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being a professor in the Imperial University at St. Peters-burg and another at Cairo.

University of Sydney.Sir Arthur Renwick, M.D., has been elected Vice-Chancellor

of the University of Sydney. Dr. F. P. Sandes has resignedthe position of demonstrator of anatomy and Dr. S. A. Smithhas been appointed in his place.

Hospital Affairs.The annual meeting of governors and subscribers of the

Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, was held on April 9th,his Excellency the Governor presiding. Professor T. P.Anderson Stuart, in moving the adoption of the report, saidthat the number of deaths (303) was the lowest for manyyears past, the highest total being 380 in 1900, while themortality per cent. on operations was absolutely the loweston record in the history of the hospital, being only 2 ’ 09, asagainst the previous lowest percentage of 2 ’ 4. The numberof out-patients treated was the highest on record, the numberof attendances being 50,079. The number of operationsperformed (2335) was likewise the high-water mark of thehospital. During the year six large wards and one smallward in the new pavilions had been opened, thus in-

creasing the total number of beds available from 236up to 318. An intimate relationship had been establishedbetween the hospital and ills Majesty’ s fleet in that the

surgeons of the fleet had been, by a new by-law, made con-sulting medical officers of the hospital for naval patients.The finances of the hospital as a whole showed a deficit of1276, but this was not a real deficit, being due to the factthat considerably over Z2000 had been paid out of revenuefor additions and works of a permanent character and of onesort and another. The erection of the Queen Victoria pavilionshas necessitated some alterations and permitted additions.The pathological department has been greatly extended androoms have been provided for chemical investigations andphotography. A cold storage plant has been erected andthe whole department when complete will be unsurpassed inthe Commonwealth in its extent and facilities for research.At its last monthly meeting the board of directors decided toincrease the honorary staff by appointing an additionalphysician and surgeon, an assistant ophthalmic surgeon, andan assistant gynæcological surgeon. It was also resolved tocreate a new lock department and a department for medicalgymnastics. The board has also decided that in the case offuture appointments to the nursing staff the term of serviceshould be four instead of three years.-On April 10th hisExcellency the Governor laid the foundation-stone of the newsouth wing of the Sydney Hospital. The old south wing,erected in 1859, had become unsuitable and insanitary andhad to be demolished and a new building was to be erectedestimated to cost £20,000. During the past ten years39,727 patients were admitted to the wards, while 167,583out-patients were treated. The casualty patients numbered89,277 and the operations performed totalled 24,238.-Themanagers of the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, recentlywaited on the Treasurer of Victoria to protest against areduction of the Government grant to that institution. Lastyear it was decided that the grant should be distributed toall the hospitals on the basis of the daily average number ofpatients and that no grant would be made for a longerperiod than 25 days’ stay for each patient. The result wasa diminished grant in several cases. The managers of theAlfred Hospital maintained that it occupied a different posi-tion from the hospitals in the city as it necessarily had fewerpatients whose stay in hospital was short. The Treasurer, inreply, said that he had caused statistics to be prepared bythe Inspector of Charities and he found that the amount ofmoney spent on administration was excessive, being 7b percent. of the total expenditure. In the Alfred Hospital itwas 72 per cent., the management costing £7852 per annum,and the actual expenditure on patients R2986. He was notinclined to increase the vote for charities but was inclinedto consider some scheme for amalgamating the hospitals.The figures prepared by the inspector have been much

challenged. He arrives at the actual expenditure on patientsby including the cost of provisions, surgery, and dispensary,less the cost of the board for nurses and attendants, whichhe estimates at 10s. per week each. In the case of theAlfred Hospital such a method works out that the cost ofsustaining the patients is only 4d. a day, which is obviouslyabsurd.-An inquest was held on the body of a child whodied at the Coast Hospital, Sydney, in the following cir-cumstances. She was admitted to the Sydney Hospital

on April 7th, suffering from severe scalds. On the 12thby direction of Dr. H. L. Maitland, one of the honorarysurgeons, she was removed to the Coast Hospital as she wasalleged to have developed scarlet fever. The superintendentat the Coast Hospital said that she was moribund on arrivaland died soon after admission. He thought that she oughtnot to have been moved. The post-mortem examinationshowed that the cause of death was septicaemia. The coronerfound that the deceased died from that cause and from theweight of evidence and the circumstances of the case thetransference to the Coast Hospital was a proper course toadopt.

Friendly Societies in New South Wales.The report read at the annual meeting of the Friendly

Societies’ Association of New South Wales stated that therewere 1139 branches, 91,014 members, and benefit fundsamounting to £784,467.—On March 30th, the new buildingserected at Redfern, Sydney, as a dispensary for the UnitedFriendly Societies were formally opened and the occasionwas celebrated by a banquet. In proposing the toast of"Our Institution," Mr. McGowan, M.L.A., said that theyhad 10,000 members and with such a number they ought tohave not only their own dispensary and dispensers but alsotheir own medical men as well, then they would be moreindependent.

