1397

its estimated bonus would yield if distributed by annualpayments to the assured. This deduction is estimated at

25 per cent. of the premium, and is made a charge upon thecurrent bonus to be liquidated by that bonus when it becomesdue in the ordinary course. In this way a very low-rated

premium table is constructed, and the policy-holder is

enabled to secure from the outset a comparatively largereturn upon his premium outlay. This very thrifty formof life assurance contract was devised in response to the

claim which was put forward in these pages on behalf ofthe medical profession for a life assurance policy pureand simple which should serve to economise premiums tothe utmost, and enable a professional man to make themost ample provision for dependants, in the event of his

premature decease, which his income will permit. The

plan of this Society meets this demand in a very largemeasure, and we are not a little gratified to learn from thereport that the suggestions made first in these columns haveborne excellent fruit, and that the permanence of an excellentinnovation is assured by the extent of the popular favourwith which it has been received.

THE VACANT LANCASHIRE CORONERSHIP.

By the death of Dr. Gilbertson, which was announced inTHE LANCET of last week, a vacancy occurs in the office ofcoroner for Preston and for the Amounderness and LeylandDivision of the County Palatine of Lancaster. We under-stand that Dr. James Rigby of Preston is a candidate for thevacant office, and he has qualifications which peculiarly fithim for the position. He is a medical man of distinctionin his profession, and as it has come to be recognised thatgentlemen who have a knowledge of anatomy, surgery, andmedicine are most suitable for the office of coroner it is

very probable that Dr. Rigby will be successful in his applica-tion for the post. We need hardly say that we wish him

every success. Lancashire is a large county and has manycoroners, but so far only two have been members of the

medical profession. The electors now are the County Council,and we sincerely trust that they will not adopt what wouldbe a retrograde step in electing a solicitor to the vacant

office, more especially as the late coroner appears to have

discharged the duties of the office in a most efficient manner.

SENTENCED TO THE SICILIAN MINES.

IN this country we have of late years come to recogniseand to admit the existence among us of much that is crueland barbarous in the home life and the occupations of

children. A comprehensive Act and a protective society havebeen the practical outcome of our awakened intelligence, andthe experience of several years has proved the justice of, andthe necessity for, their institution, as well as the success oftheir operation. A part of this admission applies also to thedomestic life of neighbouring States. We may quote on veryrecent authority the case of Italy. Reports on this subjectmust have been noticed by most readers of the dailypress, which lately contained graphic accounts of the "whiteslavery " endured by children employed in the Sicilian sul-phur mines. The hardships and ill-usage, the hunger, labour,and malaria to which they are subject in consequence oftheir work-nay, of their daily and nightly life underground-are marked in their stunted and shrunken bodies. The

iniquity of their suffering, sufficient in itself to call for in-dignant condemnation, is in some instances aggravated, if

possible, by the fact that it is illegal, the children beingonly eight or nine years old, and, therefore, under the agerequired for work in the mines. As if by way of apology-for the statement does not amount to exculpation-weare told that the Minister of Agriculture has sent ordersthat the labour of children in Sicilian mines shall be more

humanely conducted in future. A wise and a merciful

order, truly, but how far useful ? 7 This, we take it, will

depend upon the practical evidences of zeal and earnest

purpose which accompany the official recommendation. It

may be dismissed as being mere empty breath, and as such itwill certainly be treated by the " slave-holding " miners-whoare, moreover, the owners of the children by actual purchase-unless it is accompanied by specific regulations, and by sucharrangements for inspection as may and will enforce its claimsto obedience. In the circumstances, and in view of the factthat there can hardly fail to be found, if sought for, amplejustification on other grounds, it is a question well worthy ofconsideration by the Italian Government whether a voluntaryorganisation, similar to the society with which we are herefamiliar, if instituted and supported by a suitable enactment,would not in turn ably second its efforts and divide its

responsibility in dealing with the cruelty which evidentlybesets child life in Italy as well as in Great Britain.

THE EPIDEMIC IN THE TEES VALLEY.

WE are glad to learn that the official report issued by theMedical Department of the Local Government Board on theepidemic of enteric fever in the Tees Valley has been reducedin price. It was at first issued at 15s. 10d., and the additionof the odd pence gave the idea that its selling value hadbeen carefully calculated ; but, just as the price of the

report on small-pox in Sheffield was reduced when complaintwas made, so now it has been found quite practicable toreduce the price of the Tees Valley report to 10s. 6d. This

report will doubtless become historic in the annals of

mischief resulting from the use of sewage-polluted butfiltered river waters, and such reports ought not to havefancy prices attached to them. If anything, they shouldbe sold or distributed at a loss, for the country gains to theextent that such work produces educational results.

METHOD OF PREPARING HISTOLOGICALSPECIMENS OF THE COCHLEA.

KAZZl recommends the temporal bones of man, which havebeen kept in spirit or in per cent. of chromic acid or inper cent. of chromosmic acid, should be decalcified by treat-

ment with a solution containing 30 per cent. of hydrochloricacid and about 1 per cent. of palladium chloride. When

decalcified, the preparation is to be washed and immersed in90 per cent. spirit. After a few days sections can be madewith a razor, and these are to be placed in absolute alcohol.After lying for twenty-four hours they should be transferredto xylol or to oil of cloves, and ultimately mounted in Canadabalsam, when they will be found in the course of a day to beperfectly transparent.

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THE PREVENTION OF CRUELTY TO CHILDREN.

IF we know anything in connexion with the lives of childrenin this country it is that the measures of restraint and

punishment enacted by the Government four years ago forthe prevention of their cruel maltreatment have been fullyjustified by subsequent experience. The Duke of Fife, whopresided at the second annual meeting of the National

Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children, held inManchester last week, spoke upon this subject with appro-priate force and directness. There was no need to specifythe various and aggravated forms of cruelty with which,thanks largely to the Society’s agents, we have now becomefamiliar. It was enough that during the brief period referredto 34,000 offenders had been detected and dealt with, whileno fewer than 90,000 children had been protected. The

operations of the Society now extend to about 20,000,000of the population of the United Kingdom. We would remind

1 Archiv für Ohrenheilkunde, Band xxxiv., p. 215.