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"THE SEQUEL TO A CASE OF OVARIOTOMY."
1340 medical man, I should be glad of a little advice on the following:-- 1 Do recent authorities recognige ergot ag an abortive? 2. What is an pxtreme dose of ergot. liq. ? 3. Is it possible to anæsthetise a person by a few inspirations of chloroform from the neck of a small bottle ? 4. How long will ext. ergot. liq. keep fresh in a corked bottle ? Hoping our medical brethren will withhold judgment until the case is retried, when I hope to clearmyself of this most dastardly charge, I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, F. A. ROBSON. RoBSON, M.B., B S. Newcastle-on-Tyne, June 7th, 1891.
DEATH UNDER CHLOROFORM. . To the Editors of THE LANCET.
SIRS,—In your report of the death of a man during chloroformisation in Belfast there is no mention of the method employed to give the anaesthetic, nor of the means "employed for the patient’s resuscitation. From the pub-
lished accoun I consider that the inhalation of oxygen gJ..8 would have been useful. Was it tried? Elsewhere I have drawn attention to its value. As the liquefied gas can now ’be readily obtained, I think a battle of oxygen with a suit. able inhalation apparatus attached should be in the operating theatre of every hospital. I am, Sirs, yours truly, GEORGE FOY, F.R.C.S. F.R. C. S. Dublin, June 10th, 1391.
"THE
TO A CASE OF OVARIOTOMY." To the Editors of THE LANCET.
SEQUEL
SIRS,—Mr. Jordan Lloyd’s intervention in this discussion is doubtless well meant, but it is unfortunate. I did not say that all abdominal sections were stopped at the Queen’s Hospital, nor did I say that everybody was stopped doing them. I do not know whether the word in the original resolution of the committee was " ovariotomies," but the resolution had the effect; of stopping "abdominal sections," and I think it is a pity thatthe original policy intended bv the resolution was not rigidly followed, as it probably will enow that Mr. Lloyd ha, again raised the question. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, LAWSON TAIT. Birmingham, June Sth, 1891. to Mr. Tait we abo. e explanation, insert the ** Iajustice as we to find space intimated last unable we are but, week, for further discussion of the original matter in dispute.ED. L.
CARBOLISED
OIL INUNCTION IN SCARLATINA. To the Editors of THE LANCET. a
case
of
scarlatina,
I
was
astonished at the early and extensive peeling which occurred, and could scarcely make out the cause, till one day, noticing the patient listless, with dry, brownish tongue, I began to try and fathom the meaning. The urine I found on exami-
and it then occurred to me the symto carbolic acid poisoning. Upon questioning the nurse I found she had been using the - ordinary carbolised oil (1 in 40), and therefore I immediately ordered it to be stopped, and plain oil, for the time being, at any rate, to be used instead. The symptoms quickly abated, and the patient made a good and quick recovery. Upon reviewing the case I cannot help thinkmg it would be G good plan to use the ordinary carbolised oil, as in this instance, and stop it immediately any untoward symptoms I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, occurred. F. P. ATKINSON. Surbiton, June 9th, 1891.
mation to be
smoky,
ptoms might possibly be due
LIVERPOOL (FROM
OUR OWN
CORRESPONDENT.)
