1120

felt to be a desideratum. The Court remitted this represen-tation to the Senatus Academicus, with a recommendationin favour of the wishes of the General Council. The secondrepresentation considered was that which was passed at thelast meeting of the Council, after a stormy debate, to theeffect that no Bill which may be brought into Parliamentdealing with the Scottish Universities will be of a satisfac-tory nature which does not provide for measures of reformon the lines already affirmed by the Council. This referredspecially to a greater recognition of extra-academicalteaching, and to some other internal reforms. The Court

agreed to take this representation into consideration inconnexion with any Bill on the subject brought forward byGovernment.

MILK IN RELATION TO PUBLIC HEALTH.

Dr. P. A. Young lectured on this subject last Saturdayunder the auspices of the Edinburgh Health Society. Hedescribed in the first place the importance of milk as anarticle of diet, pointing out that no single article of foodcould approach it in its position as a nutrient agent. Hethen referred to the rules which should regulate the milk-supply of a large town in regard to maintaining its purityand preventing its adulteration; and he gave a vividdescription of the ways in which infectious diseases maybe spread by contamination of the milk-supply to anypopulation. There was a large attendance of the generalpublic, and at the close of the lecture, Dr. Young was cor-dially thanked for the care he had taken in preparing a verytelling address on a most important hygienic question.Edinburgh, Dec. 8th, 1885.

ABERDEEN.

(From our own Correspondent.)

ROYAL INFIRMARY: REPORT BY DR. RUSSELL AND

DR. SIMPSON.

ON October 17th, Dr. Russell (Glasgow) and Dr. Simpson(Aberdeen) visited and made a thorough inspection of theRoyal Infirmary; and their report on the general arrangementsand sanitary condition of the present building, the proposedplans for extension, and their opinion as to site and plansfor a new hospital, has now been published. This reportmore than confirms the recent charges made as to the

deplorable state of the sanitary condition of the infirmary,and, in an able manner and at great length, deals with thedifferent questions submitted for consideration, and oughtto help the managers to decide what steps they are to taketo give Aberdeen a hospital worthy of the city. Evidentlythe experts are of opinion that "nothing short of a newhospital" will give us such an institution. As to thepresent arrangements of the hospital-the wards, sanitarycondition, &c.-Drs. Russell and Simpson say that thebuilding is " opposed in every particular to the now univer-sally accepted principles of hospital construction, and, inseveral, violates the primary conditions of health........Nothing could be more unwholesome and degrading than the’ bothies’ provided for the nurses and under-servants." Thesecond question submitted for consideration was, "whetherthe plans for the extension of the Hospital, prepared byMessrs. W. and J. Smith, are such as they could approveof in accordance with sanitary principles, keeping inview the available ground." "These plans," says thereport, "show considerable ingenuity...... but they leaveuntouched some of the objectionable features pointed outabove, and they intensify others." The wards shownin the front building are said to be bad while "the wards,which project backwards, are poor attempts at the modernisolated pavilion block." All the waterclosets are withinthe main walls except one or two, which are objected to onother grounds. The plans provide accommodation for 313beds, for which a staff of fifty nurses, cleaners, and otherfemale servants would probably be required, and for theseonly sixteen small and badly arranged bedrooms are shown,while "the ’servants’ rooms’ form a three-story back land,’in which there are ten bedrooms without watercloset orbath within the four walls." Let us hope that such planshave long ago been thrown into the waste-paper basket.In connexion with the extension question the experts wereasked to consider another-viz., " Whether contagiousdiseases (typhus, scarlatina, measles erysipelas) can be

safely provided for in the present ground of the hospital,together with the proposed extension of the accommodationfor the general hospital." The answer to this is that thesite of a hospital should give 800 square feet of superficialarea per bed; for 300 beds the present site gives only 327square feet per bed (Messrs. Smith’s plans show accommoda-tion for 313 beds); and the conclusion is that "the presentsite is inadequate for a general hospital of 300 beds, andtherefore à fortiori for a hospital with special infectiouswards either included in Jie agregate of 300 beds or sup-plemental to that number." The question of a new hospitalis next taken up, and from a paper by Captain DouglasG-alton, entitled "Remarks on some points of Hospital Con-struction," Dr. Russell and Dr. Simpson "develop a fewstandard data for the new hospital, chiefly numerical-viz. : 1. The site should give not less than 800 squarefeet of superficial area per bed, and should be protectedby contiguity to some reserved space, such as a public park,open sea, &c....... 2. The ward blocks should only be twostoreys in height (certainly not more than three); ...... andfor perfect aeration and insulation they should be separatedby a lateral space of at least twice their height. 3. Thespace per bed should be not less than 1500 cubic feet forgeneral wards, and 2000 for infectious wards, which alsoshould be isolated from the main building....... One-storeypavilions are recommended for infectious wards withoutconnecting corridors. 4. The wards (or hospital proper)and the administrative buildings should be apart." Theclose connexion between the Aberdeen Royal Infirmary andthe Medical School makes it necessary that "adequateexpression be given in the structure to the clinical functionof the hospital:’ In conclusion, the experts say, "We can-not close our report without expressing some anxiety as tothe adoption of measures which will make the old RoyalInfirmary somewhat more salubrious during the time whichmust elapse before a new building can be provided." Bygiving up the central block to accommodate the nurses andadministration generally, reducing the number of beds to136, and carrying out the thorough renovations andextensions of the drainage and sanitary conveniences as

insisted upon by Lord Provost Matthews, " the communitymight meantime have the benefit of a hospital reduced incapacity, but capable of giving proportionally bettercurative results."

THE EPIDEMIC OF SCARLET FEVER.

The epidemic of scarlet fever, which began two or threemonths ago, is gradually gaining ground. At first it wasconfined to one part of the town, but now cases occur inalmost every district, and chiefly among the better classof working-people, where the sanitary authorities cannotremove the affected individuals; isolation is thereforenever perfect, and so the infection spreads. There arenearly seventy patients in the epidemic hospital at present,and as the managers of the Royal Infirmary are likely toexclude all cases of zymotic disease from that institution,the accommodation of the epidemic hospital will be greatlytaxed, and it is feared that it will prove far from sufficient.Aberdeen, Dec. 8th.

PARIS.

(From our own Correspondent.)

THE LATE M. BOULEY.

THE funeral of M. Bouley, whose death was reported inmy letter of last week, took place on Wednesday last in themidst of a large concourse of colleagues and friends. TheAcademies of Sciences and of Medicine, as well as the variouslearned societies to which the deceased savant belonged, wereofficially represented. To the titles already given in myletter, I may add that M. Bouley was professor at theliuseum of Natural History, to which chair he succeededClaude Bernard, but at whose death the title was changedfrom the chair of physiology to that of comparativepathology, which he occupied with such credit to himself,and with so much advantage to biological science. Asstated in my last, IV. Bouley was the first veterinarianwho attained the high dignity of Commander of the

Legion of Honour, as he was also the first of his

profession who became an officer of the Academy of Sciences,of which he was President at his death. At the Museum of