992 MEDICAL OFFICERS IN THE HIGHLANDS AND ISLANDS.

admitted to these hospitals, and three deaths were registeredin London during the week ended on Oct. 5th. As is well

known, mild cases of modified small-pox are sometimessupposed to be varicella (chicken-pox). With the view of

meeting this difficulty the Corporation of London, as the

sanitary authority of the Port of London, have given noticethat the provisions of the Public Health (London) Act, 1891,with respect to infectious diseases shall apply in the port tochicken-pox from Oct. 25th until the close of the year. TheSt. Pancras Borough Council have also made chicken-pox anotifiable disease for six months, beginning from Oct. 12th.

MEDICAL OFFICERS IN THE HIGHLANDS ANDISLANDS.

THE Glasgow Herald of Oct. 4th contains the following iadvertisement :-

Medical Officer and Pnblic Vaecinator wantedfor the PARISH of STRATH, to take up duty not laterthan 19th December, 1901. The salary as Medical Officer and PublicVaccinator to be at the rate of B110 per annum. Other appointmentsmay be made. There is a private practice in a population of about2200. Gaelic a recommendation.—Further particulars can be had fromClerk to the Parish Council, Broadford, Skye, and applications to belodged with the Chairman, Kilbride House, Broadford, Skye, not laterthan 23rd October, 1901.

The parish of Strath is extensive in point of area and has apopulation of about 2200. We learn that the privatepractice " is of little value, while the other appointments

"

are of little more than nominal value. We can only warnintending applicants to make very sure of three things-fixity of tenure, a free annual holiday, and an adequatesalary. We do not consider £110 adequate.

THE LONDON HOSPITAL LODGE OF FREEMASONS.

THE London Hospital Lodge of Freemasons, No. 2845, wasconsecrated on Wednesday, Oct. 2nd, at the Hotel Cecil,Strand, London, by the Grand Secretary, V.W. Bro. EdwardLetchworth, F. S. A., P. G. D. The occasion was in every waya notable one, a very large number of Freemasons connectedmedically or otherwise with hospitals being present. In the

ceremony of consecration the Grand Secretary was assistedby the following Grand Officers : W. Bro. Clement Godson,M.D., P.G.D. (as S.W.), W. Bro. Alfred Cooper, F.R.C.S.,P.G.D. (as J.W.), Rev. Sir Borrodaile Savory, Bart.

(Grand Chaplain), V.W. Bro. Frank Richardson, P.G.D.

(as Director of Ceremonies), and W. Bro. H. W. Kiallmark,M.R.C.S., P. G. D. (as I.G.). The following is a list of

the officers appointed : W. Bro. A. Ernest Sansom, M.D.,F.R.C.P., Worshipful Master ; Bro. Frederick Eve, F.R.C.S.,Senior Warden; Bro. F. J. Smith, M.D., F.R.C.P., JuniorWarden; Bro. T. Gilbart Smith, M.D., S. D. ; Bro. R. J. Probyn-Williams, M.D., J.D. ; Bro. Percy Furnivall, F.R.C.S., I.G. ;Bro. T. H. Openshaw, F. R. C. S., Secretary ; Bro. S. L. Martin,Treasurer; Bro. G. Schorstein, IVI. D., Steward ; and Bro.G. F. Rogers, M.D., Director of Ceremonies. The foundersof the lodge subsequently entertained the consecratingofficers and their numerous other guests at a banquet. The

Worshipful Master, in replying to the toast of his health,observed that the key-word of this lodge was Heartiness.The work of the senior well-wishers of the hospital in

the forming of the lodge was rendered with the heartiest

zeal, and the willing response of the juniors showed that apressing want was supplied. The cooperation of the mostrepresentative Freemasons was accorded in a most generousand hearty manner. He desired to express his especialobligations to Bro. T. H. Openshaw, C.M.G., who was

secretary of the lodge, and to Bro. Probyn-Williams, whohad taken early steps with much energy in the severe workattending the formation of the lodge ; but one and all workedheartily. The London Hospital is the fifth of the great metro-politan medical charities to attach to itself a masonic lodge,its predecessors being St. Bartholomew’s (Rahere), St. Mary’s

(Sancta Maria), Middlesex (Middlesex Hospital), and CharingCross (Chère Reine), whilst, as announced in another column,St. Thomas’s will shortly add to the list a lodge to be-called the Cheselden. The West London Hospital also haa lodge named the Cavendish, and we must by no meansomit to mention the Æsculapius, which is not a hospitabut a purely medical lodge and, we understand, enjoys muchsuccess. We wit-h the London Hospital Lodge a prosperousand useful career. The first Worshipful Master, Dr. Sansom,a well-known and esteemed member of our profession, is.

equally well known and esteemed in the masonic world, andunder his experienced guidance the lodge starts with thebest of auspices.

