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stretched. Three weeks after this operation the previoussymptoms returned, and Dr. Weiss injected a solution of- curare (half a Pravaz’s syringeful) into the neck. Thesolution contained 0’15 gramme (==25 grains) curare and10 grammes water (=167 grains). The injection was made- every two days ; the patient’s condition improved from dayto day, and at present he is entirely free from torticollis.As for the strength of the preparation, the solution is to bestraw-coloured. At first half a syringeful is to be injected,and the amount is to be increased until tremulousness isinduced.

The Use of Trional for the Sleeplessness of Children.Dr. Klaus 3 has used trional in some diseases of children,

such as chorea, epilepsy with persistent sleeplessness, andsleeplessness due to indigestion. He has obtained gratifyingresults, but in one case symptoms of irritation were observed.According to the age he recommends the following doses :one month to one year, 02 to 0-4 gramme (3 to 6 grains) ;one to two years, 0’4 to 0’8 gramme (6 to 13 grains) ; twoto six years, 0’8 to 1-2 gramme (13 to 18 grains) ; six toten years, 1’2 to 1-5 gramme (18½ to 23 grains). Theremedy is to be taken in hot milk or honey half an hourafter the evening meal.

Inebriates in Lunatic Asylums.A paper on this subject was recently read by Dr. Tilkowsky,

Director of the Lower Austrian Lunatic Asylum at Ybbs. Hesaid that inebriates could not be reclaimed in lunatic asylums,alcohol being prescribed there for dietetic or therapeuticreasons. Experience, however, has proved that recoveryfrom drunkenness was possible only by complete abstinencefrom alcohol. Temperance does not help, for the taking of asmall quantity of liquor causes an inordinate thirst for more.Dr. Tilkowsky therefore advocates the absolute exclusion ofdrunkards from lunatic asylums and the institution of com-pulsory measures, such as already exist in the Englishcolonies and the United States. If it is requisite in theinterests of public health to isolate patients affected withtyphus fever or trachoma, it is also a duty of society to protectlunatics from association with inveterate drunkards and tofound inebriate asylums, for drunkards in their lucid intervalsare disturbing elements in lunatic asylums by reason of theirmental superiority.

A Peculiar Case of Suicide.

Dr. Aczel has published in the Hungarian medical journalGy&oacute;gyr&aacute;szat the following case of suicide. Being recently<sent for he found a woman bathed in blood and beside hersplinters of glass and a bloody knife. In her throat there iwas an incised wound six inches long and her larynx wasremoved, but the carotid arteries were unhurt and pulsatedon both sides. She was still alive, but her breathing wasdeep and irregular. The larynx was found in the blood.The woman was admitted to hospital and died in sixhours. It is singular that such terrible injuries had notcaused instantaneous death.

Dr. Heitzmann.The eminent abilities of the well-known author of the

"’ Anatomical Atlas " not being at first recognised at Vienna,he left his native town some twenty years ago and foundeda microscopical institution at New York. Last Friday hewas the guest of the Vienna Medical Society, and read apaper on his microscopical researches. He was the first toprove that the red blood-corpuscles possess a reticnlar struc-ture. When treated with chromate of potash they showamoeboid movements, and half an hour later filaments reticu-larly interwoven pass through the inside of the corpuscles,the haemoglobin being enclosed in this network. Thisreticulum may also be found when blood is mingled withstale urine. The red blood-corpuscles, therefore, possess lifeas protoplasm, the reticulum exactly representing the livingmatter. Where much living matter is found the constitutionof the individual is good. Dr. Heitzmann infers the natureof the constitution from the quality of the reticulum, and hasbeen able to predict the end of an illness three weeks inadvance by means of microscopical examination. The

organism is a living continuous structure and not an aggre-gation of individual cells.June 2nd.

3

Klinische Rundschau.

NEW YORK.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Opposed to Vivisection.. A SURGEON of Philadelphia recently proposed to splice aB divided nerve with a section of a dog’s nerve, and applied to, the keeper of the public pound for the animal. The vagrants dogs were in the keeping of the Society for the Prevention

of Cruelty to Animals, and the request was promptly refusedby a lady member. " In reply to your note, " she said, "I will say that, although I should always approve of sacrificing

, a dog’s life to save that of a man unless the latter was acurse to the world and the former a boon and blessing

