76

manent army medical service, which is said to arise partlyfrom the uncertainty as to the future pay and status of theArmy Medical Department which exists at this moment.

I have every reason to acknowledge the readiness with whichthe civil profession has volunteered to aid the army in itsnecessities during war.

I have the honour to be, your obedient servant,Alfred Ebsworth, Esq." S. HERBERT.S. HERBERT.

CURIOUS INSTANCE OF DISLOCATION OFTHE HUMERUS.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—The following case having come under my notice, Ihave forwarded the particulars for insertion in your columns.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,Cirencester, July, 1838. HORACE S. HowELL, M.II. C. S.ON the evening of the 4th inst., a female, aged twenty-three,

while walking, was met by a friend, with whom she shookhands, and immediately complained of severe pain in the rightshoulder-joint, with inability to raise the arm, accompanied bya sense of syncope. On examination it was evident that shehad sustained a dislocation of the head of the humerus into theaxilla, which was readily reduced the head of the bone return-ing to its normal position with an audible snap.

HORACE S. HOWELL, M.R.C.S.

HEREDITARY MALFORMATION.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—The following instance of hereditary malformationmay be interesting to some of the readers of your valuablejournal. I am, yours faithfully,

Southernhay, Exeter, 1858. ARTHUR J. CUMMING, M.R..C.S.

William S-, aged eighteen, came to me with headache.On feeling his pulse, I found three fingers united throughoutby skin-viz., the middle, ring, and little finger. Both hands

were alike. The mother then held up her hands, which weresimilarly malformed. She had had seven children: no othersmalformed. Her uncle (father’s brother) had the correspond -ing fingers in each hand similarly joined; and her paternalgrandfather had the three smaller toes on each foot similarly

united. The hands of the mother and son were otherwise well, formed and very strong.

ARTHUR J. CUMMING, M.R.C.S.

THE LATE DR. SNOW.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—I trust that the profession will evince some public testi-mony towards the late Dr. John Snow. Who does not re-member his frankness, his cordiality, his honesty, the absenceof all disguise or affectation under an apparent off-hand manner.Her majesty the Queen has been deprived of the future valu-able services of a trustworthy, well-deserving, much-esteemedsubject, by his sudden death. The poor have lost in him areal friend in the hour of need.

I am, Sir, your obedient servant,Bogiior, Sussex, July, 1858. W. HOOPER ATTREE,

Formerly House-Surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital, &c.W. HOOPER ATTREE,

Formerly House-Surgeon to the Middlesex Hospital, &c.

Medical News.ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS. - At the usual

quarterly meeting of the Comitia Majora, held on the 10thultimo, the following gentlemen having passed the necessaryexamination, were admitted Licentiates of the College :-

Dr. SCOTT, Stratton-street, Piccadilly.Dr. RADCLIFFE, Henrietta-street, Cavendish-square.Dr. ROBINSON, Newcastle-upon-Tyne. ’,Dr. BRISTOWE, St. Thomas’s-street, Borough.Dr. COOTE, Gloucester-place, Hyde-park.Dr. THOMPSON, Harley-street.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS.—The following gentle-men, having undergone the necessary examinations for theDiploma, were admitted members of the College at the meet-ing of the Court of Examiners on the 9th inst. :-

BRAITHWAITE, JAMES, Leeds.

GASCOYEN, GEORGE EDWARD, Army.HALL, NATHANIEL FRANCIS, Southwick, near Brighton.INMAN, JOSEPH HAYTON, Sedbergh, Yorkshire.NEWiNGTON, ROBERT SAMUEL, Gondhurst, Cranbrook,

Kent.OLIVER, RICHARD OWEN, Dolgelly, North Wales.POWELL, WILLIAM PETER, Liverpool.TURNER, THOMAS, Leeds.WnGATE, ROBERT, Hareby Spilsby, Lincolnshire.WYER, OTHO FRANCIS, Leamington Priors.

