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generations served as a scientific leaven among their fellowsin Manchester and South Lancashire, and said that when hisfriend Mr. Glover, an excellent botanist and entomologist,invited him to see his collection of insects and rare gardenplants at Smedley-hill, " though this was sixty-five yearsago he noticed that the latter suffered a good deal from thecity smoke." But there was none to whose friendship andcorrespondence he looked back with greater pleasure than’to that of the late Professor Williamson, who was a remark-’able instance of the successful cultivation of natural history,and especially of the organisation of the fossil plants of theooal measures, while he was busily engaged in generalpractice. Sir Joseph Hooker " accepted the medal as atribute to his father’s memory as much as to his own

exertions." The Dalton medal was then presented to Dr.Schunk, F.R.S , who is its first recipient, for the life-longservices he had given for the advancement of science.Lastly, the Wilde premium of 15 guineas wag presentedto Mr. John Butterworth of Shaw, who has done excellentwork, particularly in regard to the flora of the coalmeasures. He is one of the band of Lancashire workingmen imbued with the love of science for its own sake. Inthanking the society he said he had worked for nearly30 years with the late Professor Williamson. In his earlydays he had not the advantage of systematic instruc-

tion ; it was "a case of the night school and solitarycandle. He had pursued the study of geology purely forthe love of it and had found great enjoyment among theflora of the coal measures." Will the teaching now givenin our public, elementary, and other schools increase theproportion of these humbly born lovers of knowledge ?

Seats for Shop Girls.A well-attended meeting of the local branch of the

National Union of Women Workers was held on March 29 bh.at the Manchester Town-hall. In the absence of theLord Mayor the chair was occupied by the Hon. Mrs.A. T. Lyttleton, president of the branch. The question of"seats in shops " was one of the subjects considered and a.statement was circulated among the audience setting forththe evils and the cruelty of continuous standing, oftenresulting in serious injury to the women and girls employedin shops and ristaurants. Dr. Sinclair moved a resolutionstrongly supporting "the Bill to amend the Law relating toShops, and especially Clause 9, which is before the Houseof Commons this year." It was seconded by Dr. Wilkinsonand both gentlemen spoke from the medical aspect onthe evils of prolonged standing, advocating strongly morehumane treatment as regards the provision of seats. Mrs.William Croasley said there were thousands who hadto stand from 8 30 in the morning to 6.30 in the

evening. She suggested a conference with the employersand said she had little doubt of a good result. A.letter was read from one of the principal firms in Man-chester saying they had for some years provided seatsand expressed the wish that they should be made use of.Mrs. Lyttleton pointed out that the chief evil arose not inthe shops frequented by the well-to-do but in those of alower class, and that to deal with them legislation wasnecessary. The crusade in favour of seats in shops, with per-mission to use them, has been carried on for many years, butit would seem with little actual success. Legislation oughtnot to be necessary for the carrying out of so obviouslyhumane a practice, but it seems to be. Who can say pre-cisely where the fault lies ? It probably should be prettyevenly distributed, but if the countless host of well-to-dowomen customers were in earnest and brought their influenceto bear on the employers seats would be provided in theshops as rapidly as they could be fixed by the joiners.

April 12th.

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Glasgow University.AT a meeting of the Senate on April 4th the com-

mission from the Crown appointing Dr John Glaister to thechair of Forensic Medicine was submitted and Dr. Glaisterhaving been introduced to the Senate and having signedthe declaration de fideli was admitted to office in the usualform. During the past week a number of students underthe direction of Dr. Gemmill, lecturer on cml)ryology, and

Dr. R1Dkin, demonstrator of zoology, have taken advantageof the recess to prosecute the study of practical biology at thenew marine institute at Millport. The excursion has provedin every way a great success. By dredging and netting anample supply of material has been readily obtained and thefacilities and equipment offered by the laboratory have givenevery satisfaction. This new departure in practical work forthe university students has demonstrated the excellent

opportunities offered by the Mlllport district and instituteand there can be no doubt that an increasing recognition ofthese will promptly follow.

The Aerial Transmission of Enicric Fever.A paper on this subject was read before the Glasgow Philo-

sophical Society on April 6th by Dr. John Brownlee of theBelvidere Fever Hospital. The lecturer regarded it as provedthat the enteric bacillus could live in arable and other soilsand- he described an experiment in which he proved the samepossibility in regard to ordinary dust. He also gave detailsof an outbreak of enteric fever which occurred in one of thecity hospitals. Some few cases of the fever had beenadmitted and when subsequently the drains were underrepair a considerable number of cases developed in all partsof the hospital. Dr. Brownlee regarded these and otherinstances as proofs of the theory that the germ of the diseasemay be transmitted through the air and advocated thepursuit of sanitary measures based on this assumption.April 13th.

