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be the particular customer who brings his own materials tobe made up. You shall take my measure, cut out the cloth

(real cloth, you know), stitch it together, and try it on ; andthen I’ll find fault like a real customer, and you shall alter ituntil it fits, and when it fits beautifully that counts one toyou." To the ordinary mind it would seem that the

guardians might have offered Dr. Dolan the post of medicalofficer to the new infirmary at arise, on his present salary, of1100 per annum. But they did not do this, hence the

advertisement.

THE DISTRIBUTION OF PLAGUE.

A TELEGRAM from the Governor of Cape Colony, receivedat the Colonial Office on August 7th, states that for the week

ending August 3rd the cases of plague in the Cape Peninsulawere as follows: Malays, 1 ; Europeans, coloured persons,Indians, Chinese, and natives, 0. Corpses found, 0. The

deaths were: Malays, 1 ; Indians, 1 ; Europeans, coloured

persons, Chinese, and natives, 0 ; total 2. The total

cases up to August 3rd were: Europeans, 186 ; coloured

persons, 330 ; Malays, 62 ; Indians, 14 ; Chinese,1 ; natives, 142 ; total, 735. The total deaths up to

August 3rd were: Europeans, 64 ; coloured persons. 175 ;Malays, 45 ; Indians, 12 ; Chinese, 0 ; natives, 61 ; total, 357.At Port Elizabeth for the week ending August 3rd the totalcases were : natives, 1 ; no corpses found and no deaths.The total cases to August 3rd were : Europeans, 7 ; colouredpersons, 7; Indians, 2 ; Chinese, 1; Japanese, 1: natives, 16 ;total 34. The total deaths to August 3rd were : Europeans, 1 ;coloured persons, 4 ; Indians, 1 ; Chinese, 1 ; natives, 6 ;total, 13. The total cases of plague in all other places were :Europeans, 5 : colonred persons. 1 ; natives, 4 ; total, 10.The total deaths were : Europeans, 1 ; natives, 1 ; total, 2.One case in perscns under naval and military control

occurred in the person of a native from the remount

- camp. The Port Elizabeth area of infection remains

unchanged. In Mauritius, for the week ending August 8th,no cases of plague had occurred. In all Egypt during theweek ending August 4th 6 cases of plague and 1 death fromthe disease have been reported. Of these, 5 cases occurred

among natives and 1 case and 1 death among Europeans{the latter an Italian fisherman without domicile). 3 cases

were reported from Zagazig, 2 cases from Port Said, and 1’ease and 1 death from Alexandria.

THE OVERCROWDING OF ISOLATION HOSPITALS.

UNDER the heading of I - Scarlet Fever in South Shields.and Jarrow" a correspondent of a South Shields contemporarydraws attention to the overcrowding which limited isolationaccommodation may at times cause. He mentions more

particularly the much-to-be-condemned admission of too

many patients-a practice which is liable, as he points out,to lead to more than one child occupying a single bed.

In our view, such a proceeding as this is open to

.severe criticism, and we trust that it but very rarely-occurs. The fact that children at their own homes

often occupy the same bed does not in any way justifysuch a course in a public hospital to which parentsare often persuaded to send their children for the

safety of the public health. If it be suggested that

under any circumstances children are better at a fever

tiospital than in their own homes we demur altogetherto the proposition. It is probable that in the vast majorityof cases children in a fever hospital are better housed andlooked after than they would be at home, but this iscot an invariable rule, and if two children were allowedto occupy one bed such advantage would be considerablycurtailed. It seems to us that it is the duty of a medical-officer of health, or of a medical superintendent of a fever- hospital, to withstand as far as he possibly can any such

overcrowding as is here in question. A public official is

often placed is a very difficult position in this respectwith a sanitary authority which does not recognisesufficiently the difficulties and which sees no reason for

adequate air-space for each patient. But it is never-

theless incumbent upon the medical officer to take upa firm stand and to point out that any responsibility withregard to overcrowding must rest with the district council orhospital authority ; indeed, there might be advantage if

medical officers were compelled to report every case of

hospital overcrowding to the Local Government Board, inorder that such officers might relieve themselves of responsi-bility as far as relief in this sense is practicable. If the

sanitary authority compels or persuades a parent to allow hisfever-stricken child to be isolated for the public safety thatauthority is bound to accord to such child every protectionagainst infection of whatever character. The records of the

Metropolitan Asylums Board bear ample testimony to thebad effects of overcrowding in the scarlet fever wards, andwe believe that the medical superintendents of the Boardhave made a stand against undue demands upon their space.Briefly stated, overcrowding means increased risk of infec-

tion, a chance of less attention in nursing, and finally,enhanced liability to certain complications.

THE SALARY OF A MEDICAL OFFICER IN THEHIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS.

THE following copy of an advertisement from the Glasgo7vHerald of August 7th, 1901, has been sent to us for

comment :-

1lB/fEDICAL.-’Vanted, by the Parish Council ofIVAL Loclil)rooit-i, a Medical 0 flice-r. Salary at the rate of .B125 perannum, exclusive of 10 paid h5- County Council for services as

Medical OHicer of Health. Comfortable house and garden, which mustb3 occupied hy the gentleman appointed and provided at a reasonablerent. Applications, with testimonials, to be lodged with D. S. Ross,Inspector of Pcor, un or before the 19th prox.

Ullapool, 20th July, 1901.

We do not recommend any medical man to apply for thisvacancy without making full inquiry from the previousmedical officer as to the work to be done. We are informedthat the salary is totally inadequate, while out of the pittancea rent has to be returned to the parish.

THE King has appointed Sir Francis R. Cruise, M. D. Dub.Fellow and ex-President of the Royal College of Physicians ofIreland, to be one of the honorary physicians to His Majestyin Ireland, in the room of Dr. William Moore, deceased.

THE next Congress and Exhibition of the Sanitary Institutewill be held in Manchester in the second week of September,1902, under the presidency of the Right Honourable the EarlEgerton of Tatton. -

THE report of the Indian Plague Commission is now on itsway to India for presentation to the Indian Government.When this has been done it will be laid before Parliament

and issued. ____

MR. JOHN BROWN, L. R. C. P. Irel., has been promoted fromHonorary Associate of the Order of the Hospital of St. Johnof Jerusalem to be Knight of Grace.

ASYLUM REPORTS.

Dundee Royal Asylum (Annual Report for 1900).-Theaverage number of patients resident during the year was 411,comprising 171 males and 240 females. During the year125 patients were admitted, of whom 55 were males and 70were females. Of these, three males and 15 females werenot first admissions. Dr. James Rorie, the medical