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affluent class. This has so far been accomplished withoutmaterial loss to the revenue, though no less than 100 addi- tional private patients had been admitted at the lowest

possible rate of board. The visitor in lunacy, in drawingattention to the policy of the directors in this respect, speaksin high terms of the scheme as one by which deservingpatients in straitened circumstances are saved from thestigma of pauperism. Of 384 patients 182 are received at arate of £40 or under per annum. Mr. W. A. Parker, M.B.,C.M. Glasg., one of the assistant medical officers, has beenpromoted to be senior assistant at Gartloch Asylum, and hisposition has been filled by the appointment of Mr. W. J. Orr,M.B., C.M. Glasg.

Glasgow University.The following gentlemen are understood to be candidates

for the vacant chair of Forensic Medicine: R. M. Buchanan,M.B. Glasg., Professor of Forensic Medicine in Anderson’sCollege Medical School ; Ebenezer Duncan, M.D. Glasg.,physician to the Victoria Infirmary and President of theGlasgow Philosophical Society; Hugh Galt, M B. Glasg.,D.P.H. Camb., assistant to the University chair ; andJohn Glaister, M.D., Glasg., D.P.H. Camb., Professor ofForensic Medicine in St. Mungo’s College. The patronageof the chair is in the hands of the Crown and the

appointment is worth about Z600 per annum. Thenumber of students matriculated in Glasgow continues.as in other Scottish Universities, to decline. This falling offis most notable in the Arts faculty, but also to a less extentaffects the medical students, who in 1896 numbered 621 andlast year 565. The women students for the current sessionare entered at 256 and of these some 80 are in the medicalfaculty and are not included in the above figures. In 1889the total of matriculated students was 2101; last year thenumber had fallen to 1533. ’

Hospital Sunday in Aberdeen.Hospital Sunday took place on the first Sunday of this

year and despite the inclemency of the weather the netresult of the church collections was rather larger than lastyear, amounting to about £1200.

University of Aberdeen.The Town Council of Aberdeen has voted E5000 to the

University buildings extension scheme on condition that thesame be completed. Aberdeen University Court has thank-fully accepted the donation and remitted the condition toa committee for report. In regard to the students’ unionit has now been arranged that a "modest quencher in theshape of a pint of beer shall be allowed at lunch tomembers.jM. 18th.

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Richmond Lunatic Asylum.ON the 17th inst. a deputation representing the districts

which contribute to the maintenance of the RichmondLunatic Asylum waited on the Chief Secretary, Mr. Balfour,at Dublin Castle, for the purpose of urging that in the forth-coming Local Government Bill provision should be made forincreasing the Treasury capitation grant for the support ofthe lunatic poor and from preventing the Dublin districtfrom being compelled to support persons who became insanewhile inmates of the general hospital here or temporarilyresident in the city though really belonging to other dis-tricts. The Chief Secretary received the Lord Mayor andmembers of the deputation with his usual courtesy and, ashas been his custom recently, discussed the question in allits bearings. In the end, however, he explained that thegrievance in Dublin was not exceptional as similar com-plaints had been made from the large centres in Englandand Scotland. He finally declined to introduce any provisionto deal with the matter in the forthcoming Local Govern-ment Bill.

The Pernbroke Committee for the Training of WorkhozcseNurses.

The members of the above committee held their firstmeeting on the 14th inst., Mr. John Mulhall, of the General

Prisons Board, occupying the chair. The secretary statedthat excellent reports had been received from the sixhospitals in England, Scotland, and Ireland as to the pro-gress made by the probationers in training and that at leastfour of these probationary nurses would be available foremployment in Irish union infirmaries in April. Moreover,that arrangements were in progress for the training of othernurses in the hospitals of Dublin, the curriculum to includea course of midwifery at the Rotunda, Coombe, or Hollis-street hospitals. The four nurses who will soon be availablehave been specially trained for duty in workhouse hospitals.It was decided to open a fund to be called the Irish Work-house Nursing Fund and that the public be invited to sub-scribe to it.

Circular Saw Wound.

A patient suffering from an accident of a very shockingdescription was recently admitted to the Meath Hospital.A strong man, aged twenty-two years, while in charge of alarge circular saw fell forward on it in such a way that itstruck him between the eyes. On admission to hospital hisface was found cut across from ear to ear, his eyes were bothdestroyed, while brain matter escaped through the wound inhis skull. Notwithstanding the nature of his injuries thepatient lived for nine days, a fact which was commentedupon by the city coroner on the occasion of the inquest onthe body.

County Monaghan Infirmary.At the monthly meeting of governors of this infirmary held

on Jan. 12th, Dr. J. Campbell Hall submitted his annualreport for the year ending Jan. 5th, 1898. During this timethere have been 547 intern and 2574 extern patients, a total of3121. The diseases treated were of the usual class and pointto no special climatic conditions during this period with theexception that some acute pulmonary affections showed atendency to assume a mixed type and run an abnormal course,thus suggesting the continuance of influenza in a more orless modified form. All the surgical operations (which weremore numerous this year than usual and some of them veryformidable) ended successfully except one. Several new bedshave been presented by friends of the charity.

