555WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES.-SCOTLAND.

isolation ward is to be carried out many more such wardsmust be erected speedily, for it is obvious that if there is.more than one patient in the ward it ceases to serve the

purpose of isolation.-At Gloucester there is one case of

small-pox, the patient being a sailor who had come fromBristol. There has recently been erected at Gloucester, at acost of about £15,000, a very well-equipped permanentisolation hospital with accommodation for 28 patients inthree pavilions.-A case of small-pox has occurred in a farm-house about five miles from Hereford, the patient having-contracted the disease in Liverpool.

Disinfection after Pht7tisis.In spite of the public meetings which have been held and

the literature which has been scattered abroad in SouthWales upon the subject of tuberculosis there appear to bestill some members of sanitary authorities who are ignorantof the precautions necessary to combat the disease. After.a death from consumption in Oystermouth, a district near toSwansea better known as the Mumbles, the medical officerof health, Mr. A. Lloyd Jones, very properly had the housein which the patient died disinfected-a proceeding whichmembers of the district council characterised as quite un-necessary, and the chairman thought that the medical officerof health should be given an opportunity of stating hisreasons for ordering the disinfection. When these reasonshave been given the district councillors will perhaps realisethat if they desire to attract visitors to their town they mustencourage their officers to carry out these and similar pre-- cautionary measures.

Cardiff Infirmary.An appeal has been issued by the Board of Management of

the Cardiff Infirmary for f.5550 to carry out certain projectedimprovements in the infirmary buildings. The form of the.appeal is novel in that the improvements desired are definitelystated and the approximate cost of each is specified. Amongthe most important are an accident receiving ward which isto cost £1000, a room for delirious patients to cost .650, anda mortuary at a cost of f.25.

Attack upon a Medical Man.Mr. W. A. Reidy, a medical practitioner in Fleur-de-Lis, a

Monmouthshire village near Cardiff, was subjected, thoughhappily without serious consequences, to an alarming attackon Feb. 8th. On the evening of that day while sitting inhis dining-room a bullet was fired through the window andwindow shutter and it fell at his feet. In connexion with the

-outrage a woman who had been a patient under the care ofMr. Reidy and whom a short time before he had refused tosee is under remand.

Isolation Accomnaodataon in Worcestershire.A conference was held on Feb. 8th between the sanitary

committee of the county council and the district councils ofWorcestershire to consider what steps should be taken toprepare for an outbreak of small-pox. The population ofthe administrative county is 360,000 and there are within thecounty 13 urban and 17 rural districts. In only three of theurban and one of the rural districts, having a total popula-tion of 100,000 persons, is there any provision made forisolating small-pox. It was decided by the conference torecommend the county council to divide the county into sixdistricts and to erect in each district an iron hospital withsteam disinfector, &c. It is estimated that the cost of thisscheme to the county will be about £3000, an amount equalto -2’d. in the pound upon the assessable value of the county.

Gallant Action by a Medical Man.At St. Agnes coastguard station on Feb. llth the divisional

officer (Lieutenant R. Ayscough, R.N.) presented two coast-guards with bronze medals and diplomas which were awardedto them by the Dutch Humane Society for rescuing one of thecrew of the ship Voorspoed off Perran Beach, Cornwall, onMarch 7th, 1901. Mr. Frank Postlethwaite, M. R. C. S. Eng.,L.i::1.A., of Perranporth, received a silver medal from thesociety for boarding the vessel to render assistance to theman.

Taunton and Somerset Hospital.The annual meeting of the subscribers of this institution

was held on Feb. 13th under the presidency of the Hon.E. W. Portman. The medical report stated that the numberof in-patients discharged during 1901 as ’’ cured or relieved "was 736, against 593 in 1900. 4500 out-patients were treated,compared with 3968 in the previous year. The report men-tioned that the recent appeal for £6500 for hospital improve-ments was liberally responded to. the sum of ,f,6050 having

been received already. During the past year the late Mr.R. B. West of Exeter had bequeathed £1000 to the institu-tion. At the close of the meeting Major W. Barrett promised.B400 towards the deficit on the building fund.

Feb. 17th. __________________

SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Edinburgh University :Death of the Lord Re,ctor.BY the death of the Marquis of Dufferin the University of

Edinburgh has lost its Lord Rector. To those who were

present at the rectorial address which he delivered in theM’Ewan Hall some months ago and who noted his profoundanæmia and extreme debility the Marquis’s death has beenno surprise. On Feb. 15th the Senatus of EdinburghUniversity gave expression to its sorrow at the death ofthe Lord Rector by holding a service in St. Giles’s Cathedralat the hour of the funeral. The students of the university

! through their Representative Council decided to give ex-

pression to their deep regret by holding a religious service inthe M’Ewan Hall on the afternoon of Sunday, Feb. 16th.This service was largely attended and was presided over bythe senior president of the Students’ Representative Council.The meeting was addressed by the Rev. John Kelman, whodwelt upon the brilliant career and the high character of thedeceased Lord Rector.

