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from a few weeks to several months When comparedwith their equivalents in the general community,they were relatively inferior in physique ; in none ofthese cases were signs of tuberculosis, or a positiveWassermann blood reaction found ; septic foci,however, were rarely absent. The grosser sequela?of encephalitis lethargica were not detected, nor wasany connexion found in the cases examined betweenfebrile conditions of short duration, such as influenza,and the onset of mental changes. Although nobiochemical tests were done, the routine physicalexamination revealed no gross changes in the thyroidgland, but instances of mild hypothyroidism wereseen in some of the cases in which chronic infectionsincurred. Apart from those prisoners in whorn nopsychopathic taint is known to exist, there is atParkhurst, where this inquiry was conducted, a smallgroup of men, forming about 5 per cent. of thepopulation of the prison, who, because of some

distinct but uncertifiable mental abnormalitv. havebeen brought together from all convict stations forspecial mental observation and treatment, as well asall those whose mental state has given rise to doubtas to their fitness for ordinary convict conditions.The observations and conclusions in this paper,

therefore, refer to a population which is, in part,especially selected, and do not represent the con-ditions at other convict prisons. This must be bornein mind when comparing this paper with previouswritings on this subject. In their " History of thePrison Psychoses," Nitsche and Wilmanns ably havesummarised the more important of these earlier

publications. From them we learn that Reich.Moeli, Ganser, and others reported on insanity chieflyamong those awaiting trial; that Rudin, Birnbaum,and Bonhoffer relied on observations which thevhad made after the cases had been received into aclinic ; that Kirn’s material consisted of short-termpetty offenders who had been in solitary confinement,and Gutsch’s patients developed disease when under-going the same punishment ; that Sommer inquiredinto the cases of men who had been transferred fromprison to a criminal lunatic asylum, and Delbruck,who was, perhaps, the first of the investigators inthis field, was in charge of a prison containing a largeproportion of convicts who had been sent there fromother institutions because thev were not amenable todiscipline, a fact which, as Dr. Young points out. issuggestive of mental abnormality of some standing.Few of these observers, not excepting Siefert, hadaccess like Dr. Young to cases of long-sentence prisoners in their own peculiar surroundings and when the disease was in its earliest stages.

THE OXFORD OPHTHALMOLOGICALCONGRESS.

THE seventeenth annual meeting of the OxfordOphthalmological Congress is to be held from Thursday,July 7th, to Saturday, July 9th, and an interestingprogramme has been arranged. The sessions are to beheld in the Department of Human Anatomy in theUniversity Museum, and on Thursday, at 10 A.M., theopening address will be delivered by the Master,Mr. Philip Adams, after which Dr. William H. Wilmer(ophthalmologist-in-chief to the Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore) will open a discussion on theResults of the Operative Treatment of Glaucoma.Amongst those who will take part in this discussion areProf. Felix Lagrange (Bordeaux), Mr. T. H. Bickerton(Liverpool), Mr. A. L. Whitehead (Leeds), Lieut.-Colonel H. Herbert (Brighton), Mr. Malcolm Hepburn(London), Lieut.-Colonel R. E. Wright, I.M.S., Dr.C. F. Bentzen (Copenhagen), Prof. J. Szymanski(Wilno), Dr. T. Harrison Butler (Birmingham), Mr.R. Davenport (London), Mr. J. Hern (Egypt), andDr. L. Preziosi (Malta). The Doyne memorial lecturewill be delivered on July 8th by Prof. K. K. Lundsgaard(Copenhagen), his subject being the Pneumococcus inConnexion with Ophthalmology. At other meetingsthere will be numerous addresses and communications

dealing with research and clinical practice. Theannual dinner uf the Congress will be held on Thursdayin the hall of Keble College, where members are

offered accommodation. A full programme «f the.

arrangements may be had from the hon. secretary.Mr. Bernard Cridland, whose address is SalisburyHouse, Chapel Ash, Wolverhampton.

A CARNIVOROUS RACE.

IT is generally believed that much renal andcirculatory disease is due to impairment of nitrogenousmetabolism by a diet too rich in animal protein, andit is therefore interesting to read an account 1 ofsome research undertaken by Dr. William A. Thomason the Eskimos of Northern Labrador and Greenland.who subsist exclusively on fish and meat. Hederived his information from personal examination ofthe natives, and from the records and knowledge ofthe Danish physicians. The hospitals of Greenlandare excellent, and Dr. Thomas had access not only tolaboratory facilities but also to statistics coveringmany years. The diet consists of whale, walrus. seal.caribou, musk ox, hare, polar bear, sea-birds, andfish-all preferably eaten raw. The Eskimo actuallyeats very little fat, but uses it for fuel ; he prefersthe red meat and liver, eating the entrails in time nfscarcity. The results of the inquiry showed no

unusual prevalence of either cardiovascular or renaldisease. The average blood pressure of 142 adultswas 129/76, and the highest was only 17U,’1U0. Inthis series albuminuria was found in 12 persons. ofwhom only three had a systolic pressure of morethan 140 ; the other nine had moderate amounts ofserum-albumin. Two of the three who had bothhypertension and albuminuria had casts in the urine.and casts were also found in the urine of two of theremaining six who had hypertension only. and inthree of the nine who had albuminuria withouthypertension. Nephritic oedema was seen in onlyone subject. Of nine persons over 60 years of age.only one had any albuminuria. These natives leacllives of great physical activity and hardship. andseem to be quite capable of dealing with their highprotein diet. It is also remarkable that in carnivorousGreenland both scurvy and rickets are unknown.Children are suckled until they are 4 or 6 years oldand can eat meat. In Labrador, however, wherecivilisation has trained the natives to buy cereals anddried and canned provisions, Dr. Thomas notes thatscurvy and rickets are universal. The abundance ofsummer sunlight seems to give no effective protectionagainst the latter disease. The explanation maybe that fish, and fish-eating animals, contain muchvitaniin C, as well as A, in their tissues. Its sourceis presumably the marine vegetation on which thefish feed. Stefannson, the explorer, was the first topropound the theory that a white man could findsufficient animal food in the polar seas to keep himin good health, and he had the courage to stakehis life on it. It is probable, Dr. Thomas thinks,that most healthy white men could quickly adaptthemselves to the natural carnivorous diet of theEskimos ; the raw skin of the white whale is anantiscorbutic as efficient as orange juice or banana.What he must resist, apparently, is the temptation toeat polar bear’s liver, as for some reason this is verypoisonous. _ _

POST-MORTEM CIRCULATION.

Dr. R. Eisenmenger, a specialist in physical therapyat Vienna, has succeeded in producing artificialcirculation of blood in the human bodv after death.2An air-puinp 3 placed over the abdomen producespositive and negative pressures of 40 to fi0 mn. of

mercury, these pressures alternating at the usual rateof the respiratory rhythm. Positive pressure driven

1 Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc., May 14th, 1927.2 Wiener klinische Wochenschrift, 1927, No. 23, p. 755.

3 Ibid., 1924, No. 15.