IMPORTANCE OF UNIFORMITY IN PRESCRIPTIONS.

92 and this frightful disease, persons whose names I will not mention. He its-victim, cerafter the birth of the child, either lies dormant, or slightly tainly, but let him beof good cheer. Hemayremembertheschoolshows itself about the third month, the time for vaccination. lessons from his " Eton," and this extract, "Nemo mortalium Such diseases are most likely to be known by the medical omnibus horis sapit;" and knows, as I do full well, that many attendant of the family, and I humbly suhmit it as a strong unhappy results have ensued from hands high in the annals of " reason for the remunerating fee to be sufficiently large to d-d good-natured friend" surgery, but who had no induce him to vaccinate those he attends, so that such diseases (School for Scandal) to give him a tilt over the stile. What Mr. Thomas Wakley had to do with the sequel of the case I may have less chance of being propagated. Thanking you, my lord, for the fulfilment of your promise in cannot understand, or why he was lugged in. If every surgeon extending the operation to all qualified surgeons, and hoping who stands by and helps his friend when in a dilemma is to be that I may not be too late for you to give an increased fee gibbeted at an inquest, few men will be so forward in future; I for one would not. A few words more, and for the present your favourable consideration, I am, my Lord, your obedient humble servant, I shall have said my say. If cruelty had been practised on the child for mere sport; if the operation had not been one of W. H. BORHAM. To Lord Lyttelton. paramount necessity; if Mr. Weedon Cooke had not been one of the surgeons of the Royal Free Hospital, - may I ask 10, Great George-street, July 19, 1854. SIR,-The House of Commons have rejected the proposed fee whether the strongfeelings of philanthropy for the unfortunate of Is., and I must now let the matter alone, having done what patient would have been roused, or consigned with it to the I could; but you have misunderstoocl the object of it. Union ’’ tomb of all the Capulets" ? Will any of the " Tria Juncta in surgeons are paid 2s. 6d. and Is. 6d. for operation, certificate Uno" answer these questions ? Yours faithfully, and all. Private practitioners complained that they had to ADELPHOS. furnish certificates for nothing; I therefore proposed that they Twickenham, July, 1854. should be paid Is. for the certifrcate alorze, which, compared with the other, seems about in proportion for the operation. To the Editor of THE LANCET. Of course they are paid by their employers, unless they choose to do it gratis. consider that the verdict of the coroner’s jury in SIR,-I The object was not to throw contracts open to all, which, the " Richardson inquest," which accuses Mr. Wakley, jun., though I should be glad if it could be done, I did not venture of unskilfulness in an operation that he did not perform at all, to do, because I found doubts expressed in high authority and actually had nothing to do with, no more than any bywhether it might not interfere with the due supply of lymph.** stander in the profession who might have been asked by the Your obedient servant, to assist in any way, as is usual,- I consider that operator LYTTELTON. To W. H. Borham, Esq. verdict so absurd and so infamous, that it is due to Mr. Wakley’s reputation that the profession should testify their approval of his conduct, and their abhorrence of such illegal THE LATE INQUEST. and malicious decisions. I shall be glad to act as one of a committee to carry out so desirable an object. To the Editor of THE LANCET. I remain, Sir, yours obediently, J. BERNCASTLE, M. M.R.C.P.L., R. C. P. L. , &c. "Use every man after his desert, and who shall ’scape whipping?" Albany-street, Regent’s-park, July, 1854. HAMLET. Tis unita fortior."

dary syphilis during utero-gestation;

-

SIR,-There are few persons who haveahigher estimate of the medical profession than I have, and few persons who feel more distressed when its usefulness or dignity is impaired. Its value to the social fabric is too well known to need my eulogy; and, taken as a body, a kinder, more intelligent, or more hard-worked body of gentlemen cannot be found. If united, they could accomplish much; but as they are, they become enfeebled by the want of such power, and fall to the ground, as a bundle of sticks held merely by a thread. This want of union has been long felt as a bad omen for future progress or reform; and the unhappy inquest lately held upon the child who died after an operation for lithotomy, has inflicted one of the most grievous blows that has ever fallen upon the surgical profession.

