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and apparently every condition is favourable to the develop.ment of malaria, and yet of 182 children examined by th(Commissioners of the Royal Society of London none haceither parasites in their blood or enlargement of the spleenPractically the only species of anopheles which was presentin the localities where these children lived was anophelesRossii. The mere fact that it could exist in large number<without producing any infection in the children was in itsellsuggestive that the species was not a good carrier of malaria.Excluding some peculiar instances of which Calcutta is one,it may be said that there is a direct relation between theextent and nearness of breeding grounds, the abundance ofanopheletes, and the amount of malaria. While in Calcuttathere were abundance of anopheletes Rossii and no malaria,on the other hand, in the Duars (a line of sub-Himalayanvalleys in north-east Bengal) there were a relatively smallnumber of anopheletes fluviatilis (of which, however, 6’ 25per cent. were found to be infected with sporozoites, and a3arge amount of malaria, In many parts of India theseasonal variation in the amount of malaria is very marked,especially in the north, where the climatic conditionsundergo great changes. Thus at Mian Mir in the Punjabthe malaria-carrying species of anopheles (anophelesculicifacies) is rare until the beginning of June ; from Julyuntil the end of October the anopheletes increase veryrapidly; during November they gradually decrease; and by themiddle of December they have completely disappeared, notto be seen again until May. Correspondingly, the " endemicindex" in the Mian Mir syce lines was 56 per cent.in October and 15 per cent. in December.

Captain James disapproves of the routine treatment offever " by the immediate administration of quinine.He believes that if the case is really one of malariato withhold quinine for a few days (in the absence ofparasites from the peripheral circulation) will not endangerthe patient in any way and if the case is rot one ofmalaria the admini tration of quinine in doses suitablefor a case of that disease is certainly harmful. In conclu-sion, Captain James says that complete protection frommalaria may be insured by any individual who is willingto take the trouble to pay scrupulous attention to theuse of a good mosquito-curtain at night and to protecthimself from being bitten during the evening hours. Ifthese precautions are taken it is quite unnecessary to usequinine as a prophylactic. He had visited the most malariousparts of India without having a day’s fever merely by usingthe mosquito-net and wearing high boots or putties in theevening. By means of the same precautions, also, andwithout taking any quinine, Dr. Stephens had previouslypassed two years in the most malarious parts of Africawithout a single attack of malaria.

ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OFLONDON.

AN ordinary Comitia was held on Jan. 29th, Sir WILLIAMSELBY CHURCH, Bart., K.C.B., the President, being in thechair.The following gentlemen having passed the required

examination were elected Members of the College : ArthurHerbert Hayes, L.R.C.P. Lond. ; Goldwin William Howland,B.A., M.B. Toronto, L.R.C.P. Lond. ; Frederick WilliamPrice, M.B. Edin. ; Henry Edmund Symes-Thompson,M.A.Cantab., L.R.C.P. Lond. ; George Lestock Thornton,M.A.Camab., L.R.C.P. Lond. ; John Abernethy Willett,M.B.Oxon., L.R.C.P. Lond.; and Herbert Williamson,M.A., M.B. Cantab.. L.R.C.P. Lond.

Licences were granted to 94 gentlemen who had passedthe necessary examinations.Diplomas in Public Health were granted jointly with the

Royal College of Surgeons of England to the following gentle-men : Bertram Leeds Thomas Barnett, M.B., B.C. Cantab.,L. R. C. P. Lond., M. R C. S. Eng. ; Herbert James Barratt,L. R. C P. Lond., M. R. C. S. Eng. ; John Bell, L R. C. P. Lond., ’,M.R.C.S. Eng. ; James Bennett, L.R.C.P. Lond., M.R.C.S. ’,Eng. ; Edward Collins Bousfield, L.R C.P. Lond., M.R.C.S.Eng. ; Edwin Harold Brown, M.D. Brux., M. R, C. P. Lond.,L R.C.S. Edin. Richard Foster Clark, L.R.C.P. Lond.,M. R. C. S. Eng. Alexander Gordon Davidson, MD., C. M.Edin. ; Arthur Briggs Dunne, M.B., B.C. Cantab., L.R.C.P.Lond., M.R.C.S. Eng., L.S.A.; Ernest Gardiner Hill,

