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interest, not alone from the distinguished position and ex-traordinary career of the deceased, but also from the tragicalcircumstances which attended its close, and now, from thedoubtful character of the cause of his death. It is a subjectto which we propose to return.

Correspondence.

MEDICO-NAVAL TACTICS.—NAVAL ASSISTANT-SURGEONS.

"Audi alteram nartem."

!To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,—As the day approaches for the re-opening of the

students’ campaign, it has occurred to me, that in your"Students’ Number" a suggestion might be thrown out byyour powerful pen. in connexion with a subject of paramountinterest to the junior branches of the profession, the adoptionof which could scarcely fail to infuse alarm into their enemy’scamp, if not to bring him unconditionally to terms. The enemyI allude to is the Admiralty, that many-headed monster,Dundas, Berkeley, and Co.! I beg to submit for your con-sideration the propriety and desirableness of calling upon allmedical students in the three kingdoms to " register an oathin heaven," (more Shylock and Daniel O’Connell,) not to

accept service in the navy on their entrance into professionallife, until not only they shall have been elevated from theirpresent degradation in the cock-pit, but likewise placed, inevery particular, on a footing with their brethren in the army.Moreover, let them insist on the absolute erasure of theoffensive "with, but after" from the black book at Whitehall!An appeal of this sort from THE LANCET would, I think, carrygreat weight with it in the right direction, and ought to do sothe less unhesitatingly that such advice can be susceptible ofone interpretation only-viz., that of seeking the good of thoseto whom it is addressed. The motto, or heading, to such anappeal might not inappropriately be-" Heaven helps thosewho help themselves."A well-organized system of combination throughout the

length and breadth of the schools might be productive, Ithink, of excellent consequences in the particular interestunder notice; and should you entertain the same opinion, thequomodo can be better pointed out by your admirable pen thanby my own.At the risk of appearing somewhat discursive on this occa-

sion, I will throw out a hint here for the use of any such asmay be disposed to turn it hereafter to account, upon a pointwhich I do not remember to have seen quoted before, and itis this: that when this argument for the exclusion of assistant-surgeons from the gun-room—viz., that discipline wouldsuffer by collocating the surgeon and assistant-surgeon to-

gether-is employed, the natural answer should be, Why, then,are the first and second lieutenants of marines permitted torespire the same atmosphere as the captain of the same corps,in such ships as are allowed three marine officers ? and whyare the naval lieutenants, pursers, &c., thrown into the sameroom with the commander, where an officer of the latterrank is embarked under a captain ? But, lastly, if the partymanufactured into the status of a gentleman and of an officerin order to look after the interests of the steam-engine canbe provided for in the ward-room, why, in Heaven’s name,cannot the assistant-surgeon be deemed good enough for thesame ? I remain, Sir, your obedient servant,

A FOE TO HUMBUG AND OPPRESSION.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—In the Report of the Navy, Army, and OrdinanceEstimates (Times, Sept. 20) is the following:—" The Director-General states, that efficient assistant-surgeons have becomeso scarce, that upon a ship’s being commissioned, or foreignstations requiring supernumeraries, the only available officershave been those who have recently e,,tered. The scarcity heattributes in some measure to the circumstance, that the posi-tion of medical men as regards their mess and berths arefelt to be inadequate to their station in society."The excellent letter of your correspondent, An Assistant-

Surgeon, in this week’s LANCET, with many others which haveappeared on the same subiect, have so fully shown the injustice

of the treatment complained of, that my object in noticing thesubject is merely to suggest a plan, which I believe would ina great measure tend to prevent the furtlier supply of assistant-surgeons to her Majesty’s navy; and by this means compelthe Government to adopt the very reasonable and just altern.tion proposed. Let the names of those who have recentlyentered the service, with their qualifications, (not forgettingthe schools where they were educated,) be published, andthey ill ever be marked men-men to whose names a stigmawill be affixed through life. This proposition by some maybe considered a harsh one, and it may be said that many arecompelled through poverty to do that which is abhorrent totheir sense of honour and independence. This, Sir, is the kindof cant that has been so injurious to the profession in all itsstruggles against injustice and oppression. " If I don’t do it,another will, and I shall lose my bread." In some instances,it may apply to men of large families and small incomes; butI believe it is generally an excuse to do that which a man isinclined to do ; and I further believe, that the man who,from a feeling of honour and independence, will disregardpecuniary motives, and submit to the immediate loss ofa part of his income, will in the end rather be benefitedthan injured by his conduct. But, Sir, these young gentlemen"recently appointed" have not the excuse of large familiesand expensive establishments to offer; and if some of themshould be thrown upon their " beam ends" for a short time,they will have the satisfaction of knowing that by theirmeans a great good has been accomplished, both to theirprofession and to the public at large ; and that although thewooden walls of Old England are impregnable, some ofher heads are to be " squeezed " into reasonable measures.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,September 20, 1848. INVESTIGATOR.

ON THE TREATMENT OF OVARIAN DROPSY.[LETTERS FROM DR. TILT.]

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,—I concluded my last paper, in THE LANCET of the 9th

of Sept., by an account of a plan of treating ovarian dropsyoften adopted by Ledran, and employed by Houston, whosecase has been often quoted, and by others whose names Imentioned. This plan of treatment has been lately revivedby Mr. Bainbrigge of Liverpool, and put in practice, as amatter of necessity, by Dr. Mussey of New York and thecelebrated Dieffenbach, when, after having opened the ab-domen, they found it impossible to remove the tumour. Iallude to the incision of the cyst, and removal of its contents,a tent being left in its cavity. If I had received the num-ber of the British Record, &c., for September 1st, before mypaper had been sent to your office, I should have added aninteresting case of ovarian dropsy, wherein that plan of treat-ment was successfully adopted by Dr. Clay, under similar cir-cumstances, as well as a case of hydatigenous collection inthe peritonseum, in which the same plan was adopted.

Case 9th of the interesting cases of ovariotomy whichDr. Clay is now publishing in the Bratish Record, is that of awoman who was supposed to be suffering from a large ovariantumour. An abdominal incision, six inches in length, havingbeen made, it was discovered that the abdominal enlargementwas due to an immense collection of hydatids in the peritonæalcavity, and that it was not formed by various small ttimoursdispersed in different parts of one large ovarian sac, as hadbeen suspected. In addition to this great quantity of hydatids,most of the viscera were enlarged, and adhered to each other,particularly the uterus, the right ovary, and the spleen. Thehydatids were removed, and the wound was closed, a tentbeing left in the cyst. Under judicious management thepatient recovered. Alluding to this case of a collection ofhydatids in the peritonæum. Dr. Clay remarks, " This is, I be-lieve, the first case on record where ovarian or uterine diseasehad been treated by the ulcerative process."

Case 10th is one of ovarian dropsy. An abdominal incision,four inches in length, was made, and "every part of the ex-ternal walls of the tumour was so amalgamated by extensiveadhesions to the abdominal parietes and viscera, that everyattempt at removal would have been found impracticable."Dr. Clay cleared the sac, and closed the wound, leaving a tentin the cyst. The patient had a considerable discharge forseveral months, and, with the exception of a slight oozingfrom a small aperture, was perfectly well in a year afterwards.To this case the following remarks were appended :-"The satisfactory issue of these two cases gave great relief

to my mind, as I anticipated a mode of relief to those cases