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under notice. During the 13 weeks of the second quarterof this year the mean annual death-rate in these Irishtowns averaged 19-0 0 per 1000 ; in the 95 large Englishtowns the corresponding death-rate did not exceed 13’1 1

per 1000, while in the 18 Scotch towns it was equalto 15-5 per 1000. The annual death-rates in theseveral Irish towns last week were equal to 16’0 0 inDublin (against 10’ 3 in London), 12’ 1 in Belfast,12- 2 in Cork, 10- 2 in Londonderry, 12’2 2 in Limerick, and11-4 in Waterford, while in the remaining 16 towns themean death-rate was equal to 14’ 5 per 1000.The 306 deaths from all causes in the 22 Irish towns were

48 fewer than the number in the previous week, and included27 which were referred to the principal epidemic diseases,against numbers decreasing from 37 to 29 in the three

preceding weeks ; of these 27 deaths, 9 resulted frommeasles, 8 from whooping-cough, 6 from diarrhoeal diseases,3 from scarlet fever, and 1 from diphtheria, but not onefrom enteric fever or from small-pox. These 27 deaths fromthe principal epidemic diseases were equal to an annualdeath-rate of 1-2 per 1000 ; the death-rate from thesediseases last week did not exceed 1’ 0 per 1000 inthe 95 large English towns, and was equal to 1-4 in the18 Scotch towns. The deaths attributed to measles, whichhad declined from 17 to 5 in the three preceding weeks, roseto 9 last week, and comprised 7 in Dublin and 2 in Belfast.The deaths referred to whooping-cough, which had increasedfrom 5 to 10 in the three preceding weeks, fell to 8 last

week, and included 4 in Belfast, 3 in Newry, and 1 in Dublin.The fatal cases of diarrhoea and enteritis, which had risenfrom 3 to 10 in the four preceding weeks, declined to6 last week, all of which related to infants under2 years of age; 4 of the 6 deaths were recordedin Dublin. The deaths attributed to scarlet fever lastweek numbered 3, against 2 in each of the three precedingweeks, and were all registered in Dublin. The fatal caseof diphtheria also occurred in Dublin.The deaths referred to diseases of the respiratory system

in the 22 Irish towns, which had steadily decreased from 84to 63 in the four preceding weeks, further declined to 47 inthe week under notice. Of the 306 deaths from all causes,92, or 30 per cent., occurred in public institutions, and 6resulted from different forms of violence. The causes of13, or 4’2 per cent., of the total deaths were not certifiedeither by a registered medical practitioner or by a coronerafter inquest ; in the 95 large English towns the proportionof uncertified causes of death last week did not exceed1-1 per cent.

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THE SERVICES.

ROYAL NAVY MEDICAL SERVICE.THE following appointment has been notified :-Staff-

Surgeon : G. L. Buckeridge to the Haulbowline Hospital andYard.

ROYAL ARMY MEDICAL CORPS.

Colonel T. J. R. Lucas, principal medical officer of theJubbulpore and Jliansi Brigades, has arrived home on leaveof absence from India. Colonel S. Westcott, C.M.G., hasbeen transferred from the Scottish Command to the SouthernCommand, for appointment as Assistant Director of MedicalServices at Portsmouth.

Lieutenant-Colonel J. H. Daly, at present holding chargeof the Military Hospital at Limerick, has been selected forthe higher rate of pay under Article 317 of the RoyalWarrant. Lieutenant-Colonel C. A. Lane, on arrival inIndia for a tour of duty, has been appointed to commandthe Station Hospital at Madras. Lieutenant-Colonel A. P.

Blenkinsop has taken up duty at Army Heaclquarters, Simla,as Assistant Director, Medical Services in India, vice Brevet-Colonel R. S. F. Henderson, honorary physician to His

Majesty the King, appointed to command the Station Hos-pital at Quetta. Lieutenant-Colonel E. G. Browne, com-manding the Station Hospital at Delhi, has arrived home onfour months’ leave of absence from India.Major A. H. 0. Young has been transferred from the

Military Hospital at Halifax to Strensall for duty. MajorF. Harvey has been transferred from the Southern Commandto the Northern. An exchange on the roster for serviceabroad has been sanctioned by the Director-General between

