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the reaction, even if diluted with water to the extent of;from 100 to 300 times its volume, and therefore the sug-.gestion that normal urine contains sugar seems to be proved.If normal human urine is diluted with water to more than.300 times, it fails to give the reaction, while urine of diabeticpersons can be diluted to a higher degree to exhibit thereaction with a-naphthol.

PREVENTIVE INOCULATIONS IN HYDROPHOBIA.

Dr. Ullmann, assistant of Professor Albert, who has spentaome weeks in Paris studying Pasteur’s method of pre-ventive inoculations for hydrophobia, has recently estab-lished here a station for preventive inoculations. FromJ,une 28th till now eighty-five persons bitten by rabidanimals were inoculated with the best success. The rabidcondition of the animals by which the patients had beenattacked was stated in all these cases. According to thereports received, all the patients are in good health.

A NEW HYPNOTIC.

Dr. Ghillany, pharmacologist to the Vienna General IIos-pital, has succeeded in preparing an alcoholic extract fromthe roots of Piper methysticum (kava-kava), which is called"extractum kava depuratum." Experiments made with thisdrug by some physicians of the hospital proved it to be avaluable hypnotic. In all the cases where it was ad-ministered sleep was produced, without any disagreeableconsequence; even headache, following generally the. exhi-bition of hypnotics, did not occur. It was given, as a

powder, from 2 to 5 centigrammes being a dose; or as a sup-pository containing 2 centigrammes.

SURGICAL DRESSINGS.

In the clinical wards of Professor Albert, experiments aremade now with fossil meal (Kieselgubr) as a surgical dress-ing. The fossil meal is sterilised and mixed with the anti-septic solutions of carbolic acid, sublimate, &c. The cavitiesof the wounds are stuffed with the paste prepared in thisway. The results obtained with this dressing are very good ;the wounds show fair granulations, and the process ofhealing seems to be very much promoted by the mechanicalaction of the minute particles of the meal.Vienna, December 23rd.

THE SERVICES.

WITH the approval of the Commander-in-Chief the services- ef Surgeon A.M. Kavanagh, Army Medical Department, nowat Woolwich, and Surgeon J. R. Morse, at Netley, have beenplaced at the disposal of the Egyptian Government foremployment with the Khedive’s troops. The former will takeup army duties at Abbasiyeh, and the latter will inspect therecruits who are being enlisted in consequence of the reduc-tion of the British garrison.WAR OFFICE.-Army Medical Staff : Deputy Surgeon-

General Herbert Taylor Reade, V.C., to be Surgeon-General,vice Sir Anthony Dickson Home, K.C.B., V.C.., grantedretired pay; Brigade Surgeon James Landale, M.D., to beDeputy Surgeon-General, vice H. T. Reade, Y.C. ; Surgeon-Major Alexander Francis Preston, M.B., to be Brigade Surgeon,vice J. Landale, M.D.; Surgeon Herbert Cotton, from half-pay, has been granted retired pay.

ADMIRALTY.—Deputy Inspector-General of Hospitals andFleets John Breakey, M.D., has been promoted to the rankof Inspector-General of Hospitals and Fleets in Her Majesty’sFleet.The following appointments have been made :-Fleet Sur-

geon Charles Strickland, to the Plymouth division of RoyalMarines, and Fleet Surgeon Maxwell Rogers, to the Monarch.

DEVONSHIRE HOSPITAL AND BUXTON BATH CHARITY.—The Committee of Management of this hospital have issuedtheir annual report for 1886, from which it appears that ofthe 2449 in-patients admitted during the year no fewerthan 2325 were discharged as improved, and only 48 as nobetter. The number of out-patients admitted during theyear was 248, or twelve fewer than the number admittedduring the preceding year. Of these 218 were discharged asimproved, and only four as no better. The total receiptsfrom all sources were £276 less than in the previous year,and the average cost per day of each patient has beenfractionally under 2s. 2d., or nearly one farthing per daymore than that of 1885.

Obituary.WALTER FFRGUS, M.D., M.R.C.S.,

LATK MEDICAL OFFICER OF MARLBOROUGH COLLKGE.

Titio vast amount of good work done, the untiring energy,and unremitting care bestowed on many, call for more thana passing notice of the death of the late Dr. Fergus, forthirty-seven years the valued and trusted medical officer ofMarlborough College. Dr. Fergus was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne in 1819. Educated at King’s College, London, andat the University of Edinburgh, he took his M.D. of thatUniversity in 1842, and his Al.1t.C.S. Eng. and L.S.A. in 1843.lIe became house-surgeon of the Staffordshire General

