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fuchsine. In determining the number of glands the systemadopted for counting the red corpuscles of the blood may beemployed. Dr. Eijkmann has examined the skin of the

palm of the hand, the forehead, the sole of the foot, theforearm, the arm, the thigh, the back, the leg, and theanterior surface of the thorax in two Malays and threeEuropeans. On an average of the whole body he found160 sweat glands per square centimetre of skin in the formerand 162 in the latter ; but the distribution varied greatlyaccording to situation, the palm of the hand and the browbeing the parts which are most thickly studded. As far as

the sudoriparous system is concerned there would thereforeseem to be little or no difference between Caucasians and

their more dusky brethren, but the number of subjectsexperimented upon is too small to admit of generalisationand, moreover, sweat glands vary greatly not only in sizebut also as to their secretory capacity.

A SENSIBLE DISTRICT COUNCIL.

THE Urban District Council of Malvern has through itsclerk, Mr. William Lambert, issued the following notice tothe medical practitioners in the district :-BACTERIOLOGICAL TESTS-SUPPLY OF IMMUNE SERUM." I am directed to inform you that the Council will be pre-

pared to pay for the distribution of serum for the treatmentof diphtheria and the application of bacteriological tests forthe diseases of diphtheria, typhoid fever, and tuberculosis inthose cases where the persons are unable to bear such expensethemselves. I may remind you that the bacteriologicaltests in question are carried out at the County Laboratory atthe Shirehall. " Yours truly,

"WM. LAMBERT."

The District Council through its medical officer of health

provides serum and has appointed a bacteriologist in

Worcester to examine and report on disease products for

medical practitioners in its district. Malvern is one of thefew places in which measles and pertussis are notifiable.These facts show the advantages to a community of having amedical man free from the restrictions of practice aschairman of its District Council and working energeticallywith a medical officer of health for a large area, and alsoindependent of practice, for the public good. Malvern is awell-known and popular health resort. It deserves this

reputation evidently not only on account of its naturalbeauties but also from the energy of its sanitary authorities.

" PULSATION OF THE FOOT" AS ADIAGNOSTIC SIGN.

DR. TATTI of Buenos Ayres has published some researcheson the "Pulsation of the Foot," which phenomenon hethinks is calculated to be of service in diagnosis. The term

pulsation is applied by him to the slight rhythmical move-ment of the foot which is observed when one leg is crossedover the other by a person in a sitting posture. Though itcan be detected by simple inspection it can hardly be

observed adequately for clinical purposes without the aid of an instrument constructed on the same lines as

the cardiograph. Dr. Tatti gives a large number of

tracings taken in this way, most of them accom-

panied by simultaneous tracings taken by Dudgeon’ssphygmograph from the radial artery. In the normal

tracing there is an oblique up-stroke ; the apex of the curveis acute or slightly rounded. The down-stroke is also

oblique, being straight for about the first third of its

length ; it then becomes sinuous and more or less hori-zontal. In elderly persons the apex of the main wave is morerounded and the secondary ones are smaller. In children themain wave is small and the smaller ones, which are three orfour in number, diminish progressively in size. The applica-tion of cold diminishes the main wave. Modifications of

the curve are observed in pregnancy, especially whenthere is oeclema of the legs, in cardiac disease, and

in various other conditions. It is, however, in arterio-

sclerosis that the tracing of the pulsation of the foot

appears likely to prove of clinical value. Here in well-

marked cases this tracing becomes almost straight. Some-

times when the radial pulse gives little or no indica-

tion of the commencement of this condition Dr. Tatti

believes that important information can be obtained from the"pulsation of the foot." As to the cause of the phenomenonhe has satisfied himself that the pulsation depends upon theelasticity of the small arteries and capillaries of the leg, sothat in cases where this is permanently (as in arterio-

sclerosis) or temporarily (as in vaso-motor spasm caused bycold) interfered with the movements of the foot become less.than they are in the normal condition.

TYPHOID FEVER IN THE FRENCH ARMY.