Major F. W. Cotton, in charge of the Military Hospital atFleetwood, and Major L. W. Harrison, clinical pathologist,Military Hospital, Rochester-row. Major J. E. Brogden hasarrived home on leave of absence from Gibraltar. Major0. W. A. Elsner has been transferred from the Military Hospitalat Pretoria to Fort Napier, Pietermaritzburg. Major E. P.Hewitt, lately holding charge of the Military Hospital at Poona-mallee, has been transferred from the Ninth (Secunderabad)Division to the Fifth (Mhow) Division. Major H. Swabeyhas been appointed to command the Section Hospital at St.Thomas’s Mount, Madras Presidency. Major J. F. M.Kelly, in charge of the Military Hospital at Potchefstroom,has arrived home on leave of absence. Major H. E. Staddon,at present serving at Dover, has been placed under orders forservice abroad during the coming trooping season.

Captain M. W Falkner has been appointed Specialist inOperative Surgery at Bermuda. Captain R. W. D. Lesliehas arrived home for duty from Malta. Captain D.Coutts has been transferred from the Station Hospital atAllahabad to the Seventh (Meerut) Division for duty atRanikhet. Captain A. C. Elliott has taken up duty at theStation Hospital, Sialkot. Captain J. H. Duguid, on arrivalin India, has been appointed to the Presidency Brigade forduty at the Station Hospital, Calcutta. Captain C. Ryleyhas been transferred from Chatham to Shoeburyness.Captain E. V. Aylen, specialist in dermatology to the Second(Rawal Pindi) Division, has arrived home on leave of absencefrom India. Captain A. N. Fraser has been placed underorders for service abroad during the coming trooping season.Captain A. S. Littlejohns has been appointed CompanyOfficer to No. 22 Company, Royal Army Medical Corps, atWynberg. Cape Colony. Captain V. G. Johnson has takenup duty in charge of the Cantonment Hospital at Nowshera.Captain M. J. Cromie has been transferred from KilbrideCamp to Dublin. Captain R. B. Hole has taken up dutyas Adjutant of the Royal Army Medical Corps School of,Instruction at Edinburgh.The following officers have been selected to attend the

next promotion courses at the Royal Army Medical College,Grosvenor-road :-Captains R. P. Lewis, J. H. Graham,W. Benson, G. E. Ferguson, C. E. W. S. Fawcett, T.

Scatchard, V. H. Symons, R. A. Bryden, E. L. Moss, and;E. T. Potts.

Lieutenant H. R. Edwards has been transferred from the

Royal Herbert Hospital at Woolwich to the South African,Command for duty at the Military Hospital, Pretoria. Lieu-tenant E. L. Fyffe has been transferred from the MilitaryHospital at Fermoy to Cork. Lieutenant W. A. Frost has.taken over charge of the Military Hospital at Alderney.Lieutenant G. H. Dive has been appointed Clinical Assistantat Queen Alexandra’s Military Hospital, Grosvenor-road.Lieutenant C. Robb has joined the Public Health Depart-ment in Egypt. Lieutenant J. R. Yourrell has joined theMilitary Hospital at Rangoon for duty. Lieutenant A. G..Jones has been appointed to hold charge of the MilitaryHospital at Oxford. Lieutenant P. C. Field has joined for’duty in Egypt. Lieutenant J. M. Elliott has been appointedto the Military Hospital at Cosham. Lieutenant J. K. Gaunthas been placed under orders for service abroad during thecoming trooping season.

INDIAN MEDICAL SERVICE.

Lieutenant-Colonel C. A. Johnston has arrived home on.leave of absence from India. Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. B.Robinson, first-class agency surgeon in Bengal Presidency,has been appointed to hold charge of the duties of the

Residency Surgeon, Western Rajputana States. Lieutenant-Colonel F. P. Maynard, professor of ophthalmic surgery atthe Medical College, Calcutta, has been granted nine months’leave of absence home from India. Lieutenant-ColonelB. H. Deare, civil surgeon at Darjeeling, has been appointedProfessor of Materia Medica at the Medical College, Calcutta,and Second Physician to the College Hospital in succession -to Lieutenant-Colonel J. T. Calvert, appointed to be Principal’and Professor of Medicine, Medical College, Calcutta, andFirst Physician to the College Hospital. Lieutenant-ColonelB. J. Singh has been appointed Inspector-General of Prisonsin the Province of Bihar and Orissa. Lieutenant-ColonelW. Robertson Clark has been granted six months’ combinedleave of absence.

