939FLOATING SANATORIA FOR TUBERCULOUS PATIENTS.

been expressed with regard to the amount of ground allottedfor burial purposes. An acre of land would prove an amplearea for a burial ground in perpetuity for a population often thousand persons. Such a burial ground would prove adecided benefit to the living, as supplying in the midst ofhuman habitations a breathing place which is so essential tothe general well-being. It was resolved, upon the motionof General Lowry, seconded by the Rev. Septimus Buss,B.D., to ask the Government to formulate into a Bill therecommendations of the Committee of Inquiry on DeathCertification appointed by the late Home Secretary at therequest of this association ; also to ask the Government toinstitute an inquiry into the effect upon the air above, theearth around, and the water below, of earth-to-earth burial,and other modes of interment.

FLOATING SANATORIA FOR TUBERCULOUS

PATIENTS.

IT is some years since M. 0. Motschoutkovsky first advo- 1

cated the provision of floating sanatoria for people threatenedwith tuberculous disease or suffering from incipient formsthereof, but quite lately he has returned to the subject withrenewed enthusiasm. In the opinion of this zealous

hygienist the scheme he has theoretically organised down Ito the minutest detail is certain sooner or later to provea triumphant success. According to his plan the isolationof a dangerous class can be effectively carried out with theleast possible amount of discomfort to its members ; and helikewise maintains that by a judicious timing of moves

it will be easy to afford the sufferers an excellent chanceof recovery under the very best and most favour-able climatic conditions. The various anchorages on thelist have one and all their special seasons when the

meteorological conditions are all that can be desired, andinasmuch as these seasons by no means correspond witheach other chronologically it will be practicable for a speedyvessel to transport her passengers from one to the other andthus enable them, as it were, to skim the cream of thecollection. As soon as there is any likelihood of a changeof weather at any given place the order will be given togo to whatever spot has been proved by experience to bethe most appropriate at that particular time of the year. It

goes without saying that the ships destined for this serviceshould be specially constructed in accordance with all themost approved rules. For eight or nine months in each yearthey might be in constant employment, but during threemonths at least out of the twelve they should gointo dock in order to be thoroughly cleansed anddisinfected. M. Motschoutkovsky is quite convincedthat no stationary hotel or sanatorium in the world couldpossibly surpass his floating palaces in either comfort orsalubrity; while as regards constant variety and change ofscene there can of course be no comparison. All that is

required is a company with the necessary amount of capital,and at last there seems to be a prospect that such may beforthcoming. That well-known ship-owning association theAustrian Lloyds has placed an order for the construction ofa large steamer which is to be specially adapted and fittedfor the accommodation of invalids in need of fresh air and afavourable climate. The anchorages that so far have beenselected are at Corfu, Alexandria, Palermo, Messina, Naples,Tunis, and Malta.

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DEATH CAUSED BY BROMIDE OF POTASSIUM.

THE coroner for mid-Essex held an inquest on March 26thon the body of a man whose death appears to have beendue to excessive indulgence in what is usually consideredto be a comparatively safe drug-namely, bromide of

potassium. Suffering from neuralgia, he had been in the

habit of taking this salt in doses of from two to threedrachms. The drug does not appear to have produced anyof the usual symptoms of bromism, but may have causedthe palpitation of the heart of which the deceased had

frequently complained. During the night of March 23rd hefelt very cold, gave two deep gasps, and almost immediatelyexpired. The medical practitioner who was sent forstated at the inquest that he found the deceased quitedead, his mouth wide open, the eyes half closed, and thepupils somewhat dilated. A bottle containing the drug wason the table and examination showed that it was purebromide of potassium. The witness attributed death to failureof the heart’s action caused by taking the bromide. This

case is interesting for several reasons. It proves in a markedmanner the danger of taking any drug, however harmlessit may be reputed to be, in large and repeated doses with-out the advice of a medical man. No doubt in this instancea medical attendant would have recognised the depressantaction the salt was exerting upon the heart and wouldhave discontinued its use. Even in the most modern

works on therapeutics this danger is not mentioned,: yet it is well known that all potassium salts cause

L ’’ depression, shown by diminished energy of contrac-

i tion of the cardiac muscle, with final stoppage in

l diastole" (T. Lauder Brunton). As this bromide is constantlyadministered in large and repeated doses the action of its

l basic constituent should always be borne in mind, and ifj signs of its depressant effect are observed its use should bej abandoned, the bromide of some other base being selected3 if in other respects the action is beneficial. Many secret

remedies for " fits" contain this drug in large quantities and- it is evidently desirable that the public should be warned3 that their use is not unattended with danger.

