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Dr. Thompson, of Omagh, has failed to obtain such. On theother hand, there are very many undisputed cases of personsbitten by rabid animals having died after treatment by theblcGauran method. Until a well-authenticated case of re-covery by this method is recorded, a discreet silence on thepart of its advocates would be advisable.

BRITISH DENTAL ASSOCIATION.

The first meeting of the Irish branch of the British DentalAssociation was held last week in the Royal College ofSurgeons. The President (Mr. D. Corbett), in his address, saidthat the labour and duties they had undertaken as members ofthe British Dental Association were by no means light andinsignificant ; therefore they must individually, and con-jointly with the parent Association, exercise all their in-fluence to compel outside members of the profession to adoptthat reform which a conscientious acknowledgment of whatthe public expected from the educated and honest practi-tioner of the day should beget. He saw around him youngpractitioners, and to them he would more particularlyaddress his concluding observations. When urging themforward in the pursuit of knowledge, in the languageof a well-known author, he would say 11 seek greedily thatknowledge which would comfort them, adorn them, andnever quit them, which would open to them the kingdom ofthought and all the boundless regions of conception, as anasylum against cruelty, the injustice, and the pain thatmight be their lot in the outer world; that which wouldmake their motives habitually great and honourable, andlight up in an instant a thousand noble disdains at the verythought of meanness and of fraud."

THE DERRY MAYORALTY.

At a meeting of the Derry Corporation held last week,Sir William Miller, M.B., surgeon to the County DerryInfirmary, was unanimously elected Mayor for 1888. SirWilliam Miller, it may be added, has declined to receive anyemolument during his year of office.

CASE OF ALLEGED POISONING BY A MEDICAL MAN.

The Cork Grand J ury last week found a true Bill againstDr. Philip Cross, who is charged with having poisoned hiswife last June. The trial is proceeding.The annual ball in aid of the funds of the Dublin Ortho-

pædic Hospital will, it is announced, take place in the NewLeinster Hall on the llth of January next.Dublin, Dec. 13th.

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BELFAST.

(From our own Correspondent.)

THE QUEEN VICTORIA CONVALESCENT HOME.

OF the many schemes that in Belfast were brought beforethe public to celebrate Her Majesty’s Jubilee, none havesucceeded so well as that put forward by the Ladies’ Com-mittee of the Hospital for Sick Children-to provide a Con-valescent Home in connexion with the hospital. The sumaimed at was £3200, and already there is .62500 promisedand subscribed. Last week a most successful amateurconcert was given, and a sum of over X70 was raised by itfor the Convalescent Home. It is very strange that, althoughthis hospital contains forty-five beds, and has an immenseextern department, and although students have attendedthe cliniques given by the physicians and surgeons everyyear since 1875, the Senate of the Royal University do notsee the fairness and necessity of recognising this hospitalas a teaching institution in connexion with the RoyalUniversity. The number of students who are attending thehospital this year is as large as that of last session.

THE BELFAST MEDICAL STUDE:-rTS’ ASSOCIATION.At a largely attended meeting of the members of the

Medical Students’ Association, held on Dec. 6th, the fol-lowing resolutions were passed unanimously :-" 1. Whereasthe principle adopted by the Royal University of alteringtheir regulations and curriculum, and of making thesealterations affect students already matriculated, has been a lisource of much confusion and injustice in the past, and Istill continues so, it is resolved that we, the BelfastMedical Students’ Association, respectfully protest againstthis principle as subversive of confidence in the Uni-

versity, and manifestly a breach of confidence ont

the part of that body. 2. That the members of theBelfast Medical Students’ Association respectfully desireto call the attention of the Senate of the RoyalUniversity to the fact that since the institution of the-third examination there is not a single Belfast manon the list of examiners for the degree examination inmedicine. In making this representation they do notwish in any way to reflect on the fairness of the examina-tion, but only to claim the privilege of having one or moreof their teachers on the Examining Board." After theseresolutions had been passed, a discussion took place on theBest Text-books for Students, which was introduced byDr. Byers, and on the Importance of Case-taking, whichwas opened by Dr. Calwell. This Association, under thepresidency of Dr. J. A. Lindsay, is, during the presentsession, in a very healthy and vigorous condition, and is apleasant bond of union between the students.

THE BELFAST DISTRICT LUNATIC ASYLUM.

The question of the proposed enlargement of this institu-tion came up for discussion at a meeting of the governors onDec. l2ch. Mr. Nugent (inspector) gave his opinion in favourof going into the country for a new site, and building a newasylum altogether in preference to the project of adapting a.workhouse, should such a building become available for thepurpose. This new building would be a sort of annexe to.the present asylum. Mr. Nugent thought it would be moresatisfactory and more economical to erect a new building,as workhouses were unsuitable for such purposes, and torender them available the expense of the necessary altera-tions would be very considerable. Finally, after a longdiscussion, it was decided to postpone the whole questionfor three months, and in the meantime a deputation is towait upon Mr. Balfour, the Chief Secretary for Ireland, forthe purpose of inquiring what are the intentions of the-Government in reference to the proposed measure for theamalgamation of Irish Poor Law Unions. When the reportof this deputation is received the question will again come.up for discussion, and probably for final settlement.