Major F. F. Elwes, recently surgeon to H.E. the

Governor of Madras, has been appointed Surgeon of the-

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Madras Third District and Second Physician to the MadrasGeneral Hospital. Major W. F. Harvey has taken up dutyas Officiating Director of the Central Research Institute atKasauli during the absence on 13 months’ leave of Lieu-tenant-Colonel Sir David Semple, R.A.M.C. (R.P.). MajorH. de V. Condon has arrived home on leave of absence fromIndia. The services of Major R. H. Maddox, officiatingcivil surgeon, have been placed at the disposal of the Govern-ment of Bihar and Orissa. Major J. W. F. Rait, on returnfrom leave, has been appointed Superintendent of the

Campbell Medical School and Hospital at Sealdah insuccession to Major E. A. R. Newman, transferred. MajorW. S. Willmore, civil surgeon at Mirzapur, has been grantedprivilege leave of absence combined with study leave andfurlough for a total period of 21 months.

Captain H. R. Dutton has been appointed to officiate as acivil surgeon of the second class and posted to Midnaporein succession to Major G. King, whose services have beenplaced at the disposal of the Government of Bihar andOrissa. The services of Captain J. K. S. Fleming have beenreplaced at the disposal of H.E. the Commander-in-Chief bythe Government of India. Captain T. W. Harley hasreceived an extension of his leave of absence.

TERRITORIAL FORCE.

Royal Army J1IedÙJal Corps.3rd Scottish General Hospital, Royal Army Medical Corps :

Captain Brownlow Riddell, from the lst Lowland FieldAmbulance, Royal Army Medical Corps, to be Major (datedMay 9th, 1912).

Attae7wd to Units other than 111erZieal Units.-CaptainEdmund L. Anderson is seconded under the conditions ofparagraph 114 of the Territorial Force Regulations (datedJan. 6th, 1912). Captain William Haig to be Major (datedJune 19th, 1912). Captain Edward F. MacL. Neave resignshis commission (dated July 10th, 1912).

DEATHS IN THE SERVICES.

The Hon. Charles Benjamin Mosse, C.B., C.M.G., lateDeputy Surgeon-General, A. M.D., on July 4th, at Oberland,Guernsey, in his eighty-third year. He received his firstcommission in 1858 and retired on half-pay in 1876. Heserved in West Africa in 1866 and was present at thestockaded town of Tubarcolong (mentioned in despatches).In 1867 he was promoted to staff-surgeon for ’’ valuableservices during an epidemic of yellow fever at Bathurst,and he served throughout the Ashanti war, 1873-74(mentioned in despatches and made a C.B., medal withclasp). For nearly 25 years he was superintending medicalofficer of the Colonial Medical Department of Jamaica.

Surgeon-General Byng Thomas Giraud, late of the 31st

Regiment, 19th Hussars, and 7th Fusiliers, on July 2nd. Hereceived his first commission in 1857 and retired in 1883.He served in the Russian war, 1855, and in the Baltic

Expedition and at the bombardment of Sweaborg (medal).In the China war, 1860, he was present at the action ofSinho and the storming of Tangku (medal and clasp), andalso at the operations against the Taeping rebels, China,1862-63. In the Afghan war, 1878-80, he served during thesortie on Deh Khoja, the defence of Kandahar, and thebattle of Sept. lst (mentioned in despatches). During theEgyptian Expedition, 1882, he was present at the battle ofTel-el-Kebir (bronze star and promoted to brigade-surgeon).

Lieutenant-Colonel Hugh Brodrick Mathias, D.S.O.,R.A.M.C., principal medical officer of the Egyptian army,at Khartoum on June 29th, aged 49. He entered the armyas surgeon in 1886, became surgeon-major in 1898, andlieutenant-colonel in 1906. In 1898 he took part in the80udan Expedition, being attached to the Cameron High-landers (mentioned in despatches, the medal with two

clasps, and Nile Campaign decoration). He also served withdistinction in South Africa, where he was in charge of thePrincess Christian Hospital (mentioned in despatches andSouth African and King’s medal).

