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Shiells, the well-known pathological artist, whopresented the original to the Society in the courseof the evening. It contained Reynolds’s famous" snapshot " portrait of Hunter, framed in laurels,with a view of the old home at Long Calderwoodabove it and one of the Earl’s Court " menagerie "below. On either side were drawings recalling someof Hunter’s classical experiments, and on the backwas the device of a hedgehog. Models of the hedgehogand of the glass jar containing a hen’s head with acock’s comb were cunningly executed in ice andexhibited by the chef.

After the loyal toasts had been honoured, Sir ArthurKeith was invited to express his opinion of the menu,and taking its design as his text he related manyinteresting details of Hunter’s life. He pointed outthe window of the room where the great man hadbeen born, and the " corbie steps " from which hemust have mounted when he rode to London, accom-panied by his friend Hamilton. Sir Arthur Keithspoke of his delight at the discovery of the Hamilton-Hunter letters, and mentioned that Dr. LouisaHamilton had the letters with her in the room, butthat he would shoot anybody who tried to get posses-sion of them ! He regretted the omissión, in thesketch of the house at Earl’s Court, of the flock of15 geese which Hunter had kept to supply him witheggs of a convenient size for his embryological studies.This house had been Hunter’s " week-end cottage "-a week-end cottage of forty rooms being no newthing apparently-and the greatest experimentalgarden in Europe. After his -death it had been agambling den, but had been reclaimed to medicineas a mental hospital.

In proposing " The Hunterian Society," Sir DouglasHogg, the Attorney-General, drew an eloquent andwitty parallel between the duties and aims of thelaw and medicine which, with the Church, he calledthe three great healing professions. Congratulatingthe Society on its international scope, he pointed outthat Hunter, through his pupils, had been the founderof scientific medicine in the United States. Betweenthe speeches an unusual feature was communitysinging, led by Mr. J. Batten, who, as Mr. MortimerWoolf pointed out in replying to the toast, would inthe days of the barber surgeons have been rewardedwith a shoulder of mutton and two rabbits.

Mr. W. E. Tanner, secretary of the Society, inproposing " The Lord Mayor and Corporation of theCity of London," expressed the Society’s gratitude toSir Charles Batho for identifying himself with theiraims. Their association with the City had been avital factor in their success in carrying on a profitableinterchange of ideas with other professions. SirCharles Batho, in reply, explained that he and LadyBatho had set their hearts on doing all they possiblycould for the hospitals of London. " The Guests andKindred Societies " was proposed by Dr. W. LangdonBrown, and answered by Earl Russell, Sir John RoseBradford, and Sir Ernest Wild. Sir John Rose Brad-ford compared Hunter with Harvey, the one a springand the other a reservoir of science, and referred toHunter’s part in founding the great English schools ofmedicine. Sir Ernest Wild compared him with JohnHoward, who had taught the world that even criminalswere human, while Hunter had taught it that even.surgeons could be humane.

DEATH OF COLONEL CATHCART GARNER, C.M.G.,<*.B.E.&mdash;Colonel Garner, whose death took place at Southseaon Feb. 4th, was born at Dumfries, the son of WilliamHastings Garner, F.R.C.S., and was educated at St. Columbaand Trinity College, Dublin. He graduated in medicinein 1885, entering the Army Medical Department in thefollowing year. He was seconded for service in Egypt, andbecame deputy director-general of public health administra-tion in Cairo. He rejoined the army at the outbreak ofthe war, and served in Gallipoli and Egypt, finally becomingassistant director of medical services in Palestine. Hisdecorations were many, including an officership of the

Legion of Honour and a Knighthood of Grace of the Orderof St. John. His published work chiefly dealt with localepidemics of infectious disease.

Special Articles.SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Galashiels Enteric Outbreak.THE enteric epidemic in Galashiels, a town of some

17,000 inhabitants, began early in January. Thecases now number about 100, but the peak is passedand it is reported that the incidence has fallen toone case a day. The origin has not yet been deter-mined, but investigation in detail is proceeding.The type is para-B. Whether milk or water beultimately found to be the origin, the outbreak hasall the features of a sudden, temporary infection of acommon medium ; for the cases, at the moment, showa random incidence over the town. In the adminis-trative stress of accommodating the abnormalnumbers detailed investigation takes time. A medicalofficer of the Scottish Board of Health is in dailytouch with the medical officer of health, and it maybe assumed that no source of probable infection willbe left uninvestigated.

