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penalty. The Bill will give them that privilege ; and also, inthe words of Mr. Upton, Clerk to the Society of ’’ Chemistsand Druggists, should the Bill become law, will be legally en-titled to practice any and every branch of the profession."

" Ido not object tQ any of the provisions of the Act as far as theyextend, but surely another clause might be added to preventour losing the only safeguard we at present possess againstillegal practice, or the 39th clause might be amended to includeall unqualified persons practising in any way, or under anydenomination, as well as " falsely pretending to be a registeredperson. "

I am Sir your obedient,T am Sir vonr obedient servant_G. M. PRITCHETT, M.R.C.S. and L.A.C.

** We are authorised to state that when the Medical Billgoes into committee, a clause will be proposed which will re-

move all questions as to the penalties to be imposed on personspractising illegally.

WHAT HAVE THE MEDICAL MEN OF NEW-CASTLE-ON-TYNE DONE FOR MEDICALREFORM?

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-By this time Mr. Headlam’s Medical Bill must be inthe hands of every medical practitioner in England, and I feelcertain the majority in its favour is very large. Yet, is it notvery surprising that the medical men of Newcastle-on-Tyne, thevery town Mr. Headlam is member for, have not made a stirin favour of the new Bill. I will again repeat my question,What have the medical men of Newcastle-on-Tyne, and ofGateshead, done towards medical reform ?

1 observe, by our local papers, that the tried friend ofmedical reform, Dr. Lank aster, is to lecture in Newcastle thisweek, and next week also. It is to be hoped he will create aspirit of independence amongst the medicals of the town, andhasten them to duty. Would we have our profession protected,the present is the opportunity. We must to the work our-selves, and forget all petty squabbles for the general good.Much rests with the medical practitioners of Newcastle;

they should now support their representative in his endeavoursfor medical reform ; no county in England needs it so much asNorthumberland, and especially Newcastle-on-Tyne, with Gates-head in Durham. A committee formed under the veteransFife and Headlam, must do good by calling a meeting of theprofession, to take place in Newcastle, and I feel assured thecall would be well met. How can we, as a body, expect helpfrom abroad, if we do not help ourselves ; and now that anopportunity is afforded, we ought to take advantage of it.As a Northumbrian practitioner, I sincerely trust the medical

gentlemen of Newcastle and Gateshead will do their duty, andshow that they are worthy members of the profession ofmedicine.

’

I am, Sir, yours obediently,Northumberland, March 4tli, 1856. MEDICUS.

MILITIA SURGEONS.:1’0 the Editor Oj JLHN LANCET.

SIR,-I make no apology for claiming a limited space inTHE LANCET, to draw the attention of militia surgeons to theirpresent unsatisfactory position. I am not aware that the sub-

ject has been mentioned by any of the body, but I well knowthat to state a fair case, and one that bears hard upon a classof the profession, is to enlist your pen and any space in yourjournal which can be spared. Militia Surgeons are unlike allother ameers in her Majesty’s service at present. We have leftour professional connexions, to make which we toiled for the bestyears of our lives. We can never hope to return to our oldpositions; they have long since been filled. If thrown againupon the world, I fear the majority of us will, with ourfamilies, undergo severe pecuniary privations. A year’s payhas barely sufficed to procure instruments, uniform, and thefirst year’s heavy regimental subscriptions. Perhaps, Sir, youcan give us some comforting advice, and, at any rate, an

opportunity for making some arrangements to seek redress.I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

March 2nd, 1856. A MILITIA SURGEON.

MR. GRIFFIN’s MOVEMENT.-Upwards of sixty Unionshave joined this movement.

SCOTLAND.

[FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT.]

EDINBURGH ROYAL MEDICAL SOCIETY.

