1192

keep to their old inferior kinds, and if they have a goodsort it is not well grown, is badly selected, badly packed,and offered in a less attractive condition than its foreignrival. Spade culture was advocated as opposed to theplough, especially the steam plough. It seems thatmany social and economic difficulties would vanish ifvegetarianism prevailed. A member of Parliament ofthat cult was wanted to put before its members froma vegetarian standpoint the great problem of taking labourfrom the congested towns to happy and healthy life on theland." Professor Mayor of Cambridge, the President of thesociety, said that when he first remembered Cheshire farm-houses a visitor was never offered anything purchased at ashop-it was all home-made. Now all this was reversed.Mr. Axon of Manchester, a,veteran in the cause, was very’enthusiastic, saying it was not merely a system of dietetics,but "something that contributed to the simplification oflife, to the elevation of morals, to the improvement of lifegenerally, and to all good causes whatsoever....... It wasthe sister of all other good movements-of peace societies,purity societies, and thrift societies. The adoption of thevegetarian system by the nation would solve a great many ofthose grave and pressing problems which were perplexingalike statesmen and moralists all over England and Europe."This enthusiasm is harmless, and perhaps to a certain extentuseful, in a nation of beef-eaters, while the vegetarians areto be congratulated on the happiness they evidently feel inbeing " so very superior."Nov. 5th.

______________

NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

St. Oswald’s Homefor Friendless Girls.THE foundation-stone of this valuable institution was laid

at Cullercoats last week by Mrs. J. R. Burn, in the presenceof the Bishop of Newcastle, a number of local clergymen,.and others. The building is to cost £ 5600, of which sumMr. J. R. Burn, with his usual liberality, has contributed£ 2000. The Society for Providing Homes for Waifs andStrays provides £ 500. The house will contain accommoda-tion for fifty children. It is a Church of England institution.

Cruelty to Children.Hardly a week passes without the Society for the Preven-

tion of Cruelty to Children bringing before the magistrates inthis neighbourhood cases revealing shocking neglect ofchildren by drunken parents. Mr. Barnado says that someof the worst examples of child degradation he has met withcome from Newcastle-on-Tyne. A few days ago a man.and his wife were charged with exposing and neglecting theirthree children aged four years, two years, and six monthsrespectively. Inspector Appleton found them all lying in anold pay office six feet square, on a miserable mattress, withonly a few rags to covert hem. The children were benumbedwith cold. The place was full of rags, bones, and piecesof old iron. They had slept there for four or five weeks.The infant had been born in an old coal-house. The fatherand mother were both drunkards. The infant weighed’9 lb. The bench sent the parents to gaol and removed theelder children permanently from their custody.

Amateur Operetta by Children.A new operetta, The Demon Spider, by Miss E. G. Simpson,

a grand-daughter of a well-known local medical man, andMr. ill. E. Lawson, was performed in the Art Gallery, New-castle, on Wednesday, Oct. 30th, for the benefit of the RoyalInfirmary. The house was crowded. The characters wereall taken by children, and Mr. J. H. Beer, in the absence ofMr. Lawson, kindly conducted.

The Tyne Port Sanitary Authority.At a meeting to-day of the Tyne port sanitary authority

it was arranged to advertise for a medical officer in the placeof Dr. H. E. Armstrong. The duties were defined and thesalary fixed at £ 150 per annum, the officer to reside at themouth of the river. It was suggested that Dr. H. E. Arm-strong should be asked to accept the appointment of con-sulting medical officer, and in the public interest it is to behoped this suggestion will be accepted, for there can be nodoubt that the experience of Dr. H. E. Armstrong would bemost valuable.

Tynemouth Victoria Jubilee Infirmary.A cheque for .E2.000 has been received by the chairman of

the above-named charity from Mr. R. T. Donkin, M.P., forthe purpose of completing the hospital by the building of anew wing and a porter’s lodge, and providing furniture.This generous gift of the member for the borough will bethoroughly appreciated by the inhabitants of Tynemouth.Newcastle-on-Tyne, Nov. 4th.

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Prosecutions by the Pharmaceutical Society.REFERENCE has already been made to prosecutions,

at the instance of the Pharmaceutical Society of GreatBritain, against various persons charged with contra-

vening the Pharmacy Act, 1868. Two of these cases werecarried from the Sheriff’s Court to the Justiciary Appeal Court.One of the cases was against Mr. Hume of Edinburgh, whodesignated himself a " scientific instrument maker andtechnical chemist" and a "photographic chemist." Theother was against Mr. Turnbull, and the question raised inhis case was whether he had committed the offence of

keeping open shop for the retailing, dispensing, or compound-ing of poison. Lord Trayner, in dealing with Mr. Hume’scase, recognised the difficulty of the case. The Act hadbeen passed for the safety of the public and forbids anyonekeeping open shop for retailing poisons or using the title ofchemist unless qualified and registered as the statute pro-vided. He considered that the title "technical chemist"was within the statutory prohibition. The title of chemistwas used in connexion with premises in which poisons weresold in small quantities, and the public, for whose safetyand protection the Act was passed, were more likely thannot to regard the title " chemist without paying anyattention to, or perhaps understanding, the qualificationtechnical." That the prefix of a qualifying adjective tothe title chemist or druggist did not take the personusing such title out of the statutory prohibition hadbeen decided in England, where "botanical chemist"and "shipping druggist" " had been treated as con-