Ilospital in 1844, and only resigned this post on beingappointed to Marlborough College in 1849. The appoint-ment of Dr. Fergus to Marlborough College was practicallythe first of its kind, no other public school possessing aresident medical officer. The value of the appointment wassoon apparent. Scrupulously punctual and methodical toa degree, he gave his undivided attention to the wholeestablishment. Boys and staff alike, and all who poughthis aid, found a kind and sympathetic friend and adviser.During the thirty-seven years he held the post of medicalofficer he enjoyed the perfect confidence of the Council ofMarlborough College and the successive head masters. Fail-

ing health compelled him reluctantly to resign the officein the early part of last year. The uniform work of medicalofficer, even to a large school, naturally somewhat restrictedgeneral practice, but he always kept himself well read inthe scientific work of the day, and was a not infrequentcontributor to THE LANCET, and his opinion on the subjectof public school life in its sanitary relations was highlyvalued. In the sick-room he was best known: here thepatient had not only the competent medical adviser, but thekind and tender nurse; for vast numbers can testify how,night after night, individual cases of gravity received hisconstant presence and care. It would be impossible in anotice like this to tell of the extraordinary sympathy thatexisted between the College and Dr. Fergus, and alsobetween him and the town of Marlborough, to many of theresidents of which he had endeared himself by acts of kind-ness and by the interest he took in the parish of St. Peterand Marlborough generally. He was pre-eminently a

Christian man, and devoted himself to every good work,was very good and kind to the poor, and he has passed awayregretted alike by all.He died almost suddenly at Ryton-on-Tyne on Dec. 8th.

Ilis death, though sudden, was evidently not unexpected byhimself, for he had expressed an opinion a short time beforethat he would not live long. For him death had no terror ;he was fully prepared to go forth to meet the shadowyfuture without fear and with a manly heart. Doubtless, forone like him, who, in his life as a medical man, must have seenmany lingering and painful cases, a sudden death may havehad its charms. IIis body was brought to Marlborough onTuesday, Dec. 14th. An imposing service was held in thenew chapel, and by 12 o’clock all that remained of the

" good Doctor," as he was familiarly called, was laid to restin the quiet and beautiful churchyard of Preshute. Thereit rests close to many old friends, and by the side of somefew whose bright young lives had sped-lives which his careand constant watching had failed to save. An immensenumber of persons attended, testifying to the respect inwhich he was held.

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LAUCHLAN AITKEN, M.D. EDIN.FOR a wide circle of personal friends and former patients

the death of this able and benevolent practitioner investedthe closing year with peculiar sadness. Dr. Aitken wentto Rome about fourteen years ago-himself an invalidfrom the sequelae of a severe attack of scarlatina,-and inthat genial climate he soon recovered strength enough toresume the professional career which had become impossiblein " the grey metropolis of the north." lIe brought with himmany qualifications for the success he rapidly achieved.Having graduated at Edinburgh with much distinctionboth in surgery and in medicine in 18G5, he took the

11 summi in medicina honores " in 18G8. Prolonged visits to

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the chief continental schools, such as Berlin, Vienna, andParis, extended and deepened the medical proficiencywhich had already attracted the attention of Sir J. Y.Simpson, to whom he became assistant both in the class-room and at his private residence. A brilliant career wasnow before him, until the malady above referred to com-pelled a complete change of plan, and induced him tosettle in Rome in 1872. He then applied himself withcharacteristic energy and decision to master the climaticconditions of the place, and his studies on the local feverfructified in more than one able and instructive paper inthe London and Edinburgh journals. Re was a trenchantvindicator of the sanitary credit of Rome, particularly as toher water-supply and (till lately) as to her immunity fromtyphoid, and as soon as the growth of the city, the increaseof the population, and the altered conditions of the water-supply and the drainage appeared to invite that scourge, heendeavoured by interviews with the hotel proprietors, andby letters in the local journals, to minimise the evil at itssource. A reprint of his papers on the Climate, the Malaria,the Water-supply, and the Health Statistics of Rome wouldbe welcomed not only by English-speaking practitioners, butby those of the many different nationalities domiciled in theEternal City.About three years ago the cares of an extensive and

laborious practice- involving much mounting of hotel

stairs-began to tell on his imperfectly nourished heart, andthreatenings of asystole admonished him to relax the strain.Intimate professional friends, indeed, urged him strongly towithdraw from practice entirely, at least for a few seasons;but nothing would shake his resolution to die at his post.He lived for ministration at the bedside; it was his mentalresource and predilection, and all appeals to spare himselfwere answered with a

Propter vitam vivendi perdere causas ?The result soon became manifest in an increasing recourse

. to substitutes, until his return to Rome at the commence-ment of the season, with "the wheels of life run down,"convinced him that his professional career was at its close.He lingered for a few weeks under the sedulous care of Dr.Edmonston Charles, sometime of the Bengal Army and lateof Cannes, to whom he had transferred his practice, and onSunday, the 19th ult., he sank, conscious to the last.

Dr. Aitken was but forty-three years of age when he died,but he lived long enough to impress a wide clientele withhis admirable skill and success as a physician, and a stillwider circle of friends with his manly integrity, his catholictastes, and his benevolent heart. He was buried on the 24thult. in the Protestant cemetery between the Tiber and theGate of St. Paul.

