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his master have much more influence upon impartialitythan cousinship in the eighth degree. It is quite evidentwhy under these conditions candidates who do not see theirteachers chosen by lot on the jury should wish to have thedrawing over again. Some time ago certain waggish candi-dates suggested that the examination should simply be con-.fined to the drawing of lots.March 27th.

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BERLIN.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

An Army Medical Officer on the War in South Africa. I

DR. KRUMMACHER, one of the German army medical officers who were sent to the scene of war in South Africa asmedioal attaches to the British army, has now returned toGermany and has published his impressions. He highlypraises the sanitary arrangements of the British army. Thetents carried with the troops proved extremely valuable atMagersfontein, where the soldiers suffered much from thehot days and the cold nights. The British suffered morefrom the rifle fire of the Boers than from their artillery fire,the Boers being unequalled as marksmen. They used to aimat the officers, who were easily recognisable by thebrightness of their uniforms. Afterwards in the course ofthe war the uniform of the officers was made to resemblethat of the men. It was very remarkable that the Boersnever fought at night. At sunset they used to stop firing andretired even when they had gained a favourable position.As to the alleged abuse of the Red Cross, of which therewere so many complaints in the newspapers, Dr. Krummacherstates that he never saw anything of that kind. Theambulance to which he was attached was sometimes firedupon by the Boer artillery, but only when it stood in theneighbourhood of a body of troops, so that it was probablythe latter that were aimed at. The British troops once captured a Boer ambulance because the ambulance men I,were accused of having fired on the British. When this

report had been proved to be erroneous the ambulance was atonce sent back to the Boers. The medical attaches will isubmit a detailed repcrt of their observations to the Germanmilitary authorities.

The Title of " Sanitätsrath."A remarkable law-suit has lately been before a court at

Marburg arising out of the bestowal of the title of" Sanitätsrath" (sanitary councillor) on a medical prac-titioner in that town. It is the custom to grant this title tonearly every medical man of respectability and good pro-fessional standing after he has been engaged in practice fora period of from 20 to 30 years. This title is not connectedwith any Government appointment, but is a mere personaldistinction like so many others in this country, where peopleare, as a rule, rather fond of titles. The medical man inquestion was quite pleased with his new dignity, but whenthe diploma was delivered to him he was mortified on findingthat he had to pay a stamp duty of 300 marks (£15)according to the Stamp Laws of 1895. He paid theduty but afterwards brought an action against the Treasuryto have this sum restored on the plea that he had not beenasked beforehand by the Government whether he desired tohave the title or not. He asserted that he had gone to lawwith the Treasury solely in the interests of the medical pro-fession, as it was in his opinion unjust to charge a medicalman fcr a title whilst the Government accepted the gra-tuitous services of the medical profession in so many cases.The decision was in the plaintiff’s favour, but in view of thefundamental importance of the matter the Treasury hasappealed to the High Court where this curious incident willbe definitely settled.

The Case of Professor Neisser.Some experiments on immunisation against syphilis, made

by Professor Neisser the well-known dermatologist ofBreslau, have recently been the subject of discussion in thePrussian Diet. The facts of the case, which have been mis-

. understood by the adversaries of scientific research both inParliament and in the daily press, are briefly as follows:Professor Neisser injected sterilised blood-serum of syphiliticpersons into prostitutes and into two children in order toimmunise them against the disease. The experiment had nobad sequelae whatever. Several years afterwards some of the

prostitutes suffered from syphilis, which first manifesteditself on the genitals, so that the attempted immunisa-tion had proved a failure. That they had been infectedby the injection, as was alleged by Professor Neisser’sadversaries, was quite impossible owing to the length oftime between the giving of the injections and the appear-ance of the syphilis, together with the fact thatnone of the patients other than the prostitutes contractedthe disease. These facts were gravely misrepresented bydifferent speakers, Professor Neisser being said to haveinjected syphilitic virus in order to see whether it was con-tagious or not. Several members of the Diet asked theMinister of Public Instruction if Professor Neisser had beenor would be prosecuted for what he had done. The Minister,Dr. Studt, and the Chief of the University Department, HerrAlthoff, stated that Professor Neisser had not performed hisexperiments for frivolous reasons, but for the eminentlyhumane purpose of combating syphilis. They said thathe no doubt erred in making experiments on patients with-out previously asking them whether they consented tothe injections or not. The Minister admitted that hemight have been prosecuted under the criminal law, butas the acts complained of were committed six years ago therewas, under the circumstances, no likelihood of a prosecution.The Government had not yet considered whether it would beadvisable to make use of its disciplinary power over him as aprofessor of a State University. Professor Virchow, as amember of the Prussian Parliament, said in the debate thatevery new method must necessarily be used as a new methodat least once on the human subject after it had been tried onanimals. He said that Dr. Edward Jenner, Professor Koch,Professor Behring, and other men of science who had doneso much for the prevention of diseases had all madeexperiments under the same conditions as ProfessorNeisser. The Minister, Dr. Studt, closed the debate byasking the members of the Diet not to indulge in denuncia-tions of the medical profession in general, which haddistinguished itself by its devotion to the interests ofthe State and ought to serve as an example to othercitizens. The leading medical papers protest stronglyagainst the unfriendly manner in which some members of thePrussian Diet spoke on the subject of medical men andmedical science. They, however, blame Professor Neisser forhaving subjected his patients to this treatment without theirconsent. The matter is not yet finished, but it is very unlikelythat the Government will take any steps against ProfessorNeisser.March 26th.