; (which is sometimes the case), I think that I am justified in, refusing to give you one of the dogs at our pound for theegperiment, which may prove of benefit to one of your; patients or may not, the latter being the most likelyalternative." The surgeon replied: "Aside from myself,there are three parties who are to be considered in thismatter : first, the dog; second, the man ; and third, man-kind. First, the dog. I stated to you that the dog would

not suffer, that he would be treated with the same care asthe man, and that after the operation I should continue theanaesthetic till the dog was dead. Secondly, the man. Thisman knows what I am going to do and is anxious to have it

done. His leg is paralysed. If by an ordinary surgicalprocedure I can re-establish the continuity of the nerveI may be able to cure his paralysis. In that case I shouldnot have recourse to the dog. If, on the contrary, the gapbetween the two ends of the nerve is so great that I cannotbring them together, either the man must be condemned toparalysis for life or some other means must be tried tore-establish the nerve and so restore to him the use of theleg. This might be done by the process of nerve grafting.Yet you refuse me a dog on the ground that it is an experiment.Granting that it is, it is at the most a perfectly harmlessexperiment, for it would not be more painful than anyordinary operation ; and even if it absolutely fails, it leavesthe patient not a whit the worse off. If it succeeds, it will beof the greatest possible service to him. Thirdly, mankind.The only way in which surgery can make any progress is bytesting new methods of treatment which have at least areasonable prospect of success. In your misguided zeal fordogs you are guilty, in my opinion, of cruelty to this man,and cruelty to all mankind, because you thwart scientificprogress under the guise of love for animals. You wouldcondemn to the torture and disabilities of accident anddisease people who have happily been rescued by the morehumane scientists of my profession."

Practical Test of the Qualifications of Trained Nurses.The hospitals of New York have each a training-school for

nurses. It has been customary to have public graduatingexercises when the diplomas have been conferred. The

Presbyterian Hospital made an interesting departure a fewdays ago by giving a demonstration of the methods of workby nurses, and of their ability to perform their tasks.Patients were brought from the wards and laid on

cots and operating-tables. Then the more difficult anddelicate work required of the nurses was practically shown.First came an object-lesson on the making of beds andthe changing of sheets and mattresses without removingthe patient from the cot, and then the lifting of the

patient from one cot to another, all being done quicklyand with no disturbance of the subject. After this followedthe application of the different kinds of bandages to thehead, chest, abdomen, arm, leg, hand, and foot, one of thebandages, forming a kind of jacket, encasing the subjectfrom the neck to the hips. Hot and cold water applica-tions were made, and the method of dry-cupping as

practised was practically shown. The method of artificialrespiration, used when the patient’s breathing is deficientor has stopped, consisting of raising and lowering the arms,was likewise exhibited. One of the most interesting treat-ments given by the nurses was the cold bath to reduce thetemperature in cases of typhoid fever. The subject waslowered into a bath of cold water, accurately regulated, andkept there for several minutes, being vigorously rubbed bythe nurses all the time. The making and filling of icebags andthe preparation of poultices were performed rapidly. Onesubject supposed to be suffering from a disease of the throat

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bad her throat sprayed and was then enclosed in a sheetedframework, where a preparation was administered by means<of a vapour.

_______

Obituary.JOHN ANTHONY, M.D. CANTAB., F.R.C.P. LOND.ON June 1st, at Birmingham, Dr. Anthony passed peace-

fully away at the ripe age of 81 years. In many respectsDr. Anthony was a remarkable man, his life being devoted tothe pursuits of natural and applied science. At an early age hebecame a Scholar of Caius College, Cambridge, and a Mickle-burgh scholar in chemistry. He took his M. D. degree in 1859,.and was made a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians in ’,1876. His younger brother was Mark Anthony, the celebrated painter of landscapes. Dr. Anthony was also a devoted,lover of nature in every shape and form. He had travelled.extensively, and made abundent use of his exceptionalpowers of observation and his intelligence. An accurate andenthusiastic worker in scientific research, particularly in

astronomy and microscopical investigation, he acquired allthe latest and modern appliances relating to these subjects.With a wide range of knowledge and a disinterested and impar-tial mind he enjoyed his life in the midst of his pursuitswith singular felicity and ardour, seeing that by reason ofhis love of work and admiration of all nature’s wonders he,passed his time unmoved by worldly perturbations. Someforty years ago he was physician to the General Dispensaryand to the Children’s Hospital, but never took an active partin practice. His studies engaged the whole of his time, andhis collections of natural history and scientific apparatus- occupied his mind and his time. Genial, kind-hearted, andfull of the most varied information, his place will be hardto fill for those who knew him well and partook of hisfriendship and his memories. ’

CHARLES JAMES SYMONDS, M.R.C.S. ENG., L.R.C.P. ED.THE death occurred on May 21st, at Mutley House,

