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venom of the cobra of India in his experiments, but theleading experimental results obtained with it were repro-.d.uced with the venoms of several serpents of Australia,Africa, and America. The minimum lethal dose for a’I1umber of animals was first defined, and the protection wasproduced by a series of gradually increasing doses, untilrabbits were able to receive, without injury, fifty times theminimum lethal dose, and in the course of five or sixmonths a total quantity sufficient to kill 370 animals of the,same species and weight. The blood-serum of these animals,- called by the lecturer antivenene," was next tested as anantidote, and having been found to be efficacious the limitsof its antidotal power were defined in several seriesof experiments. The results appeared to justify the

opinion that the antidotal action is a chemical andnot a physiological one. The question-bearing alsoupon the antitoxins of disease-of the origin of this antidotalsubstance was discussed. In connexion with it the lecturerstated that he had found that by the stomach administrationof antivenene, and more remarkably of cobra venom itself, anantivenomous substance could be introduced into the bloodin a quantity sufficient to prevent death after the sub-cutaneous injection of more than the lethal dose of venom.Experiments were described in which from 500 to 1000 timesthe subcutaneous lethal dose of venom were introduced into the.stomach of animals, and although no definite toxic symptomswere produced by these enormous quantities still the animalshad become so far protected that within a few hours after-wards they were able to receive with almost no injury adose of venom injected under the skin one-half larger thanthat which was able to produce death. These facts suggest thatthe antivenene is actually a normal constituent of the venomitself, and that the venom while in the stomach had beensubjected to a process of analysis, whereby the poisonousconstituents had failed to be absorbed into the body or hadbeen destroyed, while the constituent or constituents whichare antidotal had passed into the body in sufficient quantityto protect the animals against otherwise lethal administra-tions of venom. The measures to be employed in the treat-ment of snake-bite, including the administration of anti-venene, were finally explained, and it was concluded that byits use human life could be saved in a considerable if not ina large proportion of cases that would otherwise terminate indeath.

THE HISTORY, METHODS, HINDRANCES,EXPENDITURE, AND POLICY OF THECIVIL RIGHTS DEFENCE COMMITTEE.

(Continued from page 1090.)

EARLY in 1894, on the initiation of the West Indian

Alliance, the Civil Rights Defence Committee was formed.On March 5th a deputation of members and friends of theAlliance and of gentlemen not connected with the Alliancebut who were interested in the successful vindication byMr. Anderson of his own rights and in the establishment ofthe principles and rights of general and public interest tobe upheld by Mr. Anderson in his appeals to the JudicialCommittee of the Privy Council was organised to enlist thecooperation of the London and Counties Medical ProtectionSociety in supporting Mr. Anderson and enabling him toprosecute the appeals to the Privy Council to obtain a reversalof the decisions in the cases of Marshall and Wife, Frankand Taylor. In reply to the deputation the London andCounties Medical Protection Society adopted resolutions thatthe decisions in the suit of Marshall and Wife v. Anderson aresuch as to seriously and unjustly affect the freedom of actionof medical men in the practice of their profession and arematters of concern to all medical men, that it concerns thehonour as well as interests of the profession to support theappeal of Mr. Anderson to the Privy Council, and that theproceedings in Trinidad were opposed to the absolutelyassured rights of British subjects, and advised the nomina-tion of a committee to issue an appeal to the medical pro-fession. This led to the formation of a joint committeecomposed of members nominated respectively by the Londonand Counties Medical Protection Society and the WestIndian Alliance, which issued invitations to public bodiesto send representatives to the Committee, and in responseto these invitations the British Medical Association, the

West London divisions of the London and CountiesMedical Protection Society and the Incorporated MedicalPractitioners’ Association, the West Indian Union, andthe Trinidad and Dominica branches of the Union nominatedrepresentatives to the Committee. Shortly afterwards theCouncil of the Royal College of Surgeons of England alsosent two representatives. The first appeal was issued bythe Committee to about 1500 of the leading men in theprofession, the amount of individual subscriptions beinglimited to 1 guinea. Subscriptions to the amount of 120came in, and many strong expressions of opinion thatthe wrongs done vitally affected the honour and interestsof the medical profession. After this, as further sub-scriptions came in slowly, Mr. Anderson, with the full