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Irish 1lfediaal Association.A SPECIAL general meeting of the Irish Medical Asso-

ciation was held at the Royal College of Surgeons inIreland on March 29 jh. The committee of council after-wards held a conference in order to consider communica-tions received in reference to the Local Government Bill.The meeting adjourned until April 7ch, when the Bill wasconsidered in the interests of Poor-law medical officers. TheCouncil has addressed a letter to the Chief Secretary forIreland with particular reference to clause 58 and it is

hoped that he will accede to the request made. Poor-lawmedical officers in Ireland were requested to take the neces-sary steps to obtain the assistance of their Parliamentaryrepresentative in support of certain amendments to theBill. At the meeting of the council held on March 16thit was decided that an appeal should be made-on theadvice of its law agent and the opinion of senior counsel-against the decision of the Court of Queen’s Bench rela-tive to the fee claimed by the medical officer of health ofMidleton Union for evidence in a sanitary prosecution.

Dispensary Medical OtHcers’ Substitutes.The vexed question as to the payment of a dispensary

medical man’s substitute has recently been adjudicated uponin Limerick. Dr. Graham of that city required a substituteto act for him during a recent illness and he, with thesanction of the board of guardians, appointed anothermedical practitioner-Mr. Humphries-to act in his stead.At a meeting of the Dispensary Committee, held on

March 30th and convened for the purpose of considering anapplication of Dr. Graham for a further extension of his sickleave, a letter was read from the Local Government Boardsuggesting that in future in appointments of this nature itwould be wise for the committee in the interests of the sickpoor to see their way to the selection of an cfficer who coulddevote his entire attention to the work. The committeerecognised the wisdom of the suggestion and instead ofre-appointing Mr. Humphries, who is a dispensary medicalofficer in large private practice, appointed to the temporarypost a medical man free from public duties in the district.The Feeling in Dublin in reference to the Army Medical

Department.The interest which is felt here in reference to the Army

Medical Service has been increased rather than diminishedby the strangely conflicting replies of the Royal Collegesof Physicians and Surgeons respectively to the request ofthe Director-General. The Council of the Royal College ofSurgeons met on March 29th for the special purpose ofconsiderirg the matter ard after an exiting debate decided

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to accept the suggestion and to nominate two surgeons fortemporary service in the Army Medical Department inreliance on the pledge given by the Government that thenewer reforms would be carried out. At a largely attendedmeeting of the President and Fellows of the Royal Collegeof Physicians held on April 1st the following carefullyconsidered resolution was unanimously adopted :-Pending the issue of a warrant in accordance with the statement

recently made in the House of Commons by Mr. Powell Williams,M.P., Financial Secretary to the War Office, as to prospective arrange-ments for improvements in the Army Medical Department, hioharrangements, if cairied out as indicated, would, it is believed, at oncesecure a competition by a sufficient number of high-class candidates tofill the vacancies that now exist in the service by competitive examina-tion in the ordinary manner, the College is of opinion that, in theinterests of its Licentiates and of the Army Medical Staff, it is notadvisable that any recommendations for the temporary employmentof civil surgeons for duty with Her Majesty’s troops in the UnitedKingdom should be made by the President in accordance with therequest made to him by the Director-General.The College of Surgeons considered the somewhat vaguestatements as to the new warrant which emanated fromLord Lansdowne to constitute the beginning of a new erafor the army surgeon and acted on that perfectly naturalassumption. The other College decided on not moving untilthe document itself appears. The resolution of the latter-the College of Pbysicians-was quoted" in full in the columnsof the Irish Times of April 2nd and formed the subject ofone of the numerous leading articles on the matter whichhave recently appeared in that journal. The generalfeeling in Dublin seems to be very much what is embodiedin the leading article in THE LANCET of April 2nd-namely,that the Army Medical Staff and the profession are to becongratulated on the very successful issue of their con-

troversy with the Government.

.Decision of the Local Gove7itvtent Board with Refcrence to the-11’edical Officer of the Cashel Union Infirmary.

At the last meeting of the Cashel board of guardians heldon April 7th a letter was read from the Local GovernmentBoard containing the decision of the board on the sworninquiry held some weeks ago into the conduct of the medicalofficer of the workhouse in relation to trained nurses recentlyemployed there. The letter criticised the action of themedical officer in very strong terms on the grounds, firstly,that he permitted the dispensary midwife, who was in atten-dance on a case of puerperal fever, to leave the workhouseand attend cases outside ; secondly, when acute cases of

