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there were now signs which justified the expectationof a decline of the disease. Typhus fever still appearedupon the records to a larger extent than was alto-gether satisfactory, notwithstanding incessant efforts toinduce the class amongst whom it prevailed to observeordinary cleanliness. During the summer months a consider-able number of streets were specially washed. This coursewas from a sanitary point of view extremely beneficialand it might be hoped that the system would be largely"extended in future years. An unstinted supply of water Iwas still urgently called for in connexion with public andprivate conveniences, and a very much freer use was ’,desirable in the public baths of the city. The rate of mor-

tality in the incorporated areas had fallen to 14 per 1000, asagainst 15 2 per 1000 in the preceding year. The birth-rate for the whole city was 32’2 per 1000. Singularly enough,the older parts recorded a much higher rate-namely, 36’7-than the incorporated areas, which was only 25’2, and thiscircumstance exercised a most important influence upon thegeneral death-rate. The subjoined table represents the

mortality in the whole of Liverpool from the five principalzymotic diseases during the first nine months of 1896, andin comparison with it are placed the figures of the corre-:sponding period of the previous year :-

1895 1896Small-pox ............... 13 ......

--

Typhus fever............... 17 ...... 26Typhoid fever ............ .. 140 ...... 107Scarlet fever ............ 119 ...... 123Dianhosa ............... 916 ...... 779

.Nov. 3rd. 1205 1035

WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Gloucestershire County Council on l accanation.THE report of the committee whose duty it is to deal with

he reports of the various medical officers of the county was(presented at the last meeting of the Gloucestershire CountyCouncil. It deals with reports made to the forty-one sanitary.authorities by their medical officers and sanitary inspectorsat their March quarterly meetings for the twelve months

ending December, 1895. The vital statistics of the forty-,one districts are as follows: birth-rate per 1000, 26 69 ;,general death-rate, 15-47; infant mortality under one

year per 1000 born, 123-6. In 1894 the birth-ratewas 25-93 and the general death-rate 13’63. The reportalso refers to the epidemic at Gloucester and states’that Dr. Bond, in conjunction with other medical men,has done a noble service in bringing home to the people’the value of the protection which Jenner’s discovery hasafforded to those who availed themselves of it, and adds :"The experience which has been gained in dealing withthis subject is that universal and efficient vaccination and’re-vaccination is the only protection available against a

threatened epidemic of small-pox, and that boards ofguardians are entirely inefficient bodies to be entrusted withsuch a duty as the administration of the Vaccination Acts."A letter was read from Dr. Ancrum resigning his position of.alderman for the county owing to continued ill-health,whereupon the chairman, Sir John Dorington, Bart., M.P.,’remarked that both the council and the quarter sessionswere indebted to Dr. Ancrum for the many years of useful- service he had given to the county.

The Small.pox Epidemic at Gloucester.At the meeting of the Gloucester city council held on

Oct. 27th it was stated that the expenditure entailed by therecent small-pox epidemic was .E15,000 and the expedientwas adopted of spreading the repayment of the same over a.period of four years.

The Somerset County Council.At the quarterly meeting of the Somerset county council

’held on Oct. 20th the sanitary committee of the council Istated that twenty-five cases of river pollution had beenreported in the county, of which seventeen were caused bylocal authorities and eight by manufacturers. An injunctionhad been obtained against the Yeovil town council. The

"visiting committee of the Somerset and Bath LunaticAsylum reported that the number of patients on the books,

including those boarded out in other asylums, was 1099 (609females and 490 males). A contract had been entered into,at a cost of .E3000, for installing the electric light in thenew asylum at Cotford.

The Bridgwater Infirmary.The annual sermon in aid of the Bridgwater Infirmary was

preached at St. Mary’s Church on Oct. 25th by the Bishop. of Bath and Wells. On the invitation of the mayor the. magistrates, members of the corporation, and a large number

of the principal inhabitants accompanied his worship instate " procession. There was a crowded congregation, anadmirable and appropriate discourse was delivered by theBishop, and the offertory was a record one. The annual

. meeting of the institution was held on Oct. 26th, underthe presidency of Lord Clifford. The secretary’s report showed

a larger number of patients and also an increased income as. compared with the previous year. Much regret was expressed

by the committee at the resignation of Mr. Washington: Winterbotham, J.P., M.B. Lond., M.R.C.S. Eng., who had,

been a member of the honorary staff for a period of thirty-three years. There were three candidates for the appointment

.

thus rendered vacant, and on a ballot being taken Mr. KerrPringle, M.B., C.hI. Edin., was elected.

Carmarthenshire County Couneil.At the meeting of the Carmarthenshire county council

held on Oct. 28th Sir J. Hills-Johnes moved that a con-sulting medical officer be appointed for the whole county.He said that at present voluminous reports were sent tothe Public Health Committee by the district medical officer,but as there was no one responsible to supervise them theywere useless. Mr. Howell Reed, J.P., M.R.C.S. Eng.,L R.C.P. Lond., in supporting this said he should have likedto have had a county medical officer pure and simple andnot one for consultation only. Unfortunately after a longdiscussion the motion was rejected by a large majority.

