788 HYPNOTISM AT THE ROYAL AQUARIUM.

detained the patient somewhat longer. A sore behind the

ear is probably quite different from one in the ear, and thedead epithelium may have been perfectly harmless. But

until we know that the specific organism of scarlet fever isnot to be found in such epithelium, or that when found thereit is incapable of multiplication when received on a freshsoil, it will be safer to regard a desquamating patient asstill potentially capable of distributing infection. Indeed,from the evidence we gather that the medical officer to thehospital holds the same view, and that his contention wasthat, as the result of four examinations of the child, nosuch manifestations were found on him prior to discharge.Indeed, our object in referring to this case is mainly toindicate how great are the difficulties with which the mostcareful of hospital authorities have to contend in dealingwith the chance of the occurrence of ’’ return cases " of scarletfever in the homes of those who quit their hospitals afterevery effort has been made to secure complete freedom frominfection. The whole subject calls for special study as to theinfluences which tend at one and another time to increasethe chances of the occurrence of such attacks.

HYPNOTISM AT THE ROYAL AQUARIUM.

A MORE horrible exhibition than that lately undertaken Iat the Royal Aquarium, in which a man was " buried alive,"can hardly be imagined. A man was hypnotised, and afterbeing sealed up in a stout casket or coffin was consigned toa grave 9ft. deep before an interested audience. Seven

or eight feet of earth were then shovelled upon the body, ashaft being left open in,order that respiration might takeplace, and also to allow the public to see the man’s faceduring the time he was entombed. After six days of thisthe man was "du.g up " and awakened before a crowd ofpeople. It is difficult to imagine a more revolting experi-ment than this. Even granting that these trances have

any use whatever-which we ourselves fail to admit-

there can be no possible excuse for making themmore horrible than they already are by burying the man.Any experiment it was desired to perform could have beendone equally well by sealing the man up in the box withoutgoing through the details of burying him and digging himup again. Moreover, under such circumstances it is im-

possible to give him aid quickly should he need it, and,although accidents may be rare in hypnotism, their possi-bility is by no means to be neglected.

"PROTEST AGAINST THE INJUSTICE OF THEMEDICAL AUTHORITIES."

THE following card, which is said to have been dis- ,tributed in the neighbourhood indicated, will be read withmingled feelings by everyone who has the dignity and

welfare of the profession at heart :-NOTICE.

DR. CROZIER, as a protest against the injustice of the medicalauthorities in permitting the continual canvassing of his patients bythe agents, not only of medical insurance clubs, but of private medicalmen, wishes it to be made known that, in opposition to the medical ’,

club system, and as a substitute for it, he is prepared, in association ’’,with medical men in other parts of Paddington, to carry out the I

proposal made by himself in the interview in the Paddington Merc2try Iof Feb. 29th-viz., to see all those whose incomes are within £2 a week Iat the rate of 6d. for medicine and childlen, ls. for adults, and ls. 6d.for visit and medicine.Dr. Crozier will attend for this purpose at his consulting-rooms,

No. 6, Lancefield-street, Queen’s-park, between the hours of 12 noon and1 P.M., and 8 and 9 P.M.

It is to be hoped that Dr. Crozier (who is a distinguished manin literary circles as well as a medical practitioner) feels nomisgivings as to the course which he has allowed himself totake by way of what he calls " a protest against the injusticeof the medical authorities." We are not concerned to justifythe authorities in their slowness to censure touters and can-vassers in the profession or to deny that practitioners willhave a seeming justification for taking their own way if the

authorities deny them all guidance. But that time has net

yet come. The good taste of every practitioner is as stronga safeguard against the degeneration of methods of practiceas any function of the medical authorities. Every practi-tioner who fails in this makes matters worse. We cannot

think that Dr. Crozier’s card will have any such effect on. the

medical authorities as to counteract its evil example.

SEASIDE METEOROLOGY.

MEDICAL literature is not as rich as it might be in woikson climatology, and more especially is this so with regard toEnglish climates ; but recent years have seen an increasinginterest in the subject, and from time to time the professionis enriched by records of observations made in regard to thisimportant branch of medical science. A small paper-butone that bears evidence of careful observation and thought-on Seaside Meteorology in Winter in the English Channelappears in the Transactions of the Royal Scottish Society ofArts. In it the writer, Mr. V’. G. Black, F.R.C.S. Edin.,F.R.M.S., discusses the question why a certain "set of

people frequent the coast resorts in the winter in these daysof changing airs and scenes." It would perhaps serve nouseful purpose to make extracts from so short a paper and itwould be impossible to answer his questions in a fewsentences. We therefore content ourselves with callingattention to the matter.

THE EAST-END MOTHERS’ HOME.

WE have received the report of the East-end Mothers’Home for the year ending Dec. 31st, 1895. We brieflyreferred last year to some points in the management of the

home that seemed to us to call for notice, and we regret tofind that many of the features to which we then called atten-tion remain as before. To begin with, on the front page ofthe report appear the words " supported entirely by voluntarycontributions." Now this is either a true statement or the

reverse. It surely conveys the impression that the wholeexpenses of the home are defrayed by charitable subscrip-tions. Again, in the paragraph devoted to the definition

of the "design of the institution" we read that this

is "to maintain in the east of London a home for the

treatment of poor married women during childbirth free ofany charge to the patients [the italics are ours], also for

training midwives and nurses for attendance on the poor attheir own homes." Yet it is definitely stated in the reportthat " women are now attended in their own homes at the

small fee of 3s. 6rl." Without discussing the propriety ofthis arrangement, which is obviously open to abuse, to thedisadvantage of the general body of practitioners in the

neighbourhood of the home, it is clearly contrary both tothe spirit and the letter of the design of the home as definedabove, and also to the description of the home on the frontpage as being "supported entirely by voluntary contribu-tions," using the words as they are used by other institu-tions appealing to the public for charitable support. We seethat the home obtains a grant from the Hospital Saturdayand Sunday Funds, and it appears to us contrary to thespirit in which those grants are made that the womenattended at their own homes should be charged for suchattendance. We observe that 230 women were deliveredin the home during 1895, and that of these 4 died;we also notice that of 1586 women delivered in thehome since it was opened in December, 1884, only9 are said to have died. This goes to show how mis-

leading such figures may be. To obtain a useful state-ment of mortality it is not only necessary to know how manyactually died in the home, but whether any died amongthose who were removed from the home, either to their ownhomes or to some general hospital, as we are informed hasbeen sometimes the case. It would appear from the figures