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THE PROPOSED HOSPITAL CONVALESCENTHOME.

IN a letter addressed to Sir William Savory on the 15thinst., the Founder of the scheme, in reference to theabove home, stated that he had great pleasure in intimatingto him, as one of the trustees mentioned in the letter pub-lished on the first day of the present year, that a generousfriend had, after inquiry into the plans for carrying out theproject, without the slightest solicitation made the muni-ficent contribution of £50,000 to the funds, describing him-self as " A Willing Helper," and especially deprecating anyinquiries into his personality. The letter goes on to saythat, "in view of the material and unexpected assistancevolunteered by’A Willing Helper,’ I cannot help thinking thathis noble example will probably be followed by a few of ourwealthy capitalists, and perhaps by some of our leading Citycompanies, desirous, as he is, of seeing the home establishedon a large and comprehensive basis, and willing to helpforward the worthy and speedy accomplishment of so

beneficent a work." It is further pointed out that pro-visional arrangements have just been made to purchase aneligible property fifty acres in extent in a healthy neigh-bourhood seventeen miles from London for the purposes ofthe institution.

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INTERNATIONAL MEDICAL CONGRESS, 1890.

THE following arrangements have been already made forsome of the sectional proceedings at the forthcoming Inter-national Medical Congress. Discussions will take place onthe following subjects :—

Section of Obstetrics and Gynœcology.—1. Antisepsis inMidwifery ; to be opened by Dr. Galabin of London, Dr.Stadfeltof Copenhagen,Dr. Slavijanskiof St. Petersburg, andDr. Fritsch of Breslau. 2. Induction of Premature Labour,its Indications and Methods; to be opened by Dr. Parvinof Philadelphia, Dr. Calderini of Parma, Dr. Macan ofDublin, and Dr. Dohrn of Konigsberg. 3. Vaginal TotalExtirpation; to be opened by Dr. Williams of London,Dr. Pozzi of Paris, Dr. Schautz of Prague, and Dr. Olshausenof Berlin. 4. Electrolysis of Myomata ; to be opened byDr. Apostoli of Paris, Dr. Keith of London, Dr. Cutter ofNew York, and Dr. Zweifel of Leipsic.

Section of Neurology and Psychiatry.-l. Surgery of theCentral Nervous System; to be opened by Professor Horsleyof London. 2. Traumatic Neuroses; to be opened by ProfessorSchulze of Bonn. 3. The Pathological Anatomy of De-mentia Paralytica; to be opened by Professor Mendel ofBerlin.

Section of Hygiene.—1. What regulations are needed toprevent the Spread of Diphtheria; by Dr. Roux of Paris, andDr. L6ffler of Greifswald. 2. Prostitution, its Regulation, &c.;by Dr. Thiry of Brussels, and Professor Kaposi of Vienna.3. Hygiene of Institutions where large numbers are con-

gregated ; by Dr. Max-Gruber of Vienna, Dr. Erismann ofMoscow, and Dr. Baer of Berlin. 4. The TuberculosisQuestion; by Dr. Sormani of Pavia, and Dr. Cornet ofBerlin. 5. On the prevalence of Typhoid Fever ; by Dr.Walcot of Boston, Dr. von Fodor of Buda-Pesth, and Dr.Almquist of Gothenburg. 6. On the Support of Communitiesin time of War and Epidemics; by Dr. Forster of Amsterdam.7. Are Burial-grounds inimical to Health? by Dr. Hofmannof Leipsic, and Dr. Petri of Berlin. 8. On InfantileMortality and Infant Feeding; by Dr. Flugge of Breslau.Papers are also promised on the following subjects :-Etiology and Prevention of Tetanus, by Dr. Sormani ;Hygiene of Travelling and Railways, by Dr. Czatary; theSignificance of Venereal Disease in the Medical Control ofProstitution, by Dr. Neisser.

