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result precluded the suggestion that there had been a mistake,and the defendants, Messrs. T. Richards and Co., Limited, ofFetter-lane, were fined E8 with 18s. 6d. costs.

A Case of Cooaine Poisoning.At the Central Criminal Court on March 5tb, before Mr.

Justice Bucknill, Isidor Zeifert, a dentist, whose name is noton the Dental Register, was indicted for and charged on thecoroner’s inquisition with the manslaughter of a patientwho had died under the administration of cocaine. The

defendant, who gave evidence in his own defence, saidthat he had studied medicine in Russia and had taken theprimary degree of Bachelor of Medicine, but before passinghis final examination he became involved in political mattersand had to leave his country. He came to England andacted as assistant to medical men and dentists in London.He had been for 13 years in constant practice as a dentistand this was the first time he had ever had an accident. Hehad administered cocaine to his patients many times, andthis was the first occasion any ill consequence had followed.The defendant’s counsel, in his address to the jury, deniedthat there had been any negligence. Mr. Justice Bucknill, insumming up, said that the defendant was charged with themanslaughter of the woman who was his patient. In this con-nexion, guilt meant that he caused the death of the woman bywicked and culpable negligence in the reckless administrationof a drug in such circumstances that he must have knownthat he was doing something that was dangerous, and yetdid it recklessly and brought himself within the pale of thecriminal law. If the jury could not find that, or if they hadany doubt about it, they must find him not guilty. Thelearned judge referred to the fact that cocaine was exten-sively used by dentists, and very often without an examina-tion being made as to the state of the patient’s health. Healso alluded to the difference of medical opinion as to whatwould be an excessive dose and to the fact that cocaine wasa most uncertain drug, it being impossible to say what itseffects would be on any particular person. The jury foundthe defendant "Not guilty," when Mr. Justice Bucknill, indischarging the defendant, said : The jury have found you"Not guilty," and I agree entirely with that verdict. Letme remind you, so that you may be wiser in the future-takemy advice, that with the knowledge that we now have ofcocaine, and that you have, it will be extremely unwise ofyou if you ever administer it without first ascertaining thecondition of the patient’s heart.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN 76 of the largest English towns 8820 births and 5493deaths were registered during the week ending March 7th.The mean annual rate of mortality in these towns, which hadbeen equal to 18 - 6, 18 - 4, and 17 - per 1000 in the threepreceding weeks, rose again to 17 6 in the week undernotice. During the first ten weeks of the current quarterthe annual death-rate in these towns averaged 18’3 3per 1000; the mean rate in London during the same perioddid not exceed 17’9. The lowest annual death-rates inthe 76 towns last week were 7’ 9 in Leyton, 8 0 in East Ham,8’4 in Barrow-in-Furness, and 9 ’5 5 in Walthamstow ; in theother towns the rates ranged upwards to 24’ 3 in’Rhondda,26’1 1 in Swansea and in Hanley, and 28-4 in Stockton-on-Tees. The rate of mortality in London last week did not exceed17-2 2 per 1000. The 5493 deaths in the 76 towns last weekshowed an increase of 119 upon the low number in theprevious week, and included 414 which were referred to theprincipal epidemic diseases, against 385 and 374 in the twopreceding weeks ; of these, 149 resulted from whooping-cough, 109 from measles, 66 from diphtheria, 48 fromdiarrhoea, 23 from scarlet fever, and 19 from " fever

"

(principally enteric), but not one from small-pox. Thedeaths from these epidemic diseases in the 76 towns wereequal to an annual rate of 1 - 3 per 1000, the rate from thesame diseases in London being 1 2. No death from any ofthese epidemic diseases was registered last week in Wolver-hampton, Blackburn, St. Helens, Coventry, Hornsey, or inseven other smaller towns ; the annual death-rates fromthese diseases ranged upwards, however, in the othertowns to 3’1 1 in Rhondda, 3’ 7 in Salford, 3 8 in Reaci-ing, and 5-9 in Stockton-on-Tees. The fatal cases ofwhooping-cough in the 76 towns, which had been 170 and

