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fund to be called the " John Laird Memorial Fund" ; thata bust of the late Mr. John Laird be obtained and placed inthe Town Hall, Birkenhead; and that the surplus of thefund be divided in such proportions as the Executive Com-mittee may hereafter determine between the BirkenheadBorough Hospital and the Birkenhead and Wirral Children’sHospital, the money to be invested by those institutionsrespectively, the income thereof to be devoted to the sendingto convalescent homes or other similar institutions of suchpatients as the respective committees on the advice of theirmedical officers may deem desirable.

The Southport Infirmary.The annual meeting of the subscribers to this charity was

held in the Mayor’s Parlour, South port, on the 12th inst.The mayor, in moving the adoption of the report andbalance-sheet, said he was glad to see a considerable increasein the number of patients treated at their own homes. The

committee have added special departments for the eye, ear,nose and throat, and they still require £500 to clear off thedebt on the new infirmarv. It was resolved to sell the oldinfirmary building for £2600.

Gift to the Liverpool Dental School.An important meeting of the midland and northern dis-

tricts of the -British Dental Association was held at

Warrington on the 19th inst. In the evening the largecompany, including students from the Liverpool Dental

Hospital, were entertained by Mr. T. Fletcher, F.C.S., andMr. J. Taylor, of Warrington. Mr. Fletcher in an addresson "How to Succeed" said that for several years a seriesof prizes had stood in his name at the Manchester DentalSchool and that he was arranging for a similar series at the Liverpool school. No conditions would be attached tothe prizes (which amounted to over £ 50 per annum) exceptthat they should be applied to those branches where theywould be considered by the dean and councils of the schoolsto be of especial encouragement.

Feb. 22nd. _________________

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Grant to Mercer’s Hospital, Dublin.THE annual meeting of the supporters of the Dublin

Hospital Sunday Fund was held at the Molesworth Hall onFeb. 16th, the Bishop of Ossory filling the chair. The

report of the Council contained with other matters a state-ment that at the meeting in February last an amendment,moved by Dr. Grimshaw, the Registrar-General, and secondedby Dr. Jacob, "that the sum allotted to Mercer’s Hospitalfor the year 1897 be held by the committee of distribution of1898 until they are satisfied as to the prospects of the futuremanagement of the hospital and, if not satisfied, to report tothe Council." had been put from the chair and carried. LordJustice Fitzgibbon moved an amendment to the report, whichafter some discussion was carried, and was to the effect thatthe report of the Council be adopted, with the exception ofthe portion relating to Mercer’s Hospital, and that the subjectof the grant to Mercer’s Hospital be referred back to theCouncil for consideration.

The Hospital for Incurables, Donnybrook.The Corporation of Dublin have recently threatened to

withdraw their draft of .E300 a year to this hospital onaccount of recent changes in its list of governors. At a

meeting which was held in the hospital on Feb. 14th aresolution was proposed by Judge Kane that a committeechosen from the governors, of whom there were nearly ahundred present, be appointed to inquire into the mode ofelection of the acting committee of the institution. Theresolution after some discussion was passed in a modifiedform by a large majority.

Royal College of Science, Dublin.Mr. Henry Hanna, M A., B.Sc R.U.I., a distinguished

. student and scholar of Qaeen’s College, Belfast, has beenappointed Demonstrator of Biology, Geology, and Palveon-tology in the Royal College of Science, Dublin.

The Royal University of Ireland.At a meeting of the Senate of the Royal University of

Ireland held on Feb. 17th the following teachers in the

Belfast Medical School were re-appointed examiners for theyear 1898; Professor Byers, M.D. R.U.I., in Midwifery;Professor Whitla, M.D.R.UI., in Materia Medica; andDr. J. Lorrain Smith, M.D. Edin., in Pathology. -

The E pidemic of Influenza in Ulster.The epidemic of influenza is still very prevalent in different

parts of Ulster, the pulmonary and gastro-intestinal typesbeing more commonly met with, the change in the weatherfrom mild and warm to cold and frosty with snow not

having made any difference in the wide-spread nature ofthis very strange and protean disease.Feb.22nd.

_______________

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Adjourned Discussion on Blistering.THE discussion on this subject was resumed at the

