OBITUARY. MR. EVANS, OF BELPER. THE death of Mr. Evans, of Belper, which took place on November 20 last, is an event which requires more than a passing notice. For the last eight or ten years, owing to the infirmities of advanced age, he had retired from the active duties of his Profession, but for many years previous to that time he was known far and wide as one of the most eminent Surgeons of his day. As an operative Surgeon and oculist, he was surpassed by few, his operations in many cases being marked by great ingenuity and boldness- a boldness almost always justified by success. He tied the carotid artery three times-twice successfully. As a lithotomist and operator for hernia and cataract, he was particularly successful. One striking excellence in Mr. Evans' professional character was the tenacious perseverance he displayed in applying the resources which great natural ability and careful observation constantly suggested; and he was thus, under Providence, the means of saving life under circumstances often considered hopeless, as illustrated by the following cases :— A case of poisoning by laudanum-the patient having taken an ounce and a-half of laudanum and half-a-pint of gin-in which he successfully emptied the stomach on December 6, 1817, by means of a large syringe attached to an œsophageal tube, on the principle of the stomach-pump, two years before that instrument was invented. The case was published in the Transactions of the Associated Apothecaries and SurgeonApothecaries of England and Wales for the year 1823. But the operation which caused a great sensation at that time, and extended his reputation to foreign countries, was a case of aneurism of the arteria innominata, treated successfully by ligature of the common carotid on the distal side of the tumour, and recorded in the Lancet of November, 1828, and in Wardrop's work on "Aneurism." It may be interesting to the Profession to know that the patient on whom this operation was performed, is still living at Belper, in the enjoyment of good health, after a lapse of thirty-four years. About the year 1833 he extirpated a cancerous uterus in the case of Mrs. H., who survived the operation thirteen months. The uterus is at present in the museum of Queen's College, Birmingham. The unwearied attention and kindness which Mr. Evans exercised in the discharge of his Professional duties, his readiness at all times to lend his aid, and the confidence he inspired in those who sought it, will be testified to by all who knew him, in every station of life. Of his general character it is more difficult to speak. Unobtrusive and retiring, and possessing an almost child-like simplicity, he was distinguished in an eminent degree by that charity which "thinketh no evil;" while, at the same time, he was ever active in suggesting and promoting every good work. He is gone, full of years, to his rest, having entered his 83rd year; but his memory will be long cherished, not only by his numerous family, but by the many friends far and near who have long appreciated his worth. MEDICAL NEWS. APOTHECARIES' HALL.-Names of gentlemen who passed their Examination in the Science and Practice of Medicine, and received certificates to Practise on Wednesday, December 24, 1862: Peter Swales, Helmsley, Yorkshire; Francis Young, 114, Carlton-road; William Leonard Cass, Goole, Yorkshire; Adam Rae Martin, Rochester, Kent; Albert Louis Peacock, Huntingdon; James Murray Lindsay, Queen'sroad, Grove-lane, Camberwell. APPOINTMENTS. ALDRIDGE, RUSSELL, M.D., L.R.C.S. Edin., L.S.A., Yeovil, to be Certifying HEATH, CHRISTOPHER, F.R.C.S., has been appointed Lecturer on Anatomy at Westminster Hospital. HOLTHOUSE, CARSTEN, F.R.C.S., has been appointed Lecturer on Surgery at Westminster Hospital. WYER, OTHO, M.R.C.S. Eng., L.S.A., Nuneaton, to be Certifying Surgeon under the Factory Inspectors' Act, vice Herbert. DEATHS. BARNES, JOHN, Surgeon, Maghull, on December 21. BOSSEY, PETER, F.R.C.S. Eng., at Worthing, on December 22, aged 56. MACKENZIE, JOHN, L.R.C.P. Edin., at Ullapool, N.B., on December 17, aged 27. MIALLARDET, JOHN WILLIAM, at Crail, Fifeshire, on December 12, late UNIVERSITY OF DUBLIN.-At the winter commencement held in the Examination-hall of Trinity College, on Wednesday, December 17, 1862, the following Medical and Surgical degrees were given :-Doctors in Medicine - Rev. Samuel Haughton (stip. cond.); Thomas Waugh Belcher. Masters in Surgery-John Blair Elmes; Philip P. Lyons; John Fred. Boyes. Bachelors in Medicine-John E. Barker; Francis Johnson; Thomas White; Philip Patterson Lyons; Dionysius F. Keegan; John Fred. Boyes; Rev. Samuel Haughton (stip. cond.); William H. J. Humphreys; Arthur Wynne Foot. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE STUDENTS' CHRISTIAN ASSOCIA TION.