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are now 573 boys and girls, 100 of the latter being at Sale. ’During the past four years 485 boys have been discharged,and 398 are stated to be doing well. Coming as they do in<most cases from the lowest stratum of the " residuum," thisis perhaps as good a record as could be looked for.

Workhouse Dietary.Attempts have been made from time to time by the.guardians of the Manchester Unions to improve the dietary.and avoid the waste complained of under the present system.Their well-meant efforts, however, have always been defeatedby the Local Government Board, as they would havedisturbed the rigid uniformity now in favour, which, though’bad for the ratepayers and not beneficial to the inmates ofthe workhouses, gives perhaps less trouble to clerks andofficials than would follow the change. At Blackburn onSaturday week the guardians discussed this question. Onesaid there could be no waste when " three meals daily onlyoost fourpence per head." Another said that he and othermembers of the Farm Committee " had seen five 18-gallonbarrels of waste food taken to the swill-tub. A lady guardiansaid the root of the matter lay in a fixed dietary scale, andthat as long as it was imposed " there was bound to bewaste." This opinion is widespread among those who seethe practical working of the present system, but as it is

stereotyped there is no doubt great reluctance felt in break-ing it up, even though its use is attended by manifest evils.Fourpence does not seem an extravagant sum for three meals,and the workhouse inmates must surely have their food pre-sented in a very unattractive form if so much goes to the" swill-tub."

The Omens College.Those interested in the successful progress of the Owens

College, are naturally much gratified by the report of theTreasury Commission of Inspection of the University Collegesin Great Britain. The work done at Owens College is reportedon in detail with a view to the guidance of the Lords of theTreasury, who are to have &pound;25,000 a year at their disposal forgrants, instead of &pound;15,000. The commissioners recommendthat the proposed maximum sum of &pound;3000 be given to theOwens College, and, "as their proposed division leaves abalance of .E500, they suggest that this sum also should goto the Owens College, in recognition of its pre-eminence.The Lords of the Treasury agree to this."

Explosion at a Chemical Manufactory.On the 15th inst. a violent explosion, causing the loss of

two lives, took place in Manchester at the works of a manu-facturing chemist and tar and naphtha distiller. A still,14 ft. deep and 12 ft. in diameter, containing 30 tons of oil,was blown bodily from its setting of brickwork, and carriedover a high wail to the opposite side of an adjoining street, There was a tremendous report, and flames were seen risingfrom a portion of the works. The burning oil was scattered in all directions, and some of it fell on the vats and tanks that are distributed about the works, containing oil and pitch, setting them on fire. The bodies of the two men killed were so blackened and disfigured as to be almost unrecognisable. They must have been killed instantaneously. The accident is said to have been caused by the stoppage of a condenser in the still. Several other men had narrow

escapes. There was abundant help from the fire brigade E

and private appliances, and the fire was extinguished in 1about half an hour. No doubt careful precautions against ]fire are the rule, and with such infiammable materials" dis- E

tributed about the works "-according to the report given in ’the Manchester Guardian-they are not unnecessary. c

1

_ Manchester Therapeutical Society. a

On Wednesday, June 16th, the first general meeting of the rabove society was held at the Owens College. Professor tLeech delivered an address upon the objects of the society, the considerations which had led to its formation, and the lines of future work. A number of new drugs and prepara-tions were exhibited. Rules for the management of the

society were adopted and the following officers elected forthe session 1897-98. President: Professor D. J. Leech. c

Vice-Presidents : Professor Dixon Mann and Professor Del&eacute;- f

pine. Hon. Treasurer : Dr. R. T. WiUiamson. Hon. Secretary: 3Dr. R. B. Wild. Committee: Dr. Bury, Dr. Coutts, Dr. 1:

Hopkinson, Dr. Kelynack, Dr. Steell, and Dr. Wilkinson. a

June 2nd.

NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Royal Infirmary, Newcastle.MR. RILEY LORD has accomplished his object and raised

&pound;100,000 for the rebuilding of the Royal Infirmary. For

years the necessity of rebuilding the infirmary has beenapparent and talked of, but nothing was done. It is entirelydue to the energy and perseverance of Mr. Riley Lord, theex-mayor, that funds have been raised enabling the committeeto carry out their long-cherished object. It will require alarger sum than that already raised’to build a new infirmary,but it will be forthcoming in due time. The raising of&pound;100,000 to build a new infirmary in commemoration of theQueen’s long reign is perhaps the largest effort which hasbeen accomplished in England out of London.

