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THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE ROYAL COLLEGEOF SURGEONS, EDINBURGH.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SiR,—Whether the above is a bogus qualification or not

I am not in a position to say, but Mr. Berry is quite wrongwhen he hints that the M.D. Aberdeen might just as wellbe viewed in the same light.I admit the M.D. Aberdeen is given bv promotion, after

the M.B. has been two years in practice; but then only oncertain regulations being fulfilled. When I went in for theM.D., two years ago, I had to lodge with the Dean of theFaculty of Medicine a thesis, to be approved by the Facultyof Medicine; I had to go up to Aberdeen to be examined inLogic, and also in Greek, in the latter because I had notpreviously passed in it, as it is not a compulsory subject forthe M.B., nor with any of the other examining bodies beforewhom I have appeared. I do not think I have any reasonfor considering it a bogus degree.

Believe me, Sir, yours truly,Cardiff, Feb. 1st, 1881. FRED. EVANS, M.D. Aberd.

IRELAND.

(From our own Correspondent.)

ALTHOUGH it is usual for a candidate for the Vice-Pre-

sidency of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland at theclose of the year to declare his intention of coming forwardfor election in the following June, up to the present time noname has been put forward for the office now held by Mr.Chaplin of Kildare. It is, however, believed that if Mr.John Kellock Barton, a senior Member of Council, surgeon ito the Adelaide Hospital, and Lecturer on Surgery in theCarmichael School of Medicine, would stand for the Vice-Presidency, he would be returned unopposed.At the annual meeting of the Cork Ophthalmic and Aural

Hospital, held recently, it was shown that the total expensesfor the past year amounted to .E480, of which the internpatients contributed £227. It will thus be noticed that one-half of the total expenditure was obtained from the patientsadmitted to the wards, a fact sufficient to show that the workdone at this institution is appreciated by those seeking ad-mission, more especially as the charge for intern patients hasof late been increased.At the fourth annual meeting of the Dublin Branch of the

British Medical Association, held last week, Dr. RobertMcDonnell, the outgoing President, delivered an addressmore especially directed to the compulsory notification ofinfectious diseases, a subject ’which he trusted would erelong be so far brought into action in Dublin as to sensiblydiminish the high death-rate for which that city is un-happily notorious. The President alluded to Mr. Gray’sBill, which proposes to throw on the medical attendant-ifone be in attendance-the duty of informing the sanitaryauthority when any inmate of a building used for humanhabitation is attacked by small-pox, cholera, scarlatina,typhus, typhoid, puerperal, or relapsing fever,:diphtheria,measles, or erysipelas, and observed that he would hesitateto support this clause, not ,on the ground of the committalof any breach of confidence by the medical attendant, butbecause he doubted if it was the best method of attainingthe object in view. It was also open to doubt whether theproposal would work well, which requires that the medicalattendant should give notice to the master of the house,and on such notice the householder shall be required tocommunicate with the sanitary authority. Both of thesepropositions oblige the medical attendant to take theinitiative, but Dr. McDonnell was disposed to thinkthat it would be a just as well as a wiser course

to throw on the householder the initial step, and thatit should be the duty of the latter to ascertain fromthe medical attendant whether the disease was infectious.The importance of the compulsory notification of,infectiousdisease is denied by none, but the detail as to who is to bethe party-the householder, or the medical attendant-toinform the sanitary authority as to the existence of a con-tagious disease in a household is the real practical difficulty.I know that the feeling among the profession in Dublin ismuch against the onus of taking the initiative in the matter,

and I am certain that with the present feeling every loop-hole of escape will be seized upon to evade notification bythe practitioner in attendance. There is little doubt thatMr. Gray’s Bill must be materially changed before it will bereceived with any degree of favour. The payment also tothe medical attendant of one shilling for each certificatecannot be considered as munificent. The entire subject is,however, one which may be regarded with very differentfeelings ; and the proposal of Dr. McDonnell, that thequestion should be thoroughly investigated by a selectcommittee of the House of Commons, is one deserving ofconsideration.The annual meeting of the subscribers to the Belfast

Hospital for Sick Children, Queen-street, was held in theClarence-place Hall, last week, presided over by the Hon.R. O’Neill. Resolutions were adopted congratulating theCommittee on their success in paying off the debt on thebuilding fund, and thanking the Ladies’ Committee for theirconstant attention to matters connected with the bestinterests of the hospital. A vote of thanks was also accordedto the medical staff.The recent concert for the benefit of St. Mark’s Ophthalmic

Hospital, Dublin, has resulted in a sum of jE66 12s. 4d.having been obtained for the funds of the institution. Dr.James Little has been appointed consulting physician tothe hospital, in the vacancy caused by the decease of Dr.Alfred Hudson.In consequence of the prevalence in certain parts of