SÆVÆ NOVERCÆ.

THE traditional stepmother has not apparently becomequite extinct as a species if one may judge from two horriblecases reported this week from Hastings and Epsom respec-tively. At an inquest at the seaside town on an infantnamed Batt two witnesses alleged that the deceased’s step-mother had said she wished " the little - was dead," anda third said she saw her throw it up in the air and catch itwith the remark, " Die, you little -, and I will have yourinsurance money," a paltry forty or fifty shillings. Thecoroner said he had never seen a child with so many bruises,and the jury in the absence of direct evidence returned anopen verdict, death having been the result of an injury to thehead. They added their opinion that the woman’s conducthad been inhuman and cruel and such as demanded some

punishment which it was not in their power to give. Thetermination of the other case was a great deal more satisfac-tory. A woman named Mary Frost was charged, at the

instance of the National Society for the Prevention of Crueltyto Children, with cruelty to her two step-children-a boyand girl of eight and nine years respectively. They werebeaten severely with a stick while in bed, and after theirfather had gone to work, for "stealing" " sugar. Then thewoman put a poker in the fire, and when the poor childrencame down to breakfast they were made to stand up andput out their tongues. The woman then put the red-hotpoker so close that the children put up their hands to savethemselves and were severely burned. The woman pleadedthat this was a recipe of her own to cure lying. This readsso unpleasantly that it is a relief to turn to the remarks ofthe chairman. He characterised the punishment as ex-

cessive and the threats as atrocious. A fine the magistratesi considered would be no punishment, for her husband wouldpay it; the woman would have to go to prison for a month.f Stepmothers, he added, must be taught to treat children

properly.

940 INTRADURAL PUNCTURE OF THE SPINAL CORD.

INTRADURAL PUNCTURE OF THE SPINAL CORD.

IN a recent number of the Ne7v Yor7. Medical JournalDr. Killiani records a case of some interest. A patient,forty-five years of age, fell on his back from a height oftwenty feet. On admission to hospital an hour later hewas still suffering from shock, and there was completeparalysis of both lower extremities and of the rectum andbladder. The anaesthesia reached to an imaginary linedrawn through the third lumbar vertebra and a pointabout two centimetres below the umbilicus. There wasa spot of extreme tenderness at the bend of the thirdlumbar vertebra, but no deformity or crepitus. There was

slight ecchymosis here. The knee-jerks were lost. Therewas no change in the patient’s condition in the next fivedays except that he had an attack of profuse and almostuncontrollable diarrhoea. On the fifth day after the

accident the patient was rolled on his left side; a strongneedle was inserted in the vertebral canal between thethird and fourth lumbar vertebras about 12 centimetres fromthe middle line. Eight cubic centimetres of thick tar-

coloured blood were removed. After this there was evident

some restriction in the anaesthetic areas and a slight returnof voluntary power in the extensors of the left thigh. The

sphincters remained paralysed and the patient died suddenlyfour days after the puncture. An examination at the pointof puncture showed that the needle had penetrated the

subdural space, but had not wounded the cauda equina inany way. Dr. Killiani is of opinion that this simple pro-cedure should be used in such cases with the object of

relieving the spinal cord from the pressure of the effusedblood.

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THE EDWARD JENNER CENTENARY ATGLOUCESTER.

IT is extraordinary to note how at Gloucester, a townin which Edward Jenner resided for years, this centenaryyear of the discovery of vaccination is being kept. First,we find a board of guardians in fair weather when therewas no small-pox about declaring themselves boastinglyto be opposed to vaccination ; then, frightened at theirown mischievous default first recommending vaccina-tion to the public by means of circulars and later,when still more frightened, actually turning right aboutface on all their former boasts and resolves and de-

ciding to enforce the compulsory clauses of the Vaccina-tion Acts. Secondly, we find that their experience-just 100years too late-has been most bitterly bought, for, accordingto last week’s papers, out of 90 deaths from small-pox in thehospital (there have been 118 in all in the city) 74 werein unvaccinated persons. Thirdly, we find that amongst thiscommunity which has been so long misled by the guardiansthere have within a few weeks been some 700 cases of

small-pox, and that in the absence of any controlling vaccina-tion the disease has seized that part of the town where thesanitary conditions are by no means worst, but where therewas an undue proportion of unfortunate children who wereunvaccinated. Fourthly, we find some thousands of poundsbeing spent in an attempt to check small-pox by hospitals,quarantining, and disinfection, but all in vain, for the diseasegoes on multiplying just the same ; indeed, there were no

less than 172 fresh cases last week. And, fifthly, we findthat even some of those most responsible for the terribleloss of life among the unvaccinated are hurrying to getprotection by vaccination for themselves. We leave thosewho have been so grievously injured by disease, maiming,and death, to apportion the blame. Here we only note withregret and shame that any British city, and above all

