1327IRELAND.—PARIS.

of medical jurisprudence, Jast month sent in his resignation.which has been accepted by the Council. The subjects iufexclusion of Irish diplomates from hospital appointments inEngland, the enlargemeno of the College school buildings,and the abolition of the visiting physiciancies of Irishlunatic asylums are also fully considered in the report.

Rotunda Lying-in Hospital.At a meeting of the governors last week the plans for the

proposed new auxiliary hospital were adopted, and a coim-mittee appointed to carry out the proposed scheme. Inaddition to the proceeds of the bazaar held last year it isestimated that a further sum of £4000 will be absolutelynecessary to complete the new building, and an account hasbeen opened at the Bank of Ireland to receive contributionsfor the desired purpose.

Irish Medical Association.

The annual meeting was held last Monday, presidedover by Sir Charles Cameron, and afterwards by the newlyelected President, Dr. Jacob of Mary borough. The reportof the Council as regards its finanetal position was satisfac-tory, a considerable increase having taken place in theincome of the Association, owing to 107 new membershaving been elected since the previous year. Severalmembers who were in arrears for their annual subscriptionwere struck off the list. The chief place in the programmeof the Association was accorded, by the wish of themembers and the Council, to the promotion of a

Bill to secure pensions as of right for Poor-lawofficers, medical and non-medical, whenever they shall havebecome incapacitated from duty. The Council approachedthe Chief Secretary to obtain the support of the Govern-ment for the Superannuation Bill, but met with scantencouragement from that official, the inteiview accordedafter one refusal to receive a deputation being strictlyprivate, no reporter baing allowed to take notes of theinterview ; and the attitude of the Chief Secretary to theproposals of the delegates was one of hostility. The Councilhave constructed a skeleton Bill to provide for safeguardingthe issue of tickets, for much greater facilities for cancellingsuch tickets, and for a declaration that the issuer or ther< cipient may be held liable to pay the fees of the medicalofficer if the ticket shall have been knowingly or negligentlyissued to an improper recipient. The Council, however,do not intend to complete the proposed measure or intro-duce it into Parliament, being of opinion that no legislationon tne subject should be actively promoted until the Super-arnuation Bill has been disposed of. The following resolu-tions were adopted by the meeting :-" That we, the members of the Association, declare the claim of the

Poor-law officers of Ireland to superannuation whenever they shallhave become incapacitated for the performance of duty to be an equit-able pnnciple, and indispensable to the efficiency of the Irish Poor-lawsystem. That, inasmuch as the services rendered by Poor-law officersare stiictly obligatory, and are much more onerous than those performedby most civil servants, there is no just reason why the grant of pension,which is assured in the case of civil servants, should be left to thecaprice of any body, as is the case of Poor law officers. As experiencehas abundantly proved that the discretion vested in boards of guardiansto r fuse or grant pensions has operated as a great hardship towardsPoor-law officers, and very much to the disadvantage of the service, itis therefore a matter of policy, apart from justice to the officer, thatthe grant of a pension in old age or infirmity shall be a matter of right.We therefore, while approving of the steps taken by the Council toobtain legislative authority for the necessary change of law, urge theCouhcil to persist in the demands which they have put forward, and torelax no effort to bring the matter to the notice of the next Parliament.""That the dispensary medical system of Ireland can never be satis-

factoty nor its medical officers contented until the method of i he issueof medical relief tickets shall have been altered, so that persons ofindependent means may be prevented from availing themselves of thegratuitous services provided by the ratepayers f )r the relief of the poor.Such abuses not only operate as an encouragement to pauperism, butthey burthen Poor law medical officers with work for which they arenot paid, and, by withdzawing from those officers the private practicewhich is their legitimate means of livelihood, impose upon the rate-payers a much higher charge for Poor-law medical services than wouldotherwise be necessary. For these reasons a change in the law andregulation governing the distribution of Poor-law medical relief ticketsis urgently needed ; and the Council is hereby requested to press thematter upon the notice of Parliament, whenever a favourable oppor-tunity shall arise, without delaying the settlement of the superannua-tion question ; and that this As.,.ociation cordially approves of themovement to secure direct Parliamentary representation with a view toobtaining redress of the above mentioned grievances."" That the cordial thanks of the Association be, and they are hereby,

