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series of rooms each tenanted by an inmate securedin a strait- waistcoat. These are the dangerous," the

maniacally impulsive, ready in the twinkling of an eyeto throw themselves literally "tooth and nail" on keeperor visitor-their look menacing, their conjunctivae injected,and their voice loud and angry. We enter one ofthese rooms preceded by the directing physician, Dr.

Codelupi, who addresses the inmate some paces offwith soothing words, as one would a savage beast in a

menagerie. The said inmate is a "man" seated on a bedriveted into the ground, his, or rather its, arms and legsdangling down like an ape’s. And not only is it his posturethat recalls the pithecoid type. His jaws are literally thoseof a gorilla, enormous in size, and of an extraordinary pro-jection, surmounted by a forehead constricted, shaggy, andretreating. He is short, almost stunted, but a Hercules inenergy and strength. He surveys us with a wondering look,and Dr. Codelupi, still saluting him coaxingly, at lengthcomes near him, and we all stand round as he tells his

story. In his native locality he committed many deeds ofviolence, to which little importance was attached, until oneday a young woman accidentally trod on his foot, and in amoment the wild beast declared itself. He felled her to the

ground and with his hands he tore open her thorax andabdomen and dragged out their contents. An hour or twolater he was found seated on the corpse devouring a piece ofthe lung. While the monster told "its" ghastly tale Dr.Codelupi kept stroking "its" " head soothingly, and at eachcaress "it" would smile, projecting the enormous jaws andchin. "It" remembers little more of the inhuman deedthan the cudgeling received from the bystanders who cameall too late to the woman’s rescue, the incident itselfawakening in "it" neither remorse nor sorrow. And here,for a moment, let me interpolate a remark. ProfessorLombroso and his school at the last Congress of CriminalAnthropology were subjected to severe animadversion fortheir postulating the " criminal ne," or born felon.Their critics, however, belonged to civilisations in whichsuch ghastly types as that above described are allbut unknown. Professor Lombroso and his disciples, onthe other hand, are citizens of a country where there isa murder every two hours,1 where malnutrition of mindand body concurrently with " southern blood " evolves a pecu-liarly explosive type of lethal violence ; where, if anywhere,an involuntary regress to the savage state is en evidence

among the insular and mountaineer population and even inovercrowded centres like Naples; and where the philan-thropist and patriot who has had the training of a nature-student and a physician is perforce constrained to seek outand apply whatever corrective or, still better, whatever pro-phylactic can minimise such diseased developments. Hencetheir starting-point of the " uomo delinquente"; hence theirappeals to Government for adequate inspection and surveil-lance of nascent or tender youth so as to diagnose in time andmedically to redeem the degenerate types of which the mon-ster above described is a specimen. It is safe to say that ifthe prescriptions of the Lombroso school had been grantedlegislative effect, such a ’’ human wild beast " would neverhave been allowed to mix in society. Anthropometric testswould have segregated him shortly after birth and broughthim under special educational processes which, if successful,might have led to his being relegated to healthy surroundingsand occupation ; and if unsuccessful would, at least, havekept him from doing harm to himself or others. But toreturn to Dr. Bianchi. We pass on with him and Dr.Codelupi to another cell, and there, also secured by the"camicia di forza" (strait-waistcoat), an old assassinmeets our gaze. This is no other than Cardinali, theSicilian " capo-banda or brigand-chief, on whose "con-science" lie sixteen omicidi consumati" and fourteen"mancati" (sixteen actual murders and fourteen abortiveones). With treble voice and through snow-white moustache,he protests his innocence : " lo non ho fatto nienti di male ;io sono brav’ uomo " (I have done no harm ; I am a goodman). He is a prey to " delirio paranoico " (delirium withhallucination); his mental exaltation venting itself in theconstruction of triumphal arches of pasteboard which heerects to "Justice and Humanity." Another notorious" capo-banda " in an adjoining cell is the Sardinian, Angius,whose life was that of a predatory wild beast haunting thewoods. He, too, is hopelessly insane, with a horrible roll ofcrimes on his "conscience." Still accompanying Dr.

