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one inch from March 8th to llth, which amounts to a

reduction of pressure equal to about half a pound to thesquare inch. As is well known combustible gas, chieflymarsh gas, occurs occluded in coal which is ready to issueinto the workings of a mine as soon as a fall of the

barometric column takes place. Hence colliery warnings areissued when the pressure is abnormally high in order to

prepare the miners against the consequences of a sudden

fall. The same liberation of gas takes place in the coalbunkers of a ship when the atmospheric pressure relaxesor when the temperature increases. In order to prevent theaccumulation of this gas the bunkers are thoroughly venti-lated. In the case of mines, similarly, ventilation is

employed, not only for the sake of the respiratory organsof the colliers but also for removing combustible gases. It

is an interesting fact that the fall of the barometer last

week exactly preceded the explosion in the Welsh collierywhich, so far as can be gathered, was due to gas and not todust. It would be interesting to know: (1) whether thesecolliery warnings are regularly issued and, if so, by whom;and (2) whether they are heeded and the condition of themine is ascertained in accordance with the warning.

PLAGUE IN SYDNEY IN 1903.

THE report drawn up by Dr. J. Ashburton Thompson,chief medical officer of the Government of New South Wales,on the third outbreak of plague at Sydney-i.e., that of1903-has just reached us. The final case of the precedingoutbreak occurred on June 12th, 1902, and the last plague-infected rat was taken on July 14th of the same year. In

the outbreak of 1903 the first plague-infected rat was

captured on May 12th and the last on August 15th. Twocases also occurred in man, the date of attack of Case 1

being June 17th and that of Case 2 July 2nd. Both these

patients recovered. The report now before us deals withthree periods-namely, the plague-free period from July 15th,1902, to April 30th, 1903 ; the plague period from May lst,1903, to August 15th, 19031 ; and finally a portion of theensuing plague-free period from August 16th to Dec. 31st,1903. During the first period systematic rat catching wascarried on by the official municipal rat catching staffand 31,075 rodents were taken, of which 17,160 were

bacteriologically examined. Not one of these was affectedwith plague, so that on April 30th, 1903, it appearedthat for eight and a half months Sydney had been

free from plague in its rats as it undoubtedly was

from plague in man. Special measures were also taken

during this period by the municipal health authorities

to insure the protection of warehouses, food stores,and produce stores by making them less accessible to

rats by means of stopping runs, substituting concrete

flooring for wooden flooring, and the like. During thesecond period the same measures were undertaken but inaddition a capitation fee wa offered for rodents. The totalnumber delivered was 14,671, and of these, which wereall examined, 111 rats and 50 mice were found to be plague-infected. Of the two cases of plague which occurred

during this period in man the source of infection in

Case 1 remained undiscovered. In Case 2 infection was

presumably due to rats. During this period plague ratswere also discovered on a ship which had come fromBuenos Ayres. The general trend of the report showsthat in this oubreak, as in the two former, the rat was thesole source of infection for man, but the relation of therat to epidemic plague must still be generally consideredas obscure. However, as Dr. Thompson points out, intelli-gent action as regards destruction of rats, their examination

1 This period is taken from May 1st, although the first plague-infected rat was taken on May 12th, "for simplification of the analysisin view of the probability that the epizootic had begun some unascer-tainable number of days before the date of its discovery."

and identification of any illness from which they may:suffer,together with careful cleansing of premises, are, as shownby the history of this outbreak, measures of the greatest use-in limiting and in checking an epizootic.

PRESENTATION TO DR. WILLIAM W. IRELAND.

ON March 4th, in the Royal College of Physicians of

Edinburgh, Dr. William W. Ireland was presented with an’illuminated address and a cheque on the occasion of thefiftieth anniversary of his medical graduation. Dr. John

Playfair, the President of the College, occupied the chairand a considerable proportion of the company consisted ofalienists, including the Scottish Commissioners in Lunacyand a number of asylum superintendents from various partsof the country. Dr. Ireland commenced his professional lifein 1855 by graduating as M.D. at the University of Edin-burgh and then entered the medical service of the Honour-able East India Company. During the Mutiny of 1857 hereceived a wound which prevented him from undertakingactive work during the next ten years. Eventually, how-ever, he joined the Scottish National Institution for theEducation of Imbecile Children situated at Larbert in