The late Dr. R. Peel Riteltie.In THE LANCET of Feb. 15th, p. 481, I made reference

to the death of Dr. R. Peel Ritchie. Preaching in St.Cuthbert’s Church on the morning of Sunday, Feb. 16th,the officiating clergyman paid the following high tributeto his memory. He said : " In his relation with us as amember and office-bearer he leaves behind him the memoryof a pure, straightforward, and upright Christian gentleman.Amid the differences of opinion which arise in the work oflife he was always clear in stating his views, but he cherishedno feelings save those of brotherly charity and friendshipbetween man and man. Essentially a public-spirited anddeeply religious man he gave much of his time to the publicservice, especially on behalf of the suffering and the destitute.As an elder of the church he was always marked by hisfaithful devotion to duty, by his high-mindedness and sincereChristian principle."

" Reference was also made to Dr.Ritchie’s strenuous labours in the cause of Church defence, acause which lay very near his heart.

The late Charles Stuart, MD., L.R. C. S. Edin.By the death of Dr. C. Stuart of Chirnside, Berwickshire,

the border counties have lost a well-known medical man.He was a graduate in medicine of Edinburgh University ofthe year 1846 and had practised in Chirnside since 1848. Inaddition to his medical interests Dr. Stuart was a lover ofplants and flowers and devoted considerable attention to theproduction of new varieties by cross-fertilisation. He alsowrote papers on the botany, archaeology, ornithology, andmeteorology of his district. He had retired from active work

during the last few years of his life.

Edinburgh Ton:a2 Council : Notification of Consumption.A special meeting of the Town Council of Edinburgh was

held on Feb. 12th to consider reports by the Public HealthCommittee recommending the magistrates and council, as thelocal authority, to consider the passing of a resolution thatthe notification of pulmonary consumption should be madecompulsory within the district, and suggesting the provisionof a hospital with 100 beds for consumptive patients. The

meeting was well attended at the outlet, but at the close ,

only about 30 members were present. The motion was givenby Mr. Lang Todd, convener of the Public Health Committee,and ran as follows :-

(1) That the magistrates and town council, as local authority,resolved to meet on a date to be afterwards fixed in term, of thestatute to pass a resollltioll that the Infectious Diseases NotificationAct, 1889, shall apply to pulmonary consumption within their owndistrict; and (2) that the magistrates and council generally approve ofthe suggestion that provision should be made tor consumptive patients,but not exceeding 100 beds.

’ Mr. Todd dicussed the hopefulness of the prospect in attempt-ing the prevention of consumption, now that consumption

- was recognioed to be not a hereditary but an infectious. disease. He showed that the mortality from pulmonary con- j sumption greatly exceeded the combined mortality from the

556 SCOTLAND.-IRELAND.

six most dreaded infectious diseases-viz., measles, whoop-ing-cough, diphtheria, enteric fever, erysipelab, scarlet

fever, and small-pox. Sir Henry Littlejohn, in his

report for the year 1899, had shown that out of 574deaths due to pulmonary consumption three-fifths of thevictims inhabited houses of one, two, or three rooms. Pre-

sumably most of these had been ratepayers who if they hadbecome ill with one of the fevers would have been entitled tothe benefits of the city hospital. The municipality had, how-ever, made no attempt to deal with cases of consumptioneven though it was a much more deadly infectious diseasethan any which it took charge of in the city hospital. Ifthe town was to deal with those cases it must do so uponpurely public and not on benevolent grounds. It was impos-sible to isolate the patients in all cases of consumption, butthey might provide for cases beyond the range of cure andat the stage of the disease which was most dangerous for thecommunity. The committee had made a suggestion that 100beds should be fitted up in the present city hospital whenthe new hospital at Colinton had been completed, but.it might prove to be more profitable to sell the old hos-

pital and to provide a site elsewhere. What the committeedesired meanwhile was that the council should, without

committing itself as to site and other details, approve of therecommendation to include consumption among the notifiablediseases and that the council should further generally approve

’ of the recommendation to provide accommodation for 100beds for the reception of the most advanced cases of

consumption. Treasurer Cranston, in seconding the motion,believed that whatever sum was required would be freely andfrankly paid by the citizens in return for the benefit whichthey would get. The probable annual cost of notification, esti-mated at 2s. 6d. a head, would amount to 750, and a similarsum would be required for examining sputum. Mr. Clark

proposed an amendment to the effect that arrangementsshould be made for voluntary but not compulsory notifica-tion. He thought that compulsory notification interfered toomuch with the rights and liberties of the people. On adivision, after a four hours’ sitting, 10 voted for the motionand 20 for the amendment.

Royal Society of Edinburgh.,A meeting of the Royal Society of Edinburgh was

held on Feb. 17th, Professor Geikie, vice-president, beingin the chair. Major W. B. Bannerman, I.M.S., super-intendent of the Plague Research Laboratory at Parel, gavean account of the work carried on there under ProfessorHaffkine, the director-in-chief. Professor Fraser doubtedwhether plague epidemics could be stayed by the use of

plague prophylactics, and urged that improvements shouldbe brought about in the dwellings of the people. MajorBannerman, in reply, wished that Professor Fraser woulduse his influence to get a representative of the medical pro-fession attached to the Legislative Council of the Viceroy ofIndia.