Edinburgh Royal I jTlaternity.In 1927 the intern cases numbered 2094, extern

474, Leith Branch 549, total 3117. This is almost thesame as in 1926. The antenatal and postnatal clinicsshow 10,002 visits as against 7395 in 1926. It isgratifying to see that the excellent " John WilliamBallantyne Annexe

" is so much appreciated. Ante-natal work will soon be a very substantial section ofthe " Simpson’s " activities. One wonders more andmore why poor Ballantyne had such an uphill fightfor some 25 years to secure an effective beginning.Everyone wishes the voluntary hospitals well, but theirproper expansion is slow. All the greater credit to Dr.Nasmyth, for under his generous chairmanship therelative pace has increased enormously.

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.The pressure on bed accommodation continues to

such an extent that expansion is urgent. In 1927 the’number of in-patients was 18,713 ; of out-patients,61,582. This means an increase of 1689 in-patients.Yet, at the end of the year, the waiting-list stood at1995, of which 1203 were surgical. Obviously thepolicy of " cooperation " sketched out more than onceby the Secretary of State for Scotland and madeexplicit in his recent interview with the BritishHospitals Association, has something very substantialto rest upon at the " voluntary " end. The cost perbed for 1927 was 2155 12s. 9d., an increase of .612 2s.This is largely due to the new Radiological Department,which may require separate accounting arrangements.This department is gaining steadily and rapidly infavour, as was to be expected. It is interesting, too,to note that for the 55 children in hospital, " CertifiedMilk " was provided at a cost of 2450 per annum.Four dental surgeons have been added to the staff-a wavelet, no doubt, from the rising tide of

" dentalbenefit " and dental demand generally. Donationsfrom health insurance approved societies amounted to;85948. This is good as far as it goes ; but why, after16 years, the approved societies should remain somiserly in their donations is a mystery, when it is wellknown that, like every other large hospital, the Royaldoes a very great deal among " insured persons." Itlooks as if little may be expected so long as the presentfailure of societies to " pool " or cooperate continues.

Voluntary Insurance.In Scotland, as in England, the contributory scheme

of old-age pensions at 65 has stimulated " voluntaryinsurance " under the National Health Insurance Acts." Old age " is a " certainty," in most minds ; sicknessand death before 65 is, in the same class of mind, onlya " risk " and transient. Whatever the psychology,

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voluntary insurance in the pre-pension days was arelative failure ; even at present it is a small factor ina large scheme ; but it is a symptom of the immenseinterest provoked by the scheme, which, however,necessarily leaves many gaps. Recently Mr. Stirling,a member of the Scottish Board of Health,expounded to the Incorporated Accountants’ Students’Society the whole pensions insurance scheme and theadvantages of voluntary insurance. He envisagedthat, with the passing of the years, National Insurancewould become more and more an accepted and normalfeature of our social system , and that professionalworkers would, on ceasing to be compulsorily insured,-elect to remain within the scheme as voluntarycontributors.The Lord Provost’s fund for the building and endow-

ment of the new Royal Infirmary has almost reached284,000 of the z400,000 asked for.

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Some Paris Health Statistics.FRANCE occupies an unenviable position in inter-

national tables of birth- and death-rates. As a Frenchwriter has put it : " One is born there less frequentlyand one dies there more frequently than in manyother countries comparable in other respects." It ispleasant, therefore, to find that the health record ofParis is, on the whole, good, being considerably abovethat of the country as a whole. This is all the moresurprising in view of the overcrowding which existsin certain quarters of the capital, but there is nodoubt that Parisians benefit very largely from theplentiful supply of parks, gardens, and open spaceswhich " la ville lumiere " possesses, and that thisneutralises to some extent the bad housing conditions.The death-rate in Paris in 1925 was 14-7 per 1000population, compared with 18-1 per 1000 for the restof France. This is a great improvement on previousfigures ; in 1912 the Paris death-rate was 16-3, andin 1900 19-6. The birth-rate in 1925 was 16-2 per 1000,almost the same as in 1912, although the generalbirth-rate has fallen considerably. Compared withother European cities, Paris has a higher death-ratethan London, Brussels, Amsterdam, or Vienna, but alower one than Budapest, Madrid, and Milan. Itsbirth-rate is higher than that of Brussels, Vienna, andBudapest, and about equal to that of Milan. Ananalysis of the causes of death shows a decrease inmost diseases since 1900. Deaths from cancer haveincreased, and those from diseases of the heart andkidneys remain about the same. The death-rate fortyphoid fever has fallen from 0 -35 per 1000 in 1900to 0-04 in 1922, for pulmonary phthisis from 3-83 to2-37, for respiratory diseases from 3-50 to 2-41, andfor infantile diarrhoea from 0-96 to 0-31. Deaths fromviolence (including suicide) have fallen from 0-64 to0-28 per 1000 population, so perhaps the Paris apachesare a dying race, but it is curious to reflect that manymore people die from violence than they do frommeasles or diphtheria (both 0-05 per 1000). Has theviolent Paris taxicab anything to do with this ?Infant mortality in Paris is lower than in Brussels,and about the same as that for France as a whole(9-7 per cent.), but this figure is nothing to boastabout.The direct influence of open spaces on the death-