Drunlr. or Ill.? ?One day last week a young gentleman was arrested in one

of the principal streets of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and lockedup on the charge of being drunk and incapable. At thestation he requested to see a medical man, but this wasrefused. After having his valuables taken from him andbeing confined for some hours in a police-cell he was allowedto go home. On Friday last the case was investigated by themagistrates, when an inspector, three sergeants, and fourprivates swore the youth was drunk when arrested. On theother hand, it was sworn that the accused was a life-longteetotaler, that he had never tasted alcohol in his life, andthat he was subject to fits. The magistrates dismissed thecase and censured the police. This is a very significantcase. That a policeman should make a mistake where thequestion of illness or drunkenness arises is not to be wonderedat; but that eight men, some of them experienced policemen,should all swear positively that a sick man was drunk is, tosay the least of it, very disquieting. That the accusedshould not have been allowed to see his own medical man ashe wished is simply a scandal of the gravest kind. We oftenhear of the uncorroborated evidence of a policeman, but inthis case no fewer than seven corroborated, and yet theirevidence proved to be incorrect.Newcastle-upon-Tyne, June 23rd.

SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh :The Queen’sDiamond Jubilee.

IN commemoration of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee areception was held by the Royal College of Surgeons ofEdinburgh on the afternoon of the 22nd inst., to which themembers of the medical profession in Edinburgh and theheads of public bodies were invited. Refreshments wereserved in the hall. The conservator, Mr. Cathcart, andother Fellows of the College, attended in the museum toexplain the specimens, and various demonstrations of theRoentgen rays were given. In the library were placed aseries of photographs of cases which had been elucidated bythe rays in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. In one of theexamination rooms the process of using the rays was shownby Dr. Dawson Turner, medical electrician to the EdinburghRoyal Infirmary, and in another room lantern views of caseselucidated by the rays were shown, with explanations byDr. Scot Skirving. The guests, about 600 in number, in-cluded ladies, and were received by the president, EmeritusProfessor Struthers, and the council. The College, the mostancient of all the medical corporations in the United

Kingdom, is to be congratulated on its action in thus

gathering under its roof the medical profession of the city onthe historic occasion of the completion of the sixtieth year ofHer Majesty’s reign, a period during which such greatprogress has been made in medical science.

Glasgow District Asylum at Gartloch.This institution has now been completed and declared

open. It consists of two parts, asylum and hospital. Theformer is for chronic and incurable patients and contains380 beds. It consists of four large blocks, three storeys inheight, with boot and bath rooms attached. These blocksare connected with the administrative and official depart-ments by long corridors, under which are subways where are

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found the heating pipes, water supply pipes, and electric light cables. The hospital is a separate building, and has a separate kitchen and dining hall, while for asylum andhospital there is a common recreation room. It contains 150beds and is principally of one storey. In it are the admis-sion wards, wards for the treatment of intercurrent bodilydiseases in the insane, wards for old and feeble cases, andinfectious blocks. The whole buildings have been suitablyfurnished and are well adapted for their purpose. The lighting throughout is electric, the heating is by radiators,and the water-supply is from the Glasgow mains. Theasylum is situated about seven miles from Glasgow, on anestate of 400 acres, and is built in the Francois Premierstyle of architecture from the plans of Messrs. Thomson andSandilands, of Glasgow. The total cost will not fall muchshort of &pound;200,000. The physician superintendent is Dr.L. R. Oswald.

Glasgow University.The following gentlemen are understood to be candidates

for the chair of Materia Medica and Therapeutics vacant bythe death of Professor Charteris-viz , Dr. J. W. Allan,assistant physician, Royal Infirmary ; Dr. C. 0. Hawthorne,lecturer on Materia Medica in the University, and assistantphysician, Western Infirmary ; Dr. William MacLennan,University assistant to the late Professor Charteris ; andDr. Alex. Napier, physician to the Victoria Infirmary, andformerly Professor of Materia Medica in Anderson’s CollegeMedical School.

Consumption Hospitals for Scotland.The Medical Board of Advisers has at last issued a state-

ment in support of Mr. Quarrier’s appeal for funds to carryout his scheme. The committee draws attention to the factthat some 7000 persons die annually in Scotland from con-sumption of the lungs, 1400 of these being registered in

Glasgow. It is then stated that the disease undoubtedlyspreads by infection, more especially in the unwholesomeatmosphere of the crowded houses of the poor, and thatthere is every reason to believe that many cases are curable iftreated in the early stage. The committee gives a decidedopinion in favour of the situation and arrangement and equip-ment of the hospital already erected, and recommends to thepublic the scheme in which it is contemplated to erect sixother hospitals at a further expense of &pound;40,000. The com-mittee also express their approval of the arrangements whichMr. Quarrier is making for the management of the hospitaland for the medical supervision of the patients. It is so farsatisfactory to know that the committee is actually in opera-tion, and no one can doubt their interest both in the publicwelfare and the advancement of medical science. Their state-ment is not, however, beyond criticism. Mr. Quarrier’s pub-lished scheme included the erection of a dispensary in Glasgowat a cost of &pound;3000. Do the committee approve of this or dothey not ? In their report they say: "It will be necessaryto provide in Glasgow a central office where patients recom-mended may be examined," but this is a very different thingfrom Mr. Quarrier’s plan. Again, it would appear from thecommittee’s report that the arrangements for the medicalsupervision of patients are entirely in Mr. Quarrier’s hands.His plans so far are approved by the committee, bat whatguarantee is there that those plans will be adhered to, or