Pauperism in Carmarthen.The Local Government Board inspector, in his address to

the guardians of the Carmarthen Union on Oct. 31st, saidthat it was a deplorable fact that in some of the parishes ofthe Carmarthen Union one person in every twenty was a

, pauper and actually in a few parishes 70 per cent. were, paupers. In Carmarthen town, where there was a great deal

of charity, about 500 of the 9000 people were on the pauperlist.

, list.

Vegetarian llleeting in Bristol.The autumn congress of the Vegetarian Federal Union

; was held in Bristol last week, when a number of papers on; different aspects of vegetarianism were read and discussed.

The chairman in his speech said that at present the medicalprofession were against them, but he believed that in time

, this opposition would cease and the medical man would no

s longer say that there was strength in beef or mutton or beef-tea, as they used to say there was strength in brandy.

Bristol Medicals v. Cardiff uledicals at Football.This match between the above clubs was played underi

Rugby rules on the Clifton (Bristol) ground on Oct. 28thand resulted in a win for the home team by a try to nil.E The Bristol Medicals were unable to play their full strengthas two of their players were away representing the county

f of Gloucester at Moseley (Worcestershire).

Lifeboat Saturday in Bristol., In deference to the wish of the public the committees decided to have no street collection this year in aid of the1 lifeboat funds. Oct. 24th, which was observed as Lifeboat

Saturday in Bristol, was therefore somewhat less in evidencethan in the previous years, but it is hoped that this will not

n reduce the amount collected and sent to the honorary secre-

e tary and treasurer. The result of the collections made in

t 1894 and 1895 was that nearly Z2000 was remitted to the

a National Institution.

Lunacy in Herefordshire.At a meeting of the Ross Board of Guardians held on

Oct. 22nd a letter was read from the clerk of the HerefordAsylum Committee stating that a resolution had been passedto close the asylum for all patients until a vacancy occurred.The clerk had since written to the Gloucester Asylum Com-

n mittee inquiring if they could take patients from the Rosse district.

c Hospital Sunday in Plymouth and District.. On Oct. 25th the annual collection on behalf of the South

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Devon and East Cornwall Hospital was made in most ofthe churches and chapels of the "Three Towns," as wellas throughout the South Devon and East Cornwall districts.During the past twelve months 1152 in-patients have beenadmitted and 2274 out-patients treated. The expenditurelast year was .E6468, and as the income from investmentsamounted to £1162, a large amount is needed from voluntarycontributions. During the last two or three years the Sundaycollections have decreased, and last year only C791 wasJealised, whereas ten years ago £973 was subscribed. Itis hoped that this year’s appeal may result in an aggregatecollection of over £1000.

-R,zrras Head, Cornwall.The appeal from the National Trust for Places of Historic

Interest or Natural Beauty on behalf of Barras Head hasbeen most successful, subscriptions having come in freely,some even arriving from America, and at present onlyabout L80 more are required to purchase the headland andso preserve it from the jerry-builder. It is confidentlythought that this small amount will be raised. Many visitors to Cornwall know the beauty and grandeur of Barras IHead and that it almost adjoins King Arthur’s Castle. Itis satisfactory to know that its primitive charm is likely tobe preserved.Nov. 3rd.

__________________

SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

General Council of the University of Edinburgh.THE statutory half-yearly meeting of this body was held in

the examination ball of the University on Friday of lastweek. Principal Sir William Muir occupied the chair, andthere was but a small attendance of members, this beingno doubt the result of the absence of any matters of import-ance on the programme of business. The committee onordinances dealt with the draft ordinance regulating theB.Sc. degree. This ordinance proposes to allow candidatesfor the B.Sc. degree in pure science, in agriculture, and inpublic health to take the examination in mathematics on thelower standard provided that they undergo examination in anadditional modern language as a fifth subject. The ordi-nance was approved by the committee, but they objected tothe constitution of the Joint Board of Examiners and recom-mended that the report be transmitted to the Commissioners.The report points out that the Joint Board of Examinershad shown a mistaken zeal in placing the standard of thepreliminary examination too high and in failing to givedue notice or to allow sufficient time for preparation to thesecondary schools, from which the students are mainlydrawn. This is considered to have been mainly responsiblefor the decline in the number of students entering theUniversity during recent years, a decline which, though nowdiminishing, had caused serious anxiety and some alarm.The committee further criticise the constitution of the JointBoard and point out that as a body it is not subject tothe supervision or control of any university authority. Theresult is that however extravagant may be the demandswhich it makes there is no superior power to call it to accountor to redress the injury which it may inflict. The committeeconcludes that it is highly inexpedient as well as anomalousthat such an irresponsible body should have the powerof practically closing without appeal the gates of theUniversity against students entering for graduation whomay be reasonably supposed to be fit to attend the qualifyingclasses. This matter, in their opinion, calls for the inter-vention of the commissioners. The committee also report ona draft ordinance in medicine supplementary to precedingordinances. The ordinances modified by the new draft ordinance required that the entire preliminary examinationin medicine should be passed at one and the same time.The commissioners having ascertained that the GeneralMedical Council considers that this condition should be nolonger in force, the draft ordinance proposes that " a candi-date shall be obliged to pass in all the required subjects atone or not more than two examinations, provided that hemay offer himself for re-examination as often as may benecessary to satisfy this condition."