THE NAVAL MEDICAL ASSOCIATION OF JAPAN.The Naval Medical Association of Japan, of which

Surgeon-General S. Kimura, Imperial Japanese Navy,is President, has issued its first B1llletin (May, 1912),consisting of some 250 pages in the native languageand well illustrated. It is published at Tokio. SurgeonT. Kabeshima discusses Preventive Inoculation by theCombined Vaccine of Typhoid and Paratyphoid Bacilli,

Fleet-Surgeon G. Suzuki writes on Ionic Treatment,Surgeon-Inspector I. Nishi describes a case of Cancer of theJejunum, Staff-Surgeon Y. Onuki reports two cases of theSo-called Krfikenberg’s Ovarian Tumour, and Staif-SurgeouT. Takamiya two cases of Amoebic Dysentery. Brief notes

indicating the contents of the articles precede the main text.We congratulate our Japanese cOllfrères on this production,which is excellently printed.

IMPROVISED METHODS OF AID IN THE FIELD.

In THE LANCET of Nov. 25th, 1911, p. 1499, we brieflyreferred to the little book by Lieutenant-Colonel H. Mackay,R.A.M.C. (T.) entitled "Improvised Methods of Aid in theField" 1 as being most helpful in the instruction of FirstAid Detachments. This book had the approval and recom-mendation of Sir Alfred Keogh, and it has been so wellreceived that a second edition has now been issued.The subject is, indeed, one of importance, and the

training manuals of the Red Cross Society and othersimilar books devote some of their space to thisquestion, while the service journals frequently containarticles on the subject. It is manifestly, however,an advantage to discuss the subject in a work speciallydevoted to it, and the new edition of ’’ ImprovisedMethods of Aid in the Field" is to be welcomed.In some cases the matter has been rearranged with

advantage, 56 additional pages have been added, andsome fresh illustrations introduced, but the size has been

kept within the limits of a handy pocket manual, and theprice has not been altered. Particularly valuable is the

chapter on Improvised Methods of Transport by Road, Rail,and Water, and the chapter on Shelters contains useful andingenious information. The book, which is founded on notesof lectures, brings together in one volume a record of theexperiences of practical men in the field and will be usefulboth to members of the Territorial Service and to those whoare engaged in voluntary aid work generally.

ANNALI DI MEDICINA NAVALE E COLONIALE.

Dr. Pastega, of Spezia, opens the April number of

this journal with a paper recommending" protargolage "-the camel-hair pencilling of the eye, and especially ofthe conjunctival sacs and edges of the lids, with a 5 or10 per cent. solution of protargol-in the treatment ofinfections of the conjunctiva, and as a preliminary to alloperations on the eye. Dr. Dante Ferraro, surgeon-captain in the Italian navy, recommends picric acidin the treatment of burns and scalds, a 10 per cent.solution in ether being used to impregnate gauze. Hehas by comparative experiments found this method givebetter results than a 2 per cent. lotion of tincture of iodine.Under picric acid the epidermis more quickly covers thewound. There is an appreciative article on the work intropical medicine being done by Dr. Aldo Castellani in

Ceylon. This review well maintains its high standard.

1 Improved Methods of Aid in the Field for the Use of VoluntaryAid Detachments and Members of the Territorial Royal Army MedicalCorps. By H. Mackay, M.D., T.D., Col. R.A.M.C.T. With twodiagrams and 81 illustrations. London: Eyre and Spottiswoode,Limited. 1912. Pp. 156. Price 1s. 6d. net.

AFTER-CARE ASSOCIATION. - This association(the objects of which are to assist recovered cases on theirdischarge from asylums in all parts of the country) hasrecently held two important meetings. The first was at

Highgate in the gardens of All Saints’ Vicarage, by the kinclinvitation of the Rev. F. H. A. and Mrs. Hawkins, when thechair was occupied by Mr. Hawkins. The meeting wasaddressed by Sir George Savage (treasurer), Dr. Helen

Webb, and Mr. H. Thornhill Roxby. There was a largeattendance, many new members were enrolled, and a goodcollection was made for the funds. The second meetingwas held at Collingwood Towers, Camberley, by the kindnessof Colonel and Mrs. Harris, when the chair was taken by theRev. Canon Skelton, R.D. An address was given on thework of the association by Sir James Crichton Browne;and Dr. David Nicolson, C. B., the Hon. John Mansfield,Colonel Harris, and Mr. Thornhill Roxby also spoke. A verylarge number attended and a substantial addition to thefunds resulted. Branches of the association were formed inboth places.