Southampton, of Mr. Charles James Symonds, M.R.C.S. Eng.,L.R.C.P. Edin., at the age of seventy-six years. Deceasedwas the son of the Rev. Samuel Symonds, M.A., Rector ofPhilleigh, Cornwall, and a Justice of the Peace for that licounty. He was educated at Guernsey College and St. Bar- tholomew’s Hospital, London. After taking his qualifica- tions he joined the Royal Mail Steamship Company, and wassurgeon to the troops conveyed by them to and fromthe Crimea, he being present at the Siege of Sebastopoland the Battle of the Alma. After his marriage, in 1859,Mr. Symonds gave up the sea, and in 1867 he com-

menced practice at Woolstone, near Southampton, where Ihe remained for a lengthened period, and as a medical

practitioner was known for miles round. He was held Iin the highest respect and esteem by all who knew him, !,and among the poor -to whom he was always most Igenerous and kind-his name was quite a household word.He lived to a good old age, and although now numberedamong the great majority his memory will ever remain greenwith those whose pleasure it was to be acquainted with him.

ROBERT HODGENS LLOYD, M.D. BRUX., M.R.C.S. ENG.,L.S.A.

DR. LLOYD, whose death occurred on May 10th, had formearly twenty years held the responsible position of medicalsuperintendent of the Lambeth Infirmary, and was highlyesteemed among his colleagues in the metropolitan Poor-lawmedical service. He studied medicine at Westminster Hos-

pital and took the diplomas of the Royal College of Surgeons Iof England and the Society of Apothecaries in 1869. Under theauspices of the National Society for the Aid of the Sick andWounded he served in the Franco-German campaign of1870-71, and soon after his return to England he was selectedto be medical superintendent of the Woolwich UnionInfirmary. In 1876 he succeeded the late Dr. Bullen asmedical superintendent of the Lambeth Infirmary, and heldthe appointment np to the time of his death, which occurredat the comparatively early age of forty-seven years. Dr.Lloyd contributed papers to THE LANCET on various subjectsduring a series of years.

THE GENERAL COUNCIL OFMEDICAL EDUCATION AND

REGISTRATION.

I, LAST week we gave a detailed report of the proceedings ofthe Council on Tuesday, May 28th, and Wednesday, the 29th.On Thursday, the 30th, and Friday, the 31st, the whole timeof the Council was taken up with the consideration of a

single item of business-namely, the case of Mr. Robert

Fitzroy Benham, registered as Member of the Royal Collegeof Surgeons of England 1881. Mr. Benham had beensummoned to answer a series of charges in relation to theQueen’s Jubilee Hospital, Richmond-road, Earl’s-conrt,Kensington, formulated by the solicitor of the Councilon the complaint of the Medical Defence Union. He

appeared before the Council, attended by counsel and

solicitor, and o:Eered an absolute denial to each of the

charges made against him. Several witnesses were examinedon either side and a great number of documents were read,and the Council, at the close of the second day, after

deliberating in private for a considerable time, announcedto Mr. Benham that they found him not guilty of the chargeslaid against him. When the minutes of the proceedingscame to be read on the following day the President informedthe Council that the trial had been an additional cost to theCouncil of nearly f:600. -

The position of the Council towards penal cases is onethe profession will wish to see defined, if not strengthened.It does not, of course, follow that the time and moneyof the Council are thrown away in investigating chargesagainst a practitioner which end in nothing but his acquittal.On the contrary, no disciplinary body could be better engaged.But it is necessary that a tribunal should have proper powerto try or its serio,,lsness of import will be jeopardised.In the case of Mr. Benham it almost appeared as if thedefendant desired the investigation by the Council of the

charges brought against him, and it will be a curious use ofthe Council’s investigations that they should be courted bya medical man to clear his character of charges which heshould meet in a court of law.

In one case the course of events was curious. TheMedical Defence Union withdrew the charges it had made.Dr. Bateman explained that he did so in consequence of thewitnesses who had signed the statements on which he reliedafterwards signing other statements contradicting these.The Medical Defence Union has not had an easy time of it.It is open to abuse from all sides, and it came in for not alittle in connexion with this case. It has a difficult part toplay, and when its able representative has to contend withsuch a foeman as Mr. Bucknill, Q.C., the contest is scarcely afair one. It would seem but fair to Dr. Bateman that theUnion should employ counsel in those cases which it bringsbefore the Council. But even so the collapse which happenedin this case could not have been averted. The honorarysecretary explained that the Union had been at an expense ofE60 with no result and with no credit to itself, while theabortive action told heavily upon the funds of the Council.The profession is under a great debt to the Union for thework it has done, and it will be a pity that it should notmake that work more effective and complete. The GeneralMedical Council is less to be pitied. It has its highly paidlawyers, and it is not too much to expect that they shouldfacilitate the trial of fit cases and save the Council from

listening to those which cannot be satisfactorily dealt withunder its powers.