693THE TWELFTH INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CONGRESS.

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Hall. Though there was no relationship between the familiesDr. Alfred Hall’s intimacy with Dr. Marshall Hall wasthat of men who deeply esteemed each other, and Mr.Marshall Hall bears the name, and is the godson, of thefamous discoverer of the reflex functions of the spinal cord.Dr. Alfred Hall, too, as will be remembered by readers ofTHE LANCET, was the medical attendant of its Founder whilehe was at Brighton during his last illness, and was alwaysmuch appreciated by him. Dr. Hall did much work in con-nexion with the medical charities of Brighton, especially theBrighton, Hove, and Preston Dispensary and the Brightonand Hove Hospital for Women. He also took an activeinterest in the movement for improving the drainage of

Brighton.Dr. Hall, owing to the illness of the late Mrs. Hall, left

Brighton for Tunbridge Wells in 1887, but soon after herdeath he returned to Brighton, for which place he had a greatliking. He was a good man and a model practitioner,kind, frank, cheerful, well up in the latest improvementsin medicine, and always exercising his mind and goodcommon sense in the treatment of individual cases. Hishandsome face and form well agreed with his nature, and.are not likely soon to be forgotten by his friends.

DEATHS OF EMINENT FOREIGN MEDICAL MEN.-The.deaths of the following eminent foreign medical men havebeen announced : Dr. Eduard R. von Hoffmann. Professor.of Forensic Medicine in the University of Vienna, on

Aug. 27th. He was born in Prague in 1837, and studiedthere under Purkinje, Jaksch, Haller, Hasner, and Boch-,dalek. From the time he took his degree in 1861 until 1865he worked as assistant in the Institute of ForensicMedicine connected with the Bohemian University ofthat city. He afterwards delivered the professoriallectures until 1869, when he was appointed professor at

Innsbruck, where he remained until in 1875 he was

appointed to succeed Professor Dlauby in Vienna. He is

chiefly known by his important Manual of Forensic Medicine,which was first published in 1878, and which has been trans-dated into several languages.-Dr. Emerich Pe6r, EmeritusProfessor of Dermatology in the University of Budapest,on Aug. 21st, in his seventy-fourth year. In early life hehad been intended for the priesthood and was for sometime in a seminary. When the war of Hungarian 1’reedombroke out he enlbted in the army and fought with his- comrades until the battle of Ssöny, when he was laid up.-sick in hospital. His military experiences seem to havechanged his views as to entering the priesthood, and insteadof returning to the seminary he entered the University of Pesthas a medical student, taking his degree in 1866. After this.lie studied for a time in Ptris and Vienna, and on his returno Budapest was appointed to lecture for Professor Sauer,being subsequently given charge of the skin department ofthe Rochus Hospital and becoming an extraordinary professor.of dermatology. As a medical journalist Dr. Poor takes ahigh rank, havirg founded and carried on, for many years- alone, and afterwards with Dr. Dulesska as co-editor, theanedical journal, Gyógyászat. He also deserves the thanks ofihis medical brethren tor his activity in establishing a medical,.social, and assurance association, called the Orvosi kör, ofwhich he was president. For many years past he had beenin bad health, and retired from his hospital work in 1890.

AN IMPROVED LIFEBOAT.-An officer in H.M.’Customs residing at Bedminster, Bristol, has obtained a

patent for a new lifeboat. He claims that it willlive in any sea, is unsinkable, cannot be stove in or founderwhen put over the side of a vessel ; that it can be mechani-cally propelled, and can be worked by either passengers orcrew. There are two rudders, which will obviate the

necessity of putting the boat about in a seaway and thusprevent the danger of capsizing.SINGULAR DEATH AT GLOUCESTER.-An inquest

was held in Gloucester on sept. 2nd upon the budy ofa little boy aged six years. It appeared that the deceasedwent home on Aug. 31st and told his mother that he hadbeen eating horse beans and was choking. The boy was sEntto a medical man, but died before arriving there. A post-mortem examination showed that there were thirty-ninehorse beans in the deceased’s stomach and another one in hislar3 13,7. The jury returned a verdict of death from suffoca-tion,

THE TWELFTH INTERNATIONALMEDICAL CONGRESS.

MOSCOW, AUG. 19TH—26TH.

17w Grand Duke Sergé’s Garden Party.THE last of the social functions in Moscow in connexion

with the Congress was certainly one of the pleasantest.This was the garden party given by the Grand Duke SergeAlexandrovitch on the afternoon of Friday, Aug. 15th

(27th). The garden party was held in the grounds of theNe.koutchnaia Palace-a prettily situated Imperial villa,not far from the famous Sparrow Hills. The central partof the very extensive park consists of terraced lawns

sloping down to the River Moskva and thickly dotted withflower beds. In an ordinary summer these gardens must bebeautiful, but unfortunately the intense heat of the presentsummer had quite parched up every blade of grass, and itwas pitiable to see what should have been bright greenlawns converted into brown, desert-like expanses, witn notone green blade of grass left. There appeared to be some500 or 600 guests at tne party, though the number of invita-tions issued was said to be considerably greater. There weremany military bands scattered about the park, and therefreshments, served in two long marquees, were on a trulyRoyal scale. Shortly after four the Grand Duke Serge andthe Grand Duchess Elizabeth entered the gardens andremained for an hour and a half, talking freely with theirguests, of whum large numbers were presented to theirimperial Highnesses.

