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for the preceding year were-killed, 239 : injured, 3442.’collisions and derailments caused 88 deaths and the injury,.of 1743 passengers. The total number of persons other than.passengers and employés was-killed, 5066 ; injured, 6594 ;these figures include casualties to those called trespassers,.of whom 4346 were killed and 4680 injured. The total

number of persons killed at highway crossings was 750,:the injured numbered 1350, as follows : employes—killed,20; injured, 53 ; passengers-killed, 1 ; injured, 3 ; other

persons trespassing-171 killed ; 204 injured ; not trespass-ing-killed, 558 ; injured, 1090. To summarise, the figuresshow that out of every 399 employes one was killed and one,was injured out of every 26. With reference to trainmen--

.including in that term enginemen" firemen, conductors, andother trainmen-it is shown that one was killed out of every137 employed and one injured out of every 11 in service.One passenger was killed out of every 2,316,684 carried andone injured in every 139,740 carried. The summary shows

.that in the course of 13 years ending June 30th, 1900, in

,consequence of railway accidents 86,277 persons were killed-and 469,027 persons were injured. The injuries reportedvaried from comparatively trivial injuries to those of a fatalcharacter.

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"OZONE IN THE RAILWAY CARRIAGE."

OUR remarks in an annotation under the above heading inTHE LANCET of August 24th, p. 439, upon the probable- advantages which would be gained by the ozonisation of the.air of railway carriages have been subjected to considerablecomment in the lay press. Some writers have considered the,scheme impracticable on account of the enormous cost ofoxygen and have estimated that this alone on the Under-

ground Railway would be close upon a million sterling. Wenever suggested pure oxygen for the purpose, and, indeed,it is not necessary, the oxygen of the air would be ample.Others state that if air were used for the production of

ozone, nitrous and nitric acids would be formed. Where

strong ozonisation is proceeding it is true that a verysmall amount of nitrogen oxides is produced, just as

when a flash of lightning discharges through the

air, but this. amount is quite insignificant in a small

apparatus automatically deriving its current from the

dynamo attached to the carriage wheels. We have further

seen it stated that so efficient is the ventilation of the

"tube" and other underground electric railways that the

ozonisation of the air of the carriages would be a perfectlysuperfluous step. Travellers by these railways know perfectlywell that the air in these subterranean places has not grownpleasanter as the popularity of the system has increased.It is sickly and a sense of relief is experienced on gainingthe outside air. This should not be so if ventilation is

.efficient, A curious objection has been raised in one con-

temporary to ozone on account of its sub-acid smell. We(have never noticed it but then we have never yet recogniseda smell of this description.

DEATH OF PROFESSOR ADOLF FICK.

THE announcement of the death of the well-known

physiologist, Dr. Adolf Fick, the late professor of physiologyat the University of Wurzburg, will be received with regret.Professor Fick was born at Cassel on Sept. 3rd, 1829, and diedrather unexpectedly at Blankenberg on August 21st. He

pursued his studies in Marburg and in Berlin and graduatedin Marburg in 1851. In 1856 he accepted the post of pro-fessor of physiology at Zurich and in 1868 was offered andaccepted the chair of physiology at Wiirzburg, which he heldtill his superannuation a few months ago. He was the authorof many works, the chief of which will be found mentioned ’Ibelow. He was best known in this country for his Iw3iedical Physics," which was originally published in 1856

in Brunswick as a supplement to the " Lehrbuch der Physik ’of Muller-Pouillet, the third edition of which was pub-lished in 1885 ; by his treatise on the ’ Anatoroy,and Physio.logy of the Organs of Sense," published at Lahr in, 1864 ; ,andby his numerous essays on muscle, one of which, recordinghis ascent of the Faulhorn in company with Dr. Wish-

cenus, is quoted in many works on physiology. In thatimportant experiment he supplied strong evidence to

show that violent and protracted muscular effort is

not attended with any marked increase in the quantityof urea eliminated from the system, and hence that .the

muscles themselves do not suffer wear and tear but, likethe mechanism of a steam-engine, are only the agentsenabling the energy generated by the oxidation of the fuel,which in the body consists of the carbohydrates and fattycompounds, to be advantageously applied. Professor Fick wasa man of high cultivation and greatly esteemed by the largecircle of friends whom the prominent position that he held inthe University of Wiirzburg for so many years had gatheredaround him. Amongst his numerous works may be men-tioned his Researches on the Electrical Stimulation of Nerves,Brunswick, 1864 ; Researches made in the PhysiologicalLaboratory of the University of Ziirich, Vienna, 1869 ; TheCirculation of the Blood, Berlin, 1872; Researches made inthe Physiological Laboratory of Wurzburg, Wurzburg, 1872-1878 ; articles in Professor Hermann’s Handbuch der

