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THE BROWN INSTITUTION.

THOSE who are sceptical regarding the work done at theBrown Institution should read the report for 1887 compiledby the Professor-Superintendent, Mr. Victor Horsley. Itwill be seen that the benevolent wishes of the founder are

faithfully observed, and that, as hitherto, many importantscientific investigations have been carried on. To some

who, as Professor Horsley says, spend money in " wantonand mendacious abuse of the Institution and its work," itmay be a revelation that no fewer than 3850

" patients" were treated therein during the past year. Perhaps themisconception of the work of the Institution prevalentin some quarters has been partly owing to the reticencehitherto kept regarding its hospital side.. Now, thanks to.a resolution moved by Sir W. Gull, further details respectingthe hospital work are to be given in the annual reports.Professor Horsley points out that the hospital recordsare incomplete owing to the fact that a large number ofcases are only brought once to the institution, and alsobecause there is no clinical clerk appointed to keep therecords. He appeals for help to the public to support thisbenevolent enterprise, and we cannot but feel the force ofhis suggestion that this would be a far more worthy channelfor donations than the cause of "anti-vivisection," which hasnever ceased to impugn the work of the institution. It isnoteworthy that during 1887 only one case of rabies wastreated, and notwithstanding that, more dogs were admittedthan usual. This scarcity of rabies is attributed by ProfessorHorsley to the operation during the previous year of thepolice restrictions as regards muzzling and the destructionof stray dogs. He emphasises the value of these restrictionsby reference to the fact that whilst they were in force thathighly contagious malady "distemper" was also muchdiminished; but that since the restrictions have been re-moved, a great increase in cases of distemper appears inthe hospital records, the short incubation period of thatdisease accounting perhaps for its reappearance at an earlierperiod than that of rabies. live also alludes to the regret-table fact that the results of surgical operations are farless favourable than they would be if the hospital wereprovided with the means necessary for carrying them outon the strict antiseptic principles essential to success.

Mr. Batt, the veterinary surgeon, furnishes statistical tablesof the number and kind of cases treated during the year.From these we learn that 2116 horses, 1023 dogs, and 272 catswere treated as patients; that the total number of in-

patients admitted amounted to 242, of whom 186 were dis-charged cured or relieved. A large variety of diseases andinjuries were dealt with, including 162 cases of distemper,9 of glanders and farcy, 121 of tubercle, 29 of chorea,13 of epilepsy, 5 of tetanus, 118 of croup, &c. Theimportance of the Brown Institution as a pathologicallaboratory could not be better shown than in the record ofthe researches carried on there during the past year. Seldomhave so many taken advantage of the opportunities affordedby the Institution for the prosecution of inquiries that havea direct bearing upon medical science. The scientific workpursued under the direction of Dr. Klein on behalf of theMedical Department of the Local Government Board iscarried on here, and Professor Horsley recapitulates thEinvestigations of Dr. Klein, Mr. Lingard, Dr. W. R. Smith,and Dr. Woo1dridge, which include the memorable inquir3into scarlatina and other subjects already reported. Be.sides these Governmental researches, many subjects o’considerable interest have been investigated. That of rabie:demands chief notice. Professor Horsley has conducte<an extensive inquiry upon this disease, in which he sub.stantiated the results obtained by NI. Pasteur. This confirmation was announced last year in the Report of thEnglish Commission, but a full account is proposed to bpresented to the Pathological Society. The outbreak orabies among deer in Richmond Park during 1886-7 wainvestigated by Professor Horsey : first in the inoculatio!of rabbits with portions of the medulla from two of thaffected animals, whereby the diagnosis of rabies was fullconfirmed ; and then by the observation of four affecteanimals sent to the institution from the palko Theexhibited the characteristic symptoms of furious rabiesand, as usual in that form, the fatal issue was precedeby progressive para1ysis, beginning in the hind limb