-On Friday evening, December 19, a special meeting of the above Association was held in the lecture-room behind Regent's-park Chapel, to commemorate the founding of the Society, exactly twelve months previously. The chair having been taken at eight o'clock by Professor Malden, A.M., the Rev. Dr. Hoppus offered prayer. The Secretary, Mr. Coxeter, then read the past minutes of the Society, after which short addresses were delivered by the President, Mr. C. Reed, Professor Hoppus, Dr. Hare, Dr. Edward Ellis, Mr. W. Scannell Lean, Mr. Bompas, M.A., and others. About forty students were present on the occasion. In concluding, the chairman expressed the very great pleasure he had felt in being present at such a meeting, and sincerely hoped that the Society would be increasingly prosperous. This Association, now numbering nearly fifty members, composed of students from both the faculties of Medicine and Arts, and which is entirely unsectarian in its character, has for its objects the conversational study of the Scriptures and prayer; and it also affords to new students, especially those who are strangers in London, an opportunity of forming good and useful friendships. THE Rector of Wanstead writes to the Times that"Thomas Lucas died at Wanstead on Saturday, December 20, 1862, at the reputed age of 105, and was certainly 104. He was born at Bygrave, in Hertfordshire, and was baptized in 1762. According to what his mother told him, he was either four or five years old when baptized, and he remembered walking to church on that occasion, when a younger brother was baptized with him. The old man's memory was so good that there seems no reason for doubting the accuracy of his statement. His family consider him to have been 105. He was formerly farm-bailiff to Mr. Long Wellesley, at Wansteadhouse, had been married, and had several children, of whom some at advanced ages are still living. He had a remarkably healthy aspect and clear grey eye, was of courteous manners, and of a very cheerful temper, and retained excellent health and the complete use of all his faculties (including his memory, hearing, and eyesight) till almost the end. Until within a few months of his death, he chopped his own firewood, was conversational and agreeable to visitors, and was generally in the full enjoyment of life. As he died on December 20 (the day before his birthday, which was on December 21), he had, in point of law, completed 105 years. He suffered considerably during the last six weeks, but his end was tranquil and happy." AN UNQUALIFIED PRACTITIONER.-On Tuesday, the adjourned inquest on the body of Mrs. Sarah Bowler, who, it was alleged at the former inquiry, had met her death through the unskilfulness of her Medical man, a non-qualified Medical Practitioner, was resumed at the "Wheatsheaf," St. Leonard's Avenue, Bromley, before H. R. Walthew, Esq., the deputycoroner. Mr. Marsh appeared for Mr. Talbot, and a large number of the Medical Profession were present. From the evidence adduced at the former inquiry, it appeared that the deceased was delivered of a male child on Monday, December 8, by Mr. Talbot, of Grundy-street, at ten o'clock in the morning, hæmorrhage occurring immediately after. At one o'clock, Dr. Kennedy was seen passing by, and Mr Dr. Talbot tapped at the window, and called him in. Kennedy immediately removed the placenta, but deceased died half-an-hour afterwards. He was of opinion that the placenta should have been removed within from half-anhour to three quarters after the hæmorrhage occurred. The coroner now observed that, since the former inquiry, he had referred to " Denham's Practice," and he believed it was a general opinion that the placenta should be removed as soon as possible after the child was born, providing the patient was not in a fainting condition. There was no doubt that three hours was a very long time to elapse before taking those steps; and, with respect to the law, if it was proved that the deceased was able to undergo the operation, but that it was unnecessarily delayed, then the case would amount to that of manslaughter. Dr. Kennedy had stated that, when he was called in, the deceased was not in a fainting state; on the other hand, Mr. Talbot stated, that she was in a fainting condition the whole of the time. (the coroner) was surprised that a gentleman like Mr. Talbot should practise without being properly qualified under the Act. Mr. Talbot had stated that he attended lectures for three or four years at Guy's Hospital, but the attending of lectures, and holding certi£cates to that effect, did not qualify a man for practice, but merely showed that the holder of them had been present on such occasions. The jury having consulted, returned a verdict, that deceased died from hæmorrhage produced by natural causes. He DEATH BY FIRE. At the inquest held by Mr. Bedford on the bodies of six children named Spencer, who perished by fire, in Soho, Dr. Buzzard said :-" Certain characteristics were common to all of them. There was little or no decomposition. In all the eyelids were firmly closed. In all the extremities were contracted, and the fingers firmly clenched. With one exception the burns were not at all deep, but they were very extensive. As a rule, fully three-quarters of the whole surface of the body were injured. In all the hands were the parts most affected. In the three eldest children, both arms were drawn up across the chest, the hands being doubled up, the fingers clenched, with the nails close to the chest, as though they were trying to open the chest with the fingers. All the children were in precisely the same position. He opened Edward, his being the body which was least injured by the fire. In cutting through the integuments covering the chest he found them deeply injected with a brilliant red colour. He found that the lungs were very much congested with an unusually bright red fluid. All the cavities of the heart were empty. The brain was found somewhat congested with bright red blood. Generally, none of the blood he met with in the course of his examination presented the ordinary character of venous blood. There was no black blood; it was all red. In the case of Edward he believed the cause of death to have been the shock from sudden and extensive burns, and not from suffocation. Judging from that one examination, and the characteristics common to all, he should pronounce the cause of death to have been the same in all the cases. ."