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The Universities, the Medical Coitneil, an(l theOntai-io Meclical Commission.

President Falconer, of the University of Toronto,appeared before the Ontario Medical Commission,which is inquiring into the regulation of medicalpractice in that province, and stated that dualcontrol of examinations by the universities andthe Medical Council was humiliating. He contendedthat once a student of medicine got his degreehe should be entitled to practise. At present thedegree of the University of Toronto was at a dis-advantage throughout the empire. The OntarioMedical Council did not recognise it, consequentlyit could not be recognised by the General MedicalCouncil of Great Britain. The Ontario MedicalCouncil now has the legal right to set the course ofthe University curriculum. A few years ago it gaveup holding primary examinations, but retained thefinal examinations. Counsel for the Medical Councilof Ontario held that the final examination by theCouncil was necessary in order to show that afterhis five years’ tuition at the University the studentwas really efficient to practise. The Council, whilstadmitting that the medical student has undergonesatisfactory academic training, has no means of

confirming this other than by examination. Thusthe universities and the Council are pulling againsteach other before the Commission. The universitieswish for full control over examinations, thusrelegating to the Medical Council a purely dis-

ciplinary function over the profession in theprovince.

Free Serums f01’ Ontario.The Ontario Board of Health has undertaken to

supply free practically all the serums of differentkinds used in that province. The annual savingto the people will run into tens of thousands ofdollars. Of diphtheria antitoxin alone it is expectedthat 150,000 to 200,000 doses will be needed perannum and about 500,000 doses of antityphoidvaccine. The latter has already been suppliedgratis to the troops of the whole Dominion ofCanada, as well as to those of Newfoundland.One circumstance largely responsible for the

adoption of this principle by the Board of Healthwas the observation of the results of the gratuitousdistribution of diphtheria antitoxin in Toronto.The general death-rate in Toronto from diphtheriais 16 per cent., while in the Toronto Isolation

Hospital, where the severest cases are generallyfound, the death-rate was only 6 per cent. In the

hospital the serum was supplied free and in largedoses. Last year the Board of Health was able to

supply diphtheritic serum at a quarter of itsoriginal price, and this has paved the way for thegeneral manufacture of serums by the province.Toronto. Jan. 4th.

CENTENARIANS.—Mrs. Mary Paige, of Albany-road, Rochester, has celebrated the 100th anniversary of herbirthday, and has received a congratulatory letter from theKing. She was born at Launceston, Cornwall.-The deathis announced of Mrs. Rebecca Law, an inmate of SaffronWalden Union, at the age of 102. She was in possession ofall her faculties.

DONATIONS AND BEQUESTS. -The AberdeenRoyal Infirmary has benefited to the amount of E700 underthe will of the late Mr. Alexander Fitchet, of Carnoustie.The sum is to be paid free of duty.-Cardiff Hospital hasrecently benefited by an anonymous gift of 10,000 guineastowards the cost of new extensions, and by a donation of1000 guineas to endow a bed by Messrs. Watts, Watts,and Co., coalowners. The hospital has received four gifts ofa like amount from various donors during last December. j

THE SERVICES.

ROYAL NAVY MEDICAL SERVICE.THE undermentioned have been entered as Surgeons for

temporary service in His Majesty’s Fleet :-Dated Jan. 12th:Robert Aitken and Samuel Parker Mort.

ARMY MEDICAL SERVICE.Lieutenant-Colonel Joseph F. M. Kelly to be temporary

Colonel whilst employed as Assistant Director of MedicalServices of a Division (dated Dec. 7th).Major William M. B. Sparkes to be temporary Lieutenant-

Colonel whilst Acting Assistant Director of Medical Servicesof a Division (dated Nov. 20th).

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.