Stirlingshire, where he made excellent use of his oppor-tunities for studying the mental diseases of children and,

accomplished much literary work, both original produc-tions and translations trom the writings ot continental’

authorities. Dr. T. S. Clouston, of the Royal LunaticAsylum, Edinburgh, in making the presentation, said thatDr. Ireland had opened up a new path in biography byhis application of medico-psychology and the effects of

heredity in the elucidation of the lives of men historicallyeminent. Some of his publications, such as " The Blob

upon the Brain and "Through the Ivory Grave, were notonly scientific but were also vivid and interesting to allintelligent readers, whilst his treatise on "The Mental

Affections of Children " was the standard work on develop-mental defects of the mind. After Dr. Ireland had suitablyacknowledged the presentation Dr. David Yellowlees, formerlysuperintendent of the Royal Lunatic Asylum, Glasgow, inproposing a vote of thanks to the presentation committee, ofwhich Dr. John Thomson was the secretary, also paid a,

high tribute to the value of Dr. Ireland’s work.

ACUTE ASCENDING PARALYSIS IN CASES OFCHRONIC CYSTITIS.

THE theories as to the etiology of many affections of thespinal cord were until comparatively recently very unsatis-factory but when it began to be recognised that some ofthese morbid conditions were the direct effect of such adefinite chemical poison as lead it was difficult to avoid thevery natural inference that other lesions of the spinal cordwere the result of more obscure toxic agents. Thus some ofthese spinal paralyses appear to be produced by the toxins.of the acute specific fevers and others are believed to beconnected with the toxins of syphilis. Dr. T. J. Walkerof Peterborough contributed a paper to THE LANCET

of March llth, p. 636, in which he recounted the essentialparticulars of three cases under his care. In each of

the three there was a history of long-continued cystitis,not improbably accompanied by septic changes in the

higher urinary tract ; suddenly paralysis commenced in

the lower limbs, rapidly spread upwards, and death

occurred, in two cases 18 hours, and in one case 48 hours,after the onset of the paralysis. These acute ascendingparalyses appear to be examples of Landry’s paralysis butchronic cystitis has never been given as an etiological factorin that disease and all the text-books are silent on the matter.Hence the importance of Dr. Walker’s observations. It is’true that Stanley in 1833 described a paraplegia arising in.a patient suffering from distension of the urinary bladder;,

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yet the case he reported is by no means on all fours withthose which Dr. Walker has described, for at the time ofdeath the paralysis had not gone above the waist. It isindubitable that in chronic septic processes of the urinarypassages many toxins are formed and we can easily under-stand that the sudden absorption of some such toxin mightproduce an acute ascending paraplegia. Now that attentionhas been drawn to the association of these two conditions

many cases will probably be noted and it may well be thatsuch a causal nexus will be found to be far from rare.

One of the most important factors in scientific progressis the recognition of hitherto unsuspected associations of

phenomena. -

A SALE OF WHISKY BILL.

WE understand that Sir Herbert Maxwell has presented anew Sale of Whisky Bill to the House of Commons. Webelieve the Bill seeks to obtain the same protection forpurchasers of whisky as did the previous Bill, the clausesof which were dealt with about a year ago in a leading articlein THE LANCET/ The Bill provides chiefly that a clearstatement shall be made to purchasers as to the materialsfrom which whisky has been made. It formerly applied toGreat Britain but Ireland is now included and the measurewill probably receive the support of, the Irish Members.

THE SOUTH AFRICAN MEDICAL CONGRESS.

OUR readers may be again reminded that the South

African Medical Congress will be held at Pietermaritzburg,Natal, from June 12th to 17th next inclusive, under the

auspices of the Natal branch of the British Medical Associa-tion. Dr. James Hyslop, D.S.O., of Pietermaritzburg is the

president and Dr. Samuel G. Campbell of Durban is the

vice-president, while the honorary joint general secretariesare Dr. D. Campbell Watt, Pietermaritzburg, and Dr. W.Watkins-Pitchford, Pietermaritzburg. The names of thevarious sections and their secretaries were detailed inTHE LANCET of August 27th, 1904, p. 625. The followingdates have been assigned to the proceedings of the varioussections-viz., Section (1), subjects of general interest,Monday, June 12th; (2) medical section, June 13th; (3)surgical section and (4) gynaecologyand obstetrics, June 14th ;(5) public health, June 15th; and (6) special subjects section,June 16th. On Saturday, June 17th, excursions will be madeto the battle-fields, Ladysmith, to Durban and its harbour,and to the waterworks, Henley. On June 12th the Congresswill be officially opened by His Excellency the Governorand in the afternoon of the following day there will be ademonstration at the Government Bacteriological Laboratory.On June 14th, in the evening, the Mayor will hold a recep-tion and on the afternoon of June 15th there will be a

garden party at Government House and in the evening thePresident will hold an " at home " at the Natal Government