—A Juror: Do you think the children were burnt while alive?-Dr. Buzzard: I cannot give an opinion on that point. I believe the burns were inflicted during vital action, but I could not tell whether consciousness existed. There cannot be any possible evidence whether the children were asleep or not at the time the fire reached them.-The Foreman: The children were burnt to death-not suffocated?Dr. Buzzard: Burnt to death, undoubtedly. There is no evidence of suffocation. FEVER, which has been rife in Liverpool, has filled the fever wards of the Workhouse Hospital. At a late meeting of the Workhouse Committee, certain reports which had found their way into the local papers concerning the sanitary condition of the house, were thus disposed of by the chairman:-"Few-none, comparatively speaking-of the fever cases treated in the Hospital were generated in the Workhouse. They were brought from the courts and alleys of the town. Stop this source of supply, and the Hospital might be closed in a month. It was certain that no defects in the management or arrangement could be responsible for the present state of the Hospital, either in respect to the number of cases or the intensity of the disease. The Medical Officers who attended to the poorest classes of the inhabitants did not, in fact, as a rule, treat typhus fever in their district. The worst, and indeed all practicable, cases were removed to the Hospital, although, from the unwillingness of many poor people to enter a workhouse, the removal was in many cases delayed until, except for the sake of those untouched by the disease, removal was useless. At the present moment there were in the Hospital four members of one family from one house in Rose-place. The District Medical Officers made weekly reports to the Committee, and they had instructions to call attention to defective sanitary arrangements in their several districts. Copies of such reports as they made were regularly forwarded to the Medical Officer of Health under the Health Committee. In regard to the Fever Hospital of the Workhouse itself, it should be stated that it contained ample accommodation for 64 fever patients, with separate wards for the reception of patients suffering from other malignant disorders, such as small-pox, etc. These wards contain beds for 32 patients in addition to the number of fever cases. The ground floor of the Hospital was not included in the foregoing, and there was there accommodation for 24 beds. On an average of the last five years there had been 37 patients in the Hospital-the average of the year 1860 being only 20, while the average for the last two months was 78. In consequence of the great increase it had become necessary to make increased provision for the reception of cases, not, as appeared to have been supposed, by crowding more beds into the several rooms, but by appropriating more rooms to fever cases. Thus, the small-pox cases had been removed to the Hospital for Infectious Diseases in Everton, and the ground-floor of the Fever Hospital had been appropriated to fever cases, thereby adding 56 beds to the accommodation, and providing for the reception of 120 cases. It thus appeared that, while the Hospital, under the ordinary managemen, was calculated to accommodate 96 patients, there had rarely been more than 37 in it. During the last five years there had passed though the Hospital 4243 patients, of whom 662 had died. When it was considered that many of the cases were brought to the Hospital in an almost dying state, the proportion of deaths did not appear to be excessive. With regard to the alleged mortality amongst the Roman Catholic priests of the town, it might be observed that, although, unfortunately, two who had been in the habit of visiting the Hospital had fallen victims to this disease within the last six months, these had been the only deaths under similar circumstances during the last fifteen years. In the case of Dr. Roskell, whatever might have been the general state of his health, he was certainly not a man of robust constitution. There could be no doubt that the duties which these gentlemen performed were more than usually hazardous. Being, from the nature of their duties, brought into immediate contact with the sick, without, it was to be feared, taking any special precaution against contagion, and remaining in the ward, as had been done, for four or five hours a-day, it was certainly not to be wondered at that deaths should, under such circumstances, sometimes occur. In conclusion, he (the chairman) asked to be allowed to say that the article they had to complain of was calculated to do great injury, by working upon the prejudices of the sick. It was also to some extent a reflection upon the Medical staff of the workhouse, for these gentlemen had never expressed themselves dissatisfied with the accommodation the Hospital afforded. The senior Medical attendant of the Hospital, Dr. Gee, was a gentleman of high position in his Profession, and had probably had as much, if not more, experience in the treatment of typhus than any Medical man in the country; and his recommendations had always been acted upon by the select vestry. (Hear, hear.) That was what he (the chairman) had to say in regard to the observations contained in the article to which he had alluded." SINGULAR DEATH OF A CHILD IN LEEDS. THE PRACTICE OF MEDICAL MEN.