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NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.

(From our own Correspondent.) )

NEWCASTLE.

NOTICE has been served by the North-Eastern Railwaydirectorate on the officials of the College of Medicine

stating the company’s intention, under its Parliamentarypowers, to apply for the purchase of the College buildingsfor the purpose of the extension and improvement of theCentral Railway station. It is supposed that, owing to

the delay of the railway company in serving this formalnotice, the College authorities have, up to this, been reluc-tant to take any active steps in providing a new building, sothat we may now hope to see one erected at once suitablefor its purpose, and an architectural feature in the city.The returns of practitioners notified to the medical officer ofhealth show an increase in scarlet fever, no fewer than 115cases having occurred in the last fortnight. The NewcastleInfirmary is at present sadly overcrowded. Last weekthe number in the house was 259, while the building onlyproperly accommodates 219 patients.

A CURIOUS MINERS’ CASE.

The members of the Northumberland and Durham Miners’Permanent Relief Fund have bad before them a verycurious and troublesome case, in which the differenceof opinion has not been altogether on the medical side. The"Philadelphia case (so it is called) had its origin in thisway : A member of the fund was hurt by a fall of stone, butworked on until his shift was over. His injury then com-pelled him to be off for a few days ; he afterwards returnedto his work, but finally was laid up once more on whatproved to be his death-bed. Then came the question, Didthe man die of typhoid fever from which he was alleged tohave suffered, or from the injuries which were caused bythe accident? This was a serious question for the widow.In the former case she would be entitled to an allowance fromthe Permanent Fund, and in the latter case she would haveno claim upon it. The medical evidence, although notaltogether free from conflict, supported very strongly theview that the fever was at all evt-nts the cause of death. Itwas held on the other side that, although the fever wasundoubtedly the immediate cause of death, it might belooked upon as the rtmote or finishing stroke ot theaccident, and that the patient might have fought typhoidsuccessfully had he not been already weakened by the effectsof the accident. The matter has been very warmly takenup and debated, and handed on from lodge to lodge, andthere has been a disposition to err, if at all, on the generousside, provided the rules of the fund interposed no legal bar.The Washington Lodge advised that the widow shouldabandon the enforcement of the claim, and throw herself onthe generos’ty of the members, leaving them to do their bestfor her, and this on all sides appears to be the best way ofsolving this curious and difficult case.SERIOUS OUTBREAK OF SCARLATINA AT WOMBWELL,

YORKS.

At the last meeting of the Wombwell Local Board, Dr.Millar, medical officer of health, presented an importantreport relating to the outbreak of scarlet fever of a serioustype. He said about the middle of last month the diseaseseemed to abate, and for eight or ten days no new casesoccurred ; within the previous four days the severity of theattack had become greater, not so much from the numbersattacked giving anxiety, as from the rapidity with which afatal result ensued, death often taking place within twelvehours and before medical aid could be of any avail. Thenumber of cases, so far as he could gather, since the begin-ning was about 200, of which 37, or 18 per cent., had provedfatal. During the month ending Nov. 22nd there had been33 deaths. The births registered during the month bad been30, and this was the first time he had known the birth-rateto have been below the death-rate. Everything had beendone to check the disease, and he hoped the frost and coldweather would further diminish it.

THE LATE FATAL ACCIDENT FROM ELECTRICITY.

As to the accident at Messrs. Bolkow, Vaughan, andCo.’s, where a workman lost his life from touching the con-nexions, an inquest has been held, and Dr. Glen, who hadbeen called in, deposed that death had been instantaneous,

the body presenting all the appearances of a death fromlightning. The hands were dreadfully scorched, as if thecontact had been with hot iron. It was not a part of de-ceased’s duty to interfere with the lights. The recklessnessof workmen is sometimes astounding. A miner the otherday was brought up before the magistrates and fined fordrilling a hole in which there was a pound of gunpowder.The bit of course was steel, and a spark would have annihi-lated him and his companions. Worse than this almost,he shortened the regulation fuse, and not finding the chargeexploding, he went near, to see "how it was getting on."Newcastle-on-T5ne, Dec. 3rd.

PARIS.

(From our Paris Correspondent.) i

1’-LiE CASE OF M. MORIN.

M. MORIN, the victim of the tragic scene that took placeon Thursday last at the Palais de Justice, after having beenshot by Madame Clovis Hugnes for slander, as reported bythe daily papers, was immediately removed to the E6t.elDieu in a very dangerous condition, owing to profusehæmorrhage. Three bullet wounds were discovered on thepatient ; one on the back at the inferior angle of the leftshoulder blade, the second in the right side of the neck, andthe third at the top of the head ; all were caused by bulletsfired from a six-barrelled revolver. The wound in the neck