I shall take no part respecting the squabbles previously at the Royal Free Hospital. I haveno acquaintance either with Mr. Gay or Mr. Weedon Cooke, so that my remarks will be general. From my heart I sympathize with the latter surgeon, as he has been made the " Ignatius Polyglot" or scapegoat in this matter, and no doubt feels his position most acutely. Of all the passions of the human mind, vindictive revenge is the most terrible. The commencement of this inquest, its progress, aaid its climax, are the offspring of that demon ! The maw (or man) who first advanced towards this assault upon the whole profession will assuredly find a reward. His bed will be no bed of roses; but if so, the thorns will be amidst them, and perpetually torment him. Had there been no vindictive feeling, the poor child would have been conveyed to its select restingplace without a sound of lamentation. Has there been no failure in this or any other operation before? Is the art of surgery perfect, or man’s skill ? Have none of the aiders and abetters of this inquest ever committed an error? If they have not, I can only say they are paragons of perfection, and rival the black swan of antiquity. Let them pause in their headlong career; for so surely as the day-beams scatter the clouds of darkness, so surely will this backsliding be kept in the memory of the profession. Heaven knows, the anxiety of the surgeon’s life is enough to endure, without his being exposed in the exercise of his duty to the shaft of malice. I would rather be in the position of Mr. Weedon Cooke than in that of other

THE CHARTER-HOUSE. To t7te Editor of THE LANCET. SIR,-The Charity Commissioners are about to sit at the Charter-house to inquire into its management (but with closed doors !) I beg to point out an imposition practised for the benefit of its solicitor. I was one of about twenty candidates for the appointment of resident medical officer. We each received a note stating we must send a guinea with our application for the solicitor of the Charter-house, who was to lay it before the governors. Is it creditable for such an Institution to allow their paid officer to make such a demand ? I defy them to instance any other Institution whatever, where such a practice is adopted. I am, your obedient servant, M.R.C.S. & L.A.C.

IMPORTANCE OF UNIFORMITY IN PRESCRIPTIONS. To the Editor of THE LANCET. few weeks since, you were kind enough to insert a SIR,-A letter from me on the "fluid pound,in which I mentioned the sad want of uniformity in dispensing, arising from the non-observance of apothecaries’ weight. The Pharmaceutical Journal of this month contains the same letter, appended to which is an extract from a letter of Mr. James Murdock, of Glasgow, and also a remark from the editor, maintaining that

the xvj. avoirdupois is the correct weight for the pound. I think it is but justice to myself that I should reply to the above statement, being, as it is, diametrically opposed to that which I maintained in my letter-namely, xij. as the fluid pound. I must, with all due deference, beg leave to differ from the editor of the Journal, and in doing so I am only carrying out the opinion of the majority of chemists, who agree with me, if apothecaries’ weight is used in one article, why not in the other? As an instance of this, the following prescription will illustrate the absurdity: " R. Tincturae arnicae, aquse addantur lb. j." According to the editor’s opinion, the should be dispensed as xv j. avoirdupois, and the tincture * How, if the contract were open to all, it could interfere with the due pound supply of lymph, I should like the high authority" to explain. This high would of course be measured by apothecaries’ weight. What is possible to be more inconsistent than this-and it must authority must have hoodwinked his lordship.-W. H. B. ’

93 appear so in the mind of every man-that in a prescription with only two articles there should be two different weights observed? It certainly ought to convince medical men of the important necessity of discontinuing writing the word ‘‘ pound," as it is evident that it admits of a great possibility of mistake. Though the xvj. is considered to constitute the fluid pound in dispensing, for which we have the authority of the editor of the Pharmaceutical Jonrnal, it would be but only a right inference to draw, that the pharmaceutical chemists all observe that weight: it is not so; there are as many mistakes committed by them as there are by those chemists who cannot

boast of being

a member. I trust you will give space for this in your journal. I should not have troubled you, if it were not to show the glaring inconsistency in dispensing, which I think you must agree with me ought to be obviated, and it is only by giving publicity that it can be effectually removed. I am, Sir, yours, &c., AN EXPERIENCED DISPENSER. July, 1854.

CHOLERA IN BARBADOES.

following fearful details private correspondent:-

THE of

a

are

extracted from the letter ’

Parliamentary Intelligence. HOUSE OF LORDS. TUESDAY, JULY 25TH. MEDICAL GRADUATES

(UNIVERSITY

OF

LONDON)

BILL.

LORD MONTEAGLE moved the second reading of this Bill. The Duke of ARGYLL thought there were great objections to dealing with the Bill as it now stood. He should be sorry tooppose the principle of the Bill, because he felt that the University of London ought to be placed upon the equality originally promised to it with theUniversities of Oxford and Cambridge. There was, however, a great controversy amongst the medical profession, as to whether licensing for general practice should be given by licensed bodies, or by the universities alone. This Bill, however, would only settle the question in He thought it would be extremely unfair to a partial manner. grant this privilege to graduates of the London University alone, without extending it at the same time to Scotch and Irish graduates, and it would be much better, on the whole, to limit the Bill to the second clause, which relieved graduates of the London University from the pains and penalties to which they were liable under the Lunacy and Vaccination Acts, and to leave the larger question of medical reform untouched. Lord CAMPBELL was perfectly ready, for his part, to accept the compromise proposed by the noble duke. The Scotch and Irish graduates had no wish to obtain any advantage over their fellow practitioners, but, at the same time, they objected to being placed in an inferior position. The Duke of ARGYLL gave notice that, in committee, he should move the insertion of a clause in the Bill to include the graduates of Scotch universities. Lord BROUGHAM saw no ground whatever for not extending the same privilege to Scotch and Irish universities as was proposed to be given to London. He perceived that Durham was included in the Bill, and though he had no objection to that, he thought the claim of the Scotch and Irish universities were ten times stronger than that of Durham. The Bill was then read a second time.