ApOTHECARIES’ HALL. - Names of gentlemen whopassed their examination in the science and practice of Medi.cine, and received certificates to practise, on

Thursday, July 8th, 1858.DRAKE, JOHN JEFFERY, Newton Abbot, Devon.FORD, JAMES, Sandford, Devon.GRACE, HENRY, Kingswood-hill, Bristol.HEGINBOTHAM, EDMUND, Headcorn, Kent.WALKER, HENRY, Walton, Yorkshire.WALKER, THOMAS SnADFORD, Burslem, Staffordshire.

As an Assistant:PRATT, ALBERT EDWARD, Bury St. Edmunds.

THE HARVEIAN ORATION. - The annual oration inhonour of the great Harvey was delivered in the spaciouslibrary of the Royal College of Physicians, on Saturday the10th instant, by Dr. Wood, one of the Fellows of the College.Notwithstanding the unfavourable state of the weather, therewas a good attendance of the distinguished in medicine andscience, including a considerable number of the Fellows andMembers of the College. The chair was occupied by the Pre-sident, Dr. Mayo. The oration (as usual, in Latin) securedthe sustained attention of the audience, being classically com-posed and eloquently delivered. The following were amongstthe subjects referred to :-Harvey, independently of the disco-very which had given an unfading lustre to his name, might belooked upon as the pattern of a thorough and liberal physician,as well as a great.and good man, and his merits were only nowbeginning to be appreciated. The orator congratulated theprofession and the College on the increased attention bestowedat the present time on the subject of the blood, more especiallyits physiology, contending that this, combined with sound andmatured experience, was the only true and rational basis ofthe practice of physic. Alluding to some of the events of thepast year relating to medicine, a well-deserved meed of praisewas awarded to those members of the profession who hadshown such courage and endurance, and had ever been readyin the exercise of their skill, during the dangers and almostunparalleled difficulties of the war in India. A feeling allusionwas made to the Fellows of the College who had been removedby death from their respective spheres of usefulness during thepast year, mention being made of the late Sir James Fellows,Sir C. M. Clarke, Sir J. McGrigor, and Dr. Marshall HalLHaving denounced some of the prevailing "’pathic" absurditiesof the day, and expressed his disapprobation of certain kindsof practice on the part of some who were called " regular prac-titioners," the orator concluded with a high tribute to Jenner,who, like him they would honour on that occasion, had, underProvidence, conferred such lasting and invaluable benefits uponmankind; and, lastly, to the illustrious Prince who had shownhis appreciation of true greatness by presiding in that room onthe occasion of the recent inauguration of the Jenner monumentin Trafalgar-square. The oration terminated amidst warm andhearty applause.PRESENTATION OF PLATE. - The Selby Mariners’ or

Duke of Clarence’s Loyal Society,-the oldest benevolent insti-tution in Selby,-established 1st March, 1792, held its annualfestival on the 6th inst., at the house of Mr. George Dixon, theBay Horse Inn, Broad-street. After the cloth was removed,the secretary read the report, which showed the Society to bein a very flourishing condition ; and then the president, Mr.John Shaw, in a speech that was very much applauded, pre-sented to Mr. John Burkitt, themedical officer of the Society,a beautiful, chaste, and massive silver pint, with the fol-lowing inscription :-‘ ‘ Presented to John Burkitt, M.R.C.S.,Eng., L. S. A., Lond., by the members of the Duke of Clarence’sLoyal Society, Selby, for his valuable services and kind andunremitting attention as medical officer of the said Society.July 6th, 1858." Mr. Burkitt responded in a very neat andimpressive speech.ACADEMY OF MEDICINE OF PARIS. - PUERPERAL

FEVER.—For the last four months an animated discussion has

77

been carried on before the Academy touching the pathologyand treatment of this disease; and it must be confessed thatgreat talent has been displayed by the different orators.

