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511 Omagh, some distance from that place, that he was suddenly seized with symptoms of cardiac failure on August 12th and after being conveyed home he died on the. next day at the age of seventy-two years. The Campbell College. This college, which was opened towards the end of 1894, was founded and endowed by a Belfast merchant, Mr. Henry James Campbell, who provided J:.200,OOO, his object being to furnish a superior liberal education. To carry out his purpose the original trustees purchased the demesne of Belmont, which is about 70 acres in extent, in the vicinity of Belfast, and erected under the guidance of their architect, Mr. W. H. Lynn, one of the best equipped scholastic edihces in the United Kingdom. The buildings are in the late Tudor style and contain a central hall surrounded by sixteen large class-rooms. A special feature is the science section, which contains a lecture theatre, two chemical laboratories, three physical and biological laboratories, instrument and balance room, detached work- shops (wood and metal), and dark room for photography. The greatest care has been paid to the drainage, ventilation, and heating of the college, as well as to the construction of the infirmary and detached sanatorium. There is a cricket field (8 acres) and a football ground (10 acres). Until recently the government of the college was in the hands of the trustees, but it has been decided to form a new scheme for the Campbell College, and the governing body for the future will consist of the three trustees and twelve other members. The names of the new governors were published last week and amongst them are two members of the medical profession, Dr. Redfern and Professor Byers. August 16th. ROME. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) The Cadaver Humanum: its Conservation. , ONCE and again THE LANCET has drawn attention to the ingenuity shown by Italian surgeons in immu- nising the dead subject from decomposition, and the theme has acquired fresh interest from its recent handling by Signor Luigi Ferrara. Throughout the peninsula, whether in its anatomical museums or in the family vaults of its eampi santi, wonderful specimens of such successful immunisation are to be seen ; but none of these can approach the perfection attained by Dr. Efisio Manini in a métier which may well be called national. For forty years that Neapolitan surgeon has striven to im- prove on the methods hitherto in practice, and his results, as known to the profession, throw all previous successes into the shade. " Without incisions "-so I am informed,-" without injections, simply with a series of baths, he has. succeeded in preserving the human subject from all risk of decomposition whatever." His modus operandi consists of three stages. 1. Provisional desiccation, the so-called I conservazione allo state coriaceo transitorio " (preservation applied to the corium in its tran- sition period). Bodies so prepared and immersed in a liquid of his own devising may regain their primary freshness and be thereafter subjected to anatomical operations or demon- strations like the ordinary cadavera of the dissecting-room. 2. Petrifaction of the body so prepared-a process which, in Dr. Manini’s hands, is so effective that the density as well as the consistency of marble is attained, insomuch that a few hours after the completion of this stage a key brought in sharp contact with the surface elicits a true metallic ring from the body. 3. The restoration to this desiccated and petrified subject of the freshness, the soft- ness, the flexibility, and even the complexion of the natural state. As described to me the bodies so treated come from Dr. Manini’s hands as if asleep, or in a condition of temporarily suspended animation. Well-known Italians dead within the last decade-like Benedetto Cairoli and Sanfelice -have been thus " stereotyped," so to say, for posterity and become to the anatomist, the anthropologist, and the medical jurist an object-lesson in the prosecution of their respective interests. In the last of these-that concerned with the investigation of capital offences-the gain to the resources of justice would be immense when contrasted with the means it has to fall back upon in Paris for instance, where the laborious process of keeping the dead body continually underr waves of fresh air exhausts itself in a few days’ time. Dr- Manini has been sustained in his life-long work by the sympa- thetic encouragement of surgeons like Nelaton and Billroth, and of anatomists like Richard Owen and Sappey. It is wells known that had Napoleon III. kept his throne for a few: months longer he would have placed the Neapolitan surgeon at the head of an anatomical museum specially devoted to the products of his métier and his methods, while it is an,. open secret that Dr. Guido Baccelli had decided to signalise. his tenure of the portfolio of Public Instruction by making Dr. Manini director of a sanitary institution, when the falL of the Crispi Administration frustrated his decision. The- veteran Neapolitan surgeon is now well stricken in years and Baccelli’s successors in office have little time to lose if their country is to be spared the chagrin of again seeing one of her scientific bene-meriti receive from abroad the- recognition denied to him at home. The Pope’s Health. "11 Papa continua a stare benissimo " (the Pope con- tinues in very good health)-such is the bulletin just received from the Vatican-confirmed, moreover, by his having the’ .same morning celebrated mass in his private chapel and his having thereafter resumed his official audiences. The bulletin is all the more gratifying as the "sturbi viscerali or intestinal catarrh from which he has been suffering constituted the "sharpest curve" " his health has yet encountered in its comparatively even tenour. Ever since- His Holiness ascended the throne in the February of 1878 he- has been subject, though in a mild form, to such attacks, and last spring, when influenza was epidemic in the Eternal City and numbered victims even in the Sacred College, the dread* lest the prevailing malady should overtake him, supervening- on this "point of least resistance," redoubled the anxiety and, the care of his body-physician. Besides this chronic or inter-- current malaise there is another drawback to his successful treatment-the change of air indicated from time to time is. denied him, "prisoner" as he is "in a palace and a garden," albeit with doors locked on the inside. His. twenty years’ confinement, indeed, has told on him all the more severely since by birth a mountaineer and by tastes enamoured of rural life he misses his native "monti Lepini" and even the hill-country around Perugia where for many years he relieved the cares of his. archbishopric by field sports. On the other hand, His- Holiness is endowed with "the pulse of longevity" and the- "aequus animus" of his favourite poet, and this, coupled with the plain living and high thinking " which have been. his characteristic through life, greatly reinforces the- watchful skill of his medical adviser the Commen- datore Dr. Lapponi, whose aim it seems to be, with! the help of his able colleagues, to achieve for his august patient the distinction attained by Pio Nono alone in the- long line of Pontiffs-that of falsifying the prediction whispered in the ear of each newly elected Pope : ’’ Norh videbis annos Petri " (thou shalt not see the years of Peter), August 15th. AUSTRALIA. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) The Queen Victoria Homes. THE first annual meeting of subscribers to the fund far. the establishment of the Queen Victoria Homes for Con- sumptives was held in Sydney on June 27th, Lady Hampden. presiding. It was stated in the report that although.; numerous and varied methods had been adopted by the com- mittee to raise funds the total amount subscribed ( £ 13,543) was disappointing. It was found that the support solicited for other institutions of a cognate character more or less. militated against the efforts of the committee and especially an impression which prevailed that the claims of the Queen Victoria homes conflicted with those of the Thirlmere Home- for Consumptives. The committee had arranged to take- over the Thirlmere Home, Mr. Goodlet having generously offered the home rent free. It was to be hoped that the- public would continue subscriptions, not only to maintain this. admirable institution, but to increase its usefulness and to, add to the capital fund of the committee until it attaina

