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German Medicine Tariffs.The Prussian Government has resolved to publish a new

medicine tariff for 1890, though it is likely that a newpharmacopoeia will come into force in the course of the

year. Bavaria will not change her tariff till the newpharmacopœia comes out; while Saxony has issuedsupplementary regulations for 1890.

Dr. Jonas Graetzer.Dr. Jonas Graetzer, who died in Breslau the other day,

aged eighty-three, was one of the few German physicians ofhis time who paid special attention to the history of medi-eine. Only last summer he published a volume entitled"Life Portraits of Eminent Silesian Physicians," some ofwhich are from the fifteenth century, others from our owntime. Graetzer practised exclusively in Breslau, chiefly asa hospital physician in his later years.The Royal Society of Sciences at Upsala has appointed

Professor Engler (keeper of the Botanical Gardens and theBotanical Museum in Berlin) and Professor von Ziemssenof Munich foreign members.

Berlin. Dec. 30th.

VIENNA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Influenza Epidemic.THE number of cases of influenza has again increased

rapidly within the last few days, leaving scarcely a familyin which some member or other has not been affected withthe disease. All the hospitals are overcrowded, and it hasbecome necessary that a new hospital set apart for epidemicdiseases should be opened as speedily as possible. Manycases, especially those of elderly persons, are complicatedwith catarrhal pneumonia, and deaths have also occurredfrom enfeeblement of the heart’s action. In some recentcases, as I am informed, a roseola-like exanthem has beenobserved in connexion with the attacks. The circumstanceswhich tend to make this disease so disagreeable to thepatient are the slowness of recovery, combined with lossof appetite, a bitter taste in the mouth, and a prolongedweakness, which lasts in many cases for some weeks afterthe first attack. I learn, from communications made tome by well-known practitioners in this town, that theyprefer quinine to the other remedies, especially in the laterstages of the disease, and the use of alcohol in small doses isalso recommended. Microscopic examinations by eminentbacteriologists have revealed the presence of numerousmicrococci in the sputum, but injections made with thison rabbits only resulted in the death of the animals fromsepticœmia.

The Anglo-American Vienna Medical Association.The first meeting of this Society was held last week,

when Dr. Preston (America), chairman of the committee,presided. There was a large attendance, and twenty newmembers were enrolled. The following are the most im-portant of the regulations of this Association : 1. The nameof the Association shall be the Anglo-American ViennaMedical Association. 2. The object of the Association shallbe to provide all necessary information to British andAmerican physicians and students coming to Vienna.3. Any British or American physician or medical studentmay become a member on payment of an entrance fee ofone gulden, which entitles him to be an ordinary memberof the Association while in Vienna, and an honorary memberon leaving it. 4. The duty of the committee shall be tocarry out the purposes of the Association by supplying infor-mation &c., and calling meetings of the members whennecessary.

Information as to the Vienna Post-graduate Coursemay be had on application to the Vienna Weekly NeicsMedical Inquiry Office.Vienna, Dec. 30th.

FEVER IN THE HOLBORN UNION SCHOOLS AT

MITCHAM.—The medical officer of these schools has re-

ported to the guardians the existence of scarlet fever inthe establishment, and recommends that the visitation offriends of the inmates should be temporarily discontinued.

NEW YORK.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Homœopathy in New York- defined.SEVERAL years ago the Commissioners of Public Chari-

ties of this city set apart one of the hospitals under theircharge for the exclusive care and management of thehomceopathists, and called it the Homoeopathic Hospital.This action was taken at the earnest solicitation of theHomoeopathic Medical Society of New York. As time wenton the status of homceopathy in this city became so mixedand uncertain that the Homoeopathic Society was doubtfulwhether or not this pet hospital, of which it had so longboasted, was under homoeopathic or allopathic (as theyterm it) control. The medical board was found, on inquiry,to be made up of members who were not true to the dogmasof Hahnemann. The Society accordingly addressed a verysharp communication to the Commissioners of Charities,propounding certain inquiries. The purpose of theseinquiries was to determine what criterion the Com-missioners adopted to know whether an appointee wasa homoeopathic physician. The Commissioners referredthe communication to the president of the medicalboard of the hospital, who is also dean of the Facultyof the Homoeopathic Medical College of this city, andhas for a quarter of a century been the leading homoeo-pathic authority in this country. His reply contains acomplete exposure of the hollow pretensions of the homœo-pathic fraternity, and deals a fatal blow at the system inthis country. He writes as follows :-" When homoeopathywas first introduced into this country the study and prac-tice of it was sufficient to cause expulsion from allo-pathic societies. The Hahnemann Society was, therefore,organised, but by men not one of whom confined himselfexclusively to homceopathy. The later society was alsostrictly homoeopathic only in name, and the name of thehospital itself was adopted originally against the protestof the organising committees. I did not know," he adds," since the death of Dr. Bayard that there was an exclu-sively homoeopathic physician in New York. If there isone, he certainly is not a member of the Committee onPublic Institutions of the Homoeopathic County MedicalSociety, not one of whom would hesitate to prescribe inaccordance with any dogma which would afford relief."