Amongst these, we would especially mention Messrs. PaulDubois, Trousseau, Depaul, Cazeaux, Danyan, and JulesGuerin. On the 7th inst. M. Guerard, with whom the discus-sion had originated, resumed the debate; and considered it asproved, by Messrs. Dubois, Depaul, and Cazeaux, that thereexists a special disease to which the name of puerperal fevermay justly be given; that this complaint has peculiar charac-ters which distinguish it from other affections with which somehave endeavoured to class it; and that these characters may beplaced under the following heads: 1. A fixed period of inva-sion ; 2. Symptoms of a special nature, and presenting a specialmode of evolution; 3. Peculiar pathological alterations; and5. Power of transmission by way of infection. Contagion doesnot seem to have been proved by the discussion; nor has thetreatment by quinine been shown to be worthy of support.Many prophylactic means had been mentioned and proposedin the course of the debates, but no satisfactory conclusion wasarrived at. The results of this vast expenditure of time andeloquence on the part of well-informed and experienced menare certainly meagre; but it redounds greatly to the praise ofthe leading members of our profession in Paris, that they areever ready to diffuse, with disinterested energy, the. treasuresof knowledge which they have acquired by many years’ expe-rience and indefatigable labour.

PENSION TO A SURGEON.—The Emperor of the Frenchhas bestowed on Dr. Des Brulais, the surgeon of the ReginaCceli, a pension of 1800 francs, for his services on a late occa-sion as medical officer to the above-named vessel.

THE METROPOLITAN DRAINAGE.-A paper, issued byorder of the House of Commons, contains a copy of a letter toLord J. Manners, M.P., First Commissioner of Works, fromthe Government Referees of the Main Drainage of the Metro-polis, in reply to the report made by Messrs. Bidder, Hawksley,and Bazalgette, to the Metropolitan Board of Works, upon thereport of the referees themselves. It is unnecessary to wadethrough the details of this elaborate and almost exclusivelyscientific paper. The referees contend that they have esta-blished the conclusion in their report, that the influence of thesewage on the river is pernicious, and that they have refutedthe statement of Dr. Letheby, Dr. Odling, and Dr. Barnes, thatsuch conclusion is a great exaggeration of the influence of thesewage on the Thames. The objections against the sewergaugings of the referees are alleged to be without foundation.We are informed that the drainage for 81 square miles of themetropolitan district could be conveyed by gravitation, withoutany pumping, to Sea Reach, 22 miles distant from the metro-politan boundary, whereas Messrs. Bidder and his brethrenpropose to remove the drainage of 27 square miles only toBarking Reach, which is barely outside that boundary, and topump the sewage from the remaining 93 square miles of themetropolitan area; while a certain error in the inclinations ofthe proposed sewers would prevent the whole of even thislimited area from being drained by gravitation alone. Thereferees think the outfall at Barking far too near the boundaryof the metropolis; and they say that the cost of deodorizing thesewage with lime at Barking Reach would amount, in twentyor thirty years from this time, to upwards of .6100,000 a year,exclusive of the cost of removing the refuse to some place whereit would not be objectionable. The referees report that theembankment of the Thames is desirable, as a means of prevent-ing deposits of mud on the foreshores, but that it will notpurify the river. The construction of reservoirs at the mouthsof the central sewers, proposed by the Sewage Commission, isobjected to; and it is shown by Dr. Hofmann and his latepupil, Mr. Witt, (of the School of Mines,) that the several pro-cesses for deodorizing the sewage leaves a large quantity ofputrescible organic matter in solution, which is apt to undergodecomposition and to generate most noxious effiuvia, while theerection of deodorizing works near London might prove veryprejudicial to the health and comfort of the inhabitants. Thesystem of the referees-viz., to cause the fluid to flow in adiluted state through long channels, would deliver it to theriver at the outfalls in a condition comparatively inoffensive,while at the same time it might be used for irrigation in favour-able seasons of the year. Lastly, the referees are certain thatcompetent contractors will guarantee to execute the works forthe amount of their estimates-a total of £5,988,000, being£3,695,000 for the outfall channel, and about .62,293,000 forthe internal drainage.—The Times.