1 Vide Baron Garofalo’s statistics, THE LANCET, Jan. 25th, 1896,p. 266.

Bianchi and Dr. Codelupi we pass cell after cell, catchingglimpses of dehumanised monsters secured in the "camiciadi forza," darting aggressive, homicidal looks as we go. " It

is," says Dr. Bianchi, "a terror-striking march-past of

prognathous jowls, of bestial jaws, of projectingears, of straitened foreheads, of idiotic profiles, of

macrocephalous imbeciles." You seem to be in a

Dantesque " circle" (girone) and you burn to know the

history of them all. But Dr. Codelupi’s answer comesmonotonous as a refrain: "He committed murder;" or"he attempted it." "Epilepsy and "epileptoid explosion"constitute the almost uniform diagnosis. Tattooing is acommon practice among these "human wild beasts." Theysubject themselves, apparently with indifference, to opera-tions involving the acutest pain by puncturing the cutis zerccand tinging it with colouring matters. One of them, theringleader of the redoubtable "Mala Vita" of Bari, is a

typical specimen. Vulpine in look as in craft, agile as a

squirrel, he bears about his person his autobiography,written and illustrated between his flesh and his skin.Portraits of his sweethearts, names of prominent "office-bearers" of the " Mala Vita," the dates of his count-less condemnations, insults levelled at the magistrates,indications of hiding-places and other " strategic" locali-ties, maxims against traitors, pornographic drawingsinnumerable, constitute quite an arabasque of blue-black etching "between flesh and skin." The spinealone has escaped the tattooing process ; but with the prideas well as the sanguine hope of the artist he says he willtattoo that also ’’ as soon as he can." Then, still advancingalong the row of cells. we come to one at which Dr. Codelupipauses with the exclamation, "Ecco Passanante !" Thiswould-be regicide, whose attempt on King Humbert justeighteen years ago in the streets of Naples was fullydescribed in THE LANCET, and whose mental condi-tion, as diagnosed and described by the illustriousVerga, assisted by Dr. Tamburini, Dr. Buonomo, and Dr.Tommasi,2 fills one of the most masterly reports inmedico - psychological literature, is now an old man,shrunk and bent, with uncertain eye, and alternatingbetween persistent silence and voluble loquacity. He is stillthe mild idealist who, the moment his schemes of socialrebabilitation are thwarted, poses as the victim of persecutionand acts accordingly. His personality has, however, alreadybeen familiarised to readers of THE LANCET, and had I timewould give place to another yet more interesting, to wit,Antonino M-, whose autobiography was published by Dr.Bianchi three years ago and commented on in THE LANCET"under the title of an " Anthropological Romance." But thisletter has exceeded its limits and leaves space for little morethan the record of Dr. Bianchi’s regret that the Legis-lature takes no steps to purge society of these " belveumane " till they have declared themselves by some

atrocious crime, and that the "Manicomio Criminale,"admirably superintended as it is, is yet deficient in whatanthropology requires for the better classification of types ofthe "uomo delinquente." Monsters as repulsive as any ofthose above-described, after being allowed to grow up anddevelop in their own sinister fashion, are at length-aftermaking society suffer in a thousand ways-" accommo-dated" in ordinary provincial asylums, to the imminentdanger of the other inmates as well as their keepers. Bythe time the fifth Congress of Criminal Anthropology meetsat Amsterdam or The Hague let us hope that-thanks to herPiedmontese school-Italy will be able to boast of salutaryreforms in her educational, judicial, and social systems so asto lower the prominence she has too long held as the prolificmother of the belva umana."

Oct. 24th. ____ ___ __

VIENNA.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Medical Chambers.

