POISONING BY OPIUM.

320 the first intention. A very different state of things, most usually introduced. One veterinary surgeon of eminenci in the other : here my patient was very much disapproves of the operation while another thinks it is usefu. worn by disease, the subject of articular caries, and of a against ordinary pleuro-pneumonia, but not in its epidemi( scrofulous constitution, so that a long time elapsed before re- form. It appears, therefore, to be important to discuss this covery took place ; my subsequent -daily attendance, in fact, question, in order that the operation, if requisite, should bE extending over several months, causing, of course, much properly performed; that the milk should not be sold while a -anxiety ; and for this prolonged attendance the usual amount ferment is established in the blood ; or that the operatior, only in such cases was allowed. I trust and believe, however, should be abandoned, if proved to be unnecessary for the sake our profession is daily taking a higher standing in society, and of the animal and the public health. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, becoming better appreciated by the public in general, and that it may, with some degree of truth, be said to the rising generaC. J. B. ALDIS, M.D. M.D. Cantab., Cantab., tor St. George’s, Hanover-square. Medical Officer of Health for tion of medical men, " There’s a good time coming, boys ;" and 1863. ere long you will not have to complain of the insufficient reChester-terrace, Chester-square, Sept. muneration of your professional services, either by boards of guardians, railway companies, or any other companies. ApoloPOISONING BY OPIUM. gizing for the prolixity of this letter, To the Editor of THE LANCET. I am, Sir, your obedient servant, OCTAVIUS FORBES N. ROYLE, M.D., F.R.C.S. SIR,-In your impression for Sept. 5tb, my neighbour, Mr. May, appears troubled at, and dissatisfied with some remarks of Milnthorpe, Sep Sept. 3iiInthorpe, mine relative to a case of poisoning by opium reported by me in THE LANCET a short time ago. I have no desire to question MARKING OF SOLDIERS. the occasional correctness of the commercial particulars touchTo the Editor of THE LANCET. ing the laudanum retailed at small shops with which Mr. May hand, I believe SIR, -Not withstanding that the medical journals-your own has favoured your readers; but, on thetoother the case in point, in among the number-have called attention to the present state his remarks are not at all applicable of the regulations regarding the false position in which a which I examined and tested the laudanum, and it was apmedical officer is placed in the branding of soldiers, no change parently equal in power to that of the Pharmaeopceia. Morewhatever has taken place. over, that the preparation met with in such shops is not always It has never fallen to my lot to direct an official, engaged diluted and sophisticated in the manner described by Mr. May under myself in the care of the sick, in branding a man at a I am well satisfied, for I have notes of a case in which an place said to be designed for the relief and cure of sickness, adult narrowly escaped death after a dose of half an ounce but it may come upon me sooner than I relish. bought at a grocer’s ; and I have frequently seen persons of I suppose that I must be morbidly sensitive on the subject various ages narcotized to a degree quite inconsistent, from the ’of what affects my professional position and duty as a medical doses which had been taken, with the assumption that the man, for the Director-General appears to have no scruples on laudanum was diluted to any important extent, although it this head. The thing is done with his sanction. From his was obtained from similar sources. It is obvious that in reporting cases of poisoning by fluid department have the instruments come ; nay, for all we know, Whitehall yard may be a kind of miniature Armstrong factory preparations of opium critical exactitude as to strength must for designing the letters D and B C, and making the requisite be but rarely attainable; indeed, Dr. Taylor states "that there are no satisfactory means of determining the quantity instruments.

healing by

however, existed

When the New Zealand chiefs were in London I looked for their visit to the medical department. They must have been interested in ingenious contrivances for tattooing. When Lord Macaulay’s celebrated New Zealander shall take his stand upon the broken arch of London-bridge to sketch the ruins of St. Paul’s, it is just possible he may disinter the " things" used for marking B C. If he be an intelligent savage and apt at drawing inferences, he will at once conclude that he has discovered a military stamp for marking those C.B.s mentioned as famous warriors of old. He might even go further and suggest the bearing that these instruments had the question of the common origin of the human family. upon " Here," he would say, " we perceive that these English were a people advanced in arts; they tattooed like ourselves." In all seriousness, however, what I desire to say is this :The military authorities may invent any punishment they like. On these subjects I may have my own ideas, which I do not mean to press upon any one; but let things be done decently, and in order. Leta soldier be marked, as he is flogged, upon parade, as a punishment, in the presence of his comrades, under the command of a combatant officer and in the presence of a medical one; but let us restrain our hands from these things, and not be forced to turn the hospital and its officials into agents for any punishment. Yours very obediently, A MEDICAL OFFICER. Aldershot, Sept. 1863.

anxiously

INOCULATION OF COWS. To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-There

is

one

of opium present in a suspected liquid." Still, by the practical mind pretty safe conclusions can be arrived at, and in the course of a more extended experience Mr. May may himself probably witness more surprising effects and anomalous symptoms in poisoning by opium than those reported by me;; and, perhaps, he may even arrive at that candid estimation of the opinions and observations of others which time alone can effect upon the mind of the young practitioner of medicine. Apologizing for trespassing on your valuable space, I am, Sir, your obedient servant, RICHARD ELLIS, L.R.C.P. L. R. C. P. Edin. Newcastle-on.Tyne, Sept. 1863.

Medical

News.

AroTHECAmrs’ HALL.-The following

gentlemen passed

their examination in the Science and Practice of Medicine, and received certificates to practise, on the 3rd inst. :Davies, Pryee Lloyd, Abergele, Denbighshire. Thompson, Thomas, Thirsk, Yorkshire. The following gentleman also on the same day passed his first examination :Yates, William, Westminster Hospital. The annual examination in Materia Medica and Pharmaceutical Chemistry will be held at Apothecaries’ Hall on the 21st and and 23rd of October. Prizes of a gold and a silver medal with a book will be awarded.

ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT.-The Director-General his compliments to the Editor of THE LANCET, and presents subject connected with the treatment of to enclose a list of the candidates who were successful at

cows, when recently brought into the sheds of London, which, I think, has not been sufficiently noticed. I allude to the inoculating of them as a protection against pleuro-pneumoniaan operation in which the keepers have the greatest confidence. An incision is made near the end of the tail with a lancet or fleam, then a small piece of healthy or diseased lung or matter from a sore made on another inoculated cow is inserted; inflammation supervenes, which subsides favourably in most cases, but in others a joint or more, or even the greater part of the tail, ’rots away. Untoward symptoms sometimes occur after the operation, inducing the owners to destroy the animals. It is right to state that lung affected with pleuro-pneumonia is

begs the -

of

A

competitive _

examination at Chelsea

Hospital

on

the 10th