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16-inch induction coil with adjustable primary winding (Dr.Walker’s method) with Wehnelt electrolytic interrupter,to be worked from a motor generator giving 65 volts,a Finsen lamp, and a St. Bartholomew’s Hospital lamp forultra-violet rays. The department is in the charge of Dr.William Martin, one of the honorary assistant surgeons, whois himself the inventor of lead glass shields fitting on tofocus tubes. He has also made ample provision for theprotection of operators and patients from the deleteriouseffects of the x rays by means of a large lead screen toprotect the whole body of the radiographer, a lead box withadjustable diaphragm for screen examinations, and lead

glass shields. Colonel Bruce Vaughan, the chairman of thehouse committee, is very largely responsible for the acquisi-tion of this pavilion.

The Teetle of School Children.A valuable report has just been issued by Mr. E. Rice

Morgan, medical officer to the Swansea education committee,in which he gives the result of an examination whichhe recently made of the teeth of some of the boys andgirls attending five schools in the upper division of theborough. Among 151 boys examined only five, or 3’3 percent., had no unsound teeth and of the remaining 146 boyseach had on an average 3’7 7 decayed teeth. Amongthe 144 girls examined there were six, or 4’ 1 percent., with all their teeth sound, while the remaining138 had on an average 3’ 2 teeth which were unsound. Mr.

Morgan is evidently of opinion that dental surgeons mightwith advantage be appointed to look after the teeth of theschool children. He does not, however, advise this for thepresent but suggests that in the first instance parents andscholars should be supplied with printed rules for the

preservation of the teeth of children. In the rules whichhe has drawn up he points out that sound teeth are necessaryfor good mastication and that good mastication is requisitefor good digestion, that food left on the teeth ferments andbecomes acid, thus producing decay, and that the teethshould be cleaned night and morning with a tooth brush anda simple tooth powder.

Uari2tartlien Asylum.The committee of visitors of the Joint Counties Asylum at

Carmarthen has increased the salary of the medicalsuperintendent (Dr. Edwin Goodall) from .f:600 to Z700per annum. Dr. Goodall has held his present appointmentfor nearly 11 years.

Motor-cars for County Officials.A committee of the Glamorgan county council has

recommended the purchase of a 12-horse power motor-carat a cost of £475 for the use of the county surveyor. The

salary of the surveyor of the Carmarthen county council hasbeen increased in order that he may use a motor-car fortravelling about the county.

Meteorological Records at Bath.Ever since he was appointed medical officer of health of

Bath, eight years ago, Dr. W. H. Symons has devoted a greatdeal of time to the investigation of the meteorological con-ditions of the city and at the last meeting of the West ofEngland and South Wales branch of the Incorporated Societyof Medical Officers of Health he laid before the memberssome of the results of his observations. As an illustra-tion of the necessity for checking the records of an

earth thermometer he stated that on one occasion hefound that a four-foot instrument in one part of the publicgardens registered nine degrees above the temperatureregistered elsewhere and upon investigation he discoveredthat the waste water from the hot baths was carried off ina culvert a few feet away from where this thermometerhad been placed. Dr. Symons is not very sanguine of thepossibility of making accurate records of the density offogs and considers that the fog gauge made of alternatewhite and black stripes of varying width, though suitable forthe very opaque small-grained London fog, is quite useless inthe estimation of the coarse-grained fog of the country. He

proposes a scale based upon the limit of visibility and for this purpose notes the distance of various objectsfrom the point of observation. For example, if the out-line of a hill known to be six miles away can be seenbut not beyond he records F 1; if an object threemiles distant can only be seen then F 2 is recorded ;and if an object one and a half miles distant is onlyvisible then F3, and so on. He thinks the geologicaland physiographical conditions have to do with the forma-tion of fog. The very careful meteorological observations

made by Dr. Symons, which include the amount of sunshine,the direction and the pressure of the wind, and the amountof evaporation going on, ought to be appreciated to the fullin a town the popularity of which is dependent uponphysical conditions.

Bath Eastern Dispensary.The annual report of the Batli Eastern Dispensary, an

institution which was established in 1832, states that 2724visits were made to patients during 1904 and that the ex-penditure of the dispensary was oB655, causing a deficit onthe year’s working of R52.

Plym.oitt7t Workhouse Infirmary.At the meeting of the Plymouth board of guardians held

on Jan. 26th a long discussion took place concerning the pro-posed scheme for providing a new infirmary at an estimatedcost of .656,000. Eventually it was decided that onlywomen’s general wards should be erected to accommodate104 patients at a cost of B9450.Jan. 30th.

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SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Vlajority of the Students’ Representative Council of theUniversity of Edinburgh.

THE Students’ Representative Council of the University ofEdinburgh has attained its majority and, as was suitable atsuch an important date, it has been marked by special pro-ceedings. On Friday night the students held a torchlight pro-cession through the city which passed off successfully andwas witnessed by many thousands of spectators. On Saturdaynight a dinner was held in the University union under thechairmanship of the senior president of the council, Mr.H. V. Rabagliati. The company numbered about 130 and in-cluded various distinguished persons and not a few of thosewho had taken an active part in the establishment of thecouncil over 20 years ago. The Solicitor-General for Scotland,Mr. Dundas, K.C., who has just been raised to the Scottishbench, proposed the toast of the evening and dealt with thehistory of the formation and the work of the Students’Representative Council. The chairman responded to thetoast and urged upon students to take more interest in thecouncil as being the centre of University life. The LordAdvocate proposed the toast of Alma Mater " and Prin-cipal Sir William Turner replied.

Researches into the Etiology of Ca’l’c’inoma.An interesting paper by Dr. W. Ford Robertson and

Mr. H. Wade on plasmodiophora in cancer appeared inTHE LANCET last week. During the week Dr. Robertson in-vited a number of his friends to a private demonstration ofsections and cultures which was largely taken advantage ofand much appreciated. On Thursday evening the work wassubmitted to the Edinburgh Pathological Club where it wasfully discussed. This work is such a definitely new departureon previous methods that more will no doubt be heard of it.Jan. 30th.

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IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Dispensary 3ledical 0fficers and the Local GozernnaentBoard.

THE important case of Keelan v. the Local GovernmentBoard (which was reported in THE LANCET of Dec. 17th, 1904,p. 1757, and in which the legal right of the Board to amalga-mate Collon No. 1 and Dramcondra dispensary districts (Co.Louth) with Collon No. 2 and Dunleer districts was contestedat the instance of Mr. M. Keelan and Mr. M. Caraher) was re-opened on Jan. 30th in the Court of Appeal before the Lord

Chancellor, Lord Justice Fitzgibbon, Lord Justice Walker, andLord Justice Holmes. It will be remembered that the Courtof King’s Bench refused to set aside the order of the LocalGovernment Board by which one dispensary district wasentirely done away with. The importance of the appeal isdue to the fact that it is really a conflict between the IrishMedical Association and the Local Government Board andthe Board’s view of its gravity is shown by its havingbriefed for each trial both the Attorney-General and theSolicitor-General in addition to its own counsel. The caseis now being heard.