958 WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES.-NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.

WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The T’accination Question at Cltcltenhana.AT Cheltenham, on March 26th, a deputation from the

’Public Health Committee of the corporation waited on theboard of guardians and urged that increased facilities shouldbe given for vaccination. Last year the number of people’vaccinated was fifteen and last week five. The Health Com-mittee suggested that twenty-four medical men should beselected to vaccinate and revaccinate people at their ownhomes or at the vaccination offices. It is estimated that,there are no less than 1534 unvaccinated children in Chelten-ham and that during the past ten or twenty years only’25 per cent. of the people have been vaccinated. It wasresolved to ask the sanction of the Local Government Board,to the additional facilities for vaccination.

The Bristol Board of Guardians and Vaccination.At the last meeting of the Bristol board of guardians, held

.on March 27th, the chairman moved-" That the resolutionpassed that the vaccination officers do not take proceedingsfor default in compliance with the Vaccination Acts, pendingthe issue of the report of the Royal Commission on Vaccina-tion, be rescinded, and that authority be given to the officersto take proceedings from time to time as may be necessary.against all persons who neglect to comply with the Vaccina-tion Acts as to the enforcement of vaccination, and who havenot been before proceeded against for such neglect." Thevice-chairman seconded. The motion, it was explained, wasthe response to the letter received from the medical officer ofhealth (Dr. D. S. Davies). It was stoutly contested by the.anti-vaccinationists. The discussion lasted for an hour anda half, both sides freely quoting statistics. The resolutionwas, fortunately, adopted-but only by a majority of one.

A Gloucester Clergyman’s Opltaiorz on Vaccination.The Rev. Henry Proctor, Vicar of St. Luke’s, Gloucester,

in the course of a letter to the local press on March 23rd,stated: "There are two families living just outside my garden,in one there are six children, five vaccinated and one not: theunvaccinated child is the only one that has taken small-pox.In the other, out of eight children, one unvaccinated onehas died of the disease. In another case there were sevenchildren. The father, mother, and four unvaccinatedchildren have already died, another is hanging between lifeand death, the other two-who were the only vaccinatedmembers of the family-have not even taken the disease. I- could multiply instances, but I will simply add this remark :I am now visiting over 100 small-pox patients from day to day-60 in the hospital and over 40 in their own houses inthis parish-and I believe I could undertake to go roundfrom bed to bed and state almost without error which hadbeen vaccinated and which not without any previous know-ledge as to the facts, so marked is the difference in the effectof the disease in the two cases." The Vicar of St. Luke’sis to be congratulated upon having so well shown in thisletter the advantages of vaccination.

The Jenner Memorial Fund.The Dean and Faculty of the Medical School of University

College, Bristol, having consented to receive and perman-ently locate the valuable collection of mementos of EdwardJenner, known as the Jenner Relics," it is desired to raiseby public subscription the sum of E1500 in order to defraythe cost of purchase from Mr. Frederick Mockler of Vrotton-under-Edge. Each subscriber of one guinea and upwardswill receive when the list is complete a silver medal, and tosubscribers of not less than half a guinea a bronze medal willbe presented, commemorative of the Jenner Centenary,May 14th, 1896. The Bristol newspapers of March 28thpublish a list of subscribers up to March 27th, but the sub-scriptions at present fall very far short of the sum required.Subscriptions are being received by Messrs. Prescott, Dims-dale, Cave, Tugwell, and Co., bankers, Bristol. Intendingsubscribers will greatly oblige by sending in their names attheir earliest convenience to Mr. W. H. Greville Edwards.

Gallantry of a Medical ltla-t2.The committee of the Royal Humane Society on

March 18th awarded their silver medal to Mr. T. H. Morris,M.B., C.M. Glasg., of Tylorstown, Glamorganshire, fordistinguished gallantry displayed at the explosion in the

Tylorstown Colliery on Jan. 27th, when fifty-seven lives werelost and the mine was wrecked. Dr. Morris entered the pitwith an exploring party which, with great difficulty and atthe imminent peril of their lives, rendered assistance to theimprisoned miners. The risk to all concerned was extremelygreat as independently of the danger of being buried alive bythe falling coal there was the additional prospect of a secondexplosion.

Prosecutions by the British Dental Association.At the instance of the British Dental Association H. W.

Shallard and Osborne White, both of Cardiff, were sum-

moned before the local stipendiary magistrate on March 25thfor practising as dentists, not being registered under the Actof 1878. They were each fined 40s. and costs.

An Infectious Hospital for Dorchester.On March 25th the new isolation hospital, which has been

recently built by the Dorchester municipal authority at acost of £1200, was opened and several cases of scarlet feverwere admitted.March 30th.