Belfast, Dec. 13th. ________________

PARIS.

(From our Paris Correspondent.)

MICROBES AND EXPIRED AIR.

WITH reference to the note on confined air and the de-

velopment of phthisis by Professor Brown-Séquard, whichwas published in my letter of last week, I may here givethe summary of a communication read by Professor Bouchardat the following meeting of the Academy of Sciences onbehalf of MM. T. Straus and W. Dubreuille, tending to provethe absence of microbes in expired air. Lister was the firstwho made the observation that the air introduced into thepleural cavity after a simple fracture of the ribs (withoutany exterior wound) produced effects very different from, andinfinitely less grave than, those resulting from a pneumo-thorax consecutive to a penetrating wound of the cheat.This fact, he added, was to him a mystery, until-thanks tothe germ theory-he understood that it was natural thatthe air was filtered by the bronchi, one of the offices of whichis to arrest the particles of dust inhaled, and to preventthem entering into the pulmonary vesicles. This explana-tion was confirmed experimentally by Tyndall, who showedthat the expired air is "optically pure." The researches ofMM. Straus and Dubreuille by the bacteriological methodscompletely confirmed the experiments of Tyndall. Theytended to demonstrate that the air expired, even thoughoptically pure, is almost completely deprived of microbes.The lungs therefore really play, for the micro-organisms,the rôle of a filter-a function which Lister attributed tothem. Divers experimenters have endeavoured to findin the expired air pathogenic microbes, but always withoutresult. Professor Grancher had performed a great numberof experiments on the expired air of phthisical patients, buthe had never been able to discover the presence of Koch’sbacillus or spores. MM. Charrin and Karth had prosecutedanalogous researches, but with negative results. From thesefacts the authors conclude that when human beings oranimals are collected in a confined space, their respiration,far from contaminating the air, tends to purify it-that is,

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as far as microbes are concerned. This is what might bt3expected, as the air, on leaving the lungs, contains less ofmicrobes than at its entrance. This fact does not in anyway militate against that which was long ago establishedby MM. Pasteur, Lemaire, Miquel, &c.,-that is, that themicrobes are very abundant in the air of crowded roomssuch as hospital wards, harracks, &c. The act of respirationhas nothing to do with this phenomenon; it is not by the airwhich they expire-that is, by their breath-that peoplecrowded together charge the surrounding air with microbes;it is by their clothes, by the dust caused by theirmovements, by their expectoration dried on the floor andblown about in the form of powder, by which the dis-semination of the microbes in the air is effected. Therespiration of human beings within a closed space contri-butes its contingent of noxious gases, but it tends to purifythe air of the microbes which it contains.

TINEA DECALVANS (" PELADE ").A discussion took place at the Academy of Medicine

ãast week on the contagiousness or non-contagiousness oftinea decalvans (" Pelade "), but without much satis-factory result on either side. Dr. Ollivier has for thethird time brought the subject to the notice of the

Academy. Considering that, this malady is not con-

tagious, the author protested vehemently against the ex-clusion in schools of the pupils who are affected by it.Dr. Ollivier believes that tinea decalvans is caused by asudden nervous perturbation, an unexpected emotion, or byvery great sorrow. He would therefore recommend thatthe quarantine to which such pupils are subjected shouldbe removed, and that they should be allowed to prosecutetheir studies in common with the others. Dr. Hardy, thewell-known dermatologist, declared that he entertained anopinion diametrically opposed to that of Dr. Ollivier ;Professor Cornil shares Dr. Ollivier’s opinion, and statedthat what tends to prove the non-transmissibility of tineadecalvans is that one does not find in this affection eithercryptogams or micro-organisms which could produce it.

Paris, Dec. 13th.

VIENNA.(From our own Correspondent.)

THE CHEMICAL CHANGES OF THE BLOOD IN TUBERCULOSIS.

A YEAR ago Dr. Ernst Freund, a pupil of Professor ErnstLudwig, published the results of his chemical researches ontuberculosis in the Wiener Medicinische Jahrbücher, 1886.He stated that he had been able to prepare from the

blood, as well as from the tuberculous growths of the organsof twenty-five tuberculous cases examined, an organic bodybelonging to the group of carbohydrates, exhibiting all thereactions peculiar to cellulose-viz, it was insoluble in theordinary indifferent solvents, but readily soluble in a solu-tion of cupric hydroxide in ammonia; it was resistant to theaction of Schulzt3’s mixture of nitric acid and chlorate of

potassium; when dissolved in concentrated sulphuric acid,it was converted into sugar by boiling with diluted slll-