-At the Town Hall, yesterday, Mr. Blackburn, coroner, held an inquest on the body of Emily, the daughter of Henry Tate, bookkeeper, Sheepscar-fields. The deceased was two years and eight months old, and had enjoyed good health up to the time of her death, which occurred soon after midnight on Friday last. On the evening of that day the child was sitting near the table playing with a needle, and, as it is supposed, broke the needle by pressing it against the edge of the table. She complained of having been pricked, and a red spot, about the size of a pin's head, was found on her chest, just over the heart. The child did not scream or cry, and it was not supposed that anything very serious had occurred. A poultice was applied to the child's chest, and the family retired to rest about ten o'clock. At that time only half the needle could be found. In about twenty minutes the child began to retch and vomit seriously, and the parents, unable to account for the sudden illness, gave the child some brandy and water. She became no better, however, and in about two hours and a half the father went for Mr. Turner, Surgeon, Camp-road, but before he arrived the child was dead. On the day after, Mr. Turner gave the following certificate:-"I was called up to visit the child of Mr. Tate in the night, death having taken place a few minutes before I reached there. It is my opinion that the child's death was caused from shock to the nervous system and collapse, the result of excessive attempts at vomiting." This certificate was taken by the father of the child to the registrar, and that officer was not satisfied with it. On Sunday, Mr. James Braithwaite, Surgeon, and Mr. Turner, called together to see the child, and they gave a joint certificate to the same effect as the above. Still the registrar was not satisfied, and he applied to the coroner. After hearing all the circumstances, the coroner ordered that an inquest should be held, and a postmortem examination of the body made, and the result of this proceeding was the discovery of the missing half of the needle, firmly embedded in the cartilage of the chest, the point of the needle piercing the bag of the heart. The interior of the bag was full of blood, and that led to the death of the child. The evidence given at the inquest was of a rather contradictory character. Mr. Tate stated that when he arrived at home his wife's sister told him that the child had been playing with a needle, that she had broken it, and that only one half of it could be found; but, on being called, the lady denied having made any such statement to him, or having seen the child playing with a needle at all. The Medical men admitted having been informed about the breaking of the needle and the missing of half of it; and the coroner expressed his surprise that, in the face of the almost irresistible conclusion that the missing half of the needle was in the body of the child, the Surgeons should have given the certificates they had. He then called the attention of the jury to the improper practice of Surgeons who had never seen persons during life, giving certificates of the probable cause of death, with the view of trying to prevent the holding of inquests. He (the coroner) was anxious to avoid holding unnecessary inquests, but in practice he found that many of the certificates of Medical men were not to be relied upon. There were grades in the Medical, as well as in the legal and other Professions, and the certificates of some men he could with confidence believe; but he knew that in many cases the Medical man constituted himself coroner, and himself decided whether there should be an inquest or not. It was a very improper proceeding, and was done by Medical men who had good patients, to avoid the holding of inquests. Mr. Braithwaite admitted that the practice complained of was adopted. The jury expressed their disapproval of the practice, and also expressed surprise that in the case of the above child a Medical man was not sent for earlier. A verdict of "Accidental death" was returned.— Leeds Mercury, Dec. 24, 1862. A NICE RESIDENCE.-Mr. Richard Burton, in a letter to the Times, advocates the formation of a new convict settlement in Africa. "The Cameroons Mountain, rising in the depths of the Bight of Biafra, and within 4.25 degrees, or about 300 miles, of the Equator, is not, as has been supposed, an isolated mass breaking the continuity of the level and mangrove growing coast. I believe it to be the abutment of a great sierra, which, connected by the Rumbi' and Qua' hills, extends in a north-easterly direction to Mount Alantika. The Cameroons buttress may contain 500 square miles of successive bush and jungle, wood and forest, grass and barren ground. If connected, however, with Alantika, the number might be multiplied by 50. The first work to be expected from convicts located at Amboise Bay, at the foot of the Cameroons, would be a sanitarium. This poisonous coast calls aloud for some such establishment. During the last year, her Majesty's ship Prometheus, Captain Bedingfield, stationed at Lagos, lost, by death and invaliding, 84 out of 100 whites. In the Bonny River, it is calculated that, of 280, some 134 died in seventy-eight days. One ship, the Osprey, lost all her crew of 17 