DISEASE AMONGST THE EUROPEAN TROOPS IN INDIA.-Sickness is all but universal. The small-pox is bursting outhere and there, half the European community have fevers, anda moiety of the other half only escape the curse by an inflictionwhich, though not unhealthy, is even more unendurable-in-numerable boils. In Allahabad, out of 1600 Europeans not 900are fit for duty, and the number of deaths from " apoplexy’’-that is, sunstroke-exceeds the mortality from all other sources.In the midst of all this there are regiments in which the stockis maintained, and in which punkahs paid for by Governmentare forbidden. This is a fact, and I enclose the name and ad-dress of a gentleman, who when this letter arrives will be inEngland, who can give evidence as to the tenacity with whichsome officers cling to European theories. The Duke of Cam-

bridge should stop all this by forbidding the stock in India atonce,-its use is optional, I believe,-and compelling the com-manding officers to leave the punkahs alone. England will benot a little indignant at the cost of life involved in all this-partly, doubtless, unavoidable, but partly the result of want offorethought. The Royal Artillery, for instance, are losing menat the rate of fourteen per cent. per annum, exclusive of fight-ing casualties. Again, the men are now dressed in light-coloured.cotton cloth, capital stuff to resist the climate ; but their headsare still unprotected. They receive, it is true, a white coverfor their caps, but it is no protection, except so far as its colou-r-is concerned. No planter or engineer who had to be out in thesun would wear such a thing except over the " sola topee," theonly hat for this climate, which Sir C. Napier advocated till hewas sick, and which costs just six annas. I am diffuse on this

point intentionally. Routine and the sun together are beatingus, and I was told this morning that with all the reinforce-ments and recruits sent out we cannot muster even now 26,00&effective Europeans. By October a third of them will be offduty; for though the soldiers do not get apoplexy in barracks,they do get liver complaint and low debilitating fevers.—Cor-respondent of The Times.

APPOINTMENTS.—Dr. Meadowa has been elected phy-sician-accoucheur, and Mr. William Bird surgeon, to the St.George’s and St. James’s Dispensary.APPEARANCE OF THE PLAGUE IN NORTHERN AFRICA.-

Letters from Bengazi, a town in the province of Tripoli, re-ceived at Constantinople, state that a wandering tribe, greatlysuffering from want, living on wild herbs and roots, and usingimpure water, had settled in the neighbourhood of Bengazi, ona marshy forsaken land. For the last month, an epidemiccomplaint, rapidly mortal, has broken out amongst this tribe.The symptoms of the disease are a violent fever, severe diarorhoea, black petechiæ all over the body, and enlargement (with-out suppuration) of the lymphatic glands over the whole frame.From twenty to thirty persons die every day, and the diseasehas spread to the town of Bengazi, where it reigns with greatseverity. Out of one hundred Europeans, twenty have beenattacked and seven have died. In the town, the deaths arefrom twenty to thirty per diem. On the 22nd of June, the

board of health of Constantinople held an extraordinary meet-ing, when it was resolved that all vessels coming from the

coast of Tripoli should be subjected to a quarantine of a fort-’ night. Commissioners were at the same time appointed, who, were to set out immediately in order to examine the infected- locality and report upon the actual state of things. By intel-

ligence of a later date we find that a Turkish brig, which left, Bengazi on the 5th of June and reached Alexandria on the, 14th, was subjected to quarantine, as a man had died on board. of the same disease as is reigning in Bengazi. At Marseilles,also, a quarantine of ten days has been decreed for all vessels, coming from Bengazi; and all ships from Tripoli or Alexandria, whose voyage has been less than a week, must complete that, period under sequestration.- THE SEAMEN’S HOSPITAL SOCIETY.—At the Quarterlyf Court of Governors, held on Friday, the 9th inst., it appeared) that the cash statement showed that the receipts from alls sources during the current quarter, from March 25th to Juner 24th last, were £11,522 Is. 10d.; the expenditure, including a3 balance of X1074 16s. 3d. from the last account, and after in-t vesting X7000 in Three per Cent. Consols, and £1000 in Re-s duced Three per Cent. Consols, left a balance in hand of, £20 4s. 8d. The number of patients, from A prillst to June 30th,- was as follows :-From her Majesty’s ships, 5; British andt foreign merchant ships, 513; on board on March 31st, 133 ;r total, 656. On board, sick, 126; convalescent, 6; discharged since March 31st, 522; total, 654. Out-patients, from Marchr 21st to June 30th, 400. The number of men on the registry,

SO 198.