Exceptional Weather in Ulster.Not even the "oldest inhabitant" of Belfast can eve.

remember such extraordinarily fine weather in winter as hasbeen experienced in that city and all over Ulster sincethe present year set in. There is a beautiful sunrisesucceeded by warm dry days with a temperature outsiderising often as high as 56° F. and followed by eveningsand nights such as are experienced in spring. As a result

people are wearing light clothes already, and there is plentyof cycling. Notwithstanding this mild weather there is agood deal of sickness and influenza is very prevalent.

Death of Mr. 1. G. Millerick, L.R.C.P. & S. Lond.

Mr. T. G. Millerick, Dispensary Medical Officer, Waterville,Co. Kerry, died on the llth inst. His death is attributedto a severe wetting he received the previous Friday whilstproceeding to attend a diepensary patient. The newspapers,referring to his death, describe him as a martyr to duty.The Cahirciveen Board of Guardians spoke in the kindliestterms of him and his untimely death-be was only thirty-three years of age-ought to impress on the public mindthe risks run by members of the medical profession.

Jan. 17th. _______________

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

‘

Gastro-enterostomy.THE subject of gastro-enterostomy continues to form a

matter for discussion at the Society of Surgery. At themeeting of Dec. 22nd, 1897, M. Tuffier announced that hehad operated on three patients suffering from ulcer of thestomach which was far advanced. In all three cases therewas considerable haemorrhage and in two of them it remainedunaffected by treatment. Two of the patients were strong menwho were reduced to a state of extreme anæmia with profoundcachexia ; the third case was a woman who also suffered fromperitonitis. In the first case the ulcer was situated on

the lesser curvature and was adherent to the lower surface

264

of the liver; in the second case it was close to the pylorus;and in the third case it was on the greater curvature in aboutits upper third. The ulcer in the first case formed, togetherwith the liver, a hard mass closely resembling a newgrowth; the ulcer in the second case was sharply-defined; but in the case of the woman there was peritonitiswith yellowish fluid in the abdomen and the stomachwas firmly adherent to the false ribs. In all three casesM. Tuffier performed gastro-enterostomy behind the trans-verse meso-colon. The first patient died and the post-mortem-examination showed nothing but an ulcer on the inferiorsurface of the liver. The second patient, who had vomiteda washhand-basin full of blood, left the hospital able to,eat ordinary diet. The woman got well so quickly thatafter the fourth day she wanted to give up the milkdiet upon which she had been living for the last threeyears. This operation does away with gastric retention andplaces the organ at rest. It is evident that it acts in thisway, for relief is so rapid that the ulcer cannot have time toheal. Although gastric digestion continues after the opera-tion the stomach contracts directly this digestion is far"enough advanced and so passes the food on without havingto struggle against the contracted pylorus. M. Tuffieralso showed an " angiotribe " by means of whichhe had been able to perform two hysterectomieswithout using either ligatures or forceps. There was no

hasmorrhage. At the meeting of Dec. 29th the discussion ongastro-enterostomy was resumed. M. Hartmann had operatedon a man thirty years old who had suffered from profusehæmorrhages. The post-mortem examination showed a

;simple erosion which resembled a scratch and could nothave been diagnosed during life. In his own opinion theoperation is not advisable for patients suffering from pro---fuse hæmatemesis. Complete rest and low diet yieldgood results in most cases. Another very important pointis the curative influence of gastro-enterostomy on ulcers-in process of formation. This is indisputable. The cure isdue to the fact of the organ being placed at rest. Doyenand Carle attach great importance to spasm of the pylorus,not only in cases of ulcer, but also in cases of excessivesecretion of hydrochloric acid. M. Hartmann goes still furtherand agrees with Defontaine that surgical intervention isindicated in all cases of profound dyspepsia which are notbenefited by medical treatment. He had performed ananterior gastro-enterostomy on a woman aged forty yearswho suffered from epigastric and vertebral pain four or fivehours after eating with repeated attacks of vomiting. Therewas much wasting, the stomach was perfectly empty, thetest meal showed an almost complete absence of hydro-chloric acid, but there was no dilatation. Operation curedthis woman, who gained in weight. It is quite certainthat after an opening into the jejunum every processof gastric digestion is gone through. The organ isplaced in a state of repose without being actuallydrained. M. Boutier agreed with these opinions. He con--sidered that in every case of gastritis where the etiologywas obscure operation would yield excellent results.M. Tuffier, in reply, said that he was astonished that anybodyshould confound a hæmorrhagic erosion with a simple ulcer.When an operation was undertaken for hæmatemesisfollowing upon ulcer exploration of the stomachallows the operator to recognise the lesion and to make,up his mind as to further operation. On the other hand,erosions are quite unrecognisable even by exploration ; on