ON Friday evening, Feb. 22nd, Dr. J. H. Bennett, Professorof the Institutes of lledicine in the Edinburgh University, readbefore this Society a communication on the "Pathology andTreatment of Inflammation." The name of Dr. Bennett and thesubject of his communication were sufficient to attract a nu-merous and crowded auditory, and amongst them were severalprofessors and practitioners of high standing in Edinburgh.Dr. Bennett, after some preliminary remarks, in which healluded to the importance of the subject as a foundation fortrue pathology, defined inflammation as an exudation of thenormal liquor sanguinis. Referring to other definitions, hecalled their correctness in question. Mr. Paget had beenunable to define inflammation. The view that inflammationmight exist in non-vascular tissue he opposed by an examina-tion of what occurs in so-called ulceration of cartilage, cornea,and epithelium; the distinction being, that in inflamed partsthere would be exudation of liquor sanguinis, in which newcells would form, but in non-vascular tissues there would besimply increased growth, induced by endogenous multiplicationof pre-existing cells. Then, describing the various phenomenaof inflammation, he divided them into preliminary, essential,and resulting phenomena. The preliminary phenomena werecontraction and enlargement of the smaller vessels, increaseand diminution in the flow of blood, and congestion. Theessential phenomenon was exudation of the liquor sanguinis,without which no inflammation could exist. The distinctionbetween it and effusion of serum and extravasation he pointedout. The resulting phenomena were two : an increase ofgrowth by new cell formation, and absence or diminution ofcell growth. The theory of the preliminary phenomena con-sisted in spasm and paralysis of the extreme vessels, operatingsometimes through the nervous system, directly or by reflexaction; at other times the result of an injury, chemical ormechanical, applied to the part; in that of increased quanti-tative and diminished qualitative attraction exerted by thetissues on the blood; the increased spissitude of that fluid.The theory of the essential phenomenon consisted in the attrac-tion of the liquor sanguinis through the vascular walls into thesurrounding parenchyma or neighbouring cavities, where itcoagulated to form a foreign body. The theory of the result-ing phenomena was, attributing to the exuded matter, in onecase, the properties of a living blastema, when it followed thevital laws of cell growth; in the other case, the properties ofdead or dying matter, when rendered obedient to chemico-physical laws. Dr. Bennett then described the various waysin which the exuded matter, if it lived, was transformed; afterwhich, he said, the disappearance of the exudation is broughtabout by the breaking down and disintegration of the exuda-tion, which is rapid according to the amount of cell formationin it, by the passage of the disintegrated exudation in a fluidstate into the blood, and its elimination from the economy bythe excretory, integumentary, intestinal, and renal glands.The exuded matter might die suddenly or slowly; if suddenly,its elements combined with those of the atmosphere chemically,and caused inflammatory gangrene; if slowly, it graduallydisintegrated, involved the surrounding tissue, and producedulceration. Then, remarking upon the symptoms of inflamma-tion, Dr. Bennett noticed their fallacious character. Heat,pain, redness, and swelling might all be absent in positivecases of inflammation; hence the error in studying meresymptoms, and how necessary to blend with it a knowledge ofphysical signs. These facts led to the conclusion that all thehealing phenomena of inflammation were reparative, and de-pended on cell growth. From them was formed the induction" that the treatment of inflammation, to be successful, must bein harmony with those laws which govern the formation, de-velopment, and disintegration of cells." The treatment of in-flammation bore reference to three orders of phenomena. Thesymptoms of the preliminary phenomena when seen in medicalpractice could not be separated from those of fever. In surgicalpractice they might be predicted to follow injuries and operations,but there were no means of arresting them, and the treatmentwas expectant. The essential phenomenon was frequently ob-served taking place in surgical practice, but seldom recognisedat the moment of its occurrence in medical. In the latter caseit is often most important to arrest exudation, but no remediescould ever be proved to have done so; this was illustrated bythe effects of general and local bleeding. In surgical practice

