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1036 iiung his harness. Everything pointed to death from suicide. A witness, however, came forward and offered to narrate the results of some experiments he himself had made. In physical build he was about the same height and weight as the deceased. He stated that he had fixed the bridle and the strap just as it had been placed before the fatal occur- rence, he had then walked towards them and just before reaching them he had deliberately stumbled and fallen, so that his neck was caught in the loop ; he would have choked had he been unable to regain his balance at once. He repeated this experiment with the same result three times out of four attempts. The court held that this testimony was admissible as showing how death might have occurred. American -7inned Provisions. Mr. D. L. Thomas, medical officer of health of the borough of- Stepney, in giving evidence at the Thames police court recently in support of a summons for selling unsound con- densed milk, informed the magistrate that about 75 per cent. of the tinned foodstuffs imported from America are consigned without labels. This means that whatever information may afterwards be afforded by the label upon the tin is affixed by the firm selling it, with whom it rests whether the statement shall be accurate or not. As an American firm enjoying a -high reputation and anxious to maintain it would probably -insist upon its distinctive label appearing upon all its goods, the inference would seem to be that a large proportion of the ,tinned provisions imported from the United States are not of the highest quality, and also it may be conjectured that they are not sold as American products. Looking Back. FROM THE LANCET, SATURDAY, April 11th, 1829. COMMUNICATION OF HYDROPHOBIA FROM RABID SHEEP TO OTHER ANIMALS. SOME very interesting experiments have lately been made at the veterinary school at Alfort, with respect to the above subject. Two sheep, belonging to the flock of M. Yoart, ’having been bitten by a dog, which soon afterwards died with the symptoms of confirmed hydrophobia, and having, about a month afterwards, evinced all the signs of rabies, a horse, a dog, and two sheep, apparently in perfect health, were inoculated with their saliva ; the skin was in several places slightly scarified, and the saliva applied to the wounds ; at the same time the four animals were left in constant contact with the two rabid sheep, which died on the fourth day after the first symptoms of rabies. A few hours previous to the death of one of them, a dog and a lamb were inoculated with its saliva. Four months after the experiment, none of the six inocu- liated animals had exhibited any symptoms of the disease; it is accordingly more than probable, that the disease cannot i be communicated from sheep to other animals. From the description of rabies in sheep, as observed in the above cases, it appears, that it is not accompanied by the dread of water, and that, therefore, in these animals, as well as in dogs, it is improperly called hydrophobia.-Magendie’s I Journal. VITAL STATISTICS. HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS. IN 76 of the largest English towns 8269 births and 5492 " deaths were registered during the week ending April 6th The annual rate of mortality, which had been equal to 16 ’ 8 and 17’ 7 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, further ’ rose to 17 ’9 per 1000 during the week under notice. During the 13 weeks ending March 30th the death-rate in these towns averaged 19’ 0 per 1000, the rate in London during the same period being 19’ 2 per 1000. The lowest rates last week in the 76 towns were 6’ 3 in Handsworth (Staffs), 7’ 0 in Hornsey, 9 - 1 in Croydon, and 11 ’ 1 in East Ham ; among the other towns the highest rates were 24’ 4 in Grimsby, 24-5 in Portsmouth, 24.6 in Birkenhead, 26’ 9 in Oldham, and 27.7 in Wigan. The 5492 deaths in the 76 towns showed an excess of 43 over the number in the preceding week, and included 568 which were referred to the principal infectious diseases, against 469 and 559 in the two preceding weeks ; of these, 251 resulted from measles, 170 from whooping-cough, 59 from diphtheria, 36 from scarlet fever, 34 from diarrhoea, and 18 from " fever " (principally enteric), but not any from small-pox. No death from any of these epidemic diseases was registered in Bournemouth, Devonport, Wolverhampton, Coventry, York, South Shields, or Tynemouth ; the annual rates from these diseases, however, ranged upwards to 5’4 4 in Hanley, 5’5 5 in Portsmouth, 7’9 9 in Birkenhead, 8. 