Physiologie, including one on Special Movements, others

on Dioptrics, on the Accessory Apparatus of the Eye, and onthe Phenomena of the Sensation of Light. He also wrote

essays on Mechanical Work and the Production of Heat

during Muscular Action ; on Cause and Effect ; and on

Probabilities. He was, lastly, a frequent contributor to theleading scientific reviews.

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A MUDDLING MEASURE OF BEER.

IT is one of the curious inconsistencies of English waysthat the comparatively heavy beers, such as stout and ale,are sold by a liberal standard, while the lighter beers, such aslager beers, are commonly sold in accordance with a muchsmaller standard. Thus the small" " lager is much lessthan a half-pint of ale, and the "large" lager is much lessthan a pint of beer. Considered from an alcoholic, andtherefore temperance and health, standpoint, it is a pity thatthis custom cannot be exactly reversed - that the light beercannot be sold in pints and half-pints and the heavy beers as"large" " or "small" " on the same system as lager beer isnow sold. As it is, however, a " small" " or I I large " bitter isnever called for any more than is a half-pint or pint of lager.It would " inconvenience " the trade, we should probably betold, to adopt this order. Again, the usual price demandedfor a "small" lager is 3d., while for a half-pint of beer it is2d. (or three-halfpence, according to the class of counter overwhich it is sold). The amount of alcohol in the former case

would be about one-seventh of an ounce, while in the Englishbeer it would be about half an ounce, and yet 50 per cent.more money is demanded for the lager beer. A "small" "

lager commonly measures not more than one-third of

a pint and a "large" lager not more than three-

quarters of a pint, these figures corresponding to

about 0-20 litre and 0’50 litre respectively. The introduction of lager beer on draught into this country broughtwith it the adoption of metric measures of capacity,vessels of a capacity of 0’50 and 0’20 litre being officiallyapproved. Unauthorised measures have, however, been inuse for some time as follows :-0’25, 0-30, 0’35, and 0’40litre. A proposal arose eventually that these measures shouldbe discontinued and that 0 20 and 0 ’50 litre should be alone

recognised as lawful. Some objection, however, was raisedagainst this proposal by the trade, with the result that it wasrequired that when lager beer was sold in quantities less

610

than half a pint the vessels need not be stamped unless theywere marked. Unmarked vessels containing less than half apint need no official verification. When the capacity exceedshalf a pint the vessel is bound to be stamped in accord-ance with the standard imperial or metric measures.

The representation of the trade, therefore, met with

success. But the plan anyhow is muddling which allowsvessels to be graduated officially by two systems of measure,the imperial and the metric. We may be confident that for

lager beer the latter system will be generally retained sinceit is least understood. It cannot be imagined for a momentthat the sale of lager beer in half-pint and pint measureswill be adopted-it would "inconvenience" the trade. Wecannot understand in the least why it should be considerednecessary that the metric system should be recognised forthe sale of one kind of beer and not for another. And it

just happens that the light beers are sold at a high price bya small standard of capacity and the comparatively heavybeers at a low price by a large standard of capacity-asystem which is just exactly the reverse of the requirements ofcommon sense and one that is directly opposed to the growthof temperate habits.

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THE TREATMENT OF ANEURYSM BY INJECTIONSOF GELATINE.

THE recent deaths of two patients in Guy’s Hospital fromtetanus occurring while they were undergoing a course oftreatment by injections of a solution of gelatine formedthe subject of inquiries held by Dr. F. J. Waldoon August 26th. For some unexplained reason some

of the daily papers reported these inquests undera heading or sub-heading which included the word" experiment

" or

" experimental. " Without wishingin any way to minimise the unhappy result we must pointout that there was nothing experimental-except in the

sense in which all and every treatment is experimental asbeing tried upon a new patient-about the method. It

was introduced some three years ago by Professor Lance-reaux of Paris and has been successful in a good manycases, while of the three patients treated in Guy’sHospital one has apparently recovered completely, andthe two patients who so unfortunately died did so from anaccidental circumstance, though none the less lamentable.

