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The Hospital Sunday collection at St. Jude’s, South Ken-sington, yielded, as will be seen above, the grand total of£1208 15s. 10d., which is the largest hospital collection evermade at one place of worship. Another good record is thatof St. Michael, Chester-square, where no less than£1007 12s. 4d. was given by the congregation to the Fund.The annual collection at this church has averaged duringthe past seven years no less a sum than £1000. Upto yesterday morning (Friday, 28th), a sum of aboutJEl7,000 had been received at the Mansion House fromthe various metropolitan places of worship. This amountis estimated to be over ;flOOO in excess of the sumreceived at the corresponding date last year.

THE PARIS UNIVERSAL EXHIBITION.(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

Present Sa.nitary Condition of Paris.-The Physical ExerciseCongress.

As the letter written by " An English Gentlewoman,"and published by The Times, is likely to create much un-necessary alarm and to prevent many persons coming toParis, I have made special inquiries concerning the authen-ticity of the assertions it contains. The gravest affirmationis "that measles and scarlatina are raging in Paris." Inthe face of so categorical an accusation, I refrained from

expressing an opinion till I had an opportunity of going tothe Statistical Bureau, where I was most courteouslyreceived by M. le Dr. Bertillon, whose reputation as a

statistician is European. As is well known, the mostelaborate and careful statistics are kept concerning thesanitary condition of Paris. Thus I have obtained a veryaccurate account of the state of affairs since the Exhibitionhas been opened. Taking the seven weeks from April 28thto June 15th, the deaths in Paris from measles, out of apopulation of 2,260,945, were as follows :-

1889. 1888. 1887.18th week of the year - i.e., .... 10 .... 43April 28th to May 4th . . .... 10 ... , 43

19th week............ 21 .... 11 .... 5620th .......... " 17 .... 15 .... 4921st ............. 23 .... 17 .... 44

22nd ............ 13 .... 23 .... 5823rd ............. 29 .... 26 .... 4424th ............. 14 .... 19 .... 48

From this it will be seen that there is practically no dif-ference in the number of deaths from measles during thelast seven weeks of this year and that of the correspondingperiod of last year, but that in 1887 the deaths from thisdisease were more than twice as numerous. Taking thesame weeks-that is, the weeks affected by the influx offoreigners due to the opening of the Paris Exhibition-thefollowing are the deaths recorded from scarlet fever.

1889. 1888. 1887.18th week ...... 1 ...... 4 ...... 819th ...... 0 ...... 4 ...... 620th ...... 6 ...... 3 ...... 421st , ..... 6 ...... 4 ...... 222nd " ..... 9 ...... 6 ...... 623rd " ...... 7 ...... 5 ...... 524th , ..... 7 ...... 6 ...... 4

Thus, during the corresponding weeks of the last threeyears, the total deaths from scarlet fever in Paris, for thewhole seven weeks, were 34 in 1889, 32 in 1888, and 35 in1887. It would be difficult to find ligures more expressiveof a normal state of affairs than these three totals of deathsfrom scarlet fever. But, with regard to the general death-rate of Paris, the figures cannot in any wise be described asnormal. It has been seen that measles are less prevalent.For the seven weeks, from April 28th to June 15th, thegeneral death-rate for each of these weeks was as follows :22-62, 2L-87, 21-21, 23.35, 2033, 230, and 20-31 in 1000of the population. This gives an average death-rate for theseven weeks of 21’81; whereas the death-rate for the entireyear 1888 was 23-6, and for the year 1887 no less than 24-2.Thus has Paris enjoyed exceptionally good health since theopening of the Exhibition, and this is more favourable eventhan is shown by the above figures, for these are calculatedon the census return of 1886, and the population of Parismust at the present moment be much larger.Concerning the accommodation available for the treat-