- L.R.C.P. Lond , M.R C.S. Eng. ; Gwilym Prosser Wozencrofte James, L.R C. P. Lond., M.R C.S. Eng.; William Charrott1 Lodwidge, L. 11. C. P. Lond., MR.C.S.Eng.; Thomas Strat-

. ford Logan. L.R.C.P.&S.Edin., F.F.P.S.Glacg.; Lesliet Milburn, L.R.C.P. Loud., M.R.C.S. Eng. ; David Jamess Morgan, M.B.. B C. Cantab., L.S.A.; William Murray,s M.B., Ch.B. Edin. ; John Moir Petrie, M.B., Ch.B. Aberd. ;f and William John Shannon, M.B., B.Ch. R.U.I.. The PRESIDENT announced that he had nominated Dr.

, E. F. Trevelyan (Leeds) as Bradshaw Lecturer for 1903 and; that the Council had nominated Dr. William Williamsf (Cardiff) as Milroy Lecturer for 1904.i The PRESIDENT also announced that the Gilbert Blaine, medals had been awarded to the following officers :i Christopher Louis White Bunton, Surgeon R N., H.M.S.1 Forte, and John Falconer Hall, Staff Surgeon R.N., Naval) Brigade, North China.L The following communications were received :-1. From: the Clerk to the Privy Council, announcing the opening of, the International Medical Congress at Madrid on April 23rds next. 2 From the Controller of His Majesty’s Stationery> Office, stating the terms of an agreement with the College to; print and to issue a new edition of the " Nomenclature ofr Diseases." 3. From the Board of Trade Marine Department,

in reply to the College, stating that a translation was being’ prepared of the report of the Norwegian Commission ont Beri-beri.; The following Fellows were elected Councillors :-Dr.

D. B. Lee-’, Dr. J. A. Ormerod, Sir Isambard Owen, Dr.Percy Kidd, and Dr. T. Stevenson. Dr. Theodore Williams

’ was reappointed a representative of the College on the Courtof Governors of the University of Birmingham.

L The following motion was proposed by the Second Censor’ (Dr. G. VIVIAN POORE) and seconded by Dr. J. K.’ FOWLER :-

: That the President be requested to nominate a small committee toconsider and report to the College as to whether or not any change bedesirable in the date and arrangements for the annual Harveian festival.

The motion was carried and the PRESIDENT nominated the

following Fellows as members of the committee: The; Treasurer (Sir Dyce Duckworth), Dr. Poore, Dr. Fowler, Dr., T. T. Whipham, Dr. F. W. Pavy, and the President.’ A report was received from the representative of the! College (Dr. Norman Moore) in the General Medical Council! on the proceedings of the Council affecting the College at the’ November session.

! The quarterly report of the College Finance Committeewas received and adopted.A report was received from the committee of management,

, dated Dec. 29th, 1902. The following recommendations wereembodied in the report :-

1. That the Rotunda Hospital, Dublin, be recognised as a place ofinstruction in midwifery and gyn&aelig;cology. for the certificates requiredby Clauses 5 (A), 6 (d), and 11, par. ii., Section 1., of the Regulations ofthe Examining Board in England.

2. That the University of Minnesota, United States, he added to thelist of universities at which the curriculum of professional studyrequired for the diplomas of the Royal Colleges may be pursued andwhose graduates may be admitted to the Final Examination of theExamining Board in England on production of the required certificatesof study.

’ The report was adopted.After some further business the PRESIDENT dissolved the

Comitia.

MEDICINE AND THE LAW.

Tlw Peasenhall Case.