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511

Omagh, some distance from that place, that he was suddenlyseized with symptoms of cardiac failure on August 12th andafter being conveyed home he died on the. next day at theage of seventy-two years.

The Campbell College.This college, which was opened towards the end of 1894,

was founded and endowed by a Belfast merchant, Mr. HenryJames Campbell, who provided J:.200,OOO, his object beingto furnish a superior liberal education. To carry out his

purpose the original trustees purchased the demesne ofBelmont, which is about 70 acres in extent, in the vicinityof Belfast, and erected under the guidance of their architect,Mr. W. H. Lynn, one of the best equipped scholastic edihcesin the United Kingdom. The buildings are in thelate Tudor style and contain a central hall surrounded

by sixteen large class-rooms. A special feature is thescience section, which contains a lecture theatre, twochemical laboratories, three physical and biologicallaboratories, instrument and balance room, detached work-shops (wood and metal), and dark room for photography.The greatest care has been paid to the drainage, ventilation,and heating of the college, as well as to the construction ofthe infirmary and detached sanatorium. There is a cricketfield (8 acres) and a football ground (10 acres). Until

recently the government of the college was in the hands ofthe trustees, but it has been decided to form a new schemefor the Campbell College, and the governing body for thefuture will consist of the three trustees and twelve othermembers. The names of the new governors were publishedlast week and amongst them are two members of the medicalprofession, Dr. Redfern and Professor Byers.August 16th.

____

ROME.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Cadaver Humanum: its Conservation. ,

ONCE and again THE LANCET has drawn attentionto the ingenuity shown by Italian surgeons in immu-

nising the dead subject from decomposition, and thetheme has acquired fresh interest from its recent handlingby Signor Luigi Ferrara. Throughout the peninsula,whether in its anatomical museums or in the familyvaults of its eampi santi, wonderful specimens of suchsuccessful immunisation are to be seen ; but none ofthese can approach the perfection attained by Dr. EfisioManini in a métier which may well be called national. For