approval of the Committee, appealed personally in Augustand September, 1894, to every Fellow of the College-about 1100 in number on the Register-bringing in about35 guineas at a cost of ;B15 to S18. Some votes werepassed by branches of the British Medical Association,and some subscriptions raised amongst members of branches.In April, 1894, Mr. Anderson gained the verdict of a Middle-sex special jury for S500, Lord Coleridge entering judgmentfor the defendant on the ground that the action did not lieagainst a judge, and this judgment was confirmed in Augustby the Master of the Rolls, Lord Esher, and the Court ofAppeal. When this judgment in Anderson v. Gorrie was

pronounced by the Appeal Court, the Committee took thisserious violation of Mr. Anderson’s rights into consideration,and came to the conclusion that the best way of dealingwith it would be by forming a new and powerful committee.The next important measure was the preparation of a formalreport, under the title of an interim report, giving theinvestigations of the Committee and its conclusions withmuch of the evidence on which they were based togetherwith the very strong opinions of the medical papers,professional public bodies, and professional men-an extra-ordinary weight of authority and opinion. The report wasissued under the date Dec. 4th, 1894, but not struck off tilllater.On Dec. 18th a printed letter from Lord Stamford giving a

precis of the case and strongly appealing to the public forsupport was sent to two hundred and fifty leading newspapersin London and the provinces, but excepting a brief abstractin the Times and short notices in a few other papers it didnot receive insertion or comment. Finding that the subjectof judicial immunity was little understood or appreciatedMr. Anderson prepared with the approval of the Committeea short review of the subject with authorities, and it waspublished by the committee under the title of " The Doctrineof Judicial Immunity." Shortly afterwards " An Appeal toPublic Men and Public Bodies " was prepared and published.Copies of the " Interim Report "The Doctrine of JudicialImmunity," and " The Appeal to Public Men and PublicBodies," with a covering letter from Lord Stamford multipliedin the office, were sent to all the corporations and allthe guilds, about eighty in number of the City of London,to every member of the House of Lords and House of

Commons and to about 400 leading barristers, with appa-rently very little result either in moral support or funds.Just before the issue of the interim report THE LANCET hadinserted a most earnest appeal for help in the work of the

Committee and had opened a fund, heading it with a sub-scription of 10 guineas, but only one subscription of 5 guineasfollowed.

Efforts were next made to enlist the interest of some of the

leading London papers. The St. James’s Gazette, Pall MallGazette, and City Press consented to receive deputationsheaded by Lord Stamford. Upon this the St..James’s 8Gazette and Pall Mall Gazette inserted an appeal from theCommittee signed by Lord Stamford and many members,accompanied by a strong paragraph in support of the

appeal. This resulted in a subscription of 10 guineasfrom a member of the jury who tried Mr. Anderson’saction and a few other subscriptions also continued toflow in. As soon as Mr. Anderson became aware thatwhen Lord Esher had adjudicated in his appeal Mr.Yeatman’s action against Lord Esher was in progresshe took legal opinion and was advised that the propercourse was to move the Court to set aside the decisionas voidable and to re-enter the appeal for hearing.

i Accordingly, at the end of July and beginning of August,1895, he gave notice of his motions (1) to set aside as

, voidable the judgment of the Court of Appeal, and (2) on: that motion being struck out of a motion to reinstate it in

1158

the list, but this last was not even allowed to be placed onthe list. During the short August Session of Parliament Mr.Anderson, by means of letters of introduction, interviewedmany Members of Parliament and eventually succeeded inarranging a conference for Aug. 29th. The British MedicalAssociation sent a shorthand reporter, and the Committeeprinted the report. The conference greatly strengthened theCommittee and has been one of the causes of quickenedinterest in its work. As Mr. Anderson was placed in a

very difficult and embarrassing position in applying to theCourt of Appeal to constitute a court without Lord Esher theCommittee invited the attendance of all members when Mr.Anderson’s motion came on on Oct. 24th. Four were able toattend-viz., General Graham, Mr. Ross Clyne, Mr. Greenberg,and Mr. Rivington. This was a fortunate circumstance as theadverse decision of the Court of Appeal, which included theLord Chancellor, might otherwise have alienated some ofMr. Anderson’s supporters ; but, as it is, the testimony of thedelegates to the courteous but firm demeanour of Mr.Anderson in the face of a very trying ordeal has increasedthe general interest in his case.In July, 1895, the Committee had published its second

interim report, and at the end of the year the third interim Ireport was issued giving many important press notices andcarrying the work of the Committee up to date. The thirdinterim report dealt also with the refusal of the Court of