Verdict against a Medical Man, upset on Appeal.As mentioned in a former communication, Mr. N. R. Howse

of Orange was sued by a patient last December to recovercompensation for injuries received by being burnt by hotbottles at a private hospital, when the jury returned a verdictfor the plaintiff with damages of £50. Mr. Howse appealedand the verdict was set aside with costs as being against theevidence. The Chief Justice said that he was unable to seeevidence of negligence. The application of the hot bottlesprobably saved the patient’s life. The action was most un-

gracious and should not have been brought.

Charge against Dr. Marshall: Validity of Dying Depositions.Dr. Frederick William Marshall of Sydney was tried at

the Central Criminal Court on March 27th and acquitted ona charge of murder. The case for the Crown was that thedeceased girl, a nurse, had an illegal operation performed byDr. Marshall and died in consequence, the post-mortemexamination showing the cause of death to be septicæmiafollowing on a recent abortion. The deceased’s dyingdepositions were put in which implicated Dr. Marshall, andthe magistrate who took them said that Dr. Marshall waspresent on the following day when the deposition was readover and he was asked if he desired to ask any questions.The deceased said that Dr. Marshall was the person referredto in her statement. The judge ruled that the depositionwas not admissible. The Act was very explicit that deposi-tions should be served on accused persons as soon as

practicable. In this case some hours elapsed. The Crownthen tendered the deposition as a declaration by a personsince deceased, but the judge again ruled it inadmissible.Without the depositions, of course, there was only circum-stantial evidence. Technical protection of crime of thiskind has, fortunately for the public weal, been set aside ina similar case by a recent decision of the High Court. Awoman named Margaret Jackson was convicted by a jury ofmanslaughter, arising out of the death of a patient after anabortion, and was sentenced to six years’ imprisonment. TheFull Court annulled the verdict on the ground that the

deceased’s dying depositions were admitted and should nothave been because certain words said to have been uttered

were omitted and this omission rendered the whole documentinformal. The High Court has now decided that the deposi-j tions were admissible for what they were worth and the

conviction was sustained.May 12th.

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THE KING’S SANATORIUM.

WE gave last week an account of the King’s Sanatorium,which was opened on June 13th, and mentioned that thefurniture of the patients’ rooms, of which there are exactly100, had been supplied by Messrs. Heal and Son of Totten-ham-court-road, London, W. While specially designed tomeet the requirements of a sanatorium for tuberculous

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patients, the furniture is not of such a style as to suggesthospital surroundings. It is mainly made of polished birchand considerable artistic skill has been employed in fashion-ing it. In order to prevent lodgment of dust all the sur-faces and joints have been made flush and mouldings havebeen avoided; the wardrobes have domed roofs and all

of the ward lockers have openings to insure ventila-tion. The place of the usual linen basket is taken bya soiled-linen stand and bag; this bag (which is made ofcoarse Irish linen) can be removed from the ward to thelaundry without the necessity, and accompanying risk, ofdisturbing its contents as the bag hangs on a frame @r

A typical bedroom in the King’s Sanatorium.

interior angles of drawers and cupboards are rounded off.Each article of furniture is well raised from the flooron legs to facilitate cleaning. The tops of the wash-stands, with the shelves beneath and the screens at ’the back, and the tops of the bedside lockers are

all made of glass and are removeable. The cupboards

stand and is lifted off when full and replaced by anotheron the same stand. Open joints are avoided in theframes of the bedsteads and the springs of the mattress

: are diagonally arranged instead of being straight, thus

securing an even distribution of strain and increaseddurability.

MEDICINE AND THE LAW.

iBurial Grounds and Dwelling Houses.

AN extraordinary state of affairs might possibly arise in Imany districts should the recent decision of the Court of iAppeal in the case of Godden f. the Hythe Burial Board beleft undisturbed in the presumably possible event of an Iappeal to the House of Lords, although, no doubt, an amend- Iment of the law by Act of Parliament would set matters Istraight. The Burials Act provides that no burial shall takeplace within 100 yards of a dwelling house without the Iconsent of the occupier, by which it was probably intendedthat dwelling houses in actual existence should be protectedagainst such deterioration of their value as might be expected Ito arise from the opening of new burial grounds in their

vicinity. In the case in question, however, the plaintiff built

a house within 100 yards of a burial ground already in existenceand then proceeded to obtain an injunction from Mr. JusticeKekewich against burials continuing to take place within theprescribed distance from his dwelling. It was pointed out inargument before the Court of Appeal that if this decision ofthe court below were held good every burial board desirousof using an acre of ground for burial purposes would have toacquire no less than 12 acres in order to be sure of being ableto keep it open; and it is quite clear that otherwiseany person acquiring enough land to build a cottageon might close a burial ground and that intolerableinconvenience and expense to a large district mightbe caused in circumstances quite easy to imagine.The Court of Appeal, however, seems to have found that theBurials Act was so clearly worded on the point that therewas no way in which they could uphold the view, whichcertainly seems consistent with common sense, that the Actonly referred to houses already built when the cemetery was