. Tlte Exodus froua Moscow.All through the week the daily number of Congressists

leaving Moscow was considerable, and no little strain wasput upon the resources of the railway officials, more par-ticularly on the lines to St. Petersburg and to Warsaw. Onthe Thursday and Friday evenings (and possibly also earlierin the week) special Congress trains were run on both theselines. Some little discomfort was inevitable under the cir-cumstances. The free railway-ticket did not guarantee asleeping-car, and on the return journey (which in thisrespect differed from the journey to Moscow) Congressistswere unable to secure beforehand a sleeping-bsrth merelyby paying the extra fee on their member’s ticket. Toobtain a sleeping berth it was necessary to pay the ordinaryrailway fare as well as the extra sleeping. car fee, and to goby one of the ordinary trains. Many members did this, andso secured a relatively comfortable night. Those whoomitted to do so found the special Congress trains somewhatovercrowded.

The Entertainnnents in St. Petersburg.Large numbers of Congressists proceeded to St. Petersburg

after the close of the Cungress in Moscow. Most excellentand hospitable arrangements had been made by the professionin St. Petersburg for their reception. Just as in Moscow, theywere met by students at the station, who were ready to givethem all information and to help in obtaining rooms or

lodgings. A word, and much more than a word, of recogni-tion and gratitude is due to both the students of St. Peters-burg and Moscow for the way they have played their partduring the past fortnight. They have in many instancesgone to immense trouble to be of assistance to members, andhave been invariably and under ttying circumstances theembodiment of courtesy, kindness, and good temper.On Saturday the proceedings in St. Petersburg consisted of

a private reception by the Pnnce and Princess of Oldenburgat the Saxe-Aitenberg Palace in the afternoon, and a "rout’’ "at the Duma, or Town Hall, in the evening. The latter wasattended by large numbers of guests. The decorations whichhad been put up on a lavish scale for the reception ofM. Faure a few days before bad been allowed to remain.The hall is a fine one at all times, but it looked particularlywell thus decorated.On Sunday invited members of the Congress were con-

veyed by four special steamer from St. Petersburg toPeterhof. The boats were timed to leave at 10.30 AM.,and Peterhof was reached about noon. The large palace,with its curiousjy decorated rooms, dating from the time

694 THE TWELFTH INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CONGRESS.-MEDICAL NEWS.

of Peter the Great, was thrown open, and at one o’clock achampagne lunch was served in the ball-room and dining-room. The afternoon, which unfortunately turned out

wet, was occupied in walking about the park, and watchingthe wonderful series of fountains, all of which were

playing. The fountains of Peterhof are said to surpass thoseof Versailles, and it seemed quite conceivable on Sunday thatthis bold statement wag true. They are unquestionably awonderful and beiutifat sight. Many members drove roundthe park and town either in Rjyal carriages, of which acertain number were provided, or in hired vehicles. Thelittle palace of Monplaisir, built by Peter,.and containingmany relics of that monarch, seemed to be a centre of attrac-tion. 0 ,ving to the bad weather many members returned totown by train, but others braved the rain and remained untilthe special steamers started on their homeward journey atfive o’clock.On Monday morning a reception was held by the Piince

and Pritcess of Oldenburg at the Imperial (formerly theOldenburg) Institute of Experimental Medicine. This is

certainly a most splendidly equipped institution, and morethan one expert present declared his opinion that it mustnow take its place as the first institution of the kind in

Europe, adding that Pana, Berlin, and Vienna cannotshow anything to equal it. Whether this is so or not insober fact an Englishman can only look at this institutein admiration and despair. After an inspection of allparts of the institute lunch was served in one of the

larger rooms. In the evening the la’t social function ofthe Congress was held. This was a "farewell reception"given by members of the profession in St. Petersburg tomembers of the Congress. It was held in the DvoryanskoéSobranyé, or Salle de Noblesse, the largest concert-ball in St.Petersburg. A very excellent concert of Russian music wasprovided, followed by a series of performances by male andfemale choirs, and some interesting singing and dancing bya large choir of gipsies. Finally the guests themselvesdanced the Russian mazurka and some other dances, andan early hour in the morning was reached before thereception came to an end.

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SECTION IV. (A).GENERAL THERAPEUTICS, PHARMACOLOGY, BALNEOLOGY,

CLIMATOLOGY, AND PHARMACY.Dr. P. N. TACOWLEFF (Moscow) read an interesting note

on the Treatment of Pnthisis, in which he pointed outthat even now at the present day there really do notexist any recognised specific methods of treatment,climatic or otherwise, for dealing with phthisical patients.Some forms of phthisis are curable in warm climates, andsome improve under the temperature and environment of

high mountain altitudes. But whatever the climate or

hygienic conditions, two things are common to everyenvironment that is to be of service to the phthisicalpatient, and they are : the air must be pure and the food

good and nourishing ; also the regular supervision of a

physician is necessary. According to Dr. Tacowleff, climatedoes not play the important rôle in phthisis that has beenattributed to it. Hygiene and a due attention to the régimeof life are of more importance. To send the patient tohigh altitudes or to 1,)w altitudes or to southern resorts,where he obtains no surveillance from a medical manand where no care is taken to see that he is properlyfed, is wrong. Far better that any case which requiresprolonged treatment should receive that treatment in thecountry of the patient’s birth. For example, with theRussians, Dr. Tacowleff preferred to order sojourn in theRussian plains to any journeying to Southern health resorts.

