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(which have been so fully investigated by Dr. Sidney Martin, and described by him in the Goulstonian Lectures) elabo- rated by it, it may be proved that the poisonous products of the micro-organisms lose in part these toxic properties. For Iinstance, guinea-pigs were inoculated with the filtered bouillon from cultures of the bacillus of diphtheria, and all died in less than three days; whilst if from 4 to 8 per cent. ofantipyrin were added, the animals lived from five to twenty-four days, thus showing that although the drug did notrender the inoculation harmless, yet its toxicity was con-siderably diminished.

FOREIGN UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.

Berlin.-Dr. Kohler, of the Friederich Wilhelm’s Insti-

tute, for many years assistant in Professor von Bardleben’sclinic, has been granted the title of Professor.Dorpat -Professor Heinrich Unverricht has been offered

charge of the new hospital at Magdeburg.Freiburg.-Dr. Gastav Killian, privat.docent in Laryngo-

logy and Otology, has been appointed Extraordinary Pro-fessor. Dr. Wesener, of the Policlinic, has also been

appointed Extraordinary Professor of Medicine.

DEATHS OF EMINENT FOREIGN MEDICAL MEN.

THE deaths of the following distinguished members ofthe medical profession abroad have been announced :-Dr. Karl Fromman, Extraordinary Professor of Histologyin the University of Jena, whose chief work was on theStructure of the Ear and of the Central Nervous System,at the age of sixty-one. He resided for a time in Englandsome thirty years ago.-Dr. H. Girard, privat.docent inPhysiology in the University of Geneva.

SIR RICHARD QUAiN was entertained at dinner last weekat theGarrickClub by a select company, including Mr. DavidPlunket, Mr. Irving, Mr. Toole, Sir Charles Russell, Mr.Edward Lawson, Mr. J. Hare, Mr. Beerbohm Tree, Mr.Comyns Carr, Mr. Pinero, Mr. A, Levy, Mr. Clement Scott,Mr. F. H. Maclean, and Mr. C. W. Mathews. Mr. Hare pre-sented him, as a souvenir of their sincere regard, with twoantique silver bowls engraved with the names of the donors.

PROFESSOR GEORGE HARE PHILIPSON, M.A., M.D.,D.C.L., F.R. C.P., has been elected the representative of theUniversity of Durham on the General Council of MedicalEducation and Registration of the United Kingdom.

PROFESSOR CLIFFORD ALLBUTT, the Regius Professor ofPhysic in Cambridge University, proposes to give his in-

augural lecture on Tuesday, May 10th, at noon, in the newAnatomical Theatre.

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THE inquiry into the question of fresh legislation on thesubject of habitual drunkenness is, we understand, to be adepartmental one.

THE ROYAL SOCIETY CONVERSAZIONE.

IT is meet that the Society which represents scienceshould hold its firsb annual conversazione a few days afterthe opening of the Royal Academy in the adjoining roomsat Burlington House. Just as the one exhibition marksthe progress made in art during the past year, so may theannual conversazione of the Royal Society be taken toindicate the advances made in science. Lord Kelvinreceived a number of Fellows and distinguished visitors atthe conversazione held on Wednesday last, and the varietyof subjects exhibited must have afforded interest to all grades