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NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Death of the Medical Officer of Health for nunderland.MR. J. WOOD, the medical officer of health for Sunderland,

died suddenly at Millfield on Wednesday last from syncope.He was only forty years of age and leaves a widow and twoboys.Nurses Home and Training School, Newscastle-upon-Tyne.The annual meeting of this valuable institution was held

at the home last week, Professor Philipson presiding. Fromthe report it appears there are now seventy nurses and tenprobationers. Upon the year’s working there has been aprofit of ;E305, and this sum has been divided among thenurses, the amount given to each being regulated by thetime she has been on the staff. The great success which hasattended the career of the home is very much due to theadmirable management of the matron, Miss Emery. 618cases were nursed last year.

Lerture on tite Roetgen Process by Professor Stroud.A most interesting lecture by Professor Stroud was by

request repeated in the large chemical theatre of theDurham College of Science on Monday last to a largeaudience, when a series of experiments were performedillustrating the effect produced by these mysterious rays.

Stoppage of the Rainton Collieries.The Marquis of Londonderry called together the men

employed in these extensive collieries, some 4000 in number,a few days ago, and explained to them that as he had lostsome .615,000 by working the Hainton pits during the year1895 it would be necessary for him to close them. Thenoble Marquis, between whom and the miners the very bestrelations exist, submitted his balance sheet and took the meninto his entire confidence. The stoppage of these pits willbe a terrible misfortune to the district and to the county ofDurham. At present the men work from bank to bankseven hours a day. If they worked longer, as they used todo, when there was more coal in the pits, and it was easierto win than is now the case, it is possible the work might becarried on, but against longer hours is the veto of the union.

Prnjeated Exhibition in Neweastle during the year 1897,It is proposed to hold during the year 1897, in the city of

Newcastle-upon-Tyne, an exhibition on a large scale of localindustries, representative of the products of local engineers,shipbuilders, and manufacturers, the proceeds of which areto be devoted to the building fund of the new infirmary. Aguarantee of £10,000 is being raised. The infirmary com-mittee has secured the services of Mr. Engel, who hasbrought several similar ventures to a successful issue in the

, north of England. It is believed that a substantial sum will

by this means be raised.March 30t,h.

SUPERANNUATION ALLOWANCE.—Mr. T. Francis,L.R.C.1’. Edin., M.R.C.S., has been granted a superannuation

’ allowance by the Brentford board of guardians of B10713s. 4d.! per annum.

959SCOTLAND.-IRELAND.-PARIS.

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

University of Glasgow.THE University Court have appointed Dr. H. C. Cameron,

Dr. D. C. McVail, and Sheriff Berny as delegates to repre-sent the University at the Congress of the British Instituteof Public Health to be held in the University buildings inJuly next.-The Professional Examinations for degrees inMedicine and Surgery, which have been in progress duringthe past week, give abundant evidence of the activity of thefemale undergraduate, for in all the published lists of suc-cessful candidates the names of women students are to befound prominent. Similar results are to be traced in the

prize lists issued in the Faculty of Arts, where again thenames of women students are to be found occupying honour-able positions among the prize winners.-Mr. Thos. Gray,B.Sc., F.C.S., Lecturer on Chemistry in Queen MargaretCollege, has been nominated as secretary of the ScottishBranch of the Society of Chemical Industry, in successionto Mr. Stanley Muir, B.Sc., resigned.

Female Medical Officers.At a meeting of the Govan parish council on the 26th ult.

Mrs. Greenlees moved that lady doctors should be eligible asmedical officers under the council. The chairman of theMedical Committee expressed his willingness to assent tothe motion, and it was adopted. A medical member of the

board, however, ventured to doubt whether the people in allthe districts would have confidence in women as medicalofficers and suggested that the council should rather appointa number of qualified midwives.

Glasgow Collrgiate School Club.The club, which consists of the "old boys" of the

Collegiate School, celebrated its annual dinner on the26th ult. A number of well-known medical men took partin the proceedings, and the dinner tables were decoratedwith flowers sent by Dr. Aikman of Guernsey. The newlyelected president is Dr. William J. Fleming.

Glasgow Samaritan Hospital.The annual meeting of the subscribers was held on the

26th ult., Sir James King, Bart., in the chair. The most

interesting feature in the report was the announcement thatthe new hospital buildings will be opened in May next. IThere is every probability, too, that by that time the entireoutlay will have been met by special subscription and that,therefore, the new building will start its career free fromdebt. The Bellahouston trustees have made a grant of£2000 to the building fund, Lord Overtoun has added £500,and another .B500 has been obtained from various sources.There now only remains a balance of £1000, and a specialeffort is to be made to remove this before the hospital isopened.April lst.

