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are now 573 boys and girls, 100 of the latter being at Sale. During the past four years 485 boys have been discharged, and 398 are stated to be doing well. Coming as they do in most cases from the lowest stratum of the "residuum," this is perhaps as good a record as could be looked for.

Workhouse Dietary.

: Attempts have been made from time to time by the guardians of the Manchester Unions to improve the dietary and avoid the waste complained of under the present system. Their well-meant efforts, however, have always been defeated by the Local Government Board, as they would have disturbed the rigid uniformity now in favour, which, though bad for the ratepayers and not beneficial to the inmates of the workhouses, gives perhaps less trouble to clerks and officials than would follow the change. At Blackburn on Saturday week the guardians discussed this question. One said there could be no waste when "three meals daily only cost fourpence per head." Another said that he and other members of the Farm Committee "had seen five 18-gallon barrels of waste food taken to the swill-tub." A lady guardian said the root of the matter lay in a fixed dietary scale, and that as long as it was imposed "there was bound to be waste." This opinion is widespread among those who see the practical working of the present system, but as it is stereotyped there is no doubt great reluctance felt in breaking it up, even though its use is attended by manifest evils. Fourpence does not seem an extravagant sum for three meals, and the workhouse inmates must surely have their food presented in a very unattractive form if so much goes to the "swill-tub."

The Owens College.

NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Royal Infirmary, Newcastle..

MR. RILEY LORD has accomplished his object and raised £100,000 for the rebuilding of the Royal Infirmary. For years the necessity of rebuilding the infirmary has been apparent and talked of, but nothing was done. It is entirely due to the energy and perseverance of Mr. Riley Lord, the ex-mayor, that funds have been raised enabling the committee to carry out their long-cherished object. It will require a larger sum than that already raised to build a new infirmary, but it will be forthcoming in due time. The raising of £100,000 to build a new infirmary in commemoration of the Queen's long reign is perhaps the largest effort which has been accomplished in England out of London.

Drunk or Ill?

One day last week a young gentleman was arrested in one of the principal streets of Newcastle-upon-Tyne and locked up on the charge of being drunk and incapable. At the station he requested to see a medical man, but this was refused. After having his valuables taken from him and being confined for some hours in a police-cell he was allowed to go home. On Friday last the case was investigated by the magistrates, when an inspector, three sergeants, and four privates swore the youth was drunk when arrested. On the other band, it was sworn that the accused was a life-long teetotaler, that he had never tasted alcohol in his life, and that he was subject to fits. The magistrates dismissed the case and censured the police. This is a very significant case. That a policeman should make a mistake where the question of illness or drunkenness arises is not to be wondered should all swear positively that a sick man was drunk is, to say the least of it, very disquieting. That the accused should not have been allowed to see his own medical man as he wished is simply a scandal of the gravest kind. We often hear of the uncorroborated evidence of a policeman, but in this case no fewer than seven corroborated, and yet their evidence proved to be incorrect. Nowcastle-upon-Tyne, June 23rd.

Those interested in the successful progress of the Owens College, are naturally mach gratified by the report of theat; but that eight men, some of them experienced policemen, Treasury Commission of Inspection of the University Colleges in Great Britain. The work done at Owens College is reported on in detail with a view to the guidance of the Lords of the Treasury, who are to have £25,000 a year at their disposal for grants, instead of £15,000. The commissioners recommend that the proposed maximum sum of £3000 be given to the Owens College, and, "as their proposed division leaves a as their proposed division leaves a balance of £500, they suggest that this sum also should go to the Owens College, in recognition of its pre-eminence. The Lords of the Treasury agree to this."

Explosion at a Chemical Manufactory.

On the 15th inst. a violent explosion, causing the loss of two lives, took place in Manchester at the works of a manufacturing chemist and tar and naphtha distiller. A still, 14 ft. deep and 12 ft. in diameter, containing 30 tons of oil, was blown bodily from its setting of brickwork, and carried over a high wall to the opposite side of an adjoining street. There was a tremendous report, and flames were seen rising from a portion of the works. The burning oil was scattered in all directions, and some of it fell on the vats and tanks that are distributed about the works, containing oil and pitch, setting them on fire. The bodies of the two men killed were so blackened and disfigured as to be almost unrecognisable. They must have been killed instantaneously. The accident is said to have been caused by the stoppage of a condenser in the still. Several other men had narrow escapes. There was abundant help from the fire brigade and private appliances, and the fire was extinguished in about half an hour. No doubt careful precautions against fire are the rule, and with such inflammable materials "distributed about the works according to the report given in the Manchester Guardian-they are not unnecessary.