of scientific workers. Electricity attracted, perhaps-as it.has done in previous years-the lion’s share of interest. Thevery remarkable phenomena exhibited by electric eurrents.of high potential and extreme frequency recently investi-gated and ably demonstrated by M. Tesla formed the sub.ject of Professor Crookes’ beautiful demonstration. ProfessorCrookes, who is well known for his admirable researches ona related subject, explained that in these experiments thedischarges from a battery of Leyden jars are sent throughthe primary wire of an oil induction coil. The wavelengthof the jar radiation is 300 metres, the frequency of alterna-tion is 1,000,000 a second, and the electro-motive force,about 100,000 volts. Stream and brush discharge, luminousconducting wires, phosphorescence of air, oxygen, yttria,sulphide of calcium, diamonds, rubies, &c., were amongstthe most noteworthy phenomena of the secondary poles.Odd as it may seem, the physiological action of thehigh frequency current is feeble, although the shock of theforce in its initial condition would probably kill instantly.An electric chronograph, designed for recording the velocityof projectiles and small periods of time in physiologicalresearch, was the ingenious invention of the Rev. F. J.Smith. Professor Oliver Lodge strikingly illustratedlightning effects and multiple flashes by the passage ofsparks in and to water. A spark to water spreads out onthe surface in a crow-foot pattern, showing apparentlythat the surface layer is a feeble dielectric. A sparkunder water is short and very violent, treating thewater as a dielectric and producing concussion. Vacuumtubes without electrodes was the subject of Dr. Bottomley’s.exhibit. These tubes show all the beautiful phenomena ofstratification, and also the phenomena accompanying the"sensitive state," though they have no electrodes. Theyshow also the phenomena of molecular bombardment. Th&lecture room apparatus exhibited by Prcf assor Thorpe, anddescribed recently in THE LANCET, is intended to demon-strate the general phenomena of a dust explosion, and more,particularly coal dust, in explanation of the causes ofcolliery explosions. Touching the same subject, ProfessorClowes showed an ordinary miner’s safety.lamp, with supple-mental hydrogen flame, for detecting and measuring minuteproportions of firedamp or inflammable gas or vapour inair. An ordinary oil or benzoline safety-lamp is fed withhydrogen by a tube passing through the oil reservoir, andconnected when necessary by a flexible tube with a light,steel bottle containing compressed hydrogen. The hydrogen’becomes kindled by the lamp flame, which is then extin-guished by drawing down the wick. The hydrogen flame isadjusted to a standard height, and the amount of inflam-mable gas or vapour is estimated by the dimensions andappearance of the "cap" which is seen over the flame. Per-centages of firedamp varying from 0’25 to 3 could thus bedetected and estimated, and the luminous flame of the.lamp alone, when sufficiently reduced, serves to detect per-centages above 3 Specimens were shown by ProfessorChurch illustrating the occurrence and propsrties of turacin,the red pigment (containing 7 per cent. of copper) discoveredby the exhibitor in the wing feathers of certain plantaineaters or touracos. Dr. MacMunn exhibited the spectra ofthis interesting pigment. It is remarkable for its spectrumwhich closely resembles that of oxy-haemoglobin. Its de-rivatives have recently been found to give spectra closelyresembling these of the derivatives of hemoglobin. Thedemonstration of Mr. Frederic E. Ives of Philadelphia oncomposite heliochromy, a process of colour photography, waslistened to with intense interest. The effects on the screenwere very beautiful and wonderfully realistic, so that it wasdifficult to imagine that one wag looking art a photographat all. A geranium in bloom, in an ordinary flower-pot, anda little girl in a coloured frock surrounded by trees in funleaf, were particularly striking subjects, all the colours beingportrayed with remarkable faithfulness. Professor Boysshowed his photographs of flying bullets. The photographof an aluminium bullet from a magazine rifle and smokelesspowder, projected at the enormous velocity of 3000 ft. persecond, was the centre of interest. Chemists have longstruggled to produce certain gems artificially and with par-tial success ; but it has been left to Mr. W. Saville Kent, aFellow of the Linnnæan Society, to induce and to accelerate.the formation of pearl. He exhibited a pearl artificially pro-duced through an operation performed by the exhibitor onthe living animal.Space prevents us giving more than passing mention to-

many other exhibits of equal interest. Such were, for

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example, Professor Norman Lockyer’s photographs of thenew star and the Solar Physics Committee’s photograph ofthe great sun-spot of February last, the optical pyrometerof Professor W. C. Roberts Austen, and, lastly, certainnew and rare fish, some new to British and Irish watersand one altogether new to science, exhibited by ProfessorA. C. Haddon and Mr. E. W. L. Holt.

THE ASSOCIATION OF FELLOWS OF THEROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS

OF ENGLAND.

THE Committee of the Association of Fellows of the

Royal College of Surgeons met at 5 P.nl. on April 26th, at36, Grosvenor-street. In the unavoidable absence of thePresident, Mr. George Pollock, Mr. T. Holmes, the seniorVice-President, occupied the chair. The honorary secre-

tary, Mr. H. Percy Dunn, read a letter from the secretaryof the College, in answer to a letter sent by the committeeto the President of the College, conveying the followingresolution passed at the last meeting : "That the com-mittee of this Association, having noticed that the Councilof the College has appointed a committee to consider theclaims of the Fellows, would suggest that a deputationfrom the Association of Fellows should be asked to meetthe committee in order to set forth the views of the Associa-tion." The following was the secretary’s reply :-

Royal College of Surgeons, Lincoln’s.inn-fields,London, W.C., April 25th, 1892.

DEAR Sm,-I am desired by the President to acknowledge thereceipt of your letter of the 23rd instant, and to acquaint you that thesame will be submitted by him to the Council at their meeting on the12th proximo. The President is not aware that any committee hasbeen appointed by the Council to consider the claims of the Fellows,"but presumes it to be the intention of those who framed the resolu-tion Ieported in your letter to refer to a committee appointed by theCouncil on the loth of March last to consider and report to theCouncil whether any, and if so what, further advantages can be ex-tended to the Fellows."

