816 NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.—SCOTLAND.

from 25 ft. to 35 ft. Reduction in the price is necessary ifgas is to be largely used for cooking, heating, and for gasengines.

Sept. 24th. _______________

NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Jarrow Cruelty Case.AT the instance of the National Society for Prcycn-

tion of Cruelty to Children Leonard George Peters, a

registered medical practitioner, was, by the Jarrow magis-trates, on Sept. 19th, convicted of gross cruelty to his

children, aged respectively ten and five years and one year,and sentenced to three months’ imprisonment in Durham

gaol. The evidence showed that drink was at the bottom ofthe case, the wife and children both stating that Peters waskind to them when he was sober, but that he was very oftendrunk, and then behaved very cruelly to them all.Newcastle-on-Tyne, Sept. 24th.

SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

IScottish Plumbers’ Congress. t

THE sixth annual Congress in connexion with the National I

Registration of Plumbers was held in Dumfries last week.The delegates were received on the opening day in the townhall by the Provost. Amongst those present were Sir Stuart Knill (Master of the Worshipful Company of Plumbers), Sir 1James Crichton Browne, M.D., and Sir Mark J. Stewart, M.P., who took an active part in the proceedings and participated tin a discussion bearing upon the plumbing work in houses. rA resolution was submitted and agreed to, urging thtt in the employment of plumbers preference should be given èto registered men. Another resolution which was adopted sdeclared that plumbers, from their practical knowledge fand training, were specially fitted for employment as tsanitary inspectors. In connexion with the Congress tan exhibition of plumber’s work was held in theDrill-hall. Sir James Crichton Browne formally opened theexhibition, and in his opening address dwelt upon theintimate relationship of plumbing to the health of the com-munity. In the registration movement he recognised an E

effort to revive the old feeling of trade credit which was Ifostered in the Middle Ages by the trade guilds, and he wished them success in their effort to unite old-fashioned

morality with modern dexterity. Sir Stuart Knill alsoaddressed the meeting and expressed the hope that we would see in this country a revival of that artistic plumbing of whichspecimens were to be seen particularly in Germany and Belgium.Belgium.

lhe Public Health of Edinburgh. (

During the month of August the death-rate in Edinburgh (was rather above the average for that month. The reported (cases of infectious disease included 197 cases of scarletfever, 35 of typhoid fever, 21 of measles, and 14 of diph- theria. At the end of the month there were 261 cases in theCity Hospital. It may be mentioned in this connexion that there appears to be a considerable number of cases ofdiarrhoea in the city. Some of them are dysenteric in character, and in some the diarrhoea is accompanied by vomiting. So far as can be ascertained the cases have been readily subdued by treatment. :

Prosecutions in Edinburgh under the Pliarmacy Act.A number of prosecutions under the Pharmacy Act were

heard last week in Edinburgh in the Sheriff Court. The

prosecutions were at the instance of the PharmaceuticalSociety of Scotland. The greater number were institutedagainst assistants in druggists’ shops for selling poisons, theynot being duly registered druggists. Fines of ;E5 or lesswere imposed. Complaints were also made against assistantsof two of the leading surgical instrument makers for sellingtablets containing bichloride of mercury. In these latter theaccused pleaded guilty, but it was explained that the tabletswere sold to surgeons for cleaning their instruments,and that it was thought that, as the tablets werea proprietary article, they did not come under the

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imposed, with £1 ls. for expenses. Complaints were alsomade against two dealers in photographic appliances forselling poisons, they not being qualified druggists; in thesecases judgment has been deferred. In some of these prosecu-tions, as in the cases of the surgical instrument makers andthe dealers in photographic appliances, the general feelingwill certainly be that something approaching a wrong hasbeen done to those prosecuted. It may be an infringementof the letter of an Act of Parliament for a surgical instru-ment maker to provide his customers with tablets for

rendering his instruments aseptic, but most people will not beprepared to believe that the Act had any such object in viewwhen it was drawn. The course taken by the PharmaceuticalSociety in the matter seems to require an explanation, formeanwhile, although technically justified, it will be felt thattheir action has been ungenerous and unwise. In a casetried in Glasgow last week laudannm had been sold to a boyten years of age whose mother subsequently poisoned her-self, and the principal of the shop in which the sale tookplace admitted that it was a common practice to selllaudanum to young persons.

The Cost of Small-pox in Edinburgh.At the meeting of the Edinburgh town council to-day the

treasurer’s committee recommended an assessment of 2s. 2d.

per pound. The treasurer, in moving the adoption of thisrecommendation, pointed out that the increase of ld. perpound over last year was brought about, not on account ofthe ordinary expenditure, but was entirely due to the small-pox epidemic of last year, which caused a deficit of £ 11,622.

