436 THE MANNERS OF A COUNTY COUNCILLOR.

to look out for any special symptoms, and, moreover, it maybe doubted if he would recognise them if they occurred.The hypnotist himself, when pressed for an answer as towhat he would consider dangerous symptoms, was not

very precise, though he confessed that a pulse much below39 and breathing 3 per minute would not be pleasant,but he carefully made a loophole for himself by statingit would depend on the opinion of the medical man. It

must, however, be admitted that he is quite a physiologist,as he gravely informed us when pressed about the rate ofthe pulse that " some people had naturally a slower pulsethan others." It is, in truth, high time that such publicexhibitions were stopped ; to science they are of no purpose,to the subject they are dangerous, and to the public they aredemoralising. It is indeed a pity that any medical manshould so far lose his self-respect as to encourage them.

THE MANNERS OF A COUNTY COUNCILLOR.

AT the usual weekly meeting of the London County I,Council, held on Tuesday last, the question of paying .675 z,to Dr. Corfield for evidence given on behalf of theCouncil at a Local Government Board inquiry into thewater companies’ regulations came up for consideration. In

the discussion which followed Mr. Burns is reported as

saying that Dr. Corfield " had disgraced his professionby blackmailing a public body." We hope, indeed we aresure, such language is not commonly used by countycouncillors ; but, in the report of the proceedings as givenin the Times no one seems to have taken any notice of it.

To have said "swindling" or "defrauding" " would havebeen indefensible, but the word " blackmailing impliesthe lowest depths of infamy. Dr. Corfield is no doubt able

to defend himself, and we are glad to see that it was agreedthat he should receive the full sum, but we think Mr. Burns

ought to apologise for the use of such a shameful remark.

"SWEATING" IN GERMANY.

THERE is a strong agitation throughout Northern Germanyagainst the sweating system. It is especially in the makingof clothes that the worst features of this system are manifest.This is exactly what we insisted was the case when we raiseda similar agitation in England. The giving out of work tobe made up in private houses, we then explained, led toterrible abuses. In the privacy of a home child and eveninfant labour could be employed to help. The clothes I

were also frequently contaminated by unwholesome

domestic surroundings, it being especially to the interestof the workers to conceal the cases of scarlet fever and

other infectious fevers that might occur in the family.Indeed, the unfinished garments were sometimes used to

cover the patients as they lay in bed in the very room wherethe rest of the family were at work. In Berlin, Hamburg,Breslau, and other towns strikes have commenced against thesweating system. At Berlin the first burgomaster has

received a deputation from the largest mantle makers of thecapital asking him to act as a mediator between them, thesweaters, and the workpeople. Although the chief blamerests with the middleman or sweater, yet it is also the

fault of the merchant tailors, mantle makers, and others,who instead of opening properly built workshops prefer toemploy a middleman. It would make a very great differ-ence if the money paid to this middleman went directlyto the workers; but as it is out of this sum that he’’ sweats" " his profit a very meagre share remains forthem. A widow the mother of three children, engagedin mantle-making by a Berlin sweater, writes that she isonly paid 8d. for making a jacket. By working incessantlyfrom four in the morning till eleven at night she is able toturn out two jackets and thus earn la. 4. a day to keep her

family. Living is not cheap at Berlin, and it is not neces-sary to insist how such overwork and under-feeding mustprove destructive to health. It is high time that there shouldbe a Factory and Workshops Act in Germany which wouldinclude home labour and limit the hours of work to ten,at least as far as women are concerned. But it would bebetter still to abolish home work altogether. So long asclothes are made in the overcrowded homes of the- poorthere will always be the risk of contamination. The publicwho purchase and wear the clothes have the right to say howthese clothes shall be made, but this can only be done

through the instrumentality of their representatives in Parlia.ment. At the commencement of his reign the present Emperoron several occasions expressed his eagerness to bring aboutsuch social reform as would assure greater material prosperityamong the mass of the people. The present agitation againstsweating affords an excellent opportunity for effecting reformsof this description. The German Government will, we trust,strike while the iron is hot and initiate legislation on thelines we have indicated.

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"THE ENGLISH LAKES."

THE mere mention of the English lakes will awaken inthe minds of many people emotions of pleasure and visionsof picturesque landscape, with lovely valleys, majestic hills,and the ever-changing aspects of land and sky. " The

English Lakes," 1 by Mr. Hugh Robert Mill, D.Sc., however,records the details of a bathymetrical survey ; nevertheless,although it does not deal with the matter from an artisticpoint of view, any addition to our knowledge, either

geographical or geological, of the beautiful lakes situated inthe mountainous region of north-western England will bewelcomed by both men of science and travellers. As Mr. Millremarks, when scientific surveying reaches such a high levelof efficiency as it now does in this country, it is neitherrational nor right that the best maps should show theminutest details on land and only meaningless lines on

the water. This defect in the maps of the lake district hehas remedied in a very able manner. The maps, whichare taken from the Ordnance Survey, are on a scale oftwo inches to the mile and are clearly printed. They areaccompanied by cross and longitudinal sections of the lakes.The letterpress, which is full and complete, is embellishedwith a number of illustrations showing the physical featuresof the lakes.

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NOTTINGHAM BURIAL GROUNDS.

DR. PHILIP BOOBBYER, the medical officer of health ofNottingham, has recently prepared a very interesting reporton the cemeteries and burial grounds of that city, the in-formation having been called for by way of evidence to supporta local scheme of extra-mural interment. Nottingham pos-sesses nine burial grounds at present in use, covering a totalarea of fifty-four and a half acres, the oldest being St. Peter’schurchyard, Radford, which has been open since 1553. It

is three and a half acres in extent and is very much over-

crowded, being estimated to contain from 13,000 to 14,000bodies. Bulwell churchyard was opened in 1621 and hasbeen four times extended, so that it now includes four acres ;from 20,000 to 25,000 bodies appear to have been buried here.The seven remaining places of interment have been openedsubsequent to 1830. Of these the General Cemetery, openedin 1837 and covering eighteen acres, is the most considerable.It is situated almost in the heart of the town and no fewerthan 81,074 bodies have been buried there under circum-stances of much overcrowding, the graves being packed asclosely as they will lie, each with an allowance of onlysixteen superficial feet instead of the thirty-six superficial

1 Published by George Philip and Son, London and Liverpool. Price3s. 6d.