Appeal to hear Mr. Anderson’s motions. It has since been

enlarged and been issued as a second edition. Through theagency of General Graham the Committee were able to invitethe cooperation and support of the Torquay Medical Society.Draft resolutions were suggested for adoption and also aform of memorial for signature soliciting the assistance ofthe Member of Parliament for that division. In response tothis appeal the Torquay Medical Society gave a vote of E5 5from its fund, raised Z13 amongst its members, and obtainednumerous signatures to the memorial to Captain Philpotts,its representative in Parliament. It also communicated itscordial good-will to the Devon and Exeter Medico-ChirurgicalSociety, which a little later voted seven guineas from itsfunds and twenty-two guineas were subscribed by themembers individually. The members also memorialised theirMember of Parliament. St. Mary’s Hospital Medical School,where Mr. Anderson was a pupil, voted five guineas to thefund.The next step, and one which brought great accession of

strength, was a deputation inviting the Association of Fellowof the College to join the Committee. The proceedings, ashort notice of which appeared in the Tiums, are given atlength in the second edition of the third interim report. TheAssociation appointed representatives on the Committee whohave added to its working influence.The forms of resolution and memorial above referred to

were afterwards further elaborated and, with a draft letterto Members of Parliament, were submitted to the Presidentand Council of the British Medical Association, and thesame letter, resolutions, and memorial were sent to theconstituent bodies. The Council of the British MedicalAssociation at their meeting on Jan. 15th, 1896, resolved :" That a copy of the report of the Civil RightsDefence Committee be forwarded to the branches, togetherwith copies of the resolutions and draft suggestionsreferred to." Six hundred copies of memorials to Membersof Parliament, each with five of the letters inviting con-stituents, both lay and medical, to sign the memorials, havebeen delivered to the general secretary of the British MedicalAssociation to enable the resolution of the Association ofJan. 15th, 1896, to be carried out. Several branches of theAssociation have passed the resolutions and are obtaining Isignatures to the memorials to their Members of Parliament.The course adopted by the Shropshire and Mid-Wales Branchand ably carried out by Mr. Cureton, the president, is onethat affords the best prospect of success. Mr. Curetonaddressed each Member of Parliament in the area of his ibranch, he interested the mayor of Shrewsbury, and he securedan admirable article in the ,"’’J/?tws1mr,1/ Clirottiele. This, ii, is 1

hoped, will be followed by the signing of memorials, both by 1medical men and laymen, in every division and borough in 1the area of the branch. It is very essential to secure the ’.cooperation of medical men in obtaining the signatures of {laymen. Few men are in a better pobition than medical men tto do this, and at present the Committee, though obtaining iother help when possible, has in few places anyone on the rspot to whom it can personally appeal for help except smedical men. :

The forms of memorial have also been printed for general J

use by medical men and laymen throughout the United, Kingdom, and many have been taken charge of by active

friends for signature. Each member of the Committee hasbeen asked to take charge of one and obtain signatures to it.

for the Member of Parliament in his district. A tabulatedstatement of the memorials which have so far been sent to-Members of Parliament or are in course of signature is keptby the Committee, and every effort is made to keep these lists.correct and complete up to date.

Special forms and invitations to convene public meetings intheir constituencies were framed for Mr. Cohen, M.P. for East.Islington, and Mr. Kimber,.M.P. for Wandsworth, who hadboth expressed themselves strongly in favour of the objects.of the Committee. The very energetic measures taken inEast Islington are calling widespread attention to the matterand arousing general interest in that constituency. The.executive committee of the Liberal Association receivedMr. R. B. Anderson. He addressed them personally and’the members as individuals signed the memorial to Mr.Cohen. The memorial has also been signed at the MildmayRadical Club. In Wandsworth several invitations to Mr.Kimber to convene and preside at a public meeting have-been signed.Debates upon the questions arising out of Anderson v.