78

VACCINATION IN ENGLAND AND WALES.—During theyear ending Sept. 29th, 1857, 423,421 persons were vaccinatedby the public vaccinators in England and Wales; of these,411,268 were successful cases.

‘

‘ CORONER FOR LOUTH, LINCOLNSHIRE.—It is gratifyingto state that Mr. T. Sharpley, the medical candidate, has beenelected, by a large majority over his legal opponent, to theoffice of coroner for the above district. Great efforts weremade on the part of the lawyers to carry the election of theircandidate, but fortunately the good sense of the electors pre-vailed, and the Louth district has now a medical coroner.

POST-MORTEM EXAMINATIONS.—At a late inquest, heldin the parish of St. Anne, Soho, before Mr. Bedford, thecoroner for Westminster, the learned judge made some

very appropriate observations on the discussion at presentgoing on between magistrates and coroners with reference topost-mortem examinations. The case was one which showedin a marked manner the dangerous tendency of the oppositionof the magistrates respecting the payment of medical witnesses.The worthy coroner remarked to the jury, that the instancebefore them offered a striking illustration of the absolute im-portance of after-death examinations. Here was the case of a Igentleman dying suddenly, without any circumstances of sus- !picion, but whose case presented symptoms which induced. hismedical attendant to make an examination of the body, whichrevealed the fact that his patient had poisoned himself withsulphuric acid. An inquest was accordingly held upon thebody, and a verdict in accordance with the evidence returned.Mr. Bedford remarked that the conduct of the magistrates inregard to this question would never influence him in respect tothe course he should pursue in holding an inquest, or in direct-ing a post-mortem examination; but the fact could not be toostrongly impressed upon juries and the public at large, thatundue interference with the duties of a coroner might beattended with serious results to society. The due administra-tion of justice often required that a post-mortem should be madeeven in cases in which there were no suspicious circumstances.It was true economy to institute such examinations, and a greatmistake on the part of those who opposed them to offer anyobstruction to what was in reality a necessity for arriving atthe truth. The foreman of the jury, Mr. George, late church-warden of St. Anne’s, Soho, in the name of his colleagues and ofhimself, assented to the justice of the remarks of the coroner.The case which called forth the timely remonstrance of theworthy coroner we shall probably place more fully in detailbefore the profession and the public.THE SOCIETE HOLLANDAISE DES SCIENCES, at its 106th

annual meeting at Haarlem, last month, awarded its goldmedal to Dr. T. L. Phipson, of Paris, for his memoir on cata-lysis, or catalytic force.DR. LIVINGSTONE has started inland from Cape Town,

and is probably now at the Zambesi. He seems to be in excel-lent health and spirits, and the new explorations are com-mencing under extremely favourable circumstances.CAREER OF A SURGEON-NATURALIST.—A letter from

Monte Video of May 29th, brings intelligence of the death ofa remarkable Frenchman, M. Aime Boussland, the naturalist,who died a few days previously at San Borja, at the age ofeighty-five. M. Boussland was born at Rochelle, in 1773. Hewas the son of a physician, and was brought up to his father’sprofession, but the political events of the early republic com-pelled him to enter the navy. He made a long cruise as anaval surgeon, but took the earliest opportunity of returningto Paris to pursue his studies. There, at the house of M. Cor-visart, he made the acquaintance of a young German of abouthis own age, who afterwards became known to the world asthe celebrated Alexander de Humboldt. These young menbecame intimate friends; and when M. de Humboldt under-took his expedition to the equinoctial regions of the new world,M. Boussland accompanied him. During this journey M.Boussland collected and classed upwards of six thousand plantswhich were then unknown to botanical writers. On his returnto France he presented his collection to the Museum of NaturalHistory, and received the thanks of Napoleon I., who grantedhim a pension. The Empress Josephine was attached toBoussland. She made him her factor at Malmaison, and oftensowed in her garden there flower-seeds which he had broughtfrom the tropics. After the abdication at Fontainebleau, M.Boussland urged the emperor to retire to Mexico to observeevents. A few weeks after tendering this fruitless advice, hesat by the death-bed of Josephine, and heard her last words.