Glasgow University.The election to the office of Lord Rector was conducted

on the 31st ult. and resulted in placing the Right Hon.

Joseph Chamberlain, M.P., at the top of the poll. Mr. ’.Chamberlain had a majority of 234 votes over his opponent,Mr. Augustin Birrell, M.P. The voting, according to time-honoured custom, was by nations, and Mr. Chamberlainsucceeded in gaining a clear majority in each nation. Thisis an almost unprecedented event, the " Natio Transforthana"having been long an impregnable stronghold of the Liberals.The usual manifestations of youthful exuberance were

indulged in by the students, and in the evening atorchlight procession paraded the principal streets ofthe city. Succeeding this was a somewhat unfortunateoccurrence. The students in a body proceeded to one of themusic-halls, but were for some reason or other refused admis-sion. Some dispute appears to have taken place, and one ofthe officials of the theatre turned the fire hose on thestudents. This was followed by a condition approachingriot. The students, getting apples, potatoes, and othermissiles from neighbouring shops, made an attack on thetheatre and broke a large number of windows. The policewere called in to quell the disturbance and in the endarrested eight of the students. These were brought beforethe police magistrate on the 2nd inst. and the case adjournedfor a week. One welcome fact in connexion with theRectorial election was the re-appearance of PrincipalCaird after his long illness. The Principal also presidedat the recent meeting of the General Council of the Uni-versity, when the welcome and congratulations of thegraduates were offered to him by Sir John NeilsonCuthbertson. The only business of medical interest trans-acted by the Council was a discussion on the ordinanceunder which the medical preliminary examination can nowbe passed in two departments instead of at a single sitting,and the appointment of a committee to consider the regula-tions under which honours are conferred in connexion withthe M.D. degree. Mr. W. E. Phillip, senior assistant to theProfessor of Mathematics, has been elected to a Fellowshipat Clare College, Cambridge. Professor William Smartdelivered his inaugural address on being appointed to thechair of Political Economy on the 2nd inst. ; his subject wasAdam Smith and Liberty."

Western, Infirmary, Glasgow.Mr. T. Kennedy Dalziel, M.B. Edin., and Mr. J. H. Nicoll,

M.B. Glasg., have been promoted from dispensary surgeons tobe assistant surgeons to the hospital. Mr. Andrew Moyes,M.B. Glasg., has resigned his position as assistant dispensarysurgeon. These changes leave three vacancies in the surgicalstaff of the dispensary, and for these a number of candidatesare already in the field.

Glasgow Cancer Hospital.Mr. Duncan Macartney, M.A., M.D. Glasg., has been

appointed one of the surgeons, and Mr. Geo. BurnsideBuchanan, B.A., M.B. Glag., assistant surgeon to the

hospital.Glasgow Obstetrical and Gynæcological Society.

The following are the office-bearers for session 1896-97:-Hon. President, Professor A. R. Simpson, Edinburgh; Pre-sident, Malcolm Black, M.D. ; Vice-presidents, J. NigelStark, M.B., and Alexander Miller, L.R.C.P. Edin. ; treasurer,John Lindsay, M.B. ; secretary, Robert Jardine, M.D. ; re-porting secretary, A. W. Russell, M.B.; pathologist, J. MunroKerr, M.B. ; councillors, T. W. Jenkins, M.D., A. R. Gunn,M.B., H. C. Reid, M.B., A. Richmond, M.D., G. BalfourMarshall, M.D., and Alice M’Laren, M.D.

Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons, Glasgow.At a meeting of the Faculty on the 2nd inst. the following

appointments were unanimously made :-President, Dr. BruceGoff ; visitor, Dr. Hector C. Cameron ; honorary librarian,Dr. James Finlayson ; honorary treasurer, Dr. J. D. Maclaren.In the board of examiners most of the retiring memberswere re-appointed, but the following are new appointments :Geo. S. Middleton, M.A., M.D. Glasg., in Medicine ; Henry E.Clark, M.R.C.S. Eng., in Surgery ; R. M. Buchanan,M.B. Glasg., in Forensic Medicine; and Campbell Black,M.D. Glasg., in Physiology.

Important Public Health Case.A somewhat interesting decision under the Public Health

Act has recently been delivered at Kilmarnock by SheriffHall. The defendant is the owner of a house in Saltcoats,which he occupies in winter, but during the summer monthslets to visitors. In July last one of the visitors contractedenteric fever and remained in the house until the end of