traventions of the statute. Had these English decisionsbeen to a contrary effect his lordship would nothave dissented from them. They would then, he must

admit, have been more in accordance with the inclination ofhis own mind. It was not desirable, however, that an

imperial statute should be interpreted differently in differentparts of the kingdom, and he was, therefore, prepared tofollow them and decide accordingly. In doing so his lord-ship was doing the respondent no wrong or even putting himto any serious inconvenience, while he was only afford-

ing to the public the protection which this statuteintended. With regard to the other case, he held thatthe shop in question was the respondent’s shop, and it wascertainly kept open, inter alia, for the sale of poisons insmall quantities. The other two judges concurred in thisfinding. The agent for the Pharmaceutical Society did notask for expenses, and stated that the society only wanted thepoint decided. The Lord Justice Clerk approved of this, asthere was nothing whatever against the character of eitherof the respondents. They had not acted in a surreptitiousmanner at all. It was only technically that the court wereobliged to come to the judgment they did.

Opening of the Royal Edinbiurgh Hospital for Sick Children.On Thursday last week the new buildings of the Royal

Edinburgh Hospital for Sick Children were opened by HerRoyal Highness Princess Beatrice, who had travelled,accompanied by Prince Henry of Battenberg, from Balmoralfor this purpose. Owing to the limited accommodation atthe hospital comparatively few invitations were issued forthe ceremony, even the staff of the Royal Infirmary notbeing honoured with them. After the usual preliminariesand the formal " I declare this hospital open," Her

Royal Highness was conducted over the hospital. Ateach of the wards the Princess was asked to hand toeach of the nurses a silver badge commemorative of theoccasion. These badges were the gift of the physiciansand surgeons to the hospital. The Princess named one ofthe wards the Beatrice " ward. The old Sick Children’sHospital was situated in Lauriston-lane, but it was

demolished a few years ago and the site sold to the RoyalInfirmary for its extension. Since that time a building; c

r Alorningside has been used as a temporary hospital. The

1193

new hospital is situated on the south side of the meadows,within five to ten minutes’ walk of the Royal Infirmary andthe Medical School. The building is in the form of theletter E, the central block containing the administrativedepartment, kitchen, and servants and nurses’ bedrooms, aswell as the medical and surgical theatres. The two.arms of the building run southwards and are three

storeys in height. The ground and first floors contain

general wards, while the upper floors are devoted to obser-vation, isolation, and spare wards. The four principalwards contain twenty-four cots each, the total accommo-dation in the hospital being 118 beds. The flooring of thewards is of teak, and the walls are finished with Parian cementpolished to a smooth surface. The angles of walls and

ceilings are rounded, and all ornamentation is excluded soas to avoid ledges for the harbouring of dust and microbes.Attached to the main building are an out-patients’ depart-ment, mortuary, and pathological rooms, and laundrybuildings. The hospital has been erected at a cost of .640,000,and seems on the whole to be a satisfactory example of thespecial type of hospital construction.

Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.At the meeting of the managers of the Edinburgh Royal

Infirmary on Monday a long discussion took place withTeference to a sum of about £ 70,000 which shortly is to bepaid into the coffers of the institution. It was decided that

part of this money should go to wipe out the whole debt onthe infirmary, which amounts to about £ 40,000.

The Presidency of the Royal College of Surgeons ofEdinburgh.

Emeritus Professor Struthers has been elected President ofthe Edinburgh Royal College of Surgeons. The new pre-sident is a Fellow of some fifty years’ standing.

Glasgow University.The winter session was this year opened without any formal

mtroduotory address. At the first meeting of the class ofphysiology Dr. McKendrick gave an account of the work ofCarl Ludwig, and discussed the limitations attending the.application of physical methods of research to the problemsof physiology. Professor Coats addressed his class on Ludwigand Pasteur, and claimed that the personal characters of’these men of science formed a complete refutation of thestatement that vivisection exercised a degrading and immoralinfluence on those who practised it. Professor Coats has been

- elected Honorary President of the Students’ Medico- ChirurgicalSociety and has delivered an address on Immunity to Infec-tive Diseases, Natural and Acquired. Mr. Jas. Carslaw, M.B.,has been appointed Assistant to the Professor of Medicine,.and Mr. Hugh Galt, M.B., Assistant to the Professor ofMedical Jurisprudence. Dr. Fraser Harris is to show to the

Glasgow Philosophical Society a new optical instrumentknown as the stereo-photo-chromoscope, the aim of which isto photograph an object in such a way that the " positive " ofthe picture, viewed as a transparency, will present the objectwith its natural colours and also with stereoscopic effects.At the meeting of the General Council on the 30th ult. con-siderable dissatisfaction was expressed at some of the recent’Ordinances of the Universities Commission, and the opinionof several speakers, including Dr. McVail, seemed to be thatthe sooner the Commission was dissolved the better for theScottish universities. Dr. McVail and the Rev. Dr. Kinghave been re-elected as the representatives of the Council onthe University Court for a further term of four years.

