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that such representatives should be Fellows only, or wouldyou accept Members as representatives ? 3. What number of,such representatives would you admit ? 4. Should they be inaddition to the present Council "

" A copy of this resolutionwas directed to be sent to the Secretary of the College withthe request that it be laid before the Council at the nextmeeting.

It was also reported that the vacancies on the Councilthis year would be caused by the retirement of Mr. Cadge,Mr. Bryant, and Mr. Pick. It was understood that Mr.Cadge did not intend to offer himself for re-election, butthat Mr. Bryant and Mr. Pick would again come forward. Itwas pointed out that Mr. Bryant had already served twoconsecutive periods of eight years each and had passed thechair and that the Association had advocated the ineligibilityof Councillors for re-election after they had served two fullperiods of eight years. The results of such re-elections hadnot been at all satisfactory. The honorary secretary wasinstructed to communicate with Mr. Victor Horsley with aview to ascertain his intention as to becoming a candidatefor the Council in July next. A similar instruction was givenwith respect to a provincial Fellow. A long discussion thenfollowed regarding the action which it would be expedientfor the Association to take in the event of certain othercandidates coming forward. Ultimately the discussion wasadjourned until the next meeting of the Committee.

THE TREATMENT OF HABITUALDRUNKARDS AND THE "CURATEL"

PROCEDURE.

A MOST interesting report on " The Treatment of

Habitual Drunkards in Austria and the Curatel’ Pro-cedure " has just been issued by the Foreign Office in its" Miscellaneous Series." From this report it would appearthat very little legislation on the subject of drink anddrunkards has actually taken place in Austria, drunkards

only coming under the law in that country as " spendthrifts "or " idiots." The process of "Curatel," whereby the courtappoints a curator or administrator for persons who do notlook after their own affairs and who are unable to defendtheir rights, is made applicable not only to children,lunatics, and idiots, but also to those who, having beendeclared "spendthrifts" " by a magistrate, have beendeprived of the administration of their property. A man

may be judicially termed a "spendthrift" " if it appears onexamination of the charge that he is running through hisproperty in a senseless way and that he is exposing his

family to future destitution by contracting loans under reck-less or ruinous conditions.In some kingdoms, as in Galicia and Lodomeria, there is a

special law for the prevention of drunkenness, and one

section provides that on being convicted of drunkennessthree times in the course of one year, the district authoritiesmay forbid the offender to visit public-houses or liquor shopsin the neighbourhood of his domicile for the period of oneyear, under pain of fine or imprisonment. The inadvisabilityof mixing mere drunkards with the insane in asylumsis fully recognised by the Austrian authorities. Last yeara Bill for the erection of public asylums or establishmentsfor the cure and reform of drunkards was brought into theReichsrath by the Ministry of Justice. These institutionsare intended for the reception of (1) those who have beenjudicially punished for drunkenness three times in the courseof one year; (2) those mentally affected owing to habitual orperiodical abuse of alcohol who have been admitted intohospitals or lunatic asylums and who, although they haverecovered their sanity, have not sufficient self-command toresist the temptation to drink ; and (3) those who, owing tohabitual or periodical abuse of alcohol, endanger the moral,physical, or financial security of themselves or their relations.Provision is also made for the compulsory retention ofpatients for a period which may not exceed two years andplacing the police and judicial authorities at the disposal ofthe administration of the asylum in order to recover fugitivesfrom the same. Consideration is given to the proper safe-guarding of the individual from the illegal and undue

application of the various processes upon which detention inan asylum may be carried out.The provisions of the Bill are worked out’very much upon

IfJ1:Ujjx, iiUSJt-iTAlj. lJUNE G, iuur5.

the lines and recommendations of the Home Office Depart-mental Committee which sat in 1891-92, and we hope thatwith a judicious and firm application of the " Curatel " pro-cedure not only will the unfortunate victims of this sad

propensity hail the results with gratification, but the publicalso will be constrained to withdraw their dread " bogey " of"interference with the liberty of the subject " when they seewhat an influence for good the new procedure shows itself tobe. After all, what sort of "liberty" is sottishness, andwhat sort of a "subject" is the habitual and recklessdrunkard.Voluntary inmates of these institutions for drunkards are

to be on the same footing as those who are compulsorilyplaced in them.

’

THE MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL.

THE quarterly general Court of Governors of the MiddlesexHospital was held on May 28th, Mr. T. W. Nunn, F.R.C.S.,in the chair. Among those present were the Right Hon. SirR. Thompson, K.C.B. (chairman of the weekly board), SirA. T. Watson, Bart., Mr. F. Hoare, Lieutenant-Colonel T.Lambert Mears, Mr. J. G. Noel, C.B., and others. The

report of the weekly board states that the building of theconvalescent home at Clacton-on-Sea is progressing satis-factorily and that the home will be ready for occupationin July. A fete in celebration of this event will take placein the grounds of the hospital on July 1st and will be in-augurated by their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchessof York. It is estimated that the total cost of the con-valescent home will be nearly <S30,000, of which amount abouttwo-thirds has already been paid from funds at the disposalof the Samaritan Fund, aided by an advance of <E16,000from the Spicer trustees on mortgage, and a loan of Z2000from the bankers. Allusion is made to the losses sustained

by the hospital in the deaths of Baron de Hirsch, vice-presi-dent, and Mr. W. Debenham, for nineteen years a member ofthe board. To Mr. Debenham the credit of establishing theconvalescent home must be in great measure attributed. The