Temporary Major Charles S. Myers to be temporaryLieutenant-Colonel (dated Jan. 18th).Temporary Captain Robert J. D. Irvine to be temporary

Major (dated Jan. 14th).Temporary Lieutenant William J. G. Gayton to be tem-

porary Captain (dated Dec. 7th).Temporary Lieutenant Norman K. Wilson to be temporary

Captain (dated Jan. 15th).Temporary Honorary Lieutenant Angelo M. Crabtree

relinquishes his commission on ceasing to serve with theNew Zealand War Contingent Hospital (dated Jan. 3rd).The undermentioned to be temporary Lieutenants :-Dated Dec. 27th : Evan Parry Evans.Dated Dec. 28th: Joseph Chamney Atkinson Ridgway,

Helton Godwin Baynes, Henry Currie Watson, FrederickGeorge Thomson, Henry Stewart, John Patrick O’Connor,James Dewar Robertson, Henry Catling, and SelwynLangstaff Haslett.Dated Dec. 29th: Hubert Sewell Sims and Reginald Mark

Moore.Temporary Lieutenant-Colonel Leonard S. Dudgeon

relinquishes his commission (dated Dec. 27th).Temporary Captain Charles N. Binney relinquishes his

commission (dated Dec. 10th).The undermentioned temporary Lieutenants relinquish

their commissions :-Dated Oct. 24th : John W. O’Farrell.Dated Nov. 1st: James W. Richardson.Dated Nov. 2nd : Francis K. Kerr.Dated Nov. 10th: Denis G. Halsted.Dated Nov. 17th : Maurice C. Turiansky.Dated Dec. 1st: Charles W. Hamilton, Joseph E. Barnes,

Ricardo Cope, Arthur N. Leeming, Joseph G. Macqueen,Andrew T. Ross, John F. Gibbons, William J. F. Mayne,Mackenzie Douglas, and John C. L. Day.Dated Dec. 4th : Reginald W. Clark, John G. McDougall,

William G. Helsby, and James Potter.Dated Dec. 7th : Charles C. Holman, Vynne Borland,

John C. McConaghey, Roderick A. Campbell, and HansFleming.Dated Dec. 10th: Wilfred H. W. Attlee and Allan R.

Wilson.Dated Dec. 14th : John Anderson, Richard T. Worthing

ton, and Walter J. Harper.Dated Dec. 15th: William F. Dunlop, Horace E. H.

Tracy, George B. Horrocks, and George J. B. Candler-Hope.Dated Dec. 16th : William Readman, Charles T. Bishop,

Ernest G. Wheat, John Duffin, Edward H. A. Pask, andDouglas Elder.Dated Dec. 17th : Bertram M. Bone.Dated Dec. 18th : William McH. Binning and George R.

Phillips.Dated Dec. 28th: Michael Sullivan, John H. Douglas,

Sylvester D. Fairweather, and Herbert D. Robertson.Dated Dec. 30th: Richard E. Sedgwick and William

Taylor.Dated Jan. 16th: Randal MacCarthy.

Oversea Contingent.The British West Indies Iein2ertt.

Albert James Clarke to be Surgeon-Captain (datedSept. 18th).The undermentioned to be Surgeon-Lieutenants:-Dated Sept. 19th : William Steele Mitchell.Dated Nov. 8th : Aldington George Curphey.

Canadiccn Army l-ledical Corps.Major E. B. O’Reilly, Canadian Militia, to be temporary

Major (dated Dec. 22nd).Captain C. D. H. McAlpine to be temporary Major (dated

Oct. 28th).E. Goulden to be temporary Captain (dated Dec. 4th).The undermentioned Lieutenants to be temporary

Lieutenants :-Dated Dec. 18th : Harold Ernest Brown, Farrent Lismere

Hill, William Arthur Rupert Michell, James HenryEgbert, Theodore George Harwood Drake, MauriceAloysius Eenny.

209

TERRITORIAL. FOR<.:)’:.

Royal Army Medical Corps.Sonth-Western Mounted Brigade Field Ambulance: Lieu-

tenant Wilfred S. Soden to be Captain.Home Counties Field Ambulance : Lieutenant George

Hislop to be Captain.West Lancashire Field Ambulance: Captain James Wood

to be temporary Major. Norman Stuart Jeffrey (lateCaptain, the King’s Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) ) tobe Captain.London (City of London) Field Ambulance: Joseph Howell

