911PARIS.-CANADA.

crude sewage. Dr. Houston urged that a lesson to belearnt from his experiments is that the element of time ordelay is an all-important factor in the problem of sewage.purification by bacteria beds. He thinks that it is doubtfulif any bacterial process in practical operation at present°’treats" or "detains" sufficiently long the sewage to allowof the complete destruction of all pathogenic germs by bac-terial agencies. Now it may turn out, on close investigation,that the construction of the bacteria beds at Belfast isdifferent from that of those at Crossness and that there is adifference in the two places as to the length of time duringwhich the sewage is "detained." These are points of theutmost importance and it is advisable that before spendinga large sum of money on a great scheme like this-which is, it must be admitted, an experimental one-further and prolonged scientific experiments should bemade of a chemical, botanical, and bacteriological nature ;a course recommended, indeed, by Mr. Bretland in hisextremely able and most interesting report.Sept.18th.

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Physiology of the Cerxical Sympathetic in Man.AT a recent meeting of the Academy of Medicine

M. François-Franck read a paper upon some researches ofM. Jonnesco and M. Floresco of Bucharest dealing with thissubject. By applying to human beings the exact techniquewhich they had employed in their experiments upon animalsthe Bucharest surgeons have been able to establish for thefirst time the identity of the immediate effects of section andexcitation of the cervical sympathetic in man with thoseobtained by the same operations in animals. Particularly isthis the case with regard to the thyroid circulation and theocular pressure. M. Jonnesco and M. Floresco maintainbesides that their experiments enable them to say that thecervical sympathetic affects the cerebral circulation by act-ing first as a vaso-constrictor and ofterwards as a vaso-

dilator. Resection of the nerve does not cause any notable trophic changes in the region supplied by it. Before accept-ing these conclusions as definite M. François-Franck con-siders that further experimentation is necessary and thatthe history of patients in whom partial or complete resectionof the nerve has been practised must be followed up formany months.

Hereditary Syphilis in the Second Generation.M. Fournier laid before the Academy of Medicine two

notes of Dr. Lemonnier. The first referred to a case in whichdiabetes supervened in a little girl who was suffering from’hereditary syphilis but who had been cured of this by specifictreatment. The second case was an obvious instance ofhereditary syphilis being transmitted to the second genera-tion, Two brothers, aged 27 years and 24 years respectively,presented undoubted signs of syphilis, the one showing itseffects in the nose and the other in the leg. Neither hadbeen exposed to specific contagion. The father showed signsof syphilis without any history of infection. He was a

hereditary syphilitic. The mother was quite free from thedisease.

The Beating and Carding of Mattresses.The Committee of Public Health for the Seine has just

recorded its approval of the recommendations contained ina report which has been drawn up by Dr. Josias as regards theheating and carding of mattresses in public places or privateroads-if, that is to say, the mattresses have not beenpreviously disinfected. The report states that very often these mattresses come direct from tenements

occupied by sick persons and that the result of theoperations to which they are submitted is the dis. persion of contagious germs. The prefect of police, acting on the resolution of the committee, has urged the (

commissaries of police to carry out strictly the police order i

- of July, 1862, which forbids the beating of wool or of hair in the public streets. Where there is no court or passage in 1which this work can be carried out the police commissaries are authorised to prevent it altogether except in such portion of the street as they shall appoint. M. Lepine has also given Iorders that the police commissaries shall see that any c

T

1 THE LANCET, August 11th, 1900, p. 444.

mattress which is to be carded shall be previously dis-infected. The commissaries are also to warn carders thatall wool with which they work must have been previouslystoved.

The Removal of t7te Ccznnnla after Tracheotomy.M. Grancher read a paper on behalf of M. Moure of

Bordeaux before the Academy of Medicine on this subject.M. Moure has made a study of the various causes which

prevent removal of the cannula after tracheotomy. Despitethe serum treatment the statistics of Bordeaux for tracheo-

tomy are not good. It is often difficult to remove the cannulaas the larynx will not remain permeable. Various reasonshave been assigned for this, such as spasm of the glottis,paralysis of the dilators of the larynx, and the presence offleshy granulations. In some children air will not pass inby the normal way before puberty. M. Moure believes thatin such cases the tracheotomy has been done too high.Perichondritis may be a reason for the difficulty of removingthe cannula. Whenever the cannula has been in for a longtime or the trachea has been divided too high up, there willbe difficulty in removing the cannula. The best place forincision is the second or third ring of the trachea. If theincision is longer than this the cannula must be left in for asshort a time as possible.Sept.18th.