138 in the two preceding weeks, rose again to 149 in the weekunder notice ; the highest death-rates from this disease lastweek were 1 - 5 in Handsworth and in Smethwick, 1 - 6 inWallsall, 2’0 in Sunderland, and 2’2 2 in Northampton. The109 deaths from measles showed a further increase upon thenumbers in recent weeks, and caused the highest death-rates,1 - 6 in Rhondda, 1-8 8 in York, 2 - 3 in Croydon, and 3’ 9 inStockton-on-Tees. The deaths referred to diphtheria, whichhad been 52 and 47 in the two previous weeks, increased to66 last week, the highest proportional mortality from thisdisease being equal to rates of 1 - 2 in York and 1, 5 inSalford and in West Bromwich. The 23 fatal cases

of scarlet fever were fewer than in any previousweek of this year, but included ten in London, two inLiverpool, and two in Oldham. The 48 deaths attributed todiarrhcea showed a further slight increase. Of the 19 deathsreferred to " fever," fewer by five than those in the previousweek, two each were returned in London, Bradford,Middlesbrough, and in Sunderland. The number of scarletfever patients under treatment in the Metropolitan Asylumsand London Fever Hospitals, which had steadily declinedin the 13 preceding weeks from 5581 to 3674, had furtherfallen to 3567 on March 7bh; 345 new cases were admittedto these hospitals during last week, against 473, 420, and383 in the three preceding weeks. The deaths in Londonreferred to pneumonia and other diseases of the respiratoryorgans, which had been 451, 427, and 384 in the three previousweeks, further declined to 325 in the week under notice, andwere 34 below the corrected average number in the corre-sponding week of the five years 1903-07. The deaths in Londonattributed directly to influenza last week were 122, againstnumbers increasing steadily from 32 to 141 in the five pre-ceding weeks. The causes of 56, or 1’0 per cent., of thedeaths registered in the 76 towns last week were notcertified either by a registered medical practitioner or bya coroner. All the causes of death were duly certifiedlast week in Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, West Ham, Brad-ford, Newcastle-on-Tyne, and in 48 other smaller towns15 uncertified causes of deaths were, however, registered inLiverpool, nine in Birmingham, six in Sheffield, three in.Sunderland, and two both in Gateshead and in South.Shields.

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HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in eight of the principalScotch towns, which had been 21 - 8 and 19’ 2 per 1000 in thetwo preceding weeks, was 19’ 3 in the week ending March 7th,and exceeded by 1 - 7 the mean rate during the same weekin the 76 large English towns. Among the eight Scotchtowns the death-rates ranged from 15 9 in Edinburgh and16 ’ 7 in Greenock to 20 - 7 in Perth and 22 - 0 in Dundee.The 681 deaths in these eight towns exceeded the numberin the previous week by four, and included 96 which werereferred to the principal epidemic diseases, against 92 and99 in the two preceding weeks ; of these, 47 resulted frommeasles, 18 from whooping-cough, 11 from "fever," sevenfrom scarlet fever, seven from diarrhoea, and six from diph-theria, but not one from small-pox. These 96 deaths wereequal to an annual rate of 2 7 per 1000, which exceeded byno less than 1 - 4 the mean rate from the same diseaseslast week in the 76 English towns. The fatal cases ofmeasles, which had been 35 and 41 in the two precedingweeks, further rose to 47 in the week under notice, and in-cluded 31 in Glasgow, five in Edinburgh and in Aberdeen,three in Paisley, and two in Greenock. The 18 deaths fromwhooping-cough corresponded with the number in the pre-vious week ; nine were returned in Glasgow, three in Dundee,three in Leith, and two in Edinburgh. Of the 11 deathsreferred to "fever" in the eight towns, showing a furtherslight decline from the numbers returned in recent weeks,eight were certified as cerebro-spinal meningitis and three asenteric ; six occurred in Glasgow and two both in Paisleyand in Leith. The seven fatal cases of scarlet fevershowed a slight increase, and included three in Glasgowand two both in Edinburgh and in Aberdeen. Theseven deaths attributed to diarrhoea showed a considerabledecrease. Of the six deaths referred to diphtheria, fewerthan in any recent week, three occurred in Glasgow.The deaths referred to diseases of the respiratory organsin these eight towns, which had been 184 and 137 inthe two preceding weeks, rose again to 156 in the weekunder notice, and were six below the number returned inthe corresponding week of last year. The causes of 21, or 3’1per cent., of the deaths in these eight towns last week were

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not certified or not stated; in the 76 English towns the pro-portion of uncertified deaths in the same week did not exceed1’ 0 per cent. -

HEALTH OF DUBLIN.