Lloyd to be Lieutenant.Wessex Field Ambulance: Captain Arthur C. Hineks to be

Captain.Northern General Hospital: Captain Colin Mearns, from

Northumbrian Casualty Clearing Station, to be Captain.Major Albert S. F. Leyton is seconded. Captain GrahamS. Simpson is seconded whilst holding a temporary com-mission as Major in the Royal Army Medical Corps. Theundermentioned are seconded : Major Arthur J. Hall, MajorAlbert E. Naish, Captain William H. Nutt, and CaptainFrank A. Hepworth. The undermentioned Lieutenants tobe Captains : John Stokes, William W. N. King, andTheodore Allen.London Sanitary Company: The undermentioned Lieu-

tenants to be Captains: James E. Wilson, Cuthbert E. C.Ferrey, Walter D. Carruthers, Archibald Romanes, Colin C.Frye, Harry G. A. Pearson, and George S. Hoffman.Captain Herbert Beeney is placed temporarily on the retiredpay list on account of ill-health. Charles Herbert Lilley tobe Lieutenant.London Casualty Clearing Station: The undermentioned

Lieutenants to be Captains: Allan C. Pearson and JohnC. W. Methven.Northumbrian Casualty Clearing Station: Captain

Frederick John Nattrass, from Northern General Hospital,to be Captain.Welsh Border Mounted Brigade Field Ambulance : Lieu-

tenant (temporary Captain) Robert Francis Gerrard to beCaptain.East Anglian Field Ambulance: Major William J. Caie

relinquishes his commission on account of ill-health.Wessex Casualty Clearing Station: Captain Alfred Cole-

ridge, from Attached to Units other than Medical Units,to be Captain.London (City of London) Sanitary Company : The under-

mentioned to be Lieutenants: Wilfred Samuel HamiltonCampbell, Corporal Norman Shirley Golding (fromCanadian Expeditionary Force), William Alexander FrancisBalfour Browne, and Alfred Reicl.West Lancashire Divisional Sanitary Section : Lieutenant

William H. Hill, from London Sanitary Company, to beLieutenant. ’,Supernmnerccry for Service l&iacute;’&Igrave;th the Ogicei-s Training

Corps.-Lieutenant Wynfrid L. H. Duckworth to be tem-porary Captain whilst serving with the Medical Unit of theCambridge University Contingent, Senior Division, OfficersTraining Corps. Arthur Wvndowe Willert Baker to be Lieu-tenant for service with the Medical Unit of the DublinUniversity Contingent, Senior Division, Officers TrainingCorps.Attached to Ur2vts othei, that Medical Units.-Surgeon-

Major Robert B. Purves, from the Lincolnshire Yeomanry,to be Major. Captain Herbert E. Murray relinquishes hiscommission on appointment to the Indian Medical Service.To be Captains : Lieutenant John Wood and LieutenantAlexander Silbermann. To be Lieutenants: William HenryBuckley, John Livingston Hamilton, and Frederick JoshuaPage Saunders.

Lieutenant-Colonel A. D. Sharp, C.M.G., has beenappointed Assistant Director of Medical Services to the49th (West Riding) Division, B.E.F.

PLYMOUTH HOSPITAL SUNDAY FUND.-At a

recent meeting of the committee of this Fund the sum ofS658 was allocated to eight local hospitals and dispensaries.DEATH OF MR. REGINALD KCETTLITZ, J.P.-

The death is announced from Somerset East, Cape Province,South Africa, where he lived, of Mr. R. Koettlitz, seniorsurgeon with Captain Scott’s Antarctic Expedition on boardthe Diseacery. Mr. Kaettlitz, who received his medicaleducation at Guy’s Hospital, was a born wanderer. Previousto his voyage in the Discovery, he acted as medical officer tothe Jackson-Harmsworth Polar Expedition to Franz-JosefLand, and afterwards accompanied expeditions to Abyssinia,Somaliland, and Brazil. His services to the Scott Expeditionwere greatly appreciated, and the Koettlitz Glacier wasnamed in his honour.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OL’’ ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN the 96 English and Welsh towns with populationsexceeding 50,000 persons at the last Census, 7665 birthsand 4850 deaths were registered during the week endedSaturday, Jan. 15th. The annual rate of mortality inthese towns, which had been 14-9, 16’6, and 14-3 per 1000 inthe three preceding weeks, fell in the week under noticeto 13-9 per 1000 of their aggregate population, estimated at18,136,180 persons at the middle of the year 1914. Duringthe 13 weeks of last quarter the mean annual death-rate in these towns averaged 15-5, against a correspondingrate of 16’2 per 1000 in London. The death-rate last weekranged from 6’8 in Southend-on-Sea, 8’2 in Bath, 8’6 in Ilford,8’7 in Wolverhampton, and 8’9 in Swindon, to 19’0 inMiddlesbrough, 19’8 in Barrow-in-Furness, 19’9 in Walsall,20’1 in Dudley, 20’3 in Barnsley, and 21-5 in Stockport.The 4850 deaths from all causes were 140 fewer than the

