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From the annual report of the Vice-Chancellorrecently delivered to the Senate it appears that thenumber of medical students in attendance upon theUniversity in the year 1919-20 was 649, of whom 519were men and 130 were women. Owing to the pressureupon the accommodation of the University several ofthe classes have to be divided.-At a meeting of Con-vocation held on Nov. 17th some dissatisfaction wasexpressed regarding the financial arrangements affect-ing the University under the presentlHome Rule Bill. Thesum of 26,000, allocated as an annual grant to the Uni-versity, is felt to be quite inadequate to meet existingneeds and the’great increase of the cost of administrationowing to conditions created by the late war. Universityfinance is everywhere a pressing problem, and Mr.Fisher, the President of the Education Department,has on several occasions emphasised the need forgreater liberality to universities on the part of theState.-Mr. Francis Aders Heron, J.P., has presentedthe University with a gift of X5000 to assist the

University in making provision for the better teachingof physical chemistry.-During the year a new dentaldepartment was founded in the University with fourlecturers in the various technical branches.

T1tberculosis in Belfast.The annual report of Dr. A. Trimble, chief tuber-

culosis officer of the city, covers a large field. In

spite of the difficulties which beset a large indus-trial population, Belfast has made notable progress inrecent years in the reduction of tuberculosis. In 1890the death-rate from tuberculosis was 4’6 per 1000,whereas in 1919 the rate was 2’1 per 1000, a fall ofmore than 50 per cent. in 30 years. It is onlyright to point out that this decline began andwas progressive before the present anti-tuberculosiscrusade was inaugurated. Tuberculosis, as all are

agreed, is pre-eminently a social question and inti-mately bound up with questions of housing, over-

crowding, occupation, economics, food, and generalhygiene. Osler once said that the amount of typhoidfever in any area was an index of the hygienicintelligence of its inhabitants. The same remarkmight be made with equal propriety regarding theamount of tuberculosis. Sanatoriums have their value,and the present tendency to belittle their usefulness

may easily be carried too far, but their effect uponthe prevalence of tuberculosis is, and will continue tobe, small. Domiciliary treatment is at best a pis aller.Nothing but a resolute policy of social reform andeducation in the principles of hygiene will success-

fully grapple with the white plague. Science has putthe necessary weapons in our hands, but we havestill to learn how to employ them with full effect.Let us never forget that the fall in the tuberculosis-rate in Great Britain began soon after the repeal ofthe Corn Laws inaugurated the era of cheap food.Memorial to the late lllr..Robe7°t Campbell, of Belfast.The medical friends of the late Mr. Robert Campbell

have thought it appropriate that steps should be takento commemorate the pioneer work that he has donefor surgery in Ulster. An endowment fund has been ’-inaugurated for this purpose, and at a meeting of thesubscribers, held on Nov. 8th, in the -Medical Institute,Belfast, it was decided that the memorial should takethe form of a prize, to be called the Robert CampbellMemorial Prize, and that this prize should be awardedperiodically for distinguished work in any branch ofmedical science to that member of the profession inUlster or to that graduate of Queen’s University,Belfast, whom at the time the selection was madethe committee should consider most deserving of thehonour. It was also decided that the award shouldentail on the recipient the duty of delivering an orationto the profession, to be called the Robert Campbelloration.The following Executive Committee was appointed : The

Professors of Surgery, Medicine, Midwifery, Gynaecology,Ophthalmology, Pathology, Anatomy, and Physiology inQueen’s University, Belfast ; the President of the UlsterBranch of the British Medical Association, and of the UlsterMedical Society; the chairman of staff of the followinghospitals: Royal Victoria, Mater Infirmorum, Queen’s-street, and the Ulster; also Dr. John Campbell and Dr. J.

Walton Browne. Dr. James Colville was appointedTreasurer, and Dr. Thomas Houston Secretary. ,

This Executive Committee was given power to appointfive trustees, two of whom must be general medical prac-titioners, and, along with the trustees, to award the prizefrom time to time.The following subscriptions to the Endowment Fund,

totalling over .E600, have been already received :- ’

ae s. d.James Moore ................................. 52 10 0T. Houston, R. J. Johnstone, R. Johnston (Portrush), J. S.Morrow, T. Sinclair, J. A. Craig, A. B. Mitchell, J. C.

Rankin ................................. each 21 0 0S. B. Boyd (Ballymoney), J. Walton Browne, W. Burns,William M. Burnside, I. A. Davidson, George Hart(Measham), James Huston (Carrick), J. A. Lindsay, C. G.Lowry, W. G. MacKenzie, H. L. McKisack, T. H. Milroy,W. Monypeny, T. B. Pedlow (Lurgan), A. Gardner Robb,Howard Stevenson, T. D. Warnock (Donegal), AndrewFullerton, James Colville, S. T Irwin, W. Porter

(Portrush) ................................. each 1010 0 ’

