686

IRELAND.

(From our own Correspondent.)

VERY little of medical interest has taken place in Irelandduring the last couple of months. The session has justopened with the usual introductories at the various hos-pitals and schools, and the students are returning to theirlabours. By the death of Professor Smith, of the Universityof Dublin, which took place last week, the Irish School ofSurgery has lost one of its greatest luminaries-in fact,the cause of surgery throughout the world may be said tohave sustained an irreparable loss. Professor Smith, at thetime of his death, was engaged in the completion of a workon surgical pathology, which, it is said, will be publishedby the University of which he was so distinguished a

member.At the last meeting of the senate of the Queen’s Uni-

versity, the advisability of admitting women to attendanceon the various medical classes was discussed, but obtainedlittle support. Home Rule, rather than so-called Women’sRights, appears to have greater charms for Irish maids andmatrons. The ideal " girl graduate with golden hair " is a

very pretty conceit, but even imagination cannot accom-pany her into the dissecting-room. There we leave the

region of romance, and dismiss from one’s thoughts allgallantry and idealism. The number of women in Irelandanxious to enter upon this field of education must be veryfew indeed; in fact, the epicene sex from which we are saidto derive our medical women does not exist in Ireland; atany rate, not to such an extent as would justify the re-modeling of our medical schools to meet its wants, for, al-though the machinery of education-the ordeal by whichthe possession of the requisite knowledge is tested-shouldbe the same for students of all sexes, the working of themachinery should unquestionably be different. Miss Jex-Blake gives, as the result of her experience, her opinionthat a large number of medical students are of " a lowsocial class, of small mental calibre, and no moral train-ing." The golden age in which there will be no medicalstudents answering to this description is probably remote;but we must also bear in mind that although at presentonly women really anxious to learn apply for admission intothe medical schools, a time might come when Miss Jex-Blake’s description would be applicable to the femalemedical students, in which case the conjunction of the sexeswould be most inadvisable.Some weeks ago a person, who advertises and placards

himself as Dr. Mulvany, representing himself to be littleshort of " the Perfect Cure," obtained admission for his wifeinto the Rotundo Lying-in Hospital, this being the thirdoccasion upon which he took advantage of that institution.Some days after admission, on calling to see his wife, heexpressed his opinion that she had been neglected; whenthe master of the hospital, Dr. Johnson, ventured to differwith him, he knocked him down and beat him with a poker,injuring him severely. Of course he was given into cus-tody and sent for trial. He was found guilty of the assault,but the jury, no doubt taking into consideration his quali-fications, strongly recommended him to mercy. The judge,in sentencing him, is reported to have remarked that he wasa qualified medical man, and sentenced him to but sixmonths’ imprisonment. Dr. Steele, the registrar of theBranch Medical Council in Ireland, writes to the paperssaying that he is not qualified. Be that as it may, there isthe dictum of a judge, and we are deprived of a heroic prac.titioner for six months. At the same time three persons,who only used their fists upon a gentleman to whom theywere not even under the slightest obligation, received asentence of seven years’ transportation each. As the garot-ting season will shortly commence, it would not be a badidea for gentlemen connected with that profession tohave "Doctor" engraved on their cards, and advertisethemselves as such. They may rely upon it that neitherthe Medical Council nor the Corporations will interfere.The publication of the census for Ireland is progressing.

One province is finished, and it is said that it will be com-

pleted, even to the vital statistics, before this generationhas passed away.The essays which obtained the Carmichael prize in last

February, and which ought to have been printed, under thewill of the late Dr. Carmichael, have not been heard ofsince, but it is unlikely that they have been lost. Surelythe writers, at least, must have kept a copy.Some changes have taken place amongst the medical

men connected with the Dublin hospitals, which havealready appeared in THE LANCET-one in Jervis-streetHospital, and two in the House of Industry Hospital. Inthese appointments it is said that purchase and pluralism,both of which have been found fault with in the Dublinsystem of making hospital appointments, have been avoided.Dr. Emerson Reynolds was appointed Professor of Chemistryto the Royal College of Surgeons, vice Professor Barker,deceased. The election of Professor of Surgery to theUniversity of Dublin, vice R. W. Smith, deceased, will takeplace on Saturday next. Mr. Wharton, it is said, is likelyto obtain that appointment.Dublin, Nov. 4th, 1873.

Obituary.ROBERT WILLIAM SMITH, M.D. DUBLIN.

NOT Dublin only, but every medical school throughoutthe country has sustained a severe loss by the death of thisable and highly accomplished pathologist. Dr. Smith’sstudies in medicine were prosecuted at Dublin, where hebecame, in 1832, Licentiate of the Royal College of Surgeons;Doctor of Medicine in 1842; and Fellow of the RoyalCollege of Surgeons in 1844. His proficiency as a surgeonsoon attracted notice, and Richmond Hospital was the firstscene of his labours. There he worked assiduously, foundingthe splendid museum for which the hospital is famed, andenriching it from year to year with the fruits of his researchesin the form of drawings, casts, and preparations illustrativeof every phase of surgical pathology. John Hunter himselfdid not labour with more assiduity or success at a similarobject. In 1849 Dr. Smith was elevated to the chair offirst Professor of Surgery in Trinity College, an appoint-ment which he held with distinguished effect till the day ofhis death. He was an enthusiastic teacher, eloquent, whileclear and incisive in style, and exceedingly popular withhis students. Many of his descriptions of pathologicaldevelopment or surgical lesion are still remembered asmodels for their vividness and effect. Dr. Smith’s readingin medicine, ancient and modern, particularly amongFrench, Italian, and German authors, was encyclopaedic inextent, while critical in judgment, and always tested bypractice. His merits of style were as high in his written asin his spoken discourse, as may be seen in his classicaltreatise on "Fractures and Dislocations," published in 1847.Two hundred illustrations of admirable execution accom-pany the work. In 1849 appeared his "Treatise onNeuroma," also splendidly illustrated; while the Dublinmedical and quarterly journals were indebted to him forpapers on "Chronic Rheumatic Arthritis of the Shoulder,"and on 11 Fractures of the Sternal End of the Clavicle." Heheld many local appointments, and possessed a considerableshare of distinctions in connexion with foreign seats oflearning and scientific bodies.

Dublin, as a school of medicine, owes much to him. In1838 he took a prominent part in founding the PathologicalSociety, of which he was appointed first secretary, a postwhich he held for thirty-five years. In society he was notedfor his probity and his public spirit, whilst the regrets of" troops of friends" attest his amiability and generosity ofdisposition.Within the last few months symptoms of failing health

declared themselves, causing him to resign the surgeoncyof Richmond Hospital for the consulting surgeoncy to thesame institution. Hepatic disease set in, followed byascites, which soon became hopeless. From July he lin-

gered on till October 28th, when, after several days of acutesuffering, he expired.