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by officials and lady members, and furnished a 1

guard of honour of its miZiti. Two beautiful iwreaths of flowers were presented by the ladies (of the Croce Rossa, and placed one on each side of the statue. English nursing was well repre- sented, among others by the Mothers Superior of the Little Company of Mary, the English order ofnursing sisters, better known as the Blue Nuns.The British Ambassador, after unveiling the statue,pronounced an eloquent eulogy upon the work andcharacter of Florence Nightingale, emphasising thelong and careful training which were the preludeto her life’s work. After thanking the authoritieswho had granted her a place in the precincts oftheir great shrine, he signed the atto notarile,handing the monument over to the care of the

Opera di Santa Croce. The epitaph, the work ofSenator Professor Isadoro del Lungo, must be givenas a model for such work: " Florence Nightingale,MDCCCXX., L’eroina di Crimea, MDCCCCX., LaSignora della Lampada, come la chiamarono isoldati che la ebbero infermiera mirabile nellenotti di spedale angosciose e fin d’allora animatricecolla virtu dell’ esempio a quell’ opera voluntariadi pieta internazionale che poi fu la Croce Rossa.Ha nella sua Firenze dove nacque e ne porto ilnome gentile questo ricordo di venerazione e diaffetto "-an inscription which sums up in a com-paratively few lines the purpose of the monumentand the history of its prototype. The statue in thecloister of Santa Croce will remain as a recordof the international significance of her life. The

ceremony of its unveiling forged another link inthe friendship of England and Italy.

Higher Education in Italy.The number of students of the universities has

been gradually decreasing of recent years. From

21,492 in 1908 the number fell to 21,019 in 1909,20,425 in 1910, and 19,772 in 1911, the last year forwhich statistics are available. The diminution hasbeen greatest at Naples, Turin, Pavia, and Pisa,while there has been a slight increase at Bologna,Genoa, and Palermo. Naples continues to be thelargest university with 4281 students, and Romecomes next with 2895. Turin holds the third placewith 1800 students, but is likely to yield it soonto Bologna, which has already 1762. Next comesPalermo with 1511. At the end come Siena with257, Cagliari with 227, Sassari with 262, and Messinawith 87. At Messina, however, some of thefaculties have been closed. There is an increasein the number of women students, of whom Turinhas 167, Rome 155, Naples 105, Palermo 77,and Pavia 76.Dec. 27th, 1913.

___________ __

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

The New York Health Department.Dr. Lederle, head of the health department of

New York City, issued on Dec. 7th last a review ofthe work of that department during the past fouryears. In this period there has been, it appearsfrom the report, a steady decline in the death-rateof the city. The death-rate for every 1000 of thepopulation for the four years from 1909 was : 1909,16; 1910, 15-98; 1911, 15-13; 1912, 14-11; and forthe 48 weeks of 1913, 13’77. In 1912 the death-rateof Chicago was 14’68; Paris, 16-38; Berlin, 14’ 39 ;and London, 14’3. The reduction of infant mor-

tality in New York during the four years hasbeen remarkable, the rate of infant mortality

having gone down from 137 in every 1000in 1900 to 110 in 1912. The reduction in thisdirection is believed by Dr. Lederle to have beengreater than that in any of the ten largest citiesof the world, who attributes it largely to improve-ments of milk-supply. Among other matters men-tioned in the report are the progress made in theenforcement of child hygiene and the ’extension ofmedical inspection in the schools. In 1912 six clinicsfor school children were established, free treatmentbeing supplied to those who needed it. This yearsix dental clinics have been established. An in-

teresting résumé of the departmental methods incombating infectious and contagious diseases andin improving those of food inspection is followed bya note on the value of vital statistics, and the

necessity of prosecuting practitioners and midwivesfor failure to notify births. The report affords

striking evidence of the energy displayed by thehealth department of New York during Dr. Lederle’sdirectorship.

A Visit of English Surgeons.A special clinic was arranged recently by Dr.

William Seaman Bainbridge, professor of surgeryat the New York Polyclinic Hospital and MedicalSchool, when Sir W. Arbuthnot Lane, Mr. HerbertPaterson, and Dr. Bainbridge himself operated. SirArbuthnot Lane performed three operations. Onewas on an infant ten days old for the cure ofcleft palate and hare lip; one was a short-circuitingoperation on a patient suffering from intestinalstasis ; and the third was a

"

plating " for fracture.Mr. Paterson did an exploratory laparotomy andDr. Bainbridge a short-circuiting operation forintestinal stasis. In addition several persons whohad been operated upon or treated by SirArbuthnot Lane and Dr. Bainbridge for intes-tinal stasis of varying degrees of severity wereshown. Some of these had been operated on aslong as five years ago, but all were in excellenthealth. The theatre in which the clinic was heldwas filled to overflowing, there being presentsurgeons from all parts of the United States.

’

Among these may be mentioned Dr. John Wyeth,’

ex-President of the American Medical Associa-tion, ex-President of the New York Academy

’ of Medicine, founder of the New York Poly-clinic School of Medicine, and originator of

post-graduate medical teaching in the UnitedStates.

In the evening a dinner was given to the Englishvisitors at the St. Regie Hotel by Dr. Bainbridge. Theguests, who numbered 120, and included representa-tive members of the medical profession from allparts of the United States, heard Sir ArbuthnotLane describe in detail the origin of his views andtechnique in dealing with intestinal stasis by opera-tion. After Sir Arbuthnot Lane’s address, picturesillustrating various stages of intestinal stasis werethrown on a screen, some of which were made fromthe X ray work of Dr. Alfred Jordan and some by alady artist, procured for the purpose by Dr. Bain-bridge, who knew nothing whatever of anatomy,and whose drawings, therefore, could only repre-sent exactly what she saw, and not what she mightthink she ought to see. Great interest was shown bymedical circles on the occasion, for, well knownas Sir Arbuthnot Lane is on this side of the

Atlantic, it was, I believe, the first occasion onwhich he has publicly expounded his views indetail.Dec. 20th, 1913.