THE man Gardiner, twice tried without result for the

murder of Rose Harsent at Peasenhall on June lst, 1902,has been set at liberty, and no one has ventured to

express disapproval of the decision of the Attorney-Generalauthorising the entry of a nolle prosequi against him. The

two abortive trials which have taken place, each resulting inthe disagreement of the jury, have called attention to anundesirable state of affairs which at times arises owing to thelaw requiring a unanimous verdict in order that a prisonermay be convicted. This, however, is not the only cause whichhas awakened the sympathy with Gardiner that has beenexpressed since his second trial. There appears to be nodoubt that a very considerable majority of the jury who firsttried him were in favour of a conviction, so that he at leastcannot complain of the fact that in England the verdict of

391

a majority, however large, is not sufficient. It was, how- w

ever, realised by the public after the second jury had dis- h

agreed that the crime for which he was indicted, admittedly a 61brutal murder committed by somebody, had taken place in pJune, 1902, that Gardiner had been tried for the first tltime in November and again in January, 1903, and that a;

if he was to be once more sent before a Suffolk jury phe would have to lie in prison for more than a year before Tthe ultimate decision of his fate. Writing of this case in ojTHE LANCET after the first trial’ we commented upon the It

obvious hardship involved in the long interval that would tl

elapse before the second hearing if it was to take place at bthe county assizes as then arranged. The necessity for this ilwe questioned, and in the light of what has since occurred d,the hardship appears to be even greater, although, no doubt, t(

any other course than that actually pursued would have beenan innovation. It is clearly not right that the State should,where it is avoidable, increase the punishment of a criminalor inflict an undeserved penalty upon an innocent person h

by adding prolonged mental torture to the anxiety and ddistress inseparable from an accusation of serious crime. EThe acuteness of the mental distress caused to the prisoner n

by a trial that lasts for several days, and by the expectation hof it while he lies in gaol, cannot be precisely gauged. It v

must vary in degree according to the temperament of the it

person subjected to it and other circumstances ; but what- r,

ever the temperament may be, all will consider that the a

lengthening of the period of suspense must increase the ystrain upon the mind undergoing it and that where the life i]of the prisoner is at issue the strain must in all cases be very t

great. In some cases it may reach, or almost reach, the point dof depriving the prisoner of reason altogether. It should aalso be remembered, apart from the question of inflict- )

ing unnecessary pain, mental or otherwise, that accused 1

persons, whether they can pay for advocacy or not, have to 1

depend largely upon themselves for the guidance of their c

defence and that a man, however broken down by anxiety tand waiting he may be, may nowadays practically have nochoice but to face in the witness-box a jury eager to judge ofhis guilt or innocence by his appearance and demeanour, aswell as by the readiness and clearness of his replies toexamination and cross-examination.

This last innovation in the criminal procedure of the

country made by the admission of the accused, or thehusband or wife of the accused, to give evidence is c

perhaps more calculated than any that preceded it to intro- ]duce a doubt into the minds of one or two jurymen whichwill not affect the judgment of their fellows, so that whathas happened in the case of Gardiner may at any time occur 1

again, while the interval between his two trials is the usualinterval that occurs between country assizes. In London, i

however, the Central Criminal Court sits practically every I

month and there is special provision made by statute forthe removal to it of case otherwise out of its jurisdictionwhere it appears expedient to the ends of justice thatthey should be so removed. The removal of a trial in- I

volving the evidence of a number of witnesses to London I

and the imposing of it upon a London jury is not a light Imatter, but it is not unheard of, and few would complain inthose exceptional cases in which the object was to ielieve afellow-creature from needless suffering. The recent case of:Mr&ograve;. Penruddocke, transferred to the Central Criminal Courton account of the alleged feeling against the accused inWiltshire, affords an instance of a trial transferred in un-usual circumstances of a different kind from those whichsurrounded the Peasenhall case, but we have not heard thatwitnesses or jury expressed any dissatisfaction at the coursetaken. At the same time we are not aware that delay alonehas ever been made the cause of such removal, although manyjudges and others have called attention to the long timeduring which prisoners are often kept awaiting their trial.Whatever course, however, might have been taken withregard to Gardiner his case has shown that in this countrydelay may occur before the acquittal or condemnation of anaccused person which English laymen, at all events, haveusually only associated with foreign courts of justice. Ithas also shown that public opinion and public sympathy arestrongly opposed to such delay, apart from any views thatmay be held with regard to the prisoner’s guilt or innocence.