The American Public Health Association.This influential body of sanitarians met in Brooklyn,

Nov. 2lst, 22nd, 23rd, and 24th. The session was largelyattended, and the discussions were of unusual interest. TheAssociation was received by the city authorities with apublic demonstration, which gave great eclat to the meeting.A new feature of this session was the opening of a sanitaryexhibition by the local committee, which proved to be agreat success. The variety of sanitary goods and applianceswas most instructive, and induced a large attendance of

citizens.Dr. Brown-Séquard’s "Elixir of Life."

The announcement that this distinguished physiologisthad discovered a method of renewing the vigour of youthin the aged was received in this country with an increduloussmile by the profession. But there is always a class ofmedical men who are ready at once to test the value of anynew remedy, and during the past month the newspapershave been filled with experiments made in various parts ofthe country. It is surprising at the first blush to note thedifferent results obtained as reported. In the hands ofone experimenter the paralysed immediately walk, the lamethrow aside canes and crutches, the deaf hear, and theblind see. The same experiments failed altogether in thepractice of another. The slightest analysis of the pro-cedures showed the occasion for such discrepancies. In theformer cases the operation was performed in public, and thesubjects of the experiments were informed of the expectedresults; in the latter cases patients were treated in hospital,in the ordinary way, and the effects were negative. Somecurious results have, however, been obtained which mighthave been anticipated. Many patients have suffered fromsymptoms which have been attributed to blood-poisoning,while some have been affected with neuralgias commencingat the seat of puncture, due probably to the wound ofa nerve by the needle. Another feature of the experi-

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ments should be noticed. One experimenter discoveredmicrococci in every preparation, and he therefore advisedsterilising the fluid before use. A somewhat noted medicalwriter thereupon ridiculed the suggestion, asserting thatthe value of the fluid depended upon the living spermatozoawhich it contained, and sterilising the matter used wouldcompletely neutralise its inherent properties as a vitalstimulant. One of the episodes of the controversy has beena wordy war of two prominent medical men, in the courseof which an immense amount of scandal was made public.To the profession, the exhibition which these gentlemenmade of their ability to use " Billingsgate

" was humiliating,

and their conduct met with universal reprobation.New York, Dec. 13th.

THE NEW HOSPITAL CONVALESCENT HOME.

THE following is a compendium of the letter addressedby "The Founder to Sir William Savory, Bart., F.R.S. :—

Having shown the desirability of establishing a sanatoriumfor convalescent patients of the London hospitals, the letterstates that everyone familiar with the subject knows thatpatients on leaving hospital have frequently to go back tounhealthy homes and surroundings and resume the hardbattle of life without adequate physical preparation, withthe result that they often break down and return in amore hopeless state than ever to the hospital. It is pointedout that the essential adjuvants of permanent recovery arethe enjoyment of pure country air, good food, and kindlynursing; and to provide these for the suffering poor the pre-sent scheme has been devised. The hope was indulged thata few of the wealthier capitalists might aid with, say,£ 50,000 each, and so enable the undertaking to be carriedout on a much larger scale than that to which it wasnow necessary to reduce it. Notwithstanding disappoint-ment in that direction the donor proposes to invest

£ 100,000 in securities of the highest class, chiefly Metro-politan Board of Works stock and bank deposits, all

bearing interest from the date of the investment,Dec. 30th, 1889.Thanking Mr. William Henry Cross of St. Bartholomew’s

Hospital, and Sir William Savory, Bart., F.R.S., andacknowledging their practical experience as a guarantee forwise administration, the letter goes on to suggest, first ofall, the purchase of a healthy freehold site, near London,and the erection of the proposed sanatorium, at a cost of£ 20,000, the remainder of the donation to form an endow-ment fund to maintain the charity and to provide accom-modation, for a period of three weeks, for from 800 to 1000patients every year. It is proposed to name the structurethe " Hospital Convalescent Home," and, until sufficientfunds from other willing helpers are forthcoming, to limitits operations, placing fifty beds at the constant dis-posal of, say, two of the London hospitals, for theuse of convalescent patients, or for sufferers about to" undergo operations, and requiring to be braced up forthe ordeal."