typhus fever were admitted to the fever hospital he took nosteps whatever to have the trained nurse who was in attend-ance on the puerperal case removed from the fever hospitalalthough she herself called his attention to the matter,while he tacitly sanctioned her sleeping in the same roomwith the nurse in charge of the typhus fever case; andthirdly, the action of the medical officer in instigating thenurses to write a highly objectionable letter to the guardianswas quite unjustifiable. The document goes on to say :"Under all the circumstances the Local Government Boardhave reluctantly come to the conclusion that the medicalofficer has by his conduct forfeited the confidence of theboard of guardians and they (the Local Government Board)entertain serious doubts whether he should be permitted toretain his position in connexion with the workhouse." Inconclusion the board suggest that on this point theguardians should convene a special meeting of themselvesin order to consider the matter and intimate that in theevent of their feeling justified in giving the medical officeran opportunity of retrieving his position they (the LocalGovernment Board) will be prepared to consider the proprietyof acceding to their wishes after the officer has apologisedfor his conduct and promised an amendment for the future.The friction and trouble which have existed between theguardians of the Cashel Union and their union medicalofficer have been the subject of local public interest for verymany months-even years-and have occupied many columnsof the local journals in the shape of letters and leadingarticles. Nobody seems to doubt the ability of the medicalofficer in question, but it is at the same time clear to every-one that he has failed to recognise the fact that he is,however able and independent, the salaried officer of theboard of guardians whom he has taken pleasure in

defying."Visit of Professor Schiife’f, F.R.S" to Belfast. I

I

Dr. J. A. Lindsay, President of the Ulster Medical Society.invited the members of that society as well as severalleading men ol the medical profession in Ulster to a

reception in the Museum, Belfast, on April 5th, to meet,Professor Schafer, F.R.S., of London, who has been spending,a short holiday in Belfast. A very large number acceptedDr. Lindsay’s hospitality and the entertainment was inevery respect a success. Those present subsequentlyadjourned to the lecture-hall of the Museum, where Dr,Lindsay took the chair, and in very complimentary terms.introduced Professor Scbafer, who gave an interestingaddress on the Causes of Glycosuria. He believed therewere many causes of sugar appearing in the urine and he gavean interesting account of glycosuria caused in animals by a.vegetable drug, phloridizin. The causes of glycosuria which.he specially dwelt on were (1) the alimentary, (2) the nervous,.(3) the renal, and (4) the pancreatic. His remarks on the.kidney form were of great interest and he described certain-experiments made by himself and an old Belfast student,Mr. Benjamin Moore, M.A. (who is now assistant Professor.’of Physiology at University College, London), to elucidatethe question of pancreatic diabetes. The results are not,

yet completed. At the conclusion of his address Professor-Sohtt.fer was awarded a hearty vote of thanks on the motion.of Dr. Redfern, seconded by Professor Cuming, M.D.

Belfast Board of Guardian3.As a result of the Poor-law elections in Belfast just-

declared the two lady candidates are elected and one ofthem is successful in two of the wards. This will necessitateanother election and it is expected that another lady will’!come forward.

Belfast Corporation (Hospitals) Bill.The Roman Catholic ratepayers and inhabitants of Belfast

have deposited in the Private Bill Office of the House ofLords a petition asking to be heard by counsel in opposition)to the Belfast Corporation (Hospitals) Bill when it is reached.The second reading in the House of Commons on April 4tbwas postponed until Tuesday, April 26th. The representativesof the Mater Infirmorum (the Roman Catholic) Hospitalhave issued in pamphlet form (27 pages) their claim, a copyof which has been sent to each Member of Parliament. Theysay that as the Royal Victoria Hospital has been granted a.free site their hospital should be freed from ground-rent.Their ground-rent is 9100 per annum and they suggest thabthe Belfast corporation should either pay this or providedfund to be invested in trust for the purpose of producing:the necessary annuity.

April 13th. _______________

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

A Sequel to the Laporte Case.AN account has already been given in the columns of

THE LANCET of the meeting of the Society of LegalMedicine when the expert witnesses in the Laporte case,who were so violently attacked by M. Varnier on

account of their report, were honoured by the passing;of a resolution declaring that the documents upon whichM. Varnier founded his attack were inaccurate copiesof the official documents. A controversy has since beenraging in the medical press between M. Varnier andM. Socquet, one of the impugned experts. M. Varnierargues that the discrepancies between the version o&bgr;the evidence on which he based the attack and the.official copies were merely due to a copyist’s error. Atthe meeting of the Society of Legal Medicine held onApril 4th M. Pinard read a long memorandum inwhich he took upon himself the responsibility for M.Varnier’s charges and attempted to sustain the theory,in the face of the remarkable declaration of M. May-grier and the evidence offered by the latter at thelast meeting of the society, that the perforations found,at the post-mortem examination could have been spon..taneous. He also argued that the resolution passed by thesociety at its last meeting was too general and implied thatall the documents used by M. Varnier were incorrect, whereasthere was only one which had any error in it. M. Socquettook up the discussion and in a moving speech complainedthat he had been most violently attacked as to his skill as ar,expert by M. Varnier and that he had been accused by him ofhaving been the cause of the arrest of Dr. Laporte by having

, sent in to the examining magistrate a summary report of only