Manchester Therapeutical Society.

On Wednesday, June 16th, the first general meeting of the above society was held at the Owens College. Professor Leech delivered an address upon the objects of the society, the considerations which had led to its formation, and the lines of future work. A number of new drugs and preparations were exhibited. Rules for the management of the society were adopted and the following officers elected for the session 1897-98. President: Professor D. J. Leech. Vice-Presidents: Professor Dixon Mann and Professor Delópine. Hon. Treasurer: Dr. R. T. Williamson. Hon. Secretary: Dr. R. B. Wild. Committee: Dr. Bury, Dr. Coutts, Dr. Hopkinson, Dr. Kelynack, Dr. Steell, and Dr. Wilkinson. June 22nd.

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SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh: The Queen's
Diamond Jubilee.

IN commemoration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee a reception was held by the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh on the afternoon of the 22nd inst., to which the members of the medical profession in Edinburgh and the heads of public bodies were invited.. Refreshments were served in the hall. The conservator, Mr. Cathcart, and other Fellows of the College, attended in the museum to explain the specimens, and various demonstrations of the Roentgen rays were given. In the library were placed a series of photographs of cases which had been elucidated by the rays in the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary. In one of the examination rooms the process of using the rays was shown by Dr. Dawson Turner, medical electrician to the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, and in another room lantern views of cases. elucidated by the rays were shown, with explanation's by Dr. Scot Skirving. The guests, about 600 in number, included ladies, and were received by the president, Emeritus Professor Struthers, and the council. The College, the most ancient of all the medical corporations in the United Kingdom, is to be congratulated on its action in thus gathering under its roof the medical profession of the city on the historic occasion of the completion of the sixtieth year of Her Majesty's reign, a period during which such great progress has been made in medical science.

Glasgow District Asylum at Gartloch.

This institution has now been completed and declared open. It consists of two parts, asylum and hospital. The former is for chronic and incurable patients and contains 380 beds. It consists of four large blocks, three storeys in height, with boot and bath rooms attached. These blocks are connected with the administrative and official departments by long corridors, under which are subways where are

found the heating pipes, water-supply pipes, and electric light cables. The hospital is a separate building, and has a separate kitchen and dining hall, while for asylum and hospital there is a common recreation room. It contains 150 beds and is principally of one storey. In it are the admission wards, wards for the treatment of intercurrent bodily diseases in the insane, wards for old and feeble cases, and infectious blocks. The whole buildings have been suitably furnished and are well adapted for their purpose. The lighting throughout is electric, the heating is by radiators, and the water-supply is from the Glasgow mains. The asylum is situated about seven miles from Glasgow, on an estate of 400 acres, and is built in the Francois Premier style of architecture from the plans of Messrs. Thomson and Sandilands, of Glasgow. The total cost will not fall much short of £200,000. The physician superintendent is Dr.

L. R. Oswald.

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Consumption Hospitals for Scotland.

The Medical Board of Advisers has at last issued a statement in support of Mr. Quarrier's appeal for funds to carry out his scheme. The committee draws attention to the fact that some 7000 persons die annually in Scotland from consumption of the lungs, 1400 of these being registered in Glasgow. It is then stated that the disease undoubtedly spreads by infection, more especially in the unwholesome atmosphere of the crowded houses of the poor, and that there is every reason to believe that many cases are curable if treated in the early stage. The committee gives a decided opinion in favour of the situation and arrangement and equipment of the hospital already erected, and recommends to the public the scheme in which it is contemplated to erect six other hospitals at a further expense of £40,000. The committee also express their approval of the arrangements which Mr. Quarrier is making for the management of the hospital and for the medical supervision of the patients. It is so far satisfactory to know that the committee is actually in operation, and no one can doubt their interest both in the public welfare and the advancement of medical science. Their statement is not, however, beyond criticism. Mr. Quarrier's published scheme included the erection of a dispensary in Glasgow at a cost of £3000. Do the committee approve of this or do they not? In their report they say: "It will be necessary to provide in Glasgow a central office where patients recommended may be examined," but this is a very different thing from Mr. Quarrier's plan. Again, it would appear from the committee's report that the arrangements for the medical supervision of patients are entirely in Mr. Quarrier's hands. His plans so far are approved by the committee, but what guarantee is there that those plans will be adhered to, or that, as further arrangements are needed, these will meet the committee's views; and if further arrangements are unsatisfactory, what will happen? Apparently, the committee has no authority or power in the matter. It may every now and then have the opportunity of expressing approval of what has been done, but its existence is purely ex gratia. There is no need to impugn Mr. Quarrier's disinterestedness or good faith. The question is one of public policy, and a policy which advocates the raising of a large sum of money for the erection of hospitals for the phthisical, the administrative and medical management of which are to be practically at the pleasure of one man, is one which lends itself to comment. Even supposing that Mr. Quarrier is likely always to pursue an enlightened policy and to defer to his board of advisers, what guarantee can be given for his successor? If, when all the money is raised, the board of advisers find they are no longer heeded, surely they ought not to be much surprised. It may fairly be contended that their present position has this radical weakness. They bear responsibility-for undoubtedly subscriptions will be given under the influence of their names-but the responsibility is not associated with authority. Such a severance is