Gorrie have taken place in the Hampstead Parliament andthe Gray’s-inn Debating Society. At the latter Mr. Cope-land, Mr. Bellot, Mr. Degazon (of St. Lucia, British West.India.), and Mr. Pereira (of Ceylon) all delivered powerfulspeeches in support of a motion affirming the necessity, inthe public interest, of appeal to the House of Lords inAnderon y. Gorrie. General Graham attended and spokeon behalf of the Committee. The motion was carried by a.large majority. Mr. Bellot, who took part in the debate,has contributed an important article on the legal aspects ofAnderson v. Gorrie to the 1Vestminste’l’ Beqiew in thenumbers for March and April. He has reviewed all the pre-vious cases in which actions have been brought againstjudges and has shown clearly that the doctrine of absolutejudicial immunity has sprung up within the last few years.

Other efforts have been made by Mr. Anderson himself toinform the public mind and to arouse interest in the generalcommunity. Among thebe the following instances are

deserving of record. Towards the end of 1895 very staunchfriends of Mr. Anderson, Mr. and Mrs. Mann, the latterfrom Lincolnshire, proprietors of a large confectionerybusiness, well acquainted with his family and himself in

boyhood, very kindly afforded to Mr. Anderson an oppor-tunity of addressing their operatives at their factory in theWands worth-road. The operatives are not combined in anyorganisation, but individually they were interested and mostsympathetic. Mr. and Mrs. Mann and clerical staff tookcharge of memorials to their Members of Parliament and areobtaining signatures to them.Early this year (Jan. 23rd) one of the fraternities of

printers, or, as they are termed, the father and chapel of’Messrs. Strangeways and Sons, printers, Tower-street, W.C.,who bad had their interest aroused in Mr. Anderson’s case inthe course of printing the various reports and issues of the-Civil Rights Defence Committee, received Mr. Anderson.Mr. Williams, the father of the chapel, pointed out that therights Mr. Anderson is defending are the rights of all."They are," he said, 11 rights that we possess under MagnaCharta and the Hill of Rights—and these rights, these greatcharters, are attacked and endangered in our courts." Afteran excellent speech from Mr. Anderson the following resolu-tion was moved, seconded, and unanimously passed : "Thatthis meeting of the employés of Messrs. Strangeways andSons, printers, is of opinion that the judgment of the Court ofAppeal reversing the verdict of the jury given after a fair trialin Dr. Anderson’s case is subversive of the rights and libertiesof the subject, and, with the circumstances under which itwas given and upheld, demands the immediate and carefulattention of Parliament as a public grievance before supply,and the punishment of all responsible ; and the memt.ers ofthis chapel in meeting assembled pledge themselves to usewhat influence they possess with their representatives inParliament to obtain a reversal of this illegal judgment."Twenty-two of the employés took charge of memorials all inseparate divisions and have been obtaining signatures amongthe twenty-two constituencies. The chapel undertook to-

inaugurate a penny subscription throughout the tradenumbering nearly a million and a half. If this sub-

scription is successful it would bring in a consider-able sum in defence of the rights involved in Mr.Anderson’s case. The chapel have also delivered 500m

1159

copies of the memorials, with 500 copies of the third 1

interim report and 1500 reports of their reception of Mr. c

Anderson, to delegates attending a great meeting of com- 1

positors at the Memorial Hall, Farringdon-street. This cost13s., by post it would have been less effectively done for 4.

Other measures for insistance on the rights involved andfor compelling the attention of public men and of Parlia-ment are in progress. Mr. Anderson drew up a petition tothe Queen praying for investigation and redress. After twowell-attended meetings and very full consideration theCommittee decided not in any way to fetter Mr. Anderson’sdiscretion, and the petition has been sent in. A petition tothe House of Commons has also been prepared praying fora vote in aid of the appeals and that the petitioners may beheard at the bar of the House of Commons.

(To be continued.)

THE NEW PHOTOGRAPHY.

