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A PALMY PROSPECT FOR FIJI.

SiNCE Britishers went far afield in pursuit of territory,either by conquest or annexation, there is little doubt thatthey have invariably imported into a new colony, amongmuch useful material, many insanitary sins and habits thathave from time immemorial existed in the old country in agreater or less degree. During the last decade, however, agreat deal has been done, both here and in India, to purifypersons, manners, customs, and dwellings, and it will behard if, when His Excellency Sir A. Gordon takes formalpossession of our newly acquired territory in the Pacific,he does not plant there some of these newly-acquiredvirtues. The governor has already on his staff two veryable surgeons, who, if vested with proper power in all (as weshould say at home) "urban, rural, and port" matters, oughtto ensure, in a sanitary sense, a palmy prospect for Fiji. Weare told that the climate is charming, that there are no wildbeasts or creatures of any kind inimical to mankind, andthat the earth gives forth abundantly all things necessaryto life. Under these circumstances, and armed with powersanalogous to those granted under our own Public Health,Merchant Shipping, Emigration, and Contagious DiseasesActs, it should surely be almost possible to keep out of theislands venereal and epidemic diseases. The area of terri-

tOTY is small, but scattered, and there are very few portsof call. A strict system of port sanitary surveillance, E

modified system of quarantine, and the establishment of afloating hospital, are the chief working items needed t(command success. Dr. Mayo and his colleague have a finlfield open to them for the practice of those 11 preventiviprinciples" about which we are just now disposed to be s’proud.

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EXCISION OF TONSILS.

A WRITER in the Revue die Thérapeutique Medico- Chirurgi-cale for March 15th, in a note upon amygdalotomy, suggestedby a new guillotine, states that the operation is sometimesattended with fatal haemorrhage, but that it is never neces-sary to remove the whole or even the greater part of atonsil, the cicatrisation following on removal of the super-ficial parts alone sufficing to reduce its size; nor is it

essential to operate on more than one of these organs,Strong preference is given to the employment of the

guillotine over the bistoury, because of the inutility of removal of large portions, and the less liability to accidentsIn support of the necessity of operating speedily in certaiicases, a melancholy instance is given from the practice 01

the writer, in which the patient, a girl of sixteen yearssuffering from angina with great enlargement of tonsilsliterally died from asphyxia from excision being deferredat the instance of a colleague, who thought hsemorrhagwould be very severe, and that the case would speedily gewell if left alone.

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THE CHANNEL TUNNEL.

THis tunnel, if it becomes an accomplished fact, will testvery severely the abilities of our "ventilating" architects andengineers. Our contemporary, the Engineer, has elaboratedsome curious statistics on the subject, and arrives at theconclusion that, having regard to the number of trains senithrough daily, it will be necessary, if ordinary locomotivesare used, to renew the air in the tunnel entirely every hourand, as the tunnel will be twenty miles long, and all the ai]must be withdrawn from one end or the other, a current oair must be passed through at the rate of twenty miles ahour. These results are, of course, arrived at on the supposition that the air would be rendered irrespirable by thcoke smoke evolved, and the obvious alternative is to appl;

motive power by means other than those in use on ordinaryrailways. It has, too, yet to be decided by the engineeringworld whether the erection of a shaft or shafts in theChannel is practicable. In considering this important sub-ject of ventilation in connexion with the Channel tunnel,we have no work in existence at all analogous to the pro-

’ posed structure; for that through Mont Cenis is compara-’ tively short, and admirably situated for purposes of venti-r

lation, and the Metropolitan Railway is so riddled with’

openings, shafts, and holes in every direction, that evenLondon smoke and dirt fail to make its atmosphere more

, than dense, or, in some parts, disagreeable.

UNHEALTHY CLIMATES.

