theless, Mr. Hepworth acted with perfect propriety. It isa recognised principle in the profession that a medical manengaged to attend, and not failing through any inattentionof his, is entitled to his fee, even if the patient does notsend for him. What is more to the purpose is, that thisprinciple has been sanctioned by the decision of a judge inthe Court of Common Pleas in a case similar to Mr. Hep-worth’s. A little reflection would make it clear that themere engagement to attend hinders the medical man, whoholds himself in readiness to fulfil his engagement.

DINNER TO DR. THOLOZAN.

THE Epidemiological Society entertained Dr. Tholozan,the physician to the Shah, and Dr. Dickson, the physician °to the Legation at Teheran, at dinner at the Ship Tavern,Greenwich, on Thursday last. Dr. Tholozan has been for

many years one of the foreign corresponding members ofthe Society, and has rendered distinguished services to

epidemiology. Among the hosts were the President (In-spector-General Lawson) ; Sir Wm. Jenner, Bart., K.C.B.;J. Simon, Esq., D.C.L., F.R.S.; Dr. Gavin Milroy; Dr.

Waller Lewis ; Dr. F. J. Mouat ; Dr. Squire, &c.

WE have been informed that the medical officers stationedat Gibraltar have followed the example of their brethren atAldershot, and officially represented their grievances to theauthorities at home. In addition to the representationsmade by the officers at Aldershot, these gentlemen haveurged that Clause No. 17 of the old Warrant, which relatesto precedence attached to rank, shall remain unaltered, andshall replace No. 5 Clause in the new Warrant.

THE nuisances from chemical and manure factories onthe river bank in the neighbourhood of Woolwich are sogreat, that a large public meeting was held at Charlton afew days ago, for the purpose of urging upon the LocalGovernment Board the necessity of taking immediate stepsfor the suppression or removal of these nuisances. An

inspector will probably be sent down to examine the

locality. -

AT the Burton-upon-Irwell Police Court last week, fourpersons were summoned under the Public Health Act for

permitting nuisances in their houses, and an order obtainedin each case. We believe these were the first prosecutionsunder the Sanitary Act. -

FROM Lord Bacon downwards, statesmen have frequentlysought in scientific research a solace from the cares of office.M. Thiers is the last case in point. Deep in the Darwinianhypothesis, he is engaged on a work respecting the originof the human species.

-

THE election to the Council of the College of Surgeonswill take place on Thursday next.

921

FROM different parts of India we have reports of violentstorms and extraordinary heat. In Bombay existence wasbecoming hard to bear, the thermometer registering 96°in the day and 92° at night, while several deaths from

apoplexy had occurred. -

DR. KARL MARx, the head of the International Societyof Working Men, is said to be very ill. Dr. Marx was the

author of several valuable medical works before he began" to wield at will the fierce democratie."

SIR DOMINIC CORRIGAN, Bart., M.P., will preside, anddeliver an address to the students, at the annual distribu-tion of prizes at St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School onWednesday next, July 2nd, at 3 P.M.

DR. GEORGE BURROWS, in a letter to The Times, warnsintending tourists against proceeding to the Bernese Ober-land, small-pox of a most malignant type being prevalentin Thun, Interlaken, and the neighbouring towns.

YELLOW FEVER has broken out with exceptional virulenceon the West Coast of Africa. The Royal Mail steamers,Liberia, Benin, and Loanda, have each lost five of their crew.

WE regret to learn, on the authority of several of theParisian journals, that Dr. Nelaton lies seriously indisposedat his residence at Paris.

____

THE aggregate amount of subscriptions collected on

Hospital Sunday and deposited at the Mansion House is I.623,850.

_____________ ICHARING-CROSS HOSPITAL MEDICAL SCHOOL.

ON the 19th inst., the Lord Bishop of Winchester dis-tributed the class prizes to the successful students of thisschool.

Dr. POLLOCK, the Dean, in presenting the report, foundmany subjects for congratulation. In the first place, thereis the certain prospect of the enlargement of the hospitalby about thirty beds, owing to the acquisition by thegovernors of premises in King William-street and Chandos-street. This enlargement of the building will probably befollowed by improvements in the out-patient departmentand in the school, whereby the facilities for clinical in-

struction will be increased. The governors have been mostliberal in their dealings with the School Committee, andhave resigned all claims to the fees paid by students forhospital practice. They have recently appointed an addi-tional registrar, and have authorised tlse appointment ofan extra assistant-physician, whose special duty it will beto attend to, and give instruction upon, the diseases ofchildren. They have also instituted a Governor’s Gold Medalas a prize for clinical study. The number of pupils in theschool is steadily increasing, the fresh entries during thepast year having amounted to forty, of whom twenty-fivehave matriculated for the whole period of study. The

