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the weight of an annular mass of water instead of from aheavy weight placed on the folded air-bellows as in the caseof the modern "pneumatic" organ. A new instrumentknown as a "turbidimeter" for determining the turbidityof water was shown in accordance with the ingenious clesignof Mr. C. Anthony. The instrument consists of two paralleltubes, one containing the water to be examined and the othera Nichol prism. The eye-piece contains another Nichol

prism. By rotating the eye-piece the illumination of the onefield can be varied until it matches the field receiving thelight through the standard thickness of water under examina-tion. This apparatus, it seems to us, should be very valuablein the examination of public water-supplies. ProfessorE. Rutherford and Mr. F. Soddy showed that the radio-activeemanations of radium and thorium can be condensed bymeans of liquid air, volatilisation taking place, however, assoon as the temperature rises. Their actual quantity is

infinitesimally small ; they are invisible and unweighable buttheir presence can be detected by the property of radio-

activity. Professor J. Sollas, F.R S., showed an ingeniousmethod for determining the specific gravity of blood, usingonly a single drop for the purpose. A fluid heavier andanother lighter than blood are introduced through a tube, theheavier first, so that the lighter fluid added subsequentlyfloats upon it. Both fluids consist of a mixture of chloroformand benzine; the specific gravity of the heavier fluid is1-07 and that of the lighter is 1-04. The two fluids mix bydiffusion, a column being obtained in which the specificgravity varies continuously. A drop of blood obtained froma pin prick is then added and this sinks in the columntill it reaches a level where the specific gravity is identicalwith its own. By means of glass floats the specific gravityof the drop of blood may be indicated. An interestingillustration of the way in which gun accidents may arisewas given by Mr. J. Y. Buchanan, who showed in thefirst place the effect which was produced by the momentaryrelief of great pressure upon spheres at great depths underthe sea, pointing out that the collapse of the brass tube inthe peculiar circumstances of one experiment is the exact

counterpart of a mistake unintentionally made by peopleout shooting, especially in winter. If the muzzle of the

gun becomes stopped with a plug of even the lightest snowthe gun invariably bursts. Light as the plug of snow is, it

requires a definite time for a finite pressure, however great,to expel it. During this short time the tension of the gasesliberated from the powder is so great that the barrel isunable to withstand it and bursts. The Cooper-Hewittmercury vapour lamp attracted very general interest. The

light derived from the electric discharges through mercuryvapour is entirely devoid of red rays and the eye sustainslittle fatigue under this form of illumination. Mr. J.Mackenzie Davidson showed a new stereoscopic fluoroscopewhich beautifully portrays objects in relief in the path ofthe x rays.In the meeting room lantern demonstrations were given

by Professor E. D. Poulton, F.R.S., and by the BioscopeCompany.

MEDICINE AND THE LAW.

Parents and Medièal Aid.THERE are two more or less well-known religious sects in

England the members of which profess not to consider it

right to obtain medical aid or to apply anything in the

nature of scientific remedies when they are ill, and from timeto time cases occur in which death and the question ofcertification call attention to tenets which, to ordinarypersons, appear to be extremely foolish as well as dangerousto human life. No adult can be compelled by law to availhimself of the services of a physician or surgeon and èon-sequently it is only when children die that the questionarises whether those having the custody of them should bepunished. A number of cases have been tried during thepast 50 years in which members of the sect known as thePeculiar People have been charged with manslaughter andother offences according to the facts proveable against them,with various results. At one time an Act of Parliament(31 & 32 Vict., Cap. 122, Sec. 37) made it an offence punish-able on summary conviction to neglect to provide adequatemedical aid for a child whereby his health should be,or should be likely to be, seriously injured and it

was held that in a case where death ensued upon) such neglect a conviction for manslaughter might take

: ptace. The set:tion in question has for some time been

’ revealed and in its place the Prevention of Cruelty toiChildren Act of 1894 makes it a misdemeanour for any. person who has the custody, charge, or care of any child

rwilfully to neglect such child in a manner likely to causesuch child injury to his health, and in a case arguedbefore the Court for the consideration of Crown Caseslteserved the wilful omission to provide medical aid fora child has been held to be neglect within the mean-

ing of this Act, so that on death occuiring through suchomission the parent or other responsible person may be

charged with manslaughter. Persons so charged have some-times been convicted and sometimes have been acquitted.It is not easy to obtain a conviction, which must to a

