230 PARIS .—BERLIN.—RUSSIA.

taken her child into a house in which there was measlesafter the vaccination had been performed might have led tothe disease. After the second outbreak of erysipelas hedestroyed his instruments and points, and called in threemedical men to see what could be done. He vaccinatedthe child McQuigan with lymph obtained from the LocalGovernment Board, but discontinued it and got a freshsupply from a medical practitioner, with which he vaccinatedsuccessfully three children. Then he vaccinated three otherchildren, two of whom died from erysipelas, and vaccinationwas then stopped. After some time he got some fresh lymphfrom the Local Government Board, but this proving unsuc-cessful, although no disease occurred, he obtained a supplyof microscopically examined lymph which he had been usingsince with good results. The evidence has been forwardedto the Local Government Board accompanied by a reportfrom Dr. Clibborn.

Mr. J. C. Benson, A.M., has been elected Librarian to theRoyal College of Physicians of Ireland.July 24th.

PARIS.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

An Flpidemie of Suicide.IT has long been a matter of common observation that the

onset of hot weather is synchronous with an increase of casesof mental aberration which often end in suicide. This yearhas been no exception to the rule, for there were reportedlast week in Paris seventeen suicides, the correspondingfigure for the preceding week having been thirty-one. Themean temperatures for these periods were 25.4° C. (77.93° F.)and 27’4° C. (8132° F.) respectively. Some relation appearsalso to exist between lunar development and suicides, for theweek in which the thirty-one suicides occurred extended fromJune 23rd to June 30th, and the last quarter of the moonwas on June 26th. The largest proportion of suicides tookplace between 6 A.M. and noon. Self-destruction is of morefrequent occurrence in valleys than in elevated regions. Beit noted also that certain races are more prone to suicidethan others, the Teutons taking the first rank and the cannyScots the last.

The Significance of Trophic Ghanges in the Nails.Many years ago my old and respected master, Dr. Wilks,

called attention to the clinical value of transverse furrows inthe nails in relation to the existence of former attacks ofillness. Dr. Patezon of Vittel publishes two cases in theBulletin Medical des Vosges which fully confirm the views ofDr. Wilks. The first was that of a strong man aged sixty yearswho had for several years suffered from attacks of dermatitisexfolians. Almost all his finger nails present a series of trans-verse stride separated by unequal intervals. Each nail has anaverage length of 15 millimetres ; from the root to the firstfurrow the length is 4’87mm., corresponding to a respitefrom his attacks extending from April 1st to July 3rd, 1891,this giving a growth of 1’624 mm. per mensem. The firstand second furrows are separated by a space equal to 2’03 mm.,corresponding to five weeks of respite ; the second and thirdfurrows are separated by a length of nail equal to 2’435 mm.,corresponding to six weeks of respite ; finally, between thethird and fourth furrows is an interval of 2’435 mm., also cor-responding to a healthy period of six weeks. In the second casethe nails present only one furrow, representing a single patho-logical period of forty-four days. The moment of observationwas separated from the commencement of convalescence by aperiod of 157 days. The distance separating the root of thenail from the upper border of the furrow is 9’5 mm. Thefarrow itself has a width of 2’5 mm., and its peripheral edgeis separated from the free edge of the nail by a distance of3 mm. In these two instances the rate of growth of thenail per month during a healthy interval was 1 2/3 mm., theentire nail having been reproduced in eight and a half tonine months. It is hardly necessary to call attention to thepossible medico-legal significance of these traces of formerillness.

Recurrent Epistaxis after Bullet Wound of Temple.The dagger wound that killed President Carnot has served

to recall the therapeutic importance of plugging with a viewto the arrest of hæmorrhage. A case reported by M. Schwartzat a meeting of the Academie de Médecine (July 17rh) is veryinstructive in this respect. A man shot himself twice in the

right temple. Above the outer extremity of the eyebrowthere were seen the two orifices of entrance. Sight wasentirely lost in the right eye, the outward rotatory move-ments of which were abolished. The pupil was motion-less and dilated, and the sense of smell was lost, butthere were no brain symptoms. The wound was closed,and the man was discharged in three weeks. A fortnightlater serious epistaxis supervened, the source of whichcould not be discovered. One day, in the presence ofM. Schwartz, abundant arterial epistaxis occurred, whichcould not be controlled by tamponing. Ligature of theleft external carotid was had recourse to, but, the hæmorrhagepersisting, the right external carotid artery was in its turntied after a few days. The loss of blood continued, and thepatient became so exhausted, despite injections of artificialserum, that further measures were decided upon. Incisionsallowing of the complete exposure of the nasal fossse werepractised, which brought to view, far back in each nostril, awide hole, which was, in each case, plugged antiseptically.The facial incisions were united, and healed by first intention,the epistaxis ceasing definitely. In this case M. Schwartzsupposes that the right internal carotid artery was torn inthe sphenoidal sinus, and that consecutive ulceration deter-mined the repeated attacks of epistaxis.

The Lubrication of Catheters.Professor Guyon is in the habit of using the following pre-

paration in his wards at the Necker Hospital for the purposeof facilitating the exploration of the urethra and bladder sPowdered soap, 50 grammes ; glycerine and water, of each25 grammes ; mercuric perchloride, 0’02 centigramme. Thi&ointment is not irritating to the urethra and is endowed withmuch greater lubricating properties than oil or glycerine.July 24th.

__________________

BERLIN.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Cholera in Germany.CASES of cholera continue to appear in Eastern Germany,

but almost entirely amongst people engaged upon the floatsand barges. There are at present no appearances which wouldlead one to anticipate the occurrence of an epidemic out-break. There is no doubt that the waters of the Vistulaand its tributaries are infected with the cholera vibrio ; butthough a strict watch is kept and a supply of good water is.provided it seems impossible to prevent the woxkmen andtheir families from drinking directly from the river. All theriver traffic is strictly inspected by medical men appointedfor the purpose, and every means taken to ensure the earlydetection and isolation of any cases that may occur, tempo-rary military hospitals being provided on the banks withthis object.

The Serum Treatment of Diphtheria.The serum treatment of diphtheria attracts a good deal of

attention, and the results of the forthcoming discussion in theMedicinische Gesellschaft are awaited with much interest.The report by Dr. Katz of cases treated by this means in theKaiser and Kaiserin Friedrich Children’s Hospital is distinctlyfavourable, and as the experiment is being carried out thereunder the supervision of so well-known and capable anobserver as Professor Baginsky the results are worthy ofevery attention.

The Chair of Hygiene in Munich.Professor Buchner’s appointment to the chair of Hygiene

in Munich in succession to Professor Pettenkofer will to acertain extent do away with the difference which has hithertoexisted between the views taught in the school of ProfessorKoch in Berlin and those advocated by Professor Pettenkoferand his followers in Munich, since Professor Buchner is dis-tinctly more in agreement with Professor Koch than bigpredecessor.

RUSSIA.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Cholera in St. Petersburg and Cronstadt.THE cholera epidemic in St. Petersburg, which made its

reappearance on June 19th (July 1st), or more than onemonth earlier than in either 1892 or 1893, continues tc

spread. It is alredy much more severe than it was in