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To Correspondents.Melius Inquirendum writes-" I fear there are other things besides paper-hangings with which we are likely to be poisoned. My daughter recentlypurchased, at one of the most respectable shops in Oxford-street, a whiteevening dress, with stais upon it, the colouring matter of which I stronglysuspect to be arsenite of copper. I enclose a few for your inspection."These we forwarded for analysis to Dr. Hassall, who reports-" The muslinstars are undoubtedly coloured with arsenite of copper; the quantity of thepigment is considerable, and slight friction is sufficient to detach much ofof it from the muslin."

Antiseptic.—Macdougall’s preparations of carbolic acid may be procured fromthe manufacturer, Fennel-street, Manchester.

X. Y.—1. The Society would receive such an indenture.-2. It would entirelydepend upon the bye-laws of the institution.

Dr. W. Pirrie’s "Observations on Favus" shall be commenced next week.

PAPERS BY POST.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SIR,—The following information may be of some service to your readers :-

I take in THE LANCET weekly with an impressed stamp, as I send it by post totwo relatives. A short time ago my relative received one, charged Is. 4d., withthe words " contrary to Act of Parliament" written on the cover. It was

’’

posted by me on the day of publication, contained no enclosure and no writing,except a cross in pencil on the margin, opposite an article I wished to re-peruse on that LANCET’s return to me. On appealing to the General Post-office, I was informed that " in publications bearing the impressed or newspaperstamp, and forwarded through the post as newspapers, any such marks ren-dered them liable to double letter postage." So that if THE LANCET had had aQueen’s head on, instead of the impressed stamp, it would have escaped theimpost. For years, I may say, I have not read a LANCET without marking- striking articles or passages, and I dare say hundreds of your readers havedone the same, and risked its confiscation.

I am, Sir, yours faithfully,Hastings, November, 1860. C. B. GAEEETT, M.D.

A F’irst-Year’s Apprentice, (Caermarthen.)—1. He will come under the regu-lations of the Medical Council.-2. A surgeon is bound in honour to treathis articled pupils as gentlemen.-3. The information required is containedin the Students’ Number of THE LANCET, which can be obtained by order ofany bookseller.

The Secretary of the New Sydenham Society.—The announcement is an adver-tisement, and can only be inserted on the cover of THE LANCET.

LONGEVITY.

To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,—The following paragraph is extracted from a late number of theWestern Morning News, published at Plymouth :-" One of the inmates of the St. Austell Union was born at Quebec, Nortb

America, on the 12th November, 1753, and consequently was 107 years old onthe 12th of this month. He is by trade a carpenter and joiner. His hair isquite dark; he says it was once grey, but of late it has changed to the presen1colour. The old man is hale and hearty, and is taken great care of by th(governor."

If the changes in the colour of the hair are correct, it may be interesting t(the profession in the neighbourhood of St. Austell, Cornwall, to visit the age(man, and elicit additional interesting facts.

Your obedient servant,Devonport, November. 1860. EDWIN BisHop, M.D.

Mr. T. R. Rouse.—An apprenticeship is not required by a candidate for adiploma of the College of Surgeons. The Society of Apothecaries cannotdispense with an indenture of apprenticeship or a certificate, to show thatthe candidate for the licence has passed five years " in the manner of anapprentice" with a duly qualified practitioner.

M.R.C.S.E. could claim but one guirea. An external examination of a bodydoes not constitute a post-mortem examination as implied by the words ofthe statute. If it were otherwise, every medical witness would b entitledto a fee of two guineas.

Mr. R. H. shall receive a private note.An Intending Student.-l. Yes.-2. Only the expense of the preliminary ex-

amination.-3. According to the regulations of the College.—4 and 5. Refe-rence should be made to the Students’ Number of THE LANCET.

Provident.-The Railway Passengers’ Assurance Company.

THE PREFIX OF "DR."

To the Editor of THE LANCET.SiR,-The use of the prefix of Dr. by the Licentiates of a College of Phy-