, THE meeting of the Austrian Medical Chambers took place

on Oct. 3rd, and was attended by the delegates of eachChamber as well as by Dr. Kusy and Dr. Karajan, the repre-sentatives respectively of the State and of Lower Austria.The members present were welcomed on behalf of theGovernment by Dr. Karajan, who delivered an address in

2 Vide THE LANCET, March 1st, 1879, pp. 321-2.3 THE LANCET, May 27th, 1893.

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which he made eulogistic reference to the medical men whohad succeeded in increasing the esprit de corps of the pro-fession ; he also touched upon the ethical relations of thesubjects which were dealt with at the meetings, and, in con-clusion, said that the important position which the medicalprofession held in connexion with the general scheme andworking of our social life abundantly explained the’interest with which the Government regarded matters

..,-affecting the profession. After an introductory speechby the President, Dr. Heim, the meeting even-

tually adopted the following recommendations :-1. Eachchamber shall out of its regular income provide a fund forthe support of invalid medical men and their widows. 2. InVienna and in those towns the delegates of which advocated’the" free choice" system of medical attendance in con-nexion with clubs and friendly societies, the members ofthese clubs and societies are not obliged to call on the phy-sician of their district, and the relatives of such members are.not entitled to gratuitous treatment, but a special rate ofpayment is to be assigned for them.

Food AduZteration.Dr. Mannsfeld, Director of the Laboratory for Food

Examination, has published a report on 243 cases of foodAdulteration which he met with during last year. Buttersometimes contained an undue quantity of water, it some-times was mixed with suet, and was occasionally rancid.’Preserved green vegetables owed their bright colour tocalts of copper ; blanched nuts had been subjected to the.fumes of burning sulphur; pepper contained olive stones ; ’i.honey was mixed with water and treacle ; milk was dilutedwith water; and wine was adulterated with water, spirit,,cider, and a great many various essences.

The Anti-diphthertic Property of Human M, il7..Dr. Schmidt and Dr. Pflanz have published in the Klinische

Wochenschrift some results of the experiments conducted bythem with a view to ascertaining whether human milk, likethe blood of newly-born infants, possesses anti-diphtheriticproperties. For the purpose of comparison with the milk- they also examined the serum of the blood obtained from theplacenta after severance of the umbilical cord. The resultsare as follows. The antitoxins contained in the blood of a

lying-in woman are to be found also in the milk, but their,quantity is less than that in the milk. The antitoxic powerof the blood has not yet been quantitatively estimated,neither has it been ascertained whether this power decreasesor increases as the child grows older. These antitoxins ofthe milk pass into the digestive tract of the suckling childand then into its circulation without undergoing any change..S& is generally recognised that suckling children rarely sufferfrom diphtheria.

Permanganate of Potassium as an Antidote to Morphia.Permanganate of potassium was first recommended by

Barker Smith in 1877 as an antidote to morphia, experimentshaving showed that when taken after a large dose of eithermorphia or opium it may entirely neutralise the effect ofthese drugs, and that it is also an efficient antidote againstmany vegetable poisons. Numerous cases have been reported&n which morphia poisoning in children has been success-fully treated by internal or hypodermic administration ofpermanganate of potassium. In a recent number of theKlinische Wochenschrift Dr. Vucetic has published thecase of a child aged three years who accidentally hadtaken about thirty drops of tincture of opium, andshowed the typical symptoms-viz., somnolence, cyanosis,’contracted pupil, and slow pulse. A 1 per cent. solutionof permanganate of potassium was prescribed, and inthe first place was injected with a Pravaz syringe intothe right hypochondrium, in addition to which thechild was given some teaspoonfuls of the same solution.After some hours the toxic symptoms disappeared an thechild eventually recovered, although it remained anasmic-looking and showed some mental impairment. If it be con-sidered that children up to the fifth year of age are ex-tremely susceptible to morphia and opium, that those underfour months sometimes show signs of poisoning after fromtwo to four drops of laudanum, and that the legitimate doseof laudanum for children of from two to four years of ageamounts to three and a half drops a day, it is clear that inthe above case the recovery was due to the permanganate ofpotassium. The way in which the permanganate acts hasnot yet been cleared up, but experiments have showed thaten a mixture of solutions of morphia and of permanganate