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exudation was often necessary to cure, as granulation, adhe-sion, callus, &c.; to check it then would injure. When thoughtadvisable, the application of cold was indicated. We couldnot cut short an inflammation once produced, but merely con-duct it to a favourable termination. Dr. Bennett then con-sidered the effects of various remedies-bleeding, mercury,antimony, diuretics, purgatives, sedatives, warmth, moisture,pressure, &c. He was altogether opposed to bleeding, andmercury he maintained to be useless, in causing rapid absorp-tion of the exudation; antimony and neutral salts favouredsecretion, and diuretics especially assisted the last stage of theprocess; the influence of sedatives was exerted on the nervoussystem; but cold checked, whilst warmth was one of the mostpowerful stimulants to cell growth, and favoured suppuration.Moisture favoured the formation of independent cells, whilstdryness favoured fibre cells; pressure was opposed to their ex-pansion and growth, but when formed it favoured their disin-tegration and absorption. The action of counter-irritants was notunderstood-it was probably excito-motory; but wine and nou-rishment were important when the febrile excitement had disap-peared, in order to favour the transformation of the exudation.Dr. Bennett then described his mode of treating inflammationof the lungs on the principles he had brought forward and itssuccess. This consisted of antimonials and the acetate of potashduring the febrile stage; then of wine and nourishment; andlastly of diuretics, to favour excretion of the absorbed fibrin, inthe form of urates. Excluding complicated cases of pneumonia- i. e., cases connected with cerebral, cardiac, or renal disease,treated in the Infirmary, they were 42 in number during thelast five years. Of these, two died-one, a boy, who had beenwandering without food day and night; the other was a man,who had long been subject to a cough, ague, bloodyexpectora-tion, &c.; they died within three days. Of the others, 32 weresingle and double; the average duration of single pneumonias,counting from the primary rigor, was 15 1B3 days; the duration ofthe double, 17 days; no case of double continued longer than 21davs. or shorter than 14 davs. Of the single pneumonias-

From all the facts referred to, Dr. Bennett deduced " thatthe most successful treatment of inflammation is that which isin harmony with those laws which govern the formation, deve.lopment, and disintegration of cells." " In reference to Dr. Ali-son’s theory, in which he stated that acute inflammations havechanged their type since the days of Cullen and Gregory, andthat formerly they bore bleeding well, and were treated suc-cessfully, but that now bleeding was injurious, Dr. Bennett ad-mitted that fevers had changed their type, owing to alterationsexternal to the individual, either from locality, drainage,or malaria, a tropical climate, &c. ; but with regard to inflam-mation, as he described it, he said it was the same in all agesand places. According to Dr. Alison, the constitutions of menmust have detoriated and have undergone a weakening process, by which they could not so well bear bleeding. Dr. Bennett Icould not agree with this theory. Dr. Alison had endeavoured topoint out the fallacy of statistics, but such fallacy told againsthim, as the fatal cases of pneumonia now were not those whichpossessed vigorous constitutions, and which formerly wouldhave been bled, bnt they were those which were debilitated,and in which pneumonia occurred in a latent form. Hence heinferred that those cases which bore bleeding well in the daysof Cullen and Gregory would do so now, and the expression," bearing bleeding well," was not a correct one, except in thesense that it does less injury to a strong man than a feeble one.Dr. Bennett said, in conclusion, that all important changes inpractice must be gradual, and not influenced by the success ofthis or that empiric, but by the sober energies of those who in-vestigate in the spirit of truth. Such seemed to him the onlymode we possessed of improving our treatment of those myste-rious nrocesses hitherto involved in the word "inflammation."

Dr. Bennett sat down amid loud and continued applause. Aspirited discussion ensued, the speakers were Dr. Marshall,Mr. Turner, Mr. Thorburn, Professor Bla,ckie, &c., and theSociety did not adjourn till after twelve o’clock.

Medical News.RoYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.-The following gen.

