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82 NOTES, COMMENTS, AND ANSWERS TO CORRESPONDENTS. MEDICAL MEN AND ADVERTISING DENTISTS. IT is very remarkable to see in the newspapers puffing testimonials to advertising dentists written by medical men. There are two such testimonials in the Deal and Walmer and Sandwich ,11’ereury. How is the profession of dentistry to be raised if members of the profession of medicine sanction such a system of advertising as they would be ashamed to use in their own case ? U. C. H.-The usual charge for a practice or part of one is two years’ purchase. Our correspondent can make the calculation for himself. His long services as an assistant may entitle him to special con- sideration. T. B. G.-We never recommend individual practitioners. Our corre- spondent should consult his own medical man. LAMP ACCIDENTS. To the Editors of THE LANCET. SIRS,-At the present moment when inquiries are being made as to the cause of lamp accidents I think my experience may help a little. I have now been accustomed to the use of lamps for over thirty years and have never had any serious accident. I have used both cheap and dear lamps with equal results, but I am convinced that had I always used a cheap oil with a low flashing point I should have had more than one serious accident, consequently I am driven to the conclusion that the danger lies in the oil and not the lamp. For the benefit of your readers I give notes of the following occur- rences. A glass lamp was taken upstairs to warm a bedroom. After a time the house was found to be full of smoke. On investigation the wick of the lamp was found to have slipped down into the oil chamber, where it lay smouldering and sending out dense volumes of smoke. The lamp was carried into a bath-room and placed in a bath full of water. A large glass duplex lamp hanging in my surgery fell from its fastenings and was, of course, completely smashed. The lamp went out and no harm was done except a horrid mess. Going into my surgery one morning I found a lamp which was kept burning all night completely enveloped in flame, the oil-gas issuing from the union for screwing the burner on to the holder. I took a piece of flannel and wrapped it round the lamp,putting the flame out. My groom, who had charge of the lamps, told me he had once before found the lamp in flames and had put it into a bucket of water and at the same time gave me the key to the solution of the question, why no serious accident had resulted? He asked me why it was that when at home he happened to spill any oil if he applied a lighted match it at once caught fire and burnt away, but that if he did the same with my oil the oil put the match out. I told him I thought it was because he used the cheap oil with a low flashing point usually sold by oil carts, while I used a better oil with a high flashing point (of course I explained to him the meaning of the term), and I think your readers must come to the same conclusion. I am, Sirs, yours truly, Sept. 24th, 1895. H. J. LAVAGE OF THE STOMACH AS A PRELIMINARY TO ANÆSTHESIA IN OPHTHALMIC OPERATIONS. To the Editors of THE LANCET. SIRs,-In the operations for the extraction of cataract where it is necessary to induce general anaesthesia, a certain risk of escape of the vitreous humour always accompanies the subsequent vomiting; and although in hospital practice it is easy to see that the patients are properly prepared for chloroform narcosis, the same does not always hold good in private practice, where from motives of mistaken kindness food is often surreptitiously given. In a case of cataract extraction, after the induction of anaesthesia, I washed out the stomach, and by that means removed a very good breakfast, and the anaesthesia passed off without any vomiting. A preliminary lavage would in any case remove the mucus which accumulates in the stomach in the early morning, and must contribute itself in no small way to produce vomit- ing. It is my intention in subsequent cases of a like nature to effect a preliminary lavage. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, Concordia, Argentine Itepublic. S. L. WOOLMER. THE LEGAL VALUE OF THE USUAL BOND. To the Editors of THE LANCET. SIRS,-I am informed that quite recently a judgment was given in a London court to the effect that the usual bond between principal and assistant not to practise was illegal and valueless, or to that effect. Will you kindly inform me in THE LANCET if this is correct, and if so, where I can see it or get a copy of it? I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, Sept. 16th, 1895. ENQUIRER. *** The cases bearing on this point are very numerous-too numerous, indeed, to be cited here. The broad result is that such a bond, if the restriction be confined to a reasonably limited district, will be upheld; but if it be attempted by this means wholly to prevent the practitioner bound by it from practising at all, or to exclude him from an area extending beyond the reasonable requirements of the case, the agree- ment on this point will probably be set aside.