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over, the eggs die if the temperature of the water or earth istoo low, and this accounts for the fact that, although occa-sional cases of anchylostomiasis have been observed in NorthernEurope, the disease has never been endemic, except in warmclimates. The symptoms of the disease were next enteredinto and a historical account given of it. The connexion ofthe parasite with the disease, which had been variously de-scribed as "mal d’estomac," "cachexie aqueuse," "tropicalor Egyptian chlorosis,

" "mal de cceur" " &c., was first dis-covered by Griesinger in 1854. Numerous observers have re-corded the frequency with which the anchylostomum duode-nale has been found in cases of beri-beri, and, although itseems certain that the parasite is not the cause of the disease,yet there is very little doubt but that it plays a very con-siderable part in producing the anmmia so frequently present.The dochmius trigonocephalus of the dog, the strongyluscontortus of the sheep and the strongylus convolutus of theox all produce in their respective hosts diseases very similarin the symptoms and results to that produced in man by theanchylostomum duodenale. The life history of the strongylusarmatus of the horse is peculiar in some respects. The adultcondition is passed in the large intestine of the host, theeggs being evacuated with the fasces. As with the anchylo-stomum duodenale, the larval stage is passed in water or indamp earth ; after which development takes place, not in theintestine of their host, but in the mesenteric arteries.Apparently the larvae, immediately on reaching the intestine,commence to bore through its walls and to make theirway into the mesenteric arteries, where they give rise toaneurysmal dilatations, in which the larvse remain for somelittle dme. It seems, however, that they never grow upinto adults in these vessels, but make their way by somemeans or other into the large intestine of their host, wherethey become sexually mature. The heterakis maculosa is a

parasite which inhabits the intestine of the pigeon, producingfrequently a fatal disease in its host. Unterberger has shownthat the eggs of this nematode require to be kept for aboutseventeen days under suitable conditions outside the body ofthe host before they reach the stage at which developmentin his intestine is possible. If they are ingested earlier theyproduce no effect. If, however, the necessary interval hasbeen allowed to elapse ova commence to appear in the fsecesabout three weeks after infection has taken place. The

experiments made by Grassi on the spiroptera sanguinolenta,which inhabits the alimentary canal of the dog, were nextdescribed. These experiments show that for this parasitean intermediate host is necessary, which, in this case, is theEastern cockroach. Apparently dogs become infected by eatingthis insect. The life history of the rhabdomena strongyloides(anguillula intestinalis, anguillula stercoralis) is a peculiarone. The anguillula intestinalis lives in the intestine ofman and gives rise, probably by parthenogenesis, to ova,which develop into sexual animals. These were for a longtime considered to form a separate species, being known asthe "anguillula stercoralis "; but it has been shown that if theembryos produced by them are swallowed by man they growup into the asexual intestinal form. Thus here we have analternation of generations-sexual and asexual. The evi-dence for and against the view that Cochin China diarrhoea is Icaused by the presence of this parasite was entered into, andthe conclusion arrived at was that, although this worm mayundoubtedly give rise to enteritis, yet it cannot be consideredto have any causal relation to the disease first mentioned.The lectures were closed by a summary of the anatomy and

life history of the trichina spiralis and the effects producedby it upon its host.

THE ARMY ESTIMATES FOR 1893-94.

THE Army Estimates form a voluminous and somewhatintricate, but nevertheless clear and admirably arranged Par-liamentary paper, embodying statements of the variations ofthe numbers of Her Majesty’s British forces, explanations ofthe increases and decreases in the estimates, the amountsincluded for the colonies and Egypt, and the amounts pro-vided for each arm of the service and for various miscellaneousestablishments. The amount for total effective and non-effective services is .217,441,293, and the net increase for theyear is set down at 171,600; but, as will be seen,the increase has not been caused by the medical services andestablishments, for, according to the preliminary statement 1

explanatory of the differences in the amounts proposed for1893-94 and the amounts voted in 1892-93, Vote 2 (MedicalEstablishment) shows a decrease of ;f1900 for this year.This decrease is attributable to the pay of the medicalstaff ’having been over-estimated in past years, insuffi-cient allowance having been made for casualties. Theestimates of the sum required to defray the expenseof the pay &c. of the medical establishment and costof medicines is put down at ;f288,200, and, amongstthe subheads under which this vote is accounted for,we may mention the pay of the medical staff, which is esti-mated at ;f225,800 for 1893-94, as against .6228,000 in 1892-93,showing a decrease of .f:2200. The estimated pay of militiasurgeons and civilian medical practitioners &c. amounts to

9950, showing an increase of 400 on that of last year. Thecost of medicines &c. remains the same-viz., 16,000. Thetotal strength of the medical staff, including that on theIndian Establishment, amounts to 954, from which 335 haveto be deducted for India. The number of men on the regi-mental establishments of the army and auxiliary forces andof the reserves is estimated at a total of 712,507. Thenumber of men of British regiments of all ranks serving inIndia is 72,858. A statement showing the rates of pay andthe allotment of the staff &c. to the various districts andstations at home and abroad is given in Appendix No. 8,page 168 et seq. ; and the total emoluments of officers servingat home are shown in Appendix No. 19, p. 217. Vote 11,subhead 1, for the staff of the Army Medical School, Netley,amounts to .f:7023, which is a slight decrease on the pre-ceding year. Vote 13, Subhead A, provides for the Director-General and medical officers at headquarters, at an estimatedcost of 4850. In our examination of these estimates,we have not so far been able to ascertain any evidence of theWar Minister’s intentions in regard to the recommendationsmade in the report of Lord Wantage’s Committee.