Academy of Medicine on Feb. 19th. M. Huchard said thathis principal reason for being very chary of using blisterswas the way in which they were apt to cause cystitis or

nephritis in individuals predisposed to these affections.Therefore he never used blisters in the aged, the gouty,patients with arterio-sclerosis, or who suffered in any waywith renal affections. Blisters are not only dangerous onaccount of the cantharides they contain, but also on accountof the wounds they produce. In all infectious maladies,or those which bring about a great loweting of nutrition,pyrexias, tuberculosis, and the like, it is useless to bringabout a new focus of microbial infection at the surface ofthe skin and so throw upon the kidneys the extra work ofeliminating toxin produced by a secondary infection.M. Huchard objected to the use of blisters both in pneu-monia and pleurisy, for even if they do no harm in suchcases they are mere delusions. As for the revulsive andanalgesic action of blisters these are facts, but thereare other means and methods of obtaining these effectswithout danger to the patient. Such, for instance, are thecommon mustard-plaster, the application of hot water,the cautery, &1. There remains the very interest-ing question raised by M. Robin - namely, that ofthe increase in gaseous exchange under the influenceof blisterp. This increase is a fact, but it must alwaysbe remembered that the same effect is produced byany cutaneous excitation. The cold bath, for instance,brings about all the benefits which have been claimed forblisters in cases of pyrexia. It brings about an increase inthe gaseous exchanges, facilitates the elimination of toxins,augments phagocytosis, and braces up the nervous system.If these ideas appear to be somewhat primitive M. Huchardreminded his audience that the moxa, the cautery, andthe seton have been known for a long time and disappearedafter a like discussion and owing to the advance in moderntherapeutics which was based upon a doctrine really con-formable to facts. Vesication, according to M. Huchard,must disappear in this era of Pasteur. M. Panas showed thatblistering was far from being abandoned in ophthalmology.By creating an artificial pathological focus it brings about aviolent revulsive action which is eminently useful in that itcalls up leucocytes to the very place where they are needed.M. Cornil referred to the physiological action of cantharidinupon the tissues. Researches which he has made atvarious times upon the microscopical alterations broughtabout by experimental cantharidin poisoning enable himto say that considerable dangers exist in the employ-ment of blisters, especially when the kidney is hardly up toits ordinary work, and this is a condition which one cannotdiagnose beforehand. M. Robin considered that M. Hucbardhad wandered away from the original point of the discussion.He forgot to distinguish between general exchange andrespiratory exchange and it is the latter which blistersincrease so largely. If it is right to help the elimination oftoxins in every possible way it must not be forgotten thatblisters by their oxidising action on the tissues burn upthese very toxins in the wounds and transform them intosoluble products which are far less dangerous. _

The Treatment of Hæmorrhage by Local Applications ofGelatinised Serum.

At the meeting of the Hospitals Medical Society, heldon Feb. llth, M. Siredey begged to be allowed to drawthe attention of his colleagues to the excellent results

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obtained in the treatment of hæmorrhage by the use oflocal applications of gelatinised serum after the method ofM. Paul Carnot. During the last four months M. Siredeyhas had occasion to treat nine severe cases of metror-

rhagia, some in private and others at the hospital, andin every one a successful result was obtained. Thehaemorrhage arose from fibroids, abortion, and retentionof placental tissues or pieces of decidua, and mostof the cases had not been relieved by the ordinarymethods of treatment, such as hot douches, plagging, andthe like. M. Siredey employed one of the two followingmethods. After washing out the vagina with hot water,previously boiled so as to remove any clots, he swabbed outthe uterus with a pad soaked in the serum and gelatin andafterwards introduced into the uterus a narrow piece ofsterilised gauze soaked in the serum. Without having toemploy any tight plugging he was almost invariably able toarrest the hmmorrhage in this way. In one case whichoccurred in his private practice he happened to have nogauze at band ; he therefore prescribed an injection of twopints of the gelatinised serum, taking care to place thepatient on her back with the buttocks raised by a pillow sothat clotting should take place in the vaginal fornices incontact with the neck of the uterus. The same treatment,either injection of the serum or light plugging with gauzesteeped in the same, gives excellent results in epistaxis. The

preparation of the serum is very simple, the formula being :sodium chloride 7 grammes, water 1 litre, and gelatin50 grammes. The whole is sterilised in an autoclave,taking care that the temperature does not go above105° C., for in that case the gelatin will become modifiedas to its power of coagulation. If it is thought well thereis no harm in adding perchloride of mercury in the pro-portion of 1 in 1000 or carbolic acid in the proportion of1 in 100. but this is not necessary. The serum can be putup in flasks of various sizes and will keep good for along time. M. Siredey has been successful in every casewhere he has employed this method and it has one greatadvantage over other methods in that it is quite harmless.

17ie Right of Midwives to use Forceps.The Special Committee of the Chamber of Deputies has

just been startled by a new petition from Madame AnnaBedrines, a midwife at Egreville, Ssine-et-Loire, asking itto legalise the use of forceps by midwives. The committee,through its chairman, M. Isaac, has refused the prayer ofthe petition and for the following reasons. By Article 4of the Act of Nov. 30th, 1892, midwives were formallyforbidden to use instruments. The decree of July,1893, recognised two classes of midwives and simplydeclared that they should undergo two years of study.These conditions are sufficiently stringent for the r6lemidwives have to play and for the amount of aid to

parturient women which is expected from them. Bat ifthey are allowed the use of instruments their status is

altogether altered and if this experiment is to be tried theymust increase both the length of time for which they studyand make these same studies more profound. If these morestringent conditions came into force they would have aninjurious effect upon the recruiting of the ranks of a classwhich is at present of great use as auxiliaries to medicalmen. Therefore such action would not be advantageous.Feb.22nd.