The tetanus bacillus may infect any wound. Every pre-caution was taken in the sterilizing of the injections andthe instruments used, and the jury, after a patient hearing,decided that the medical officer in charge of the case was

exonerated from all blame. Inoperable thoracic aneurysm isa disease so distressing to the patient and so uniformly fatalthat it would be a thousand pities if a treatment which

has already given good results should be looked at askancebecause of the unforeseen having happened.

TUBERCULOSIS, BOVINE AND HUMAN.

THE most sensational episode at the recent Congress onTuberculosis was undoubtedly the statement made by Pro-fessor Koch in which he threw doubt upon the communi-

cability of tuberculosis from animals to man. The

challenge thus thrown down has been eagerly taken upby various observers, and the controversy will con-

tinue to rage until further and numerous investiga-gations have shown whether or no the human species canbe infected with tuberculosis from the flesh and milk of

tuberculous cattle. We print this week an important com-munication by Professor Hueppe, a perusal of which we

recommend to our readers. He commences by draw-

ing attention to Professor Koch’s announcement, to

which we have just referred, as being in direct opposi-tion to his previous teaching, and argues that

1 THE LANCET, vol. ii., 1898, pp. 1092, 1299, 1369.

if Professor Koch is correct the measures hitherto taken

against bovine tuberculosis must therefore be in the first

place too severe and in the second place of no avail for

the suppression of human tuberculosis. Professor Hueppethen proceeds to review the investigations which he himselfhas made on the subject and the results obtained which opposethose of Professor Koch. There are many points in this paperwhich will attract attention. Professor Hueppe ascribes thehistological differences which exist between miliary tuberclesin the human subject and the tubercles of perlsuchtin the ox to a dissimilarity in the inherent qualityof the tissue, and further maintains, as Professor

Virchow discovered long ago, that the distinctions whichKoch has now found to exist are concerned with quitedifferent things-the one with the inherent quality of thestructure, the other with the remote or ultimate develop-ments dependent thereon ; and the facts, he says,ascertained with regard to one of those do not neces-

sarily serve for the elucidation of the other. Oneother remark is worthy of note, namely, that whilst theminutest difference in the organisms in cholera and nowalso in tuberculosis are enlarged upon by many bacterio-logists in order to build up on them a theory of differencesin species, in diphtheria the same investigators completelyignore constant and much greater differences in thebacteria. Professor Hueppe provisionally considers that theonly thing that is certain is that the " so-called tuberclebacillus " adapts itself to the particular member of theanimal kingdom which happens to be its host, and thatwhen it has so adapted itself and has, for instance,become pathogenic for man, in that case it is not quitepathogenic for another kind of host, such as the ox ; but, headds, this limitation cannot be practically defined. He there-fore urges, and we consider very rightly so. that the struggleagainst bovine tuberculosis should be carried on unre-

mittingly, both on account of the economic danger andalso because he still believes that the danger of bovinetuberculosis to mankind has not been disproved.

THE PUBLIC CONTROL DEPARTMENT OF THE

LONDON COUNTY COUNCIL.

IN spite of, or possibly because of, Parliament, the LofidonCounty Council, the metropolitan boroughs, and the lightingand water companies, London is possibly the most incon-venient and most untidy city of Europe. The streets are

either muddy, slushy, or dusty ; they are littered with straw,cabbage-leaves, newspaper posters, and omnibus tickets;they are constantly being grubbed up for some reason orother ; barrels of beer, coals, and other goods are deliveredacross the footways at all hours of the day ; omnibuses areallowed to block the streets pretty much as they please, andchimneys are allowed to make the air filthy because they"cannot get Welsh coal." And yet the annual return of thechief officer of the Public Control Department of the

London County Council for 1900-1901 shows a giganticamount of work. A glance at the contents page showssuch subjects as lamp accidents, boiler explosions, the

sale of bread, coal, and coke, inquests, diseases of animals,gas-testing, infant-life protection, petroleum Acts, weightsand measures, rabies, and the smoke nuisance, to mention

only a few. As regards rabies no case has occurred inLondon since 1898 and the last case of hydrophobia.returned (of course, this means in a human being) was in1896. The section of the report dealing with smok&

nuisances is interesting. It points out that the Acts underwhich prosecutions may be taken practically only deal withblack smoke, and also that the County Council can only dealwith cases where a sanitary authority is in default. Anyperson, however, may make a complaint. With regard to