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growth of Boston and the district surrounding it will con-tinue at the same rate as it has done during the lasttwenty-five years. It is proposed to form a MetropolitanWater District containing a population of some 848,000.The Board report that they have found a thoroughly satis-factory supply for the district in question in the southbranch of the Nashua River above the town of Clinton, andthey point out that should further supplies be needed at afuture date they can be easily procured. A considerable

portion of the Massachusetts report is taken up as usualwith the advice given by the Board to cities or towns whichare about to establish works of water-supply or sewerage. Itis one of the statutory duties of the Board to from time totime consult with and advise authorities, and in the executionof these duties much valuable experimental work is conductedby the Board. For instance, even in the ordinary routinework of the year there have been no fewer than 2006 samplesof water examined chemically and microscopically, whilemuch has also been done in the connexion between the odourand taste of waters and the organisms contained in them.Dr. Thomas Drown, the chemist to the Board, has done goodwork with regard to the composition of deep well waters inBoston and its vicinity, whilst Dr. Sedgewick, the Board’sbiologist, and Mr. Prescott, S.B., have contributed a valuableand useful paper on the bacteria contained in certain groundwaters, including deep wells, in which they have demonstratedthat these waters are by no means as free from bacteria as hasgenerally been supposed. The writers show that even deeptubular well waters are not free from bacteria, and theypromise in a subsequent paper a report upon the probablesource of the bacteria and the species present. It seems,however, that but few liquefying colonies presented them-selves and that there was an abundance of chromogenicorganisms, facts which, as they point out, tend to strengthenfaith in waters of this description. Many of our readersare probably familiar with the extremely valuable workdone by the Massachusetts Board in connexion with thepurification of sewage and water at the Lawrence Experi-mental Station, and they will be glad to hear that theseexperiments have been continued during 1894 and that theresults are set forth in the volume under review. Itcan only here be stated that the experiments include

investigations upon the composition of sewage, of the effectsof precipitation and sedimentation upon bacterial purity, andof the influence of sewage composition and of temperatureupon nitrification. The effects as regards water filtrationof using coarser filters at high rates of filtration and thebacterial effects of such treatment have been gone into, andthere is also a valuable paper by Mr. Clarke on the physicaland chemical properties of sand in relation to the filtering ofwater.

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THE MAUSER RIFLE IN THE CUBAN WAR

DR. ENRIQUB PEDRAZA, a Spanish military surgeon, con-tributes to the Rezista de Ciencias -31-idicas of Havanna an

interesting article on the effects of the Mauser projectile asseen by him in the present war. He points out the greatdifference which exists between this and the older forms of

projectile as the Remington and Freire Brul. These latter

being much larger and having a smaller initial velocitycause large openings and carry septic materials into thewounds they make which are therefore very difficult torender aseptic on the field and consequently when theycome under proper treatment in a hospital are in a conditionwhich is very difficult to manage, especially when, as is

frequently the case, the hasmorrhage has necessitated theuse of perchloride of iron which increases the size of thewound or when a bone has been hit, and, as usually happens,even at distances of 100 or 150 yards, is shattered.The Mauser projectile as issued in the Spanish Army is

3 centimetres in length and 7 millimetres in diameter, andconsists of a hard nucleus of lead and antimony coated withsteel, outside which is a coating of nickel and copper alloy,the whole weighing 13 7 grammes and having an initialvelocity of 632 metres per second, which enables it to piercea Krupp steel plate 10’5 millimetres in thickness at a dis-tance of 50 metres. Such a projectile ought, it might bethought, to produce a clean and minute wound with littlehaemorrhage, easy to close on the field and therefore likelyto heal rapidly in hospital, more especially as the bones

would be bored rather than shattered and as there would belittle chance of foreign matter being introduced into thewound by the projectile itself. These expectations are,however, by no means always realised, and the firstfew cases of primary wounds from a Mauser pro-jectile which Dr. Pedraza saw at Manzanillo verygreatly surprised and disappointed him. With longerexperience, however, he learned that the benign resultshe had expected to see do occur, but only when theenemy is 150 yards or more distant When the patient isshot at from 10 to 70 yards the destruction of the tissues isvery great, and it is this that has given rise to the suspicionthat explosive bullets were being used, especially as theorifices of entrance and outlet are sometimes so small thatthey can scarcely be seen. The explanation suggested is thatthe shock which the enormous velocity of the projectileproduces on entering the soft parts causes them to behaveas a fluid or semi-fluid does when enclosed in a boxand "shot through," the hydraulic pressure bursting thesides, or, if an opening be left, driving a column ofthe fluid through it. As to how far any destructionof the projectile itself may be a contributing factorhe has no direct evidence, but from specimens he has seen ofthe Wagner and Mannlicher projectiles after experimentsmade by Dr. Cardenal, which he showed at a lecture beforethe Cataluna Academy of Medicine, he thinks it probablethat the projectiles do become more or less disintegratedwhen they hit at short distances.

