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wise than by living creatures, the conclusion is forced on usthat animal life must be particularly abundant and activeat this depth, or at least more abundant than at greaterdepths, for at less depths there is more opportunity of re-newal of the oxygen by reason both of the greater proximityto the surface and of the existence of vegetable life. Thisconclusion was borne out by the numerous experimentsmade by Mr. Murray with the tow-net at intermediatedepths, which went to prove the existence of abundance ofanimal life down to 400 fathoms, vegetable life never

extending to much below 100 fathoms. Below 400 fathomslife is sparingly met with.

THE SMALL-POX EPIDEMIC.

WHEREAS the deaths from small-pox in London duringthe first week of July showed a marked further declinefrom the numbers in recent weeks, the increase of new casesadmitted to the Metropolitan Asylum Hospitals forbids thehope that the present epidemic will soon disappear.The deaths referred to small-pox in the metropolis, which

in the eight preceding weeks had slowly but steadily de.clined from 78 to 44, fell to 23 during the week ending 7thinstant, of which 14 were recorded in the MetropolitanAsylum Hospitals, 1 in the Pancras Small-pox Hospital, and8 in private dwellings. The Registrar-General points outthat after distributing the 15 fatal hospital cases, 6 of thedeceased small-pox patients had resided in the east and 8in the south groups of districts. The 23 deaths included1 in Mile-end Old-town, which was of the third child in thesame family from small-pox, all of whom were unvaccinated.In the suburban districts of the outer ring, 7 deaths fromsmall-pox were registered during the week, of which 3 oc-curred in West Ham, 2 in Croydon, 1 in Stratford, and 1 inEdmonton.The number of small-pox patients in the Metropolitan

Asylum Hospitals, which in the six preceding weeks hadsteadily declined from 964 to 664, further decreased lastweek to 641; the admission of new cases, however, whichin the two previous weeks had been 93 and 97, rose to 146.In the Highgate Small-pox Hospital, moreover, the inmatesincreased from 39 to 44.Out of London and its suburbs, only 6 deaths from small-

pox were registered during the week in the large towns dealtwith by the Registrar-General in his weekly return; of these,5 occurred in Liverpool, and 1 in Salford.

THE WAR.

A TELEGRAM from the special correspondent of The Timesat Shumla, dated the 8th July, will probably cause somehesitation among the charitable associations here engagedin sending medical aid to the Turkish army. He states thatthe English surgeons in Rustchuk have not been permittedto attend the wounded there, and that the latter, some withbroken arms and legs, have been sent off, with their woundsundressed, to Constantinople. To know what this means,it must be understood that the carriages used for the pur-pose of transferring the wounded over so long a journeywould be the common country, springless cart, drawn bybuffaloes ! Only those who have witnessed the transport ofwounded men in such vehicles can fully understand thesufferings which they undergo from the rough jolting overcountry roads and the slow motion. When, as now, the ’,transport has to be effected under a burning sun, the suf-fering is heightened inconceivably. Further, it is statedthat the principal medical officer of the Turkish forces atRustchuk has seized upon the stores sent there by theStafford House Committee, in spite of the protests of theEnglish surgeons, but had not made use of them. Readerswho remember the medical incidents of the Crimean warmay recall to mind how the work of a special medical staff,sent to the Turkish army by the English Government, atthe request of the Porte, was rendered largely futile by theaction of the principal medical officers of the several Turkish

( forces among which the staff was distributed. The StaffordHouse Committee was about to send out four additionalsurgeons, when the above news arrived. It is unknown yetwhether any ladies have answered Lady Strangford’s appealto give nursing help to the Turkish army. With every re-

spect for her knowledge of the Turk, and that of some ofher coadjutors, we question the fitness of women givinghelp in the Turkish army hospitals.As we anticipated, the movement of the Russians across

the Danube has, for the moment at least, brought aboutdifficulties in provisioning and providing for the medico.sanitary necessities of the advanced forces. To the latestnews, the two bridges which alone for the present haveserved for the communication between the left bank andthe right, have been so much occupied by the transit ofthe necessary men and warlike material to hold the placessecured on the right bank, that food and medico-sanitarymaterial have been passed over in mere driblets. Hence theadvanced troops had the additional merit of holding theirground under some sharp campaigning experiences, especi.ally affecting the stomachs of both man and horse. The ad.vanced forces have now secured their position, and it is tobe expected that little onward movement will be madeuntil stores have been passed across the river in sufficientamount to render the Russian army in Bulgaria largely, ifnot wholly, independent of local supplies.A significant indication of the anticipated medical pro.

specta of the campaign, in its present phase, is furnishedby the formation of a committee at Kiev to transmitquinine to the Russian army. This useful association hasalready sent 321,000 doses. Another very commendableassociation has been formed in Odessa, the object of whichis to send tobacco to the soldiers.

Correspondence.

DISCOVERY OF THE ADULT REPRESENTATIVEOF MICROSCOPIC FILARIÆ.

"Audi alteram partem."

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—Permit me to announce an interesting addition toour knowledge of parasites, seeing that it is calculated tothrow light upon the question of the origin of one or moreobscure diseases.The brilliant discoveries of Lewis, followed up as they

were by Sonsino in Egypt, and by Welch and others in thiscountry, have at length been verified and extended by theobservations of Dr. Bancroft, in Australia, who has becomeacquainted with the sexually mature form of at least one ofthe various kinds of minute nematoid hasmatozoa.As has already been stated in the pages of one of your

contemporaries, I received, in the spring of 1876, somecapillary tubes from Australia, charged with blood takenfrom a chylurous patient. The donation came through Dr.Roberts of Manchester, who, prior to my investigation, hadhimself examined the contents of similar tubes, and hadpersonally verified Dr. Bancroft’s discovery of the micro-scopic hsematozoa in question. In the notice which Ipublished at the time, and which was reprinted in theVeterinarian (July, 1876), I mentioned that I had detected anematoid ovum in the Australian blood-a fact whichrendered it almost certain that the adult worm must besought for in the human bearer. I sent Dr. Bancroft acopy of this article, and what was therein stated inducedhim to continue his investigations. These further researcheshave resulted in the record of novel facts which, in responseto his courtesy, I now make public.

In a communication dated from Brisbane, Queensland,April20th, 1877, Dr. Bancroft writes as follows :-

° I have laboured very hard to find the parental form ofthe parasite, and am glad to tell you that I have now ob-tained five specimens of the worm, which are waiting to beforwarded by a trustworthy messenger." I have on record about twenty cases of this parasitic

disease, and believe it to be the solution of chyluria, some