Her death and the definitive fall of the empire leaving himnothing to desire in France, he returned to South America,and became a professor of natural history at Buenos Ayres.Subsequently he travelled across the Pampas, the provinces ofSanta Fe, Chaco, and Bolivia, and penetrated to the foot ofthe Andes. Being there taken for a spy, he was arrested bythe governor of Paraguay, and was detained a prisoner foreight years, till 1829. On his release he directed his steps to.wards the Brazils, and settled at San Borja, where, in a charm.ing but humble retreat, surrounded by orange groves andEuropean shrubs, he remained to the day of his death, receivingwith pleasure all French travellers who visited him. He wasthe author of (amongst other works) " Les Plantes Equi-noxiales" (1805), " La Monographie des Melastonies" (1806)," Description des Plantes rares et de la Malmaison" (1813)," Vue des Cordillères et Monuments Indigène de 1’Amenque"(1819), and (jointly with M. de Humboldt) " Voyage auxRegions Equinoxiales du Nouveau Continent."

HEALTH OF LONDON DURING THE WEEK ENDING

SATURDAY, JULY 10TH.—In the week ending Saturday, July10th, the deaths registered in London were 1191. In the tenyears 184S-57 the average number of deaths in the weeks cor.responding with last week was 977; but as the present returnis for a population which has annually increased, it can onlybe compared with the average when the latter has been raisedin proportion to the increase, a correction which will make it1074. The comparison shows that the mortality of last weekwas much higher than the average mortality in the beginningof July, for the actual result exceeded the estimated numberby 117 deaths. The deaths from measles last week werenumerous; they rose from 54 to 71. Diarrhœa continues tomake progress, the weekly deaths from it, since it began toincrease, having been 31, 54, 94, and 129. Of these 129 deaths,all except 10 occurred amongst children, most of whom wereinfants. It may be added that 9 deaths from this complaintoccurred in the sub-district of St. John, Westminster. Thirteendeaths were also caused by the cholera, which is usual insummer.

Births, Marriages, and Deaths.BIRTHS.

On the 4th inst., at Royal-hill, Bayswater, the wife of E.Riggall, Esq., M.R.C.S., of a son.On the 5th inst., the wife of Ernest Powell Wilkins, Esq.,

F. G. S., Newport, Isle of Wight, of a daughter.

MARRIAGES.

On the 7th inst., at the parish church, Brighton, John Smith,Esq., M. R. C. S., of Elm-place, Stretford New-road, Manchester,to Fanny Maria, youngest daughter of John T. Gardner, Esq.,M.R.C.S., Brighton, Sussex.On the 8th inst., at St. John’s Church, Windsor, Robert M.

Theobald, Esq., M.R.C.S., to Miss Wagstaff, niece of the lateR. Tebbott, Esq., Windsor.

DEATHS.

On the 8th inst., Elizabeth, wife of C. Mountford Burnett,M.D., West Brook House, Alton.On the 10th inst., at Hull, Margaret, wife of Joseph Ayre,

M.D., in the 76th year of her age.

TERMS FOR ADVERTISING.

Advertisements which are intended to appear in THE LANCET of any particular week, should be delivered at the Office not later than on Wednesday inthat week.

TERMS OF SUBSCRIPTION TO "THE LANCET."

Post-office Orders to be addressed to THOMAS PALMER LovBLL, TEE LANCETOffice, 433, Strand, London, and made payable to him at the Strand Post-office