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work, which contains nineteen maps, will be appreciated byall who take an interest in and desire information respectingour colonies.

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Analytical Records.THE GERMAINS IMPROVED APPARATUS AND POWDER FOR

DISINFECTING AND FUMIGATING.

(A. Z. GERMAINS, WINDSOR-ROAD, YICTORIA-L’ARK, LONDON.)THE apparatus is a small metal hearth with a false bottom

and side hole, to admit air. Over this is a hood with aside pipe near the top, by which fumes can escape. The

powder contains sulphur, and burns easily. Mr. Germains has certainly contrived a convenient and safe method forsulphur fumigation, but every such contrivance is liable tobe misused, and some of the statements made by the inventorare likely to lead to very dangerous misuse. Our readersknow well that serious disinfection cannot be accomplished by the production in a room of a mere smell of sulphurousacid or any other chemical agent. To disinfect with sulphurone pound must be burned to every 1000 cubic feet, and theexposure must last many hours. Real disinfection by thismachine in the presence of living creatures would be impos-sible ; and when the inventor talks of the purification ofchurches he talks nonsense. Such a fumigation would have no real value, and would be dangerous as leading to a falsesense of security.

MOUILLA, OR POTASH LIQUID SOAP.

(M. R. EDWARDES, ADAM-STREET, STRAND.)

This interesting soap is the invention of Dr. Duncan ofSt. Petersburg. We find by analysis that it is, as described,a potash soap containing glycerine, and scented with lemon.It is a clear solution, which mixes easily, and gives a latherwith soft water. Opinions may differ as to whether potashis better than soda soap for ordinary use; but if potashsoap is wanted it could not be obtained in a more convenientor elegant form. For medical purposes the soap is incor-

porated with small quantities of carbolic acid, Russianbirch tar, and other substances. The carbolic soap, in par-ticular, is a useful and valuable preparation.

BOKOL: A NORWEGIAN PREPARATION OF MALT.(DAvIS, BERGENDAHL, & Co., NEWCASTLE-ON-TYNE.)

This is a liquid alcoholic preparation which tastes likesweetened beer. It might, perhaps, be used with advantage in-stead of stout, but, as it possesses scarcely any diastasic power,we cannot recommend it as a substitute for malt extract.

KENTISH SAUCE.

(BURGOYNE & CO., PERCY-STRIET, TOTTENHAM-COURT-ROAD.)All that we need say of this sauce is that it is pleasant in

flavour, and that our analysis shows that it is entirely freefrom poisonous metals.

LIQ. PODOPHYLLIN (HOCKIN).(HOCKIN, WILSON, & Co., DUKE-STREET, MANCHESTER-SQUARE.)

This seems an excellent extract. It is faintly alkaline, mixeswell with water, alcohol, dilute acids, and small quantities ofalkaline carbonates, but is precipitated by alkaline hydrates.

VAN ABBOTT’S BEEF-TEA.

(G. VAN ABBOTT & SON, LONDON.)This is a stiff jelly easily soluble in warm water. The

solution contains no fat or albumen, and may therefore beboiled. In flavour it is excellent, and we have no hesitationin awarding it high praise.

RAPHAEL TANNIN WINE.

(E. GALLAIS, PICCADILLY.)A full-coloured, luscious, and agreeable wine, faintly acid

and remarkably astringent. The iron and gelatine testashow the presence of a considerable proportion of tannin,We think it will be useful in medical practice.

New Inventions.SELF-FIXING ABSORBENT PADS.

MR. DE ST. DALMAS, of Leicester, has submitted to usone of his " self-fixing absorbent pads :’ It consists of a

pad of absorbent wool enclosed in thin muslin, with four" tails’’ of St. Dalmas strapping affixed to it. The pads are

made of various sizes, and can of course be easily preparedimpregnated with an antiseptic. The woodcut shows at a

glance the mode of application.

AUTOMATIC PURIFYING CLOSET.

AN ingenious method of dealing with excreta has recentlybeen patented by Messrs T. Goddard and Co,, of Queen

Victoria-street, which claims to be an improvement upon theearth-closet. The material used in substitution for earthis called "sanitary carbon," but there is no statement

of the source from which this carbon is derived. Itsaction upon the excreta is that of an effectual deodorant,and it has the advantage of retaining the ammonia,thus producing a manure which must have some value. Itis used in connexion with closets and commodes pro-vided with lids which are charged with this material.On shutting down the lid a sufficient quantity of the carbonis scattered over the excreta in the pan beneath, renderingthem entirely free from smell; and it is said that the amountof earth or ashes commonly required for this purpose is fivetimes that of the carbon, the cost of the quantity of thelatter material sufficient for each time of using being one-eighth of a penny. It is probable there will be somedemand for the use of this deodorant in places where thewater-carried system is impossible.

MEDICAL ATTENDANCE ON THE POOR.To the Editors of THE LANCET.

SIRS,— am obliged by your remarks, and the attentionyou have given to my pamphlet on Medical Attendance forthe Sick Poor not Paupers; but I regret if I have at all ledyou to infer (and I appear to have done so by your closingremark) " that I said the object sought by Sir Spencer Welln’committee was only for the benefit of the poor and not theindustrial classes." Now by the very title I gave my paperit was my desire and intention to show that it was inthe hope of providing, as I particularly mentioned in mypamphlet, kind and efficient medical aid for this sectionof the general practitioner’s Datients that this committeewas now sitting, and I think I specially implied this bymentioning that I advocated that the wage limit should incertain cases be extended (as to men with large families)even to £6 per week by paying 10s. per month when inhealth. What I did mention was that Sir Spencer Wells’committee was not organised for relieving any class whowere well able to pay our usual fees, not for that upperstratum of the industrial classes "whose annual incomevery often was much larger than that of the average clerk,and even Hearing a not small number of the professional

classes." I am, Sirs, your obedient servant,April 18th, 1887. FREDERICK H. ALDEBSON.FREDERICK H. ALDERSON.