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they have many clinical features in common." Diagnosingwould cease to be a trial of skill if it were not for thesimilarity of symptoms in different diseases.

1 am. Sir. vours faithfullv. IJ. F. SARGENT,

Surgeon-Major, Indian Medical Department.Bedford, Sept. 7th, 1885.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,-I regret to find that I have made a mistake in my

letter which appeared in your issue of July llth. It shouldread " red iodide " and not " red oxide " of mercury. I wasled to use the iodide in consequence of its reported actionon ptomaines. I began by using large doses of calomel, butfound the smaller ones quite as efficacious when used incombination with Indian hemp, and would always prefer toprescribe the medicine more frequently than to give, say,five-grain doses. According to the Report of the Royal Collegeof Physicians calomel was found useless in the Londonepidemic of 1848, large and small doses alike. I used it withbelladonna and hyoscyamus at first, but did not find anybenefit until I used the extract of Indian hemp, which com-bination has not been used before, as far as I can ascertain,though both have separately. 1 had to use creasote or

iodoform to check the vomiting in some instances, and inthe case of children bromide of ammonium; but the purgingwas always checked by the calomel pill. I hope those whoadopt this treatment will be as pleased with the result, fora marked improvement will be noticeable half an hour afterthe first dose I am Sir yours truly

Central India, Aug. 15th, 1885. TAURUS MAJOR.

"A SPECIAL FORM OF NUMBNESS OF THE

EXTREMITIES."To the -Editor of THE LANCET.

SiR,-The affection described by Dr. Saundby in THELANCET of the 5th inst. under the above title is, I believe,not so uncommon as, from the little mention hitherto madeof it, it might be supposed to be. A good many cases havecome under my observation, and in these the patients wereall women. Only in one case did the malady exist at theclimacteric period, and even then it was not synchronous withit, the numbness of the extremities having been complainedof for some years. In a case now under my observationthe patient, thirty-six years of age, has suffered fromthis complaint for some time. She is anaemic, and has notbeen able to give any of her eight children the breast. Not-withstanding the anaemia, she is active, and usually enjoys afair amount of health. Her appetite is good and sheonly occasionally suffers from gastric disorder. Whenshe is so affected, however, the complaint under con-sideration is, as might be expected, intensified. Thesymptoms manifest themselves both by day and night,but are most marked during the night, when she is con-stantly being awakened by her hands and feet "going tosleep." I have ascertained beyond a doubt that the numb-ness is not due to pressure. In all the cases that I have seenthere has been anaemia, with a weak but not irritable heart,with a tendency also to cedema of the lower extremities. Ihave always looked upon the anaemia as the chief, if not theonly, cause of the complaint, the weakness of the circulationdetermining the localisation of the abnormal sensations inthe extremities. The gastric symptoms, when present, mayincrease the anasmia and add to the weakness of the heart,but do not appear to me to be the cause of the numbness.This, I believe, to be the anaemia; and the correctness ofthis view is borne out by the frequency with which sym-ptoms similar to these occur after haemorrhages. Dr.

Saundby, after suffering from pharyngeal and gastriccatarrh, was no doubt anaemic, from the impairment ofnutrition which necessarily resulted from the nature of hiscomplaint. I am, sir,_yours obediently, - - -

Birmingham, Sept. 6th, 1885. WILLIAM T. NOTLEY, M.D.

ON the 16th inst. a Local Government Board in-quiry was held at Orsett, Essex, relative to an applicationfor sanction to borrow S1200 for the purpose of purchasinga site and erecting upon it a hospital for infectious diseases.The inspector stated that he would report favourably uponthe proposal.

MANCHESTER.

(From our own Correspondent.)

OWENS COLLEGE.

ON the evening of Saturday, the 5th inst., a large gather-ing of medical men from the town and neighbourhoodassembled, at the invitation of Mr. W. Whitehead, Presidentof the Medical Society, to witness some experiments by"the world’s greatest mesmerist," "Professor" Kennedy, anAmerican, who is at present giving his entertainment atone of the circuses here. The general impression receivedby the audience thus assembled must have been one of con-siderable disappointment, not to say disgust. The " show"was gone through by the help of five young fellows said tohave been found susceptible to the " Professor’s’’ powers sincehis arrival in England, and who, from their appearance,must have been picked up from some of the back streets,and one intelligent, respectable young man, brought for thepurpose from America. They were made to eat candles,drink copaiba and other nauseous things, and to imaginethey had the toothache, or were sitting on hot chairs, c.They had evidently been drilled-in fact, too well, as theiractions and expressions were much the same, presentingscarcely the semblance of variety, the exception being thetrained one from America. This latter subject, under theinfluence of the "Professor," became rigid, and suspendedhis body between two chairs, resting on his head andheels only ; but this, as is well known, any acrobat can do,and even schoolboys. Whilst in this rigid condition the"Professor" claimed the power of making him raise onelimb, or part of his body, by waving his hand over it ; andthis took place so long as he kept in his own groove, butwhen this was varied by attempting it in a slightly differentmanner, it failed even in his highly susceptible medium,At the conclusion, fourteen gentlemen from the audience wereexperimented upon, and only one of them appeared to becomeslightly affected, so that he could with difficulty pronouncehis own name. That there is something in the phenomenacommonly termed "mesmerism," which has not yet receiveda thorough explanation, is undoubted, but that such exhibi-tions as the above will ever help to solve them is beyondthe bounds of credence.