THE soldiers of France, according to the past officialmedical record of the army, have suffered a good deal fromtyphoid and other forms of fever, not only on their variousmilitary expeditions, but in their colonial garrisons and attheir military camps and stations in France. Of late

years, however, as we have had occasion to point out fromtime to time, the official returns issued by the FrenchWar Office have shown that very great improvement hastaken place in this respect. This has been attributableto the greater care which has been taken to secure a

good water-supply for the troops by the use of filtersand other water-sterilising expedients, such as Vaillard

and Desmaroux’s highly ingenious apparatus. It appearsthat there has recently been a serious outbreak of typhoidfever at Cherbourg and especially among the Marine

Infantry regiments quartered there. According to the

Temps there were recently 300 cases of this fever in the

Naval Hospital at Cherbourg and numerous deaths had

occurred. The epidemic has prevailed since November andthe troops deriving their water-supply from the river known asLa Divette have been most severely affected. M. Lockroy, theMinister of Marine, has ordered an official inquiry into thesubject. We think that on the whole less care is takenin France generally than in this country in regard to thesources of water-supply for drinking purposes. The fact,however, is that it is really the best and safest way to spareno pains in order to secure a good source of water-supplyfree from all risk of contamination and to see that the wateris protected against any such contamination throughout itscourse until it reaches those who drink it.

THE NURSING QUESTION AT THE BULAWAYOMEMORIAL HOSPITAL.

THE Bulawayo newspapers have recently been full of

correspondence dealing with the question of the nursingstaff at the Memorial Hospital. Shortly the position seemsto be as follows. Up to the present the nursing at thehospital has been carried out by a band of Dominicansisters who went up in the time of the Matabele

war-i.e., in March, 1896-and who worked with the

greatest devotion under very trying circumstances.Devotion and willingness, though both admirable qualitiein themselves, especially for hospital nurses, cannot,however, in these days make up for lack of trainingand this training the sisters do not seem to have possessed.In May, 1897, the new resident surgeon, Dr. F. Arnold, wasappointed and found matters in a state of complete chaos.Soon after an energetic secretary was appointed and thepair started each in his own department a crusade of reform.After a long correspondence between the matron on the onehand and the surgeon and secretary on the other a sub-committee was appointed to go into the whole question

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of management and it was on the report of this committeethat the newspaper correspondence started. This report,dated November, 1897, stated that it was agreed to acceptthe proffered resignation of the secretary and surgeon.The resident surgeon was, however, asked to remain fortwelve months which he agreed to do. The report proceededto recommend that a matron and seven trained sisters shouldbe obtained. The position at the present moment seems tobe that the resident surgeon has resigned but is remainingand also that the matron and sisters have resigned but arealso remaining. The hospital board sub-committee sug-gested that three of the present staff should proceed toEurope at their own expense to be trained and that to supplytheir place a matron and three nurses should be obtainedfrom Europe and that their expenses should be paid by thehospital board. However, this scheme fell through and theposition remains as we have stated above.

VACCINATION LITERATURE.

WE publish in another column a letter from the energeticsecretary of the Jenner Society, pointing out how much goodmembers of our profession may do in educating the ignorantwith regard to the value of vaccination. Dr. Bond encloses

some of the literature to which he refers in his letter.

Perhaps the most convincing pamphlet, if anything but

an attack of small-pox can convince a hardened anti-

vaccinationist, is one giving a reproduction of two pages of aparish register-namely, that of the parish chapel at Pudsey,Yorkshire, in the years 1781 and 1792. There are 58 burials

registered on these two pages and of these the cause of

death is given in 34 cases as " small-pox." All the deaths

from this cause occurred in patients under ten years of ageand most of them were under six years, so that this very wellshows how fatal small-pox was in the last century and how it was specially incident upon children. The pamphlet in ques-tion is illustrated by a reproduction of a photograph taken inthe year 1893 of two cases of small-pox treated in the

Birmingham Hospital. The one, that of a child of eleven

years vaccinated in infancy, shows only a few pustuleson the backs of the hands ; the other, that of an unvacci-nated child of three and a half years, shows the facecovered with a confluent eruption. The latter child died.

Probably not even an attack of small-pox would convincea conscientious objector of the type of person who arguedthat if it were necessary for the child to be inoculated bybeast" the Creator would have done it before the child was

born ; but anyone not absolutely fatuous could not look onthis picture without at any rate being given cause for con-sideration.