that, as further arrangements are needed, these will meetthe committee’s views ; and if further arrangementsare unsatisfactory, what will happen ? Apparently, thecommittee has no authority or power in the matter. It

may every now and then have the opportunity of expressingapproval of what has been done, but its existence is purelyex grati&acirc;. There is no need to impugn Mr. Quarrier’s dis-interestedness or good faith. The question is one of publicpolicy, and a policy which advocates the raising of a largesum of money for the erection of hospitals for the phthisical,the administrative and medical management of which areto be practically at the pleasure of one man, is one whichlends itself to comment. Even supposing that Mr. Quarrieris likely always to pursue an enlightened policy and todefer to his board of advisers, what guarantee can be givenfor his successor ? If, when all the money is raised, theboard of advisers find they are no longer heeded, surely theyought not to be much surprised. It may fairly be contendedthat their present position has this radical weakness. Theybear responsibility-for undoubtedly subscriptions will begiven under the influence of their names-but the responsi-bility is not associated with authority. Such a severance is

most improper, and means at least the possibility of mis-understandings and of disaster.

Congress of Sanitary Inspectors Association of Scotland.The annual congress of this association took place in the

town-hall, Aberdeen, on June 18th, under the presidency ofMr. K. Cameron, chief sanitary inspector of the city ofAberdeen. About sixty delegates, representing all parts ofScotland, attended. The most interesting papers read were:(1) by Mr. W. Mackenzie, county sanitary inspector of Ross.and Cromarty, entitled Notes on the Sanitary Conditionsexisting in the Outer Hebrides, as exemplified in Lewis(which was followed by a resolution calling the attention ofthe Secretary for Scotland to the public scandal arising fromthe present miserable housing of the people in the OuterHebrides and Western Islands), and (2) by Mr. A. T. GordonBeveridge, M.B., C.M. Aberd., a member of the Aberdeentown council, on the Housing of the Working Classes. Themembers were afterwards treated by the town council to adrive round the city and suburbs and entertained in theevening to dinner in the Grand Hotel, Dr. A. T. G. Beveridgepresiding.

Hospital Saturday in Aberdeen.The demonstration arranged by the amalgamated friendly

societies took place on June 18th. The weather was

favourable and the procession through the streets was verysuccessful. The attendance at the athletic games, &c., inDuthie Park, however, amounted only to 10,000 persons, butit is hoped that the total free proceeds from all sources,

including subscriptions, will be in accordance with

expectation.June 23rd.

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Health of Dublin.A GREAT improvement in the health statistics of Dablin.

was recorded by the Registrar-General’s report for the weekending June 12th. Notwithstanding that the epidemic ofchildren’s diseases-measles, scarlet fever, and whooping-cough-has not entirely disappeared, the number of deathsregistered was below the decennial average. At the meetingof the Public Health Committee on Tuesday, June 15th, SirCharles Cameron reported the death-rate to be 23’4 per 1000persons living, the mean rate being 25’7. A novel featurein this report is a sort of epitome of the sanitarywork performed during the week. From the latter it appearsthat 987 houses, 5108 rooms, 65 slaughter-houses, 42 dairy-yards, and 22 nightly lodging-houses were officially inspected.The registrar of Cork-street Fever Hospital, at the lastmeeting of the Managing Committee, reported a declinein the epidemic of measles. Referring to diphtheria, heremarked that this disease, hitherto sporadic, was

showing evident tendencies to assume an epidemiccharacter. The use of antitoxin in early cases was

reported as having proved very satisfactory. The con-ference recently held in the Public Health Buildings ofrepresentative citizens of Dublin, to consider the questionof providing cheap and healthy dwellings for the very poor,was entirely successful. The Right Hon. Joseph Meade,who presided, made some valuable practical suggestions,while Mr. Adam Findlater in his speech remarked thatthe mortality during the early months of this year wasterribly high, the deaths not being confined to one class, ,

but having spread from the slums to the wealthierportions of the city. An influential committee was appointedto carry out the object of the conference.

Jubilee Honours to Medical Men in Ireland.His Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant has intimated that,

with the approval of Her Majesty, the honour of knighthoodwill be conferred on Dr. George Duffey, the President ofthe Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and on Mr:William Thomson, the President of the Royal College ofSurgeons in Ireland.

The Richmond District Lunatic Asylum.At the fortnightly meeting of governors, which took place

on June 15th, Mr. Conolly Norman, the resident medicalsuperintendent, reported that there were now on the asylumbooks a total of 1812 patients, being 712 above the originalnominal limits of legitimate accommodation. He mentioned