17ie Proposed New City Hospital for Edinburgh.At the meeting of the Edinburgh town council to-day the

proposal of the health committee to purchase Colinton MavisFarm for the price of .620,500 as a suitable site for the pro-posed new city hospital was submitted by the chairman ofthe committee and seconded by Sir James Russell. The

report and the recommendation were agreed to. Attentionwas drawn to the presence of epidemic disease in somedistricts of the city, and one of the members thought thatsufficient was not being done to prevent infectious diseasefrom spreading. He thought that something should be doneto bring them more into touch with the county authoritiesthan was the case at present.

Poisoning by Benzine.An unusual case of poisoning is reported from Falkirk. A

woman who had become suddenly unconscious was found onexamination to have swallowed a quantity of benzine. It is

presumed that she swallowed this, mistaking it for a mixtureshe was in the habit of taking for a sore-throat.

Scottish Prison Statistics.In their annual statement for 1894 the Prison Commis-

sioners report that the number of prisoners committed toprison for that year was 52,658 persons. The increase, whichmakes the total greater than in any previous year, is largelydue to an augmentation in the number of persons committedfor drunkenness, and this is attributed to the prosperous stateof the country and to the activity of the police. As bearingon this point it is noted that during the three months ofsevere weather in the early part of the present year the prisonpopulation fell to the lowest point on record. The returnsalso show an increase in the cases of sickness, which num-bered 1221, and included 45 cases of influenza and 40 casesof delirium tremens. Twenty-three persons were releasedon medical grounds, and there were 51 cases of insanity.Of the latter, 40 were discovered to be insane whencommitted Concerning the department for criminal lunaticsat Perth the Commissioners state that Dr. McNaughtan"continues to conduct it with our full approbation," andquote the Visiting Commissioners in Lunacy to the effect that,"the state of the work, the condition of the inmates, and themanagement of the establishment continue to be very satis-factory."

New Fever Hospital for Stirlingsltire.The county council have approved of plans for the erection

of a new hospital for infectious diseases near the village ofCamelon. The estimated cost is £ 6450.

The New Asylum at Hawkhead.The congested condition of their present asylum at

Merryflatts has compelled the Govan authorities to pushforward the completion of a portion of their new building,though the original plans are far from being realised. The

817SCOTLAND.-IRELAND.

.completed portion has been sanctioned for use as a district !*

.asylum, and a number of patients have been transferred to it a

under the care of Mr. Watson. 1

Scottish Prison Medical officers’ Association. t An association of the medical officers of the Scottish Prison

’service has recently been formed. The first meeting took- place in Glasgow last week.

A Strike of Butchers. t

A rather curious struggle has recently been in progress atMotherwell. The butchers of the district decided to boycott the public slaughterhouse in order to compel the (.authorities to accede to their demand that the whole of acarcase in which tuberculosis is localised should not bedestroyed, but only the diseased portion, the remainder being passed as fit for human food. The Commissioners, however, have stuck to their guns and the butchers are now giving upthe struggle. the struggle.

The Falls of Foyers. iThe scheme of the British Aluminium Company, which

involves the practical destruction of this magnificent water- fall, has excited considerable indignation. An attempt has been made to gain the help of the Government, but it seems i-that the Secretary for Scotland has no power to interfere. ]Mr. Ruskin has associated himself with the opposition whichis now being organised by the National Trust for Places ofHistoric Interest or Natural Beauty, under the Presidency of ]the Duke of Westminster. Any of our English medical 1friends who desire to do so may join in the protest by writing to the Secretary to the National Trust, 1, Great College- (street, Westminster, S.W.Aberdeen University : the Inauguration of the Mitchell Tower

and Students’ Union. The University Court at a meeting last week agreed, in

deference to the wishes of Mr. C. B. Mitchell and Mrs.Mitchell, to proceed with the celebrations at the date

originally fixed. They will therefore take place on Thurs-day and Friday, Oct. 24th and 25th, but the proceedings will be somewhat curtailed from the original plan. The order ofevents will be somewhat as follows. On Thursday theMitchell Tower and Students’ Union will be formally opened.The clock in the tower will strike and a response will begiven by the city bells. The custody of the Union will behanded over to the President of the Students’ Representative council, and an address will probably be presented by thestudents to Mr. C. B. Mitchell. In the evening there willbe a grand conversazione in the new buildings. On the

Friday the new Graduates’ Hall will be opened in the fore-noon, and the honorary doctorates will be conferred. In theafternoon the Marquis of Huntly will deliver his rectorialaddress in the new hall, while in the evening the Lord Rectorwill be entertained to dinner by the University authorities.The proceedings will be wound up with a students’ torchlightprocession.