A LARGE body of civilians serving under the Crown invarious parts of the world will henceforth be specially inte-rested in the official definition of an unhealthy climate. Anew Superannuation Act (the terms of which, as a Bill, wereferred to briefly some weeks ago) has just become law,which gives to the Commissioners of the Treasury power todeclare by order a country or "place" unhealthy, in re-ference to the scale of retiring allowance to be awarded tocivil servants under the Act of 1859. In computing anyallowance under this statute, two years’ service in a placeofficially designated as unhealthy shall be reckoned as

service for three years, and so on in proportion for anygreater or lesser period. We are curious to see the scheduleof unhealthy places compiled by the Commissioners for thepurposes of this Act. The factors that go to make a

! "place" unhealthy are many and various. Some are, so) to speak, natural, found ready to hand, and never eradicated

by any amount of civilisation ; some have been introducedby colonisation, are firmly rooted, and grow with the popu-lation. Will "places" suffering from preventable un-

_ healthiness be scheduled ? for if so, many civilians servingat home as well as abroad will be benefited by the new

s Act. And what about certain " places " in various public- buildings not one hundred miles from Charing-cross?

OBSTETRIC ENGAGEMENTS.

THE Judge of the County Court of Barrow has pro-nounced the idea of a medical practitioner holding him-self in readiness to fulfil an obstetric engagement, andpostponing a holiday on this ground, to be such non-sense as he never heard in his life ! Dr. Williams hadbeen engaged to attend a woman in her confinement. He

stayed in Barrow some weeks longer than he would havedone to fulfil his engagement. When the labour came itwas so short that they did not send for him. But he claimedthe fee in the County Court on the score of his engagement,which had hindered his freedom. Our readers know thatthis claim is constantly recognised by County Court judges.Here it has not only been disallowed, but the judge hasthought it consistent with his position and his duty to makelight of obstetric engagements, and throw ridicule upon aconscientious practitioner who respects them. We shouldsuggest to His Honour to acquaint himself with the ordinary

. judgments of his fellow judges. He will not injure the pro- fession so much as the public by treating thus lightly very; serious contracts.

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A VINDICATION OF MEDICAL STUDENTS.

I Our. contemporary, the Pall Mall Gazette, alluding to thEevidence adduced at a recent inquest on the body of an unfortunate police-constable at Birmingham, who lost his liftin consequence of being stabbed in the neck by some dastardly ruffians during a street riot, praises the humane an(persevering conduct of the students of the Queen’s Hospita

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to whom was entrusted the arduous and delicate duty ofcompressing the common carotid artery in consequence ofa wound of the internal carotid. The students took it in

turn to perform this duty, which was continued altogetherfor fifty hours. Their efforts, and the subsequent operationof ligature, however, proved unavailing. We gladly hailthe testimony of our contemporary to the fact that theideas which many people have formed of medical students-derived from a study of " Pickwick"- are unjust and un-founded, and we would add that there is never any lack ofmen in our hospitals ready to volunteer to undertake similarwork. When so much discredit is often thrown on medical

students, it is only just that their good qualities should berecognised. ____

THE METROPOLITAN WATER-SUPPLY.

A BILL bearing the names of Colonel Beresford, Sir Chas.Russell, Mr. Forsyth, and Mr. Ritchie, proposes, by an orderin Council, to hand over the undertakings of the eightcompanies now supplying London with water to a 11 Metro-politan Water Commission," for the purpose of making"more effectual provision for a constant supply of water,and for the protection of life and property against fire inthe metropolis." Powers are sought by the Bill to combine,as far as possible, the sources of supply and the works ofthe several companies, and the disposal of all works, lands,and properties which may become superfluous in consequenceof such combination; to put the works into the necessarycondition for maintaining a constant supply at high pres-sure ; and to provide and fix the necessary apparatus forcleansing and watering the streets, and for all other sanitarypurposes. It is further proposed to endow the Commissionwith borrowing powers, and the Public Works Commissionerswith power to lend money to the Commission, on the securityof their income from water-rates. Under the Bill the pre-sent shareholders of the existing companies are to receiveperpetual annuities in compensation for the transfer of theirshares. In the present condition of general opinion onmatters of public health, it appears improbable that thesupply of water to the metropolis will be much longer allowedto remain a commercial speculation, but it remains to beseen whether the promoters of this Water Bill have anyearnest intention to press on their measure.

A NEW FORM OF GLYCOSURIA.