ALABASTER AND OTHERS v. THE MEDICALBATTERY COMPANY.

Tms was an action brought by the proprietors of the

-Eleetg-ical R&bgr;1)ierv to recover damages for a libel contained ina circular issued by the defendants. The circular was issuedin the following circumstances. The Electrical Revie7vaddressed a series of articles to the subject of the Harness"electropathic belt," in which the worthlessness of these con-trivances for curative purposes was exposed, and one articlein particular commented upon an action brought by thedefendant company in the Bloomsbury County Court for therecovery of the price of one of these belts. In the course ofthat article the following observations occurred :-" It isquite impossible for the belt to generate any current asworn upon the body, for the external circuit was not

completed by the connecting up of the zinc and copperpoles, nor were any means indicated to the defendant ofdoing so for himself. Assume that one of these belts is

properly connected up’and that the exudations of the bodyact upon the metals so as to produce, by chemical action, aninsignificant amount of electrical energy, does the current soproduced pass through the body, and is it of any use

medically? We reply emphatically, ’No.’ ....,. If the

much-to-be-pitied persons of both sexes who so readily fallinto the snare set by the president of the British Associationof Medical Electricians and of the Medical Battery Companywould only reason with themselves, a few minutes’ reflectionought to convince the most foolish that the idea of a poordebilitated body generating the electricity for alleviating itsown sufferings is most preposterous. But what words can befound sufficiently strong to condemn the practice carried onin the Oxford-street mansion in the treatment of rupture ?That it should be possible in these days of enlightenmentand in the midst of the largest city in the world for 16,900cases of a serious malady to have been treated by a manhaving such qualifications for the task as the consultingofficer of the Medical Battery Company proved himself in thewitness-box to possess is beyond the comprehension of anyreasonable being, and if ever there was a matter demandingthe immediate attention of the Public Prosecutor, the revela-tions made at the Bloomsbury County Court point to it. Ifthe treatment by an unqualified man of incurable disorderswhich require careful and skilful medical attention is not

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actionable at law, the sooner some Bill is passed to make itso the better for suffering humanity We trust that the

report of this disgraceful case may be disseminated far andwide, for it will do much to enlighten the public as to thereal status of Mr. C. B. Harness....... No wonder that he can

spend yearly on advertisements a sum which most peoplewould consider a princely fortune if 16,900 cases are treatedat five guineas a time-probably more in numerous cases-inbetween six and seven years. .

Upon the publication of this article the solicitors of theMedical Battery Company issued the circular complained ofin the present action to some 500 newsagents of the metro-polis, warning them that the Electrical Re?;ie7V and ScienceSiftings contained "malicious libels" upon the defendantcompany, and that if these or any future publications con-taining defamatory articles or paragraphs were sold or circu-lated by the persons addressed, the company would hold themresponsible. The natural effect of this circular was to deter the

newsagents from selling the papers in question. Evidence uponthis head having been given, the plaintiffs proposed to call evi-dence in j ustincation of tl-, articles which they had written. Tothis evidence objection was taken in behalf of the defendantsthat the merits of the Harness belts did not come into questionin the present action, the plea upon which they relied being thatthe circular was issued bond fide and in self-defence andtherefore upon a privileged occasion. The Lord Chief Justice,however, held that the proposed evidence was material uponthe issue as to the defendants’ bona fides in issuing the circu-lar. Thereupon Sir Edward Clarke, in behalf of the defen-dants, elected to admit that the circular was a libel and toleave the question of damages to the jury, stating that hisclients were not prepared in this action to go into the questionof the merits of the belt. The matter was accordingly left tothe jury upon that footing, and they awarded to the plaintiff sdamages to the amount of .61000. Judgment for that amountand for costs was given and the Lord Chief Justice refused astay of execution. <-

Public Health and Poor Law.LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.

REPORTS OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH.

Isolation Accommodation and _ot%,fication in the County ofM7"?’ey.&mdash;Dr. Seaton has made a most valuable report to theSanitary Committee of the County Council upon these sub-jects. Referring first to the question of notification, we aretold that all the sanitary authorities in the county, withone exception, have now adopted the Notification Act ;the authority which still persistently refuses to adopt it beingthe Godstone rural. Both Dr. Seaton and Dr. Oldman havedone their best to persuade the authority to complete thecounty list ; but, so far, in vain. Amongst the Surrey unitedrural districts Dorking stands alone in being without anyhospital provision, and it is of some interest to note