most improper, and means at least the possibility of misunderstandings and of disaster.

Congress of Sanitary Inspectors Association of Scotland. The annual congress of this association took place in the town-ball, Aberdeen, on June 18th, under the presidency of Mr. K. Cameron, chief sanitary inspector of the city of Aberdeen. About sixty delegates, representing all parts of Scotland, attended. The most interesting papers read were: (1) by Mr. W. Mackenzie, county sanitary inspector of Ross and Cromarty, entitled Notes on the Sanitary Conditions existing in the Outer Hebrides, as exemplified in Lewis (which was followed by a resolution calling the attention of the Secretary for Scotland to the public scandal arising from the present miserable housing of the people in the Outer Hebrides and Western Islands), and (2) by Mr. A. T. Gordon Beveridge, M.B., C.M. Aberd., a member of the Aberdeen town council, on the Housing of the Working Classes. The members were afterwards treated by the town council to a drive round the city and suburbs and entertained in the evening to dinner in the Grand Hotel, Dr. A. T. G. Beveridge presiding.

Hospital Saturday in Aberdeen.

The demonstration arranged by the amalgamated friendly societies took place on June 18th. The weather was favourable and the procession through the streets was very successful. The attendance at the athletic games, &c., in Duthie Park, however, amounted only to 10,000 persons, but it is hoped that the total free proceeds from all sources, including subscriptions, will be in accordance with expectation.

June 23rd.

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Health of Dublin.

A GREAT improvement in the health statistics of Dublin was recorded by the Registrar-General's report for the week ending June 12th. Notwithstanding that the epidemic of children's diseases-measles, scarlet fever, and whoopingcough—has not entirely disappeared, the number of deaths registered was below the decennial average. At the meeting. of the Public Health Committee on Tuesday, June 15th, Sir Charles Cameron reported the death-rate to be 23.4 per 1000 persons living, the mean rate being 25 7. A novel feature in this report is a sort of epitome of the sanitary work performed during the week. From the latter it appears that 987 houses, 5108 rooms, 65 slaughter-houses, 42 dairyyards, and 22 nightly lodging-houses were officially inspected. The registrar of Cork-street Fever Hospital, at the last meeting of the Managing Committee, reported a decline in the epidemic of measles. Referring to diphtheria, he remarked that this disease, hitherto sporadic, was showing evident tendencies to assume an epidemic character. The use of antitoxin in early cases was reported as having proved very satisfactory. The conference recently held in the Public Health Buildings of representative citizens of Dublin, to consider the question of providing cheap and healthy dwellings for the very poor, was entirely successful. The Right Hon. Joseph Meade, who presided, made some valuable practical suggestions, while Mr. Adam Findlater in his speech remarked that the mortality during the early months of this year was terribly high, the deaths not being confined to one class, but having spread from the slums to the wealthier portions of the city. An influential committee was appointed to carry out the object of the conference.

Jubilee Honours to Medical Men in Ireland.

His Excellency the Lord-Lieutenant has intimated that, with the approval of Her Majesty, the honour of knighthood will be conferred on Dr. George Duffey, the President of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland, and on Mr. William Thomson, the President of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.

The Richmond District Lunatic Asylum.