"Barbadoes, 27th June, 1854. "You have no doubt heard that the cholera has made its appearance in this island, but you have not yet been informed of the awful havoc it has made. It first broke out in Bridgetown, slightly at first, but soon increased in the crowded and filthy lanes of the black population, where it raged most fearfully. It soon increased from ninety to between three and four hundred per diem; and I am informed by Mr. Nicoll, who has the contract for carting the dead to the burial pits, that, up to the present time, upwards of seven thousand have died; but he says that the correct number will never be ascertained, as whole families have been swept off, and in a great many instances several small children have been placed in one large coffin. Up to the 21st, at St. Leonards and the piece of ground purchased by the authorities for the purpose, four thousand two hundred and one were buried. What’then must be the whole number, when it is now raging nearly all over the island ? HOUSE OF COMMONS. I have witnessed a great deal during my residence of nearly fifteen years in the West Indies, but never anticiTUESDAY, JULY 18TH. pated such scenes as these. I have only had occasion to go to BILL. VACCINATION ACT AMENDMENT the town once during the epidemic; the whole place seems Sir J. PAKINGTON moved that the House go into committee panic stricken. Carts, instead of carrying bales of goods, are on this Bill. now employed conveying the dead; in every street you will Mr. BEADY said that the Bill could not be worked in its meet two or three carts, and now and then a hearse, with from six to eight coffins in each. You can get nothing done; people present shape and form. So long as the stamp of pauperism will not work, and the poor are in a state of starvation; there remained upon this Bill by associating vaccination with the are no provisions to be got, and many die from actual want machinery of the Poor-law Board, there would never be a and neglect, as their own friends, in numerous cases, run and perfect system of vaccination in this country. There was a. leave them in the agonies of death to die by themselves; and Vaccination Board appointed under the Act, but there wereif we do not soon get plenty of rain, I am afraid a famine will no means of securing a full and proper supply of lymph to the succeed the pestilence, as the very cattle seem to be dying for large towns and unions. He thought it unnecessary to legiswant of fodder. I cannot picture to you one-tenth part of the late further on this subject at present, and recommended that misery in this at present unfortunate island. It broke out in the Bill should be more fully considered during the recess.. the garrison on the 31st of last month, amongst the military He thought he could promise that when the House again met labourers, with whom it has done its work. As you will he should be able to introduce a measure of a more practical and satisfactory character. He moved that the House go into see by the. statement at the close of this, the number of deaths in the garrison up to last night were two hundred and twenty. committee on the Bill on that day three months. I was amongst the first who had an attack. The 36th has Sir J. PAKINGTON said that the Bill had been brought in tosuffered greatly, and the 67th, as you will see by the list, and correct two errors in the Bill of last session. One was, that a artillery, according to their strength. The artillery are en- wrong number of days was prescribed, at the end of which the camped at Gunhill, and the 36th at Brittons; the 67th’s en- child was to be brought before the medical man for examina-campment is to be pitched at Brittons to-day. We have had tion ; and the other was, that in the Act of last session na sufficient mode of recovering the penalties was enacted. There an awful time of it with the hospitals, as every article is burnt by general order. If we had not got the stores up from the were also two or three clauses inserted by the request of the vacated islands, I do not know what we should have done; Registrar-general. He could not assent to the postponement the destruction of bedding, &c., has been ruinous. A piece of of the Bill. The amendment was negatived without a division, and the ground has been measured off at the lower end of the graveyard for a burial-ground where the bedding is burned in pits, House went into committee on the Bill. from twelve to eighteen per diem. All the lunatics at the On clause 1, Mr. HENLEY objected to throwing the expense upon the Navy Hospital are dead. All Mrs. B-’s old pensioners are gone. poor-rates, which was, in fact, creating an additional burden upon land. Mr. BAINES said, that by the Act of 1840, the expenses of vaccination were paid out of the poor-rates, and every subse quent Act had proceeded in the same direction. Mr. HENLEY did not see why, because a wrong principle had been established, it should be persevered in. Mr. BRADY thought it very undesirable that the vaccination stations should be at the workhouses. Lord SEYMOUR, remarked upon the silence of the Government ,