large extent rest upon medical evidence. A medical witnessin such a case has usually not seen the deceased during theprogress of the illness or at any time before death, andunless he is prepared to state positively that the neglectto provide medical aid shortened the lite of the deceasedthere is no evidence of manslaughter. Even if a convic-tion for this serious offence takes place a very light penaltyis imposed owing to a natural desire of the judge to belenient towards misguided persons acting under the influenceof honestly held religious beliefs. Punishments thus in-flicted have no deterrent effect. The same parents havebeen known to let child after child die in similar circum-stances of neglect and even though the deaths may not benumerous, because the Peculiar People are few, still the factremains that these preventable deaths take place, while otherchildren suffer unnecessary pain, and to these, if they donot die, no attention as a rule is called. At the presentmoment there are parents awaiting trial who, according tothe evidence laid before the magistrate, did not call in amedical man when their child to their knowledge wassuffering from diphtheria. No comment can of course bemade on this particular case, in which the charge is not oneof manslaughter but of neglect so as to cause unnecessarysuffering. The question, however, may well be ventilatedapart from any particular instance whether some specialmeans ought not to be provided by law for the compulsoryrescue of the sick children of parents whose religiousviews are opposed to medical interference. Such rescueor removal need not last beyond the child’s restorationto health and would be in accordance with the principlethat prevention is better than the punitive measures whichfail to provide a remedy. It is not at all certain that

parents holding views of the nature indicated would regardit as a hardship or as a martyrdom even of the mildest kindthat medical aid should be applied to their children by othersunder the authority of the law. The Peculiar People holdthat they would commit sin by acting voluntarily as if theydoubted the passage in the Bible responsible for their conduct(St. James v. 14). It has never, however, been shown thattheir tenets go beyond this or that they would dream ofresisting acts which would be done by others without

implicating them and without any connivance on their part.Two sects have been mentioned above ; the second, knownas Christian Scientists, is of a different character. ThePeculiar People, founded in 1838 by two men named Bridgesand Banyard, have never increased to any considerable extentand are drawn from the humbler classes in London andits neighbourhood, especially in Kent and Essex. TheChristian Scientists, whose non-employment of medical aid isapparently based upon denial of the existence of anything somaterial as disease and death, are of more recent origin,occupy quite a different social position, and are said to benumerous not only in London but also in the provinces. TheChristian Scientist, however, does not seem hitherto to haveventured to test the efficacy of the Prevention of Cruelty toChildren Act by allowing his children to die without medicalaid or else no instance of his doing so has attracted attentionin this country. Possibly his faith is of a less establishedcharacter than that of the Peculiar People or he may thinkthat a judge would not be inclined to treat an educated manas he would a fanatic with less opportunity for the develop-ment of his intelligence. In the United States of America,however, the deaths of the children of Christian Scientistswithout medical aid being sought are not unknown and theymay occur at any time in our own country. The matter isnot an easy one to deal with as there would be no certaintythan the illness of a child among the Peculiar Peopleor Christian Scientists would ever be heard of. Probably,

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however, neighbours would be ready to give information if to Ido so was of any practical utility. At present little can bedone except in certain cases where removal is necessary forthe purpose of isolation. It must be borne in mind thatthe sects named do not exhaust the numbers of thosewho, for religious reasons, disapprove of scientific inter-ference and similar sects may be brought into being. More-over, it is not easy to see why religious motive on the part ofour fellow citizens should excuse our practically acquiescingin the pain and death of their children. We should not,presumably, allow members of fanatical sects to flagellatetheir children, or to starve them, or to make them performdangerous acts as tests of their childish faith in accordancewith the precepts of a religion devised by some one emulousof the success, financial and otherwise, of Mrs. Eddy. If,however, the religious motive prevents us from inflicting adeterrent punishment when the law is broken we mightsupply ourselves with means for preventing as far as

possible the suffering and death of helpless children.

Bogus Degrees.The libel action Garnett o. Clarke tried in the King’s

Bench Division on June 15th and 16th, in which the bogusdegrees conferred by "Harriman University," of Tennessee,U.S.A., formed the subject of inquiry, is of considerableinterest to the medical profession. It not infrequentlyhappens that a quack summoned under the Medical Actfor the use of titles implying registration endeavours totreat the matter as if the offence were a merely technicalone and although he cannot allege that he ever possessedqualifications recognised as such in Great Britain, instructshis counsel to urge on his behalf, in mitigation of an in-evitable penalty, that he is a graduate of a university abroadholding highly sounding degrees and to be regarded as aperson trained to practise medicine, but excluded by pro-fessional jealousy from doing so in this country. The