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THE ROLE OF SYPHILIS, ALCOHOLISM, ANDUNHEALTHY OCCUPATIONS OF THE

PARENTS IN THE ETIOLOGY OFIDIOCY.

I IN a brief but important communication to the French

Congress of Alienists and Neurologists made by Dr. Bourne-ville of the Bicetre, Paris, and published in the Revite

Neurologique of August 30th, it its stated that out of a totalof 2072 boys suffering from chronic diseases of the nervous

system (idiocy, imbecility, epilepsy, and various paralyses)the presence of hereditary syphilis was ascertained in.20 cases, or about 1 per cent. Among 482 girls there wereonly two cases of hereditary syphilis, or 0’2 per cent.

Alcoholism, on the other hand, was a more prolific cause ofdisease, its presence being traced in over 40 per cent. of

the cases. Thus of the total number of patients, both mal<

and female, the family histories showed that in 36.5 percent. of the cases alcoholic intemperance was present in thefather and in 3 ’0 per cent. in the mother, while in the rest-viz., 1’5 per cent.-it was found in both parents. Among theunhealthy occupations in which the parents of the patientwere engaged were the making of phosphorus matches,working in copper and in mercury, and especially the manu-facture of white lead.

____

THE MEMORIAL TO SIR THOMAS BROWNE.

FOR some little time past a scheme has been on foot for theerection of a memorial to that bright ornament of the

medical profession, Sir Thomas Browne. The memorial is totake the form of a statue to be erected in Browne’s native

city of Norwich, and in our issue of March 2nd, 1901, p. 649,we were enabled to announce that a sum of over &pound;600 had

already been received towards the expense of the statue. A

correspondent now informs us that he has heard that a sumof between &pound;300 and &pound;400 is still wanting. The RoyalCollege of Physicians of London have voted a subscrip-tion, but comparatively few of the members of the medicalprofession have individually supported the movement.

This is not as it should be. In our issue of Jan. 12th,1901, p. 113, we commented upon the action of Colchester,or rather the medical men of Colchester, in erecting amemorial to the memory of William Gilbert who laid thefoundations of the science of magneto-electricity. We-there pointed out how few memorials of our great men ofscience were to be found in this country and urged themedical profession as well as other members of the bodypolitic to follow the example set by the medical professionof Colchester. Sir Thomas Browne comes perhaps in a.

different category to Gilbert, Sydenham, or Harvey. He didno great scientific work, so far as we know, but it is onrecord that ’’ he was much resorted to for his skill in

physic." He lived a quiet unostentatious life and did goodby stealth. He was not free from the faults of his age andbelieved in the burning of witches. But despite this he wa6not unduly credulous, as his treatise "Pseudodoxia

Epidemica very well shows. In an age when religioua

993NEW LIVERPOOL ANTI-MALARIA CAMPAIGN ON THE GOLD COAST.

differences were very bitter he maintained a most tolerantmind. He was an earnest Churchman, a good friend, andone .always ready to succour his neighbour, while by hiswritings he has enriched English literature with treasures

which will be a possession for ever. Certain passages in

the Hydriotaphia, in the " Letter to a Friend," and inthe Religio Medici" have a music and majesty of dictionwhich can be perhaps only paralleled by portions of the

Prayer-book or the Authorised Version of the Bible. There

are, we know only too well, many calls on our purses.

Obligatory claims such as rates and taxes are more pressingthan ever and coincidently many charities are suffering. But

the sum required is not large. If every practitioner in

England alone were to give but ls. respectively twice themoney required would be raised. It is not too much to hopethat many of us could afford 10 or even 20 times Is. Sub-

scriptions may be sent to Mr. Frederic R. Eaton, King-street House, Upper King-street, Norwich, who is the

honorary secretary of the memorial fund.

NEW LIVERPOOL ANTI-MALARIA CAMPAIGN ONTHE GOLD COAST.

OWING to the generosity of a philanthropic merchantwho desires to keep his name private, and to promises ofassistance made to Major Ronald Ross by His ExcellencyMajor Nathan, C.M.S., Governor of the Gold Coast, theLiverpool School of Tropical Medicine is immediatelysending out Dr. Charles Balfour Stewart to undertake a

campaign against malaria in that colony. He will proceedfirst to Sierra Leone in order ta study the methods now beingemployed there with such success by Dr. Logan Taylor,to which we refer in another column, and will first attack thedisease in the town of Cape Coast Castle, where, according tomany reports, there is at present a considerable mortalityamong Europeans. Dr. Balfour Stewart will have full charge,under Major Ross’s general direction, of the operations on theGold Coast, and will probably be soon furnished with assist-ants. The line he will no doubt adopt will be that of drainageof the ground and clearing out broken vessels of water from thehouses by means of large gangs of workmen, as has been donein Freetown. He is engaged for one year, but will probablyremain as long as his services are needed for the great workwhich he is called upon to conduct in this rising and alreadyimportant colony. He will shortly be able to pay specialattention to the gold-mines, but his movements will be

largely determined by the wishes of the Governor. Anti-

malaria operations will thus shortly be in full swing all downthe coast from the Gambia to Lagos-three of the coloniesbeing dealt with by the Liverpool School of TropicalMedicine.