__ _____________

SWITZERLAND.

(FROM CUE OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Swiss Army.ACCORDING to official reports the strength of the Swiss

army on Jan. lst, 1900, was as follows : 1. "Auszug" (menfrom 20 to 32 years of age), 150,876 men, comprising 113,617infantry, 4551 cavalry, 20,442 artillery, 5586 engineers, and4928 in the sanitary corps. 2. "Landwehr" " (men from 33to 45 years of age), 87,364 men, a well-armed and well-trained militia, making with the Auszug a total of 238,240men. In case of war the youths from 16 to 20 years of agewould also be available as some 6000 of their own free-willreceive military instruction, generally on Saturday afternoonsand Sunday mornings ; then part of the " Landsturm " (menover 45 years of age), making a total of 277,007, would alsobe available and would be of great use for defensive purposesand for keeping up communications. General conscriptionwas introduced many years ago, but only about half of thosepresenting themselves for medical examination are annuallyaccepted, the percentage being 52-4 in 1898 and 51 8 in 1899,or a number of 16,773 men (1899) The obligatory militaryservice is seven weeks in the first year, six weeks in the secondyear, and about three weeks every two years up to the age of32 (Auszug) ; afterwards in the Landwehr, up to 45 years ofage, only a few weeks’ service every three or four years.Officers have to do about five months’ service before theyobtain their commissions. Men excluded from service bythe medical authorities have to pay a high military taxconsisting of capitation tax, income property tax,tax on expected property -viz., property the men

are legally entitled to from parents, grandparents, or other

971

relatives. The enforcement of this tax is only possibleowing to the fact that the Swiss civil law obliges the citizensto leave their property in certain legally determined parts torelatives in the first and second degree. Thus a father can

only dispose of one-tenth of his property as he chooses ; nine-tenths must go to his children. In this way the authoritieshave control over property in expectation and curious resultsensue. A man of wealth may find himself, as a grandfather,obliged to pay a heavy military tax for his grandson whohappens to be studying law or medicine and on whom a largesum as military tax is levied. The alternative for the man isto serve in the military offices as clerk at Is. 8d. a day topay off such a debt.

Cerebral Complicatioras due to Intestinal Infection.Dr. T. Seitz, of Zurich, sums up 15 such cases, five of

which are recent unpublished cases, permitting of interestingdeductions, the cases having gone through the most thoroughbacteriological investigations. No doubt an invasion of theblood and lymphatics by intestinal bacteria now and thentakes place and obscure cerebral disease may result. In sevenout of the 15 cases bacteria of the intestines could bedefinitely and decidedly proved to be the originators of thecerebral disease. The only cause for wonder is that the pro-tective apparatus must work almost perfectly, given theenormous amount of intestinal bacteria, otherwise such caseswould be far more frequent. In fatal cases the post-mortemexamination fails to confirm the clinical diagnosis of mening-itis or encephalitis apparently established beyond doubt andonly the most careful bacteriological examination reveals theexistence of some few staphylococci, streptococci, or bacteriacoli ; the toxins of these bacteria must therefore play amore important r6le than the bacteria themselves. In somecases infantile convulsions and sudden death are certainlydue to this mode of infection.Zirich, March 24th.