The annual rate of mortality in Dublin, which hadbeen equal to 25’ 5 and 21’ 0 per 1000 in the two pre-ceding weeks, rose again to 24’ 1 in the week endingMarch 7th. During the first ten weeks of the current

quarter the death-rate in the city averaged 25’ 5 per 1000,the mean rates during the same period being only 17’ 9in London and 18’ 9 in Edinburgh. The 182 deaths ofDublin residents registered in the week under noticeshowed an increase of 23 upon the number in the previous Iweek, and included nine which were referred to the ‘principal epidemic diseases, against four and seven in thetwo preceding weeks; these nine deaths included three fromdiphtheria, two from whooping-cough, two from diarrhoea, andone each from scarlet fever and "fever," but not one eitherfrom measles or small-pox. These nine deaths were equal toan annual rate of 1 ’ 2 per 1000, the death-rate last week fromthese principal epidemic diseases being also equal to 1 - 2in London and 1 - 6 in Edinburgh. The three fatal casesof diphtheria exceeded the number in any previous weekof this year. The 182 deaths from all caases in Dublinlast week included 33 of infants under one year of age and53 of persons aged upwards of 60 years. Nine inquestcases and eight deaths from violence were registered, and68, or 37’3 per cent., of the deaths occurred in publicinstitutions. The causes of 12, or 6’6 per cent., of thedeaths in Dublin last week were not certified; in Londonall but one of the 1580 deaths registered were dulycertified, while in Edinburgh the proportion of uncertifieddeaths was 3 ’ 7 per cent.

THE SERVICES.

ROYAL NAVY MEDICAL SERVICE.THE following appointments are notified :-Fleet Surgeon :

J. C, Ferguson to the Duke of Edinburgh, on recom-

missioning. Staff Surgeon: W. H. 0. Garde to the Victory,additional, to be lent to Haslar Hospital. Surgeons :H. G. T. Major to the Donegal; G. Price to the Vivid,additional, to be lent to the Circe, temporary; T. A.

Smyth to the Research; A. J. Wernet to the Canopus;W. G. Edwards to Plymouth Hospital ; A. B. Marsh lentto the Hebe, temporary; A. 0. Renwick to the Pembroke,additional, to be lent to the Jason, temporary ; H. 31.Langdale to the Spanker, lent, temporary, appointmentto the Shannon cancelled; R. R. Horley to the Dukeof Edinburgh, on recommissioning ; and L. C. E. Murphy tothe Vernon, additional, for the Furious.

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.Lieutenant-Colonel Herbert E. R. James retires on retired z,

pay (dated March 7th, 1908).VOLUNTEER CORPS.

Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers): 1st West Ridingof Yorkshire: Surgeon-Captain P. J. S. Bird resigns hiscommission (dated Jan. 28th, 1908). 1st Carnarvonshire:Surgeon-Lieutenant C. W. Owen resigns his commissionand is appointed Second Lieutenant (dated Feb. 17th, 1908).6th Lancashire: Surgeon-Captain W. T. Blackledge resignshis commission and is appointed Captain (dated Feb. 18th,1908).Royal Engineers (Volunteers): : lst London : Surgeon-

Captain E. C. Roberts resigns his commission (datedFeb. 20th, 1908).

Rifle: 2nd Volunteer Battalion, The Welsh Regiment:Surgeon-Lieutenant-Colonel D. Hepburn is granted the

honorary rank of Surgeon-Colonel (dated Feb. 12th, 1908).24th Middlesex Volunteer Rifle Corps: Surgeon-CaptainC. Graham Grant to be Surgeon-Major (dated Jan. 31st,1908).