Asylum, of which he is the medical superintendent. On the

afternoon of the following day a visit will be paid to Nel’sRust creamery and in the evening the Congress banquet willtake place. A list of hotels is given the tariff of which

ranges from 8s. 6d. to 12s. 6d. per day. The Natal Govern-

ment has arranged that members of the Congress may travelby rail at reduced fares and the Union Castle Mail SteamshipCompany has consented to grant a reduction of 20 per cent.on the usual fares to bonâ-fide members of the Congressembarking at Cape Town, Algoa Bay, and East London.The Union Castle Steamship Company states in " The Guideto South Africa " that the distance in nautical milesfrom London to Durban is 6993 miles. Pietermaritzburgis about 70 miles north-west by west of Durban. The

1 THE LANCET, March 19th, 1904, p. 816.

journey thither from London occupies from three to fourweeks.

___

SEÑOR MANUEL GARCIA’S CENTENARY.As announced in THE LANCET of Jan. 28th, the celebration

of Senor Manuel Garcia’s centenary will take place to-day(Friday, March 17th). The programme has now been de-

finitely arranged as follows. A meeting will be held at noonat 20, Hanover-square, at which congratulatory addresses andmessages will be delivered in the following order : messagesfrom the King of Spain and the German Emperor, addressfrom the Royal Society of London, message from thePrussian Academy of Sciences, addresses from the Uni-versities of Konigsberg, Manchester, and Heidelberg, addressfrom old pupils, addresses from the Royal Academy ofMusic and the Royal College of Music, and addressesand messages from the following laryngological societies:American Laryngological Association, Belgian Society ofOto-Rhino-Laryngology, Berlin Laryngological Society, BritishLaryngo-Oto-Rhinological Association, Danish LaryngologicalSociety, French and Italian Laryngo-Rhino-OtologicalSocieties, London Laryngological Society, Netherlands

Laryngo-Oto-Rhinological Society, the Paris, Rhenish-

Westphalian, St. Petersburg, and South German Laryngo-logical Societies, Spanish Laryngo-Oto-Rhinological Society,and the Vienna, Warsaw, and West German LaryngologicalSocieties. In conclusion, the centenarian’s portrait, painted byMr. John Sargent, R.A., and subscribed for by internationalcontributions, will be handed to him. In the afternoon, at3 P.M., there will be a special meeting of the London

Laryngological Society at which the foreign visitors willhave the opportunity of seeing a number of interesting casesand specimens. In the evening, at 7.30, a banquet will takeplace at the Hotel Cecil at which Senor Garcia is expectedto be present. The toasts will be but three, namely--" The King," " Seiior Garcia," and "The Foreign Visitors."It is hoped that Senor Garcia will reply to the toast of hishealth. After the dinner a selection of music will be givenby a number of eminent artists who have kindly offered theirservices.

___

THE medical officer of health of the Cape Colony states thatfor the week ending Feb. 18th the condition of the colony asregards plague was as follows. No case of plague in man orother animal was discovered in any district of the colonyduring the week. As regards the Mauritius, a telegram fromthe Governor received at the Colonial Office on March 10thstates that for the week ending March 9th there were 3 casesof plague reported and 1 death occurred from the disease.

The Duchess of Albany has intimated her intention ofattending the annual meeting of the governors of theNational Hospital for the Paralysed and Epileptic, Queen-square, Bloomsbury, W.C., to be held at the hospital onMarch 21st, at 3 P.M.

-

AT a meeting of the Hunterian Society to be held at theLondon Institution, Finsbury-circus, E.C., on March 22nd,a discussion upon Influenza will be opened by ProfessorT. C. Allbutt, F.R.S. The discussion, which is open to allmembers of the medical tprofession, will be continued on

April 26th, and amongst those who have promised to take apart in it are Dr. H. Franklin Parsons, Dr. F. J. Smith, Dr.I. Burney Yeo, and Dr. T. Glover Lyon.

THE Education Committee of the London County Councilsubmitted an important report to the Council at the meetingon Tuesday last in respect of the medical supervision of theCouncil’s board schools. The report which provided formore complete medical inspection involved an increased