M. JULES DAVID has recently observed, in a case o

diabetes following a large carbuncle, a substance resembling glucose in its reactions, but differing from anythinghitherto discovered. The urine reduced Fehling’s solutionalthough less readily than ordinary diabetic urine. Liquoipotassae also caused a brown discolouration. But on ex.

amining it with the polarising saccharimeter not th(

slightest trace of deviation could be discovered. Moreover.on analysis, no glucose whatever was found by the usualmethod. A solution of the substance, after isolation, reoduced Fehling’s solution readily. Its exact nature has not

yet been determined, owing to failure of the supply of theurine.

SMALL-POX IN JERSEY.

THE intelligent Registrar of Jersey, Mr. Henry Luc(Manual, has supplied some tabulated statistics of small-poato the Jersey papers of more than local interest. Though thfdisease still lingers, the mortality is much abated. In thEfive last months of 1874 the deaths from small-pox were 47;in the first two months of 1875, up to March 13th, the deathsfrom small-pox were 91; making a total of 138. This reportincludes the dead only, and takes no account of the maimed,the blind, and others, damaged and disabled by this disease.

THE NEW FACULTY OF MEDICINE OFGENEVA.

ON the 3rd ultimo the first stone of the AnatomicalSchool of this new Faculty was laid with great pomp.Heretofore the University of Geneva had no faculty of me-dicine, and this addition is hailed with great enthusiaamby the scientific men of that city. The Government andlearned societies were largely represented at the ceremony ;speeches of importance were delivered, the discourse of thePresident of the Department of Public Instruction beingpeculiarly remarkable. He stated that the new Faculty,placed between Germany, France, and Italy, would serveas a scientific link between these countries. It may pro-perly be added, that a faculty of medicine may well beerected in a land where physical and natural sciences havebeen so successfully cultivated by such men as Bonetus,Saussure, De Candolle, De la Rive, Pictetus, and others yand in a city where flourished Tronchin, Odier, Prevost,Maunoir, Coindet, Mayor, and Rilliet, all of whom haveleft a worthy name in the history of medicine and surgery.

NITROUS OXIDE AS AN ANÆSTHETIC.

AT the meeting of the Société de Chirurgie on March 3rd,a paper was communicated by M. Darin on the comparativevalue of different anaesthetics, especially of nitrous oxide.The author denied that this gas acted by producingasphyxia, as generally believed, stating that animals couldlive and grain germinate in an atmosphere of the gas; andbelieved it superior to ether or chloroform as an anesthetic.He cited its wide employment in America as proof of thisand of its safe administration, as showing that it could beadministered during a long time. He quoted a case ofovariotomy by Dr. Marion Sims, in which the patient wasleft under its influence continuously for an hour and a half.A discussion followed, in which many members took part,and the following conclusions were arrived at :-1. Thatnitrous oxide does act by inducing asphyxia. 2. That ether

has been too much neglected in Paris, and that it would bedesirable to return to its employment. Other resolutionswere adopted to the effect that, although the question wasone which merited the attention of the Society, yet it wasimpracticable, from the constitution of the Society, toappoint a committee to investigate the question.

THE HAMPSTEAD HOSPITAL.

Ms. MAURICE GRANT, in a letter to The Tinnes of Wednes-day, gives some particulars showing the relative isolationof the present site and those in Mill-lane. On an ordinaryday he found that only 21 persons passed along Mill-lanebetween 8 A.M.’and 7 p.ra., including dwellers in the laneand persons in vehicles. On Easter Monday, 88 persons perhour passed through it. He adds that the lane is 1140 yardsin length, and that there are only 39 houses or cottageswithin a radius of a quarter of a mile from the proposedsites, which are situated nearly at the centre of the lane.He states that on Easter Monday he counted 590 personspassing the east wall of the present hospital in the Fleet-road in ten minutes, and calculates the total number ofvisitors to the heath on that day as about 40,000. From ourown observations on that day we should consider that thisnumber was considerably below the mark. Mr. Grant addsthat the petition to Parliament has already been signed byabout 10,000 persons. The third alternative site in Mill-lane was to be viewed by the Asylum managers on Thursday.As the matter is to be brought before Parliament next week,we may await the issue of the application before makingany further comments upon it.