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which latter is certainly of value, and was fully described ],some time ago in these Notes. ]

The Scott’s Starter Syndicate, Limited, also show anefficient electric starter and lighting generator.

’

The general impression of the exhibition is that it is very much like its predecessors, except that there are more exhibits. Leather-faced cone

,clutches are as popular as ever, for which I

think the doctor should be grateful, as they aresatisfactory, and even if the leather does wear itcan easily be replaced. Four-speed gear boxes areousting the three-speed, and smaller engines aremore universal. The exhibition is certainly likea good pudding-it has plenty of plums in it, andthere is now much more likelihood of a purchaserdrawing a plum than there was in the past.Any of the cars mentioned above can, in the

writer’s opinion, be safely bought by doctors withalmost a certainty of good and efficient service,provided the purchaser, either personally or by hischauffeur, takes care of his car.

MANCHESTER.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Cremation iiz Manchester.FROM the annual report of the Manchester

crematorium we learn that the cremations last

year reached 159, the numbers for the four

previous years being 117, 110, 113, and 147.The number of visitors paying for admission tosee the crematorium (1667) also showed an

increase. The numbers s present at cremationfunerals reached 5330. The directors state thatattendance at cremation funerals is largely effectivein removing prejudice against cremation. Thereare 13 crematoria in the kingdom, and only one,that at Golder’s Green, had more cremations lastyear than the Manchester crematorium. After

defraying all expenses there is a surplus of £418,while the accumulated surplus amounts to JE634,and the reserve account stands at £800.

Burnley Victoria Hospital.Mr. Edward Green has intimated to the Burnley

Victoria Hospital authorities that his wife and hersister, Mrs. Greenhalgh, will contribute .B1000 for acot to be placed in their names in the female ward.

The Birth-rate in Manchester.

Dr. E. Sergeant, the county medical officer, in hisrecent report stated that the birth-rate forLancashire in 1912 was the lowest on record,with the exception of 1910. In Manchester up tothe end of September there has been an appreciableincrease in the birth-rate.Nov.11th.

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LIVERPOOL.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

T7te Dinner of t7te Medical Institution.THE biennial dinner was held on Nov. 8th

at the Exchange Station Hotel, when about 160members and guests sat down. Among the guestswere the Bishop of Liverpool, the Lord Mayor,Dr. W. S. A. Griffith, and the Presidents of themedical societies of Chester, Birkenhead, St. Helen’s,and Wallasey. Mr. Robert Jones, the Presidentof the society, was in the chair. After the usualloyal toasts, Dr. Caton proposed " The City and

Port of Liverpool," and spoke of the many im-

provements that were taking place. The Lord

Mayor, in replying, paid a high tribute to the workof the profession, and more especially to the workof the Tropical School, inasmuch as the worldowed the completion of the Panama Canal to

tropical research. He thought the greatest require-ment now was better means of communicationbetween the two banks of the river, so as to unitethe population of the district. The Bishop of

Liverpool proposed " The Liverpool Medical Insti-tution," and gave a short account of its origin inthe eighteenth century and how it had grown bythe union of three parent societies between 1830and 1840. He said it was owing to the MedicalInstitution that the idea of a Liverpool Universityhad begun. The President, in replying, said thatthe institution could boast of as great activity andas large meetings as any society in the country.Dr. Griffith, in replying for the guests, said thatDr. Rutter, in founding the society in its presentform, had hoped that it might and would be themeans of uniting its members in a firm and com-

pact body, working on individualistic lines butin friendliness and with mutual esteem. A societysuch as this, by bringing its members constantlyinto contact with one another, might fulfil thewishes of its founder.

Visit of Sir Dyce Duckworth.Sir Dyce Duckworth has been visiting the city of

his birth as the guest of Mr. T. H. Bickerton, whoentertained a large party at dinner to meet himbefore the meeting at the Medical Institution.After the meeting there was an informal gatheringat Mr. Bickerton’s house, when about a hundredmedical men had the pleasure of hearing from SirDyce Duckworth his reminiscences of bygoneLiverpool medical men. Among a large number ofpast leaders Sir Dyce Duckworth paid especialtribute to the Bickersteths, quoting Symes as

having said that E. R. Bickersteth was " the finestsurgeon in England."

The Passing of Two Notabilities.Two well-known figures for many years connected

with the Royal Infirmary have passed away-theRev. William Smith and Mr. James Lister. Mr.Smith was chaplain at the infirmary from 1865until he resigned about a year ago. He died quitesuddenly on his way to church on Sunday, Oct. 26th.Mr. Smith had qualified as a medical man. Under

, rather an austere exterior there was a kindly. personality which endeared him to those who really, knew him. Mr. James Lister had for many years

Þ been a member of the committee of the Royal Infirmary, in which he took the greatest possible

interest, making frequent visits there and person-ally knowing many residents, nurses, and patients.Nov. 11th.

SCOTLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Tuberculosis in Lanarkshire.ARRANGEMENTS are now in progress for a joint

sanatorium for the burghs of Hamilton, Motherwell,Wishaw, and Rutherglen, and a site has been pur-chased on the estate of Muirbank, Strathaven. Itis proposed to build a hospital pavilion for 20 beds,two chalet pavilions, each with 20 beds, and twoshelter pavilions of the same capacity ; an adminis-trative block (for which Muirburn House will he

1422

utilised), including nurses’ accommodation; medicalsuperintendent’s house, porter’s lodge, and sixhouses for workmen, along with accessory buildingsand plant. The estimated cost is £30,000.