In striking contrast to such wounds are those produced at150 yards or more by the Mauser rifle. Here the entranceand outlet are very small and there is but little evidence ofinternal destruction, even bones being tunnelled throughwithout fracture, and as aseptic treatment is possible fromthe first a rapid recovery may usually be anticipated. Thus,in one case where the projectile entered the abdomen in theeighth intercostal space on the right side, passing throughthe stomach, and coming out three fingers’ breadth on theleft of the sternum, though the ninth rib was fractured andthe patient suffered from vomiting, hasmatemesis, and fever,he very soon improved and recovered completely. Inanother case the projectile entered the left frontaleminence, passing out by the right parotid region. The

patient suffered from concussion of the brain, ecchymosis ofboth the right eyelids, with some difficulty of vision of thateye, but recovered in twenty-six days. If, therefore, itcould be arranged that fighting should never occur at lessthan 200 yards distance the Mauser would, Dr. Pedraza.thinks, be a most humane weapon.

THE ASSOCIATION OF FELLOWS OF THEROYAL COLLEGE OF SURGEONS

OF ENGLAND.

A MEETING of the Committee of the Association ofFellows of the Royal College of Surgeons of England washeld on the 18th ult. at 25, Grosvenor-street, W., Mr.T. Holmes, Vice-President, being in the chair.Mr. Percy Dunn, honorary secretary, reported that he had

received a reply from the President, forwarded through theSecretary to the College, to the resolution passed at the meet-ing of the Committee on May 6th. The reply was to the effectthat it had appeared to the President that the Committeehad misinterpreted or had been misinformed as to the pro-ceedings of the Council at the meeting in February, as nosuch agreement as that referred to in the resolution hadbeen arrived at by the Council either at the meeting inFebruary or at any subsequent meeting. It was decided thatno action should be taken regarding this communication.With regard to the resolution of the Council of theCollege in favour of polling the Fellows on the questionof the representation of the Members on the Councilthe following resolution was unanimously adopted :-"The Committee of the Association of Fellows, under-standing that the Council of the College of Surgeons havenominated a Committee for the purpose of ascertaining theopinion of the Fellows on the question of the Members’

representation on the Council, respectfully suggest thefollowing as the points which should be submitted to eachFellow: 1. Are you in favour of giving to the Membersdirect representation on the Council 2. If so, do you think

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that such representatives should be Fellows only, or wouldyou accept Members as representatives ? 3. What number of,such representatives would you admit ? 4. Should they be inaddition to the present Council "

" A copy of this resolutionwas directed to be sent to the Secretary of the College withthe request that it be laid before the Council at the nextmeeting.

It was also reported that the vacancies on the Councilthis year would be caused by the retirement of Mr. Cadge,Mr. Bryant, and Mr. Pick. It was understood that Mr.Cadge did not intend to offer himself for re-election, butthat Mr. Bryant and Mr. Pick would again come forward. Itwas pointed out that Mr. Bryant had already served twoconsecutive periods of eight years each and had passed thechair and that the Association had advocated the ineligibilityof Councillors for re-election after they had served two fullperiods of eight years. The results of such re-elections hadnot been at all satisfactory. The honorary secretary wasinstructed to communicate with Mr. Victor Horsley with aview to ascertain his intention as to becoming a candidatefor the Council in July next. A similar instruction was givenwith respect to a provincial Fellow. A long discussion thenfollowed regarding the action which it would be expedientfor the Association to take in the event of certain othercandidates coming forward. Ultimately the discussion wasadjourned until the next meeting of the Committee.

THE TREATMENT OF HABITUALDRUNKARDS AND THE "CURATEL"

PROCEDURE.

A MOST interesting report on " The Treatment of

Habitual Drunkards in Austria and the Curatel’ Pro-cedure " has just been issued by the Foreign Office in its" Miscellaneous Series." From this report it would appearthat very little legislation on the subject of drink anddrunkards has actually taken place in Austria, drunkards

only coming under the law in that country as " spendthrifts "or " idiots." The process of "Curatel," whereby the courtappoints a curator or administrator for persons who do notlook after their own affairs and who are unable to defendtheir rights, is made applicable not only to children,lunatics, and idiots, but also to those who, having beendeclared "spendthrifts" " by a magistrate, have beendeprived of the administration of their property. A man

may be judicially termed a "spendthrift" " if it appears onexamination of the charge that he is running through hisproperty in a senseless way and that he is exposing his

family to future destitution by contracting loans under reck-less or ruinous conditions.In some kingdoms, as in Galicia and Lodomeria, there is a