sicians is still objected to by some. It appears to me a pity that such shouldbe the case. Could not the Medical Council introduce a clause something tothe following effect : " Licentiates or Members or Fellows of either of theColleges of Physicians in England, Scotland, and Ireland, may legally use thetitle of Dr. as a prefix" ? If the title is not legally allowed to the physician(and he ought to have a legal title) by what title is he to announce himself tothe public ? It is not necessary that the L.R.C.P. should trench upon theUniversity suffix of M.D. But unless the physician is allowed (and his positionin this respect should be a legal one) to use Dr. as a prefix, he really has nomeans of announcing himself to the public; and under the present Act, whichgives a right to the M.D. and physician to practise in the same manner, itseems strange to force the L.R.C.P. to go to a University for M.D. in addition.If so, what is the use of the L.R.C.P. diploma? Our Colleges of Physicianshad better be closed. Can any title be substituted which shall be a full equi-valent for the long usance of the Dr. by the physician-one which the publicwill as readily understand ? They wolild think it very strange to see on abrass-plate "Physician" or "L.R.C.P." They would not understand it; butthey do understand the short prefix of Dr., as indicating that such an onepractises as a physician. The sanctioning the old usage by the MedicalCouncil would relieve some very honourable and well-meaning men-men whodesire to do that which is right—from what many of them feel to be an awkwardposition. Yours very truly,November, 1860. L.R.C.P.

Merthyr.—Is it possible that Mr. Herbert James was cognizant, previous topublication, of the paragraphs which appeared in a late number of the

Merthyr Joacrnai Unless we have an answer in the affirmative, we mustacquit him of all participation in what must be considered an egregiouspuff.

Df. William Abbotts Smith.—The paper was received, and shall be inserted atthe earliest possible opportunity.

Ellis v. Kelly.—In our report of this trial last week (p. 524), the name of"Rowsshuit" was misspelled. It should have been Rosshirt, the Professorof Obstetrics at the University of Erlangen.

A Charing-cross Student.-There is some ground for complaint, but not to theextent assumed by our correspondent.

Mr. Thomas Martin, (Reigate.)-We have much pleasure in granting therequest.

QUALIFICATIONS FOR HOUSE-SURGEON.To the Editor 0/THE LANCET.

SIR,—I am a junior practitioner, and am anxious to become house-surgeonto some country hospital or infirmary. It was my lot to receive my profes-sional education in Edinburgh, and to take the M.D. and L.R.C.S. diplomas inthat city. These, though qualifying me for everything else, are by no meanssufficient to enable me to take almost any house-surgeoncy in England orWales, in consequence of the unjust monopoly possessed by the Apothecaries’Company, whose diploma is invariably required in addition to that of one ofthe Colleges of Surgeons. The Medical Act professes to set us all on a par,and should be the means of opening up all the branches of the profession tothe duly qualified. Does it do so ? Certainly not; for a man, though M.D.,surgeon, and registered, cannot become house-surgeon to scarcely any of oursmall hospitals, because, forsooth, he is not one of the worshipful Society ofApothecaries. I am, Sir, yours, &c.,November, 1860. W. C. L.

COMMUNICATIONS, L19TTEIIS, &c., have been received from - Mr. Nunneley;Mr. Andrew Hunt; Mr. Henry James ; Dr. C. B. Garrett; Mr. T. Martin,Reigate; Mr. H. W. Rumsey; Dr. M’William; Dr. Pavy; Mr. Hulke; Dr.’Graily Hewitt; Dr. J. Mayne ; Mr. E. Garraway; Mr. George Evans, Seaton;Dr. Farr; Mr. Henry Thompson; Mr. Palmer; Mr. J. Lansdown, Sheffield;Mr. Southam, Manchester; Dr. Hitchman, Liverpool; Mr. C. Parsons,North Staffordshire Infirmary; Mr. Acton; Mr. R. D. Christmas; Mr.Holmes Coote; Mr. Nason ; Dr. Hyde Salter ; Dr. Frazer; Mr. E. Barkway,(with enclosure;) Dr. Niblett, (with enclosure;) Mr. J. Bowes, (with enclo-sure ;) Mr. R. G. Horton, Leeds, (with enclosure;) Sir H. Marsh, Dublin,

L(with enclosure;) Rev. W. Earle; Mr. W. Atkinson, Pentith; Mr. W. M.Higgins, (with enclosure;) Mr. J. Dickenson, Wrexham, (with enclosure;)Mr. E. Pope, (with enclosure;) Mr. T. Roberts, (with enclosure;) Mr. D,

; Corbet, (with enclosure;) Mr. T. Purbridge, Birmingham, (with enclosure;)Mr. F. Ravenscroft, Tockwith; Mr. J. H. Smith, Manningtree, (with enclo-sure;) Dr. Elkington, (with enclosure;) Mr. B. Wood, New Romney, (with

1 enclosure;) Dr. M’Clintock, Dublin; Dr. Stephen H. Ward; Antiseptic;W. C. L.; An Intending Student; Provident; Melius Inquirendum ; X. Y. ;Barbarossa; A Charing-cross Student; A First-Year’s Apprentice; &c. &c.