Professor Horsley says that " there is no doubt thatthis serious outbreak was a simple consequence ofthe height to which the disease has been allowedto rise before the present legislation, commencing at theend of 1885, produced its effect in 1886." The value ofM. Pasteur’s method in the diagnosis of rabies is shown ina table supplied by Professor Horsley of twenty-three cases,in eighteen of which the diagnosis was confirmed by theemployment of this method--that, namely, of subduralinoculation. It is to be regretted that, owing to our

restrictive legislation, this test is not available by theveterinary surgeon in his daily practice. The subject ofrabies has also been investigated experimentally by Mr.Dowdeswell, who, besides confirming M. Pasteur’s state-ments, found that in an infected animal the tissues do notbecome virulent till towards the close of the inoculationperiod, and that none of the numerous drugs tried onthe rabbit had any constant effect on the result of inftic-tion. The report contains mention of several experimentalinquiries into the pathology and physiology of the nervouscentres. Mr. Ballance and Dr. Hadden have been engagedin experiments on the motor area of the cortex of monkeys,Professor Horsley and Dr. Beevor, in continuation of re-searches commenced in 1885, " with the view of elucidatingsome of the phenomena of epilepsy and paralysis," havepursued three lines of inquiry. The one is into the localisa-tion of motor function in that portion of the spinal cordwhich gives origin to the nerves forming the brachialplexus. This is still in progress, and publication of resultsis deferred until certain points of minor importance thatthat have been observed can be fully explained. Thay havecontinued to analyse minutely the representation of move-ments in the so-called motor region of the cortex, studyingduring 1887 the part around the upper limb area aboveand in front, and the results obtained will doubtless go farto clear up the order of phenomena of the epileptic fit.A third line of experimental investigation undertakenby these gentlemen was to trace the arrangement of fibresin the internal capsule by means of faradisation of partsone millimetre apart. So far as they have gone, they haveno doubt that the fibres are arranged in the same relativeorder and position as the centres projected on the cortexcerebri of the same hemisphere. Dr. Mott is engaged ininvestigating by experiment certain obscure diseases of thespinal cord, and has already shown the course taken byascending degeneration after limited destruction of the rootsof the cauda equina. Remarkable osseous trophic lesionsfollowed in the leg of a case where the anterior nerve roots

, had been divided. Of other inquiries carried on at theBrown Institution, some are already known to the pro-

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fession, others will shortly be brought before notice, andothers are still in progress. They include the investiga-tion respecting Micro-organisms in Healthy Tissues. by MrBallance and Mr. Shattock, that on the Ligature of Arteries

B by Mr. Ballance and Dr. Edmunds, and one on the Infectivityof Tetanus by Mr. Ballance and Mr. Lingard; an Inquiryinto the Treatment of Tubercular Disease of Joints, byMr. Watson Cheyne; one into Paralysis of the RecurrentLaryngeal Nerve, by Dr. Clarke; an investigation upon

3 puerperal Fever, by Dr. W.R. Smith; Dr. Wooldridge’s experi-mental production of Hsemorrbagic Infarction of the Liver;and further research into Epilepsy and Myxoedema, by

s Professor Horsley. No one will venture to deny that thee Brown Institution is an active centre of scientific work,, or that the subjects there dealt with are worthy of the

attention bestowed upon them. .

PARKES MUSEUM.

A VERY interesting course of lectures has just been given atthe Museum by Dr. Schofield on Domestic Hygiene, Thelectures were addressed especially to ladies, and, to judge bythe good attendance, were much appreciated. The firstlecture on March 14th, on "Healthy Homes," was essentia11ypractical. It dealt with the ventilation of houses in thesimplest and most efficient forms, and gave the reasons forthe serious warnings, so often repeated and so little heededthat all decaying vegetable and animal matter should teimmediately burned, and not stowed away in dustbinThe lecturer also gave some useful information concenidg