5 in St. Helens, and 8-9 9 in Giimsby. The 251 fatal cases of measles were 18 in excess of the number in the preceding week, the highest annual rates therefrom being 4’ 1 in West Hartlepool, 4’ 3 in Portsmouth, 5’1 1 in St. Helens, 5’ 2 in Grimsby, and 7’ 0 in Birkenhead. The 170 deaths referred to whooping-cough showed a decline of five from the number in the preceding week, the rate from this disease, however, ranging upwards to 1’ 8 in Salford and Preston, 2’1 1 in Willesden, 2’ 7 in Bury, and 3’ 0 in Grimsby. The 59 deaths from diphtheria also showed a further decline from the numbers in recent weeks, the highest proportional mortality being recorded in Sunder- land and Gateshead. The fatal cases of scarlet fever, of "fever," and of diarrhoea were not excessive in any of the 76 towns. No case of small-pox has been under treat- ment in the Metropolitan Asylums Hospitals since the end of June last. The number of scarlet fever patients in these hospitals and in the London Fever Hospital, which in the 14 preceding weeks had uninterruptedly declined from 3846 to 2657, had risen again to 2666 at the end of last week ; 352 new cases were admitted during the week, against 327, 312, and 330 in the three preceding weeks. The deaths in London referred to pneumonia and other diseases of the respiratory organs, which had been 403, 353, and 354 in the three preceding weeks, rose again last week to 412 and were 99 in excess of the corrected average number in the corresponding week of the previous five years. The 17 deaths referred to influenza in London were four below the corrected average. The causes of 44, or 0’8 8 per cent., of the deaths registered during the week were not certified either by a registered medical practitioner or by a coroner. All the causes of death were duly certified in London, Leeds, West Ham, Newcastle-on-Tyne, Salford, Leicester, and in 47 other of the 76 towns ; the propor- tion of uncertified deaths, however, showed a marked excess in Liverpool Birmingham, Sheffield, Bristol, Bradford, Portsmouth, Reading, and Warrington. HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS. The annual rate of mortality in eight of the principal Scotch towns, which had been equal to 20’ 6 and 20’ 3 per 1000 in the two preceding weeks, further declined to 19’ 4 per 1000 in the week ending April 6th, but was 1’5 per 1000 in excess of the mean rate during the same period in the 76 large English towns. The rates in the eight Scotch towns ranged from 12’ 9 Paisley and 16 1 in Aberdeen and in Greenock to 21’ 9 in Glasgow and 24’ 0 in Perth. The 673 deaths in the eight towns showed a decline of 33 from the number in the preceding week, and included 114 which were referred to the principal epidemic diseases, against 100, 102, and 107 in the three preceding weeks. These 114 deaths were equal to an annual rate of 3’ 3 per 1000, which exceeded by 1’ 5 per 1000 the rate from the principal epidemic diseases in the 76 English towns ; they included 48 which were referred to "fever," 40 to whooping- cough, 14 to diarrhoea, five to diphtheria, four to scarlet fever, and three to measles. The deaths referred to "fever," which had been 48 and 39 in the two preceding weeks, rose again last week to 48, and included 32 in Glasgow, seven in Edinburgh, six in Leith, two in Dundee, and one in Aberdeen ; 29 of these fever" deaths in Glasgow, six in Edinburgh, five in Leith, and the two in Dundee were certified as cerebro-spinal meningitis. The fatal cases of whooping-cougb, which had been 33, 33, and 34 in the three preceding weeks, increased last week to 40, of which 31 occurred in Glasgow, three in Edinburgh, three in Dundee, and two in Aberdeen. Eight of the 14 deaths from diarrhoea were registered in Glasgow, three in Dundee, and two in Edinburgh. The five fatal cases of diphtheria in- cluded four in Gla3gow ; two of the four deaths from scarlet
