ANAPHYLAXIS.

1774 Let examinations be based on this principle and combine! With them a system of apprenticeship-to a hospital, not to an individual,-give two-thirds of the marks for the apprenticeship work and one-third for the examination work, and then a man will be able to acquire a sound practical knowledge of his profession. The whole question is one of I am, Sir, yours faithfully, .national importance. ,

,

’

M.A.. M.B.

ANAPHYLAXIS. To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SiR,-May I ask you or some of your readers who may be ’better instructed than myself how the word "anaphylaxis"" into being ?7 It was, I believe, coined by Dr. Charles
PROPOSED MEDICAL REFORMS IN NORWAY. (FROM THE

report is

A

now

SPECIAL

CORRESPONDENT.)

to hand of the medical commission

a

medical

man

in attendance

on

an

epidemic

or

infectious

illness that is the subject of official control is to notify such a case and to prescribe such measures as are required to limit

spread of the disease. By the present law the King may grant the right to practise medicine in Norway to one who has not passed the the

country’s medical examinations but who in other respects has proved his knowledge of medicine. It is proposed that the King shall retain this privilege but that the candidate for a licence to practise shall pass a test imposed by the medical authorities. This condition is, however, not to be applied in the case of foreigners appointed as teachers by the medical faculty or in the case of foreigners wishing to practise only among their fellow countrymen or wishing to undertake purely scientific research work, such as the study of leprosy. There is nothing in the present Norwegian law to insure to a medical attendant priority of right in bankruptcy claims or after the death of his patient. In many disputed cases, however, it has for a long time been the custom to allow medical men priority of claim, and it is now proposed to make this practice law. This priority of claim is not only to include ordinary fees for attendance but also all charges in connexion with consultations, operations, and medicaments. The claims must not, however, date back more than a year from the declaration of bankruptcy or death of the creditor or patient. With regard to professional secrecy, the commission finds that a medical man’s privileges in this respect should be clearly defined by law, and in order that the sacredness of private life insisted on by the public when confiding in a medical man should be respected it is proposed that the privilege of professional secrecy shall not only include confessions made by a patient but also all information acquired by professional independent observations. On the other hand, a medical man is to be free to disclose information acquired in connexion with examination for insurance or for an official appointment, should such information be required by the parties concerned. The privilege is also to be a dead letter in cases of identification, &c., by a medical man called in as

into suggested reforms in connexion with medical men, midwives, and quacks, and also to an expert. ;investigate further the proposed"doctor paragraph" in the According to the present law a practitioner may not be . new criminal code which enacts that the refusal of medical deprived of his licence unless he has been convicted of a men and midwives to attend urgent cases should be made an punishable offence. Thus in the case of a medical man’s
appointed

to

inquire