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of all chemists and the patient pays for the prescription.After all, if the patient uses a prescription on anotheroccasion than that on which it was prescribed, he does soat his own risk. But it is undeniable that a prescriptiongiven to the patient for a fee is his property, to be used byhim at his discretion. To think that Parliament, as is

suggested, could be got to pass an Act to stop this practiceis to have much more faith in Parliament than seems to bewarranted. Speaking candidly, these letters are not verypractical. There is one evil which they entirely ignore, andwhich is of far graver import than those complained of-viz.,the assumption of an air of medical knowledge and learningby druggists in cases that would puzzle medical men them-selves; and the use to which they put their familiarity withprescriptions-viz., repeating them for others and prescribingthem. Some druggists-we should be sorry to think morethan a few,-by a system of inquiry learn the generalnature of the cases for which prescriptions are written, andthen apply them to what they regard as similar cases. If

general practitioners and chemists are to come to betterrelations, there must be a more perfecb and delicate

understanding on such practices.

THE MEDICAL REGISTERS FOR 1892.

THE Medical, the Dental, and the Medical Students’

Registars, printed for the General Medical Council at HerMajesty’s Stationery Office, are now ready. The election ofdireotrepresentatives necessitated the revision of the ltegisterwith more than ordinary care. The number of practitionersregistered during 1891 has somewhat increased, being 1315,as against 1266 in 1890. Deducting those names whichhave been removed from the Register owing to death orfrom other causes, the number of names added to the

Register is 392. The total number is 29,555, as against29,163 in the previous year. Of the new registrations, 683were effected in England, 502 in Scotland, and 160 inIreland. The registration of colonial practitioners underPart II. of the Medical Act, 1886, now includes 10 names.The Dentists’ Register for 1892 will be found to contain 79persons more than that for 1891, making a total of 4896, ofwhom 1179 practitioners, or 24-07 per cent., possess thequalification of Licentiate in Dental Surgery ; while 3698,or 75’55 per cent., are registered as "in practice beforeJuly 22nd, 1878." This shows a marked diminution con-

tinuously going on from the percentage 90’87 of those whowere so registered in the year 1879. The number of foreigndentists now registered is 19, or nearly 0’4 per cent.The Medical Sbudents’ Register shows that 2405 studentsregistered in 1891. This is the maximum hitherto recorded,being 559 more than in 1890. This may be accounted for,no doubt, by the new regulations with regard to the fiveyears’ curriculum that came into operation on January lst,1892. Following the practice adopted for many years past,statistics are given showing the respective preliminaryexaminations that these students passed and the variousmedical schools or other " places of study " at which theycommenced their professional career. I

MEDICAL LEGISLATION IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

THE Sydney papers, in leading articles and letters, continueto discuss the Medical Bill and its fitness to secure the chiefends of medical legislation-the clear differentiation of thequalified from the unqualified. The Sydney MorningHerald objects that, while special arrangements are madefor the registration of persons who have been practisingwithout qualification, men who have passed through a curri-culum and who hold qualifications or degrees may be left outor remain unregistered. There is some ground for the firstobjection. When medical legislation was first introducedit was reasonable to admit to the Register persons actually

in practice and without diplomas. But that can hardlybe held now, when for many years, in most civilisedcommunibies, men have been required to show proof, in theshape of diplomas, of being qualified to practise. Ab anyrate, if there is still to be a clause of grace in favour ofmen without diplomas, it should provide that they shall beregistered under a separate head, not on the score of possess.ing a diploma, but on giving satisfactory proof of havingbeen for many years in practice, To make clear such adistinction is only fair to men who have taken diplomasat great cost of time and money, and fair also to

the public. The Herald also objects, apparently, to regis.tered men being disfranchised or taken off the Registeron the ground of their diploma being taken away bythe body that gave it on the score of mere "misconduct"or a breach of professional etiquette. Our contemporarywould surely admit two things. First, that "conduct" isan essential element in the worth, and even the qualifica-tion, of a medical man. If a man dissociates himself fromthe obligations of his profession and its methods, he has noright to complain if his profession disowns him. It is in the

public interest that he should be disowned. Medicine is a

calling in which public deception and fraud can easily bepractised if once the honourable and ethlcal side of it be

disregarded. The second point is that no personsare so fib to judge in such a matter, and so likely to