opening the stomach one sees nothing, as in the case reportedby Salzer and Hirsch. As for indications for operation,M. Tuffier considered that surgery should begin at thatpoint where medicine failed ; where there was vomiting orhæmatemesis careful examinations should be made and thesymptoms studied before resorting to surgical interferencein any case of grave dyspepsia. M. Tuffier prefers themethod of von Hackler to any other. He closes the hole inthe meso-colon by two stitches, attaching it to the stomach.so that there is no danger of the intestine slipping throughHe sutures the tissues in two layers, which is, he thinks, abetter method than taking up the whole thickness of thewall at once as M. Hartmann does.

Reading through Opaque Substances.The press has been greatly exercised about a so-called

experiment in reading through opaque bodies, an experimentof which Dr. Ferroul, of Montpellier, affirmed the reality.The Academy of Science and Literature at Montpellierappointed a commission of inquiry the members of which

were M. Bertin-Sans, in charge of the department of physicsat the Faculty of Medicine ; M. Guibal bâtonnier, of theFaculty of Law ; M. Meslin, Professor of Physics at theFaculty of Science ; and M. Grasset, Professor of Chemistryat the Faculty of Montpellier. These gentlemen went toNarbonne, where Dr. Ferroul had agreed that the meetingshould be held. Three experiments had been prepared withevery precaution and the two following were carried out.The subject had in the presence of the Commission (1) toread at a distance folded paper enclosed in a box along withtwo undeveloped photographic plates ; and (2) to read afolded and sealed paper which one of the Commissionersshould hold before her at any distance and for as long atime as she liked, without ever letting it go. These twoexperiments, made in the presence of and with the fullconsent of Dr. Ferroul, who in common with members ofthe Commission was ignorant of the contents of the paper,yielded an absolutely negative result.

Jan. 17th.

ROME.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Italy’s "F’oundling Shambles."UN vero macello dei esposti "-the phrase is not mine

but that of Signor Plutino, the prefect of Avellino, chieftown of the province of that name, within three hours eastof Naples by rail. Avellino, like most Italian centres, hasits " Brefotrofio " or foundling hospital, and also, like most ofthese, its " brefotrofio " is a model of mismanagement, pre-senting under the limelight of official inspection a state ofthings for which the only epithet is "inhuman." Lastsummer a thrill of horror ran through Italy (and indeedwherever the facts were published) on its being made knownthat the great foundling hospital of the Annunziata at

Naples was really a "campo santo dei bambini" (agraveyard of infancy) with a death-rate of well-nigh100 per cent.! Now it appears that that record is beatenby Avellino, where the foundling hospital actually attainsthe mortality of 100 per cent. Signor Plutino, whose letterto the Syndic of the town first drew attention to the" orrendo spettacolo afforded by its " brefotrofio," wasfollowed by the Councillor Signor Abetti who with the aidof the provincial medical authority tested the facts bypersonal inquiry. This gentleman says (I quote his verywords) : " La causa della mortalita che rappresenta il 100per cento e dovuta esclusivamente allo scarsissimo numerodi balie" (the cause of the death-rate representing 100 percent. is due exclusively to the very scanty number of

nurses) ; and then he proceeds to set forth the " death bystarvation which is the sure and swift portion of the littleunfortunates whom a vicious society throws upon the tendermercies of the hospital. "Tutti i bambini affidati albaliatico interno sono irremissibilmente condannati a

morte " (all the infants entrusted to the nursing processwithin are inexorably condemned to death)-such is the

language of Signor Abetti’s medical authority. The laypress has thrown open its columns to the revelations andI find in a leading Neapolitan journal, the Carriere diNapoli, that from May to December last sometimes as manyas five infants a day were assigned to one single nurse

(cinque bambini ad una sola balia) in the" brefotrofio" ofAvellino! Loud and prolonged are the appeals made to theGovernment to institute something like the reforms nowapplied to the " Annunziata" " at Naples, which, as Iannounced last summer, has had its previous administrationsuspended and its whole management placed under theCavaliere Pucci, of Florence, a man of approved experienceand ability in the control of infant hospitals. As if to shamethe supineness of the authorities, central and local, in pre-sence of such a scandal the public are proffering food andcomforts to the little inmates of the "brefotrofio" and a well-known pharmaceutical firm of Naples (Giovanni Barbero andCo.) announces its readiness to contribute free of charge asmany feeding-bottles as may be required, not only byAvellino, but by whatever other "brefotrofi " are similarlyshort of nurses. Such intervention has already made somesmall impression upon the death-rate in the AvellineseHospital, but even my latest intelligence from that "camposanto dei bambini presents a harrowing picture and still