335

Old Steyne was actually never built or intended for a sewer;it was built as a watercourse some years ago, to carry off storm

water, and to prevent the overflow of the Preston brook, whichused to inundate the old London road opposite to the " Hareand Hounds." Inhabitants were expressly forbidden to draininto this watercourse, and heavy fines were imposed on anyonewho should violate this regulation. But one after another

of the householders found it convenient to drain into the

watercourse, and the authorities winked at the practice, asthe day of cesspools began to wane and the system of main-drainage became popular, until at present a very large part ofBrighton discharges its sewage into the sea immediately underthe eyes and noses of the dwellers on the Marine Parade andof all who pass along that part of the seaport. As we have

said, the Hove Commissioners now threaten to make mattersworse by draining the western end of the town into the sea

opposite Waterloo-street, and fouling that part of the sea whichis most used by bathers. The plan which we have described,and which is authenticated by excellent engineers and hailedwith delight by a large section of the inhabitants, offers a

speedy and effectual release from these evils. There is no reasonwhy Brighton should not be as healthy as Eastbourne, or anyother marine resort. The inhabitants may be assured that

they will consult their best interests by strenuously endeavour-

ing to make it so ; and, meanwhile, they are under greatobligations to Dr. ALFRED HALL for having the moral courageagain to bring the notorious grievance before the public.

Medical Annotations.

THE REOPENING OF ST. THOMAS’S HOSPITAL.

"Ne quid nimis."

ON the 15th instant, the new hospital of St. Thomas was

opened for the reception of patients at Surrey Gardens. The

rapid and complete conversion and adaptation of the old build-ings to their new and beneficent uses is one of the many sur-prising illustrations of the power of modern organization andskill. The main building is replete with every contrivance forthe convenience and cure of the sick; whilst the most efficientarrangements have been made for the school, with its appur.tenances in the shape of museums, libraries, and dissecting-rooms, in detached buildings on the grounds. The gardens, ex-tending over more than twelve acres, have been carefully re-stored, and will present a feature novel amongst metropolitanhospitals. The student will here, in modern academic groves,pursue his duties in a little oasis of quiet and beauty, includingevery appliance for health, comfort, and relaxation, situated inthe centre of an enormous population, such as can alone requirea large hospital, and supply the elements of medical, surgical,and obstetrical education. The patients themselves will enjoythe advantages of free air, repose, pleasant prospects, and exer.cise to an extent unknown in other London hospitals. Thesituation and capabilities of the place are felt to be so excellent,that the eccentric idea of building a new St. Thomas’s in somedistant rural spot must be abandoned.

THE HABITUAL USE OF ALCOHOL.

THERE is an apparent discrepancy-which will surprise nonebut intemperate teetotalers-between the deliverance of merechemists or physiologists on the subject of alcohol and that ofpractical physicians. There is a great difference between a

purely chemical or physiological view of man and his wants,and the view which physicians in actual practice have presentedto them of man in hard and matter-of-fact conflict with thingsas they are. It is admitted that for a man whose object is todo an occasional feat of mind or body-e. g., the chess-playeror the prizefighter-the right thing is to abstain entirely fromalcohol. But for most people, whose business is not to do featsoccasionally, but common work constantly and cheerfully andfor the longest possible time, the right thing may be to take amoderate quantity. This has not yet been proved, but it isquite conceivable, and we are ready to pay as much heed tothe opinion of serious and unbiassed physicians in this matteras to that of chemists and physiologists. Whatever the truthon this point, it is matter of satisfaction that there is an

important concurrence of weighty opinion in favour of extrememoderation; that whereas the question used to be betweenmuch alcohol and little, the question now is between a verylittle and none at all. There is no medical man now with a

reputation to lose who would venture an apology for thehabitual use of more than a very little alcohol, and this in avery diluted form. If there are any representatives of that oldrace of convivial monsters who could imbibe three bottles ofwine or a score of glasses of punch or toddy, who thought noshame of falling under the dinner-table and needing to have theircravats loosed and their necks adjusted by the attendant page,let them know that their habits involve as great a violation ofall sense and science as of manners and fashion. Such practicesare as unfashionable in our day as bucklcd shoes and short-clothes ; and, so far from being considered conducive to health,are associated only with insanity or disease. The injuriousnessof the habitual use of alcohol in any but the smallest quantities,and these well diluted, is a point on which chemists, physio-logists, and physicians are all agreed. It is to be inferred fromwhat the chemists have already established, that the greatthing that the system does with alcohol is to effect its removalas soon as possible. If the quantity is not excessive, its re-moval is probably complete ; if it is excessive, some is left inthe substance of the brain, the liver, the kidneys, &c. The