;lemen, having undergone the necessary examinations for theDiploma, were admitted Members of the College at the meet-Lng of the Court of Examiners on the 29th ult. :-

CooKE, JOHN, Stamford.DEACON, JAMES, Carlow.DIAMOND, WARREN HASTINGS, Surrey County Lunatic

Asylum, Wandsworth.KINGSLEY, EUGENE ALBERT, Peckham.LINGHAM, HENRY BAILEY, Tulse-hill, Brixton.WALKER, GEORGE, Sydney, Australia.WAY, FREDERICK WALTER, Portsmouth.WAYLEN, ALFRED ROBERT, Western Australia.WHITLOCK, HUBERT CARLTON, Exeter.WINSTON, DAVID, Brecon, S. Wales.WITHRINGTON, JOHN, Blackburn, Lancashire.WooD, ROBERT HENTON, Woodhouse, Leicestershire.

APOTHECARIES’ HALL. - Names of gentlemen whopassed their examination in the science and practice of Medi-cine, and received certificates to practise, on

Thursday, February 28th, 1856.CHATTAWAY, ALLEN GEORGE, Llangynllo, Radnorshire.CooMBS, WILLIAM GoDWIN, Winford, Somersetshire.ELPHECK, WILLIAM, Burnham, Essex.FARNCOMBE, RICHARD, Bishopstone, Sussex.GoLDSBRO’, CHAS. FIELD, Welshpool, Montgomeryshire.JONES, WALTER, London.NASON, JOHN JAMES, Nuneaton, Warwickshire.PROCTER, JOHN- WARD, Ironbridge, Salop.SIMS, WILLIAM, Southampton.

THE METROPOLIS LOCAL MANAGEMENT ACT. - Dr.Ballard, of Myddleton-square, has been elected Medical Officerof Health for Islington.-On Tuesday last, Thomas Ansell,M.D., F.L.S., a member of the Court of Examiners, waselected, almost unanimously, Medical Officer of Health forthe Bow district of Poplar Union; and S. K. Ellison, Esq., forPoplar.

GUY’S HOSPITAL BIENNIAL FESTIVAL.-The gentlemeneducated at Guy’s Hospital, dined together at the Londontavern, Bishopsgate-street, on Tuesday, the 4th inst. Thechair was taken by John Birkett, Esq., F. L. S. He was sup-ported by the Presidents of the Royal Colleges of Physiciansand Surgeons, the Master of the Society of Apothecaries, thePresident of Guy’s Hospital, Sir Benjamin Brodie, ProfessorOwen, Mr. Propert, &c. Several other visitors, and about200 gentlemen, some from distant parts of the country, formerlyand at present students at Guy’s Hospital, were present. Afterthe usual toast, " Success to the Medical School of Guy’sHospital," was responded to with enthusiasm, and in reply toappropriate toasts, the company was addressed by Dr. Paris,Mr. Lawrence, Mr. Griffiths, Sir Benjamin Brodie, Mr. B.

! Dobree, Mr. Propert, and several of the visitors and medicaland surgical staff of the Hospital.QUEEN’S COLLEGE MUSEUMS, BIRMINGHAM. - At a

meeting of the Finance Committee of this institution, held onthe 27th ult., at which Mr. Charles Ratcliff presided, it wasreported that Messrs. Chance, Brothers, with that liberalitywhich has ever distinguished that firm, have most generouslypresented the whole of the expensive glass required for theroof of the new museums. A contribution of £100 wasannounced from Lord Leigh, X25 from J. Henderson, Esq.,and £50 from the medical professors of the institution. Mr. J.Bateman, the architect, accompanied by Mr. J. Barnsley, thecontractor, at the request of the Council, have recently visitedthe Museum of the College of Surgeons, the Museum ofPractical Geology, and other public collections, and from theinformation they have obtained it is confidently expected that,with the aid of the noblemen and gentlemen and the professionof the town and surrounding districts, a museum of anatomyand natural history in all its branches, accessible on the mostliberal terms to the students, will be formed, worthy of themidland metropolis. -Birmingham paper.