men except the master. The disease was yellow fever, which still continues in the New Calabar River, while in the Bonny it has been succeeded by a no less deadly typhus. At Fernando Po, 76 men died in two months, out of a total of 231 whites. I, therefore, conclude that we do want a sanitarium. It is vain to assert that a change to England is sufficient. Returning by the African steamship Athenian, Captain Lowry, I remarked that, despite the care of our excellent Doctor, every passenger from the coast fell ill; one officer, who never had had fever in Africa, suffered from it on board. The first establishment at Amboise Bay would be on Mondori Island, an oval rock some 200 feet high at the entrance of the bay, and catching the pure Atlantic breezes, which at Clarence Town, Fernando Po, must pass over a long tract of jungly swamp backing the settlement. The second station-it is unwise to transport fever patients suddenly from low ground to high altitudes would be on Mount Henry, an eminence about 150 miles from the mission station on the beach, and upwards of 1500 feet above sea level. The third would be a ledge of ground, grass grown, but not wholly out of the wooded region, 7000 feet high, and sheltered from the northeast wind by a formation which my companions and I called the "Black Crater." A stream of degraded lava leads to this, the highest point where European invalids might be settled, and cutting and zigzagging would easily render it practicable for four-footed animals. Above the Black Crater all is grass and clover, lava and clinker. In places the land is level enough for pleasant riding; snow could be stored for the whole year, and those who enjoy cold can pass a night or two at "Saker's Camp," where at dawn the mercury stands below zero, the blankets are stiff, and the noble peak is hoar with frost. Being unprepared to assert in England that felony would justify divorce, and not unacquainted with the horrors of Norfolk Island, I agree with Mr. Laird in thinking it no small advantage that the convicts who prove themselves orderly and industrious should be able to intermarry with the women of the country. With respect to the chances of escape, a bottle of rum given to the natives would bring in any fugitive; and as the lowlands are deadly, as the highlands are healthy, as all the craft upon this coast is so frail that even the half-amphibious negroes often lose their lives-and, finally, as the mountain, though thinly populated, and wholly desert above an altitude of 3000 feet, is almost surrounded by populous regions, full of well-armed men, commanded by "General Tazo," alias swamp fever-it is not to be expected that a convict station in Western Africa will ever breed a race of bushrangers. SAN FRANCISCO AS A HEALTH RESORT FOR THE PHTHISICAL.-Dr. Blake, of San Francisco, says: "As regards temperature, our Coast Range, during the summer months, affords one of the most desirable localities for the treatment of phthisical patients. The temperature for July is, perhaps, that which is the most agreeable for living out in the open air-the thermometer never below 57°, and never higher than 82°, and with a variation, during the twenty-four hours, never greater than 20°. But it is not only in the advantages as regards temperature that the Coast Range affords a most suitable climate for phthisical patients, as in this respect it might be equalled, and perhaps surpassed, by many other localities, as, for instance, the Sandwich Islands, Madeira, and other sea climates; but in this State, and probably in this State alone, are to be found combined all those climatic influences which are even of greater importance than mere temperature in the treatment of the disease. Together with this agreeable temperature, the atmosphere is dry and bracing-almost always calm, and the sky is unclouded for months together. The last summer, there was no rain from the beginning of May until the end of November, so that my patients were not driven in by the weather until November. Towards the middle of September, they left their summer camp for a lower point on the mountains, gradually descending as the season advanced. The climate of the lower ranges is analogous to that at greater elevations, and affords one of the most desirable localities for our patients during the early summer and late autumn months. Another important advantage that the Coast Range of mountains possesses is in the abundance of game; so that a good hunter can always keep the camp supplied. With the return of winter, however, our patients necessarily have to seek other quarters, and, being obliged to change the free mountain breezes for the badly ventilated, sunless rooms of our habitations, a great deal of the good that has been done during the summer is apt to be lost. Should the case be not very far advanced, our patients can hold their ground, during an average winter, in our coast valleys, or on the lower hills of the Sierra. But they can, by going a few hundred miles down the coast, again enjoy all the advantages afforded by their summer residence in the mountains. In the northern parts of Mexico, the rainy season, which corresponds to our winter, sets in in June and July, and is over by the end of October or the beginning of November; after which time, no rain falls until May or June. There are many points on the coast where the mountain range of the Sierra commences at a slight distance from the sea, and, although the low land is