______________

CANADA.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Lodge Practice in British Columbia.ABOUT Dec. lst last an agreement was entered into

amongst all the medical men of the thriving city of Victoria,British Columbia, for the cessation of lodge practice in thatcity. This agreement was signed by all the practitionerswithout exception, an act which brought down upontheir devoted head the anathemas of the lodge fraternitywhich comprises upwards of 2000 of the inhabitants.No sooner was this accomplished than the authoritiesof the lodges advertised for medical men to come toVictoria to do specially the combined lodge work of the cityand incidentally to receive the support of the adherents ofthe societies. It was a stunning blow for them and verygratifying to the practitioners of Victoria that not a

single medical man throughout the Dominion of Canadamade any response whatever to this appeal. This factcoming to light two of those who signed the agreementimmediately contracted with the lodges to do the com-bined work of all the societies, numbering somethinglike 20, the emoluments running well up to$4000. Theiraction in thus deserting their confreres brought upon them-selves ’prompt dismissal from the Victoria Medical Society.In addition to this the other practitioners of Victoria haverefused to consult with either of them, stipulating that ifeither of the two offenders be attending a case that he bedismissed before they have anything to do with it. It isstated that the members of the lodges are very muchexercised over the state of affairs and some hard things arebeing said against the medical men. Every night the lodgemeetings are crowded and excitement is said to run high.So far the practitioners appear to have the best of the fightand it is thought that the two delinquents are sickening oftheir bargain with the lodges. The daily press has recentlybeen the scene of the most active part of the campaign andeach party has placed its views on the subject before thepeople. It is to be sincerely hoped that the Victoria medicalmen will stand firmly and steadfastly by their rights andcome out in the end more than conquerors.

Maritime Medical Association.The tenth annual session of this association was held in

St. John, New Brunswick, on July 17th and 18th, underthe presidency of Dr. James Christie. Mayor Danielof St. John, himself a past president, welcomed thevisitors, making feeling references to the death of theson of one of their respected members, LieutenantBorden, a third-year student of McGill University,who had fallen on the far South African battlefield.A telegram of condolence was despatched to the Hon. Dr.Borden at Ottawa, conveying the sympathy of the membersof the association. Dr. William Bayard, the "father" of themedical profession in St. John, upon whom the honorarydegree of LL.D. was recently conferred by the University of

912 OBITUARY.-MEDICAL NEWS.

New Brunswick, delivered an admirable address upon thePrevention of the Spread of Tuberculosis. A paper on Gall-Bladder Surgery was ably presented by Dr. GeorgeArmstrong of Montreal, a subject which was further con-tributed to by Dr. Atherton of Fredericton. A meeting ofthe McGill graduates in the maritime provinces was alsoheld during the progress of the association meeting, and itwas decided to form a Maritime Graduates’ Society ofMcGill University, with Dr. W. H. Hattie of Halifax as firstpresident. The address in gynaecology was delivered byDr. P. Conroy of Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, whotook for his subject, Retro-displacements. This association,which meets triennially in St. John, Halifax, and Charlotte-town, will meet next year in Halifax. Dr. W. S. Muir ofTruro, Nova Scotia, was elected President and Dr. G. M.

Campbell (Halifax), Secretary.The Canadian Red Cross Comenissinner to South Africa.Dr. George Stirling Ryerson has returned to Canada from

South Africa, where he went as Canadian Red Cross Com-missioner. While all England may perhaps be ringing withMr. Burdett.Coutts’s charges against the Army MedicalService in South Africa Dr. Ryerson, similarly to many ofour gallant soldiers invalided home, has nothing but praisefor the conduct and management of the medical part of thewar. Canadians returning from their experience in theTransvaal and fresh from English hospitality express theirgratitude for the manner in which they have been treated bythe English soldiers and the English people. The small andscattered bands which have been lately arriving have beeneverywhere met by enthusiastic and admiring crowds andno one has heard a complaint of the hospital arrange-ments in any particular. Shortly after Dr. Ryerson’s arrivalin South Africa he was appointed British Commissionerat Lord Roberts’s headquarters, where he had unusualfacilities for observation. One of his interesting statementsis to the effect that Lady Roberts’s hospital for the sick andwounded soldiers at Bloemfontein is almost entirely fittedout with supplies furnished by the people of Westmountwhich is a suburb of the city of Montreal. Dr. Ryerson hasgiven his opinion as to what foundation there was for Mr.Burdett-Coutts’s charges, and he declares them to be abso-lutely incorrect. Mr. Burdett-Coutts had met Dr. Ryerson inSouth Africa and while there had never made any complaintto the Canadian Commissioner, although he knew thatDr. Ryerson had almost unlimited stores and money at hisdisposal. Dr. Ryerson states that the hospital arrange-ments, when one considers the difficulties that had tobe surmounted, could not have been more admirabie.Canada, as a portion of the British Empire, will be proud ofthe usage which her volunteers-for they are only volunteers-have received at the hands of the regular army of GreatBritain, and of the hospitality extended at home by theEnglish people.