University of Harriman appears to exist to some extent asan educational centre-that is to say, there was evidencethat some part of the buildings are in use, though dirtyand ill-kept, as a school for boys and girls. More-over, of 26 professors included in the list of its in-structors five were actually traceable as existing, one

of whom at the time of inquiry occupied the chairof "domestic science" when not putting principle into

practice as housekeeper to an oil agent who, with hiswife, lived in a portion of the university buildings. The

university also possesses a chancellor, for he made a personaloffer to confer upon Mr. Garnett, the plaintiff in the- libelaction, the degree of S.T.D., in addition to that of D.D.,apparently without extra charge. The letters S.T.D. wereexplained by Mr. Garnett in the witness-box as standing forisacra Tlteologia IJooto’/’is, and the erudition of members ofthe university was further attested by a letter of the obligingchancellor, who wrote : "I I have so arranged your name as tocause my books to show that your degree has been earnedand it will come pro merito and not pro horroris." Theexamination for the degrees thus earned by Mr. Garnett tookplace at Ocean Grove and at Philadelphia and he admittedthat he had never been to Harriman in his life, although hedemurred to the suggestion that he had not beenwithin 1000 miles of it The article, moreover, in the6%?*MM<:M. World which formed the subject of the libelaction, disclosed that a recipient of a Harriman B. A.

degree had been examined in the house of Mr. Garnettin London and that the papers had been forwarded sealedto Harriman, or at all events to the United States, to belooked over. Mr. Garnett himself seems to have taken the

degrees of B.A., M.A., B.D., and D.D., and reallyat the price a man less easily contented might havehad a few more without laying himself open to the

charge of extravagance, for matriculation at Harrimancosts 10 dollars, the examination such as Mr. Garnett

successfully underwent is charged at 30 dollars, and

degrees can be had at 10 dollars apiece. No evidencethat medical degrees have been conferred at Harriman wasgiven, but’the university does not confine itself to theology,for besides the professor of domestic science already men-tioned a professor of astronomy was spoken of who, in non-professional moments, practises as a dentist and legalinstruction was described as occupying one week in the

year. In any case Harriman University does not standalone. It is merely a striking example of institutions notconfined to the United States which exist, but do not flourish,for the dissemination of bogus titles to the deception of the

ignorant and unwary. The Christian World is to be con-gratulated upon the full and public exposure which it hasbrought about.

New Milk Deficient in Fat.The Divisional Court in a recent case upheld the conviction

of a milk-seller, under the Sale of Food and Drug Act, 1875,for selling (on being asked for new milk by the inspector) aliquid which had been taken directly from the cow and hadnot been tampered with or adulterated, but which in conse-quence of the length of time which had elapsed since thecow had last been milked, was deficient in fat to an extent of30 per cent., the remainder of the fat having been ab&orbedby the cow during the unduly long interval between themilkings, the offence being that the article was not of thequality demanded of him.

Adultercction.-5’ale by a Li1nited Company.-PreviousAno,7vledge (If Purchaser as to Adulteration.

The Divisional Court in a resent case decided (1) that alimited company is a "person" " within the meaning ofSection 6 of the Sale of Food and Drugs Act, 1875, andtherefore could be convicted ; and (2) that a sale may be tothe prejudice of the purchaser although the purchaser hadprevious knowledge, not derived from information given bythe seller, that the article sold was not of the nature,substance, and quality demanded by him. The test is :Whether the sale would have been to the prejudice of apurchaser who had not that special knowledge.

Accident Insurance. - Was Deatk caused by Accident orIntervening Cause ?

Mr. Justice Wright recently heard the case of Mardorf v.Accident Insurance Co., in which the assured person hadtaken out an accident insurance policy with the condition thatit should not apply to " death caused by, or arising whollyor in part from, any I I intervening cause." The assured onJuly 2nd accidentally inflicted a wound on his leg with histhumb-nail. His leg became inflamed and on July 9therysipelas had set in. This was followed on July 12th bysepticaemia and on July 16th by septic pneumonia, from whichcomplaint he died on July 22nd. It was conceded by theinsurance company that the septic germs, the developmentof which resulted in the man’s death, were introduced intohis body at the time of the infliction of the wound. Mr.Justice Wright held that the erysipelas, septicasmia, andseptic pneumonia were not intervening causes" within themeaning of the policy but merely different stages in the

development of the septic condition which was immediatelybrought about by the introduction of the poison and thatthe man’s death was directly and solely caused by the acci-dental injury to his leg.Vinegar of Squills.-Acetic Acid.-Standard of Quality.-

