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NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

Royal Infirmary, Newetcastle-upon-Tyne : Mr. Riley Lord’s Fund.

A MEETING of the subscribers to the Queen’s Commemora-tion New Infirmary Fund was held in the Council Chamber,Town Hall, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on Wednesday, Jan. 26th,Mr. Riley Lord being in the chair. When the report of theExecutive Committee was read it appeared from the reportthat upwards of 32.000 had been received. Mr. Lord was

warmly congratulated upon the success of his schemeand then a discussion took place upon the terms ofMr. J. Hall’s gift. Mr. Eccles said Mr. Hall’s termswere very simple and he thought a hospital such as

it was required and necessary to erect could be built for thesum of money Mr. Hall was prepared to give—,100,000.Mr. Eccles evidently thought the sum sufficient. Mr. J. G.Gurney said he had gone into details of the cost of severalnew hospitals and that he found the cost of none was underE400 a bed ; in some cases it was much more. Matters nowseem to have come to something very like a deadlock. Ahospital for 400 is required and Mr. Hall wishes to expend£100.000 in building a hospital which it is said cannot beput up for the money under the stated conditions. Anysensible person would say under these circumstances that thedonor and the recipient should come together and talk theposition over, but this is just the very thing that cannot bebrought about and so the matter lingers on. In the meantimethe conditions under which the work of the infirmary is beingcarried on are most unsatisfactory and discreditable, thewards are overcrowded, the accommodation for outdoorpatients is scandalous, and the longer the erection of newpremises is delayed the greater does the inconveniencebecome. No such difficulties seem to have been experiencedin accepting Sir J. B. Maple’s princely gift by the UniversityCollege Hospital in London.

Fatal Fire in Greasemorks at Walker Gate.

The resources of the Newcastle Infirmary were strainedto the utmost on Saturday evening, Jan. 29th, when a largenumber of people more or less severely injured and burnedwere attended to in the course of a few hours. One manwas killed on the spot. A woman was admitted sufferingfrom compound fracture of the leg and other severe

injuries. Some twenty-seven men, youths, and childrenwere also admitted more or less burned and seriouslyhurt. One man died on Sunday; the other patientsare so far going on fairly well. Besides the patientstaken into the hospital many others were dressed atthe infirmary and a still larger number at the scene

of the disaster by local medical men. It is not knownhow the fire originated, but the disastrous results were dueto the bursting of a large iron tank containing it is saidsome sixteen tons of creasote oil which, taking fire, wasscattered far and near upon the crowd of onlookers bythe force of the explosion. The scene was a discreditableone-there was not sufficient force present to preservediscipline and this arose from the circumstance thatWalker Gate is beyond the city boundary, and the WalkerLocal Board having refused to subscribe to the New-castle Fire Brigade the services of that highly efficientbody of men could not be obtained. Neither could theNewcastle police force be utilised. Nothing could illustratemore forcibly than this terrible accident the want ofaccommodation at the Royal Infirmary. The wards wereas usual filled when the accident happened and now thewounded are lying on the floor of the wards and there isno means of isolating what will be in a few days alarge number of suppurating wounds. Those who areresponsible for the delay-the dangerous delay-in erect-ing a new building must to some extent be lookedupon as also responsible for consequences. Had not thepresent deadlock occurred the plans for a new buildingwould have been well on towards completion. As it is itseems problematical when they will even be commenced tobe prepared and yet more than £200,000 are available forbuilding a new infirmary.

Annual Meeting of the Governors of the Hospital for SickChildren, Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

The annual meeting of the governors of this hospital was

held on Wednesday, Jan. 26th, when Mr. W. A. WatsonArmstrong presided. The annual report, which was read bythe secretary, revealed a state of things very similar to thatexisting at most of the medical charities in the town-viz ,an increasing amount of work and an expenditure in excessof the income. It is proposed to build in the grounds of theinstitution a house in which the nurses may reside. To do.’this will require an expenditure of £2500. If this were done-(and it requires to be done, for the present accommodationfor nurses is so inadequate that it is difficult to procure theservices of such nurses as the committee is anxious to em- ploy) there would be more room for the increasing demandfor patients’ beds. The design and construction of thehospital do not seem to have been by any means perfect;..the drainage has had to be relaid and according to a report,made upon the hospital a few years ago by Sir F. Burdett theaccommodation for patients was faulty. Considering that the.hospital is quite new the expense to which the committee hasbeen put is surprising, and still more surprising is it to seethe amount of money which has been wasted in construction--What has taken place at the Children’s Hospital should bega warning to the Royal Infirmary. The Children’s Hospitalwas built and given to the town by the late Mr. Flemmingand a gift horse must not be looked in the mouth it is said.

Small pox at Middlesbroug7t.The vaccination officer reports a serious outbreak of small-

pox in Middlesbrough. There have been 40 cases with8 deaths and the epidemic is extending. The town is a well-vaccinated one on the whole.

The Health of Dr. Embleton.It will be a source of gratification to the numerous friends,

of Dr. Embleton to learn that he is making a satisfactoryrecovery from his recent accident and that in a few days hehopes to be able to drive out. Dr. Embleton is the Nestor ofthe profession at Newcastle and is in his eighty-ninth year.Tan 31st

SCOTLAND.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Glasgow University.THE resignation of Professor Simpson has now beex)

officially recognised by the University Court and it is inti-mated that the Secretary for Scotland is willing toreceive the names of those who desire to be regarded ascandidates for the appointment up till Feb. 22nd. TheUniversity authorities are desirous of taking this opportunityto separate the departments of forensic medicine and public--health and to secure the appointment of a professor of the-latter subject and hence it is probable that the commissionto be granted to the new professor of forensic medicine willcontain conditions necessary to this policy. At presentthe University has no funds for the endowment ofany new chair but a special effort is to be madein order to effect a proper representation of the importantsubject of public health in the teaching and workof the -university. Hitherto the teaching has beenshared between the professors of forensic medicine and,chemistry, but this has been an unsatisfactory arrangement.The senate has elected Dr. Michael Foster, F’.R.S., D.C.L.,professor of physiology in the University of Cambridge, to beGifford Lecturer on Natural Religion for the sessions 1898-99’and 1899-1900, in succession to Professor Bruce, whose termof office expires with the current session.

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St. Mungo’s College, Glasgow.The botanical collection recently formed by Dr. James.

Swanson, professor of botany, has been increased by a large.number of specimens presented by Mr. F. W. Moore,director of the Botanical Garden, Glasnevin, Dublin.

Glasgow Royal Infirmary.The annual meeting of the subscribers to this institu-

tion was held on Jan. 31st. The Lord Provost, who.presided and moved the adoption of the report, announcedthat every effort was being made to push forwardthe scheme for the reconstruction of the infirmary,but more funds were needed to make a full realisationof the scheme possible. The committee were determined tc.completely reorganise the internal arrangements of the hos-pital so as to bring them into harmony with modern demands,