Medical Arrangements for Lothian Miners.An agreement has been come to between the

doctors of Mid and East Lothian and the Miners’Federation, whereby medical attendance will be

given to the families and dependents of miners.The men are to be allowed to select their owndoctor, and will pay a flat rate of 12’d. a week, or2d. per week including medicine. Cards will beissued to all the miners on Nov. 15th, and thedoctors will have duplicate cards in order that theymay know how many individuals the various collierycompanies are thus responsible for.Nov. llth.

B

IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The Irish Insurance Commissioners and theMedical Profession.

SEVERAL Insurance Committees have alreadypassed resolutions urging the Insurance Com-missioners to use their best exertions to come toan amicable agreement with the medical profession.Some of the more important Approved Societieshave expressed the opinion that without the

goodwill of the profession it was impossible to i

work the Act with success. Whatever may havebeen the operating cause, the Irish Insurance Com-missioners, after some six months’ cessation of

intercourse, have resumed communication with theauthorised representatives of the profession, as Iannounced last week. As the Irish Medical Com-mittee is already accredited to speak for the pro-fession, it possesses all the requisites demandedby the Commissioners for making definite terms,and rumour has it that the Commissioners willbe prepared to offer terms which the professionmay find itself able to accept.Evening Dispensaries for Poor-law Medical Officers.The Cork guardians in appointing a medical

officer recently stipulated that, in addition to

attending a daily dispensary in the morning, heshould also attend for half an hour each evening.As far as I know, no evening dispensary has hithertobeen held under the Poor-law in Ireland. Comment-

ing on the proposal of the Cork guardians, the LocalGovernment Board remarked that the medicalofficer would not be able in the evening to givethe individual care and attention to the patientswhich their condition would require, as he wouldthen be tired after his day’s work. Punctualattendance in the evening might also occasionallycurtail within narrow limits the time for visitingpatients in their own homes. The Board, it wasadded, would sanction, as a tentative measure, theopening of the dispensary on two evenings a week,on condition that attendance thereat should belimited to persons who, owing to their employment,were prevented from attending the morning dis-pensary.

The Scarlet Fever Epidemic in Belfast.At the monthly meeting of the City Corporation

of Belfast held on Nov. 3rd it was reported that378 cases of infectious disease had been notified in Belfast between Sept. 14th and Oct. 18th, and of ithese 264 were of scarlet fever. During the pre- ivious five weeks the number of notifications of (

infectious disease was 286, and the number was235 in the corresponding period of last year. Thechairman of the public health committee said, insubmitting the health report, that the increase wasdue entirely to the large number of cases of scarletfever. "They were just suffering as all large citiessuffered," and that " it (scarlet fever) was a diseasethat it was practically impossible to control the

spread of when it had developed to a certainextent, but everything that could be done tocontrol the spread of it was being done." The situa-tion is becoming too serious for a do-nothing policy.At a meeting of the public health committee heldon Nov. 6th it was reported that there had beennotified during the week ended Nov. lst 66 cases ofscarlet fever, which is six less than in the previousweek. The epidemic is still raging, and at the

present time there are in the two fever hospitalsabout 430 cases, and-what is worse-the type ofthe disease is severe, bad septic throats and

nephritis being common.Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.

At a meeting of superintendents of the variousdistricts in connexion with the Royal Victoria Hos-pital special Saturday collection it was reportedthat a sum of £1011 had been handed over to thehospital authorities as the result of this specialeffort. This was C44 more than last year. Theexpenses were £79.

Down County Council and Tuberculosis.The Down county council decided on Nov. 6th to

adopt a scheme for the treatment of tuberculosis,which contemplated a sanatorium with 75 beds,together with a central dispensary and five branchdispensaries, the charge to the rates being reckonedat about 2569.

The Late Mr. William Watts Thetford.I regret to announce the death, at the age of

90, at his residence, Strangford, Co. Down, of Mr.W. W. Thetford, M.R.C.S. Eng., L.R.C.P. Irel., who wasthe oldest medical practitioner in Ireland. Born at

Clones, Co. Monaghan, on March 19th, 1823, Mr.Thetford was the son of Mr. Joseph Thetford, whowas of English descent, having come from a Norfolkfamily, while his mother, a daughter of Major H. W.Stephens, of Co. Fermanagh, was of the blood of theArgyles, and with his family remains the old marblebowl of Inverara, with inscription, attesting hisdescent from the Argyles. Dr. Nicholas Thetford,grandfather of the deceased, and his seven uncleswere doctors. In 1849, after studying at TrinityCollege, Dublin, and at the Richmond Hospital,Mr. Thetford obtained the M.R.C.S. Eng., and inthe following year that of L.R.C.P. Irel. For half a

century he resided at Strangford, Co. Down, wherehe had one of the very best practices in Ireland,his clientele including a very large number of theprincipal families for many miles round, his home.Nov.:l1th.

__________________ ,

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Professor Charles Richet and the Nobel Prize.THE Nobel prize for medical science has been

awarded this year to Professor Charles Richet, whoreceived the news by telegram while attending themarriage of his son. The award has been acclaimedin France as having fallen to a French savant whois held in the highest regard. Already the awardof the Moscow prize at the congress in London for