machinery for teaching has been much improved duringthe past year, and an earnest desire is manifested to adaptthe teaching to modern requirements. A class of PracticalSurgery, with three teachers, for operations, bandaging,and surgical pathology, has been started during the pastsummer. A class of 11 Public Health," conducted by theteachers of Chemistry and Forensic Medicine, and especiallyadapted for the requirements of the Public Health Act,forms part of the prospectus for the ensuing year, as doesalso a class for systematic instruction in Electro-Thera-peutics.The prizes were awarded as follows :-Llewellyn scholar-

ship and medal, Mr. G. Brown; Golding scholarship, Mr.Wickers; Medicine, Mr. L. T. Newnham; Surgery, Mr. G.Brown; Midwifery, Mr. Cautlie; Anatomy, Mr. C. T.Woollett; Physiology, Mr. T. G. Blackman; Chemistry,

Mr. T. A. Phillips; Forensic Medicine, Mr. Cautlie;Pathology, Mr. Cautlie; Materia Medica, Mr. Wickers;Psychological Medicine, Mr. Brown.

After the presentation of the prizes the Bishop of WiN-CHESTER addressed the students in an earnest and most

eloquent speech, which we regret our space does not permitus to print at length. He expressed his conviction of thevery great importance to society at large of everythingwhich tends to raise the standard of the great medical pro-fession. The importance of the medical profession couldhardly be over-rated, and as civilisation advanced its im-portance would increase, for we were daily experiencingthat one of the effects of civilisation, and the high workingof the brain and nervous system which it necessitated, wasto cause more intricate cases of human suffering and ofhuman sickness, requiring of him who had to deal withthem more discernment, more patience, more readiness tomark every symptom, and more power of noticing symptomsand of drawing from them that which they intimate as tothe state within. The venerable prelate bade his hearersstrive to be not merely men of science, but to remember themoral effect upon society of a high character amongst thosewho minister to the sufferings of man. 11 There is," saidhe, " the power of bringing into sorrow, into that which soracks the hearts of friends, the aspect of kindness and thetreatment of tenderness, and of giving to men the sensethat their case is cared for and not hurried over." TheBishop, whose impressive address was listened to withrapt attention, concluded by congratulating the successfulstudents. A vote of thanks to the chairman, proposed byMr. Hird, brought the proceedings to a close.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.JUNE 21ST.

(Before Lord Chief Justice BOVILL, and a Special Jury.)

TUC]KFIELD V. THE METROPOLITAN RAILWAY COMPANY.

THIS was a case of action for injury alleged to havebeen received on the Company’s railway, and was broughtto an abrupt conclusion on the fourth day of the trial asfollows :-The Foreman of the Jury : My lord, we have formed our

opinion.The Lord Chief Justice: If you are satisfied that these

witnesses whom you have just heard are the witnesses oftruth, then the greater part of the plaintiff’s story is con-tradicted. The question then arises, if you cannot believehis testimony with regard to the greater part of his story,can you believe it with regard to any part of it ? PA Juror : We have heard sufficient to satisfy us that the

plaintiff’s case has broken down.Mr. Seymour: I have done as much as, and perhaps even

more than, it was my duty to do. I must say that thereare gross and unpardonable exaggerations in the plaintiff’s

case. I do not think that any counsel is treated fairly whois placed in the position of conducting a case like this,having for his client a person who makes up a claim whichcannot be justified. There are witnesses who, I was in-formed, would be here, but they are not here. I understoodthat their evidence would go to prove certain figures, butas they are not here that falls to the ground. I thought itmy duty to wait until I heard some expression of opinioneither from your lordship or from the jury. Of course I

might now call upon the jury to hear me, and I might askyour lordship to allow the case to proceed, but I hope Ihave sufficient respect for the Court not to trespass undulyupon its valuable time, and I must say that I entirelyapprove of the course the jury have adopted.The Lord Chief Justice: I quite agree in the conclusion

at which the jury have arrived. The learned counsel havedone their utmost -they have done the very best thatcounsel could do in such a case. There are many cases thatcome before the Court that are true and honest cases,founded upon a real injury, in which cases there is a sub-stantial claim for damages. In the course of these sittingssome of you gentlemen have had occasion to investigate anddetermine cases of that sort, and we have had great satis-faction in finding that medical men of position and re-spectability have come forward to prove charges which have