At the fortnightly meeting of governors, which took place: on June 15th, Mr. Conolly Norman, the resident medical superintendent, reported that there were now on the asylum books a total of 1812 patients, being 712 above the original nominal limits of legitimate accommodation. He mentioned

that since the last board meeting three female inmates had then the upper limbs, paralysis of the sphincter, vomiting, been attacked with beri-beri.

The Accommodation in the Belfast Police Cells. At an inquest held recently in Belfast in reference to the At an inquest held recently in Belfast in reference to the death of a woman which took place in the Union Infirmary on June 12th, some interesting points were brought out in evidence in reference to the prisoners' cells at the Central Police Office. It would appear that the woman was arrested for drunkenness on June 5th and taken to the police office, whence on the next morning she was removed to the Union Infirmary, where she died six days later from pneumonia. No blame was attached to the medical man or to the police, but it came out in the inquiry, from police evidence, that the accommodation in the cells is the same now as it was thirty years ago, although Belfast has since trebled its size. Again, it seems that 10,000 persons pass through the hands of the police at the central office each year, and it would seem that, owing to the very limited accommodation, there is hardly sufficient opportunity for exercising discretion in reference to the treatment of special cases. There would appear to be no special room set apart for the watching of cases where perhaps, in addition to the effect of drink, there may be also surgical or medical complications. There are no female attendants for female patients, neither are there restoratives ready at hand nor beds available for prisoners taken suddenly ill. The jury found that the woman died from pneumonia, and approved of the action of the medical man and police, but added the following riders to their verdict: " (1) That the cells condemned by the corporation themselves should be rebuilt immediately out of the money already voted for that purpose twelve months ago; (2) that female warders should be appointed to relieve the police from personal attendance on female prisoners; (3) that simple restoratives should be available in the cells in cases of extremity; and (4) that proper beds in proper apartments be provided for such cases as that before them." The Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

The scheme which was started last November, of the people of Belfast honouring the Queen in her Jubilee year by raising £100,000 to build a new hospital, is, I am most gratified to announce, a complete success, as the list of subscribers published this Jubilee day (June 22nd) shows that the whole sum originally aimed at-£100,000-has been raised and additional sums are still coming in. Through the exertions of the Lord Mayor (Mr. Pirrie) the Queen has graciously consented, through the Home Secretary, to allow this new hospital to be called the Royal Victoria Hospital. The greatest praise is due to the Lady Mayoress, to whose constant energy, tact, and popularity the success of this hospital scheme is almost entirely due. The new hospital, built on modern plans, will unquestionably be an immense gain, not only to the city of Belfast, the population of which is now 300,000, but also to the now 300,000, but also to the flourishing medical school which it will tend greatly to strengthen on the clinical side. June 22nd.

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Rabies and the Academy of Medicine.

For if

distress, dyspnoea, tachycardia, &c, but with only a slight
rise of temperature. Nevertheless, the injections were
continued in doses of 2 c c. per diem and the patient was
cupped and treated with antipyrin. On the seventh day after
the onset of the symptoms a marked improvement set in, and
he was completely restored to health in three weeks' time.
The patient was sent for a month to the country, and is at
present engaged in his work in the theatre. M. Rendu does
not consider this a spontaneous case of paralytic rabies: the
period of incubation was too short; the clinical course did
not resemble that of the disease in question; there were no
other symptoms of rabies; and, besides, paralytic rabies
of an acute ascending paralysis of toxic orgin.
is always fatal. M. Rendu rejects equally the theory
the toxins had been introduced by the inoculations it
is impossible to explain how the patient got well in the
face of the continuance of these same inoculations.
M. Rendu can only see one explanation, and that is that the
patient, placed as he was by the exigencies of his occupation
in very infected surroundings, was in a morbid state, which
made him specially receptive. In this state the anti-rabic
toxins might have determined an attack of myelitis. M. Roux,
the director of the Pasteur Institute, replied to M. Rendu.
For himself he did not consider the anti rabic emulsions
injected at the beginning of the treatment were capable of
bringing about nervous crises, for they were always tested on
similar to that reported by M. Rendu, and he was certain that
very sensitive animals. He had seen two cases of paraplegia
the anti-rabic treatment had nothing to do with them. These
foundation out of 19,000 cases treated, permitted him to
two cases, the only ones noted at the Institute since its
the anti-rabic inoculations and these cases of paraplegia.
affirm that there was no relation of cause and effect between
Statistics like those of the Institute proved up to the hilt,
he added, the absolute harmlessness of the anti-rabic treat-
ment. M. Laveran had seen some years ago a case similar.
It occurred in the Val-de-Grâce, and was considered an
abortive form of rabies. Paralytic attacks of this kind did
not always terminate in death. M. Grancher remarked that
at the commencement of this system of treatment at the
Institute a number of cases of so-called paralytic rabies were
observed which had no canine origin. Generally they
had to do with hysteria or alcoholism. M. Rendu's patient
might be the subject of some form of neurosis or intoxica-
tion. M. Brouardel said that he had never yet seen rabies
transmitted from man to man by inoculation. On the other
hand, it is not uncommon for an ascending myelitis to follow
a post-mortem prick. The case of M. Rendu should be
classed as pseudo-rabies. Paralytic rabies does occur in
men, and Morgagni was the first to describe it. M. Dumont
Pallier remarked that the discussion which had arisen out
of the communication of M. Rendu was of the highest
importance. Could the anti-rabic treatment after the
Pasteur method be held guilty or no? This question must
be cleared up, and he proposed to submit it to the Academy