The Murder and Mutilation of a Boy. early hour on the morning of May 19th a seaman’s found near one of the docks, and was recovered by oag ’two dock gatesmen and a police constable. It was found to contain the dead body of a boy, with the throat cut and ’both legs severed below the knee, presumably for the easier rpacking into the bag. Later on in the day it was identiAT
an was
and on
mising inquiry. The T17eather and the Influenza. There was a sudden outburst of fine warm weather about the end of May, and cases of influenza became fewer. But the weather again became cold and wet, and the general appearance of the suburbs and the country around is not what might be expected in the month ot June, and one still hears of cases of influenza of greater or lesser severity. Even "the oldest inhabitant"can scarcely remember so pro. tracted a continuance of cold weather. The Lock Hospital. The building erected in 1834 for a lock hospital was used as temporary medical wards during the building of the new infirmary, and is now being got ready before being reopened for its original purpose. A matron has been chosen out of a number of candidates, and a resident medical officer is to be appointed shortly. There is one male and one female ward, each to contain twenty beds, and adjoining each a small ward, in each of which it is proposed to place three beds, making forty-six in all. It is expected that the hospital will be ready for reopening in July. The Royal Infirmary. The contest for the election of an assistant surgeon to the Royal Infirmary was a very close one, Mr. George G. Hamilton being only twenty-nine votes behind Mr. R. W. Bickersteth, who was elected. This is in all probability the last occasion on which the election will be by the trustees, elections in future being left to an elective board or committee. _____________
MANCHESTER. (FROM CORRESPONDENT.) OUR OWN
____
SIRS,—While attending
fled by his parents as that of Nicholas Martin, aged ten. At the request of the coroner, Mr. Paul, Professor of Forensic Medicine a the Liverpool University College, made an external examination, and on the following day a post-mortem examination was made by him and Mr. Lowndes, surgeon to the Liverpool police. The cause of death was found to be hæmorrhage from the wound of the throat. Later on the police obtained a clue which enabled them to discover the scene of the murder-an upper room in a house, the lloor of which was stained with blood. They arrested a man named Conway, against whom the coroner’s jury returned a verdict of wilful murder on the 29th nit, the 5th inst. he was committed for trial on a similar charge by the stipendiary magistrate, Mr. W. J. Stewart. Much credit has been given to the local police for their promptitude in what at first appeared to be a most unpro-
New Hospital or Infirmary Extension ?? THE unfortunate deadlock between the Infirmary authorities and those of the Owens College still continues; in the meantime, correspondence in the public pres appears almost daily. In addition to the members of the medical staff of both institutions, members of the governing bodies have published their views as to the best means of arriving at some satisfactory modus vivendi. It is to be feared that in the minds of a large number of the public the impression produced is that which "an old subscriber to the Infirmary" expresses in a published letter-i.e., that the whole trouble has arisen from professional jealousy between the medical staff of the two bodies, whilst another anonymous writer, signing himself "An Infiro’ary Trustee," asserts, what has been frequently stated before, that the fons et origo of the whole dispute was the appointment made a year or two ago to a chair in the College. Dr. Leech, who has warmly championed the Owens College side, has come forward with a practical suggestion. He proposes that a committee, consisting of the Bishop of Manchester, the Mayor, and ten leading citizens, should be asked to act as a court of reference, to hear the evidence on both sides, and thereupon issue a report to guide the trustees and the public at large in their judgment; because it is to be borne in mind that, whether the Infirmary be extended upon the pre-sent site, or whether the College proposal to erect a new hospital in Oxford-road be adopted, the final tribunal must be the public, as from them must come the funds to carry into effect either scheme. Influenza and Deaths of Public Men. The epidemic of influenza through which we are passing has apparently been much more fatal than in last year’s
DEATH UNDER CHLOROFORM. . To the Editors of THE LANCET.
SIRS,—In your report of the death of a man during chloroformisation in Belfast there is no mention of the method employed to give the anaesthetic, nor of the means "employed for the patient’s resuscitation. From the pub-
lished accoun I consider that the inhalation of oxygen gJ..8 would have been useful. Was it tried? Elsewhere I have drawn attention to its value. As the liquefied gas can now ’be readily obtained, I think a battle of oxygen with a suit. able inhalation apparatus attached should be in the operating theatre of every hospital. I am, Sirs, yours truly, GEORGE FOY, F.R.C.S. F.R. C. S. Dublin, June 10th, 1391.
"THE
TO A CASE OF OVARIOTOMY." To the Editors of THE LANCET.
SEQUEL
SIRS,—Mr. Jordan Lloyd’s intervention in this discussion is doubtless well meant, but it is unfortunate. I did not say that all abdominal sections were stopped at the Queen’s Hospital, nor did I say that everybody was stopped doing them. I do not know whether the word in the original resolution of the committee was " ovariotomies," but the resolution had the effect; of stopping "abdominal sections," and I think it is a pity thatthe original policy intended bv the resolution was not rigidly followed, as it probably will enow that Mr. Lloyd ha, again raised the question. I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, LAWSON TAIT. Birmingham, June Sth, 1891. to Mr. Tait we abo. e explanation, insert the ** Iajustice as we to find space intimated last unable we are but, week, for further discussion of the original matter in dispute.ED. L.