THE NEW MEDICAL SOCIETY.

The aphorism Competition is the soul of business hasreceived an illustration in the action taken by the MedicalSociety, in view of the opposition of the new Medical Society,the formation of which recently received notice in thesecolumns. The new Society meets in the centre of the

town, and, following suit, the Medical Society now yieldsto the demands of those members who have long askedfor a more central room in town, and announce that theyhave arranged with the Literary and Philosophical Societyfor the use of their library, where papers and journals willbe available, telephonic connexion established with the

college, and a messenger kept who will fetch books &c.for the members from the library there. Some of the

meetings of the ensuing winter will also be held at thecentral room. The exterior of the building extensions atthe college are now almost completed, and presents animposing facade to the Oxford-road.

SANITARY PRECAUTIONS.

At the last meeting of the Northern Association ofMedical Officers of Health it was decided to co-operate withthe Manchester and Salford Association with a view tomore combined action in regard to such measures as it maybe deemed advisable to take in view of the possibility ofcholera finding its way amongst us this year. The latterAssociation has also prepared a handbill for general distri-bution pointing out what precautions all should take toavoid the conditions in which cholera and diarrhoea fliidtheir most congenial home. Another piece of useful work ithas in hand is co-operation with the Worshipful Companyof Plumbers in the movement inaugurated by that body topromote greater efficiency in plumbing and drainage workin dwelling-houses, and it is hoped that the ManchesterTechnical School will also co-operate in this matter.

FISH DINNERS IN WORKHOUSES.

The guardians of the Prestwick Union have been tryingthe experiment of giving fish dinners to the male inmates of

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the workhouse; but a memorial has been presented from alarge number of them who are employed at out-door workto change it for "anything the guardians may thinkproper." It is strange how little value is placed upon fish asan article of food by the poorer classes. It was stated thatthe fish dinners were excellent.

COTTAGE GARDENING.

The Salford Corporation deserve much praise for theirencouragement of cottage gardening. The fourth annualshow was held in Peel Park under the auspices of theMayor (Mr. Alderman Makinson) and other members of theCouncil. The show has increased in popularity year by year,the number of exhibits reaching 180, whilst there had beendistributed by the Corporation no less than 2860 plantsamongst the cottages of the borough. It is discouraging tofind those who should be in the van of sanitary work offeringthe semblance of opposition to anything which tends to itsprogress; yet at the meeting of the Salford Council one ofthe members moved a resolution that the report of theHealth Committee for 1884 should not be printed, as itwould be a waste of money, owing to the statistics andopinions it contained having become now obsolete anduseless. All who know the admirable reports of the ener-getic officer of health for Salford will not fail to see the slurthus cast upon his work, and it is creditable to the Councilthat no seconder was found to support the proposition.

THE ROYAL INFIRMARY.

The vacancy at the Royal Infirmary of Obstetric Physicians,caused by the lamented death of Dr. Thorburn, has beenfilled up by the appointment of Dr. Lloyd- Roberts, whoholds also the same post at St. Mary’s Hospital; and thisagain raises the question how far it is desirable that appoint-ments of such important character as these should be heldby the same individual, and whether the leaders in the pro-fession should have a monopoly of hospital posts, to theexclusion of younger and able men with more leisure at theirdisposal to devote to hospital work. An alteration on thefront of the infirmary will not fail to strike the eye ofmany an old student as he passes his alma mater, in theshape of an iron railing which has been erected along thedwarf wall facing Piccadilly. The other three sides have ebeen for many years surrounded by a similar structure, butuntil now the esplanade has been separated from the hospitalgrounds only by a low wall, which offered easy facilities forstreet Arabs, &c., to make a rush to the entrance wheneverexcitement was produced in the streets by any unusualaccidents, or when patients were brought there.The Manchester Guardians at their last meeting accepted

tenders to the amount of nearly .E2600 for the erection of aa block for the treatment of infectious diseases.Manchester, Sept. 15th, 1885.