It is desired by the donor that the " hospital or hospitalsto be associated with this institution, as well as all otherdetails, shall be left entirely to the judgment and discretionof the trustees and their successors as regards freedom inadministration and management," with the special sug-gestion that the institution should be, as far as possible,conducted in such a way that " the annual expenditureshall be controlled by the annual income."After deprecating the diversion of subscriptions from

other institutions, it is pointed out that this work is onlyundertaken by way of supplementing existing charities,and the letter ends with a desire on the part of the donorthat his name might not be made public.

LEEDS HOSPITAL FOR WOMEN AND CHILDREN.-Dr. Clifford Allbutt and Mr. Scattergood have sent in theirresignations of the posts of consulting physician and seniorhonorary surgeon respectively of the institution. Thecommittee have with much regret accepted the re-

signations.

Obituary.HENRY JAMES WOLFENDEN JOHNSTONE,

F.R.C.S., J. P.

RECENTLY there died at Ramsgate, at the ripe age ofeighty-two, a surgeon who, health permitting, might haveattained a very high position in his profession. The eldestson of Dr. James Johnstone (or Johnson1), one of the

physicians to King William IV., he received his edu-

cation at Westminster School, entering afterwards at

St. George’s Hospital, where he became house-surgeon. Atthis time anatomy and physiology, for want of suitable

accommodation, were not taught in the hospital, but shortlyafterwards Sir B. Brodie erected, at his own expense, acomplete anatomical school, with dissecting rooms &c., at

Kinnerton-street, and Mr. H. J. Johnstone, together with,Mr. Tatum and Mr. H. Charles Johnson, were selected aslecturers and demonstrators, this appointment leading in duetime to Mr. Johnstone’s becoming junior, and afterwardssenior, assistant-surgeon to St. George’s Hospital. Highlypopular as a lecturer and in the dissecting room at

Kinnerton- street, as well as in the out-patients’rooms (at thattime small, overcrowded by patients and pupils, and ill-ventilated), contributing largely to the Medico-ChirurgicalReview, of which he was joint editor with his father, andengaged in a large and exacting private practice-over-worked, in fact, in every way,- it is not surprising thathis health broke down. In 1848 Mr. Johnstone becameaffected with an obscure disease of the stomach, probably agouty thickening of some of the coats, which he firmly be-lieved was cancer of the pylorlis. Under this impressionhe resigned his appointments and retired to Boulogne, ashe supposed, to die. There, however, with complete resthe gradually regained his health, and at the end of two orthree years he returned to London, where he speedilyregained a very large and lucrative private practice. Hisresidence at Boulogne during the stormy scenes whichfollowed the abdication of Louis Philippe and the coupd’Etat of Louis Napoleon, in which Mr. Johnstone took alively interest, led to a circumstance which, in the words ofThe Times (Nov. 27th), is " probably unique in the historyof journalism." In 1851-2 he addressed to The Times a

series of letters, remarkable for their powerful invective,exposing and condemning Napoleon’s imperial designs.That these letters, which appeared with the signature of"An Englishman," displayed great talent we may fairlyassume, since the editor of The Times published them thoughunauthenticated by name and address. In fact, it was not,we believe, till after Mr. Johnstone’s death that The Timesbecame acquainted with the authorship of these letters, whichwere attributed at the time to various persons of eminence.Before long, disregarding past experience, overworked andnegligent as to his diet, the old symptoms returned againand again, and, on each occasion, led to the conviction thatmalignant disease had made its appearance. At one time,there was a painful enlargement of the tibia which Mr.Johnstone persisted must be cancer, till disabused of theidea by Sir William Fergusson half jocularly offering to goto Ramsgate and amputate the limb. Tired at last ofresuming practice only to give it up again after a briefinterval, Mr. Johnstone finally withdrew to the house whichhe had built for himself at Ramsgate, and there he mighthave lived even longer than he did had he not taken tooactive a part in schemes for the main drainage as well as forthe general management of the town. This led to pro-tracted litigation into which he threw himself, as usual,heart and soul. Though ultimately successful at all points,the strain upon his nervous system was too great. Againthe digestive powers of his stomach gave way, the thicken.ing reappeared, and Mr. Johnstone died peacefully fromasthenia last October, receiving, almost on his death bed, atestimonial from hundreds of the leading inhabitants ofRamsgate bearing witness to the great services which hehad rendered to the town.

1 The name was properly "Johnstone," but, by a clerical error at theAdmiralty, in his commission as assistant-surgeon, it was spelled"Johnson." Ordered on urgent foreign service (it was at the time ofthe great French war), there was no way to get the error corrected, so"Johnson" he remained in the Navy List till his death.