Analyst’s Certificate.In the recent appeal case of Hudson v. Bridge the

Divisional Court held that the court of summary jurisdictionwas wrong in deciding that there was a standard for the

quantity of acetic acid which should be present in vinegar ofsquills. The court was also of opinion that the analyst’scertificate should have reported that the article in questionwas liable to decomposition and as the certificate did not doso it was void under the schedule to the Sale of Food andDrugs Act, 1875, which provides that: "In the case of thecertificate regarding milk, butter, or any article liable to

decomposition, the analyst shall specially report whether anychange had taken place in the constitution of the articlethat would interfere with analysis."The Power of an Inspector to procure Samples of Milk outside

his own District.The Divisional Court in the recent case of McNair v. Cave

decided, with some reluctance, that the power conferred

upon inspectors under Section 3 of the Sale of Food and

Drugs Act Amendment Act, 1879, to procure at the placeof delivery" a sample of milk in course of delivery to thepurchaser in pursuance of a contract of sale cannot beexercised by an inspector outside the district for which he isappointed. For instance, an inspector for the city ofWestminster cannot intercept at St. Pancras milk intendedultimately for a dairyman carrying on business at West-minster.

When is a Home for Epileptics a Hospital ?The Divisional Court in the recent case of Ormskirk Union

v. Chorlton Union decided that an institution having for its

object the care and treatment of persons suffering fromepilepsy, which was partially supported by endowments and

1832

partially by donations and payments made on behalf of thepatient, is a hospital within the meaning of Section 1 of thePoor Removal Act, 1846. One of the judges remarked : " In

my opinion a hospital is none the less a hospital becausesome patients may make payments. It would be placing agreat burden upon parishes in which institutions such asthese are situated if the residence of patients in them wereto have the effect of making the parish liable to supportthem. "

Adnaixtecre (If Arsenic in Beer.-Analyst’s Certifieate. -S16jJioienoy of Partic2clars.

The Divisional Court in the case of Goulder v. Rook decidedthat a certificate of a public analyst which merely states thata sample of beer submitted to him for analysis " contains aserious quantity of arsenic " is insufficient. The certificateshould be more explicit and should contain exact detailssufficient to enable the magistrate to come to a conclusion.

The Liability of a Surgeonfor Lack of Skill and Care.In the case of Lanphier v. Phipos, which was an action

against a surgeon for "carelessness, negligence, and un-

skilfulness," it was said in the judgment: ,Every personwho enters into a learned profession undertakes to bring tothe exercise of it a reasonable degree of skill and care ; hedoes not, if he is an attorney, undertake to gain a cause inall events ; nor does a surgeon undertake that he will per-form a cure; nor does the latter undertake to use the

highest possible degree of skill, as there may be persons ofhigher education and greater advantages than himself ; buthe does undertake to bring a fair, reasonable, and competentdegree of skill; and in an action against him by a patientthe question for the jury is whether the injury complainedof must be referred to the want of a proper degree of skilland care in the defendant or not." And in the leading caseof Rich v. Pierpont it was laid down that to render a medicalman liable for negligence or want of due care or skill itis not enough that there has been a less degree of skill thansome other medical man might have shown, or a less degreeof care than even he himself might have bestowed ; nor is it

enough that the practitioner himself admitted some degree ofwant of care ; there must be proof that there has been awant of competent and ordinary care and skill, and to sucha degree as to have led to a bad result.Conclusiveness of Oertificate of Medical Referee: workmen’s

Concpensation Aot, 1897’.The Court of Session in the case of M’Avan v. Boase

Spinning Company held that the certificate given by amedical referee under Schedule I. of the Act (stating that aworkman who was in receipt of weekly payments under theAct had recovered from the injuries in respect of which thepayments were made, and that although be was sufferingfrom partial disability for work such disability was notconnected with the injuries, but was " the result of deficientnatural vigour of constitution, together with advancingyears"), was conclusive against any further claim by theworkman for compensation under the Act.

ASYLUM REPORTS.

