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they must help to work. Again, the parents indulgein amusements and take the children with them.Visits to cinemas are particularly bad for children,because of the flickering and dazzle of the picture.The noise of street traffic is also very injurious.Sports are the best means of hardening the childand of strengthening its self-confidence." Anargument for the Medical Society for Sports is thusfurnished.

Overcrowding in the Medical Professionn.The Leipziger Verband has recently issued a

further urgent warningi against the study of medicine,because of the overcrowding of the medical profession.They state that one of the reasons of overcrowdingis that the army and navy medical corps respectivelyhave been almost totally disbanded and consequentlymany members have entered civil practice and haveobtained State medical appointments which wereformerly the privilege of civil doctors. Anotherreason is that owing to the loss of the colonies andother parts of German territories many medical menfrom these parts have settled in the remainder ofGermany. Also, the older medical men who in formertimes would have retired from practice at a certainage are now, through bad financial conditions,compelled to practise as long as their healthpermits or even until death. The Verband remindsintending medical students of the difficulties of clubpractice since the free choice system is in danger,so that possibly in future only a portion of theprofession will have the opportunity of practisingunder the insurance laws. The Verband states thatfor many years there will be no vacancy for assistant-ships in hospitals and university clinics. Stress isalso laid on the fact that the training of medicalstudents is of longer duration and thus more expensivethan that for other academical profession. Theformer warnings have already had the effect ofcausing a decrease in the number of medicalstudents, but the supply still exceeds the demand.According to the Münchener ]ÿIedizinische Wochen-schrift, the number of medical students in Germanyduring the winter session, 1923-24, was as follows :Berlin, 1967 ; Munich, 1394 ; Leipzig, 750 ; Wurzburg640 ; Freiburg, 588 ; Breslau, 572 ; Heidelberg, 555 ;Jena, 517 ; Bonn, 506 ; Kiel, 402 ; Marburg, 353 ;Frankfurt, 337 ; Halle, 329 ; Tubingen, 308 ;Gottingen, 307 ; Konigsberg, 295 ; Greifswald, 256 ;Rostock, 250 ; Hamburg, 239 ; Giessen, 226 ;Erlangen, 209 ; Cologne, 168 ; Munster, 167. Total,11,335.

PARIS.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Gastroscopy. IGASTROSCOPY has been comparatively little studiedin France, and the only systematic research that wascarried out by this method was done by Moure. Butit is interesting to note that when Kussmal in 1886introduced a rigid tube into the stomach for the firsttime he employed an endoscope which had been pur-chased in Paris. Since that period a great numberof instruments have been invented, the best knownbeing those of Elsner, Schindler, and Sternberg. Dr.Benschulde, physician to the hospital of St. Antoine,recently demonstrated before the Academy of Medicinea new gastroscope which he invented and whichobviates some of the defects of earlier instruments.It consists of three parts : First, a tube containingthe optical apparatus ; secondly, a head piece, whichcarries a lamp and which is furnished with a guidingcannula; thirdly, a strip of steel terminating in ametal ball. In the first place the metal strip, whichacts as a guiding thread, is introduced and then thegastroscope itself is slid over this strip, which passesthrough the cannula in the head piece. Exami-

2 THE LANCET, March 29th, 1924, 672.

nation is carried out in the knee-elbow position-This position has the advantage of enabling liquids.to flow away from the mouth, bringing thestomach to the eye of the observer, and of freeingthe cardiac end. In this position the liver fallsforward against the abdominal wall and separates itfrom the stomach and the loops of the intestine.The view which can be obtained by the gastroscope is.so clear that the greatest hope can be placed in thefuture of gastric endoscopy. This method, in spite ofdifficulties in locating points in the stomach, is onewhich can be of great service in the early diagnosisof cancer ulcer, rare tumours, and in certain forms ofgastritis.

A Medical Club.

There are in Paris many clubs for professional andmilitary men, but doctors possess no building wherethey can meet and discuss medical matters. For morethan 50 years there has been a question of formingsuch a club, but several tentative efforts to foundone have come to naught. The Association Généralede Médecins de France has taken up the idea againand has formed a committee to look into the matter.As the result of a conference held two years ago byDr. Charles Levassort in the large theatre of theFaculty of Medicine, Dr. H. Forestier of Aix les Bains.gave an account of similar organisations whichexisted in Copenhagen, in Stockholm, and in London,which made us regret all the more that we had no suchinstitution. At the moment it seems as if the schememight come to fruition. Dr. A. Thiery, president ofthe study committee, has made an appeal to theFrench Medical Corps, with the object of acquiring theold house of the University des Annales in the PlaceSaint Georges, which is at present vacant. It is a veryfine building with a large entrance hall and manylarge rooms, of which one could be used as a demon-stration theatre to seat 600 people. The other roomscould be used as reception rooms, lecture rooms,.writing rooms, &c., or as the headquarters of various.scientific and professional societies. In this way acentral club might be formed, and on the premises apermanent exhibition might be held of the productsof medical commercial houses. The addition of a.

restaurant would make the club a pleasant place inwhich Parisian doctors might entertain their colleagues.from the provinces.

Social Aid for Abnormal Children.The Society of Pediatrics recently held a long

discussion on the question of social help for abnormalchildren. It was decided that the instruction ofthese children should not merely be optional, butought to be enforced by law. In order to carry thisinto effect, it would be necessary to institute supple-mentary classes and to extend the system of boardingout weak-minded children who showed no moralperversity. The system would be worked frontorganised centres, and the children would be under thecare of a doctor and a visiting nurse. It was suggestedthat in hospitals for children a neuro-psychiatricclinic ought to be established, the clinic to be con-ducted by specialists with the object of diagnosingand treating and placing abnormal children. The-staff should further include a lady visitor. Thisdepartment would be attached to the hospital, andwould have at its disposal a certain number of bedsfor observation and necessary treatment. It shouldalso work in close association with educational and,boarding-out establishments, asylums, and privatehomes, &c.

Treatment of Delinquents in the Penal Code.The recent congress of forensic medicine, which was

held in Paris, requested the French Penal adminis-tration to institute in the Penal Code such changes as-.

would be necessary for the physical and moral treat-ment and social re-education of prisoners. Thecongress passed a resolution in favour of developing:by all possible means psychiatric and mental prophy-laxis and hygiene.