S. Blakely, Foster Coates, Sir John Fagan (Monasterevan),D. P. Gaussen (Dunmurry), G. St. George (Lisburn), 1. R.Greenfield (Holywood), T. S, Holmes, J. B. Johnson(Gilford), W. M. Killen (lst Instalt.), R. R. Leathem,G. G. Lyttle, John McCaw, John McCrea (Wargrave),W. R. MacKenzie, A. P. B. Moore, Brice Smyth,M. Brice Smyth, I. Wallace (Knockahollet), R. M. Beatty(Heckmondwike), Robert Hall ............... each 5 5 0

Alex. Burns, James A. Clarke (Carrick), C. Graves (Cooks-town), David Huey (Bushmills), H. Moreland McCrea(London), R. McDowell, L. Rentoul, W. Smyth(Antrim) ................................. each 5 0 0

T. C. D. Cathcart, S. J. Killen (Carrick), T. Killen (Larne),R. Marshall, S. R. Hunter (Dunmurry) ......... each 3 3 0

Boyd Campbell, H. W. Cunningham (Londonderry),G. M. Irvine (Mount Norris), H. R. Irvine. A. E.Knight (Donaghadee), Joseph Martin (Donaghadee), S. I.Turkington, W. J. Wilson ................. each 2 2 0

R. Martin (Banbridge) ........................... 1 1 0

Members of the profession who wish to subscribe arerequested to send their donations to Dr. James Colville,7, University-square, Belfast.

Ile2cben Harvey lVTemorial .Pre.The thirteenth triennial award of this prize will be

made in July next. The competition is open to studentsand graduates of less than three years’ standing ofDublin schools of medicine. The prize, value :@25, isfor the beat essay evidencing research in animalphysiology or pathology. Essays, bearing fictitioussignatures, are to be lodged with the Registrar of theRoyal College of Physicians of Ireland, Kildare-street,Dublin, on or before June 1st, 1921.Nov. 29th.

__________________

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Value of Stock Vaccines.IN a recent communication to Le Courrier Medical Dr.

Maurice Guibert gives the results of vaccine therapy in30 cases of acute epididymitis treated by dmegon, agonococcus vaccine which is one of a series of stockvaccines all made on, the same principle. The use ofstock vaccines is fairly extensive in this country, themost popular ones being known as dmesta (staphylo-coccus) and dmegon (gonococcus) ; satisfactoryresults have also been obtained with dmetys, whichis a vaccine against whooping-cough. Some resultsof the use of these vaccines have been reportedfrom time to time in statistics. of the out-patientdepartment of the Pasteur Institute of Tunis.

They are made by suspending in dilute sodiumfluoride solution a 24 hours’ culture grown on a solidmedium. Dmegon is a mixture of two suspensions, oneof a culture of gonococcus and the other of a cultureof synococcus, a Gram-positive organism originallydescribed by Ch. Nicolle and L. Blaizot,l who thinkthat gonorrhoea may be caused by the simultaneousoccurrence of the two organisms. The two suspensionsare mixed together, so that 1 c.cm. of the mixed vaccinecontains 50 million gonococci and 450 million synococci.The initial dose is c.cm., this amount correspond-ing to a total of 250 million germs (25 milliongonococci and 225 million synococci). Using thisvaccine in 30 cases of gonorrhoeal epididymitis, Dr.Guibert has noticed that in all cases it caused the

1 Comptes Rendus des Stances de l’Académie des Sciences,Nov. 24th, 191

1164

complication to subside rapidly, but that the urethraldischarge did not necessarily dry up. On July 6thMons. E. Potherat communicated to the Societe deChirurgie de Paris an account of the satisfactoryresults obtained by the use of propidon (Delbet’sbouillon) in six surgical cases (carbuncle, cellulitis,abscess), thereby confirming the favourable reports onits use which have been published by various authoritiesduring the early months of the year. Propidon is amixed stock vaccine, containing staphylococcus, strepto-coccus, and B. pyocyaneus. It is obtained by pro-longed cultivation of these three bacteria; after beingstored for a month the cultures are sterilised by heatingto a temperature of 65° C., and are finally mixedtogether so as to obtain a standardised emulsion.According to Professor Delbet this prolonged cultiva-tion attenuates the toxins to such an extent that thevaccine can be injected in very large doses withouttoxic symptoms, and a greater amount of immunityis developed. B. pyocyaneus is included becauseits culture contains pyocyanase, a ferment-like sub-stance which possesses the power of destroying otherbacteria, and more especially because Professor Delbethas observed that in septic wounds streptococcidiminish in number when pyocyaneus bacilli becomemore numerous. Each dose of propidon consists of4 c.cm. of vaccine, containing 1750 million streptococci,3300 million staphylococci, and 8000 million pyocyaneusbacilli. The vaccine is injected subcutaneously or intra-muscularly into the buttock, one to three injectionsbeing given at intervals of three days. It would beinteresting if the results obtained with various kinds ofvaccines could be compared in order to estimate thevalue of the principles upon which these French stockvaccines are made.

Instruction in Orthopedics.Dr. F. Calot, surgeon-in-chief to the Hopital Roths-

child and the Orthopedic Institute (St. Francois deSales) at Berck, is giving a practical course in ortho-paedics to ’which foreigners are admitted fr Jan. 17thto 24th, 1921. The subjects to be dealt with are : con-genital and acquired deformities, external and surgicaltuberculosis, and the practical handling of fractures.Explanations will be given in English and Spanish.The inclusive fee for the course is Fr.140. Applicationshould be addressed to the secretary, Clinique Calot,69, Quai d’Orsay, Paris.

