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the indignation expressed by Sir M. Bhownaggree,and believe with him that the large mass of thenative population in India is well affected to ourrule and grateful for what has been done to relieve

suffering in time of famine. They are, as a rule, a

singularly patient, law-abiding, but ignorant and credulou3people, and it is the plain duty of the Government to protectthem against malicious attacks on their allegiance to it. Thedifficulties with which the Indian authorities had to contendin the repression of the plague were extreme, and the wayn which they surmounted them is deserving of the highestpraise. Sir H. Fowler made an admirable and strong speechin favour of the views expressed by the Secretary of Statefor India, and did not at all coincide with those who seemnever to be so happy as when they are belittling the honestefforts of their countrymen abroad to do their best for thewelfare of those they have to rule.

OVERCROWDING OF PLEASURE STEAMERS.

THE captains of several pleasure steamers have lately beenfined for carrying an excess of passengers. In one case thenumber in excess was 461, and for this the fine amounted toL91 15s. It may be very tempting to carry as many as

possible, and in holiday times there may even be some

difficulty in regulating the amount; but those in chargemust be given clearly to understand that the public must notbe exposed to these additional dangers, and no doubt aheavy fine will bring the matter home to them better thanany other method. Overcrowding in all public conveyancesis a dangerous thing, and possibly one day we may look forsome rules to this effect with regard to trains, which, notonly at holiday times, but on ordinary days, are often verymuch fuller than they ought to be, and each carriagecontains a great many more than it is ever intended to hold.Beyond the discomfort of passengers, however, there is, ofcourse, not nearly the danger with regard to trains as withpleasure steamers, where a sudden panic may have themost disastrous consequences.

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THE UNIVERSITY OF GLASGOW AND THEDISCIPLINARY POWERS OF THEUNIVERSITIES OF SCOTLAND.

OUR readers know that in the General Medical Council there is great desire to see the universities, and especially the Scottish universities, strengthened in their power of dealing in a way of discipline with offending or unworthy graduates.A most creditable step has been taken in this direction bythe University Court of the University of Glasgow. Recog-nising the seemliness of the Scottish universities actingtogether and harmoniously in the matter they have adopteda memorandum on July 8th last urging the ScottishUniversities Commissioners to leave on record in their final

report such an expression of opinion as may tend to bring theScottish universities into a line with each other or withthose universities of the United Kingdom which either

already possess or have expressed the desire to obtain furtherdisciplinary powers in accordance with the expressed wishof the General Medical Council. The delicacy ofthis way of proceeding is very great and should over-

come the apparent reluctance of the Edinburgh Univer-

sity to get powers which it needs as much as any otherScottish university. Of the university graduates who havebeen declared by the General Medical Council guilty ofinfamous conduct it is found that four held the degree of theUniversity of Edinburgh ; four that of the University ofGlasgow; one that of the University of St. Andrews;and two that of the University of Aberdeen. It is

inconceivable that the great University of Edinburghshould be really reluctant to purge its roll of dishonourable

names. Anyhow, the University of Glasgow has made amost reasonable suggestion. If the Commissioners stillhold to a Gallio-like attitude the University of Glasgowshould make its own appeal to the Privy Council, seeking, if

possible, the cooperation of the other Scottish Universities.

STREET RUFFIANISM.

STREET ruffianism is at present far more common than it-ought to be, both in London and other large towns. In

Liverpool Mr. Justice Bruce has lately passed sentence on noless than fifteen prisoners who had been convicted, and insentencing them his lordship made some strong remarksupon the subject, stating that one would almost think

Liverpool was a barbarous country instead of a civilised

community, judging from the use of the knife by men andwomen. In London, too, we hear of different gangs whichinfest certain neighbourhoods at night-such, for instance,as the Bethnal.green gang and the Hoxton gang, which haveapparently waged war against each other for a long time,much to the danger and annoyance of the more peacefulinhabitants. Weapons of all kinds are frequently used, andit will be remembered that it was in one of these fights thata little girl was recently shot dead. It is a pity these-bellicose youths cannot find some more useful outlet for theiranimal spirits ; but if any special romance surrounds these-little meetings perhaps a period of hard labour will to som&extent make things appear different. We are glad to seethat this class of case is being severely dealt with, for it ismonstrous that people should not be able to walk about thestreets after dark without being liable to annoyances andrisks of this description.

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MICROSCOPICAL EXAMINATION OF MILK.

IN the Medical News (New York) of July 10th of this

year is an interesting article on the Microscopical Examina-tion of Milk, by Dr. W. R. Stokes, bacteriologist to theHealth Department of Baltimore, and Dr. A. Wegefurth,physician to the North-Eastern Dispensary, Baltimore. Theydraw attention to the fact that milk is a favourable mediumfor the dissemination of tuberculosis and also for the

development of many other pathogenic bacteria, such as thebacillus of typhoid fever and of anthrax. The paper under-

consideration, however, deals mainly with another con-

dition-i.e., the means of detecting a serious contamination inmilk, namely, pus. The presence of this product of inflamma-tion in any considerable quantity generally points to theexistence of some inflammatory condition of the teats or

udder of the cow supplying this fluid. Such a condition im,

cattle is known as "garget." After describing the methods,employed in examining milk for pus and giving a detailedaccount of an epidemic of mild gastro-intestinal irritation inwhich the most reasonable explanation of the cause seemedto be the drinking of milk containing the products of acuteinflammation from a diseased cow, the writers arrive atthe following conclusions. Garget, or inflammation ofthe udder, is a not infrequent condition among the manyherds supplying milk to various cities or communities,Milk from such animals often contains many pus cell&and the accompanying organisms of suppuration. A

study of the epidemic described in the paper as wellas of the important work of Booker and others certainlystrongly suggests that such milk is capable of causing thevarious forms of gastro-enteritis, especially in children andinfants. The microscopical examination of the centrifugalisedsediment of the milk from a herd of cattle, if found tocontain an excessive amount of pus, should lead to a carefulinspection of the herd. The chance of infection from

drinking milk from a large herd can be lessened by makinga microscopical examination of the centrifugalised specimenfrom each cow and by the exclusion of such coves from the-