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all the medical men of a neighbourhood to obtain assistancewhich will only be given out of humanity and which willoften, and rightly, be refused.

Licensed midwives attending cases from an institution willbe able to obtain help if required, but I am referring to themidwife’s private case where medical aid is required by thecircumstances. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully,

FAIR PLAY.

"DIFFICULT DIGESTION DUE TO DIS-PLACEMENTS."

10 tJte L1’cG2tors or THE LANCET.

8iR3,—Your reviewer having found the record of cases

tedious and the plan of the book not convenient for readyreference, no doubt was not able to spare enough valuabletime to correctly quote the only passage cited, making the ’,author write just what he does not. On page 16 of my littlework I say :

" For this reason let me premise my remarks ongastroptosis by stating at once that, for myself, the term isnot fairly applied to a stomach in which the upper border ofthe fundus does not appear to fall below the level of theseventh costal cartilage at its most dependent point," &c.The remainder of the remarks made by your reviewer are sodisparaging that I must ask you of your courtesy to publishthis letter in order to correct the false impression which themis statement of my views would otherwise leave on your i,,readers, some of whom are doubtless aware that a phonometeris a tuning-fork and so will be able to gauge the value ofcriticism by one who evidently displays less familiaritywith the subjects discussed in the book than

Yours faithfully,THE AUTHOR OF " DIFFICULT DIGESTION DUE TO

DISPLACEMENTS."April 7th, 1900.

* >I< Our reviewer regrets if he has misunderstood theauthor’s definition of "gastroptosis," but the words in thereview are not a quotation. The word " phonometer " means,according to Gould’s Medical Dictionary, " an instrument formeasuring the intensity of the voice or current of air

nspired during phonation." Dunglison’a "Dictionary ofMedical Science " and the Standard Dictionary say the same.We do not know any authority for making the word meansomething else.-ED. L.

THE AUTHOR OF " DIFFICULT DIGESTION DUE TODISPLACEMENTS."

NOTES FROM INDIA.

(FROM OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT.)

The Natitral History of Anopheles.-The Famine.-ThePlague tn Calcutta and Bombay.

SOME recent observations with reference to the anophelesspecies of mosquito show that the original statements abouttheir habitat will require modification. Their larvas are tobe found in ponds which never dry up and which containsmall fish in abundance. Certain open ponds subject toconsiderable rippling from the wind have been found swarm-ing with them, although it is true that in shelteredareas around floating obstacles they were still more

numerous. As the larvea hatch out day after day it hasbeen found that kerosene oil only kills a certain number,that the effect is consequently only temporary, and that aftera short period the pond can be found swarming with themagain. These facts would seem to imply that the wholesaledestruction of the breeding places of the anopheles is not sosimple a matter as was supposed, and that after all dryingup of every pond known to be their habitat is the onlypractical solution of the difficulty.The numbers under famine relief continue to mount up-

the total now being considerably over 5,000 000-otherwiselittle change has taken place in the situation in the dis-tresfed tracts since last week. There is some reason to fearthat charitable relief has been in many instances muchabused. There are said to be mills asking for labourers, butthe labourers prefer to receive food and do nothing. Althoughlabour is enforced in some districts before relief is bestowed,this is a point to which sufficient attention has not beengiven. Able-bodied men should be compelled to work. For

example, it is reported that in the Bombay Presidency thenumbers relieved were 932,524 workers and 269,621 depen-dents, and 92.303 gratuitously relieved in villages and poor-houses. Several relief works have been started during the

week on tanks, roads, canals, and railroads. Expenditure hasbeen incurred for the supply of fodder to affected districtsand large loans have been sanctioned to certain affectednative States amounting to something like &pound;200,000 Thehigh temperature now prevailing throughout western India isexpected to favour an early burst in the south-west Monsoon.As usual the Bengal Presidency is free from this recurrentdisaster and is blessed with abundant harvests.

Like the famine there has also been a great increase inplague. The total deaths throughout India last week fromplague amounted to 4725. Over 3000 deaths occurredin Bengal. The Patna district reports 2044 deaths andCalcutta 744 deaths. In Aden there were 19 deaths.In Calcutta the death-rate has now reached 104 5 per1000 per annum. In Bombay it still remains at the enormousrate of 170 per 1000 per annum. There are ratherless cholera and small-pox than usual in Calcutta, butthese diseases continue prevalent in Bombay. The plaguedeaths in Calcutta wholly account for the excess mortality.In Bombay, however, the excess mortality of over 2000 is

hardly explained by the return of 780 deaths from plague,and the other epidemic diseases do not account for thedifference. As I have repeatedly pointed out, these weeklyreturns of plague deaths in Bombay city are absolutelyworthless, and it is time that some other system of recordingshould be adopted to bring the returns into harmony withexisting facts. A much larger proportion of plague deathswas brought to light last year.

Since Jan. lst there have been 2720 deaths from plague inCalcutta. In Bombay, allowing a very free estimate fordeaths from other causes, there have probably been 18,000deaths from plague, but the official figures are short of thisnumber by at least 10,000. Rats are not nearly so numerousin Calcutta as in Bombay. It ill reported that large numbersof dead and dying rats have been seen coincidently with theoutbreak of plague in Sydney.March 22nd. ,

LIVERPOOL.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Sterilised Melk Dep&ocirc;ts.THE City Council have sanctioned the recommendation of

the health committee to establish a depot or depots in suit-able parts of the city for the preparation and sale of sterilisedmilk for infants and that &pound;1000 should be placed at thedisposal of the committee for that purpose. The idea wasto endeavour to interest mothers in the better feeding of theirchildren, with the view of counteracting the injury which isoften caused by improper nourishment. The bottles whichwould be provided at the depots would be properly cleansedbefore they were filled with sterilised milk, and would beagain cleansed when brought back for refilling. It appearedthat in those places where the experiment had been tried thebest results had followed. The new departure is a step inthe right direction and any honest attempt to grapple withthe question of infant mortality in large cities will bewelcomed.

The Liverpool Ladies’ Charity.At the annual meeting of the friends and subscribers of

the Ladies’ Charity and Lying-in Hospital the Lord Mayordeplored the lack of interest which was taken in this mostdeserving charity. The debit balance bad now reached &pound;800,or &pound;100 in excess of the loss on the previous year. Last

year 1489 out-patients had received medical attention, andin consideration of the advantages which they received inthe matter of clothing, &c., an extended grant from theHospital Saturday and Sunday Fund was strongly appealedfor by the treasurer of the institution.

The Home for Epileptics at Maghulll.In response to the appeal made by the committee for funds

in aid of the extension of the work of the home, allusion towhich was made in a former issue of THE LANCET, donationsamounting to Z2500 have been already acknowledged bythe honorary treasurer. Contributions amounting toZ182 2s. have also been guaranteed annually for fiveyears by Mr. William Rathbone, Dr. W. Alexander, and otherfriends in support of the institution.

Small-pox at the Liveypool WorkhouseSeveral cases of small-pox have occurred at the Liverpool