forty years that Neapolitan surgeon has striven to im-prove on the methods hitherto in practice, and hisresults, as known to the profession, throw all previoussuccesses into the shade. " Without incisions "-so Iam informed,-" without injections, simply with a seriesof baths, he has. succeeded in preserving the humansubject from all risk of decomposition whatever." Hismodus operandi consists of three stages. 1. Provisionaldesiccation, the so-called I conservazione allo state coriaceotransitorio " (preservation applied to the corium in its tran-sition period). Bodies so prepared and immersed in a liquidof his own devising may regain their primary freshness andbe thereafter subjected to anatomical operations or demon-strations like the ordinary cadavera of the dissecting-room.2. Petrifaction of the body so prepared-a process which,in Dr. Manini’s hands, is so effective that the densityas well as the consistency of marble is attained, insomuchthat a few hours after the completion of this stage a keybrought in sharp contact with the surface elicits a truemetallic ring from the body. 3. The restoration to thisdesiccated and petrified subject of the freshness, the soft-ness, the flexibility, and even the complexion of the naturalstate. As described to me the bodies so treated come fromDr. Manini’s hands as if asleep, or in a condition of

temporarily suspended animation. Well-known Italians deadwithin the last decade-like Benedetto Cairoli and Sanfelice-have been thus " stereotyped," so to say, for posterity andbecome to the anatomist, the anthropologist, and the medicaljurist an object-lesson in the prosecution of their respectiveinterests. In the last of these-that concerned with theinvestigation of capital offences-the gain to the resources ofjustice would be immense when contrasted with the meansit has to fall back upon in Paris for instance, where the

laborious process of keeping the dead body continually underrwaves of fresh air exhausts itself in a few days’ time. Dr-Manini has been sustained in his life-long work by the sympa-thetic encouragement of surgeons like Nelaton and Billroth,and of anatomists like Richard Owen and Sappey. It is wellsknown that had Napoleon III. kept his throne for a few:months longer he would have placed the Neapolitan surgeonat the head of an anatomical museum specially devoted tothe products of his métier and his methods, while it is an,.

open secret that Dr. Guido Baccelli had decided to signalise.his tenure of the portfolio of Public Instruction by makingDr. Manini director of a sanitary institution, when the falLof the Crispi Administration frustrated his decision. The-veteran Neapolitan surgeon is now well stricken in years andBaccelli’s successors in office have little time to lose if their

country is to be spared the chagrin of again seeingone of her scientific bene-meriti receive from abroad the-recognition denied to him at home.

The Pope’s Health."11 Papa continua a stare benissimo " (the Pope con-

tinues in very good health)-such is the bulletin just receivedfrom the Vatican-confirmed, moreover, by his having the’.same morning celebrated mass in his private chapel andhis having thereafter resumed his official audiences. Thebulletin is all the more gratifying as the "sturbi visceralior intestinal catarrh from which he has been sufferingconstituted the "sharpest curve" " his health has yetencountered in its comparatively even tenour. Ever since-His Holiness ascended the throne in the February of 1878 he-has been subject, though in a mild form, to such attacks, andlast spring, when influenza was epidemic in the Eternal Cityand numbered victims even in the Sacred College, the dread*lest the prevailing malady should overtake him, supervening-on this "point of least resistance," redoubled the anxiety and,the care of his body-physician. Besides this chronic or inter--current malaise there is another drawback to his successfultreatment-the change of air indicated from time to time is.denied him, "prisoner" as he is "in a palace and agarden," albeit with doors locked on the inside. His.

twenty years’ confinement, indeed, has told on himall the more severely since by birth a mountaineerand by tastes enamoured of rural life he misses hisnative "monti Lepini" and even the hill-country aroundPerugia where for many years he relieved the cares of his.archbishopric by field sports. On the other hand, His-Holiness is endowed with "the pulse of longevity" and the-"aequus animus" of his favourite poet, and this, coupledwith the plain living and high thinking " which have been.his characteristic through life, greatly reinforces the-watchful skill of his medical adviser the Commen-datore Dr. Lapponi, whose aim it seems to be, with!the help of his able colleagues, to achieve for his augustpatient the distinction attained by Pio Nono alone in the-long line of Pontiffs-that of falsifying the predictionwhispered in the ear of each newly elected Pope : ’’ Norhvidebis annos Petri " (thou shalt not see the years of Peter), August 15th.

AUSTRALIA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Queen Victoria Homes.THE first annual meeting of subscribers to the fund far.

the establishment of the Queen Victoria Homes for Con-sumptives was held in Sydney on June 27th, Lady Hampden.presiding. It was stated in the report that although.;numerous and varied methods had been adopted by the com-mittee to raise funds the total amount subscribed ( £ 13,543)was disappointing. It was found that the support solicitedfor other institutions of a cognate character more or less.militated against the efforts of the committee and especiallyan impression which prevailed that the claims of the QueenVictoria homes conflicted with those of the Thirlmere Home-for Consumptives. The committee had arranged to take-over the Thirlmere Home, Mr. Goodlet having generouslyoffered the home rent free. It was to be hoped that the-public would continue subscriptions, not only to maintain this.admirable institution, but to increase its usefulness and to,add to the capital fund of the committee until it attaina