Properly managed sanatoria and special hospitals in Russiacould, he was certain, compete successfully with many well-known European localities, warm climate or high mountainsnot being indispensable conditions to the phthisical. In thecase of the poor he considered that the special hospitalsshould be near the centres of industry, where phthisis is par-ticularly rife, to be of the first use to the community. This

opinion became common in Russia in 1892, when the lateEmpEror Alexander III. founded the first public sanatoriumat Chalila in Finland. Last year a separate pavilion forphthisical patients was arrarged in the Hospital of the GandDuke Nicholas at Kief; and in December of the same yearthe Emperor Nicholas II. gave a large sum of money and asite for the foundation of a similar sanatoriam near

St. Petersburg. Now the municipality of Moscow proposesto found a popular sanatorium, and suggestions of the same

character have been mooted in several other Russiantowns. In Russia, particularly in the great towns, publicsanatoria for the phthisical poor, however, ought to be-

replaced, in Dr. Tacowlefl’s opinion, rather by special’hospitals for the sick, hospital discipline diminishing therisk of infection. Moreover, in special hospitals all the sickcould be treated without distinction, while in the sanatoria,only the curable sick would be treated, and, as a conse-

querce, there must be greater difficulty in enforcing properregulations as to isolation. Finally, Dr Tacowleff came tothe conclusion that in all the great towns of Russia it wasnow indispensable to build special hospitals for the gratuitousreception of the sick phthisical poor, and that the presentsanatoria should be left for the better class who could pay,and who do not require the discipline cf the hospital toprevent the risks of infection. From the hospitals the caseswhich are curable might be drafted into the sanatoria.

SECTION XIV.HYGIENE!.

Dr. A. M. KoRowiNE (Moscow) read an interesting paperupon that familiar subject-the Drink Qaestion. After

premisirg that the question is one eminently for the con-sideration of medical men rather than of clergymenor lay philanthropists be came to the following conclusionsamong others: (1) That medical men should arrive at someidea when patients should be considered "moderatedrinkers" and when "alooholies"; (2) that they shouldstudy the influence and results of the exhibition ofalcohol in disease in the cases of the abstainer andthe non-abstainer; and (3) that they should make widelyknown the urgent need that exists that chronic alcoholicsubjects should be treated as insane and be subject to con-finement in asylums. Dr. Korowine’s other conclusions wereall directed towards obtaining for the disastrous effect&of the alcoholic subject upon the community more directnotice from the medical profession. He wished his brothermedical men to be more ready to recognise and point out tothe public what are the ills. direct and indirect, that accrueto a nation through its drunkards, and to be more ready ta-lend their aid to any organisations at present working in thecause of temperance.

Medical News.FOREIGN UNIVERSITY INTELLTGENCE.-Berlin -

Dr. T. W. Engelmann, Professor of PnysioJogy in the

University of Utrecht, has been appointed to the chairvacant by the death of Dr. du Bois Rymond -Copenhagen :Dr. Leopold Meyer has been appointed Professor of Mid-

wifery and Gynecology in succession to the late Dr. Stad-feldt t -Heidelberg : Dr. L. Brauer has been recognised asprivat-do erEt of Internal Medicine.-Kharkoff: Dr. Pone-mareff, Extraordinary Professor of Children’s Diseases, hasbeen appointed Ordinary Professor.THE SALE OF COCAINE IN THE UNITED STATES.--

It is announced that the State Legislature of Illinois hasenacted the following law respecting the sale of cocaine:"Section I.-Be it enacted by the People of the State ofIllinois, represented in the General Assembly, It shall notbe lawful for any druggist or other person to retail or sell Qrgive away any cocaine hydrochlcrate or other salt of or anycompound of cocaine or preparation containing cocaine, or anysalts of or any compound thereof, ecepting upon the writtenprescription of a licensed physician or licensed dentist,licensed under the laws,of the State, which prescription shallonly be filled once ; Provided. that the provi.ions of thisisection shall not apply. to sales in the usual quantities atwholesale by any manufacturer or wholesale oealer, whensuch manufacturer or wholesale dealer ,ball have affixedto the box, bottle, orpackage containing such cocaine hydro.chlorate or other salt or compound of cocaine or preparationcontaining cocaine a label specifically setting forth the pro’portion of cocaine contained in any preparation. Section II.-Every person who shall be found guilty of violation of theprovisions of this act shall, for the first offence, be fined asum not less than$10 nor more than$50, and for eachsubsequent offence not less than$15 nor more than$200,or imprisonment in the county jail not exceeding thirty days,or either or both, in the discretion of the court."