returned to the Parliamentary Bills Committee of the British MedicalAssociation, to the Irish Medical Schools’ and Graduates’ Association,to the Royal Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons, and to the Poor-lawOfficers’ Association, for the valuable countenance and assistance givellto this Association in its efforts to promote measures for the redress oi

the grievances of the Poor-law medical officers, and that these thank:

be conveyed by the secretary to the representatives of the bodiesnamed."

" That the thanks of this Association are hereby gratefully tendere!1to the professional and general press for their constant advocacy of theclaims of the medical profession, as well as for having given publicityto the proceedings of the Association."

The officer bearers for the ensuing year having beenappointed, the proceedings terminated. In the evening theannual dinner took place in the Royal College of Surgeons,

. At a meeting of Convocation of the Royal University ofIreland the Rav. M. Leitch. Professor Sinclair of Balfast,and Mr. Thomson, M D., F.R.C.S.I,of Dublin, were electedmembers of Senate.The Medical Boa-rd of the Mater Misericordiae Hospital

have elected Mr. O’Sullivan, M.B., B.Ch., resident surgeonfor the ensuing year.June 7th.

_______________

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Influence of Incubators and " Gavage " on the Mortalityof the Newborn.

AT the Paris Maternity there are born annuallyan average of 400 infants before term. As may beimagined, the mortality amongit this premature additionto the infant population was very great before the intro.duction flf the system of incubation combined with"gavage." The beneticenb effect of this system may begathered from the perusal of the following figures Mortality in the ante-incubator period :-Infants born inthe sixth month, 100 per cent.; at six months and a half,78’5 per cent.; at <even months, 61 per cent.; at sevenmonths and a half, 46 per cent. ; at eight months,22 per cent. ; at eight months and a half, 12 per cent.The incubator and 11

gavage " have converted these figures’into 81, 63’4, 50’2, 23, 11’2, and 4 per cent. respectively.Comment is superfluous. Ib is, however, only right to,recall the predominant part taken by Professor Tarnier i3-popularising this method of saving to the world a not in-considerable number of human beings who would, underthe old r&eacute;gime, have had hardly the time to make their bowto the family circle before quitting it for ever.

Precautionary Measures against Hydrophobia.The walls of Paris are now covered with posters signed b

the Prefect of Police, enjoining all owners of dogs either tomuzzle their pets or lead thtm by a string during theirperegrinations through the streets of this capital. Anyinfringement of this edict will be punished in a mannervery unpleasant to the master, and still less pleasant to thepoor beaar, the police having orders to conduct it to thepound, where it will be killed. It will astonish no one whois familiar with the slovenly way such orders are carried outthere when I state that this very day I noticed in the.streets, wandering at their own sweet wills, numerous urrpmuzzled dogs.

The Paris Water-supply. .As usual, at this time of year, certain districts of Paris.

are obliged to consume water derived from the Seine, the:eau de source being, owing to the continuance of dryweather, insufficient to supply the whole of the towrraIt is only right to explain that the parts of Paris mostfrequented by visitors are spared this dangerous inflictionas much as possible, spring-water being supplied to them ; mwhile the inhabitants of the more populous arrondissementaehave to drink the fever-laden liquid known as eau de Seine.Bat hince in the course of their wanderings touristsmight wish to assuage their thirst in one of the infected’areas, I should strongly advise them to make inquiriesof the landlord of the hotel or pension at which theyare staying. as to the distribution of this polluted water;Only the other day, being seated at a caf&eacute; near thePantheon, I was the means of preventing the absorptionof this dangerous stuff by a fellow countryman who,,,although resident in Paris, was not posted up in thesematters. A practical proposition has been recently adoptedby the Municipal Council to the effect that all publie-

, fountains found in the less-favoured parts of Paris be fitted’ with filtres hygigniques. I very much doubt, however, ifE anything short of boiling would induce me to drink Seine-

water. I again repeat that early next year we are promised

1328 BERLIN.-AUSTRALIA.

a, supply of pure water equivalent to 100 litres per diem perinhabitant, which will render this city independent ofdrought and its regrettable corollary-recourse to Seinewater.