NEW YORK.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Medical Instruction in the United States.THE system of medical instruction in the United States

has for several years been undergoing a very remark-able change. The method of teaching classes by orallectures has until recently been universally practised.No effort was made to classify the students accordingto the length of time during which they had studied. In thesame lecture-room and listening to the same professor were ’,one-year, two-year, three-year, and four-year men, and asa matter of fact not one in 10 received any real instruction.There was a medical college at one period which had but oneprofessor who lectured on the seven branches. But in thebest schools the system has entirely changed and this changeis due to the union of those schools with universities whichhas led them to adopt the methods of teaching peculiar tothose institutions. It is true that the medical departmentof the University of Virginia has classified its students formany years and taught by recitations in small classes, butthe number of students has been very small and its examplehas not influenced the larger metropolitan colleges.It has long been recognised by examining boards thatcandidates from the Virginia College, as a rule, excelledthose from other colleges, especially in technical knowledge.It was not until within the last decade that the largercolleges became thoroughly incorporated into the universitysystems of government and this new position has led to

important changes in the details of management whichappear most markedly in the methods of teaching. The oldlecture system has been entirely abandoned as a scheme ofgeneral instruction and is limited to the higher brancheswhich require for their proper elucidation the knowledge andexperience of the professor. Classes are arranged on the basisof the advance of the students in knowledge into those forone-year, two-year, three-year, and four-year men. For eachof these grades assistant professors or tutors are providedand class recitations are held, the text-books being uniform.No student can advance from a lower to a higher class whohas not attained a given grade of qualification. Under theold system the student was rarely questioned on anysubject and there was no educational barrier to his advance.In the case of most students the first individual contact of

the teacher with the taught was at the final examination forgraduation. Now the student is daily required to demon-strate to the teacher his exact status in his studies, and atthe termination of fixed periods his markings during theterm are the tests to determine whether he can advance to a.

higher grade. The results of this rational method of teach-

ing are most important. The graduates from these universitymedical schools take the highest rank in their professionwherever they locate. It is gratifying to notice also thatthese higher-grade colleges which were at first shunned arenow becoming more and more popular and their classes areyearly increasing in members. The more progressive ofthese schools have recently established educational qualifica-tions for admission which require graduation from a literarycollege.The Death of the Author of the" Gold Cure" of Alcoholism.The death is announced of Dr. Keeley, the author of the

notorious " gold cure " of alcoholism. For many years thismethod of treating inebriety has had an enormous popularityand institutions devoted to the " cure " have multiplied inevery State. The central office was at the village of Dwightin the State of Illinois, which was a veritable Mecca of thevictims of delirium tremens. The remedies used were kepta profound secret and each patient had to take his dosedirectly from the physician in attendance. The results ofinquiries in regard to the true success of the treatment wereall negative. I at one time investigated cases of reportedcure but found none that bad not relapsed after they hadreturned to their old haunts. There is no doubt that somedid abstain for a long period as was the case with theconverts to teetotalism during the crusade of FatherMathew, the famous Irish temperance lecturer. Though thecraze after the "gold cure" has long since passed thereare many institutions in the different States which continueas a business enterprise, for immense sums of money havebeen made by the promoters of the supposed " cure."

The Farm Colony for the Insane.The question of providing an economical method of caring

for the chronic insane has agitated those interested in treat-ment of this class for many years, but has not until recentlytaken any other practical form than the introduction of a fewtrades into existing asylums. In two of the States asylumsfor the chronic insane have been established separate fromthe asylums for the acute, but no useful results havefollowed because the same methods of care have been con-tinued in the chronic as in the acute. Many efforts havebeen made to introduce the boarding-out system of Scotland,but the managers have strenuously objected, alleging thatthe people of this country are not adapted for such duties.Several of the States have within the last decade encouragedtheir asylum managers to experiment with farms, and.the result has been so encouraging that the subjectof establishing farm colonies for the chronic insane-is attracting much attention. In Michigan a farm colonywas established many years ago and the success has beentwofold-viz., financially the farm has paid richly and a farlarger number of chronic insane have recovered than underany former conditions. At Utica the experiment is in

progress and the latest reports of Superintendent Blumer-show a most encouraging success. The plan proposed is thecreation of an organised community with all its trades, farmlabour and products being the central feature, because byfar the larger number of the population must necessarily beengaged in farm work. Should this method of caring forthe chronic insane continue to succeed there will be a com-plete revolution in our institutions for the insane and greatlyto their advantage.

Indigece in Porto Rico.Major Hoff of the United States Army and President of

the Porto Rico Board of Charities states in his report thatin a population of 956,779 there are over 80,000 personsrequiring assistance, and that from 400,000 to 600,000 rationsare issued weekly. Those who can work for their rations are

required to do so, and these number upwards of 9000. Thereis an average of 4000 sick. The immediate suffering inPorto Rico is due to the severe hurricane which desolated theisland, destroying not only all the crops and a vast numberof dwellings, but maiming and killing large numbers of

people.Tenement House -Ex7tibiti,)?z.

New York has lately been entertained with an exhibitionof model tenement house plans prepared for competitive