New Convalescent Houses for l2urt7tly Asy lum.Two new convalescent houses have recently been erected

by the Perth District Board of Lunacy, the object being toseparate patients, who have to a considerable extentrecovered, from association with those m whom mentaldisorder is still pronounced. The formal opening of thenew houses took place on the 2nd inst., Lord Belvairdhanding over the key of the new houses to Dr. G. M.Robertson, the medical superintendent. The visitors,amongst whom were Lord Provost Dewar of Perth and Dr.Yellow lees of Glasgow, were afterwards entertained toluncheon.

Gaelic Society of Glasgow.At the opening meeting of this society the President, Dr.

Campbell Black, delivered an address on Some Traces ofEastern Mythology in certain Celtic Superstitions.- Glasgow and the British Institute of Public Health.The Institute has accepted an invitation from the corpora-

tion to hold their annual meeting next year in Glasgow, and

a committee has been appointed to make the arrangementsnecessary for their reception.

Glasgow Obstetrical and Gynæcological Society.At the first meeting of the session, held in the Faculty

Hall, St. Vincent-street, on Oct. 30th, the following office-bearers were elected: -Honorary President: Sir JohnWilliams, Bart., London. President: G. A. Turner, M.D.Senior Vice-President: Malcolm Black, M.D.; Junior Vice-President : J. Nigel Stark, M.B. Treasurer: AlexanderMiller, L.R.C.P. & S. Secretary: Robert Jardine, M.D.Reporting Secretary: A. W. Russell, M.D. Pathologist:John Lindsay, M.B. Members of Council: Dr. Kelly, Dr.Cullen, Dr. Gunn, Dr. Jenkins, Dr. Reid, and Dr. MunroKerr.

Glasgoro Medico-Clzirurgical Society.At a meeting of this society on the lst inst. Dr. Jas. A.

Adams showed-(1) a woman on whom he had successfullyperformed excision of the pylorus for malignant disease ; and(2) a patient who had suffered from a large ventral herniawhich had been successfully operated on. Mr. A. E. Maylardshowed-(1) a child on whom an inguinal colotomy had beenperformed for imperforate rectum; and (2) a boy who, asthe result of a fall on the head, suffered from paralysis of theright upper limb and right facial spasm, these symptomshaving been removed by trephining over the correspondingmotor areas on the left side, with removal of a blood-clotwhich was situated between the dura mater and the bone.

Faculty of Physicians and Surgeons of Glasgow.Dr. Bruce Goff has been re-elected President, Dr. James

Dunlop Visitor, and Dr. James Finlayson Honorary Librarianto the Faculty.

Lifeboat Demonstration at Paisley., Ah inaugural demonstration in aid of the Lifeboat Fundtook place in Paisley on the 2nd inst., and some of themembers of the medical profession took an energetic partin securing its success. Thus the chief marshal of the

procession through the streets of the town was Mr. JamesWallace, surgeon-dentist, who had for his principal assist-ants Dr. W. Wallace and Dr. R. Brownridge.

Aberdeen University.At the meeting of the University Court held on Monday,

Nov. 4th, the Lord Rector read a letter which he had receivedfrom Mr. C. W. Mitchell, who said he was pleased to hear thatthe University Court had decided to proceed with the NorthTower of Marischal College. In his letter Mr. Mitchellquotes from a letter to Sir W. Geddes written by the lateDr. Mitchell, who said : " Lord Huntly, I believe, is endea-

vouring to raise a special fund of £ 20,000, and if E6000 ofthat amount can be collected soon, I would be prepared tocontribute an additional E4000; further, if his lordship canincrease his collection to £ 10,000, I will increase mysubscription to £ 6000, thus making up the requiredf.16,OOO without appeal to the Government." "I now

beg to confirm this offer," writes Mr. Mitchell, "sub-

ject to the consideration that your lordship’s E6000 iscollected by Jan. lst, 1896, and the additional E4000 byMay 1st." Lord Huntly said they were exceedingly gratefulto Mr. C. W. Mitchell for so generously and nobly comingforward to homologate the wishes of his father, and hemoved that the letters be referred to the executive committeewith the request to take the necessary steps to raise themoney and issue an appeal. This motion was seconded bySir W. Geddes and agreed to.Lord Provost Stewart’s term of office has now expired, and

as he is ex officio a member of the University Court this washis last meeting. The Lord Rector, on behalf of the membersof the Court, expressed their regret at losing a member whotook such a keen and practical interest in the progress of theUniversity. At the same meeting the Court appointed to theFordyce Lectureship in Agriculture Mr. James Wilson,M.A., B.Sc., who is at present Lecturer in Agriculture at theUniversity College of Wales, Aberystwith. Mr. Wilsonwill take up duty on Jan. lst next.Nov. 5th.

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Annual Distribution of Prizes at the Royal College ofSurgeons in Ireland.

ON Monday last the annual distribution of prizes for thesession 1894-1895 took place in the hall of the college. Sir