judge mercifully, as those composing the body from whichthe diploma proceeds. By all means let the Medical Councilbe required to deal directly with charges of misconduct, andto j judge for itself ; but in any case the judgment of a man’salma mater should count for much, and its disciplinarypowers should be upheld. It is true, as our Sydney con-temporary points out, that the Universities which shouldbe most exemplary in the use of their disciplinary powerscease to have any after graduation. This is a monstrousstate of matters, from which it results that graduates ofancient and honourable Universities occasionally bring theiralma mater into great discredit with impunity. But that is

a reason for giving to all bodies which grant diplomas fulldisciplinary powers, not for withdrawing them from thosewhich already possess them. Ib is noticeable, as pointedout by a correspondent in the Sydney Daily Telegraph, thatthe judicial powers of examining bodies are only contemnedby those who fear the exercise of them.

THE USE OF COCAINE IN SURGERY.

AT the Islington Medical Society recently Dr. Wood-roffe read a paper on the Use of Cocaine in Surgery. Hewondered how general practitioners got on formerly withoutit. He specified the following cases in which he had usedit with satisfactory results-nasal polypi, adenoma of thenaso-pharynx, excision of the tonsils, cystic growths of thescalp, tarsal cysts, scraping out of tubarcular abscesses andsinuses in the neck, small false aneurysm in the palm,villous growth in the female urethra, internal haemorrhoids,fistula in ano, tenotomy of anterior and posterior tibialmuscles, also of the ligamentous sternal insertion of thesterno-mastoid in wryneck, fissure in ano, and abscesses ofvarious kinds. Dr. Woodroffe would never use a generalanaesthetic for internal piles save at the direct requestof the patient. The expulsive power is saved bycocaine, and is a great advantage to the surgeon. He

injects separately into the base of each pile. He hasnever used more than one grain, generally half that quantity.He had had two cases of poisonous effect, and had come tothe conclusion that such a result depends far more onidiosyncrasy than on the quantity of the drug used. Inone the quantity injected was half a grain; in the otheronly a quarter. The first was a woman, the second a girlabout fifteen. Such cases have led him to be cautious in

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using the drug for women, and especially those of a neurotictype. These symptoms appear immediately after injection.He never injects more than half a grain, and waits two orthree minutes before repeating the injection in cases wherea large dose is required. In this way he has used two

grains without bad symptoms; indeed, he had never seenany symptom supervene which did not show itself on ad-ministering the first dose. Of the poisonous symptoms, themost evident were pallor of the face, dilatation of the pupils,sense of impending death, with great restlessness, orthopnoaa,very rapid cardiac action; the pulse, however, being less com-pressible, and the second cardiac sound being more markedthan in a syncopal attack. These symptoms were followedby perspirations, and in the case of the girl by rambling, inco-herent talk for some hours. The treatment adopted wasthe inhalation of ether and ammonia, with repeated doses ofhot brandy-and-water. Dr. Woodroffe has not found iteffective in ear operations or in avulsion of the toe-nail.For the latter he adheres to the use of ether spray. He also

praised the use of cocaine (about two grains of the salt in cocoabutter as a flat suppository), coupled with doses of chloral,in the rigid os of primiparæ. It can easily be slipped insidethe os and retained there till dissolved.

A HEAVY SENTENCE FOR BABY FARMING.

To whatever cause we may attribute the fact, it is

satisfactory to note that, notwithstanding the increased

vigilance of the authorities, we have lately heard but littleof the evil of baby farming. That it still maintains a

surreptitious, thoagh less vigorous, life is unhappily certain,and this, as the report of the following case will show, haslost none of its familiar accompaniments of neglect andcruelty. The later surviving child of two entrusted to thekeeping of Alice Hockley, who was recently convicted ofmanslaughter at Exeter Assizes, was indeed a pitiablewreck when at last released from his sufferings by death.At sixteen months he weighed 11 lb. 2 oz. Both armsand a thigh were broken. His allowance of one pint ofmilk was shared by four other persons. He had, of course,no medical attendance. Here the responsibility for mal.treatment does not appear to have rested on his parent,who allowed four shillings weekly for his maintenance, andwho seems to have done what she could for his welfare. Insuch a case, which is hardly distinguishable from actualmurder, the penalty inflicted-twelve years’ penal servi.tude-was well deserved. It should serve to caution anypersons who may undertake the care of nurse children thatthe Act which regulates their conduct will be strictlyenforced. It should also remind the agents of local

authorities, of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty toChildren, and all others directly interested in the workingof the Act, that the wickedness which it combats is by nomeans extinct, and can only be held in check by their ownrepressive energy. -

TEMPERATURE EXPERIMENTS.