LIVERPOOL.

(From our own Correspondent.)

THE CRIMINAL LAW AMENDMENT BILL.

A RECENT case which was tried before the Recorder at thelast quarter sessions illustrates the necessity of the recentchange in the law as regards criminal assaults on females.A French captain was charged under the Act of 1875 witha criminal assault on a girl above twelve and underthirteen years of age; he was convicted, and sentenced totwo years’ hard labour. Had the offence been committedsince August 14th last, his punishment would have been themore adequate one of penal servitude. The details of thecase were shocking, it being authoritatively stated by thedetective in charge that there were as many as thirty Idifferent children of tender age with whom the prisoner hadhad criminal relations; and the worst feature of the casewas that these children were not only consenting but Iactually soliciting parties, following the prisoner about fromplace to place. In another case a man stands charged withhaving indecently assaulted his wife’s sister, aged thirteen;and from the evidence it appears that this same girl was apatient in the Lock Hospital four years ago, the result of aprevious criminal assault committed when she was onlynine years old. Other cases are coming before thevarious local police-courts almost daily.

NEW MEDICAL MAGISTRATE.

Dr. Thomas Frederick Grimsdale has been placed uponthe Commission of the Peace for the city. Dr. Grimsdalewas a student of University College, and after completing hismedical education there in 1845 he came to Liverpool, wherehe was one of the resident medical officers of the LiverpoolParish Infirmary. After commencing private practice hebecame surgeon to the Lying-in Hospital, an office whichhe held for some years, being subsequently appointedconsulting surgeon. He was also lecturer on Midwifery andDiseases of Women at the Liverpool Royal Infirmary Schoolof Medicine, and is now consulting physician to theLiverpool Hospital for Women.

PROVIDENT DISPENSARIES.

The subject of provident dispensaries is being discussedin the local papers. The matter has before been taken upmore than once, but with only very partial success. Onegreat difficulty is the large number of chemists and

druggists who practise irregularly, and with whom it wouldbe hopeless for any well-qualified practitioners to compete.The conversion of free dispensaries and workmen’s clubsinto provident dispensaries is the plan which offers mostchance of success. Complaints have been made of thepauperising tendencies of medical charities on the one hand,and the high fees charged by local medical practitioners onthe other. As for the former, our hospitals and dispensariesare as little abused as those in other towns and cities, whileat the same time they are doing a vast amount of good todeserving poor people of both sexes, who but for themwould be driven to seek parish relief. With reference tomedical fees, these may be said to be within the reachof all classes; and experience shows that medical practi-tioners and other professional men are taken at theirown valuation. Even the poorest know that what isworth having is worth paying well for.

Liverpool, Sept. 16th, 1885. -

NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.

(From our own Correspondent.)

DEATH OF ALDERMAN T. L. GREGSON.

NEWCASTLE has lost, by the death on Sept. 5th of AldermanT. L. Gregson, one of its oldest general practitioners, and awell-known and respected citizen. Mr. Gregson was bornat South Shields on January 10th, 1807, and he was there-fore seventy-eight years of age; but to show how long aperiod his career as a medical practitioner covered, it willbe sufficient to say that he came here as a partner of thefather of the late Sir John Fife, at that time in active prac-tice in Newcastle. Mr. Gregson served his apprenticeshipin the old-fashioned way-even to sleeping under the surgerycounter-to a well-known firm of surgeons in South Shields,Messrs. James and William Eddowes. The Eddoweses suc-ceeded to the practice of the late Dr. Winterbottom, who onhis retirement became a great benefactor of the town.Mr. William Eddowes had seen much military surgery, andhad a happy way of relating his experience, so that it is inevery way likely that young Gregson imbibed his taste fortravel and adventure from his master. Having completedhis apprenticeship, he proceeded to Edinburgh, passingthe College of Surgeons there ; then he studied inParis and some of the other great Continental medicalschools. He afterwards travelled in Palestine, Turkey,and Egypt, where, in the year 1831, he became chief surgeonto Mehemet Ali, which post he filled for seven years. Whenhe left the service he was presented with many substantialand costly presents, testifying to the esteem in which he washeld for the faithful performance of his duties. In New-castle he acquired a large practice, working very hard for agreat many years. He was characterised by great decisionof character and almost despotic control of his patients.He told the writer of this letter that he never allowed thepatient any liberty of opinion while under his care, andthat although he may at times have lost some in this way,yet he and his patients were gainers in the end, and that hethus got rid of very troublesome and unsatisfactory people.He also made it a point, as he said, of doing all his ownwork and performing every operation that came in his wayin his own practice. The long and great attachment his