BERLIN.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Influence of X Rays on Bacteria.SOME interesting experiments on the influence of x rays

on bacteria, have been made by Dr. Rieder, privat docent atMunich University, and have been published by him in theMünchener Medicinische Wochenschrift. He used for thispurpose different media such as agar, serum, and gelatinspread on glass plates placed under a piece of lead with acircular aperture in it, the whole being so arranged that aportion of the culture plates was freely exposed to the x rayswhich passed through the aperture, while the remainingpart of the plates was protected by the lead, which is quiteimpervious to the rays. Ordinary light was excludedby covering the aperture in the lead with black paper.The culture media on the glass plates were inoculatedwith cholera bacilli, anthrax bacilli, diphtheria bacilli,

bacterium coli, staphylococci, streptococci, and tuberclebacilli, and the whole was exposed for a period of fromone to three hours to a very powerful Roentgen apparatusfurnished by the Voltohm Company, of Munich, the vacuumtube beirg placed at a distance of 30 cm. (12 in.) from theglass plate. In this way Dr. Rieder succeeded in ascertain-ing that the bacteria under the opaque leaden screen

developed freely, whilst under the circular hole where thex rays had free passage no colonies or only a few smallones appeared. The x rays also bad the effect of stoppingthe development of cultures in process of growth. Un-

fortunately the experiments made with tubercle bacilli wereinconclusive as Dr. Rieder had accidentally omitted tofix the black paper over the hole in the lead so that theinfluence of ordinary light was not totally excluded. Thex rays proved to be much more powerful than sunbeamsin stopping the development of bacteria cultures. Dr.Rieder is opposed to the opinion that the influence exertedby the x rays may be in reality an effect of heat, for thegelatin was not liquefied by the rays, and the fact thatgerms derived from the air subsequently developed on thegelatin plates in the ordinary way seemed to show thatthere was no chemical alteration of the media. He con-cludes from these preliminary experiments that the resultsobtained by him must be completed by observations on

animals and eventually on the human subject. He says thatit would not be necessary to destroy all the bacteria whichoccur in the body, but that it would be a great advance ifwe could stop the further development of pathogenic germs.The powerful bactericide action of the blood would theneasily succeed in destroying the rest. The x rays must onlyaid the organism in its struggle against its enemies. Thefacts now published are obviously of great theoreticalinterest, but further observations are necessary to ascertainwhether they are capable of practical application.

Xethy lene. blue in Malarial Fever.Dr. Cardamatis, of Athens, inspired by the researches cf

Professor Ehrlich, of Berlin, and Professor Boinot, of Paris,has successfully used methylene-blue in the treatment ofmalarial fever. In his report communicated to the DeutseheMediciniache Wochenschrift he publishes 275 cases where thedrug was administered. The daily dose was from ten totwelve grains ("Gran ") for adults, eight grains for youngerpatients, six grains for children, and one or two grains forinfants at the breast. In typical intermittent fever the drugis given ten hours before the beginning of the paroxysm ;in remittent or continuous fever eight hours befoJe theremission. When both methylene-blue and quinine faileda combination of the two drugs proved useful, but theeffect was less marked when the methylene-blue was

associated with arsenic. The combined treatment was

necessary in only 30 of the 275 cases. In quotidian ague,when the patients had become free from fever, after fivedays’ administration, the drug was given for six dayr. A

pause of two days followed, after which it was again givenfor four days ; after a second pause of eight days there wasa final administration spread over two days. After twenty-two days a radical cure was obtained in this way. Whenthe attacks appeared again after the fifth day treatment wascontinued for forty-eight days with several interruptions.In tertian and quartan ague the first stage of the treatmentlasted twelve days and the remedy was given for sixty dayswith several carefully arranged intervals. The advantagesof methylene - blue were especially obvious in thosecases where quinine had proved useless or wherethere was intolerance of it. The drawbacks associated withmetbylene-blue are the staining of the tongue and the lips ;a slight amount of cystitis was also sometimes observed, butthese inconveniences are very slight in comparison with theradical cure obtained in nearly every case. Immunisationseemed to be produced by the treatment, for although theconvalescents continued to reside in the malarial districtvery few of them indeed were subsequently attacked. Withthe exception of the cystitis already mentioned no toxicsymptoms were ever observed. In 18 instances the feverdisappeared after the first day, in 36 after the third, in 8tafter the sixth, in 88 after the tenth, in 18 after the eleventh,and in 13 after the twelfth day. In 18 cases no cure wasobtained. In 38 out of the 275 cases a relapse occurred aftertwo months.

Remarkable Misadventure with Chloroform.A sad event happened recently in the Catholic Hospital at

Herne, in Westphalia. A man who had received a gunshot