COMING so soon after the honour bestowed on ProfessorCannizzaro by the Royal Society, the selection of ProfessorMosso of Tarin to deliver a lecture before the same learnedbody has given much gratification to our Italian con-

temporaries. They note the fact that it is 11 la prima voltaohe uno scienziato Italiano viene chiamato a questo onore " :(the first time an Italian savant has ever been investedwith the honour). Having referred to the distinguishedaudience assembled on the occasion, they summarise Pro.fessor Mosso’s remarks on the phenomena, psychical as wellas physical, associated with the temperature of the brain.In his observations Professor Mosso used exceedinglydelicate mercurial thermometers, so that a change of notmore uhan 0°002° C. could be easily measured, and the tempe-

rature of the brain was compared with that of the arterialblood, the muscles, the rectum, and the uterus. The

subjects of the observations were animals under variousnarcotics or anaesthetics and also man. He found that, asa rule, the temperature of the brain is lower than that ofthe rectum, but that intense psychical processes or the actionof exciting chemical substances may cause the temperatureof the brain to remain 02° or 0.3°C. higher than that of therectum. An ordinary interrupted current causes a rise inthe temperature, which is observed earlier in the brain thanelsewhere, and in a dog placed under the influence ofcurare the temperature of the brain remained fairly highwhile that of the muscles and blood fell. This difference in

temperature was always distinct, and Professor Mosso callsattention to the fact which this seems to signify-viz.,that muscle is not the only thermogenic tissue of the body.Observations made on an animal when awake seem to

show that the development of heat due to cerebral meta-bolism is considerable, and that the mere maintenance ofconsciousness belonging to the wakeful state, apart fromall intense psychical activity, involves very considerablechemical action and consequent change in temperature.But the variations of temperature as a result of attention,or of pain, or other sensations, are very small; and when ananimal is conscious, no change of consciousness, no psychicalactivity, however brought about experimentally, producesmore than a slight effect on the temperature of the brain.Experiments were also made to show the elective actionof narcotics on the brain. Thus, if a dog be rendered com-pletely insensible by an anaesthetic, no rise of temperatureis obtained upon stimulating the cortex electrically. Again,if an animal be fully under the influence of chloral, and ifa muscle be made to contract, the temperature of themuscle rises, but falls rapidly as soon as the stimulationceases ; yet a similar stimulus to a brain under the sameconditions will cause a rise in temperature which maycontinue to increase for several minutes after the cessa-tion of the stimulation. The injection of cocaine also

produces a rise in the temperature of the brain without anyaccompanying change in the muscles, yet when these arerendered inert by curare, the rise in the temperature ofthe brain after the injection of cocaine is very much greater,as much as 4° C. The observations are, it will be seen, veryinteresting and suggestive.

DENHOLM v. TAIT.IN this action Mr. Lawson Tait was the defendant, and

the plaintiff was Dr. Denholm of Manchester. As it was notallowed to proceed to the usual termination-a verdict-we need scarcely trouble our readers with the particulars.Speaking very generally, it was a case of myoma in thepractice of Dr. Denholm. Dr. Denholm had attended the

patient for ten or twelve years, and eleven years ago foundher to be suffering from fibroid tumour. This was occa-

sionally inconvenient from its size. Mr. Whiteheadand Dr. Lloyd Roberts were both consulted, and the

Apostoli treatment by electrolysis was tried, but ineffec-tually. On one of the occasions on which this treatment wastried an accident occurred which caused a fistula. FinallyMr. Tait was consulted, and recommended an operation,with much promise of success. On Jan. 28th he removedthe tumour, which weighed 12 lb. The patient died in forty-four hours. Mr. Tait, in a letter, attributed the untowardresult to haemorrhage, a result of sloughing from theelectrical treatment. Dr. Denholm took this letter as areflection on his treatment, and commenced the action,though clearly he was not responsible for the electricaltreatment so much as the consultants who recommendedand carried it out. A post-mortem examination was made,to which, unfortunately, Mr. Tait was not invited, as heshould have been, and death was shown to have resulted