ment and isolation of infectious cases of disease, the "English

Gentlewoman " correspondent of The Ti2ites has better cause ofcomplaint. Yet there is in this letter exaggeration due toimperfect information. If a person is taken ill in Paris, com-munication should at once be sent to the Maison Municipalede Sante, better known as the Maison Dubois, No. 200,Faubourg Saint-Denis. Here rooms with three to four bedscan be obtained for five francs to six francs a day ; of twobeds, for seven francs a day ; a private room with but onebed, eight to nine francs a day; and a small apartment, twelvefrancs a day. As this charge includes all surgical operations,medical attendance, all sorts of baths, mineral waters, infact everything that is necessary, whether expensive or

otherwise, the charge is not high. All infectious cases aretaken in at this hospital except small-pox, and no objectionis made if the family or any outside physician is called in forconsultation with the eminent physicians in charge of thishospital, namely, Drs. E. Labbe, Lecorche, Marc See, andHorteloup. Visitors are freely admitted, and certainly thelady in question should have gone to this hospital. Astranger in Paris in such a case should first send a messengerto secure a room at the Hopital Dubois. When this isdone, application can be made at the nearest police station,and then an ambulance will be sent, and will convey thepatient at once to the hospital, where everything will befound in readiness. Of course, to place a patient in anambulance and trust to the discretion of the driver, withoutmaking any previous arrangement, is not a prudent pro-ceeding. Consequently persons coming to Paris need notfear that it will be impossible for them to isolate themselvesin the event of fever, and need not for that purpose undergothe hardships of St. Antoine, one of the poorest hospitals ofParis, where most of the patients belong to the indigentsections of the population, and where the rare patients whopay are only charged from two to three francs a day. Thecharge of forty-six francs actually made must have beenmeant to cover extra accommodation and a fortnight’s treat-ment.With regard to the ambulance waggons, the municipality

is organising a new service of model ambulances, and forthe moment there is some friction in the services ; for theambulances actually in use are under the Prefecture ofPolice, while the hospitals are under the AssistancePublique or municipal administration. The existence ofthese dual authorities often causes mistakes and confusion.Of course it is a well-known fact that the French are notsuch contagionists as the English. Scarlet fever is not aParisian disease; it is rarely prevalent to any wide extent;and even in England measles is not looked upon as verygrave. The dangerous diseases in Paris are typhoid anddiphtheria, and for these it is more necessary to take specialprecautions. Fortunately, as will be seen by the abovefigures, public health in Paris is exceptionally good at thepresent moment.The Congress for the promotion of Physical Exercises in

conjunction with Education has now concluded its labours.Its subsequent meetings were more successful, being betterattended, than the inaugural meeting I described in mylast letter. Most of the meetings have been held out ofdoor, to witness competitions in fencing, rowing, run-

ning, swimming, French boxing, &c. But occasionallythe Congress has met in-doors in the lecture-room of theEngineering School, the Ponts et Chaussees, Rue desSt. Pères. On Tuesday evening a distinguished audienceassembled in this lecture-hall to hear Dr. FernandLagrange of Vichy deliver an address on the Sanitaryand Moral Aspect of Physical Exercise. In the courseof his remarks he deplored the manner in which phy-sical exercise had been promoted in French schools. Allevidence went to show that gymnastics were not popular.This was due to the fact that these exercises were notnatural and were too difficult.. Consequently, the childrenresisted the efforts to teach them, and the result had beendeplorable. He had succeeded in procuring statistics withregard to 500 boys. Of these, 100 were from ten to elevenyears old; they had commenced learning gymnastics whenat the age of seven years, and yet only 30 of themhad attained a medium capacity. Of 200 boys agedfrom sixteen to seventeen years, 110 had failed to reach themedium capacity. Dr. Lagrange then went on to advocate,in preference to gymnastics, such out-door exercises as

cricket, football, and the "noble French game, the jeu depa1tJne."