__________________

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Resignation (If one of the Members of Parliament for Dublin.THE sudden and unexpected resignation of the member of

parliament for the College Green division of the city ofDublin, Mr. Joseph E. Kenny, M.P., L.R.C.P. Edin.,L.R.C.S., L.A.H. Dub., has caused considerable interestin medical circles as well as among the general public.lIr. Kenny is now the coroner for the city of Dublinand is about to resign his seat in the House of Com-mons on account of the difficulty he finds in attendingwith sufficient constancy to his duties there. It will beremembered that Dublin has been represented in Parliamentior long periods by members of the medical profession suchas the late Sir Dominick Corrigan and Dr. Robert Lyons.

The Royal College of Surgeons of Ireland.More than eighty students entered for the half-yearly

preliminary examination at the Royal College of Surgeonsin Ireland on March 24th. The fact indicates that thepopularity of medicine as a profession here has notdiminished.

The IJn7vnpatric7z Guardians.With reference to the inquest held in Downpatrick on

March 13th,l in which the jury blamed the guardians for notproviding proper medical assistance when their medicalofficer was attending the assizes, and to which attention wasdrawn in the House of Commons, the Local GovernmentBoard have instructed their inspector, Dr. Clibborn, to holda sworn inquiry into the circumstances of the man’s death.

Vaccination Prosecutions in Londonderry.A merchant has been prosecuted by the Londonderry board

of guardians for the fourth time under the CompulsoryVaccination Act, he having been fined on the three previousoccasions. As the defendant had not complied with theprovisions of the Act the guardians on March 14th passeda resolution ordering a fourth prosecution, which tookplace on March 30th. After it had been proved that thedefendant’s child, born on Sept. 1st, 1893, had not beenvaccinated the father stated that if he were prosecutedtwenty-four times he would not allow his child to be vacci-nated. As the magistrates were equally divided as to whetheror not a penalty should be imposed no rule " was marked.In another case the same course was taken.

I’lie Battle of the Clubs at Cork.The fight with the clubs goes on gaily as far as the medical

men are concerned. Nearly eighteen months have elapsedand the sixty medical men practising in Cork stand loyallytogether, shoulder to shoulder, as much so to-day as at thevery inception of the movement. Such admirable disciplinehas necessarily produced a profound impression on the clubsand a public opinion favourable to the medical men is

being formed slowly but steadily in Cork. A writer

signing himself "Non-Medicus " has done yeoman’s service.His letters are models of diction and close reasoning. In

scathing terms he criticises the pharisaical hypocrisy ex-hibited by the clubs in referring to what they are pleased tocall "the boycotting of the sick bed" by the medical men,and he aptly reminds them that there was no condemnationof the boycotting of the sick bed when a poor patientsuffering from consumption was refused sick pay by hisbrother members because he had thought fit to ignore theservices of the club medical man and call in those of one ofthe regular practitioners. Rejoinders of that kind haveproved too much for club correspondents and ° Non-Medicus " remains master of the field.

April 1st. _______

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Health of ltTarsellles.AT the last meeting of the Societe de Medecine Publique

et d’Hygiene Professionnelle M. Genis gave an aperçu of theimportant sanitary works now nearly completed in Marseilles.When the new drainage scheme is applied the sewage of thetown will flow into the sea, the cost of the undertakingbeing 30,000,000 francs. M. Genis complains that the

municipality has hitherto taken no steps whatever to utilisethe new system of drainage. The Minister of the Interiorhas vainly urged the city authorities on four occasions tobestir themselves. As things stand, the sewage forthe most part flows into the subsoil, which is thus con-

’ verted into a gigantic cesspool, whilst the 122 kilometresof drains receive only the rainfall. It is not difficult to recon-

. cile with this astonishing supineness the discreditable death-rate of the town-32 per 1000. Only last year the mortality

. from small-pox was very high. What can be thought of thesanitary notions of a municipality which finds that its duty

’ was performed during the last epidemic of cholera by burn-! ing 60,000 francs’ worth of sulphur in the drains ?’

Application of the New Photographic Method.Professor Pinard exhibited at the Académie de Medecine

on the 24th inst. a photograph obtained by the Roentgenprocess of the foetus enclosed in a thick-walled uterus which

’

had been preserved in spirit for four months. The image3 of the skeleton of the tull-termed foetus was clearly seen: after an exposure of forty-five minutes. It would appear,

1 THE LANCET, March 21st, 1896.