865

the Seine 15 francs a day, or any part of a day, for thevehicle only. 2. Conveyance at the request of the communes,the Assistance Publique, and the prefect of police: fromParis to the Department of the Seine and vice versd, firstzone 6 francs, second zone 10 francs ; beyond the Depart-ment of the Seine 10 francs a day or any part of a dayfor the vehicle only. For the ambulances urbaines the

charges are as follows :-1. Conveyance at the request of

private individuals and non-contributory communes : in

Paris 5 francs for accidents and 10 francs for other cases ;from Paris to the Department of the Seine and vice versâ,first zone 10 francs, second zone 25 francs ; beyond theDepartment of the Seine 35 francs a day or any part of aday for the vehicle only. 2. Conveyance at the request ofcontributory communes, the Assistance Publique, and theprefect of police: from Paris to the Department of theSeine, first zone 10 francs, second zone 15 francs ; beyondthe Department 20 francs a day or any part of a day for thevehicle only.

The Boulogne Congress.The twenty-eighth Congress of the French Association for

the Advancement of Science met at Boulogne on Sept. 14tb,Professor Brouardel, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, beingPresident. The President of the Medical Section is ProfessorBouchard. According to a decision arrived at during the lastmeeting of the Congress, which was held at Nantes, a newsection-namely, that of Medical Electricity-was added tothe " proceedings this year, Professor Bergonie being thepresident. This year’s meeting of the Congress is of specialinterest owing to the visit paid to the British Associationduring the meeting at Dover and to the unveiling of a

statue of Duchenne at Boulogne after a brilliant speech byProfessor Brissaud.

’ Medical Men at the Rennes Trial.

Many medical men were connected with the proceedingsat Rennes either as witnesses or spectators. Among theformer were Dr. Peyrot, professor at the Faculty and surgeonto the Lariboisiere Hospital, and Dr. A. Weill, physician tothe Rothschild Hospital, but their evidence was of no greatimportance. Other medical men followed the evidence with

unflagging interest, among whom were Professor Brissaud,physician to the Saint Antoine Hospital ; Dr. Reclus, surgeonto the hospitals and professor of the Faculty; Dr. Widal,physician to the hospitals and professor of the Faculty (allthree of whom gave unremitting attention to Maitre Laboriafter his injury) ; Professor Poncet of Lyons ; and Dr.Pozzi, senator and member of the Academy of Medicine.It should be remembered, too, that the ex-deputyM. Clemenceau, who initiated the revision campaign as

editor of the Aurore, is a doctor of medicine. Previously tothe year 1870 he practised at Montmartre, of which districthe was mayor during the war.

Fire at the Faculty of Medicine.On Sept. 15th, at 5 P.M., a violent explosion took place at

the Faculty of Medicine in the cellars underneath the porter’slodge. The floor above is occupied by the private apartmentsof the dean and the secretary. Close by is the library whichis rich in rare works, especially of ancient authors. Directlyafter the explosion long tongues of flame were seen throughthe pavement lights of the cellars, other fainter explosionswere felt under the roadway of the Boulevard Saint Germain,and, to the great alarm of passers-by, a flame leapt out of theearth at the foot of a tree on the Boulevard. The fire i

brigade arrived almost at the same instant, but by the direction of M. Girard, the head of the Municipal

7

Laboratory, they forebore to pump any water into the fburning basement, while workmen hastily tore up the Istreet over the gas main and cut off the supply. Duringthis time the fire made rapid progress, for the cellars were Ifull of wood and coal. Directly, however, the gas was cut

o

off the fire brigade flooded the cellars with water and rapidly sput the fire out. The damage done was unimportant, but it

d

was only by the greatest promptitude that the destruction b

of the library was averted. Inquiry showed that the origin Aof the excape was due to a workman having driven hispickaxe through a pipe some days ago while laying down a 0

pneumatic tube under the roadway. The gas then travelled ’ along the track of the supply pipes of the building into the acellars when, coming in contact with a pilot light which was kept constantly burning, an explosion took place. rE

,

Notes on News. The - Conseil d’Etat acting during the recess of the

Chambers has voted a credit of 300,000 francs to organisea

proper measure of defence against the possible invasion of

France by the plague. The Committee of the Board of

Health met on Sept. llth to discuss the new measures forprotection which this vote made it possible to take and whichcompletes the decree passed on June llth.

Dr. Jules Simon, formerly physician to the Children’sHospital, is just dead. He left very few writings but had agreat reputation as a physician for diseases of children.

Sept. 19th. ________________

SWITZERLAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

The Cliniques of Zurich.THE university term commencing in October offers good

opportunity for clinical study. The medical wards underProfessor Eichhorst, whose works on General Pathology andTreatment and on Methods of Pbysical Examination arewell known, have 191 beds not counting the small-pox hos-pital which is generally empty. A special building fitted forhydropathic treatment is about to be erected in connexionwith the medical wards. The surgical wards under ProfessorKronlein and Professor Schlatter contain 175 beds. Theformer, of the Langenbeck school, has done good work onthe subject of intracranial hemorrhages and trephining,and his pupil, Professor Schlatter, has of late come quiteto the front (vide Annus Medicus 1898, THE LANCET,Dec. 31st, 1898). The Ophthalmic Clinique, newly erectedsome years ago with 61 beds, is under the direction ofProfessor Haab, whose writings are familiar to Englishmedical students. The Obstetric Hospital has 86 bedsavailable for clinical teaching and is in charge of Pro-fessor Wyder. The Children’s Hospital, under ProfessorOscar Wyss and Dr. von Muralt, has 66 beds andis about to be enlarged by the building of anotherwing to accommodate the same number of patients.Thus there are over 600 beds available for clinicalteaching and the medical students of 1900, who willnumber nearly 400, have every chance of doing good work.These four hospitals are well situated in their own extensivegrounds at an altitude of 1400 feet above sea-level. Theyare almost entirely supported by the Canton of Zurich,voluntary contributions being small and insignificant in

comparison to the large yearly budget. Patients pay fromM. to 7d. a day, the parishes being liable for the amount.if they have small incomes they pay from 10d. to Is. 3d.i day and there are private wards for paying patientsoesides in which the sum of from 5s. to 6s. a day covers allexpenses. Most of the private patients for whom a stay int hospital is desirable, however, go to one of the four well-Lppointed and well-conducted private hospitals in the suburbsof the town.

Typhoid Fever and the Widal Reaction.Dr. Naegeli, assistant physician at Professor Sahli’s clinique

t Bern, has published an interesting account of a typhoidever epidemic which broke out in a pauper asylum of theanton of Bern. Of the 45 inmates 30 received hospitalreatment. The Widal reaction and the microscopic andumerical examination of the different blood-cells proved that2 other inmates who had suffered only from slight symptoms,ich as headache, slight fever, and diarrhoea, and were con-ned to bed either not at all or only for a few days musta.ve had genuine typhoid fever in an abortive form. Theafection could be traced to the man who milked the cows’ the establishment who, as it was afterwards ascertained,lffered from night sweats, bad dreams, and continuousarrhœa for several weeks and completely lost his appetite,it who never discontinued his occupation for a single day.milk infection explains the sudden onset of the epidemic,ere being only one other case in the adjoining villages,ie of which had the same water-supply. Altogether,phoid fever could be diagnosed in 42 out of 45 inmates-quite unusually high percentage pointing to the frequentcurrence of abortive forms of this fever. The Widalaction secures the diagnosis of typhoid fever even monthsber the patient has quite recovered from his slightmptoms.:urich, Sept. 16th.