, house drains-their flow, joints, and ventilation. The second

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lecture (March 16th) was on "Boys and Girls." In thisDr. Schofield dealt with various points connected with foodand exercise. Exhibits of reasonable or, as it is called,"rational dress," combined with beauty, were shown; and ademonstration of the value of improved physical culturewas given by Miss Chreiman, a few of whose girl pupilswent through a short course of ball and dumb-bell exercises.At the third lecture, on the "Ethics of Eating," Dr. Schofielddealt with the constituents and values of various kinds offoods, and explained the process of digestion, which he illus-trated by experiments. The fourth lecture, on "PersonalHygiene," chiefly related to the skin and its uses, and thebest means of caring for it; to clothing as a non-conductorof heat, and to the advantages of soft water for personalas well as culinary uses. In the fifth lecture, on "HomeNursing," Dr. Schofield mentioned the points to be observedin sick nursing, and the precautions to be taken in infec-tious cases. An illustration of the mode of handling a ipatient in bed, under various circumstances, was given bytwo trained hospital nurses. The lectures are to be followedby an examination in the subjects dealt with, and H.R.H.the Duchess of Albany, patroness of the Museum, has con-sented to distribute the certificates to the successful candi-dates on May 5th.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN twenty-eight of the largest English towns 5564 birthsand 3881 deaths were registered during the week endingMarch 31st. The annual rate of mortality in these towns,which had been 23-3, 20 3, and 21-1 per 1000 in the pre-ceding three weeks, was last week 21-5. During the thirteenweeks ending last Saturday the death-rate in thesetowns averaged 22-1 per 1000, and was 1’9 below the meanrate in the corresponding periods of the ten years 1878-87.The lowest rates in these towns last week were 15’1 in

Birkenhead, 17’8 in Hull and 18-3 in Cardiff. The rates

ranged upwards in the other towns to 25’6 in New-

castle-upon-Tyne, 26-4 in Manchester, 33’3 in Blackburn, and33’4 in Preston. The deaths referred to the principalzymotic disease?, which had been 442, 363, and 319 inthe previous three weeks, rose again last week to 388;they included 166 from whooping-cough, 63 from scarletfever, 42 from measles, 35 from "fever " (principallyenteric), 31 from diarrh&oelig;a, 27 from small-pox, and 24from diphtheria. No death from any of these zymoticdiseases was registered last week in Preston; whereasthey caused the highest death-rates in Nottingham, Sheffield,and Blackburn. The greatest mortality from whooping-cough occurred in Saltord, Derby, and Blackburn; fromscarlet fever in Bristol and Black burn ; from measles inPlymouth, Bradford, and Nottingham; and from "fever"in Salford and Derby. The 24 deaths from diphtheria in thetwenty-eight towns included 15 in London, 3 in Norwich,2 in Sunderland, and 2 in Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Small-poxcaused 19 deaths in Sheffield, 3 in Blackburn, 2 in Notting-ham, in Bristol, 1 in Manchester, and 1 in Hull, but not onein London or in any of the twenty-one other large provincialtowns. The Metropolitan Asylum Hospital Ships containedonly 9 small-pox patients at the end of last week, against17 and 15 on the preceding two Saturdays; the HigbgateSmall-pox Hospital contained no patient at the end ofthe week. The number of scarlet fever patients in theMetropolitan Asylum Hospitals and in the London FeverHospital was 1171 on Saturday last, against numbers declin-ing steadily in the preceding seventeen weeks from 2764 to1187; the 80 cases admitted to these hospitals during theweek showed a further decline from recent weekly numbers.The deaths referred to diseases of the respiratory organs inLondon, which had been 490, 459, and 457 in the precedingthree weeks, were 460 last week, and were 59 below thecorrected average. The causes of 78, or 2-1 per cent., ofthe deaths in the twenty-eight towns last week were notcertified either by a registered medical practitioner or bya coroner. All the causes of death were duly certified inLeeds, Leicester, Portsmouth, and in seven other smallertowns; the largest proportions of uncertified deaths wereregistered i?. Sheffield, Halifax, Bolton, and Preston.

HEALTH OF SCOTCH TOWNS.

