587

phenomenon " and recommended as the most effectual meansfor the prevention of such cases the isolation of convalescentsfrcm acute cases prior to discharge from hospital. The

careful supervision of cleanliness in all patients about to bedischarged should also be insisted upon, and under this

routine would be included the freedom of the head fromlice or other vermin.

__

THE HUNTERIAN SOCIETY.

THE annual Hunterian oration will be delivered in theLondon Institution, E C., on Wednesday, Feb llth, at

830 P.M., by Mr. T. H. Openshaw, C.M.G. The subjectof the oration is "John Hunter : His Influence on Surgery,with some Remarks on the Treatment of Appendicitis."Any member of the medical profession can be present at thedelivery of the oration. The annual dinner of the societywill take place on Friday, Feb. 13th, at 7 P. M. in the

Trocadero Restaurant. ___

SHELL-FISH AND SEWAGE CONTAMINATION.

THE question of the pollution of shell-fish with sewageis, we are glad to see, not going to be dropped. Indeed,the subject is being discussed throughout the country by allmunicipal authorities and we may hope that as a result someimportant step in sanitation is likely to be advanced. In a

recent report presented to the sanitary committee of the cor-poration of the City of London the medical officer of health,Dr. W. Collingridge, publishes the results of a very interestinginquiry into this question, while it is established beyond dis-pute by the experiments of Dr. Klein that cockles and oystersare frequently polluted with sewage. Further, there can beno doubt that shell-nsh in general are often the origin of anoutbreak of enteric fever. Similarly the public health

committee of the London County Council presented a longreport upon the subject at a meeting of the Council onFeb. 3rd, and after some discussion the recommendationof the committee was adopted, "that a letter be addressedto the Local Government Board expressing the Council’s

hope that in the interests of the public health the

Board will as soon as possible take steps to obtain an amend-ment of the law so as to prohibit under heavy penalties thelaying down of all edible forms of sbell-nsh in sewage-polluted creeks or other dangerous localities and the sale ofsuch shell-fish for human consumption, and that all un-

polluted layings, fattening beds, and storage ponds at

present in use may be protected from pollution by sewage byany person or sanitary authority.’’

THE LATE DR. FEDERICO RUBIO Y GALI.

Dr. Federico Rubio y Gali of Seville died on August 31st,1902, at the age of 75 years, as mentioned in THE LANCETof Oct. llth, p. 1023. He was one of the most eminent

surgeons in Spain and in recognition of his great reputationand high professional position he was among the dis-

tinguished foreigners who received the honorary diplomaof F.R.C.S. Eng. on the occasion of the centenary of the

Royal College of Surgeons of England. Another notable

Spanish medical man, Dr. Salvador Cardenal Fernandezof Barcelona, received the honorary Fellowship at thesame time. 1 Dr. Rubio’s obsequies were solemnised at

Seville on Dec. 6th in the presence of a great con-

course of sympathetic friends and amid the animatedscenes of an impressive ceremonial. We have received a

long and minutely detailed account of the proceedings, forwhich we are indebted to a correspondent, who makesparticular mention of the kind reception given to him by Dr.Ramon de la Sota y Lastra, Dean of the Seville Medical

Faculty, Dr. Laborde, who retains pleasant memories of two

1 THE LANCET, August 4th, 1900, p. 339.

years spent at Guy’s Hospital, and Dr. Lasso de la Vega. Thecompany, consisting of graduates and students of Cadiz andSeville, assembled in the large academic hall of the schoolfounded in Seville by the deceased. Led by the Dean thegathering passed into the street and so into the Church ofthe Mother of God, which is the chapel of the medicalschool. The centre of this long narrow building, roofedwith carved wood, was occupied by a stately catafalque,four squares of black and gold terminating above in afuneral urn. On the conclusion of Divine service the cnm-

pany returned to the large hall where eloquent and touchingaddresses were delivered by Dr. Laborde and Dr. Lasso dela Vega.

-

CHOREA ELECTRICA.

CHOREA electrica, a rare nervous disease of children, wasfirst described by Dubini in 1849. Most of our knowledge ofit, however, dates from the observations made by Henoch20 years ago. In the Berliner Klinische Wochenschrift ofDec. 22nd, 1902, Dr. Ludwig Bruns of Hanover gives an,

account of the main varieties of this disease based on a studyof 30 cases. The disease is found to cecur exclusively inchildren of both sexes, the ages varying from nine to 1&

years. The characteristic attacks consist of sudden muscularshocks or contractions limited to the neck and shou’der

muscles-viz., the sterno-mastoid, levator anguli scapula,pectorales major and minor, and the trapezius. The muscularcontractions are sharp and sudden "as though induced

by an electric shock "-hence the name chorea electrica.

The disease, adds Dr. Bruns, is not related to Sydenham’schorea. He recognises three varieties of chorea electrica

-viz., chorea electrica proper, a hysterical variety, andan epileptic variety. The hysterical variety of thisaffection is readily cured by the therapeutics ordinarilyemployed for hysteria. He records a case of this as

exemplified in a girl, aged nine years, the child of a highlyneurotic mother. Separation from the mother with firm

and judicious management soon cured her of the trouble,The epileptic variety is very refractory to treatment, as thecondition is due to a grave lesion of the cerebral hemi-

spheres. Hydrotherapy, an open-air life, and a diet that isdigestible and free from irritating or highly stimulatingingredients are among the general methods of treatment forthe epileptic form and the same remarks apply to choreaelectrica proper, which is rather more amenable to suchtreatment,

THE BRITISH GYNÆCOLOGICAL SOCIETY.

THE Fellows of the British Gynxcological Scciety and theirfriends attended the annual dinner on Jan. 29th at the Cafe

Monico, Piccadilly-circus, London, W., in large numbers.Sir John Halliday Croom, President of the Royal Collegeof Surgeons of Edinburgh, was accorded an enthusiastic

reception on taking the chair as president of the society.Dr. S. Buckley, President of the North of England Obstetricaland Gynæcological Society, in the course of his speechwhile giving the toast of " The British GynaecologicalSociety," discoursed on the fame of the names that

occurred in the lists of its officers. The society, he said,was known throughout the gynaecological world and be

described how the formation of the North of EnglandObstetrical and Gynaecological Society had been followed byexcellent results in securing good fellowship amongst itsmembers. Sir John Halliday Croom, in acknowledging thistoast, well sustained his reputation for wit and humour.The next speech was by Dr. H. Macnaughton- Jones who wasintrusted with the task of proposing the toast of "Univer-sities and Medical Corporations " He deplored the disappear-ance of the Queen’s University in Cork. He showed how manybrilliant men had been trained for useful service to the State