Cunaberland and Westmorland Asylum (Annual Report ,

for 1902),-The average number of patients resident duringthe year was 677, comprising 344 males and 333 females.The admissions during the year amounted to 190-viz., 88males and 102 females. Of these 142 were first admissions.Dr. W. F. Farquharson, the medical superintendent, states inhis report that the number of admissions was considerablyabove the average of recent years and had only twice beenexceeded in the history of the asylum. Of the 190 patientsadmitted 176 were chargeable to the rates and 14 were

private patients. "The admissions include four cases of

congenital imbecility, five cases of epilepsy, two cases ofgeneral paralysis, 18 patients over 70 years of age, and fivecases transferred from other asylums ; the great majority ofthe cases just enumerated were incurable, and the remainderof the admissions included an unusually large proportion ofunfavourable cases." In 28 cases the attack of insanity hadlasted more than a year before the patient was taken tothe asylum. Nearly two-thirds of the patients were admittedin weak health, seven were in a very exhausted and feeblestate, and several died shortly after admission. 57 of the

patients who were admitted had suicidal tendencies and21 had actually attempted suicide. A great variet3of causes of insanity was assigned for the cases admitted,Conditions affecting the bodily health were responsiblefor the onset of insanity much more frequently than weremental shocks or business worries. By far the most import.ant of the causes was hereditary predisposition to insanity,which was ascertained in 32 per cent. of the cases, thoughit probably existed, adds Dr. Farquharson, in a much large!proportion. In 11’5 5 per of cent. cases alcoholic intemperancewas the exciting cause of insanity as compared with 17’7per cent. of cases in 1901 and 20’ 3 per cent. in 1900. 11 It is

pleasing to be able to record," adds Dr. Farquharson, "adiminution in the number of cases due to a preventable causesuch as alcoholism. It is to be hoped that the new LicensingAct will have a decided influence in reducing drunkenness,and if it has that effect the community will in time reap thebenefit in a diminished amount of insanity and crime." Thenumber of patients discharged as recovered during the yearamounted to 70, or 10’3 per cent. of the average numberresident. The deaths during the year amounted to 61, or

9 per cent. as calculated on the same basis. Of the deathsthree were due to pneumonia, four to general paralysis of theinsane, four to pulmonary tuberculosis, seven each to

organic brain disease and senile decay, eight to epilepsy,13 to cardiac disease, and the rest to other causes. A post-mortem examination was made on every patient who died.The general health of the inmates was good and there wasan absence of epidemic or zymotic disease during the year.The Commissioners in Lunacy state in their report that thepatients were neatly dressed, that the wards were comfort-able and the building in good order, that the food of thepatients was satisfactory and evidently relished by them,and that the medical case-books were very satisfactorilykept. The committee of management states in its reportthat the weekly charge of maintenance was 9s. 4d. perpatient and that extensions to the building are proposed tobe made at a cost of .837,000.

Leicester B07’mtgk Asylum (Annual Report for 1902).-Theaverage number of patients resident during the year was 791,comprising 326 males and 465 females. The admissions

during the year amounted to 197-viz., 72 males and 125females. Of these 164 were first admissions. Dr. J. E.Montague Finch, the medical superintendent, states in his

report that of the 740 patients remaining in the asylum atthe end of the year 1902 13 men and 15 women were deemedcurable. An unusually large number of patients have beenactively suicidal during the year and several determinedattempts at self-destruction were made. The principal causesof insanity in the admissions were heredity in 34 cases,alcoholic intemperance in 17 cases, domestic trouble andadverse circumstances in 14 cases, and recurrence of a

previous attack in 20 cases. The number of patients dis-

charged as recovered during the year amounted to 68, com-prising 29 males and 39 females, or 8’6 per cent. of theaverage number resident. The deaths during the yearamounted to 75-viz., 31 males and 44 females, or 9’4 percent. as calculated on the same basis. Of the deathsthree were due to cerebral heamorrhage, three to pneu-monia, five to cerebral softening, seven to cardiac disease,eight to pulmonary tuberculosis, nine to senile decay,10 to influenza, 16 to general paralysis of the insane,and the rest to other causes. "The death-rate in 1902,"adds Dr. Finch, "was somewhat higher than in the

previous year, partly in consequence of an outbreak ofepidemic influenza from which ten female patients died,and also owing to the very unfavourable state of the bodilyhealth of many of the admissions, no fewer than six

patients having died in less than a week after admission....... Most of these patients had to be carried in whenbought here and never left their beds. The number ofbedridden and aged patients continue to increase." Aconsiderable number of improvements and alterations havebeen effected during the year in regard to facilities forescape in case of fire and with reference to increase of

water-supply in case of emergency. The Commissionersin Lunacy state in their report that the general conditionof the asylum was excellent, that the wards were brightand plentifully supplied with objects of interest, that thedormitories and bedding were in a thoroughly satisfactorycondition, that the patients were neatly clad and orderly inbehaviour, and that the medical case-books were well kept.The committee of management states in its report thatsince the date of the previous report extensions and additions