The annual rate of mortality in the eight Scotch towns,which had been 21’0 and 22’2 per 1000 in the precedingtwo weeks, further rose to 237 in the week ending March31st; this rate exceeded by 2’2 the mean rate during thesame week in the twenty-eight large English towns. Therates in the Scotch towns ranged from 16’0 and 18’3 inPerth and Aberdeen, to 26 ’1 in Pdisley and 27’4 in Glasgow.The 599 deaths in the eight towns showed a further increaseof 37 upon the numbers returned in the previous two weeks,and included 17 which were referred to whooping-cough,8 to diphtheria, 6 to scarlet fever, 5 to "fever" (typhus,enteric, or ill-defined), 5 to diarrhoea, 4 to measles, and notone to small-pox; in all, 45 deaths resulted from theseprincipal zymotic diseases, against 76, 47, and 56 in thepreceding three weeks. These 45 deaths were equal to anannual rate of 1’8 per 1000, which was 0’4 below the meanrate last week from the same diseases in the twenty-eightEnglish towns. The 17 fatal cases of whooping-coughshowed a decline of 4 from the number in the previousweek, and included 12 in Glasgow, 3 in Aberdeen, and 2 inEdinburgh. The deaths from diphtheria, which had been11, 5, and 6 in the preceding three weeks, rose again lastweek to 8, of which 4 occurred in Edinburgh and 2 inGlasgow. The 6 deaths from scarlet fever showed a declineof 3 from the number in the previous week, and included4 in Glasgow. The 5 deaths referred to whooping-cougb, including 2 in Edinburgh, corresponded with thenumber in the previous week. The 4 fatal cases of measles,of which 2 occurred in Glasgow and 2 in Edinburgh, showeda further decline from recenc weekly numbers. The deathsreferred to acute diseases of the respiratory organs inthe eight towns, which had been 137 in each of the pre-ceding two weeks, rose last week to 144, and exceeded thenumber returned in the corresponding week of last yearby 12. The causes of 80, or more than 13 per cent., of thedeaths registered in the eight towns during the week werenot certified.

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HEALTH OF DUBLIN.

The rate of mortality in Dublin, which had been 29’0and 29’7 per 1000 in the preceding two weeks, furtherrose to 31’2 in the week ending March 31st. During thethirteen weeks of last quarter the death-rate in the cityaveraged 31’6 per 1000, the mean rate during the sameperiod being 22’0 in London and 22’1 in Edinburgh. The211 deaths in Dublin showed a further increase of 10 uponthe numbers in the previous two weeks; they included 8 fromwhooping-cough, 3 from measles, 2 from scarlet fever, 1from diphtheria, 1 from "fever," and not one either fromsma11-pox or diarrhoea. Thus the deaths referred to theseprincipal zymotic diseases, which had been 25, 19, and 20in the preceding three weeks, declined last week to 15;they were equal to an annual rate of 2’2 per 1000, the ratefrom the same diseases being 2’4 in London and 2’2 inEdinburgh. The 8 fatal cases of whoopinll-cough showeda further increase upon the numbers returned in recentweeks; whereas the deaths from measles, scarlet fever,and "fever" were fewer than in any recent week. Thedeaths both of infants and of eideriv persons excebdedthe numbers in recent weeks. Five inquest cases and 5deaths from violence were registered; and 75, or morethan a third, of the deaths occurred in public institu-tions. The causes of 22, or more than 10 per cent., of thedeaths in the city were not certified.

THE SERVICES.

ARMY MEDICAL STAFF.&mdash;Surgeon-Major Laurence Corban,M.D., to be Brigade Surgeon (ranking as Lieutenant-Colonel),vice John Mackenzie, M.D., retired. Surgeon-Major RobertFrancis Buchanan is granted retired pay.ARMY MEDICAL RESERVE OF OFFICERS.&mdash;Surgeon W. R.

Smith, M.D,, 3rd Volunteer Battalion Royal West KentRegiment, to be Surgeon-Major (ranking as Major).

ADMIRALTY.&mdash;The following appointments have beenmade :-Surgeon John L. Barrington, to the Asia; SurgeonMatthew Digan, to Malta Hospital; Surgeon John Hunter,to Haulbowline Hospital; and Surgeon James M. Rogers, tothe Buzzard (all dated April 17th, 1888).