special law for the prevention of drunkenness, and one

section provides that on being convicted of drunkennessthree times in the course of one year, the district authoritiesmay forbid the offender to visit public-houses or liquor shopsin the neighbourhood of his domicile for the period of oneyear, under pain of fine or imprisonment. The inadvisabilityof mixing mere drunkards with the insane in asylumsis fully recognised by the Austrian authorities. Last yeara Bill for the erection of public asylums or establishmentsfor the cure and reform of drunkards was brought into theReichsrath by the Ministry of Justice. These institutionsare intended for the reception of (1) those who have beenjudicially punished for drunkenness three times in the courseof one year; (2) those mentally affected owing to habitual orperiodical abuse of alcohol who have been admitted intohospitals or lunatic asylums and who, although they haverecovered their sanity, have not sufficient self-command toresist the temptation to drink ; and (3) those who, owing tohabitual or periodical abuse of alcohol, endanger the moral,physical, or financial security of themselves or their relations.Provision is also made for the compulsory retention ofpatients for a period which may not exceed two years andplacing the police and judicial authorities at the disposal ofthe administration of the asylum in order to recover fugitivesfrom the same. Consideration is given to the proper safe-guarding of the individual from the illegal and undue

application of the various processes upon which detention inan asylum may be carried out.The provisions of the Bill are worked out’very much upon

IfJ1:Ujjx, iiUSJt-iTAlj. lJUNE G, iuur5.

the lines and recommendations of the Home Office Depart-mental Committee which sat in 1891-92, and we hope thatwith a judicious and firm application of the " Curatel " pro-cedure not only will the unfortunate victims of this sad

propensity hail the results with gratification, but the publicalso will be constrained to withdraw their dread " bogey " of"interference with the liberty of the subject " when they seewhat an influence for good the new procedure shows itself tobe. After all, what sort of "liberty" is sottishness, andwhat sort of a "subject" is the habitual and recklessdrunkard.Voluntary inmates of these institutions for drunkards are

to be on the same footing as those who are compulsorilyplaced in them.

’

THE MIDDLESEX HOSPITAL.

THE quarterly general Court of Governors of the MiddlesexHospital was held on May 28th, Mr. T. W. Nunn, F.R.C.S.,in the chair. Among those present were the Right Hon. SirR. Thompson, K.C.B. (chairman of the weekly board), SirA. T. Watson, Bart., Mr. F. Hoare, Lieutenant-Colonel T.Lambert Mears, Mr. J. G. Noel, C.B., and others. The

report of the weekly board states that the building of theconvalescent home at Clacton-on-Sea is progressing satis-factorily and that the home will be ready for occupationin July. A fete in celebration of this event will take placein the grounds of the hospital on July 1st and will be in-augurated by their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchessof York. It is estimated that the total cost of the con-valescent home will be nearly <S30,000, of which amount abouttwo-thirds has already been paid from funds at the disposalof the Samaritan Fund, aided by an advance of <E16,000from the Spicer trustees on mortgage, and a loan of Z2000from the bankers. Allusion is made to the losses sustained

by the hospital in the deaths of Baron de Hirsch, vice-presi-dent, and Mr. W. Debenham, for nineteen years a member ofthe board. To Mr. Debenham the credit of establishing theconvalescent home must be in great measure attributed. The

Right Hon. Viscount Gort has been elected vice-president,and Mr. F. Debenham has accepted the vacant seat on theboard. The retirement of Mr. George Lawson from theactive staff, after a service of thirty-three years, is an-

nounced, and his appointment as consulting surgeon recom-mended to the Court. Mr. Pearce Gould has been elected tothe vacant office of surgeon. An important paragraph ofthe report bears on medical education. It states that’’ the Board are proceeding with the negotiations for theamalgamation of the hospital and medical school, and assoon as a report has been received from the subcommitteeappointed to consider the financial clauses the board antici-pate that they will be in a position to submit a scheme in acomplete form for consideration by the Court of Governors."Dr. Arthur Robinson, late of Owens College, has been

appointed lecturer on anatomy, and Dr. R. A. Young lectureron physiology. The plans of the new cancer wing have beenapproved. After reference to other matters the report closeswith a statement to the effect that during the quarter endingMarch 31st 487 medical and 599 surgical patients weretreated in the hospital, 77 had died and 302 remained inhospital on April lst. During the same period 10,477 patientswere treated in the out-patient department, the total numberof attendances giving an average of 305 patients seen daily.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE NEWPHOTOGRAPHY.

WE continue to receive from week to week communica-tions on subjects illustrating the value of the " x " rays insurgical diagnosis. In the main, however, the applicationsappear to be restricted to the examination of hands andlimbs and no practical success appears yet to have attendedthe exploration of deeper parts, save in the work of Mr.William Turner, the Surgical Registrar of King’s College,London. This gentleman has made some very interestingradiographs of joints and of the processes of union after - z