of potassium the characteristic reactions of morphia arenot obtainable. Only one case of poisoning with permanga-nate of potassium has been described ; in this case after adose of about four ounces death occurred from paralysisof the heart. In these cases Dr. Vucetic proposed morphiaas an antidote. In morphia-poisoning permanganate of

potassium may be administered first hypodermically andthen internally.Cardiac Movements as ueen by Means of the Roentgen Rays.Professor Benedikt, experimenting on the action of the

Roentgen rays in rendering the cardiac movements visible,has found that a bloodless heart is transparent to some

extent, but that tbin layers of blood cast a deep shadow.During the systole the apex of the heart approachesthe base; there is only a systolic lateral apex impulse.During each systole the heart is not entirely emptied ofblood, for a shadow due to residual blood is recognisable.During deep inspiration the heart is drawn away from thediaphragm, for a transparent interstice appears. Theexperiments succeed in young or emaciated persons, and theexaminations have no i!l eflects provided they are not toofrequent.

Oct. 25th.

Obituary.JULES ROCHARD, M.D.

A NOTABLE figure has recently been removed by deathfrom the Parisian medical world in the person of Dr. JulesRochard, member of the Académie cle Médecile (over whichhe presided in 1894) and a retired Inspector-General ofthe Navy. Born at Saint-Brieuc in 1819 Dr. Rocbard tookhis degree in medicine at Paris in 1847, having previouslyspent several years at sea as assistant surgeon. After hisretirement from active service he devoted himself exclusivelyto hygiene, becoming a member of the Conseil d’Hygiene dela Seine and undertaking the editorship-in chief of an

Encyclopaedia of Hygiene and Public Medicine, a monumentalwork on which he was actively engaged to the last. In1883 Dr. Rochard was the victim of a murderous assault

by a lunatic, receiving a severe bullet wound of thechest. The missile lodged in a position whence it couldnot be extracted, but in spite of this he made an excellentrecovery and enjoyed the best of health until a few monthsago, when pulmonary trouble set in at the seat of the oldinjury, eventually proving fatal towards the middle ofSeptember. Endowed with indomitable spirits and a readywit, Dr. Rochard, thanks to his long career afloat, had morethe aspect of a sailor’ than a surgeon. Full of verve andenthusiasm he was wont to ascend to the presidential chairas though he were boarding a ship, and directed the pro-ceedings of the learned assembly with a degree of juvenilevigour that was redolent of the ocean. As a speaker hewas fluent and intelligible, his discourses bristling withwitty and epigrammatic points, while at the same timethey were full cf good sense. On the first occasionthat he attended the Academy meetings after his illness,when thanking his colleagues for their kind and constantinquiries, Dr. Rochard expressed himelf to the followingeffect : "My sole relics of this adventure are a small

piece of lead in my right lung and a vast amount of grati-tude in my heart. I will retain both one and the otherto my dying day." Amongst his numerous writings Dr.Rochard was the author of the following works: "TheTreatment of the Wounded on Board Battleships in Action,"" The Surgical Organisation of a Fleet in War Time,"" Endemic Diseases," and " History of French Surgery to theNineteenth Century." His magnum opus, however, is the

"Encyclopaedia of Hygiene," of which up to the presentseven volumes have appeared. We are indebted for manyof the foregoing particulars to a sympathetic obituary noticein La.Médecine Moderne.

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EDWIN MORRIS, M.D. ST. AND., F.R.C.S. E-Nc., L.S.A.By the death of Dr. Edwin Morris at Rickmansworth, at

the ripe age of eighty-one years, a well-known member of theprofession has passed away. Dr. Morris was a familiar

figure in South Lincolnshire, for he practised in Spalding formore than half a century (having gone there in 1841), and