England of foot-and-mouth disease, the Lord-Lieutenantand Privy Council have published an order prohibiting theimportation into or landing in Ireland of any animal fromGreat Britain. The order came into force on the lst inst.,and continues during the present month.The annual meeting of the friends of the Dublin Hospital

Sunday Fund was held last Monday, presided over by HisGrace the Archbishop of Dublin. From the annual reportof the Council I learn that, last year, collections were made in229 places of worship, the total amount contributed beingf4050 7s. 9d., showing a decrease of 9264 118., as comparea.with 1879. After payment of the ordinary expenses, a sumof ae3870 was available for distribution; and the Committeeof Distribution have decided to divide the sum of 63750among the sixteen participating hospitals. A proposition ofLord Plunket, that the advantages of the fund should beextended to institutions for nursing the sick poor at theirown homes, more particularly St. Patrick’s Home forNurses for the Sick Poor, in York-street, was put to themeeting, and negatived.

’

During the past year 802 patients were treated at theNewry Fever Hospital, of which number 200 were admittedinto hospital, and the remainder treated as out-door

patients. The sanitary state of the hospital has been good,and the attendance of patients exceeded that of any previousyear since the hospital was first established.

It is rumoured that Dr. McDonnell, F.R,S., may pro.bably succeed the late Dr. Hudson, as Crown representativeon the General Medical Council.

PARIS.

(From our own Correspondent.)

THE Paris Court of Appeal was recently the scene of amost extraordinary exhibition, and one which is probablyunique in the annals of medical jurisprudence. Unim-

portant as it was in itself, the case which called forth theevidence about to follow is worthy of record, as it gives abetter idea of the progress of psychological science in Francethan all the annales and 1’evues issued by all the professorsin the country. It is from the Union Meclacale that theextract is taken.Last October a young man had been condemned to three

months’ imprisonment under the following circumstances:-" Deux agents des mceurs avaient surpris le pruvenudans un urinoir de la rue Sainte-Cecile. Didier, de-

posaient-ils, commettait, senl, un acte obscene, et ih I’avaipntobserve dudehors pendant pres d’nn quart d’heure." Theaccused replied, that the police had sworn false.7, andthat he had no memory of anything of the kind. Happealed from the decision of the court, and beedthe eminent alienist, Dr. Mottet, who lwl trt<1ced

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him at the Hopital St. Antoine, to testify in his defence.Dr. Mottet, called upon to make a report, stated that Didierwas the subject of a most curious nervous disease. In mag-netic sleep he would get up in the night, sit at a table andwrite in the dark.... One day Dr. Mesnet required acompress for a patient. He did not ask for it, but was onlythinking of doing so. Immediately Didier, who was lookingon, went and fetched one, having read the thought of thedoctor. An experiment was then devised. Dr. Mesnet putDidier to sleep, and told his house-physician to think ofsomething. The latter looking round for some subject ofthought, chanced to see a female patient holding an infantin her arms. Thinking of the woman and child, the house-physician placed himself in front of the sleeper and askedwhat he saw."I see a woman. "-" What is she like? Young?"&mdash;"I I

cannot see."-" Why not ?"-" She holds a child in her armsand the child hides her face."Such is the written report of Dr. Mesnet. Before the

magistrate who had the hearing of the appeal, Didierseemed to have no recollection whatever of the circum-stance which led to his apprehension, remembering onlythat he had had two profuse nasal haemorrhages inthe evening, which had weakened him to such an extentthat he could scarcely walk, and had been obliged torest against several lamp-posts as he went along. Dr.Mottet, called into the witness-box, declared that the accusedwas subject to frequent crises of magnetic sleep, duringwhich he lost all consciousness of the outer world. Thedoctor proposed to put him at once to sleep. The propositionbeing accepted by the court, the judges and counsel retiredinto one room, physician and patient being conducted intoanother. In a few seconds Didier was asleep, and Dr.

Mottet returned to the Council Chamber, leaving two keepersat the other door. Then the magnetiser called, "Didier,get up, and come here." Immediately the door opened, andDidier, pushing aside both keepers and magistrates, walkedstraight up to the doctor. After Didier had been marched aboutto the satisfaction of all present, one of the counsellors askedwhether he might remember in the magnetic state what hadoccurred on the evening of his arrest. Dr. Mottet repeat-ing the question, ordered Didier to remember. The youngman looked at him hesitatingly and beseechingly. The doctorinsisted, and reiterated his command. "What did you do ?"Here the patient took his handkerchief from his trousers’pocket and seemed to be dipping it as if in water. He thenpassed it over his face several times. Everything was ex-plained. Didier had had severe nasal haemorrhage, and notwishing to be seen with blood on his face, he had gone intothe urinal in question, where there was a constant flow ofwater at a convenient height. The magistrates, however,were not fully convinced. Was not the man perhaps play-ing a clever part ? Dr. Mesnet now took the place of hiscolleague, and ordered the young workman to sit down andrewrite a letter which he had sent him from prison threemonths before. Didier hesitated. " I cannot write," he said,feebly. " Why not ?" " Because I am not in prison." " Iwill it. Write." Didier obeyed hesitatingly; and when hehad finished, his letter was compared with the former one.They were found to be identical. As a crucial experiment,the doctor approached quietly and suddenly thrust a pin intoDidier’sneck; no external manifestation betrayed his feeling.The magistrates seem to have been much struck with thisproof of the prisoner’s innocence, and returning at once intoCourt the president acquitted him, on the score of mentalirresponsibility.The municipal authorities have done much lately in the