The Microbe of Seborrhea.

The excitement caused by the discovery of M. Sabouraud of the microbe of seborrhoea, its identification with that found in cases of falling of the hair, its role in the etiology of baldness, and finally the researches by which M. Sabouraud was enabled to produce baldness in a rabbit by injecting a culture of his microbe, was so great among dermatologists that it was unanimously decided to hold a special sitting at an interval of a month from

Ar the Academy of Medicine a discussion has just arisen which is most likely only the beginning of an argumentative | M. Sabouraud's first communication to discuss the war as to the Pasteur Institute and the value of the anti-matter. This meeting has just been held and was somewhat rabic inoculations. These latter have always had bitter stormy. M. Brocq remarked that the seat of the bacillus enemies in France, and the communication which M. Rendu was not in the hair follicle, and that its action on the skin has just made to the Academy has given them new courage. could not be explained. M. Sabouraud had said it was from M. Rendu reported a case of acute ascending paralysis a toxin, but from his experiments the toxin apparently worked brought on by the anti-rabic inoculations. The patient was at a distance from the hair follicles at least in the rabbit, while a post-mortem room porter at a hospital, who in the in man it acted locally if the bacillus was always the cause course of examining the body of a man dead from acute of the seborrhoea and the baldness. All clinicians knew rabies pricked his finger as he was cutting into the pancreas. that temperament played an important part in the matter of Although the wound was carefully washed with an anti- seborrhoea and alopecia. As regards the latter, the arthritic septic solution he betook himself to the Pasteur Institute, diathesis had to be considered; as regards the former, the and, starting on March 22nd, underwent the regular course lymphatic. In a non-arthritic person baldness never of anti-rabic treatment. Quite suddenly on April 1st he occurred, not even when abundant seborrhoea was developed rigors and fever, which grew worse on the follow-present. Clinically, we must not confound seborrhea and ing day. The patient took to his bed, and the gradual pro- baldness. If baldness was always due to a microbe it gress of the disease, accompanied by the most alarming should be easily contagious, and it was not so except as symptoms, was observed, paraplegia of first the lower and accessory to some other disease. M. Jacquet considered

that the rabbit was not a good subject in this matter, for baldness can be easily produced in this animal by the simple application of bisulphate of calcium. M. Darier stated the histological analogies between seborrhoea and baldness, but as the results on the clinical side were different from those of the laboratories it was impossible without further information to identify the two lesions. M. Barbe said that many seborrhoeic patients never had the least amount of falling off of the hair. Other speakers followed, all more or less in opposition. M. Sabouraud, in reply, reminded members that when Pasteur laid the results of his fermentation studies before the Academy everyone was against him. After thirty years, he added, all the discourses of the opposition are not worth one single Pasteur flask. So it would be with his researches-truth would come out, not by mere discourses, but by experience and experiments in the Pasteur way.

The Town Ambulances.