that in this district the prevalence of scarlet fever has beenmuch greater than in the two adjoining ones of Guildfordand Reigate. It is also to be noted that the proportionof persons attacked to houses invaded was likewise greaterin the Dorking district. These statements presumably referto the year 1891. Negotiations have taken place betweenthe sanitary authorities comprised within the Epsom unionwith a view to united action in providing a fever hospital.The Epsom urban authority have, however, refused to join,and are proceeding to erect a hospital of their own. Atthe present time about one-third of the population of thecounty is said to be provided with isolation accommodation,a fact which shows considerable advance on the condition ofthings existing eighteen months ago. Dr. Seaton is evidentlyan advocate of further powers being conferred upon the

county council as regards hospital provision. Referring tothe character of isolation accommodation, he remarks : "I Icannot too strongly comment upon the undesirability ofestablishing, even as temporary accommodation, hospital pro-vision likely to bring discredit upon the system of notificationand isolation of infectious diseases." We are in entireaccord with these sentiments, and naturally also agree withDr. Seaton when he urges that persons admitted into a feverhospital suffering from one complaint should not be exposedto the risk of contracting another. Although it is possible,

in a very large degree, to prevent this occurrence, we fearthat in some cases at least, whatever precautions be adonted,some risk must be run-as, for instance, when patients areadmitted into the wards of a fever hospital-of incubatingsome other disease in addition to the one from which they aresuffering. This, we are afraid, must always be one of thenecessary drawbacks of a fever hospital, or, in fact, of anyhospital system whatever. No justification, however, can befound for a sanitary authority which allows small-pox to betreated in the same hospital with other infectious diseases.

Chelmsford llll?’al Distract.-After dealing with the popula-tion, area and geographical and physical conditions of the dis-trict, Dr. Thresh gives qualitative analyses of samples of watertaken from various villages ; he then discusses the questions ofsewerage, excrement and refuse disposal &c. The same diffi-

culty in connexion with the housing of the working classesseems to obtain here as elsewhere, and Dr. Thresh states thatbefore advising his authority to take advantage of the powersconferred upon them by Part III of the Housing of the WorkingClasses Act he is watching with interest the experiment inthat direction at Ixworth, where a number of cottages areabout to be erected by the Thingoe rural sanitary authority.Whilst upon the subject of burial grounds Dr. Thresh seemsto favour the view that the county councils should be em-powered to erect crematoria at convenient spots in theircounties. In drawing up a set of by-laws for the district, weare glad to see, advantage has been taken of the powersconferred by the Public Health Acts Amendment Act of1890. During the year 1892 several minor improvementshave been effected, and it has been decided to provide isola-tion accommodation for the district, a system of sewers forone village and a public water-supply for several others. Weagree with Dr. Thresh that it is much to be regretted thatthe Chelmsford urban sanitary authority could not see theirway to join with the rural authority in the erection of a feverhospital. The past year has been fruitful in epidemics, andinfluenza, measles, diphtheria, mumps, German measles andscarlet fever have each claimed their victims in the district.The zymotic death-rate was 1’83. We notice with regard toGerman measles that here, as in other places, there seemsto have been some difference of opinion as to the nature ofthe complaint. No less than 97 cases of diphtheria, con-cerning which a special report has been issued, occurred

during the year, and they yielded a case mortality of 11 percent. Last year, with fewer cases, the mortality was 20

per cent. Several cases of diphtheria seem to have beenclosely associated with attacks of scarlet fever. There can,as Dr. Thresh states, be little doubt that the condition of &pound;

throat produced both by scarlet fever and measles forms avery suitable nidus for the activity of the bacillus of diph-theria. The general death-rate in the district was 18 2 asagainst 15’4, the mean of the preceding twelve years.The excess has fallen entirely upon the aged and is no doubtdue in large part to the number of deaths (47) which wereattributed to the effects of influenza. As Dr. Thresh remarks,it is to be hoped that the virulence of this disease is not

capable of further intensification. This report is one of

much interest and we hope it will be widely read.VITAL STATISTICS.

I HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWN,9.

IN thirty-three of the largest English towns 6783 births and4125 deaths were registered during the week ending March 4th.The annual rate of mortality in these towns, which hadbeen 19-2 and 19-7 per 1000 in the preceding two weeks,further rose to 20’8 last week. In London the rate was20 ’8 per 1000, and almost corresponded with the mean rate inthe thirty-two provincial towns, which was 20’9 per 1000.The lowest rates in these towns were 12’7 in Leicester,15’3 in Croydon, 15’4 in Nottingham and 16’3 in West Ham ;the highest rates were 24’7 in Leeds, 24’9 in Bolton, 256in Manchester, 27 0 in Plymouth and 28-5 in Norwich.The 4125 deaths included 398 which resulted from theprincipal zymotic diseases, against 368 and 386 in thepreceding two weeks; of these, 102 were referred to

whooping-cough, 98 to measles, 61 to diphtheria, 49to diarrhoea, 44 to scarlet fever, 32 to "fever" (prin-cipally enteric) and 12 to small-pox. No fatal case ofany of these diseases occurred last week in Swansea, or inWolverhampton ; in the other towns they caused the lowestdeath-rates in Leicester, West Ham, Gatesheacl and Oldham,and the highest rates in Manchester, Halifax, Plymouth,