Election to the Academy of Medicine.Death has been very busy of late, and has caused many

vacancies in the ranks of those eminent medical men whocompose the Academy of Medicine. At the last election’Dr. Desnos was successful against three competitors forthe coveted honour-Drs. Damontpallier, Laveran, andHallopeau.

Professor Benjamin Ball.The numerous friends of our distinguished compatriot,

Dr. Ball, professor of mental medicine at this faculty, willregret to hear that illness has, for some time past, com-pelled him to discontinue his adminble teaching at SainteAnne Asylum and at the Laennec Hospital. His kindnessand courtesy to ’English practitioners visiting Paris for.sducational purposes are traditional, and I am sure thatin wishing him an early recovery I am only echoing theaentiments of all who have come in contact with him.

Paris, June 8th.

BERLIN.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Langenbeck House.THE annual surgical congress will be opened to-morrow

Yln the new L1Dgenbeck House, which is now finished. Thebuilding stands close to the Surgical Clinic of the Univer-sity, fronting the Spree. The entrance is from the Ziegel.Strasse. It is a plain brick building of three storeys, con-taining a fine assembly hall capable of seating 700 persons,.a smaller hall to accommodate several hundred, a library, areading-room, a museum, and custodian’s rooms. The largehall is to be adorned by a portrait and a marble bust ofLangenbeck, and the names of great surgeons are to bepainted on the walls under the gallery. In the maincorridor will be placed a marble bust of the late EmpressAugasta (who took a keen interest in the project),dlanked by portraits of the present Emperor and Empress.In the wall opposite these works of art are doors leading tothe large hall, between which marble busts of Bardeleben,Billroth, Bruns, Busch, Thiersch, and Volkmann are to beerected. The site and the entire building cost about- S’27,500. This sum was raised by the German SurgicalSociety, aided by the Berlin Medical Society and thefriends, pupils, and admirers of the great surgeon whosename the building bears. The ground behind the buildingis to be laid out as a garden.

Children’s Hospitals on the German Coasts.The Society for Children’s Hospitals on the Garman

Coasts, of which the Empress Frederick is patroness, heldits twelfth annual meeting last Fridav evening, ProfessorLeyden in the chair. The number of children received lastyear by the hospital which bears the Empress Frederick’sTiame in the North Sea island of Norderney was 744. Themumber of children cared for there during the winter was104. At Wyk, in the island of Fobr, also in the North Sea,157 children were received; at Grossmuntz, on the Baltic,’206; and at Zoppot, also on the Baltic, 68. Of the totalnumber (1175), 483 were cured, and 610 improved, some- of them very considerably.

Statistics.In the week which ended on the 21st ulb. 2 persons died in

Berlin of puerperal fever, 2 of typhus fever, 4 of quinsy, 5 oferysipelas, 8 of scarlet fever, 8 of whooping-cough, 9 ofmeasles, 12 of cerebral apoplexy, 17 of gastro-intestinalcatarrh, 17 of senile decrepitude, 22 of diarrhaea, 24 of

- diphtheria, 50 of diarrhoea with vomiting, 59 of pneumonia,and 86 of pulmonary phthisis. Twenty died by violence,including 8 suicides. Of the German cities, Hanover hadthe lowest death-rate (13-1), Chemnitz the highest (28-5).The death-rate of Leipsic was 181, of Berlin 20-8, of Breslauand Frankf,rrt-on-the-Maine 22-4, of Hamburg 24-2, and ofMunich 28-3.