M. Paul Strauss, President of the Commission on Urban Ambulances, has just presented his report to the Municipal Council. The report recommends that every ambulance should be accompanied by a medical man and a hospital orderly. To carry out this scheme there must be four surgeons for every station and three orderlies for every ambulance. The latter will be drawn by two horses. Sixty" avertisseurs d'accidents" will be stationed in the streets, so as to be at the service of the public, in situations where they are considered most needed. The prefect of police will be invited to warn the ambulance stations whenever a fire breaks out. Before organising this system for the entire town the Commission have decided to make a practical trial at the Hospital of St. Louis. It was at this hospital that the experiments in First Aid were tried in accordance with a report drawn up by Professor Terrier (1) the surgeon on duty is in constant telephonic communication with with the hospital, and a rota for duty is decided upon among the other surgeons on the list; and (2) a surgical guard is mounted by both the intern and extern pupils in surgery, and there must be at the hospital always one intern and two externs on duty. The rest of the staff, both nurses and porters, must have special surgical training. The operating-room is provided with all necessaries in the way of instruments, dressings, warming, lighting, &c. In taking over the charge of these urban ambulances the Municipal Council decided to build two new stations, the one on the right and the other on the left bank of the river; but the Commission proposed an even more thorough scheme scheme - namely, namely, three new stations on the right bank. One of these is in process of construction in in the Rue Caulaincourt, another at the St. Honoré Market, and the third is at the St. Louis Hospital. The station on the left bank will be in an annexe of the Hôtel Dieu. The director of municipal affairs

has, besides, taken steps to coördinate the ambulance service
by the creation of a central office situated at the head-
quarters of the sanitary authorities. It will be on duty night
and day, and thanks to it an ambulance will always come
in answer to a call. This central service completes the
connexion between the ambulance societies and the hospitals.
The Congress of Surgery.

The eleventh congress of the French Association of
Surgery will open at Paris at the Faculty of Medicine on
Monday, Oct. 18th, at 2 o'clock, under the presidency of
Dr. Gross, Professor of the Faculty of Medicine at Nancy.
Two questions have been submitted to the congress: first,
Contusions of the Abdomen, by M. Demons, of Bordeaux ;
second, the Indication for Operation and Treatment of
Cancer of the Rectum, by MM. Quenu and Hartmann, of Paris.
Those intending to attend the congress or read papers are
requested to send the titles and a short résumé of their
papers, by Aug. 17th at the latest, to the general secretary,
M. L. Picque, 8, Rue d'Isly, Paris.
June 22nd.

accident, he has been rescued from the most horrible
of fates in the nick of time. In his memorable treatise,
written some twenty years ago, the greatest of recent
Italian anatomists, the Florentine Filippo Pacini (discoverer
of the "Corpuscula Paciniana"), describes several cases of
"morte apparente" that came before him and the means by
which he "restored" the "life" which had not really been
extinguished. Since then physicians have been careful to
allow some time to pass in cases of cholera collapse
before granting certificates of death, and have practised
Pacini's method of the intravenous injection of hot water
charged with bay salt in solution before giving up all hope
of bringing back the patient to conscious life. In its
obituary notice of Pacini, who died in 1883, THE LANCER
reviewed the treatise referred to, and, notably in the cholera
epidemic which decimated some Italian cities in the following
year, drew attention to the check imposed on the hasty
burials so common in such visitations before Pacini's time.
The rapid spread of cremation and the dread that under
that system the "
that system the "apparently dead" may be " disposed of "
before they have a chance of regaining conscious life has,
however, revived the subject, never altogether quite absent
from the Italian mind, and at Milan on Thursday, the 10th
inst., Signor Di Santostefano exhibited to an intensely in-
terested audience an apparatus designed to give the
reputed corpse a chance of receiving assistance.
The apparatus, designed, however, for cases of interment,
seems modelled upon that invented recently by Count
Michael Karnichi, of Warsaw, who was specially induced to
contrive it by the risk of inhumation during trance.
described by Signor Di Santostefano the apparatus brought

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under the notice of the Milanese audience is the following:-A tube is fitted to the lid of the coffin in which the body is laid and penetrates the lid by a small circular aperture situated just above the sternum of the body and connecting at the surface of the ground with a little metal box. Down through the tube descends a white metallic rod terminated by a ball which just touches the sternum of the " corpse." Supposing a sufferer from catalepsy to have been interred, he must, on coming to himself, as his first act draw breath, move a hand, or his whole body; he will thus inevitably displace the ball. The box situated on the surface of the ground will be overturned, giving air and light to the coffin; it will also set in motion a powerful electric bell, and will raise to the height of a metre and a half from the ground an alarm-signal visible at a great distance. It will finally admit of the corpse's" calling for assistance by means of the tube, which partakes of the character of a speaking trumpet. Such is Signor Di Santostefano's account of the apparatus contrived in aid of the "buried alive," and, although highly ingenious, it is liable to so many adverse contingencies that it can be expected to fulfil its purpose only in a small percentage of cases. However, if it prove instrumental in rescuing even one victim to "premature burial” it will have amply justified its being put in operation.