Right Hon. Viscount Gort has been elected vice-president,and Mr. F. Debenham has accepted the vacant seat on theboard. The retirement of Mr. George Lawson from theactive staff, after a service of thirty-three years, is an-

nounced, and his appointment as consulting surgeon recom-mended to the Court. Mr. Pearce Gould has been elected tothe vacant office of surgeon. An important paragraph ofthe report bears on medical education. It states that’’ the Board are proceeding with the negotiations for theamalgamation of the hospital and medical school, and assoon as a report has been received from the subcommitteeappointed to consider the financial clauses the board antici-pate that they will be in a position to submit a scheme in acomplete form for consideration by the Court of Governors."Dr. Arthur Robinson, late of Owens College, has been

appointed lecturer on anatomy, and Dr. R. A. Young lectureron physiology. The plans of the new cancer wing have beenapproved. After reference to other matters the report closeswith a statement to the effect that during the quarter endingMarch 31st 487 medical and 599 surgical patients weretreated in the hospital, 77 had died and 302 remained inhospital on April lst. During the same period 10,477 patientswere treated in the out-patient department, the total numberof attendances giving an average of 305 patients seen daily.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NEWPHOTOGRAPHY.

WE continue to receive from week to week communica-tions on subjects illustrating the value of the " x " rays insurgical diagnosis. In the main, however, the applicationsappear to be restricted to the examination of hands andlimbs and no practical success appears yet to have attendedthe exploration of deeper parts, save in the work of Mr.William Turner, the Surgical Registrar of King’s College,London. This gentleman has made some very interestingradiographs of joints and of the processes of union after - z

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fracture among other things, and we shall publish his paperupon them shortly-next week if possible.The General Electric Company of Berlin have effected

an improvement in the Roentgen apparatus, so that it is nowpossible to observe peculiarities in the interior of the headand throat and especially the action of the lungs and heartby direct inspection with the fluorescent screen. This im-

provement is to be submitted for inspection to the Twenty-fifth Surgical Congress now sitting at Berlin, when Dr.

Virchow, Sir Spencer Wells, Dr. Guyon of Paris, Dr. Ollierof Lyons, Dr. Antona of Naples, and Dr. Lange of NewYork are expected to be present.Mr. F. C. Abbott has sent to us one of the best examples

of the new photography applied to surgery that we have asyet seen. It is a photograph of a backward dislocation ofthe right elbow of a woman. Eight weeks before admissionto St. Thomas’s’’Hospital she injured the right elbow bydirect violence. Her medical man at that time diagnosedfracture of the humerus and put the arm in splints. Thearm subsequently swelled greatly and was treated at an infir-mary by the application of an icebag. On admission to St.Thomas’s Hospital, under the care of Mr. Bernard Pitts, the

Iright elbow was found to be considerably swollen and Ithickened, the forearm was semi-flexed, and there was greatlimitation of movement. The diagnosis rested betweenfracture of the lower end of the humerus with backwarddisplacement and a backward dislocation of the forearm,and at first presented some difficulty owing to the swelling.The photograph, which was taken by Messrs. White andStanley Kent, at once made the diagnosis plain, the dis-placement of the humerus being shown with admirableclearness.Mr. Basil Trevelyan sends us a successful photograph

of the left hand of a patient who accidentally shot him-self in the palm with a pistol. The photograph showsclearly the position of the bullet, although most carefulexploration under an ansesthetic had failed to discover it.On cutting down at the place indicated in the photographMr. Trevelyan successfully extracted the bullet which wasfound to be resting upon the internal lateral ligament ofthe wrist-joint. The bullet had evidently glanced againstthe middle metacarpal bone and so was directed upwardsand inwards for a distance of over three inches.Mr. C. Coppinger sends us some photographs which are

of interest because they were taken directly on preparedsensitive paper, and hence the bones appear white and notblack as in most photographs hitherto taken. He does not,however, give details of the process as to the time of theexposure or as to the kind of paper used. He also enclosesa print of a case of tuberculous dactylitis.

A NURSING EXHIBITION.