Small-pox in Glasgow.There has been a somewhat rapid extension of the epidemic,

which was, however, not altogether unexpected, and is not inany sense alarming. The number of cases under treatmenthas increased to 133, and even this does not fully representthe recent activity of the outbreak, as many convalescentshave been dismissed from the hospital. On Feb. 14th thenew cases numbered 20 ; on the 15th, 39 ; on the 16th, 26 ;and on the 17th, 18. For the most part the cases have beenof a mild type. At a meeting of the town council on

Feb. 18th one of the medical members, in discussing thesmall-pox outbreak, drew attention to the large proportion ofcases occurring in the east-end of the city, and argued thatthe explanation of this was the proximity of the small-poxhospital. This statement aroused some indignation and wasgenerally condemned as neither warranted by the facts norpolitic in the circumstances. The Lord Provost made an

urgent appeal to the citizens to adopt the practice of revacci-nation. He stated that some 10 to 20 per cent. of the

population even now remained unvaccinated, and he pointedthese out as a danger to the whole community.

Glasgow University,The University Court met on Feb. 13th. The principal

made sympathetic reference to the death of ProfessorAdamson which has caused general distress and deep regretthroughout the whole university. It was announced that thesenate has appointed Monsieur Emile Bontroux, Professorof the History of Modern Philosophy in the Sorbonne, Paris,to be lecturer on the Gifford foundation for the sessions 1903-4

and 1904-5.-A distinctive robe has been designed formembersof the court and this was formally approved.-Thecourt has received a letter from the secretaries of theMuirhead College proposing cooperation with the universityregarding the medical education of women ; the letter wasreferred to a special committee.

Feb. 18th. __________________

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Small-pox in Dublin.No fresh case of small-pox has appeared in Dublin, while

the three patients isolated in the convalescent home atFindlas continue to go on’ well. Sir Charles Cameron haswritten to the daily papers stating that the Public HealthCommittee has resolved to recommend the corporation toadd chicken-pox to the schedule of infectious diseases whichare notifiable. He appeals to medical practitioners kindlyto report this disease even before notification has becomecompulsory.

Extraordinary Accident to a Coroner’s Jury.On Feb. 8th an extraordinary accident occurred at New-

lands, three miles from Naas, in county Kildare. A mandied on the previous day from the accidental stab of a

pitchfork in the leg, and Dr. M. F. Kenna, the coroner forSouth Kildare, went to the place the next day to hold aninquest. The jury first proceeded to ’’ view the body," whichlay in a loft over a byre. The floor was a shaky one, and assoon as the twelfth juryman put his foot on it the entirefabric gave way precipitating the 12 men down on to thecattle below. The portion of thb floor on which the corpselay remained intact, but all the rest fell. The distance thejury fell was only seven feet, and, fortunately, beyond a fewcontusions, received while struggling among the cattle, nocasualty occurred. The noise and confusion within the

byre before the door was opened by the police to liberate themen were indescribable. The cattle, frantic with fright,roared, the jurors shouted and swore, and in their struggleswith the cattle banged against one another or rolled onthe not over-clean floor of the cowshed. When released

they presented a remarkable appearance, being covered fromhead to foot with manure, while the odour exhaled fromthem was anything but pleasant. After a time, however,the inquest was proceeded with and a verdict in accordancewith the medical evidence was returned.

The Government and Vaccincation.One of the most constant supporters of the present Govern-

ment (the Belfast Nervsletter) has a’strong leading article inits issue of Feb. 18th in which it declares that it has "no

sympathy whatever with the Government in this course of

procedure "-that is. its opposition in the House of Lordson Feb. 17th to the Bill introduced by Lord Newton whichsought to amend the Vaccination Act of 1898 by repealingthe conscientious objector’s clause of that Act. The BeljastNensletter article blames the Government for its abjectsurrender to the so-called conscientious objector in 1898,as a most glaring blunder, and if, as it is stated, itwas due to its desire to rush the Bill through byAugust 12th, then to resort to such methods of expediencyis bad management of the business of the session. Toabandon a principle approved of by the vast majority of theMembers of the House of Commons in order to placate asmall opposition because of the necessity of winding-up thesession at a fixed date, is certainly poor statesmanship.

Irish University Education.A petition has been prepared for presentation to the

chairman of the Irish University Commission on behalf ofRoman Catholic laymen. It urges that of the various pro-posals submitted to the Royal Commission the best is to befound in the establishment and endowment of a college inDublin for Roman Catholic students affiliated to the Universityof Dublin, which should be, equally with Trinity College,a constituent college of the University with adequaterepresentation on the governing body of the University.Those signing this petition-and it is said that it springslargely from members of the legal profession living inDublin-argue that no scheme of university education inIreland will be satisfactory unless it affords Roman Catholicsthe opportunity of taking the best degree to be obtained in