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June 13th.

VIENNA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Relation between the Nose and the Reproductive Organs in Females.

PROFESSOR KLEINWÄCHTER has published in the Medizinische Presse an article on a pamphlet which Dr. Fliess has written on the subject of the relation existing between the nose and the reproductive organs in females. It is stated that the inferior turbinated bones of the nose possess a corpus cavernosum the volume of which is liable to alteration under the influence of the spheno-palatine ganglion, and this ganglion receiving fibres from the carotid plexus through the deep petrosal nerve is in communication with the sympathetic nervous system which influences the sexual faculty. Opposite the middle turbinated bone there is on the nasal septum a pledget-shaped elevation with numerous bloodvessels and glands, the so-called tuberculum septi. These two structures, which Dr. Fliess calls the "genital places of the nose," become swollen, cyanotic, and very sensitive at THIS subject has a peculiar terror for Italians. In the menstrual period. That form of dysmenorrhoea in which cholera epidemics, particularly in those particularly in those of 1866 and of 1866 and the pain continues after the commencement of the menstrual 1877, "apparent death" has led to the victim being put flow disappears at once if the two "genital placos" of the nose in a coffin and carried to the cemetery, where, by sheer are rendered insensible by a 20 per cent. solution of cocaine,

ROME.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Premature Burial.

Post-graduate Instruction.

When an anesthetic is applied to these places in only one select even at the last moment the route by which they nostril the pains disappear on only one side of the body; would return from Moscow, but the Executive Committee anesthetisation of the inferior turbinated bones removes has just issued a statement correcting the first announcethe abdominal pains in from five to seven minutes. By ment and adding that only in exceptional circumstances can cauterising these places with trichloracetic acid dysmenor- the return route for which a ticket has been issued be rho may be averted for a long time. That form of altered. The reason of this arrangement is obvious; the dysmenorrhoea which Dr. Fliess calls "nasal" is in a great railway authorities are desirous of having some approximany cases due to infectious diseases which cause hyper-mate idea of the numbers of passengers who will be leaving plasia of the nasal mucous membrane; but it sometimes Moscow after the Congress by each particular line of railway arises from the fact that the corpora cavernosa of the and of providing accommodation accordingly. Intending mose do not decrease in volume after menstruation, and a members of the Congress are therefore requested, in writing congestion remains. to Professor Roth (the general secretary, Twelfth International Medical Congress, Moscow) to obtain the free railway passes, to state in their letters which routes they wish to follow both going to and returning from Moscow. The committee has received from the Government 7000 such free Sept. 10th (22nd) instead of only until the 1st (13th) of passes. The passes will be available on any date until that month, as at first announced. Members who have received their free railway tickets are requested to present them at the frontier station, where they will be stamped; they may also be asked to show them by the railway officials at any part of the journey. These trifling formalities will frontier town a committee of medical men (principally army present no difficulties to the foreigner, as at each principal surgeons) has been formed with the express object of assistHouse authorities have been approached by the committee ing foreigners on their journey. ing foreigners on their journey. In addition, the Custom and asked to "deal gently" with members of the Congress. The free railway ticket entitles the holder to carry one pood (36 lb.) of luggage free of carriage. Before leaving Moscow executive committee to the effect that the holder is a bond-fide the return ticket must be stamped at the office of the member of the Congress, and it will have to be presented at the booking-office of the station of departure to be stamped with the date.

Courses of lectures, the attendance on which is limited to medical men in practice, are delivered in Vienna, but not in any other Austrian University. They have been introduced on the initiative of Professor Wagner, who has for a year been Dean of the Vienna Medical Faculty, and has appointed two months (August and September) during which they are delivered in two series by the most eminent privat-docents and assistants of the faculty. Each course lasts four weeks, and the fees vary from twenty gulden (£1 17s.) to fifty gulden (£4 13s.), according to the subject. The first series begins on August 2nd and comprises the following courses: Pathological Anatomy, Bacteriology, Experimental Pathology, Pharmacology, Internal Medicine, Neuro pathology, Diseases of Children, Ophthalmology, Laryngology, Diseases of the Ear, Dermatology and Syphilis, Obstetrics and Gynecology. The second series, beginning on September 1st, includes the following courses: Anatomy, Pathological Anatomy, Bacteriology, Experimental Pathology, Forensic Medicine, Internal Medicine, Surgery Ophthalmology, Diseases of the Ear, Dermatology and Syphilis, Obstetrics and Gynecology. These courses are likely to be preferred by medical practitioners to those delivered during the session from October to July, as they are not attended by students.