Flannelette and Fire.Two inquests held on the same day recently by Mr.

Troutbeck showed that both the deaths under consideration

1 THE LANCET, Nov. 29th, 1902, pp. 1474, 1475.

were due to the wearing of flannelette underclothing whichbad caught fire. In the one case an adult, a woman, aged30 years, was the sufferer. She died in St. George’s Hos-pital. In the other the victim was a small boy, agedJiree years and nine months, who was wearing flannelettaind in the absence of his mother set himself on fire bylaying with matches. He died in King’s College Hospital-rHE LANCET has often called attention to the inflammability)f flannelette and so have the lay newspapers, chiefly in’eporting deaths due to it; but whether such warnings ashese reach the ears of the persons who most need them may)e doubted. It might do some good if the sellers oflannelette, or of garments made of it, were compelled to.leliver with each portion or article sold a printed warning aso its dangerous peculiarity.

The Drink Question.Mr. J. T. Bottle, a justice of the peace at Great Yarmouth,

has contributed an interesting letter to the Times upon the.irink question. Mr. Bottle does not share the views of the-Home Secretary as to the impossibility of judges and

magistrates keeping records for the guidance of thoseinterested in the public health as to the number of con-victions taking place before them in which the offence-is traceable to drink. Mr. Bottle has himself kept arecord of such convictions where he himself has satas a magistrate, and he considers that in the last 12’.years 60 per cent. of these have been due, directly or

indirectly, to drink. In his letter Mr. Bottle calls attentionto the power that drink-sellers have to diminish the evils ofdrunkenness by exercising care in carrying on their trade,and he illustrates this from recent experience at Great.Yarmouth, a town of which he says, "The number oflicensed houses is 306, with a population of 51,000, or 1 to167, whilst the proportion of on-licences is 1 to 189, a more-ominous record probably than that of any other considerable;town in England."

ROYAL COLLEGE OF PHYSICIANS OFEDINBURGH.

A QUARTERLY meeting of the Royal College of Physicians’of Edinburgh was held on Feb. 3rd, Sir THOMAS R.

FRASER, Vice-President, being in the chair.David James Galloway, M.D., M.R.C.P. Edin., Singapore,.

was admitted by ballot to the Fellowship of the College.The REGISTRAR reported that since the last quarterly meet-

ing 37 persons had obtained the Licence of the College byexamination.The Parkin prize, which is in the gift of the College, was-

awarded after competition to Charles James Lewis, M.D.,F. R C. P. Edin. The subject of the essay on the presentoccasion was, in terms of the deed of bequest : "On theCurative Effects of Carbonic Acid Gas or other Forms ofCarbon in Cholera, for Different Forms of Fever and other-Diseases." "

VITAL STATISTICS.

HEALTH OF ENGLISH TOWNS.

IN 76 of the largest English towns 8880 births and 5229-deaths were registered during the week ending Jan. 31st.The annual rate of mortality in these towns, which hadbeen 18-5, 17-5, and 20-1 per 1000 in the three preced--ing weeks, declined again last week to 18’ 1 per 1000. InLondon the death-rate was 17’7 per 1000, while it.

averaged 18 2 in the 75 other large towns. The lowestdeath-rates in these towns were 7-6 in West Ham, 8’2in Handsworth, 9’2 in Devonport, 10’ 1 in Burton-on-Trent,10’8 in Wolverhampton, 11-5 in Barrow-in-Furness, 11’6in Wallasey, and 12’0 in Swansea ; the highest rates were23-1 in Hanley, 23’3 in South Shields, 23 5 in West.Bromwich, 23-7 in Norwich, 24-0 in Oldham, 24 6 ixkRotherham, 25’1 in Newcastle-on-Tyne, and 26’0 in Wigan.The 5229 deaths in these towns last week included’493 which were referred to the principal infectious-diseases, against 504, 450, and 539 in the three precedingweeks ; of these 493 deaths 163 resulted from whooping-cough, 105 from measles, 71 from diphtheria, 60 from diar-jboea, 47 from scarlet fever, 34 from "fever" (principally