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS (VOLUNTEERS).London District (London Companies) : Lieutenant-Colonel

and Honorary Colonel V. Matthews resigns his commission,with permission to retain his rank and to wear the prescribeduniform (dated Feb. 17th, 1908) ; Major J. Harper to beLieutenant-Colonel and is appointed to command the com-panies under the conditions of Paragraph 47 of the Volun-teer Regulations (dated Feb. 17th, 1908) ; Captain J. R.Whait to be Major (dated Feb. 17th, 1908). South WalesBorder Bearer Company: Lieutenant John O’Sullivan, from

the Manchester Companies, to be Lieutenant (dated Dec. 19th,1907).A dinner of past and present members of the London

companies will be held at the Holborn Restaurant (VenetianHall) on Tuesday, March 31st, at 7.30 P.M. This date hasbeen fixed in order that the corps may fittingly mark theclose of the twenty-third year of its embodiment, prior tobeing merged in the Territorial Force. There will be noother guests than past members. Tickets at the price of3s. 6d. each (exclusive of wines, &c.) can be obtained fromthe honorary secretaries, Regl. Quarter-Master-SergeantBell, Headquarters, 51, Calthorpe-street, Gray’s Inn-road,London, W.C., and Sergeant May, Elmhurst, East Sheen,London, S.W.

THE TERRITORIAL FORCE.! THE TERRITORIAL FORCE.

Colonel J. Turton, R.A.M.C. (Vols.), V.D., SeniorMedical Officer of the Sussex and Kent Volunteer InfantryBrigade, is to be appointed Principal Medical Officer of theHome Counties Division of the Territorial Force. Surgeon.Colonel G. S. Elliston, V.D., Senior Medical Officer,Suffolk Volunteer Infantry Brigade, has been appointedPrincipal Medical Officer of the East Anglian Division of theTerritorial Force. Surgeon-Colonel J. Raglan Thomas,Senior Medical Officer, Devon Volunteer Infantry Brigade,has been appointed Principal Medical Officer of the WessexDivision of the Territorial Force.

VOLUNTEER SURGEONS.In the House of Commons on March 5th, Mr. Haldane, in

reply to Sir F. Powell, said that medical officers of theVolunteers will have the option of transferring to the RoyalTerritorial Medical Corps or of remaining regimental officers.Those who transfer will be permitted to retain the uniform oftheir former unit until worn out. The compound title will beabolished in the case of those who join the Territorial MedicalCorps. The appointment of brigade-surgeon in the TerritorialForce will lapse, as the Territorial Force will be organisedon the same basis as the Regular Army, in which suchappointment does not exist.

TUBERCULOSIS IN THE ARMY.The preliminary report of the War Office committee

appointed to consider the care and treatment after dis-

charge from the army of soldiers invalided for tuberculousdisease shows that the committee is of opinion that thepracticable methods of treatment resolve themselves intothe following :-

(a) To continue the present method-viz., to discharge at once fromthe army any man who is diagnosed as suffering from tubercle of thelung, to discharge him from hospital as soon as he is fit to travel, andafterwards to disown all responsibility for him.

(b) To provide a special central military sanatorium for tuberculouspatients to which all soldiers suffering from the disease should be sentfor treatment.

(c) To make use of existing civil sanatoria in all parts of the countryby reserving in each a number of beds at the expense of army funds,and by transferring soldiers who are suspected of having the disease tothe available institution nearest to their own homes.

The committee recommends the last of the three suggestions.We shall take the suggestions into full consideration at anearly opportunity.Surgeon-Major Caspar Robert Laurie, A.M.R., has been

promoted from Honorary Associate to Knight of Grace of theOrder of the Hospital of St. John of Jerusalem in England.

METROPOLITAN CONVALESCENT INSTITUTION.-The sixty-eighth annual meeting of the governors ofthis association was held at Sackville-street, W., on

March 3rd, Mr. M. 0. FitzGerald being in the chair.The annual report stated that the number of patientsadmitted to the four homes in 1907 was 7515. Referencewas made to the arrangements that had been made for thereception of patients requiring treatment after surgicaloperation in specially equipped wards at the Bexhill andLittle Common homes with the object of relieving the greatpressure upon the surgical beds at hospitals by receivingpatients in an early stage of convalescence. Since thescheme was inaugurated in June, 1906, 311 patients hadoccupied beds in the surgical wards. Last year 207 caseswere treated, the number which would be termed majoroperation cases being 87. The income of the institution in1907 was £ 13,031 and the expenditure .E14,228. As a resultof a shortage of income in the last two years, due mainly toa falling off in the receipts from legacies, there is now adeficit of .E2678 and an earnest appeal is made for thisamount. The report was adopted and the proceedingsterminated with the usual formal votes of thanks.