"

Gymnastics were only good for the exceptionallystrong. This was an artificial method of selection by whicha minority of boys were taken up and converted into athletes,

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but it left the majority unimproved. It was the businessof hygiene to deal with the weakest, with the leastfavoured. Now, in natural out-door games all could play,and though all could not win, still all benefited by the exer-cise ; even the boy who had arrived last in the race had beenover the course. Exercise was not the object in view, butthe means of realising that object-perfect health. Dr.Lagrange then described the physical deterioration of a childthat had insufficient exercise. The smaller volume of airadmitted into the lungs, soon brought about characteristicnervous symptoms. There was lack of resolution, a desireto concentrate within themselves their thoughts and actionsso as to avoid external effort. The child would probablybusy itself in the reading of books, or in drawing, or someother quiet occupation. The parent might probably bedeceived, and take this to be a mark of genius. In reality itwas a sign of decadence and of weakness ; it was due tothe desire to live apart, to avoid all energetic efforts. Also,the child who no longer cared for games was likely to fallinto vicious habits. If, however, this indolence could begradually overcome, the results of out-door exercise weremost marked and hopeful. The object was to augment therapidity of respiration and the consequent dose of oxygen,for oxygen not only fed but it increased the appetite;and a child running breathed seven times the amount ofair breathed by a child sitting still. Dr. Brown-Sequardhad, the speaker said, demonstrated the importance ofoxygen by injection of oxygenated blood. Thereforeexercise must be taken in the open air. A personfencing breathed seven times more air and vitiated fourtimes more air than when quietly reposing. No fencing-room was sufficiently large or sufficiently ventilated for thepurpose of perfectly healthy exercise. The muscles, butnot the health, might be developed in a foul atmosphere.Also, it was very necessary for French parents to teachtheir children to bear pain. A Frenchman was often fearlessin the face of death, but quite a coward when it was aquestion of experiencing some small hurt. Indeed, theFrench had invented a saying, "Peur de sa peau." Muchremained, he thought, to be done to harden the French-man’s skin and reduce his nervous sensibility. Dr. Lagrangeconcluded by appealing to the patriotic sense of the parentsof French children.Mr. Adolphe Smith was then invited to address the

Congress, and explained that THE LANCET had alwaysrecognised the necessity of combining physical exercisewith mental education. In England this had not beenneglected; if anything, the love of sports was a littleexaggerated. One point, however, was very essential.However useful the principles advocated were to the weakas well as the strong, still it was not right to allow childrento join cricket clubs, or to take part in athletic sports,without first submitting them to a strict medical exami-nation, so that only those whose hearts and lungs weresound should be allowed violent physical strain. Mr. Smithremarked that not only should the open air be preferred forall physical exercises, but that the clothes worn shouldbe those most suitable to the occasion. For this purposeporous and woollen clothes had been found the best, andthese, in combination with pure air, would still furtherenhance the advantages to be derived from physical exer-cises, while reducing the risk of catching cold.M. le Dr. Rochard, the well-known sanitary reformer,