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THE FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONGRESS OF PHYSIOLOGISTS.

THIS Congress was held at Turin from Sept. 17th to the21st. The attendance was large-more than double that ofany of the previous meetings. The inaugural address wasdelivered to an audience of more than 200 members by thePresident, Professor Angelo Mosso of Turin, who proposedthat the Congress as its first duty should appoint SirMichael Foster of Cambridge honorary life president in

recognition of the important share which he had takenin the foundation of International Congresses of Physio-logy. This proposal was, as we have already recorded,carried unanimously, as was likewise Professor Kronecker’sthat a bronze plaque with a suitable inscription expressiveof their grateful acknowledgments of his services shouldlee presented to Sir Michael Foster. It was also resolvedto send a telegram to the Queen Mother in the name

of physiologists of all nations thanking her for the

impulse given to the study of human physiology through the

construction at her initiative of the physiological laboratoryon the top of Monte Rosa. Another telegram was despatchedto the Minister of Public Instruction, Signor Nasi, thanking:.him for a subsidy which he had granted towards the

organisation of the same laboratory. The scientific com-munications presented to the Congress were so many thatthose actually read had to be cut down to about one-half of.the total number. The real business began on the second.day of the meeting. Amongst the most interesting and wellreceived of the papers contributed on that day were those.of Professor Langley of Cambridge and Professor Sherring-ton of Liverpool, the former being on the Action of the

Inhibitory Cardiac Fibres of the Vagus, the latter on the

Comparative Excitability of the Cerebral Cortex in Monkeys.and in Anthropoid Apes, a short abstract of which appeared.in our issue of Oct. 5th. On the third day Mr. W. M. Bayliss.of London demonstrated certain new and remarkable facts,which he had observed in regard to the functions of.the posterior spinal nerve roots in the production of.

vascular dilatation. Professor Langley on the same daygave another important demonstration regarding the action.of nicotine on the substance of nerve ganglia, and Dr. Wallerof London exhibited numerous photograms illustrating the,electro-motor phenomena in various organs (the skin, the eye,and the electric organ of fishes), tending to show that everyliving tissue has the property of developing an electric current.capable of detection by the galvanometer. Various experi-ments were shown in confirmation of the theory. During.this day’s sitting the presentation to Sir Michael Foster of thecommemorative plaque was made amidst much enthusiasm.On the fourth and last day Dr. Locke of London arousedmuch interest by a beautiful demonstration of a method ofkeeping alive a rabbit’s heart after its removal from the

body by means of an artificial circulation through the cardiac-vessels. It would occupy too much space to refer to the

many other communications of equal importance by physio-logists of other nationalities, and we have therefore spokerw.only of the English contributions. For scientific results this.

Congress will compare favourably with any of its pre---decessors, while for the interest of its proceedings it willstand out before all of them on account of the remarkable-number of practical demonstrations and experiments withwhich each paper was illustrated. Among the socialattractions of the Congress were a banquet, with the usuallong toast and speech list, and a reception at the CommunalPalace by the Syndic of Turin.

PROGRESS OF THE ANTI-MOSQUITO CAMPAIGNIN SIERRA LEONE.

DR. LOGAN TAYLOR, now carrying on operations against,mosquitoes in Freetown on behalf of the Liverpool School ofTropical Medicine, reports on Sept. 17th that from the.

beginning of the work 6500 houses have been cleared ofbroken bottles, tins, calabashes, and the like, in which culex.mosquitoes breed. Drainage operations against anophelesmosquitoes are also being pushed as much as the rain will.allow. He adds : " I think there is no doubt but that the

number of anopheles in the streets which we have dealt with.is diminished. The people resident in the streets will tell

you that at once. The number of pots and tins removed hasmade a considerable diminution in the culex." Dr. Taylordoes not mention the number of cartloads of pots andtins removed, but from previous averages it may be put at.something like 1300. Considering that the work had been,in progress at the date of report for little over two months,and has been much impeded by floods of rain the results.are already very satisfactory. In addition to 50 other men.two men are specially employed to look constantly after the,centre of the town, where the offices, warehouses, and

European houses are. The Governor, Sir Charles King