1774

an exhibit and can be called for and made the subject ofcross-examination. We are not aware that a privilege obtainsin a coroner’s court which would not be allowed at a highertribunal.

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ARSENICAL (P) SOAP.

WE commented under this heading upon two prosecutionswhere the defendants were fined for selling arsenical soap inwhich no arsenic could be detected. The manufacturer saidthe soap contained 2½ grains of arsenic in 3 cwt. of soap.Another case was tried at the same court (Brentford) onDec. 12th, but here arsenic was detected in the proportion ofiaath of a grain to the pound. Council for the defence saidthat as arsenic was there the soap was arsenical and theBench dismissed the summons. We do not consider thesetwo decisions satisfactory. In both cases the soap was

arsenical in that there was a minute quantity of that poisonpresent. In neither case could it do either good or harm insuch small quantities, and in our opinion the defendants uponboth occasions should have met with equal treatment.

Perhaps the day will come when the purchaser will be able toget what he asks for, but at present manufacturers and retailers salve their consciences by advertising, "When youask for - see that you get it," and to judge by reportedcases the purchaser very seldom does get it.

PROFESSIONAL EXCLUSIVENESS IN ITALY.

ITALY, if unwise counsels prevail, is about to forfeit anhonourable distinction. Hitherto she has extended to the

English-speaking representatives of the profession a hos-pitality denied to them by other Continental powers-notablyby Switzerland and France. In our articles on "The

Legality of British Qualifications Abroad " we were able toreport (not without admiration for Italy) that the restric-tions ruling in Switzerland and shortly to be enforced inFrance do not exist in the Italian kingdom." Now, it seems,Italy, or a part of the profession within her borders, is tryingto conform to the illiberal precedent of her French and Swisssisters and to impose prohibitive conditions on practitionersof non-Italian qlalification. Our Roman correspondentdraws attention to the fact and in doing so expresses thehope that the Di Rudini administration will meet the move-ment with a prompt and definite non possumus." We

sincerely join him in this hope. " La France aux Medecins

Français " is a narrow-minded and illogical shibboleth, but"L’Italia ai Medici Italian! " would be immensely more so.It is not a case of "France for the French" or "Italyfor the Italian physican," but "the British resident or

visitor in either country for a physician of his own

nationality." If British consultants were to encroach on

French or Italian cGientcles we could understand theshibboleth referred to. But this is seldom or never

the case. All that the English-speaking layman abroadrequires is that his ailments shall be treated by a

practitioner whose language he speaks and whose pro-fessional traditions are those of his native land ; and, in

turn, all that the English-speaking practitioner abroad

requires is that he may practise his profession unrestrictedlyso long as he does not intrude on the clienteles of his foreignconfrères. The requirement in both cases is surely a justifi-able one. But there is little reason to apprehend its beingdenied. For one thing, as amply demonstrated in thearticle referred to (p. 769), Italy depends too much on

British, American, and Anglo-Colonial gold to thwart the

requirements of its distributors. About a third of herannual revenue is derived from] Anglo-American bources

alone. To enact a law, therefore, which would tend to

diminish her English-speaking population (resident or

1 Vide THE LANCET, Sept. 5th and 12t 1896, pp. 668 and 769.

migratory) would be little short of suicidal. If it ever

found a place on the statute book the Government wouldforthwith be besieged by the combined hotel-keeping and’’ pension" " interest clamouring for its immediate repeal.

EPSOM COLLEGE.

INSTITUTIONS and causes which are really deserving ofsympathy and support may generally rely on assistance fromthe benevolence of the City companies. Several of the com-

panies devote no inconsiderable sums to charitable objects,and we learn with pleasure that the Goldsmiths’ Companyhas just made a grant of .S100 to the funds for the pensionersand foundation scholars of Epsom College because thismunificent company could not find a better object for itsattentions. This seasonable remembrance of the school, inwhich so many medical men have a lively personal interest,will be appreciated by a large number of our readers., Weunderstand that two students of the College have beensuccessful in the Natural Science examinations at CambridgeUniversity, one of them having gained a scholarship atTrinity Hall and the other an exhibition at Sidney SussexCollege.

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AN INFAMOUS QUACK.A CORRESPONDENT sends us some documents which had

been received by one of his patients from a person whom wehave no hesitation in styling an infamous quack. Accus-tomed as we are to the literature sent out by this class ofimpostor we never remember having come across such a

nauseous blend of cant and obscenity as this man’s

productions show. In one document the Reverend"David Jones, the infamous quack in question, gives a

heart-rending account of how he contracted the habit

of self-abuse, how he gave up the degrading habit, but stillsuffered from its evil effects, how he derived no benefit frommedical treatment, and was "through the kindness of someChristian friends " sent out as a missionary to South America,where he discovered the " Corrassa Compound." Needless to

say, on taking it he was soon restored to health. A

testimonial from a M.D., whose name we are unable

to find in either the Medical Directory or the Register,testifies to the fact that his patients, like the Reverend,"benefited by Corrassa Compound. Included in the circularis the accompanying letter :-"DEAR READER,-I have now given you an account of the discovery

of this great remedy and informed you how you may obtain it. Itremains with you to decide whether you will accept the profferedboon. I am trying to perform what I consider a paered duty tosuffering humanity by sending the medicine to those who need it."Are you still in the habit of practising the degrading vice of

Self-Abuse? If so you must stop it at once, and you should com-mence immediately to use the CORRASSA COMPOUND, which is the onlyremedy that can remove these morbid sexual desires, which, if notcured, will surely lead you to rusn. If you have given up the habit,but still feel the effects of this secret vice, this noble remedy will soonrestore you to manly vigour. Are you afflicted with Gonorrheea andgleety cliacharges or with weakness and irritability of the kidneys andbladder? Here is a medicine which has never yet been known to fail,which restores these organs to their natural healthy condition, andalso gives health and strength to the whole body. As you valuehealth and strength, then, use this remedy to lift you from a state ofphysical and mental degradation to all the joy and happiness of arobust and vigorous manhood. And may a kind and merciful Pro-yidence aid and bless all your efforts, is the prayer of

" Yours truly,"DAVID JONES."

In a lithographed letter sent out to enquirers the "Reverend"complains that unscrupulous persons have pirated his

remedy, but he adds : "I have for some time past, knowingthe value of my remedy, submitted patiently to the manyminor encroachments upon my rights. I have felt that mineis not an ordinary trade venture, that what I have done, andam still doing, is for the good, and the good alone, of thepublic. I look to God for the reward of my labours." After

referring to " a barefaced piracy that has taken place " hegoes on : 11 1 know of course that illicit tradirg is never prc-fitable in the end, that, as the Bible says, The integrity ofthe upright shall guide them, but the perverseness of