MANCHESTER EAR INSTITUTION.—Dr. Milligan,one of the surgeons to this institution, has recently given acourse of demonstrations on Diseases of the Ear to thegeneral practitioners of Manchester and the district. Atthe close of the course the practitioners’ indebtedness tothe institution was acknowledged, and a presentation wasmade to the lecturer by the class.

Public Health and Poor Law.LOCAL GOVERNMENT DEPARTMENT.

REPORTS OF MEDICAL OFFICERS OF HEALTH.

Aston Manor Urban District.—For three consecutive

years a fairly continuous diminution in mortality has beenmaintained, and the general death-rate for 1889 was 15.1per 1000 in a population of nearly 70,000. Substantialefforts have also been continued in the direction of control-ling the spread of infectious diseases. Thus, a notification’system has been in operation ; hospital isolation has beencarried out ; disinfection, cleansing, and lime-washing havebeen adopted; school closure and other control have been.resorted to ; and besides vaccination for small-pox, there hasbeen a steady abatement of nuisances which have tended toinjure health generally. The infectious hospital is

becoming more and more appreciated, and the pre-valence of scarlatina in and about Birmingham duringlast year made it especially useful; no less than 152

patients being admitted from Aston Manor andseveral adjoining sanitary districts. Diagrams are ap-pended to the report indicating how certain structuralsanitary arrangements may be carried out. As regards.one of these, the " hopper closet, we doubt whether thecontrivance shown is the best in the interests of cleanliness,and this on the ground that its shape is not well adaptedto enable excreta to fall directly into the water and clear ofthe basin. But it is evident that very carefully supervisedsanitary work is in progress, and Mr. Henry May may feetsatisfied that his seventeen years of work as health officerhave left a substantial and permanent mark on the healthrecords of the district. The subject of infantile diarrhoea,still calls for active attention ; and from what is said wegather that the important subject of keeping the superficiallayers of the soil free from contamination will be more than,ever aimed at.

Hereford Combined Sanitary Districts.—Dr. VavasourSandford gives a separate account of each of the sanitarydivisions of this combined district, some of the reports beingmainly made up of descriptions of the current health workwhich has been in progress. As regards Hereford city, hestrongly urges the need for an infectious hospital, for, apartfrom some disused small-pox tents, Hereford has no suchprovision. And he assures the corporation that the notifi-cation of infectious diseases now in force is certain to proveabortive unless some proper means for isolating the casesheard of is provided. In the Leominster rural district

prominence is again given to the need for proper drains andproper drain flushing in the parish of Kingsland, and the-authority are warned of the danger of waiting until thepresent faulty drainage system shall become infected byenteric fever discharges, with the result of an epidemicspread of the disease.

West Hartlepool Urban District -The general death-ratefor this district was 18 1 per 1000 last year. Dr. S Gourleysays that the notification system is working well, but that,it has succeeded in revealing the need for a new infectioushospital, the present joint establishment being ill-adaptedfor the purpose, and being the reverse of attractive to thosewho should use it. Local wells seem still to be in use, butthey are fortunately being closed as occasion offers. Newpublic slaughter houses are wanted; but the dairies andcowsheds are well looked after, and their ventilation anddrainage have been improved where this has been foundnecessary.Teignmouth Urban District.-This district had a death-

rate of 16’7 per 1000 in 1889, as compared with the meanrate of 18 5 during the past seven years. Measles caused17 deaths, and by means of its sequelae it is believed tohave added even more to the deaths of the district. Onecase of small pox occurred in March last, and it was removedto a small undetached cottage which at the time did dutyas an isolation hospital. The result was that, instead ofisolation, spread of the disease took place; two other personscontracting it. The hospital was then closed, and a moreisolated building chosen, with the result that no more casesoccurred. Such a warning should lead the sanitaryauthority to be for the future prepared beforehand by theerection of a suitable hospital on the lines laid down in theIsolation Memorandum issued by the Medical Department