1498

in the brief and sad story of this accident. One im-

presses the fact, well attested and often ignored, thatfirearms are essentially destructive and dangerous, andmust at all times be so regarded. No one with anypretence to ordinary discretion should ever lightly presenta gun or pistol, even if unloaded, at the person, and

every such weapon, if charged, should, like a poison, be

appropriately labelled and kept in a safe place. Some

regulation to this effect, if introduced by statute, mightprove most useful. This brings us to the second suggestion.It is that no further time should be allowed to elapse beforethe Home Office takes up seriously the question of pistolregistration and licensing. A tax of sufficient amount to

restrict the purchase of these usually superfluous weaponsought to be no longer deferred, and there should, in our

opinion, be added a prohibitory clause to prevent their

purchase by juvenile amateurs in markmanship. We trust,therefore, that the Home Secretary’s Bill, designed on theselines and postponed last year, will be added at an early dateto the national statute roll.

SIR ARTHUR MITCHELL, M.D.ABERD., K.C.B.

ly the fulness of his mental, if not in all respects of hisphysical, powers, Sir Arthur Mitchell retires from the ScottishLunacy Commission, a service to which for more than a

generation he has dedicated professional accomplishmentsand administrative resources of a very high order. Few,indeed, have been the occupants of similar posts in GreatBritain and Ireland who have left their mark more distinctlyfor good than this able physician and devoted public officer.Sir Arthur Mitchell has more than sustained the worthy tradi-tions bequeathed by such predecessors as Sir James Coxe andDr. W. A. F. Browne. His annual reports were enrichedwith the valuable critical discussions and practical sugges-tions which have always so honourably characterisedthose publications, and he widened the sphere of alienistmedicine by introducing reforms which have proved suc-

cessful, not only in the place where they were originallytested, but in many communities where they were subse-quently adopted. He may be styled the creator of thatresidence of the insane in private dwellings which was intro-duced by himself in Scotland and has found so much accept-ance elsewhere. This innovation he proposed and explainedin a treatise which has become a medical classic. It was

published exactly thirty years ago under the title of ’’ TheInsane in Private Dwellings," and formed the preludeto a long series of papers, the republication of whichin a collected form will be welcomed even more in

Continental and Transatlantic countries than in our own.To this work, we are happy to think, Sir Arthur Mitchellis understood to be devoting his well-earned leisure. Inaddition to his published works on the treatment of theinsane, the addresses delivered by him as Morison Lectureron Insanity to the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburghhave contributed much to the enlightened views on this sub-ject which now prevail. He served on two commissions oncriminal lunacy, and in 1889 he was chairman of a com-mission to inquire into the whole lunacy administration ofIreland. He has also done valuable work in other branchesof science. He was particularly interested in the workof the Ben Nevis Observatory, and his contributions to

medical meteorology and climatology have been numerousand important. Among these may be mentioned an elaborateresearch, in conjunction with Mr. Alexander Bucban, on theInfluence of Weather on Mortality from Different Diseasesand at Different Ages, and a paper on the Cause of Some ofthe Pernicious Effects of Polar Winds, with remarks onthe method and scope of inquiries in Medical Meteoro-

logy. His lectures on Archaeology and his book entitled

1 THE LANCET, July 29th, 1893.

" The Fast in the Present" are valuable products of archseo-logical research, and were highly appreciated by the Societyof Antiquaries of Scotland, which on two occasions elected himto be vice-president. His conspicuous learning and talentsgained for him the further distinction of being appointedProfessor of Ancient History to the Royal Scottish Academyin 1878, vice-president of the Royal Society of Edinburgh in1891-2-3, and a member of the Universities (Scotland) Com-mission. The honours bestowed on him by Mr. Gladstonein 1886 and by Lord Salisbury in 1887 were in recognitionnot only of his services to the State but of his scientific andliterary merits as well. In view of the excellent work ofwhich Sir Arthur Mitchell still finds himself capable, we con-gratulate him on the possession of that leisure which he willnow enjoy, and also on the wisdom of that timely withdrawalfrom official activity by which he gracefully concludes hislong and distinguished administrative career.

THE CLUB SYSTEM IN CORK.

WE have already given our readers some account of theformidable dispute between medical men on the one hand,and the clubs on the other, in Cork. The contest still rages

severely. The chief feature of it is the firmness and the

unanimity of the profession in declaring that they will not beparties to the abuse of the club system any longer. It isdeclared that many persons in these clubs are in the enjoy-ment of incomes ranging up to .E1000 a year. Thisis ’not to be endured. The medical men decline alto

gether to attend at club rates the families of thosewhose incomes exceed öf:200 a year. They are willingto attend families whose income is under öf:l00 a year for7s. 6d., and those whose income is between E100 and E200 ayear for 15s. Fuller particulars will be found in THELANCET of Dec. 8th, p. 1329. Of course, we assume, mid-

wifery is excluded from these terms, which are exceedinglymoderate. The controversy with the clubs is carried on

through the secretary of the organisation of medical men.We shall watch the results of the action of the medical menof Cork with close attention. The question of medicalattendance in Ireland is a somewhat complicated one, to

which we may revert soon. But it will be creditable indeedif the much-needed example of esprit de corps and effectiveorganisation comes from Ireland.

THE DIFFUSION OF SMALL-POX.

THE cases of small-pox newly arising in London last weekagain showed a decline, being only 3 in number ; whilst for

the fifth successive week no death was registered from thedisease. No case remained under treatment in the HighgateSmall-pox Hospital, and only 22 in the institutions of theMetropolitan Asylums Board, against 33, 31, and 32 on thethree preceding Saturdays. The cases reported last week inthe outer ring were few and scattered. In the Midlands

Wolverhampton records 2 attacks and Burslem 1, whilst

Birmingham had 30 fresh attacks and 3 deaths regis-tered, the disease thus clinging to the city in a manner

that is highly disappointing in view of the action ofthe town council and their advisers. A few widely sepa-rated attacks are reported from Lancashire, a death beinglast week registered in Birkenhead, and some four or fiveattacks having freshly occurred across the Mersey in Liver-pool ; but the disease has apparently obtained no great holdon the city. Westward the country generally seems free fromsmall-pox, and northward the towns invaded last week werebut few, Halifax being among the list with two or three

attacks, one case proving fatal. In Dublin in the first week ofthe present month the admissions to the city hospitals num-bered 31, being 6 under the admissions of the week immedi-ately preceding. The patients discharged were 35 in number,and 91 remained under treatment on the &bgr;th inst., a fall