THE idea of a nursing exhibition was a happy one, andMrs. Bedford Fenwick, the editor of the .Nlwsing Record, andthose who have assisted her, are to be congratulated on theorganisation of the exhibition, which opened at St. Martin’sTown Hall, Charing-cross, on Monday last. Nursing as aprofession is growing every year, and appliances for the careand comfort of the sick are daily increasing, but it is onlythe metropolitan nurse who has an opportunity of keepingpace with this increase, and her sister in the country knowslittle or nothing of the progress that is being made. In thisexhibition the latest and most approved appliances for thecomfort and welfare of the sick and injured are broughttogether and are likely to prove of great educational value tothe nurse as well as to the general public.One of the first things which will be noticed by the

visitor is the effigy of a nurse on a Humber bicycle. This isexhibited by Messrs. Debenham and Freebody of Wigmore-street, Cavendish-square, by request, in order to show aspecial form of cloak for the use of district nurses who usethe cycle in place of the somewhat expensive dogcart. Manyof the exhibits are brilliant testimonials to the industry of thehospital nurses of the metropolis, who, amidst their arduousduties, have found time to construct models which exhibit ina very striking way the practical application of many of theappliances. Literature is represented by a selection ofMessrs. Cassell and Co.’s publications relating to nursing andinvalid cookery. Messrs. Maw, Son, and Thompson’s exhibitof aseptic instrument cases occupies a prominent position in

the large hall, and Messrs. Burroughs IVeUcome &. Co. havea notable display. Disinfectants and deodorisers are repre-sented by Sanitas and the new non-poisonous " Electrozone,’made from sea-water by electricity, the Arema ManufacturingCompany, and the Red Cross Germicide Company.The Frame Food Company have an interesting exhibit of

their preparations, and visitors with a predilection for tastingcan exercise their propensity both at this stall and that ofMessrs. Stephen Smith and Co. of Bow, who dispense Hall’scoca wine, and a new preparation of Liebig’s extract of meatwith malt wine. Messrs. Reynolds and Branson, Messrs. W. H.Bailey and Son, Messrs. Southall Brothers and Barclay, Messrs.Down Brothers, and Mr. J. H. Montague of New Bond-streethave some useful appliances on view, and Messrs. Edward Cookand Company have a large exhibit of their toilet preparations.The Bovril Co., Messrs. Welford and Sons with their stand ofsterilised and peptonised milks and Messrs. Cadbury Brothersare also represented. The Gorham Patent Bedstead Company,Ltd., give practical demonstrations of their ingenious inven-tion and the Bed Support Company have on view their" Excelsior" bed supports. During the progress of theexhibition, which will remain open till June 13th, many

L popular vocalists and instrumentalists will appear ; a con-i ference of nurses will also take place and papers of interest.L to the nursing profession will be read.

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN thirty-three of the largest English towns 5609 birthsand 3668 deaths were registered during the week endingMay 30th. The annual rate of mortality in these towns,which had declined in the three preceding weeks from 18’5-to 18-1 per 1000, further fell last week to 17-6. InLondon the rate was 16-9 per 1000, while it averaged 1802.in the thirty-two provincial towns. The lowest rates inthese towns were 8’5 in Swansea, 12’3 in Leicester, 12’8 inDerby, 13-0 in Norwich, and 14-2 in Bristol; the highestrates were 20-7 in Liverpool, 20’8 in Hull, 21-8 inOldham, 23-0 in Sheffield, and 24-1 in Sunderland. The3668 deaths included 542 which were referred to theprincipal zymotic diseases, against 562 and 591 in thetwo preceding weeks; of these, 195 resulted frommeasles, 151 from whooping-cough, 67 from diphtheria, 54from diarrhoea, 48 from scarlet fever, 27 from fever "’

(principally enteric), and not one from small-pox. No fatalcase of any of these diseases was recorded in Brighton,in Blackburn, or in Halifax ; in the other towns they causedthe lowest death-rates in Swansea, Derby, and Bradford,and the highest rates in West Ham, Salford, Oldham, Hull,and Croydon. The greatest mortality from measles occurredin Huddersfield, Croydon, Manchester, Sunderland, Hull,and Oldham; from scarlet fever in Bristol and Salford ;.from whooping-cough in Croydon, Cardiff, Bolton, WestHam, Preston, and Salford ; and from diarrhoea in Hull andPlymouth. The mortality from " fever showed no markedexcess in any of the large towns. The 67 deaths from

, diphtheria included 40 in London, 4 in West Ham, 4: in Birmingham, and 4 in Liverpool. No fatal case of, small-pox was registered last week in any of the thirty-: three large towns. There were 19 cases of small-pox! under treatment in the Metropolitan Asylum Hospitals! and in the Highgate Small-pox Hospital on Saturdayi last, May 30th, against 15, 20, and 22 at the end ofj the three preceding weeks; 3 new cases were admitted) during the week, against 5, 6, and 5 in the three-

preceding weeks. The number of scarlet fever patientsin the Metropolitan Asylum Hospitals and in the

, London Fever Hospital at the end of the week was- 2679, against 2527, 2539, and 2596 on the three pre-t ceding Saturdays; 297 new cases were admitted during the week, against 238, 293, and 305 in the three precedingr weeks. The deaths referred to diseases of the respiratory

organs in London, which had declined in the four pre-3 ceding weeks 292 to 217, rose again last week to 230, buti were 44 below the corrected average. The causes of 47, or

1’3 per cent., of the deaths in the thirty-three towns weref not certified either by a registered medical practitioner or byi a coroner. All the causes of death were duly certified int Bristol, Leicester, Bradford, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, anda in twelve other smaller towns ; the largest proportions of