-ED. L. L. M.—If our correspondent will consult his own medical man he will no doubt obtain the information he seeks. TOMATOES AND CANCER. To the Editors of THE LANCET. SIRS,—There is a very prevalent and firm belief, not by any means’ confined to the more ignorant classes, that tomatoes have a tendency to produce cancer. An authoritative statement in THE LANCET by some physician of eminence-or, if possible, by more than one-as to" whether there is or is not a foundation for this belief, would, I venture to think, be of public utility. Possibly some of your readers may be. able to trace its origin. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, Sept. 23rd, 1895. J. F. C. ** There is no evidence of such association.-ED. L. DOES ILLNESS HAVE ANY BENEFICIAL EFFECT ON ITS SUBJECT? To the Editors of THE LANCET. SIRS,—I should be greatly obliged if any of your readers could give me instances (1) of an individual enjoying better health after an illness- than before; and (2) of one disease diminishing the intensity of, os actually removing, another disease. I am, Sirs, faithfully yours, Devonshire-street, W., Sept. 24th, 1895. HARRY CAMpBELL. Medical Diary for the ensuing Week. OPERATIONS. METROPOLITAN HOSPITALS. MONDAY.-London (2 P.M.), St. Bartholomew’s (1.30 P.M.), St. Thomas’s (3.30 P.M.), St. George’s (1 P.M.), St. Mark’s (2 P.M.), Chelsea (2 P.M. Samaritan (Gynaecological, by Physicians, 2 P.M.), Soho-squara (2 P.M.), Royal Orthopaedic (2 P.M.), City Orthopedic (4 P.M.), Gt. Northern Central (Gynæcological, 2.30 P.M.). TUESDAY.-London (2 P.M.), St. Bartholomew’s (1.30 P.M.), Guy’a (1.30 P.M.), St. Thomas’s (3.30 P.M.), Westminster (2 P.M.), Wes London (2.30 P.M.), University College (2 P.M.), St. George’s (1 P.M.), St. Mary’s (1.30 P.M.), St. Mark’s (2.30 P.M.), Cancer (2 P.M.). WEDNESDAY.-St.Bartholomew’s (1.30 P.m.),University College (2 P.M.), Royal Free (2 P.M.), Middlesex (1.30 P.M.), Charing-cross (3 P.M.), St. Thomas’s (2 P.3,r.), London (2 P.M.), King’s College (2 P.M.), National Orthopaedic (10 A.M.), St. Peter’s (2 P.M.), Samaritan (2.30 P.M.), Gt. Ormond-street (9.30 A.M.), Gt. Northern Central (2.30 P.M.). THURSDAY.-St. Bartholomew’s (1.30 P.M.), St. Thomas’s (3.30 P.M.), University College (2 P.M.), Charing-cross (3 P.M.), St. George’o (1 P.M.), London (2 P.M.), King’s College (2 P.M.), Middlesex (2 P.M.), Soho-square (2 P.M.), North-West London (2 P.M.). FRIDAY.-London (2 P.M.). St. Bartholomew’s (1.30 P.M.), St. Thomas’a (3.30 P.M.), Guy’s (1.30 P.M.), Charing-cross (3 P.M.), St. George’o (1 P.M.), King’s College (2 P.M.), Cancer (2 P.M.), Chelsea (2 P.M.). Gt. Northern Central (2.30 P.M.). SATURDAY.-Royal Free (9 A.M. and 2 P.M.), Middlesex (1.30 P.M.),. St. Thomas’s (2 P.M.), London (2 P.M.), University College (9.15 A.M.), Charing-cross (3 P.M.), St. George’s (1 P.M.), Cancer (2 P.M.). At the Royal Eye Hospital (2 P.M.), the Royal London Ophthalmia (10 A.M.), the Royal Westminster Ophthalmic (1.30 P.M.), and th& Central London Ophthalmic Hospitals operations are performed daily. S O C I E T I E S . WEDNESDAY.-OBSTETRICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.-8 P.M. Specimens. will be shown by Dr. Duncan and others. Papers :-Dr. T. G: Stevens and Dr. Griffith : Notes on the Variation in Height of the- Fundus Uteri above the Symphysis during the Puerperium, the Conditions which influence this, and the Practical Conclusions. which may be drawn from such Observations.-Dr. G. D. Robinson : On certain Micro-organisms of Obstetrical and Gynsecological interest. During the week marked copies of the following newspapers have been received: -Westmorland Gazette, New York Medical Review, Nottingham Guardian, Redditch Indicator, Grimsby News,. Hawick Express, Western Weekly News, Shrewsbury Chronicle, Wolver- hampton Chronicle, Sheffield Telegraph, Leamington Spa Courier, ’ Worcestershire Echo, Hull Daily Mail, Norfolk Daily Standard, Eastern Morning News, Birmingham Gazette, Manchester Courier, Scotsman, Leicester Post, City Press, Sussex Daily News, Vegetarian, Freeman’s Journal, Northern Echo, Newcastle Leader, Manchester Guardian, Brighton Gazette, Liverpool Daily Post, Leeds Mercury, Times of India, Builder, Yorkshire Post, Pioneer Ma,*l, Architect Bristol Mercury, Citizen, East Anglian Daily Times, Liverpool Courier, Newry Telegraph, Sanitary Record, Local Government Chronicle, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital Journal, New York .Times, West Middlesex Standard, Reading Mercury, Weekly Free Press and Aberdeen Herald, Mining Journal, Hertfordshire Mercury, Loca?. Government Journal, Le Temps, Le Courrier de la Presse, Surrey Advertiser, Fife News, Northern Echo, Norfolk Standard, Lincoln- shire Echo, South-Eastern Herald, Iienilworlla Advertiser, Hudders- , field Examiner, Evening Telegraph (Dundee), &c., &c.
