396

IRELAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Royal Victoria Hospital, Belfast.THE old Royal Hospital has been let for a tourists’ hotel,

with the result that an income of about S400 per annum willbe secured for the funds of the new institution. The receiptsfor the year 1904 have exceeded the expenditure by aboutZ700 and, the prospective income being good, notice has beengiven that at the next meeting of the board of management amotion will be proposed to open another " unit "-that is, amale and a female ward each with 16 beds, making 32 in all.It is calculated that .B1000 will maintain a unit.

Health of Belfast.A very large and influential deputation appeared before

the city corporation on Feb. lst to protest against the sewagefrom the new infectious diseases hospital being conveyed intothe ordinary sewers. The chairman of the public health com-mittee, in reply, said that the sewage from this place wouldpass through disinfecting tanks and would be thoroughly dis-infected before being pumped into the general sewer andthat the excreta from the small-pox hospital would beburned in the incinerator. Further, he said that those whoobjected to this plan of conveyance of the drainage couldsuggest no alternative scheme, to which the deputationreply that it is none of their business but the duty of thecity authorities who built the hospital and who could callin expert advice. He also said that the sewers fromthe union infectious diseases hospital opened into the

public sewers of the city, the reply to which is that thisis the remains of an old system which no public healthauthority would tolerate now and offers no excuse in thecase of a new up-to-date infectious diseases hospital ;besides, if there is any weight in such an argument, whydisinfect at all the sewage from the new infectious diseases

hospital ? But, as explained at the meeting of the citycorporation, when this question was discussed on Feb. lst,by Alderman Harper (a leading solicitor in Belfast), it isdoubtful whether the Belfast corporation can legally bringone particle of sewage from Purdysburn in County Down,outside the city area, through the city sewers and tip itat the entrance to Belfast Lough. He pointed out thatthe privilege of bringing sewage and emptying it intoBelfast Lough was given to the council by Act of Parliamenton the clear understanding that it was to be submittedto bacterial treatment and, in the face of recent investiga-tion on that subject, no one could deny that this hadnot been done. If the council had not up to the

present taken precautions to treat bacterially all the

sewage already being discharged into Belfast Lough (asit was bound to do by Act of Parliament), why shouldit add to this the dejecta from patients in an infectiousdiseases hospital outside its area in another county? Thequestion is one surrounded with difficulties and after a longdiscussion it was decided to call a meeting of the corpora-tion to deal with the whole subject. At a further influentialmeeting of citizens held on Feb. 6th it was pointed outthat before making new sewers or sewerage works threemonths’ notice should have been given in the daily pressand it is alleged that no such notice has been given in thecase of the sewers from the infectious diseases hospital.Typhoid fever is gradually decreasing, scarlet fever of a mildtype still prevails, and the number of cases of small-poxremains about the same.

Feb. 7th. _________________

BERLIN.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

lJnlualified Medical Practice in Germany.THE Government Medical Department has undertaken an

investigation into the conditions of unqualified medicalpractice which is not illegal in Germany provided thatcertain limitations are observed. The requisite details werecollected by the local medical officers of health and the

newspapers have published some remarkable evidence withreference especially to the training of the practitioners inquestion. It appears that more than 75 per cent. of themhave received only such general education as is given at acommon school, while their professional training is so

mperfect that only a few have any knowledge of medicine,

these being for the most part men who had formerly beeneither pharmaceutical chemists or else medical students whohad failed to pass the examinations. In the same categorymay also be placed persons who had formerly beennurses, attendants, or servants either in hospitals or

in the employment of medical men. The report statesthat in some country places there are families whichfor generations have treated accidents, fractures of

bones, and sprains, and in these families such medi-cal knowledge as they possess is transmitted from theolder members to the younger ones. This is especially thecase in the families of shepherds who have an extensivepractice in certain districts. Some of the unqualifiedpractitioners declared that they had learned the theory ofthe subject by reading scientific books or by attendingscientific or popular lectures. It must further be men-tioned that there are colleges founded and supported bycertain societies where students may obtain some medical

training and even a diploma but the latter is of course notrecognised by the authorities. It is said in the report thata good many of these practitioners had made previous trialof several other professions before devoting themselves tomedical work as a last resource. Moreover, in addition tothe quack practitioners there are in country places a goodmany persons belonging to the educated classes, such as

clergymen and their wives, teachers, property owners, andothers, who distribute medicine to the disadvantage both ofthe medical profession and of the patients.

Death of Professor Abbe.Professor Abbe, who died in Jena a fortnight ago, though

not a medical man, nevertheless contributed in a remarkable

degree to the progress of medical science, for the high stageof development which microscopy has now reached is largelydue to the scientific spirit and the technical skill which werecombined in him. Professor Abbe began his career as a

privat-doeent at the University of Jena. At that time HerrZeiss had in the town a fairly good business as a maker ofmicroscopes and other optical instruments, and ProfessorAbbe was engaged by him for the purpose of making theoptical and mathematical computations which are so neces-sary in that description of work. While thus engaged hedevised the forms of achromatic condenser and object-glasswhich bear his name, improvements which gave a great im-petus to bacteriology and enabled important advances to bemade in many other directions. He subsequently became apartner in the firm which through him had acquired a world-wide renown and in 1888 he was left sole proprietor, whereuponthe spirit of philanthropy and self-abnegation which was somarked a feature of his character induced him to forego hisrights of ownership and to devote the proceeds of thebusiness to promoting the welfare of the community. TheZeiss Optical Works were accordingly changed into a sort ofpublic institution managed by a committee and the profitswere utilised (1) for the benefit of the 2000 workmenemployed in the factory who became in some degreepartners in the business; (2) for the advancement of science;and (3) for the benefit of the general population of Jena.The workmen shared in the profits, their daily hours of workwere shorter than at any other factory, and their official andcompulsory assurance was supplemented by additional assur-ance against want of employment and other difficulties. A

library, a reading room, and other institutions for the use ofthe inhabitants of Jena were also provided and the teachingof science was aided by the establishment of lavishly fur-nished laboratories in the University. It is decidedly unusualfor the owner of a very lucrative business voluntarily tosurrender the profits derived from it. Professor Abbe,however, preferred to occupy the position of an employe ofhis own factory, drawing a small salary which was no morethan sufficient for a modest livelihood.

Etiology of Searlet Fever.Dr. Siegel of Berlin, writing in the Medicinisehe Klinik,

states that he has discovered in the blood of patientssuffering from scarlet fever small gelatinous discs containinga nucleus but not possessing the faculty of spontaneouslocomotion. On staining the preparation with eosin bluethe nucleus becomes visible in different stages of division,varying from simple bisection to disintegration into motilespores. In rabbits which have received injections of bloodtaken from scarlet fever patients the above discs appear inthe liver, the kidney, and the spleen. They belong to theprotozoa and in some respects, though not in all, they arevery like the corpuscles of vaccine lymph.Feb. 6th.