unhealthy, being subject to malarious diseases, yet, as soon as a moderate elevation is attained, the climate becomes dry and bracing, and very analogous to that of our own Coast Range during the summer. Fortunately, these localities are now easily reached, as the communication between San Francisco and Mazatlan is taking place, either by steamer or sailing vessels, three or four times a month. The country is well settled; and as large mining operations, conducted by our countrymen, are being carried on there, all sorts of supplies can be procured. About eighty miles back from the coast, the mountains already have an elevation of some thousand feet; and, although I have no accurate meteorological observations of the climate, yet, from the description of it by those who have passed the winter there, I am confident that it must be very analogous to that of our Coast Range. Our patients may thus enjoy a perpetual summer, or, at least, a climate in which they can pass the whole of the year in the open air. I believe, in no other part of the civilised world can such favourable conditions be found for treating phthisis as on this coast. That the disease cannot be cured by drugs is a fact becoming generally admitted by the Profession. That it can be cured by out-door life in the mountain air, is a fact of which I have seen abundant proofs, and which others, who have crossed the plains, have had opportunities of verifying. My own opinion is, that a large proportion of the cases of phthisis will be found to yield to one or two years' open-air treatment; and where the circumstances of the patient enable him fully to carry out such a plan, this coast offers, I think, by far the most favourable locality of any yet resorted to by phthisical patients."-Pacific Medical and Surgical Journal. BOOKS RECEIVED. Life in Nature. By James Hinton, author of "Man and his Dwellingplace," &c. London: Smith, Elder, and Co., 65, Cornhill. Pp. 258. Handbuch der Praktischen Medicin. Von Dr. Hermann Lebert, Professor der Medicinischen Klinik und der Specillen Pathologie und Therapie in Breslau. 3te Verbesserte Auflage. 2 vols. The Renewal of Life: Clinical Lectures illustrative of the Restorative System of Medicine. By Thomas K. Chambers, M.D. Lond. London. 1862. Pp. 425. On Diseases of the Chest, including Diseases of the Heart and Great Vessels: their Pathology, Physical Diagnosis, Symptoms, and Treatment. By Henry William Fuller, M.D. Cantab. London. 1862. Pp. 703. Health in the Tropics; or, Sanitary Art applied to Europeans in India. By W. J. Moore. London. 1862. Pp. 319. Mentone, the Riviera, Corsica, and Biarritz as Winter Climates. By J. Henry Bennet, M.D. London. 1862. Pp. 288. Deaconesses; or, the Official Help of Women in Parochial Work and in Charitable Institutions. By the Rev. J. S. Howson, D.D. London. 1862. Pp. 258. Guy's Hospital Reports. Third Series. Vol. VIII. London. 1862. Pp. 312. Dublin Quarterly Journal of Medical Science. No. LXVIIL 1862. Englishwoman's Journal. Social Science Review. November, NOTES, QUERIES, AND REPLIES. Me that questioneth much shall learn much.-Bacon. THE first lecture of Professor Simpson on "Fibroid Diseases of the Uterus," is in type, but the proof had not been received from the author at the time of publication of our present Number. The Profession will learn with pleasure that a subscription has been set on foot to indemnify Dr. Semple and his family in the legal expenses of the late action of Hall v. Semple. On inquiry, it has been found that the sum required to obtain a new trial was far beyond the means at Dr. Semple's disposal, and the project has been, therefore, reluctantly abandoned, although it had received high legal approval. Dr. Waller Lewis, of the Medical Department of the Post-office, and Dr. Forbes Winslow, 23, Cavendish-square, have consented to act as the Honorary Treasurers of the fund which is now being raised. We are sure it is only necessary that it should be publicly known that such a subscription has been set a-foot, for it to receive a generous response on the part of the Profession. Cheques or Post-office orders may be sent to either of the Honorary Treasurers. The former should be crossed to Messrs. Coutts and Co. Derensis.-Mr. Furneaux Jordan's cases of "Fibro-cellular Annulus of the Leg" were published in the Medical Times and Gazette for March 1, 1862, p. 208. We regret that our arrangements do not permit us to insert births and marriages, neither the deaths of any other than members of the Medical Profession. That indefatigable philanthropist, Mrs. Baines, of Brighton, has written to us on the subject of the prevention of accidents by fire. The following is the formula she proposes for rendering ladies' dresses non-inflam mable : "Tungstate of soda, prepared expressly for rendering fabrics non-inflammable, can be obtained, by order of any chemist, about 1s. per lb. Directions for use:-To three parts of good (dry) starch, add one part of tungstate of soda, and use the starch in the ordinary way. If the material does not require starching, mix in the proportion of one pound of tungstate of soda to two gallons of water; well saturate the fabric with this solution, and dry it. The heat of the iron in no way affects the non-inflammability of the fabric." Dr. Leigh, of St. Helier, Jersey, sends us the following hint on the treatment of incontinence of urine : "In a corner of an India-rubber sponge bag, fasten a tube with a yard of India-rubber tubing, which will conduct the urine into a vessel on the floor. The same apparatus can be used for the irrigation of stumps, or for refrigeration, etc. "St. Helier, Jersey, December 20." The following is a list of the late Dr. Knox's published works :Becclard's General Anatomy. Cloquel's Anatomy. Manual of Human Anatomy. Translation of Milne-Edwards' Zoology. Fan's Anatomy for Artists. Arteries after Tiedemann. Bones after Sue and Albinus Ligaments after Caldunis. Muscles after Cloquel. Nerves after Scurpa. Man: his Structure and Physiology Popularly Explained and Demon strated. The Races of Men. Parhydor, or Impermeable Silk for Surgical Purposes. (Prepared by the Patent Waterproofing Company.)