Miscellaneous Items.The German naturalist, Hermann Burmeister, died at

Buenos Ayres on the 22nd ult., aged eighty-five. His mainadvice to science was the investigation of the climate, soil,

and fauna of Brazil and Argentina. He founded the NaturalHistory Museum in Buenos Ayres.The magistrates of Berlin have appointed Professor

Moeli director of the new lunatic asylum of Herzberge,near Lichtenberg, a large village east of Berlin.

Dr. Paul Guttmann, director of the internal departmentof the hospital belonging to the city of Berlin in the suburbof Moabit, celebrated his twenty.fifth anniversary as a

private lecturer in Berlin University yesterday.Berlin, June 7th.

AUSTRALIA.

The Sydney Cancer Curers.THE trial of the two Hoods-father and son-for the man.

slaughter of a woman named Cohen was concluded last week,and resulted in a verdict of "guilty" being found againstboth the prisoners. The facts elicited at the trial were of amost startling nature, and furnish most convincing proof ofthe " gullibility" of the general public. In February, 1891, aMrs. Cohen applied at the Sydney Hospital for treatment,and was seen by the medical superintendent, Dr. Hull.He diagnosed the case as one of epithelioma of thelower lip, and advised the woman to have it excised.She went away promising to return, and no more was seenof her until the following Christmas, when she again soughthospital treatment. Then it was found that the growthhad extended widely and had involved the tissues of theneck, that the woman was in a very depressed condition,and that she was beyond all human skill. It was elicitedfrom her that she had been under the treatment of theHoods, who had applied caustics and poultices to thecancer, and for eleven months had lured her on

with promises of a cure. The woman died in Februaryof this year, and, Dr. Hull having refused a certifi.cate of death, the matter passed into the hands ofthe coroner. The case went on for several weeks, andended in the committal of the Hoods for manslaughter, ofwhich they have just been found guilty. The evidenceshowed that the unfortunate woman had had Hood’s"secret cancer cure" applied to her lip, and that shortlyafter the application Hood had taken the growth betweenhis fingers and dragged part of iu away, causing her mostintense agony. A poultice was then applied, and thewretched patient sent home. Daiing the operation someof the "specific" fall on the woman’s dress, and it was ofsuch a nature that "it burned holes in the cloth." Boththe prisoners showed themselves profoundly ignorantof everything appertaining to medicine and surgery.Neither had had any training, and the elder man wasnot able to say what the MD. and B.A. which hewrote after his name meant. In accordance with the lawwhich obtains in this country both the accused were allowedto go into the witness-box and give evidence in the case.This gave the Crown Prosecutor an opportunity of findingout what they really knew about cancer. Here is theirdefinition of cancer: "A parasitic spongy tumour contain-ing cells growing from the glands and bloodvessels, andintested with microbes of the size of a louse’s egg. Theparasite has a mouth and a body, and takes its nutrimentfrom the surrounding bodies by ’ exorption.’ Hood hadnever seen the parasites, but had felt them as hard bodies;it required a microscope to see them. Hereupon the prose-cuting counsel produced a microscope and some slides, andasked the accused to demonstrate the parasites to the jury.The man had evidently never used a microscope, and wasutterly unable to use it. It is a clear gain to the publicthat two such shameless charlatans are safely within thegaol walls, and both the public and the profession owe adeep debt of gratitude to Dr. Hull for the manliness andpubic spirit he showed in bringing about that result.

The Windsor and Rainhill Murderer.The trial of Deeming, or Williams, for the murder of his

wife in one of the suburbs of Melbourne is of more thanlocal interest because of the allegations made against himby the English police, and of the suspicion entertained bythe authorities that he is the perpetrator of the Whitechapeloutrages. On the first day of the trial an attempt wasmade to have it postponed, and two medical men who hadexamined the prisoner gave evidence to the effecb that hehad had fits, probably epileptic, that he had had syphilis,and that he was possessed of the belief that his deceased