Executive Health Officers of Ontario.The annual meeting of this association was held at

Kingston, Ontario, on August 14th and 15th, with Dr. T. V.Hutchinson (London) as presiding officer. Mr. A. McGill,B.A., analyst to the Inland Revenue Department,Ottawa, read a valuable and timely paper on theEffects of Food Preservatives on Public Health. Dr.Charles Sheard, medical health officer of Toronto,instanced several cases which had come under his noticewhere young children had been poisoned by re-freezing ice-cream. Dr. Cassidy (Toronto) read a very interesting paperon Tuberculosis and Means for its Cure, dealing particularlywith the cheerful aspect of the question, the reportedcases of cure. The address of the president was an ablereview of the Improvements of the Century in SanitaryScience. He condemned the use of bread tickets and papermoney as carriers of infection. Dr. P. H. Bryce, secretaryof the Provincial Board of Health, contributed a paper on theEducation Problem as Viewed from a Public Health Stand-point. He thought that pupils were very often kept inrooms where there was not sufficient air space. He alsoadvocated military exercises for the school-children. Dr.W. T. Connell, pathologist to Queen’s University, Kingston,read a paper on Vitality of Typhoid and Diphtheria Bacilliin Milk; and another paper which called forth much andkeen discussion was that of Toronto’s bacteriologist, Pro-fessor Shuttleworth, on the Use of Antitoxin in Toronto

Contagious Diseases Hospital. The association unanimouslyadopted a resolution approving of the legislation in respectto sanatoria for consumptives passed at the last session of

the Ontario Parliament, and also called upon the membersto cooperate with local boards of health in seeing that thesesanatoria were established. Brantford was selected as thenext place of meeting. Dr. W. T. Connell was electedpresident and Dr. P. H. Bryce secretary.

Sept. 1st. ’

Obituary.THOMAS MOORE, F.R.C.S. ENG., L.R.C.P. LoaD.

THE medical profession has lost a good surgeon and hiscolleagues a faithful friend by the death of Mr. Thomas

Moore, of Lee-terrace, Blackheath, who passed away on

Sept. 6th after a few hours’ illness while on a visit to

Kennington, near Ashford. The deceased gentleman, whowas in his sixty-second year, was the second son of the lateMr. Edward Moore of Halesowen, Worcestershire, receivedhis medical education at St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, wasadmitted a Licentiate of the Royal College of Physicians.of London in 1865, and obtained the Fellowship of the RoyalCollege of Surgeons of England in 1867. At the time of hisdeath Mr. Moore held the posts of senior surgeonto the Miller Hospital at Greenwich, medical officer of healthof Eltham, consulting surgeon to the Brighton Children’sHospital and the Petersfield Cottage Hospital, and treasurerof the Roentgen Ray Society. For the last 20 yearsMr. Moore had practised at Blackheath, previously to whichhe had been at Petersfield, where he founded the CottageHospital. Of Mr. Moore it may truly be said that his heartwas wholly in his profession and at a time when many menthink of "slacking off " and taking a well-earned rest heworked hard at bacteriology and Roentgen rays and madehimself proficient in these latter-day sciences. He estab-lished a Roentgen ray department at the Miller Hospitalwhich he equipped and superintended till the day of his,death. As honorary secretary of the Blackheath AmateurOperatic Society he had been instrumental in raising over

£1000 for the Miller Hospital. Mr. Moore was beloved byhis patients, rich and poor ; he never failed to respond toany call made upon him and he declined to leave his patientuntil he felt he had done all he could. He was an ex-

president of the West Kent Medico-Chirurgical Society, towhich he contributed a large number of useful papers. Hewas also a member of the West Kent Microscopical andNatural History Society. Mr. Moore contributed several

papers to THE LANCET, among which may be mentioneda case of poisoning by strychnine treated successfully withtincture of opium and one of lithotomy (published in 1872),one of herniotomy (1874) and one of recovery from,rabies(1880).

Medical News.UNIVERSITY OF DURHAM.-At the Second Exa-

mination for the degree of Bachelor in Medicine, held at theCollege of Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, in September,the following candidates satisfied the examiners:-Anatomy, Physiology, and Materia Medica.-First-class Honours :William Henry Peacock, College of Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Second-class Honoicrs Auburn Lawrence Wilkinson, ArthurGibson Dunn, and Daniel Richard Guns, College of Medicine,Newcastle-upon-Tyne; and Margaret Douglas French, LondonSchool of Medicine for Women. Pass List: Ernest George Annis,M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.H., Guy’s Hospital; Edmund HowardBarrett, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., St. Mary’s Hospital; Ambrose HaroldBateman, St. Bartholomew’s Hospital; Walter Donald Carruthers,Birmingham University; John Wilfrid Caton, Guy Rowland East,and Arthur Henry Fullerton, College of Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; Philip Gell Garrett, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., D.P.H., MiddlesexHospital; Francis Jollie Gowans, Marshall Haver, and WilliamGeorge Thomas Hepplewhite, College of Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne ; William Hughes, Edinburgh School of Medicine; WharramHenry Lamplough, Birmingham University; Charles Robert Lease,College of Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne; Ernest James Miller,Cooke’s School of Anatomy and University College, London;George Edward Victor Morris, Birmingham University; ChristieMûthûswamy-Anthony, Guy’s Hospital ; Thomasina GeorginaProsser, Frederick William Ritson, and Joseph CollingwoodStewart, College of Medicine, Neweastle-upon-Tyne ; AlexanderMinter Watts, M.R.C.S., L.R.C.P., University College, London;and John Robert Wylie, College of Medicine, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.