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" KYNOMANIA."

DR. W. R. MACDERMOTT of Newry sends us a communica-tion headed ’’ Kynomania" dealing with the subject of

dangerous dogs and the want of responsibility evinced by theowners of such animals. Without going so far as to agreewith the theory which Dr. Macdermott puts forward-namely, that the owner of a dangerous dog is a dangerous ormad man-we quite coincide in his opinion that the numberof dangerous dogs in this country is far too great and alsothat the owners of such animals do not show that contritionfor the deeds of their pets which they should. In our

opinion the state of the law as regards dangerousdogs wants altering. We believe that no dog can be con-sidered dangerous and its owner punished should it bite

anyone unless it can be proved that the dog has bittensomeone previously. The position of allowing a free biteis to our minds wholly illogical and we also think thatowners of dangerous dogs should be punished much moreheavily than they are when they take no pains to keep such

animals under control. Dr. Macdermott points out that it iscommon for boys to set dogs at strangers, " a practice whichis leniently ascribed to thoughtlessness but is in realityto gratify an impulse to mischief which when pronouncedand developed under absence of restraint is an insane

impulse." This, it seems to us, is a petitio principii unlesswe may argue that all unrestrained impulses are insane, asperhaps we may do. The soaring human boy" is as a

rule in the mental condition of a savage but is not prone to

develop into insanity as that term is commonly understood.Dr. Macdermott concludes : "To meet offences committed

by dogs their owners’ responsibility should not be left to beenforced by private initiative but be a matter for immediatepolice cognisance directed to teach sane responsibility."

DEATH BY ELECTRIC SHOCK, COAL-GAS POISON-ING, AND A DANGEROUS PRACTICE IN

CONNEXION WITH PUBLIC SEWERS.

PUBLIC service supplies are not without their dangers, bethe supply water, electricity, or gas. All three have beenknown to be concerned in bringing an explosion about underthe pavements of our streets. Thus leakage from the water-mains may destroy the insulation of electric cables and

sparking may result which would ignite any coal-gas whichmay be escaping from the gas-mains. Sewers also maycontain an explosive mixture which should it be ignitedby any means would probably rupture the pipe besides beinga source of danger to those who examine the workingof the sewerage systems from time to time. Only recentlythree noteworthy occurrences were reported in connexionwith gas, electricity, and sewer services which are worthrecording although they do not relate to the combination ofcircumstances to which we have just referred. The first

case is that of the death of a man from electric shock at

Southampton during the laying of a cable. It appears that

a leakage was suspected in a low-tension cable which waslying side by side with a high-tension cable. On proceedingto make an examination, the discharge of sparks having beenpreviously noticed, the poor fellow by some means, though askilled artisan and well aware of the danger of touching abare high-tension cable, undoubtedly received a shock whichproved fatal. Apparently the deceased had ignored thewarning to wear gloves. From the evidence at the inquestit appeared that shutting off the current would have

put the town to great inconvenience and it was statedthat by exercising great care even high-tension cablescould be repaired when " alive." The repairing oflow-tension cables was not attended with anything likethe same risk. The jury returned a verdict of "Acci-dental death." Considering the poisonous nature of coal-gas,which is due in a great measure to the carbon monoxidewhich it contains as well as to certain obscure aromatic

bodies, it is remarkable that a greater number of cases ofpoisoning from this cause are not recorded. At a certain

dwelling-house in Woolwich last week it was observed onemorning that the blinds remained down and that therewere other signs of stillness in the house which impliedthat something was wrong. On gaining access to the housefrom the back the police found the rooms pervaded withcoal-gas. On reaching the bedrooms the smell of gaswas almost overpowering and one person was found

dead in bed and two nearly so. There is hope,however, that these two may recover. At the inqueston Jan. 9th on the body of the deceased person it

was stated that there was a defect in an old form ofchandelier in the room beneath the bedroom. We believethat this old form of extending gas-bracket has been respon-sible for many a disaster. In this form of chandelier there is

a water seal and when the water evaporates the dipping pipemay be above the surface of the water, the arrangement