rate is seen in a comparison of the different arron-dissements. The Invalides (VIIe) has a death-rateof 7-7 per 1000, the Champs Elysees (VIIIe) 6-8, thePorte Dauphine (XVIe) 7-5, the Plaine Monceau(XVII) 9, but the Saine Merri quarter (IVe) jumpsto 17-8 per 1000, the Salpetriere (XIIle) to 30-5,Montparnasse (XIVe) to 29-7, and Belleville (XXe) to18-2. A glance at a map will show the relationshipbetween these figures and the situation of parks andopen spaces. On the whole Paris is keeping abreastof other large European cities in its fight against

bad housing conditions, overcrowding, and consequentspread of infection. The post-war invasion of somequarters of the city by large numbers of foreignimmigrant workers has been met by an increase inthe number of dispensaries where out-patient treat-ment can be obtained, and serious efforts are nowbeing made, under the impulsion of the Office Nationald’Hygiene Sociale, to raise the public health servicesto the level of modern standards.

Strauss has pointed out to the Acad&eacute;mie de M&eacute;de-cine that some 69,000 deaths are preventable inFrance, chiefly those of infants and those due totuberculosis. A committee has been appointed toexamine the problem.

Hospital Extensions.The obstetric service at the H6pital Boucicaut,

which has greatly increased, requires enlargementand improvement, which have been provided, togetherwith a radioscopic laboratory.The Paris Municipal Council has just voted funds

for the erection, at the H6pital St. Louis, of a pavilionfor the care of leprosy and of a dispensary for venerealcases. The laboratory, which has proved of specialvalue in the study of parasitic diseases of the skin,is receiving an increase of 6000 francs in the funddevoted to its operation.The radiographic service at the Salpetriere has

increased to such an extent that it requires enlarge-ment and additional personnel.The sum of 188 million francs has just been

allotted to the repair of four of the larger Parishospitals, whose condition has become urgently inneed of improvement. The hospitals in question arethe Broussais, Bichat, Beaujon, and Charit&eacute;.

Inauguration of an International Medical Centre.This new enterprise was opened on Dec. 20th at

10, Avenue d’lena, Paris, in quarters occupying apart of the house formerly owned by Prince RolandBonaparte. The new centre places a library, infor-mation bureau, reading rooms, and other aidsat the disposal of the members, and constitutes amedical club for meetings and interchange on medicalquestions.The Association for Developing Foreign Medical

Relations, of which Prof. Henri Hartmann is presi-dent, is proving of great value as an agency for theextension of French medical interests abroad. MonsieurCharlety, rector of the University of Paris, is assumingan active share in the labours of this organisation.Profs. Achard and Hartmann will supervise a medicalexposition to be held next March at Athens.

Plans are maturing for an elaborate celebrationnext spring of the twenty-fifth anniversary of CharlesNicolle’s directorship of the Pasteur Institute atTunis. A committee is arranging for a fete and forthe striking of medals.. Those wishing to attend theceremony at Tunis will be granted reduced fares andtravelling facilities, of which particulars may behad from Dr. F. G&eacute;rard, 100, rue de Serbie, Tunis.

Deaths of Medical lYlen.Besides Prof. De Jong, whose death at the early

age of 45 years is a real loss to pharmacology, themedical circle in Paris has just been robbed of Patein,member of the Acad&eacute;mie de Medecine ; Keller,radiological chief at the Bicetre ; Leblanc, hos-pital physician; Danysz, laboratory chief at thePasteur Institute and originator of the well-knownvaccine, and Henneguy, member of the FrenchInstitute and of the Acad&eacute;mie de Medecine.A recent issue of the Paris Medical was devoted to

the biography of Prof. Gilbert, its founder and firstdirector, and contained a number of articles on

different aspects of the man and his work.The surgical prize awards of the Societe de Chirurgie

consist of the Edouard Laborie prize of 1200 francs,awarded to Menegaux, of Paris, for his study of acomparison of surgical and radiant treatment in

lingual cancer ; the Duval-Marjolin prize of 300 francs,bestowed upon Barret, for a clinical and therapeutic