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- stiffness of the trunk and limbs, and it was assumed thatrigor mortis was as yet incomplete. There was no reaction,to sealing-wax dropped on the skin. There is no mention ofthe state of the pupils. After the examination, the bodywas put in a coffin, still in the wet clothes. Fourteen hourslater, on October 29th, the coffin was reopened in order thata lawyer might identify the body. The undertaker’s menthen noted that the cheeks were coloured blue and thatthere was a slight movement of the head. The samemedical officer was again called and now heard faint heartsounds, but there was still an absence of a pulse and of respira-tory movement. The patient was then moved to a hospital,when at 10 A.M. on the 29th-i.e. 42 hours after the poisonhad been swallowed-it was found that the trunk and limbswere partially stiff, that she was unconscious, and that therewas no reaction to stimuli. The double heart sound couldbe heard over the sternum, the heart beating 30-40 a minute;signs of breathing and of a pulse were absent. Both pupilswere markedly contracted. The skin and lips were deadlypale, but the cheeks were bluish (leicht cyallotisch). Thestomach wash contained morphine; the urine drawn offfrom the bladder, besides albumin and casts, also containeda small quantity of morphine. Under active treatment formorphine poisoning the stiffness of the limbs began to pasoff in two hours; consciousness began to be regained on the30th. On Nov. 3rd the patient was convalescent and theurine free from albumin. No pneumonia or other compli-cation supervened.Mr. Spencer aptly quotes Marshall Hall’s saying that

"hibernation is, in every respect, but the parallel ofordinary sleep, varying only in force and duration."

NOCARDIASIS CUTIS RESEMBLINGSPOROTRICHOSIS.

Dr. William H. Guy, of Pittsburgh, reports a case Cwhich clinically resembled sporotrichosis, of whichover 200 proved cases have been recorded since Schenk i

published his paper in 1898 on Refractory Subcutaneous iAbscesses caused by a Fungus possibly related tothe Sporotricha. _

The patient was a coal-miner, aged 51, who presented a number of inflammatory nodules and indurated ulcers,extending from the base of the left thumb to a point slightly.above the bend of the elbow. On inoculation of variousculture-media with the contents of one of the unbrokenlesions several greyish-white pinhead-sized coloniesappeared, which were found to consist of a mass oftangled threads bearing small granules. The organismwas therefore identified with that which was originallyisolated by Nocard from the superficial abscesses of cattlesuffering from farcy. When first seen the patientwas diagnosed as a case of sporotrichosis and was

given a saturated solution of iodide of potassium. Apartfrom -simple protective dressings, nothing else was done,.and uninterrupted recovery took place.A review of the recent literature on nocardiasis is

appended, including the paper by Dr. J. B. Christopher-son and Major R. G. Archibald in THE LANCET onprimary nocardiasis of the lacrymal gland.

VETERINARY SURGEON AS MEAT INSPECTOR.

THE want of a proper and uniform system of meatinspection in this country is being increasingly felt, ’

while little is being done to select for the position ofmeat inspector the man most likely to be fitted for it-namely, the veterinary surgeon. His collegiate trainingincludes both a special course and a special examinationin meat inspection, and no one lmows better the conditionand appearance of the organs of animals in health anddisease. The matter came before the largely attendedrepresentative meeting of the members of the Royal,Southern, and South-Eastern Counties VeterinaryMedical Societies, held in London last week, whenMr. James Hayhurst, superintendent and veterinaryinspector of the Metropolitan Cattle Market, Islington,read a paper on " The Duties of a Veterinary MeatInspector," in which he particularly emphasised thatin England only the larger towns had any pretenceof meat inspection, and that in many places a

butcher might, if he liked, offer for sale diseasedor unsound meat with little risk of discovery.He drew attention, too, to the necessity for public

1 Archives of Dermatology and Syphilology, August, 1920.2 THE LANCET, 1918. ii., 847.

abattoirs as against private slaughter-houses, and manyother points in which Great Britain lags behind othercountries in respect to the inspection of foodstuffs. Atthe termination of’ the discussion which followedProfessor F. Hobday proposed the following resolution,which was carried unanimously, to he sent to heads ofcorporations and local authorities :-That in the opinion of this meeting it is essential, for the

protection of the public health, that a proper system of meatinspection be arranged ; and that the veterinary surgeon, byvirtue of his training in the diseases of animals and their rflesh, was the best authority to be utilised for the purpose.Also that if public slaughter-houses were erected the crueltyto animals which sometimes occurred in private slaughter-houses would be prevented, and young children would bedebarred from being within its precincts.

If the inspection of meat for human food is to bethorough and reliable it must be done by the scientificallytrained man.

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DOUBLING OF THE SPINAL CORD.’

Dr. Benjamin Lipshutz reports a rare variation inthe anatomy of the spinal cord encountered during theregular laboratory work in the dissecting-rooms of theDaniel Brough Institute of Anatomy at the JeffersonMedical College. No clinical history of the case wasavailable. The anomaly, which was found in the bodyof an adult male aged 35, consisted in a bifurcation ofthe spinal cord beginning at the twelfth thoracicvertebra and extending to the caudal limit of the spinalcord so as to form two independent symmetrical halves.The caudal limit of each half was at the level of thecephalic border of the first sacral vertebra. Theconusmedullaris of each half was independent, union takingplace at the level of the third sacral vertebra into asingle large filum terminale which was attached to thedorsal surface of the first segment of the coccyx.The cervical and thoracic portions of the cord werenormal. Another anomaly was present in the formof an hour-glass shaped band of dura in the sagittalplane projecting between the two halves of the cord.There was also a number of small, flattened calcareousplaques adherent to the spinal arachnoid. Duplicationof the spinal cord is a rare occurrence, only tenundoubted cases having been collected by Bruce,McDonald, and Pirie in 1905. The division usuallyoccurs in the lumbar or lower thoracic segments of thecord. Other abnormalities, though absent in the presentcase, are frequently present. such as spina bifida,meningocele, and cutaneous or bony malformations.

MALARIA INVESTIGATIONS IN THE MALAYSTATES.

SOME years ago a Malaria Bureau was established inthe Federated Malay States, but its operations in thepast seem to have been hindered by the inadequacy ofits staff. It is locally admitted that the malariology ofthe country is very incomplete, but efforts are now inprogress to make good this defect. Owing to the in-completeness of the available information it has beennecessary hitherto to exercise great caution in accept-ing any generalised conclusions. From a recentlypublished report by Dr. H. P. Hacker 2 we gather thatefforts are at present being made to place the malario-logy of Malaya on a firm basis, and that now the mainobject of the work of the Malaria Bureau will be tocollect full and accurate data concerning the disease andits various factors throughout the country. No generalconclusions will be issued by the Bureau until they canbe based upon an incontrovertible basis of facts. With aview to carry out the work we understand that the staffof workers is to be increased, and that from time to timereports will be issued giving details of the informationas it is collected. These reports, Dr. Hacker believes,will become objects of reference and may assist otherworkers in arriving at a more uniform theory andpractice of malaria prevention and treatment. In his

1 Archives of Neurology and Psychiatry, July, 1920.2 Federated Malay States, Malaria Bureau Reports, vol. i.,

November, 1919. By H. P. Hacker, M.D., B.Sc. Lond., medicalentomologist. Federated Malay States. Singapore. Pp. 76. (Noton sale.)