The Late Professor Debove.After a long and painful illness Professor Maurice

Debove died last week at the age of 75. His careerhad been brilliant. He received his medical educationat the Ecole de la Faculte de Medecine de Paris, andbecame interne des hopitaux in 1869, graduatingM.D. Paris in 1873. From this time onwards hissuccess as a teacher and his skill as a physician becamemore and more apparent, until after holding variousother appointments he was elected to the chair of

pathology in the Faculty of Medicine of Paris in 1890.He filled the offices of dean of this faculty and of con-sulting physician successively to the Hospice Bicetre,the Hopital Andral, and the Hopital Beaujon. Memberof the Académie de Medecine since 1893, he was

appointed its permanent secretary in 1913. He wasalso honorary president of the Conseil Superieurd’Hygiene. Professor Debove was the author of numerouspublications and of two classical text-books, " Traitedes Maladies de 1’Estomac " and " Trait6 de CliniqueMedical," written by him and two of his pupils,MM. Rémond and Sallard. Moreover, he stimulatedother pupils to write various manuals under his

supervision which have achieved much popularity.Owing to the war Professor Debove was persuaded topostpone his retirement from his offices of professor andconsulting physician to the Beaujon Hospital for fouryears, and only recently severed his connexion withthis hospital. He did not live long to enjoy the leisurehe had earned, as he was taken ill soon after hisretirement, and in spite of an operation his conditionbecame hopeless.

2 MM. Pierre Delbet, Beauvy et Girode : Injections théra-peutiques de cultures vieillies. Bul. Acad. de Méd., 3e Série,t. lxxii., p. 342, 1914.

Public Health.SCHOOL MEDICAL SERVICE.

Cambridgeshi1’e.THE work here is still in arrears owing to the deple-

tion of the staff during the war, yet the dental work!has gone forward, 8905, or 80 per cent., of the childrenfrom the age of 6 to 13 being inspected and 60 per cent.of the 3690 requiring it receiving dental treatment.The percentage of refusals was high (46 per cent.).As the majority of the children live in remote villages,

dental treatment is carried out by means of a travellingclinic, and treatment for visual defect is given on schoolpremises. Children with enlarged tonsils and adenoidsare operated on in hospital. The school medical officer,Dr. Frank Robinson, draws attention to the very defective: sanitary arrangements in some of the schools. " Mostof the schools are provided with bowls for washing,the accommodation being, on paper, more or less satis-factory, but in many it is not made use of, no water orsoap being provided, and no arrangements being madefor emptying waste water." On the other hanct, hepoints out that in certain schools where the teachertakes an interest excellent use is made of simple appli-ances. Sanitary discipline in schools is a matter thatrequires thorough overhauling.

Cheshire.

10,547 children were examined, excluding 12,924examinations as to visual acuity. Only 1 per cent. ofall the children examined were found to have visualdefect, " a figure very much lower than any recordedin the latest report of the chief medical officer of theBoard of Education." Vertical writing, now generallyregarded as of doubtful advantage, is recommendedas a means of preserving good vision in children. Inhis report Dr. Meredith Young reports that out of4844 cases of uncleanliness only 4 remained unremedied.Thyroid enlargement has been dealt with by Dr. W. W.Stacey, who found case-incidence greatest at puberty.Out of 1991 children of all ages, 162, or 8 per cent., werefound to have enlargement of the thyroid, the affectionvery often running in families. He also deals in ageneral way with hypothyroidism, which he regardsas far more prevalent in schools than is generallysupposed.

Radnorshire.

In this county only 65 per cent. of the children werefound in a state of normal nutrition, 9’8 per cent. werepoorly nourished, and 24’5 were only fairly nourished.Of the 993 children examined, 80’5 per cent. were foundto have good vision, 12’5 per cent. slightly defective,and 12’5 per cent. bad vision, according to Dr. C. J.Thomas’s classification of visual defect. Referring tosanitary conditions in schools, Dr. L. W. Pole reports" conditions exist which would not have been toleratedin the front line trenches, where the difficulties in

regard to sanitation were incomparably greater." Thestate of the cloak-rooms and school-rooms also callsfor remark: " There is not a school in Radnorshire thatcan be said to be clean."

Leicestershire.

During 1919 a thorough survey of the buildings in thiscounty was made. The bad lighting of the older typeof school is said to account for many cases of defectivevision. The amount of visual defect is 9’7 per cent. inthe intermediate, and 17’7 per cent. in the leavergroup, making 10’8 per cent. altogether, a strong con-trast with the 1 per cent. of Cheshire. Here, again,arrangements for washing in the schools, old and new,seem deplorably inadequate; insufjftcient cloak-roomaccommodation calls for special notice. In one schoolof 122 children the only accommodation available was99 pegs in a room 11 feet long by 8 feet wide.

Aberdeen.

9460 children were examined, excluding 6554 specialcases. The intimate relation between school and homehas always been emphasised here. Out of 623 case’s