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W. A. N. CATTLIN, F.R,C.S.ON the 13th ult. there passed away from our ranks one

whose name will long be held in honour for his scientificattainments and his skill in dental surgery. No less durablewill be the memory of his single-hearted and unselfish gene-rosity, for he was ever ready to lend a helping hand when- iever a claim commended itself to his judgment.

Mr. Cattlin was born at Southend in the year 1814. Hewas apprenticed to the late Mr. Porter, of Bishopsgate-street, London, received his medical education at the LondonHospital, where he gained prizes in medicine, and was highly

. esteemed for his acumen and sagacity by the late Dr. Billing.He became a Licentiate of the Apothecaries’ Company in 1836,a Member of the College of Surgeons in 1841, and a Fellow in1856. He commenced practice in the City-road, London,but, on account of ill health, was compelled to abandon itand take a voyage. After his return, with renewed healthand energies, Mr. Cattlin became resident medical officer atthe Holloway and North Islington Dispensary, and soonafterwards, in Islington, entered upon the practice of dentalsurgery, of which he had previously obtained good practicalknowledge. In this branch of the profession he soonattained to eminence. He was one of the founders, and some-time president, of the Odontological Society. It was mainlyto the untiring exertions of Mr. Cattlin that the MedicalBenevolent College owes its present satisfactory basis.In 1863 Mr. Cattlin removed to Brighton, where his great

success followed him, but his health broke down understress of work, and he retired to Bournemouth in 1880, butnever recovered from the effects of an attack of paralysis, tothe later effects of which, indeed, he ultimately succumbed.

Mr. Cattlin’s quick intelligence and decision in acting in-spired confidence in his professional opinion, whilst his genialand kindly disposition gained him countless friends. 11s wasattended, at various periods of his illness, by Mr. JonathanHutchinson, Dr. Hughlings Jackson, Dr. Wilks, Mr. Power,and others. He leaves a widow and several children, one ofwhom, Mr. Wm. Cattlin, follows his late father’s profession,

Medical News.THE Gresham Lectures on Physic will be delivered

by Dr. Symes-Thompson, on Feb. 8th, 9th, 10th, and llth.DR. A. FRASER has been appointed Deputy-Coroner

for the Totnes district, South Devon, vice Mr. J elley, resigned.THE Hospital for Women, Soho-square, has peti-

tioned Her Majesty in Council for a charter of incorporation., ON the 31st ult. a very successful fancy dress ballwas held at Faversham, in aid of the proposed local cottagehospital.A SPECIAL service was held on the 26th ult. at the.

Hope-place Synagogue, Liverpool, on behalf of the localmedical charities. The offertory amounted to .621.MR. THOMAS MooRE, F.L.S., who for thirty-eight

years was curator of the Botanic Garden of the Society ofApothecaries at Chelsea, died there on New Year’s Day, inhis 66th year.

" HOSPITAL SATURDAY " has been transplanted toNew York, and it is expected that by next year the workwill, by the aid of women’s auxiliary societies, be thoroughlysystematised.ON the 28th ult. Mr. Peter White, surgeon, of

Yetholm, near Kelso, suddenly fell down dead in the village,It is roteworthy that Mr. White’s wife also expired suddenlyon the previous Saturday.AT a largely attended meeting of the Great

Yarmouth Jubilee Committee on the 4th inst., it was agreedthat the local commemoration should consist of a jubileewing for the Yarmouth Hospital.ACTION FOR LIBELING SCIENTIFIC MEN.-An action

has been brought by order of the German Chancellor againstDr. Oidtmann, editor of the Impfzwanggegner (Anti-compul-sory vaccinationist) for libeling Prof. Koch and PrivyCouncillor Kohler.THE Canadian correspondent of the Liverpool

Journal of Commerce says, "Dr. Dodd has been making testsof the mineral waters found near Regina, with the mostsatisfactory results. He has now established beyond doubtthe fact of their strength and general curative purposes."THE Birmingham Hospital Sunday Collection Com-

mittee have handed over to the treasurer of the GeneralHospital .64231 as the result of the last collection. The totalsum realised was £4662. The balance, after payment ofexpenses, has been given to other charities.OPEN SPACES IN MANCHESTER.-The committee

for securing open spaces for recreation are just now makingincreased efforts to obtain public support on behalf of thework they are carrying on, and ask for S1500 to furnishand lay out several spaces and gymnasia that they havein hand.

BRITISH HOSPITAL AT PORT SAID.--Sir John Stokes,who is chairman of the London committee for building a.

British hospital at Port Said, has, it is stated, obtained anexcellent site near the sea in exchange for the site formerlygranted. The hospital will now be begun at once, and, it ishoped, will be opened in April.

SANITATION IN KIDDERMINSTER.-During the pastyear the improvements in the sewerage system of Kidder-minster have been completed and the new covered reservoiropened. The provision of a sufficient water-supply from asource free from sewage still, however, demands attention.The lower well, the condition of which at the beginning oflast year caused much anxiety, is still being used, but wetrust that the Town Council is alive to its responsibility,and that the provision of another source for the water-supply may only be a question of weeks or months.