Gloucester, should be in the state in which that city findsitself in the centenary year of Edward Jenner.

THE REGISTER OF MEDICAL STUDENTS.

NEXT in significance to the register of medical prac.titioners for any given year is the number of persons whohave registered as medical students. The Medical Students’

Register for 1895 has’just been published, and shows that inthat year no less than 1838 persons were so registered. Largeas this number is-larger by three times than it was in theyear 1865 when the registration of students commenced-ithas often been exceeded. In the year 1879 for some reasonor other, the number of registered medical students went upfrom 1699 to 2009. In 1891 the register contained the pro-digious number of 2405, probably to be explained bythe fact that the General Medical Council had decreedthat students registering after Jan. lst, 1892, should

undergo a curriculum of five years’ duration. The tableat page 12 of the Students’ Register shows that intwelve of the last seventeen years the number of medicalstudents registering has been greater than in the last year.Still there is a great leap in the numbers of 1895 comparedwith the three preceding years. It is remarkable that, withthe profession so crowded, the curriculum so expensive, andthe examinations so numerous and difficult, so many studentsshould still commence the study of the profession, though,of course, many whose names appear upon the register neverreally enter the profession itself. The percentage of regis.trations in the three divisions of the kingdom respectivelyfor thirty years is as follows : in England, 49-96 per cent.;in Scotland, 30’34 per cent. ; and in Ireland, 19-70 per cent.Of the 1838 who registered last year 955 registered in

England, 575 in Scotland, and 308 in Ireland. It wouldseem that the increased severities of preliminary examinationfor medical graduates in the Scottish universities have notreduced the number of successful candidates.

AMONG the list of members of the Order of the Hospitalof St. John of Jerusalem in England which, by the gracious

. sanction of Her Majesty the Queen, Sovereign Head, andPatron of the Order, appears in the London Gazette of

Friday, March 27th, are the following’ names of members of. the medical profession :-Knights of Grace: Surgeon-: General W. G. N. Manley, C.B., V.C., Sir Edward Henry. Sieveking, M.D., Mr. Thomas William Evans, M.D.,, Mr. Robert Brudenell Carter, F.R.C.S. Eng., Surgeon-) Major-General Sir W. A. Mackinnon, K.C.B. (Director-. General Army Medical Department), Inspector-General- Sir James N. Dick, M.D., R.N., K.C.B. (Director-General) of the Medical Department of the Navy), Surgeon-General; Sir William Guyer Hunter, M.D., K.C.M.G., Sir Dyce Duck-) worth, M.D., LL.D., Mr. Thomas Wakley, F.R.C.S. Eng.,: Mr. William Collingridge, M.D., Surgeon-Major Lees Hall,, A.M.S., Mr. William Bezly Thorne, M.D., Mr. Charles E,, Milnes Hey, M.R.C.S. Eng., Sir William 0. Priestley, M.D.,E LL.D., Deputy-Inspector-General Belgrave Ninnis, M.D.,- R.N., Inspector-General Henry Frederick Norbury, 112.D.,) C.B., R.N., His Excellency Harry M. Crookshank Pacha,F.1l.C.S. Edin., and Mr. Harry Pennington Hallows, M.D.) Esquire: : Mr. R. Vandeleur Kelly, F.R.C.S. Edin.

’ THE Duke and Duchess of York have arranged to be

present at a grand Pte which will be held in the building) and grounds of the Middlesex Hospital, on July lst, to com-1 memorate the completion of the 150th year of the existence3 of the hospital and for the benefit of its new convalescentt home at Clacton-on-Sea.

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B —————

, AT the instance of the Royal Commission upon Vaccina-i tion, which has been sitting for the last six years, and is now1 engaged in concluding its report, Dr. Sidney Coupland ofs the Middlesex Hospital has been instructed to inquire into,

and report upon, the outbreak of small-pox in Gloucester.