Bubonic Plague.

At the last meeting of the Medical Society Dr. Albrecht gave an account of his experience of plague acquired by an observation of 247 cases in Bombay. He said that plague is infectious and shows no resemblance to any other disease. Its most frequent form is the septicemic-bæmorrhagic, beginning with a primary hæmorrhagic bubo in the inguinal, axillary, or cervical region, this bubo being accompanied by oedema of the surrounding parts; there are also hæmorrhages into various organs, changes in the lymphatic glands, symptoms of degeneration in the parenchymatous organs, and a characteristic enlargement of the spleen. Sometimes there ds no primary bubo, but all the lymphatic glands become swollen. The bubo suppurates after nine days; when it bursts or is opened and the pus is evacuated the glandular substance is found to have disappeared and only an empty capsule remains. A second form of the disease is marked by pyæmia and numerous deposits in the internal organs; in these cases post-mortem examination shows embolic centres in the lungs, liver, and kidney, together with characteristic hemorrhage into the walls of the gallbladder. Sometimes the disease takes the special form of primary pneumonia marked by confluent inflammatory centres, without any swelling of the lymphatic glands. The bacillus is found in the blood and the sputum, but not in the fæces or urine. It cannot be stained by Gram's method, it has a capsule, and is easily destroyed by unfavourable conditions, such as exposure to a high temperature.

June 19th.

RUSSIA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Twelfth International Medical Congress : the Free
Railway Passes.

As already announced in THE LANCET, the Russian Government has decided to grant free railway passes on all Russian railways to members of the International Congress. In the case of foreigners the ticket will be available from any frontier station chosen by the member to Moscow and back. The return route need not be the same as the outward route, but the member must, in applying for a ticket, state which route he intends to follow both outward and homeward. It had at first been announced that this would not be required of members, and that it would be open for them to

The Ladies' Committee.

As a considerable number of lady guests may be anticipated a committee of ladies has been formed to provide for their comfort and amusement during their visit to Moscow. This Ladies' Committee has been taken under the gracious patronage of the Grand Duchess Sergius, the granddaughter of Queen Victoria and sister of the reigning Empress. The president of the committee is Madame Skliffosofski, who is assisted by Madame Kojevnikof and Madame Pashutin. This committee proposes to organise a small exhibition of women's work, and hopes to make this as representative as possible of the position and activity of women in Russia. The exhibition will be open during the period of the Congress. Members who expect to be accompanied by ladies are particularly requested to communicate the fact to the general secretary, Professor Roth.

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The Arrangements in St. Petersburg.

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The committee formed in St. Petersburg to arrange for the reception of members of the Congress and their proper enterhas already announced a number of interesting engagements tainment in this, the second capital of the Russian Empire, for the days succeeding the close of the Congress. Congress in Moscow will end on the 14th (26th) August; on the 16th (28th), a Saturday, there will be a reception of members by the St. Petersburg medical societies and the prothe largest and handsomest hall in St. Petersburg. fession in general; this will be held in the Salle de Noblesse, Sunday, the 17th, there will be an excursion to Peterhof, where there are more than one Imperial palace and a very beautiful park, the fountains in which rival the famous fountains of Versailles. Supper will be served in Monplaisir, a picturesque little Imperial summer-house, dating from the time of Peter the Great and built close to the waters of the gulf. For those members who do not go to Peterhof there will be on the same evening a reception or "rout given by Her Highness the Princess of Oldenburg. On Monday, the 18th, the new museum at the Imperial Academy of Military Medicine, named after the great surgeon, Pirogof, will be opened in state in the morning, and in the following days are allotted to an inspection of some of the evening the town council will hold a reception. The two medical and other institutions of interest in the city.

The Pirogof Statue in Moscow.

One of the events of the Congress week in Moscow will be the formul unveiling of the new statue to Pirogof in front of the principal entrance to the clinique. The proposal to erect such a monument was made in the year 1891 and a

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