number in the previous week, and included 329 which werereferred to the principal epidemic diseases, against 355 and312 in the two preceding weeks. Of these 329 deaths, 84resulted from diphtheria, 78 from whooping-cough, 75 frommeasles, 60 from infantile diarrhceal diseases, 23 fromscarlet fever, and 9 from enteric fever, but not one fromsmall-pox. The annual death-rate from these diseases wasequal to 1’0, or 0’1 per 1000 higher than in the previousweek. The deaths attributed to diphtheria, whichhad been 61, 79, and 61 in the three preceding weeks,rose to 84, and included 19 in London, 4 in Liverpool,and 3 each in Hornsey, Portsmouth, Birmingham, Sheffield,and South Shields. The deaths referred to whooping-cough,which had been 69, 60, and 57 in the three preceding weeks,rose to 78, of which 15 were registered in London, 8 inLiverpool, 6 in West Ham, and 5 each in Willesden andSheffield. The fatal cases of measles, which bad been 84,100, and 81 in the three preceding weeks, further fell to 75;the highest annual death-rates from this disease were 1’4 inBristol, 1’7 in Exeter and Stockport, and 2-5 in Leicester.The deaths of infants (under 2 years) from diarrhoea andenteritis, which had been 68, 80, and 73 in the threepreceding weeks, further fell to 60, and included 20 inLondon and 4 each in Manchester and Middlesbrough. Thedeaths referred to scarlet fever, which had been 28, 22,and 30 in the three preceding weeks, fell to 23, of which 7occurred in London and 2 in Stoke-on-Trent. The fatalcases of enteric fever, which had been 9, 14, and 10 in thethree preceding weeks, numbered 9, and included 3 inLondon and 2 in Tvnemouth.The number of scarlet fever patients under treatment in

the Metropolitan Asylums Hospitals and the London FeverHospital, which had been 2462, 2464, and 2325 at the end ofthe three preceding weeks, fell to 2224 on Saturday last ;244 new cases were admitted during the week, against206, 254, and 225 in the three preceding weeks. Thesehospitals also contained on Saturday last 1476 cases ofdiphtheria, 59 of enteric fever, 59 of measles, and 14 ofwhooping-cough, but not one of small-pox. The 1161deaths from all causes in London were 8 in excess of thenumber in the previous week, and corresponded to anannual death-rate of 13’4 per 1000. The deaths referred todiseases of the respiratory system, which had been 329,346, and 246 in the three preceding weeks, rose to 264 inthe week under notice, but were 208 below the numberregistered in the corresponding week of last year.Of the 4850 deaths from all causes in the 96 towns, 183

resulted from different forms of violence and 395 were the

subject of coroners’ inquests, while 1394 occurred in publicinstitutions. The causes of 37, or 0’8 per cent., of the totaldeaths were not certified either by a registered medical prac-titioner or by a coroner after inquest. All the causes ofdeath were duly certified in Sheffield, Leeds, Bristol,Bradford, Hull, and in 73 other smaller towns. Of the 37uncertified causes, 8 were registered in Birmingham, 6 inLiverpool, 3 each in Manchester and Tynemouth, and2 each in Bootle, Preston, and Gateshead.

HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

In the 16 largest Scotch towns with an aggregate popula-tion estimated at 2,355,300 persons at the middle of this year,1091 births and 696 deaths were registered during the weekended Saturday, Jan. 15th. The annual rate of mortalityin these towns, which had been 17-0, 17-4, and 15-9 per 1000in the three preceding weeks, fell to 15-4 per 1000 in theweek under notice. During the 13 weeks of last quarterthe mean annual death-rate in these towns averaged17-9, against a corresponding rate of 15’5 per 1000 in thelarge English towns. The death-rate during the weekranged from 6-2 in Motherwell, 9-1 in Clydebank, and 12-7 inLeith, to 19-5 in Coatbridge, 21-5 in Greenock, and 22-9 inKirkcaldy.