was considered the most serious. The bullet entered on theright side about the level of the thyroid cartilage, and,wounding the larynx, lodged above the left clavicle, whereit is distinctly felt, but which the surgeon (Dr. Peyrot) didnot consider it urgent to remove, though there was someamount of emphysema in the parts. A second bullet enteredthe skull about eight centimetres above the left ear, theopening measuring about five millimetres. About three orfour centimetres from this, on the top of the skull, was foundanother wound, and as the right band of the patient wasparalysed it was presumed that the brain, in the region in-dicated above, must have been wounded. At the visit nextmorning (Friday), Dr. Peyrot probed the wounds in theskull, and discovered a slight depression of the bone, whichwas evidently the 1fatk of the bullet, which he supposedmust have escaped through the other opening. The patientwas conscious the whole time. On Saturday morning hebecame unconscious, and was somewhat feverish ; the para-lysis of the right hand extended up the arm, which led thesurgeon to suppose that there was deep-seated mischief goingon in the brain, due to the depression of the fracturedportion of the skull. He therefore decided upon trephiningthat part of the kull. The operation lasted about an hour,and was performed under chloroform, and on strict Listerianprinciples. An opening of two centimetres and a half wasmade through the skull in the site of the wound, and afragment of bone of about the size of a half-crown piece wasremoved. The wound was then thoroughly explored, andthe membranes were found to be intact. The woundwas properly dressed, and the operation was thoughtto be entirely successful. A small artery, however, soonbegan to bleed, and gave trouble for fully half an hour.It then became a question whether the opening in theskull should not be enlarged, in order to arrest theflow of blood. The haemorrhage, however, was finallystopped with pieces of cotton steeped in a haemostatic fluidcalled "eau bemostatique de Pagliari," which is com-

posed of alum, benzoin, and water. The operation wasattended with some relief to the symptoms of compressionof the brain, but on Sunday evening last those of ence-

.phalitis were observed, marked by a pulse of 118 or 120,temperature 39° to 40° C. The patient was restless, and therespiration irregular ; both eyes inclined to the left, andwere of a somewhat yellowish tint ; urgent thirst. Conscious-ness was apparently preserved, but the patient was unableto answer questions put to him. The bullet which waslodged below the left shoulder blade was extracted at thesame time that the trephining was performed. I am indebtedfor these details to my friend Dr. Nachtel, who witnessedthe operation and followed the case from the beginning.Yesterday morning Dr. Peyrot, in redressing the wound,observed that the dura mater was rather tense, and slightlyincised it to relieve the pressure on the brain. At thesurgeon’s visit at seven in the evening a change for the

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better was observed. The temperature went down by nearly1 degree, the pulse was 100, and the expression of countenanceof i,he patient was rather better ; his strength is kept up withmilk-and-brandy. Although there is some improvement inthe condition of the patient, yet Dr. Peyrot is rather reservedin his prognosis. M. Morin seems conscious, but he is unableto utter a word, owing, as is supposed, to the bullet havingwounded in its passage through the skull that part of thebrain contiguous to the convolution which is looked upon asthe seat of the faculty of speech.Paris, Dec. 3rd.

MEDICAL NOTES IN PARLIAMENT.

Compulsory Vaccination.IN the House of Commons on Monday, Dec. 1st, Mr. G.

Russell, in reply to a question by Mr. Hopwood, stated thathe was not prepared to assent to the view that because onechild may have suffered owing to malapraxis or some

accidental circumstance, all the other children should bedeprived of the protection which vaccination affords. Atthe same time it was open to the justices in any such caseto impose a nominal fine, or decline to make an order forthe vaccination of the child, and he should hope that if anysuch case occurred it would be considerately and tenderlydealt with.

The Natural History Museum.Mr. Shaw-Lefevre, replying to Sir H. Verney, stated that

already fourteen acres of land had been secured for the ex-tension of the Natural History Museum at Kensington, andthis amount was considered quite sufficient. It was not,therefore, proposed to attempt to secure the grounds latelyoccupied by the Health Exhibition for the purpose.

Captain of Orderlies C. Cook.On Thursday, replying to Mr. Justin M’Carthy, Sir A.

Hayter, said that Captain of Orderlies C. Cook, "late"Army Hospital Corps, exercised the same command in theMedical Staff Corps that he exercised in the Army HospitalCorps. He has the pay assigned to his rank by formerRoyal Warrant, which Warrantdid not provide for an increaseof such pay ; but it is open to him to accept the terms firstoffered in 1881, in which case he would attain the same ratesof pay as the other officers who are his contemporaries asCaptains of Orderlies, and who have accepted the new terms.

MEDICAL TRIALS.

PRINCIPALS AND ASSISTANTS.SHARMAN AND OTHERS v. GILLIES.