IN regard to the investigations made in THE LANCETlaboratory there is little advance so far to report. Wehave made a few experiments with the modified processannounced in our issue last week, but though in thecase of the hand and fingers the requisite exposure is

considerably shortened yet it does not appear to answer forthicker parts. It is curious, however, that prints are obtainedat all, since the modification consists in placing the negativewith the film side down upon fluor-spar. Mr. Strauss Collinof 15, Copthall-avenue, E.C., has placed at our disposal somenew negatives which are said to produce images of the thickerparts of the body in five seconds, whilst excellent pictures ofthe arm, wrist, &.c. ,’with good detail may be obtained in a fewseconds. So far as our experiments have gone the resultshave been to some extent confirmatory of this statement.The negatives are of thin zinc sheeting, upon which is placedthe sensitive film, which, in addition to silver salt, probablycontains a fluorescent substance. The development of theimage is peculiar, the ultimate result being a positiveresembling a ferrotype.In response to numerous inquiries as to the apparatus

necessary for obtaining good results we may state that all Bthat is required is a focus tube of the pattern first designedby Mr. Jackson of King’s College, and an induction coil

giving a three-inch spark, and an accumulator such asthat supplied by the Lithanode Company. The photo-graphic plates should be specially rapid. The focus tubesare not so difficult to obtain as they were some weeks ago,and they are not quite so expensive now that several makersare supplying them. Messrs. Griffin and Co. of 22. Garrick-street, Covent-garden, W.C., have sent us a tube for trialcosting 27s. 6d. It gives excellent detail and a fine sharpimage with a few minutes exposure when placed at the properdistance above the negative. This distance should, what-ever tube is being employed, be ascertained by use of thefluorescent screen, which will show at once the point at whichthe best definition is ensured. The tube submitted to usanswered admirably with the potassic platino-cyanide screen.We have also had occasion to experiment with an inductioncoil supplied by this firm. It costs 9, and with a four-cellLithanode accumulator gives nearly a four-inch spark dis-charge in air. It furnishes a very steady current when thecontact-breaker or hammer is properly regulated, which maybe done with ease and exactness by means of two screws.The coil is, in fact, just fitted for the requirements of thefocus tube without exposing it to the risk of over-heatingand probable destruction.No new departure, save in brevity of exposure, enables us

to give our readers illustrations showing that any markeddevelopment has taken place as far as medical and surgicalutility is concerned. As many people are now employed inexperimenting in radiography methods have become per-fected, but that is all. We have had- submitted to us avery great number of photographs. The one here reproducedwas taken by Messrs. Brady and Martin, manufacturingand analytical chemists at Newcastle-on-Tyne. The patientwas sent to them by Mr. Page, the precise nature of theinjury to the forearm being at the time uncertain. As willbe seen the new photography immediately revealed the siteand position of the fracture, and the usual treatment was atence employed. We have reduced the negative submitted to

us considerably in scale, but the illustration still shows theextreme utility that the process had. It has been our aim inthe series of notices which we have written on the new

photography to confine our attention almost entirely to caseswhere this practical utility could be ascertained. The

Roentgen photography was only a curiosity in physics for a

ifew days. The occurrence of the phenomena having beenestablished, professional interest in them depends entirelyupon their practical utility.

Messrs. Brady and Martin have also sent us a very goodphotograph of a needle buried in a patient’s hand. The

locality of the foreign body had not been ascertained untilthe photograph was taken, when it was immediately cut down-upon and removed by Mr. Ingram of Newcastle.

Mr. Stanley Thomas, casualty surgical officer to theMiddlesex Hospital, has sent us also a photograph which con-stitutes a good example of the success of the new process asan aid to diagnosis. He writes as follows :—" As an example-of the great success of Professor Roentgen’s method ofphotography as an aid to diagnosis, I think the followingcase may be of interest to the readers of THE LANCET. OnFeb. 29th a woman aged twenty-six years ran a portion of a.needle into her right hand ; it entered the web of the bandon the palmar surface at the base of the ring finger. The

patient came to the Middlesex Hospital on the evening of’that day and was seen by Mr. A. E. Griffin, the house-surgeon on duty. He could not detect the presence of theneedle, and as the patient was suffering a considerable-amount of pain he applied a hot boracic fomentation.-I saw the patient afterwards daily and made severalcareful examinations of the hand, but could feel nothing,so the treatment of fomentations was continued on

account of the pain, which was constant. There was

no swelling, but the patient could not flex her finger.On March 10th she had her right hand photographed

. by Mr. Friese-Green, of King’s-road, Chelsea, and the, following day she brought the photograph to me and begged.me to explore her hand. This photograph showed a dis--

; tinct shadow across the proximal end of the first phalanx.t of the ring finger. I again examined the hand very carefully,