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Bourne on Haplobranchus; and the last one by E. RayLankestsr on the Minute Structure of the Lateral and theCentral Eyes of Scorpio and of Limulus.

Wedel’ and its Teachings. By C. LLOYD IVIORGAN, F.G.S.London: Edward Stanford. 182.

Tnis small work, which haq been published much in thesame form as the Science Primers, contains in a brief

comp’tS3 a vast amount of information concerning water inits various forms. The effects of ice, whether by expansionor otherwise, and its influence in the form of glaciers indetermining the surface of th3 earth, the position of riversand lakes, &c., are first dea.lt with; then follow severalchapters on such questions as boiling water, steam, evapora-tion, vapour tension, condensation, dew, clouds, rain, snow,and hail; winds and their enacts, and the movements ofunderground water are explained ; the chemical and physicalproperties of water are entered into ; some account is givenof the principles of the barometer, of the relations betweenwater on the one hand and light and heat on the other; andthe various methods in which water influences climate,whether by the absorption of heat, by its latent heat throughocean currents or otherwise, are considered. The book maybe regarded as a highly suggestive handbook as to water inconnexion with chemistry, physics, and physiography; andany person having concern with the inflaence and effects ofwater in these aspects, and who has not time to study thesubject deeply, will find material help from its brief, succinct,and elementary but scientific teachings.

Transcwtions of the Meclico-ChÙurgicaZ Society o, f ’dinbu^rylt.Vol. I. Edinburgh : Oliver and Boyd. 1882.

ALTHOUGH this Society was established sixty years ago,it has never before issued an annual volume of its proceed-ings, which have been found in the pages of the Edinburgh.lIediccL Journal. Thus, as the editor of the volume re-

marks, this publication forms the starting-point of a new erain the Society. We are glad to welcome this new departure,for certainly, as the contents of the volume show, the stepis fully justified. Amongst the papers herein published arethree on the much-debated question of the Cardiac HsemicMurmur, by Dr. G. W. Balfour and Dr. W. Russell; one

by Dr. Gibson on the Action of the Auricles in Health andDisease; Professor Fraser contributes a case of DiabeticComa with Lipsemia; Dr. J. Duncan writes on the Treat-ment of Wounds, and Professor Chiene upon Cranial In-juries. The discussions arising out of the papers are

appended, and there are also accounts of clinical cases andpathological specimens exhibited at the meetings.

New Inventions.DISCONNECTING AND VENTILATING TRAP.

WE have had submitted to us one of "Blair’s Disconnect-

ing and Ventilating Soil-pipe Traps." The trap is providedwith airlet openings so as to secure a current of fresh airthrough the soil-pipe, whilst the sewer air itself is effectuallycut off from the house by means of the water in the trap.The principle of the trap is sound ; we do not, however, seeit has any special advantages over the ordinary siphon-bendtrap with an air inlet on the side nearest to the house.Indeed the latter tends more effectually to secure a currentof fresh air through the whole course of the house-drain than isthe case with Mr. Blair’s trap, which appears from the diagramssubmitted to have regard rather to the ventilation of the soil-pipe, than to that of the whole system of house drainage.

A NEW VACCINATING LANCET.THE subjoined drawings are taken from a new instrument

devised by Mr. John R. Seymour, and for which he claimsthe following advantages. I. Its portability, for it can becarried in the waistcoat pocket as an ordinary penknife(which it very much resembles), without fear of the edgesbeing damaged, as when shut they are below the level ofthe handle. 2. In consequence of the length of the handle,

it can be held as an ordinary pen, and is therefore muchmore under control. 3. As it is provided with a Frenchspring lock, the blade is perfectly steady, and allows ofeither edge being used ; moreover, the most superficialscratching only being necessary, such can only be obtainedby having a fixed blade. The instrument can be had ofMessrs. Maw, Son, and Thompson, 7 to 12, Aldersgate.street, E. C.

CYSTOTOMY FOR IRRITABILITY OF THEURINARY BLADDER.

H. ROYES BELL.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,-Will you kindly allow me briefly to refer to the

following cases as being of interest to the profession ?In July, 1855, Mr. Fergusson operated on a man (W. H-)

for distressing and persistent cystitis. No stone was to befound and all the remedies tried were useless. Mr. Fergusson,as related by your reporter, performed an operation, not atall like lithotomy, as he stated at the time, but more in themanner of Syme’s or Allarton’s operation, in the mesianline of the perineum, the intention being to cut across thenervous plexuses and irritable parts at the neck of thebladder. When seen on Oct. 5th, the patient was quitewell. Impressed by the narration of the preceding case,Mr. McCraith’ of Smyrna performed cystotomy on a

Mr. A-, aged fifty-two years, who had suffered for fouryears such severe symptoms from cystitis that his life was abmden to him. He went to Paris to be under the care ofDr. C. Phillips, and saw in consultation MM. Ricord andCiviale, and was treated with remedies medical and surgical,short of operation, without avail. Dr. Phillips agreed toMr. McCraith’s proposal to perform cystotomy, being in.duced to do so, he stated, by the record of some casespublished by Bouchardat in 1803. The operation was doneby dividing the posterior part of the membranous urethra,thle neck of the bladder, and the prostatic urethra betweenthe lateral lobes of the prostate for about two lines. Twofingers were introduced and the bladder carefully exploredfor stone or tumour, but neither was present. The reliefwhich followed the operation was considerable.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,Queen Anne-street, W. H. ROYES BELL.1 THE LA.XCET, Oct. 13th, 1855, p. 337; Braithwaite’s Retrospect,

lS5fi, vol. i., p. 291.Medico Times and Gazette, 1867, vol. i., p. 658; Biennial Retro.

spect, New Sydenbam Society, 1867-68, p. 316.

AT an inquest held last week at Sevenoaks on thebody of a widow lady, the verdict returned was to the effectthat the death of the deceased had been accelerated by anoverdose of chlorodyne.