1084

an estimated cost of about .E13, 000. This estimated ex-

penditure will comprise .E4294 for alterations and additionsto the administrative block ; .E4940 for the erection of twoadditional ward pavilions, each to contain 12 beds, with

day-room attached ; .E858 for a lodge and discharging block,to be erected at the main entrance to the hospital ; .6736for the construction of a laundry block ; 21050 for the

provision of machinery, with the addition of a reserve

boiler; and general furnishing about .E1000.The Rarveian Oration at the Royal College of Physicians of

London.Dr. Richard Caton, consulting physician to the Royal

Infirmary and emeritus professor of physiology at the Uni-versity of Liverpool, is announced to deliver the HarveianOration at the Royal College of Physicians of London in Junenext.

Infirmary for Children.The appeal made by the committee of the Liverpool Infir-

mary for Children on behalf of the rebuilding fund hasresulted in the receipt of 39,269 up to March 28tih..625,000are still required to make up the desired amount.

Sanitary Inspectors’ Fxamination Board.On April 5th the first of a five days’ examination, under

the Sanitary Inspectors’ Examination Board, took place atthe University of Liverpool. This is the first occasion uponwhich the examination has been held in the provinces.Dr. Hope, the medical officer of health of Liverpool, hadarranged the preliminary details of the examination. Therewere only 14 candidates, including several who had beentrained at the Liverpool School of Hygiene.

Anthrax in Cheshire.The Board of Agriculture has issued an order with regard

to the slaughter of animals in cases of anthrax to the effectthat the council of the administrative county of Chestermay, if it thinks fit, cause to be slaughtered any animalaffected with anthrax or suspected of being so affected.The slaughter of animals shall be conducted in sucha mode as will, as far as possible, prevent effusion ofblood. Where the animal slaughtered was affected withanthrax the owner shall be compensated to the extent ofone-half the value of the animal immediately before it becameso affected and in every other case the compensation shallbe the value of the animal immediately before it was slaugh-tered. Provided that the owner of the animal gives notice inwriting to the council or its inspector or other officer that heobjects to the animal being slaughtered, it shall not be lawfulfor the council to cause that animal to be slaughtered exceptby the further special authority of the Board of Agricultureand Fisheries being first obtained. On each occasion ofslaughter under this article the council shall send to theBoard of Agriculture and Fisheries a reporb stating thenumber of animals slaughtered, the mode of slaughter andof disposal of the carcasses, and the compensation paid inrespect of each animal.April 12th.

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WALES AND WESTERN COUNTIES NOTES.(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

Small-pox in Bristol.BRISTOL has been entirely free from small-pox since the

end of September last but it is probable that there will nowbe some cases infected by a tramp who slept in a largecommon lodging-house in the city on March 29th and whowas found on April 2nd in the Keynsham workhouse suffer-ing from the disease. The man had left Newcastle on-Tyneon March 13tb, tramping south through Worcester andGloucester. It is nearly eight years since small-pox wasspread in Bristol through the agency of a common lodging-house and on that occasion there were 20 cases.

Vagrancy in (}louoestershir8 and Somersetshire.In 1882 a County Vagrancy Committee was formed in

Gloucestershire, three members being appointed by theOourti of Qaarter Sessions and one by each of the boards ofguardians in the county. The chairman of this committeepresents to the county council a quarterly report of con-

siderable value, setting out the number of tramps who havevisited the various casual wards during a specified period.In the first quarter of the present year 17,873 tramps were

admitted to the wards of the Gloucestershire workhouses, anincrease over the corresponding period of last year of 4147.This increase is almost entirely confined to the Gloucester,Westbury, and Winchcombe unions. At the last meeting ofthe county council the chairman of this committee made thesatisfactory statement that there was a distinct decrease inthe number of children being dragged about the country bytramps. At the meeting of the Somerset county council,held on April 4th, a motion was adopted urging the LocalGovernment Board to consider what measures could be

adopted for the establishment of a more effective anduniform system of dealing with tramps throughout thecountry.

Penybont Health Report.Mr. Wyndham Randall, the medical officer of health of

the rural district of Penybont in Glamorganshire, has justissued his annual report from which it appears that amongan estimated population of 15,455 persons the birth-rate in1903 was 33 3 per 1000, the death-rate from all causes 14.7 per 1000, and the infantile mortality-rate as low as 99 per1000 births. The county asylum is situated in the Penybontdistrict and Mr. Randall records for several diseases thedeath-rates in the asylum alone and in the rural districtexcluding the asylum. In the asylum the phthisis death-rate was 16’ 6 per 1000 and the cancer death-rate 3.7 per1000, while in the rural district the death-rate from thesetwo diseases was 1 per 1000 and 0.6 per 1000 respectively.

Cornwall County Nursing Association.The annual meeting of the Cornwall County Nursing Asso-

ciation was held at Truro on April 8th. It was reportedthat during 1903 six new districts had been formed, makinga total of 34 district associations affiliated to the society.42 nurses had been trained since the commencement of thework, of whom 26 are still working for the association. Thefinancial statement showed that the income amounted to.6361 and the expenditure to f:660, the deficiency havingbeen met by taking about f:2.00 from the capital.April llth.

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IRELAND.

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENTS.)

The late Sir Philip Crampton Smyly.THE death of Sir Philip Crampton Smyly came as a

surprise in the end, although he had for some time been asevere sufferer from gout. His scientific attainments, noless than his social connexions, made him one of the mostprominent representatives of the medical profession in thecountry. He had been President of the Royal College ofSurgeons in Ireland and representative of the College on theGeneral Medical Council and honorary surgeon to the lateQueen Victoria. At his death he was honorary surgeon tothe King. By his marriage with a daughter of the thirdLord Plunket, he was brother-in-law to the Archbihop ofDublin and Lord Rathmore. Sir Philip Smyly was only illfor a few hours.

Ballinasloe District Lunatic Asylum,Much interest has been felt in the West of Ireland for

months as to who would be the successor to the late Mr.R. V. Fletcher as resident medical superintendent of theBallinasloe District Lunatic Asylum. The election, whichwas in the hands of the joint committee nominated bythe Galway and Roscommon county councils, took placeon April llth and resulted in the appointment of Dr.James St. Lawrence Kirwan, recently the junior medicalassistant in the asylum. A letter was read from the LunacyDepartment, stating that the Lord Lieutenant concurred inthe resolution of the board fixing the salary of the residentmedical superintendent at L500 per annum with .B120 a yearas allowances.

The Freedom of the City of Belfast for Mrs. Pirrie.The corporation of the city of Belfast has unanimously

decided to confer the freedom of the city on Mrs, Pirrie.The compliment is paid "in recognition of her signalservices to the community in inaugurating and raising by heruntiring zeal and personal influence a fund sufficient for theerection, equipment, and endowment of the Royal VictoriaHospital, which was instituted to commemorate the DiamondJubilee of Her late Majesty Queen Victoria and to conferlasting benefits upon the citizens of the city of Belfast."