interests of public health, and this is no doubt mainly dueto the presence of a number of medical men in the TownCouncil. They have now taken another step in the rightdirection, and the public at large will shortly possess anefficient and gratuitous means of protection against foodadulteration. A laboratory is to be attached to the Pre-fecture of Police for the examination of suspected sub-stances, the qualitative analysis of which will be performedfor nothing; applicants being told whether their samplesare good, bad, or adulterated. A quantitive analysis, how-ever, will be charged for, the fee varying from five totwenty francs, according to circumstances. When a sampleis found to be adulterated, an inspector of the departmentwill be sent to the delinquent’s shop to seize another speci-men, and if this turns out badly, proceedings will be takenby the administration.M. Kaeberl&eacute;, the well-known surgeon of Strasburg, related

. a case at the Academy of Medicine in which he had excisedtwo yards of small intestine. The patient, a young woman,- aged twenty-two, had been subject for some years to acute

attacks of abdominal pain, and on two occasions there had, been symptoms of obstruction, which had, however, beenr overcome by the use of enemata. Since that time (October,

1880) the pain had been most constant and severe, not re-mitting day or night, and at times so intense that it could, scarcely be soothed by hypodermic injections of morphia.: Gastrotomy was performed on Nov. 27th, 1880, and four

narrowings were found in the bowel, one being only fourmillimetres in width. These strictures were distributedover two yards of the gut (2 metres ’05), which was excisedbetween two ligatures at each extremity, the vessels of themesentery being secured by twelve ligatures. The ligaturesof the ends of the intestine were then tied together so as

to place the gut in the most favourable position forenterotomy, which was performed on the third day.The parts beyond the ligatures came away between thetwelfth and fifteenth days ; and on the twentieth the firstalvine evacuation occurred. Five days later a band of strap-ping sufficed to prevent food or gas passing through thewound, which had entirely healed in six weeks. The opera-tion was not performed antiseptically, and the temperaturenever rose beyond 38&deg; Centigrade. During convalescence, andfrom the third day, the patient was fed by the mouth, withsolid and substantial food-bread, meat, and eggs-sufficientliquid being given for the purpose of digestion only, thethirst being assuaged by injections of water into the rectum,seventy such injections having been made in the twentydays. The young woman, who is now quite well, has nopain or digestive trouble of any kind.

THE INTERNATIONAL SANITARYCONFERENCE.

(From a Correspondent.)I THE International Sanitary Conference, which will meet; at Washington on the 3rd of January, 1881, will form an

important event in the history of sanitary progress in the’ United States. It is the first International Sanitary Con-ference in which the United States Government has everl taken part. This Conference is the outgrowth of that agitation

of sanitary questions which followed the great yellow fever) epidemic of 1878, and led to the organisation of the Nationalf Board of Health, under the Act of Congress of March 3rd,, 1879. By a subsequent Act, passed June 2nd, 1879, it was. made the duty of that Board " to obtain information of the; sanitary condition of foreign ports and places from whichinfectious and contagious diseases are or may be imported

into the United States." The Board of Health, however,found insuperable obstacles in its efforts to obtain accurateinformation of the health of certain ports from which the

: greatest danger was to be apprehended. The peculiar diffi-culties met could be overcome only by the mutual co-operation of all nationalities interested in the commerce ofports most frequently affected with contagious and in-fectious diseases. The National Board of Health thereforetook early measures to secure an International Conferenceon these and kindred subjects, and had at once the heartyco-operation of the President and the Secretary of State.Congress passed a joint resolution as follows :-" That thePresident of the United States is hereby authorised tocall an International Sanitary Conference, to meet at

Washington, district of Columbia, to which the severalPowers having jurisdiction of ports likely to be infected withyellow fever shall be invited to send delegates, properlyauthorised, for the purpose of securing an internationalsystem of notification as to the actual sanitary conditionof ports and places under the jurisdiction of such Powers,and of vessels sailing therefrom."

"

The Secretary of State accordingly issued the followingcircular under date of July 30th, 1880, to the Ministersrepresenting the United States at the capitals of the Mari-time Powers of the world :-

" Sir,-I have to state for your information that in pur-suance of a joint resolution of Congress, which was approvedon the 14th of May last, the President has determined tocall an international sanitary conference, to meet at Wash-

ington, and to invite to join in the proposed conference the