who was in the chair, felicitated Dr. Lagrange on his mostable and lucid lecture, and corroborated what he had saidon the unpopularity of gymnastics. Boys were made tostand idly in a row, while one boy alone performed someexercise ; thus the monotony was as great as in the class-room. In spite of the decree of the Prefecture of Police render-ing gymnastics obligatory, only thirty-two Lyceum schoolsout of seventy had gymnastic apparatus. Dr. Rochard then,complimented Mr. Adolphe Smith on his remarks. In manyFrench schools the medical examination preceded the im-position of physical exercises. Though this was a verygeneral rule, still it was not obligatory, and he agreed withTHE LANCET that this precaution should be compulsory.For him and for the entire Congress it was most gratifyingto see that the great English medical paper had thought fitto send a representative to take part in their debates;and in the name of the Congress he tendered his cordialthanks to the proprietors of THE LANCET and to Mr. Smith.These complimentary remarks were greeted with the mostenthusiastic applause, and the meeting terminated in acordial interchange of friendly sentiments.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN twenty-eight of the largest English towns 6099 birthsand 3055 deaths were registered during the week endingJune 22nd. The annual rate of mortality in these towns,which had been 17’7 and 16’6 per 1000 in the precedingtwo weeks, was last week 16’7. During the first twelveweeks of the current quarter the death-rate in these townsaveraged 18’3 per 1000, and was 2’3 below the mean ratein the corresponding periods of the ten years 1879-88.The lowest rates in these towns last week were 9’9 inBrighton, 106 in Derby, 11’2 in Nottingham, and 12’2 inBirkenhead. The rates in the other towns ranged upwardsto 25’1 in Halifax, 25-3 in Hull, 260 in Preston, and 27-1in Manchester. The deaths referred to the principal zymoticdiseases in these towns, which had been 430 and 429 inthe previous two weeks, further declined last week to 400;they included 115 from measles, 105 from diarrhcea, 76 fromwhooping-cough, 47 from scarlet fever, 34 from diphtheria,22 from "fever" (principally enteric), and only one fromsmall-pox. No death from any of these zymotic diseaseswas registered last week in Brighton or in Derby;while they caused the highest death-rates in Hull, Ply-mouth, and Preston. The greatest mortality from measlesoccurred in Manchester, Leeds, Hudderstield, Halifax,Hull, and Preston ; from diarrhoea in Salford, Plymouth,Leeds, and Preston ; from whooping-cough in Portsmouth,Bradford, Wolverhampton, and Preston; and from scarletfever in Blackburn and Plymouth. The death-rate from"fever" showed no noticeable excess in any of thesetowns. The 34 deaths from diphtheria included 27 inLondon and 2 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Small-pox causedone death in Manchester, but not one in any of the twenty-seven other great towns ; and no small-pox patient wasunder treatment at the end of the week either in +heMetropolitan Asylum Hospitals or in the Highgate Small-pox Hospital. The number of scarlet-fever patients in theMetropolitan Asylum and London Fever Hospitals 3.t theend of last week was 559, against numbers declining onthe preceding four Saturdays from 610 to 570; 44 caseswere admitted to these hospitals during the week, againstnumbers declining in the four previous weeks from 57 to33. The deaths referred to diseases of the respiratoryorgans in London, which had been 205 and 169 in theprevious two weeks, were last week 171, and were 47 belowthe corrected average. The causes of 71, or 2’3 per cent.,of the deaths in the twenty-eight towns last week werenot certified either by a registered medical practitioner orby a coroner. All the causes of death were duly certifiedin Sunderland, Oldham, Portsmouth, Brighton, and in sixother smaller towns. The largest proportions of uncertifieddeaths were registered in Halifax, Hull, Leicester, andPreston.

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HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in the eight Scotch towns,which had been 19’4 and 20 5 per 1000 in the precedingtwo weeks, declined again to 19’4 in the week endingJune 22nd; this rate exceeded, however, by 2-7 the meanrate during the same week in the twenty-eight largeEnglish towns. The rates in these Scotch towns rangedlast week from 12-6 in Greenock and 14-2 in Perth, to 22’3in Glasgow and 24’5 in Leith. The 496 deaths in the eighttowns showed a decline of 28 from the numbers in theprevious two weeks, and included 33 which were referredto whooping-cough, 21 to measles, 18 to diarrhoea, 6 todiphtheria, 5 to scarlet fever, and not one either to small-pox or to "fever"; in all, 83 deaths resulted from theseprincipal zymotic diseases, against 76 and 95 in the pre-ceding two weeks. These 83 deaths were equal to anannual rate of 3 ’2 per 1000, which was 1-0 above the meanrate from the same diseases in the twenty-eight Englishtowns. The fatal cases of whooping-cough, which hadbeen 33, 29, and 35 in the preceding three weeks, declinedagain last week to 33, of which 25 occurred in Glasgow,5 in Edinburgh, and 2 in Paisley. The 21 deaths frommeasles showed a decline of 5 from the number in theprevious week, and included 10 in Glasgow, 7 in Aber-deen, and 4 in Leith. The deaths attributed to diarrhoea,which had increased in the previous four weeks from 10 to17, further rose last week to 18. The 6 fatal cases of diph-