-It is claimed for this impermeable silk, by the inventors, that "It is free from smell; it is not rendered adhesivo by tropical heat, warm rooms, etc.; it may be boiled in water without injury; it is not irritating to the skin, or otherwise injurious when in use; and that it may be packed for exportation in large quantities, as it is not liable to spontaneous combustion." It certainly appears to us to be the pleasantest specimen of its sort that we ever examined; light and not sticky; and we do not hesitate to recommend it to our readers. Buckle's Pure Bottled Beef-Tea. (Prepared by C. F. Buckle, Culinary and Pharmaceutical Chemist, 3, North-place, Gray's-inn-lane, London, W.C.) -Good beef-tea often makes the difference between a quick and a slow recovery, if not absolutely between life and death. There are many families in which, from want of skill in the servants, or from want of servants, good beef-tea cannot be had. Under such circumstances, Mr. Buckle's bottled beef-tea well deserves trial. We have submitted it, not only to our own experienced palate, but have caused it to be tasted by persons of all ages, including one invalid, whose comfort greatly depends on a supply of good beef-tea. All pronounce it remarkably nice, with a rich meaty flavour. It is not in the least gelatinous or sticky; neither is it clear; but it contains fibrinous and other elements, which are extracted by cold water and curdled by heat. THE LAST PASS-LIST OF THE COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MEDICAL TIMES AND GAZETTE. SIR,-You will oblige by changing the address of Morris Tonge to 5, Boltonrow, in the list of names admitted Members of the College. I am, &c. W. COPNEY. LEGALITY OF MIDWIFERY PRACTICE. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MEDICAL TIMES AND GAZETTE. SIR,-If your correspondent, "L., M. D.," will refer to the Medical Act, he will discover that he is mistaken in supposing a midwifery licence to be unrecognised by, and incapable of, being registered under that Act. The fact is, the Medical Act distinctly states that the licence in midwifery of the College of Surgeons entitles the holder to be registered as such. December 27. M.D. I am, &c. SCARLATINA CO-EXISTENT WITH MEASLES? TO THE EDITOR OF THE MEDICAL TIMES AND GAZETTE. SIR,-Dr. Richardson having named, in your journal of November 29, that he had seen scarlatina existing with rheumatism, I shall feel obliged if any of your correspondents will inform me whether they have ever seen it existing with measles; and whether the following case can have been scarlatina? C. R., aged 5, after being in company with a little girl who broke out with measles on the following day, had the usual symptoms and eruption ten days after. On the third day, the eruption disappeared, and, on the third day after that, an eruption, resembling scarlatina, made its appearance, with fever and slight sore throat. This terminated on the fifth day, with desquamation of cuticle. Three of her brothers and sisters were kept away from her on the first appearance of the measles, but in the same house, and none of them took either of the diseases. I am, &c. December. R. C. B. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MEDICAL TIMES AND GAZETTE. SIR, The New Sydenham Society, some time since, promised a new edition. Little has hitherto been known of this celebrated man, who, in his day, rendered such important service to Obstetric Practice. It is to be hoped, therefore, that the learned editor of the new edition will enrich his work with a more ample biography of his author than has yet appeared in print. There is one very interesting point with respect to Smellie it would be desirable to hear something more about, namely, "He confesses that he submitted his various publications to the revision and correction of a friend, who is known to have been the celebrated Dr. Smollett." I am, &c. [ Warwick. A FELLOW OF THE OBSTETRICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON. SCARLATINA AND RHEUMATISM. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MEDICAL TIMES AND GAZETTE. suppo SIR,-Will you allow me to ask a question as to the cases of scarlet fever complicated with acute rheumatism and heart disease, reported in the Medical Times and Gazette of November 29? I have been taught, as a recognised fact, that scarlatina is not unfrequently accompanied by inflammation of the joints, sometimes going on to suppuration, and by pericarditis, or pleurisy, also by peritonitis, as seen in a case lately under Dr. Gull's care, but have never heard that true rheumatism has been observed in such cases before. What was there in the cases reported, in the perspiration, urine, tongue, pulse, or other symptoms, to lead to the. sition of two poisons co-existing in the blood? There was a case lately under Dr. Barlow, in which a mild case of scarlet fever was accompanied by pain in several of the joints, and the presence for a time of a systolic murmur, heard over the base of the heart; but these symptoms were not regarded as at all anomalous, and were certainly not accoinpanied by any others observed in rheumatism. Hoping some one of your correspondents may explain the matter to me, I am, &c. Guy's Hospital. A MEDICAL STUDENT. DIGITALIS IN DELIRIUM TREMENS. absence of hæmorrhage for four months this summer, the catamenial flow, which had occurred with tolerable regularity, was entirely suppressed. In September last the old symptoms recurred, with suppression and much lumbar pain; no sickness; tongue clean, and pulse soft and regular, On several occasions nothing has been passed from the bladder for seven or eight days, and then little else than pure blood, and even this has only followed the application to the loins of the cupping-glasses. The practical value of this remedy as a powerful therapeutical agent is here most strikingly demonstrated. At first a few ounces were taken weekly, giving slight relief; but for the last ten weeks, at intervals of a few days, the cupping-glasses have been applied (dry), and allowed to remain on about twenty minutes. This plan has, without exception, resulted in the passage of blood mixed with two or three ounces of urine within an hour of the removal of the glasses. In about twenty-four hours its beneficia effect appears to subside, and no further relief ensues until the re-employment of this remedy. I am, &c. Walton, near Ipswich, December 23. JOHN RAND. COMMUNICATIONS have been received from : Dr. MURCHISON; Dr. MARTYN; Dr. A. SIMPSON; Mr. PAKER; Mr. W. COPNEY; Dr. R. D. THOMSON; Dr. MCCALL ANDERSON; Mr. J. HUTCHINSON; Mr. J. R. LANE: Mr. MANIFOLD; Mr. C. HEATH; Dr. BIRNIE; R C. B.; A MEDICAL STUDENT; MATER; Dr. DUCHESNE; Dr. RUGG; Dr. EVANS; Dr. 'J. W. BLACK; Dr. BABINGTON; M. L. BIDENKAP; Dr. H. WEBER; Dr. PAGE; Dr. OGLE; Dr. W. LEWIS; Dr. WHITEHEAD. TO THE EDITOR OF THE MEDICAL TIMES AND GAZETTE. SIR,-The effect of large doses of digitalis in a case of "delirium tremens," which occurred in my practice a short time since, tends powerfully to corroborate the theory of its action, as held by Dr. Handfield Jones in his communication in your last Number. The case was briefly this: E. F., 28, a prostitute and confirmed drunkard, first seen in her own house at 7 p.m. She has taken no food, except a little milk, for three days; has been drinking beer and spirits; fancies herself dead; surface of body is cold; pulse 90, soft and small; secretions, as well as can be ascertained, normal. To take 3ss. tinct. digitalis immediately; the same to be repeated in four hours; and subsequently 3ij. until the desired effect be induced. 9 a.m.-Has slept six hours and taken two quarts of milk; pulse 84, full and natural; surface warm; is thirsty; quite sensible, and willing to take beef-tea and continue the milk; has had three doses of the digitalis; excretions natural. On the following day, there was some little nausea and slight delirium, but these yielded readily to ordinary remedies and slight stimulation. There was no relapse, and the case ended most favourably. There can, I think, be no doubt that digitalis acted here the part of a "cardiac tonic" in a case of decidedly "asthenic" delirium, etc. I am, &c. Ivy-house, Woodford, December 16. ROBERT DUCHESNE, M.D. SIR,-Will you kindly insert the following, as I am anxious to avail myself of the experience of others who may have met with a similar case? Sarah L., aged 30, single, of fair complexion, florid, and of full habit, had good health until 17 years of age, when she first experienced an epileptic seizure, which have since recurred, at intervals of a few months, till the last two years. These fits were unaccompanied by aura, nor did they appear materially to injure her general health, although she has been unable to pursue any active employment in consequence of occipital headaches, which sometimes were very severe, and which were alone relieved by setons and cupping at the back of the neck menstruation has always been irregular, but never suppressed for any lengthened period. Nearly two years since she commenced, without assignable cause, to pass bright blood intimately mixed with the urine, which at first contained numerous small clots, apparently moulded by small ducts in the kidneys, and accompanied by slight lumbar pain; the clots soon disappeared, but for some months, with one or two short intermissions, the hæmorrhagic symptoms continued until the spring of the present year, when the kidneys resumed their usual healthy functions. At first the case was considered as one of vicarious menstruation, partly from the almost inappreciable amount of constitutional disturbance, and partly from the absence of the normal menstrual flux. This view was, however, soon dispelled by the return of the courses, which continued with tolerable regularity for several months, and more than once took place whilst the urine was mixed with much blood. In spring last, from a bright florid colour, it gradually became of a dark hue, and then perfectly clear and free from albuminous traces. Since these symptoms commenced, the epileptic seizures have given place to fa nting-fits, whilst the head symptoms have been much relieveu; but strange to say, during the West.. North Central East |