THIS was an action tried before Mr. Justice Wills lastweek. It was brought by Messrs. Sharman, Harris, andClark, medical practitioners of Lower Norwood, to restrainthe defendant from practising within four miles of Oak-villas, Lower Norwood. Mr. Hugh Cameton Gillies, inMarch, 1883, made an agreement to act as assistant to thefirm, the agreement being terminable at three months’notice,and by it the defendant agreed that on leaving the employ-ment of the plaintiffs he would not practise within four milesof Oak-villas. In November, 1883, for certain reasons theplaintiffs became desirous of terminating the agreement,and on Nov. 29th, they gave the defendant three months’notice to leave them. It was, however, arranged that thedefendant should leave at the end of two months, and thedefendant accordingly left on January 29th, 1884, the

plaintiffs paying him a month’s salary on account of hisleaving one month before the expiration of the notice.Upon his leaving the plaintiffs the defendant commencedpractising at Zingari-terrace, which is near Oak-villas,having his name over the door. The plaintiffs com-

menced their action against him, and on February 8th heremoved his name from the house, and ceased to practiseon his own account. On February llth the name of Dr.Hullseburgb, of Maidstone, was put up at the houseat Zingari-terrace occupied by the defendant, and thedefendant’s case was that he had on that day made anagreement with Dr. Hullseburgh, who had in 1882 com-menced to practise at Avenue-gate, Gipsy-hill, to act as hisassistant. The agreement was not forthcoming, his solicitor,

Mr. Wrightson, having lost it. The defendant declaredthat his line of conduct had been backed up by the juniormember of the firm, Dr. G. B. Clark, who was then contem-plating leaving the partnership. One clause of the agreementstates that the defendant should practise at Norwood as theplaintiffs’ assistant, and in another clause that the defendanton leaving the service of the firm should not practise withinfour miles of Oak-villas. The defendant submitted that hewas not practising within the meaning of the last clause.His Lordship, referring to the evidence which had beengiven, and particularly to the facts that Dr. Hullseburgh hadleft the neighbourhood in June and was now living atMaidstone, that there had not been any settlement ofaccounts, that drugs had been bought in the name of thedefendant, that not more than seven of the patients indefendant’s books out of 105 had been patients of Dr.Hullseburgh, and that the house at Zingari-terrace was closeto the plaintiffs’ house at Oak-villas, but half or three-quartersof a mile from Dr. Hullseburgh’s, was of opinion that theagreement with Dr. Hullseburgh was a merely colourablearrangement intended to enable the defendant to evade hisagreement with the plaintiffs. If this had not been so, hisopinion would still have been, having regard to the circum-stance that Dr. Hullseburgh was not himself practising atLower Norwood, that the defendant was practising withinthe meaning of his agreement with the plaintiffs.His Lordship granted an injunction with costs, leaving the

question of damage sustained by the plaintiffs to be deter.mined by the official referee of the Court. Mr. Finlay,Q.C., and Mr. Peile appeared for the plaintiffs, Mr. Terrelland Mr. Ghoah for the defendant.

Medical News.ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS OF ENGLAND.-

The following gentlemen, having passed the required exami.nation for the diploma, were admitted Members of the Collegeat a meeting of the Court of Examiners on the 1st inst. :—

Gray, Thos. U., L.R.C.P. Lond., Essex-road, St. Barth. Hosp.Mullis, George H., L.S.A., Northampton, Guy’s Hospital.Dickinson, J. J., L.S.A., Bow-road, London Hospital.ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS IN IRELAND.-The

following have passed the first half of their examination forthe diploma in Surgery of the College :-Robert J. Adamson, Jeremiah Behan, Hugh A. L. Birchall. CharlesCasey, Edward J. Good, Joseph W. Gallagher, Guy S. L’Estrange,William A. Mahon, James J. McGrath, Joseph C McFeely, Thoma%J. O’Reilly, William Peacock, William J. Russell, William G.Toomley, James G. Westlake, Benjamin P. Young, Charles A.Young.APOTHECARIES’ HALL. - The following gentlemen

passed their examination in the Science and Practice of Medi-cine, and received certificates to practise, on Nov. 27th :-

Childe, Charles Plumley, King’s College.Dutt, Upendra Krishna, St. Mary’s Hospital.Jolliffe, Albert Robert, Charing-cross Hospital.Ladell, Mordaunt Percy, London Hospital.Quartley, Selwyn Warner, Middlesex Hospital.Reed, Henry Albert, Guy’s Hospital.Steer, Adam Wm. Thorburn, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital.Taylor, Charles Henry, King’s College.

The following gentleman also on the same day passed thePrimary Professional Examination :-

. Gaerett, John Henry, University College.THE Miller Memorial Hospital at Greenwich is to

be opened for the reception of patients on the 17th inst.ROYAL INSTITUTION OF GREAT BRITAIN.-Drs.

George Mann Carfrae and James P. Harper have beenelected members of the Royal Institution.THE salary of Mr. A. Wynter Blyth, medical

officer of health and analyst for Marylebone, has beenincreased from f:400 to f:500 per annum.GEORGE PLUNKETT O’FARRELL, A.M., M.D., of

Tangier Boyle, has been placed on the Commission of thePeace for the County Roscommon.MOTHERS’ LYING-IN HOSPITAL.-Mrs. Gladstone is

to open the above home, situated in Juniper-street, Shad-well, E., to-day (Saturday), at 11.30 A.M.THE Assembly of New York has passed a Bill

prohibiting the sale of drugs by any persons exceptphysicians and pharmacists. The grocers are indignant.