physiologists, again, tell us that the smallest quantity of alcoholtakes somewhat from the strength of the muscles, from the abilityto endure extremes of temperature, from the clearness of thehead and the activity of the mind. And, as physicians, weknow how soon the immoderate use of alcohol tells against thebody, encasing it with a layer of fat or lard, destructive of allfineness of outline, either of feature or figure; and, worse thanthis, causing the deposit of fat or oil in the fine structures ofthe internal organs--the tubes of the kidney, the fibres of theheart, the cells of the brain and liver-those organs, be it ob-served, in which chemists have detected the residue of thealcohol not removed by the excretory organs. We think ita most significant fact, one that has not been sufficiently con-sidered, that the organs in which alcohol is found, after beingtaken in large quantities and only partially eliminated, arethe very organs whose structure is known to suffer from the useof it, and the impairment of which lands so many drinkers inBright’s disease, heart disease, delirium tremens, paralysis, andhob-nail liver. The conversion of fine structures, such as gland-cells or muscular fibres, into fat, seems to be one of the naturalways in which, in process of time, organization deteriorates, andlife declines. It is a change which we properly associate with age,but it is strikingly favoured in many persons by what would beregarded as a very moderate use of our stronger beers or ofardent spirits. Alcohol seems to do the work of time.

All these facts indicate the wisdom of using alcohol in anyform with extreme caution, and of preferring the milder pre-parations of it. They go far to justify the strong language em-ployed by Dr. Paris many years ago in reference to ardentspirits : " The art of extracting alcoholic liquors by distillationfrom vinous liquors must be regarded as the greatest curseever inflicted upon human nature ;" and they seem to show

N 2

THE REOPENING OF ST. THOMAS’S HOSPITAL.

336

that no wiser measure, or one more worthy of a serious andobserving statesman, has been enacted than that introduced byMr. Gladstone, for, among other purposes, facilitating the im-portation into this country of the lighter wines of the Con-tinent, and so displacing the absurdly strong drinks in whichit is our national custom to indulge.

THE LATE THOMAS ALEXANDER, C.B., DIRECTOR-GENERAL, ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.

A STATUE of the late Mr. Alexander, erected by subscriptionin his native place, Preston Pans, was inaugurated at the com-mencement of the present month with due ceremonial by LordElcho, who pronounced a, well-deserved eulogium on his cha-racter and exertions. To these exertions it has been trulystated that the improved sanitary condition of the BritishArmy, as well as the elevation in rank and consideration of itsmedical officers, are in no small measure due. His professionalattainments were of the highest order, and he brought to theservice of his country rare administrative powers and untiringenergy. These qualities were observable throughout all hiscareer, but they shone out conspicuously in the Crimea; andin the alleviation of the sufferings of his division there, in thesubsequent reformation of the Department, and in the sub-stantial accomplishment of the new plans, he rendered serviceswhich cannot be over-valued. It is pleasant to read of the

public recognition of these services, and to know that, short aswas his tenure of office, it sufficed to fix his memory indeliblyin the minds of those who watched his conduct. Miss Night-ingale has afforded a testimony too valuable to be lost; we putit upon record here; it fitly crowns the memorials which wehave given and which have been elsewhere raised to the

honour and perpetual recollection of this able man and public-spirited benefactor of his order. She writes:-

" I can truly say that I have never seen his like for direct-ness of purpose, unflinching moral courage, and honesty. Thesewere the qualities which made his loss a public disaster. His

independence, his high disinterestedness, were undoubted. Henever sought advancement for his own ambition-never exceptto carry out the public service ; and when he had obtained it,he never used it except to do the highest service he was capableof. Throughout the whole of the Russian War his publishedcorrespondence shows that he cared for no man or thing, ifeither stood in the way of the public interests. He might havegone on smoothly enough in his routine duties, would he buthave let ill alone. But that was not his character. Every-where-at Gallipoli, where he seized the blankets for his sick ;in Bulgaria, where he fought such a fight for his men in thatopening prologue to the Crimean tragedy; and, again, through-out the Crimean tragedy itself, he showed the same fearlessdevotion, incurring thereby a serious personal responsibility inorder that his men might not perish. Most able in the dis-