phuric acid, and when treated with nitric acid, ether, andalcohol, a collodion-like body was obtained; it assumeda blue colour when treated with iodine in presence ofconcentrated sulphuric acid or of a concentrated solutionof chloride of zinc, and a blue colour by adding a-naphtholto its solution in concentrated sulphuric acid. For the sakeof control the blood and the normal or pathological organsof thirty other cases were examined, but no trace of cellulosecould be found in them. Freund’s statements on the occur-rence of cellulose in tuberculosis have been confirmed, as Iam now informed, by recent researches carried out by Dr.Kabrhel in the laboratory of Professor Horbaszewski ofPrague. In continuing his researches on the chemical basisof tubercular disposition, Dr. Freund made examinations ofashes of the blood, and found that there is a considerableincrease of the potassium salts in the blood of tubercu-lous persons, while the sodium salts and phosphoric acidare reduced in quantity. The ash of normal blood contains,according to the researches of Jarisch, 25.31 to 26’62 per cent.of potash, 23.7to 26.13 per cent. of soda, and 8’0 to 8.96 percent.of anhydride of phosphoric acid; the ash of the blood of tuber-culous persons was found by Freund to contain 29 84 to 37’57per cent. (miliary tuberculosis) of potash, 12’85 to 18-26 per

cent. of soda, and 4.3 to 6.79 percent, of anhydride of phosphoricacid. The urine in these cases, however, showed no increaseof potash. On these results Dr. Freund baed a series oftherapeutical experiments, which are being carried out in thewards of Dr. Langer. The leading idea of these experimentsis to withdraw carbonate of potash from the -body and tointroduce sodium salts. For this purpose, large doses ofphosphoric acid and phosphate of potash, soda, and lime,follo wed by carbonate and bicarbonate of soda and chlorideof sodium, are used. Dr. Freund maintains that some

of the cases treated in this way improved, especially thoseaffected with chronic tuberculosis.

THE SERVICES.

Surgeon J. J. Lamprey has succeeded Surgeon-MajorP. Connolly as Senior Medical Officer in the West AfricaSettlements.

’

INDIA OFFICE.-The Queen has approved of the followingpromotion?, amongst others, made by the Governments inIndia :-Brigade Surgeon John Charles Morice, of the BengalMedical Establishment (dated Oct. 24th, 1887), and BrigadeSurgeon William Edward Cates, of the Bombay MedicalEstablishment (dated Sept. 15th, 1887), to be Deputy Sur-geons-General. Surgeon-Major Isidore Bernadotte Lyon, ofthe Bombay Medical Establishment, to be Brigade Surgeon(dated Sept. 15th, 1887). Surgeons Patrick Alexander Weir,Peter Johnston Freyer, 31.D., Percy de Raga Haig, JohnLewtas, and John 0’Neil,M.D., of the Bengal Medical Estab-lishment ; Surgeon John Wilkins Clarkson and SurgeonJoseph Parker, M.D., of the Bombay Medical Establishment,to be Surgeons-Major, all dated Sept. 30th, 1887.ADMIRALTY.-A good service pension of .6100 a year, for

medical officers of the Royal Navy, is placed at the disposalof the First Lord by the recent death of Sir W. R. E. Smart.RIFLE VOLUNTEERS. - 4th (Eton College) Volunteer

Battalion, the Oxfordshire Light Infantry: Edward StacyNorris, M.B., to be Acting Surgeon (dated Dec. 10th, 1887).-Ist Midlothian (Leith): Surgeon and Honorary Surgeon-Major J. Henderson, M.D., resigns his commission; also ispermitted to retain his rank, and to continue to wear theuniform of the corps on his retirement (dated Dec. 10th, 1887).

Obituary.SIR WILLIAM R. E. SMART, M.D., K.C.B., K.L.H,,

HONORARY PHYSICIAN TO THE QUEEN.

IN the recent death of Sir William Smart the NavalMedical Service and the profession have to deplore the lossof an eminent member, who was a bright illustration ofwhat may be achieved by well-directed ability, perseveringindustry, and the capacity of seizing, as they occur, oppor-tunities of distinction. Early in life, under the apprentice-ship system then customary, and to which he always re-ferred with respect and gratitude, he began his medicalstudies with a leading practitioner of his native town,Devonport, continuing them in London at St. Bartholomew’sHospital. He was always, and remained to the close of hislife, a diligent student, taking the deepest interest in hisprofession and in all that concerned its welfare. He qualifiedin 1839, and after a brief experience of private practicejoined the Royal Navy in 1841, and served for nine years asassistant surgeon in the Cruiser in China, in the Sappho atthe Cape of Good Hope and Mozambique, and in theTrafalgar, Hibernia, and Queen on the Channel, Lisbon,and Mediterranean stations. Hitherto Mr. Smart’s servicehad been uneventful, but in 1850, while in the Queenflag-ship at Malta, a formidable epidemic of cholera brokeout, in combating which his energies had full scope, andhis work was so highly appreciated as to lead to hispromotion to the rank of Surgeon, his first appointmentbeing to the Spitfire. In 1853 he found time to take hisDoctor’s degree at Aberdeen, and was soon after appointedto H.M.S. Diamond, Captain W. Peel (the son of the greatPrime Minister). When the Russian war began, and thesiege of Sebastopol was determined on, Captain Peel landedwith the Naval Brigade, and the ship was converted tem-