The Health of Aberdeen.The zymotic diseases notified for last week were : scarlet

fever, 24 ; whooping-cough, 26 ; erysipelas, 7-making a total’of 57, which number is two cases fewer than last week, butthere are noticeable a considerable increase of scarlet feverand a decrease of whooping-cough.

Sept. 24th. _____________

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The New Dublin Hospital for Infectious Disvase.AT a recent meeting of the guardians of the North Dublin

Union a letter was read from the Local GovernmentBoard stating that they adhered to an, opinion, expressedas far back as 1892, that it was desirable that theguardians of the Dublin unions should have suitablysituated hospitals for the reception and treatment of

dangerous infectious diseases under their own control andmanagement. Mr. Stafford, the Local Government Boardinspector, agreed that it would be best to have a singleinfectious disease hospital established in connexion withthe two unions, but that additional Parliamentary powerswould be required for that purpose. He also stated that SirCharles Cameron was actually preparing a scheme for a jointhospital, to be under the management of a board whichwould probably consist of the guardians of the North and

South Dublin unions, the corporation, and other sanitaryauthorities. As the scheme of the chief medical officer ofhealth has been almost completed, and as all the sanitaryauthorities will soon be asked to meet and discuss the matter,the further consideration of the subject was postponed.

Irish Workhouse Reform.The circular of the Local Government Board addressed to

the boards of guardians of Ireland has already had the effect)f strengthening the position of some of the medical officers incountry districts and of inducing them to direct public atten-tion to necessary reforms. At a recent meeting of theCastlerea board of guardians an order for provisional reliefgiven by the medical officer to a family stricken down byfever of a malignant type was disallowed, the guardiansrefusing to pay the bill for the relief. Mr. Coen, L.R.C.S.frel., J.P., &c., stated that he believed himself justified ingiving the order as the family was destitute and stimulantswere urgently required for the treatment of the disease. Heis reported to have said, moreover, that" Mary Leonardaged thirteen years had, since the board’s order, diedEor the want of stimulants." " It appeared that themedical officer had notified the relieving official bymessage and telegram, and then had issued the orderhimself. As Mr. Coen remarked, " doctors should beallowed a certain amount of liberty in such cases, especiallywhere the people are destitute and in urgent need of stimu-lant treatment." It is only right to say that ultimately theguardians agreed to pay the amount of the bill, while main-taining their opinion that it was unlawful for the medicalofficer to have given the order.

Wrestmorland Hospital, Dublin.The Lords Justices have appointed Sir Charles Cameron to

be a governor of the Westmorland Lock Hospital, in theroom of Sir George Porter, deceased.

Board of Superintendence of Dublin Hospitals.The Lords Justices have appointed Dr. Henry Fitzgibbon

to be a member of the Board of Superintendence of theDublin hospitals, in the room of Sir George Porter, deceased.

Compulsory Retirement of Professors appointed by the Crown.Some time ago the question of compelling professors and

presidents of the Queen’s Colleges in Ireland to retire at acertain age was raised by the Order in Council of Aug. 15th,1890, which placed them exactly in the position of Civil ser-vants, who are compulsorily retired at the age of sixty-fiveyears. Legal authorities differed as to whether this ordercould be made to apply to professors, and President Moffetof Galway, after having been compulsorily retired, was,on the advice of the English Lord Chancellor (Herschell),reinstated. After this the Treasury appointed a Com-mittee (Lord Playfair, Lord Welby, and Sir MatthewWhite Ridley) to consider the advisability of fixing anage for the compulsory retirement of professors servingunder the Crown. This committee, who took evidence duringthe past summer, have just reported that, in their opinion,the commission of 1880, upon the report of which to someextent the Order in Council of 1890 was based, did not intendthat the limitations of age should apply to presidents andprofessors of colleges, who are appointed and serve underdifferent conditions from those which prevail in the CivilService. After pointing out that these presidents and pro-fessors are appointed at a maturer age, and have, by thenature of their employment at seats of learning less tendencythan Civil servants to become inefficient at the age of sixty-five, and that the Queen’s Colleges, in Ireland are only toa small extent dependent upon votes in Parliament, beingmainly supported out of the Consolidated Fund, and that,in consequence of this peculiarity, they are in more inti-mate connexion with the executive Government, with whichthe presidents are in frequent communication as to the

working of the college and the efficiency of the professors,who are appointed by the Crown and by whom they can alsobe dismissed, and that the statutes which govern the collegesalso emanate from the Crown and are not (as in othercolleges) the product of academic autonomy, the committeeare of opinion, taking all these circumstances into considera-tion, that there should be fixed rules as to superannuation ofpresidents and professors, and that they should be made bycollege statutes and not by an Order in Council. The com-mittee recommend that when a professor reaches sixty-five years of age the president of the 1 college shouldbe bound to report to the Government the condition