I am, dear Sir, yours faithfully,H. Percy Dunn, Esq. EDWARD TRIMMER, Secretary.The difference between the two descriptions of the

objects of the committee is more apparent than real. Aslong ago as fbe end of October, 1890, the Committee of theAssociation of Fellows sent a deputation to meet a Com-mittee of the Council of the College, in order to urge uponthem certain claims on behalf of the Fellows of the College.These claims were on the whole favourably received by thecommittee, but the consideration of the most important ofthem was deferred by the Council, in deference to legaladvice, until the decision of the action Steele v. Savory. Assoon as that action had been settled, a committee was appliedfor in the Council of the College, for the purpose ofredeeming the implied pledge to the Committee of theAssociation to consider their propositions at the earliestopportunity. Of course, under the terms of the referenceto the committee, other points can be considered besidesthose urged by the Committee of the Association of Fellows,and therefore the expression used in the letter of thehonorary secretary of the Association may be regarded astoo narrow. We are inclined to believe, however, thatthe object of the correction in the letter of the secretaryof the College was rather to narrow the expressionused by the honorary secretary of the Association thanto enlarge it. The Council of the College is the fountainof grace and favour, and any advantages which may possiblybe extended to the Fellows must rise spontaneouslyfrom this source and flow down to the Fellows, whocan only ba worthy to receive them if they have a be-coming sense of the gracious condescension of the Councilof the College. Unfortunately the spring often runs dry,and is rarely available except during the rainy season anddisturbance of the elements, and io is the business of theAssociation of Fellows to prevent the too lengthened con-tinuance of the period of drought. In the present instancethe committee of the Association wisely decided that themere verbal amendment of the secretary’8 letter did not callfor any notice.The main business of the committee was to consider a

report of the proceedings of the Association of Fellowssince March, 1890, when the first report was issued. Thereport had been drawn up by Mr. Rivington and Mr. Percy

Dunn in the first instance and submitted to and approvedby a subcommittee. After the report had been read andbriefly discussed, it was resolved : "That the subcommitteebe instructed (1) to complete and, where practicable, toabbreviate the report; (2) to have the report printed so as-to enable each Fellow of the College to have a copy trans-mitted to him during the second week in June; (3) to,insert a slip in the printed report asking (a) those whoapprove of the objects of the Association to notify the same,to the honorary secretary, and to become members ; (b) tosupport the candidates adopted by the Association forelection into the Council."The date of the annual meeting of the Association was,

fixed for Thursday, June 23rd, at 5 P.M., and the honorarysecretary was instructed to write to the Council of theRoyal Medical and Chirurgical Society requesting permis-sion to hold the meetings in question in trle rooms of the.Society. It was also decided that the annual dinner of theAssociation should be held in the evening of the day ofthe annual meeting.On April 2nd we announced that the Committee of the

Association of Fellows had unanimously resolved to askMr. Tweedy to allow his name to be put forward as thecandidate of the Association at the next annual election tothe Council of the College. Mr. Tweedy now stated, in,reply to that request, that he had decided, after due con-sideration, to accept the invitation of the committee, andif elected he would do his best to advance those constitu-tional interests of the Fellows for which the Association hadbeen so long contending. He would much have preferred the-selection ot some other candidate ; but as his colleagues onthe committee desired it he was willing to stand. Thenumber of seats to be filled at the ensuing election will befour, owing to the decease of Mr. Berkeley Hill and the ap-proaching retirement of Messrs. Smith, Durham, and Lawson..Of these gentlemen, Mr. Lawson has decided not to beagain nominated, so that there will be at least two absolutevacancies. In view of bhis fact, and of the intention of-Mr. Lawson Tait, expressed at the last meeting of thecommittee, to come forward again, it was proposed by Dr..Collins, seconded by Mr. W. Barnes, and carried neJn. con. :" That Mr. Lawson Tait be asked to stand as a candidateof the Association at the College election in July next."Mr. Tait has now fought the battle of reform under theauspices of the Association for three successive years, andhas always polled a large number of votes-more, in fact,than some successful candidates have received in otheryears, and it is to be hoped that both Mr. Tweedy and Mr.Tait will be successful this year. Their election would sostrengthen the growing reform party in the Council as toensure the realisation of all the changes which have beenasked for by the thinking portion of the constibuency ofFellows.

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THE INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF THERED CROSS.

THE sitting of the 25th ult. was occupied with importantbusiness. After the Commission charged to study thequestion as to how far the Red Cross societies could inter-vene in distant wars had been nominated, a discussionarose on the demand of M. Oom (representing Russia) thatCustoms House examinations and dues should be suspendedin favour of the mccteried of the Red Cross, and also that the-personnel of the societies should be conveyed by the railways,free of cost. The Marchese Vitelleschi contended that sofar as Italy was concerned her customs houses have relaxedtheir rules in the case of Red Cross goods, and also that her-railways contemplate the conveyance of the personnel atreduced fares. M. Ziegler (Switzerland) maintained thatthe exemption from Customs dues was too large a questionfor the Red Cross Congress to decide per se, and that theSwiss railways, belonging as they did to private companies,could be used gratuitously by the personnel only after theconsent of the companies had been obtained. The discussionclosed with an approval of the demands formulated in thename of Russia by M. Oom.The next discussion turned on the question as to the

intervention of the Red Cross at military manceuvres intime of peace, with a view to disciplining its personned andtesting its resources, so as to avoid the contretemps it ex-