charge of his own professional duties, he at the same timeknew that the army medical officers were not dealt with asthey ought to have been, and he was looked up to as the re-presentative of all the best of them, and of their wishes andambitions. Even in the Crimea, his character had pointed himout to all observers for the highest position in his deptrtment.When the Royal Commission on the Sanitary State of theArmy’ was issued, Mr. Alexander’s service on it was consideredso necessary that he was sent for from Canada,. He afterwardsserved on a no less important, though less well-known Com-mission, for drawing up the new ’ Army Medical Regulations,’which gave our army medical officers sanitary powers and aposition of usefulness which no army medical officers in Europehave but ours. In all these, he showed the same clearness ofsight in discerning, the same directness of course in bearingdown on his object. On the retirement of his chief, Lord Pan-mure called him to be Director. General; and in the short timehe occupied the office, he showed high administrative ability,as well as his old firmness and honesty-his great charac-teristicp. He had great difficulties, but he manfully breastedthem all: doing the work personally of nearly his whole office,lest any failure at so critical time should ensue. At this timehe used to keep medicines beside him in the office to relieve theeffects of hard work, which no inducement would make himlay aside, because he was convinced that it was in the way of

I his duty. As was predicted more than once to him, he fell atthis post, as true a sacrifice to duty as if he had fallen on thefield. His death caused a regret extending far beyond thelimits of his own department; for the public instinctively knewthat it had lost one of its best servants."

SECRET POISONING.

THE unhappy aberration of mind in the Marquis Wielopolski,the Governor of Warsaw, consequent upon recent attempts onhis life, has given ground for the renewal of fables popular inthe days of the Borgias, and which have still a firm hold of thepublic mind. Secret poisoning by flowers exhaling a deadlybut sweet-scented odour; by gloves highly decorated, butmore fatal than the robes of Dejanira; by tapers which extin.guished life as they burnt to the socket ;-these were the me.thods attributed to mediaaval poisoners, and of which the tradi-tions still linger. In this instance the Marquis had received ananonymous epistle, warning him of fresh dangers. This soaffected his imagination that he fell ill, and said that his headhad ached while he read it. The statement gained currency,that while deciphering the extremely small characters in whichthis letter was written, he had inhaled a deadly poison where.with the paper was impregnated. The letter was carried with

many precautions to Dr. Watansen and a chemist named

Chichocki, who took the superfluous pains of analyzing it, anddeclared it perfectly harmless. The fact is that these fancifulmethods of poisoning have no existence ; they are purely fabu-lous. The secret poisoning of the middle ages was of the coarsestand most inartificial character, and was only secret becausethe art of chemical analysis was then very imperfect. It must,however, be admitted, since the murder of the children of

Taylor at Liverpool, that it has not risen to the height of itstask, since these children were murdered by means consideredindiscoverable.

HOSPITAL CLAIMS.

AN application is spoken of to the Royal Commissioners bythe Governors of St. George’s and St. Mary’s Hospitals to ex-tend the opening of the Exhibition for one day longer thanthat contemplated by their recent decision, and to permit theproceeds to be applied on behalf of the funds of these charities.The grounds upon which the Governors feel themselves justifiedin making this appeal are-the large number of cases of acci-dents received, and the great expense entailed upon them

thereby, throughout the progress of the Exhibition, and inconnexion with the erection of its building. It is usual and properfor all large companies and employers of labour, whose servantsare benefited by the operations of public hospitals, and greatlyprofit by their wards and out-departments, to contribute towardsthe funds thus heavily taxed; and we trust that the Commis-sioners, and especially also the contractors, will see the pro-priety of recognising this claim in some substantial form, evenif difficulties should exist to prevent the concession of the pri.vilege thus asked. Some kind of pecuniary appropriation is

clearly required. The following remarkable statement showsthe number of patients from the Exhibition treated at St.

George’s Hospital during the progress of the building, &c.:-In-patients, 73. Largest number of out-patients admitted anyone day, 10; ditto any one week, 25; total number of out-patients, about 930. One of the in-patients drank eight gallonsand a half of brandy during the time he was in the house, andhis cost for instruments and other things amounted to about £60.Surely these facts cannot be passed over.

PRECEDENCE OF VOLUNTEER SURGEONS.

A VOLUNTEER SURGEON has addressed to us a letter concern-

ing the precedence of his order, which sets forth a complaintthat volunteer surgeons are not fairly treated in this matter.By the Warrant of October 1st, 1858, her Majesty conferred