CARBOLISED
OIL INUNCTION IN SCARLATINA. To the Editors of THE LANCET. a
case
of
scarlatina,
I
was
astonished at the early and extensive peeling which occurred, and could scarcely make out the cause, till one day, noticing the patient listless, with dry, brownish tongue, I began to try and fathom the meaning. The urine I found on exami-
and it then occurred to me the symto carbolic acid poisoning. Upon questioning the nurse I found she had been using the - ordinary carbolised oil (1 in 40), and therefore I immediately ordered it to be stopped, and plain oil, for the time being, at any rate, to be used instead. The symptoms quickly abated, and the patient made a good and quick recovery. Upon reviewing the case I cannot help thinkmg it would be G good plan to use the ordinary carbolised oil, as in this instance, and stop it immediately any untoward symptoms I am, Sirs, yours faithfully, occurred. F. P. ATKINSON. Surbiton, June 9th, 1891.
mation to be
smoky,
ptoms might possibly be due
LIVERPOOL (FROM
OUR OWN
CORRESPONDENT.)
The Murder and Mutilation of a Boy. early hour on the morning of May 19th a seaman’s found near one of the docks, and was recovered by oag ’two dock gatesmen and a police constable. It was found to contain the dead body of a boy, with the throat cut and ’both legs severed below the knee, presumably for the easier rpacking into the bag. Later on in the day it was identiAT
an was
and on
mising inquiry. The T17eather and the Influenza. There was a sudden outburst of fine warm weather about the end of May, and cases of influenza became fewer. But the weather again became cold and wet, and the general appearance of the suburbs and the country around is not what might be expected in the month ot June, and one still hears of cases of influenza of greater or lesser severity. Even "the oldest inhabitant"can scarcely remember so pro. tracted a continuance of cold weather. The Lock Hospital. The building erected in 1834 for a lock hospital was used as temporary medical wards during the building of the new infirmary, and is now being got ready before being reopened for its original purpose. A matron has been chosen out of a number of candidates, and a resident medical officer is to be appointed shortly. There is one male and one female ward, each to contain twenty beds, and adjoining each a small ward, in each of which it is proposed to place three beds, making forty-six in all. It is expected that the hospital will be ready for reopening in July. The Royal Infirmary. The contest for the election of an assistant surgeon to the Royal Infirmary was a very close one, Mr. George G. Hamilton being only twenty-nine votes behind Mr. R. W. Bickersteth, who was elected. This is in all probability the last occasion on which the election will be by the trustees, elections in future being left to an elective board or committee. _____________
MANCHESTER. (FROM CORRESPONDENT.) OUR OWN
____
SIRS,—While attending
fled by his parents as that of Nicholas Martin, aged ten. At the request of the coroner, Mr. Paul, Professor of Forensic Medicine a the Liverpool University College, made an external examination, and on the following day a post-mortem examination was made by him and Mr. Lowndes, surgeon to the Liverpool police. The cause of death was found to be hæmorrhage from the wound of the throat. Later on the police obtained a clue which enabled them to discover the scene of the murder-an upper room in a house, the lloor of which was stained with blood. They arrested a man named Conway, against whom the coroner’s jury returned a verdict of wilful murder on the 29th nit, the 5th inst. he was committed for trial on a similar charge by the stipendiary magistrate, Mr. W. J. Stewart. Much credit has been given to the local police for their promptitude in what at first appeared to be a most unpro-
New Hospital or Infirmary Extension ?? THE unfortunate deadlock between the Infirmary authorities and those of the Owens College still continues; in the meantime, correspondence in the public pres appears almost daily. In addition to the members of the medical staff of both institutions, members of the governing bodies have published their views as to the best means of arriving at some satisfactory modus vivendi. It is to be feared that in the minds of a large number of the public the impression produced is that which "an old subscriber to the Infirmary" expresses in a published letter-i.e., that the whole trouble has arisen from professional jealousy between the medical staff of the two bodies, whilst another anonymous writer, signing himself "An Infiro’ary Trustee," asserts, what has been frequently stated before, that the fons et origo of the whole dispute was the appointment made a year or two ago to a chair in the College. Dr. Leech, who has warmly championed the Owens College side, has come forward with a practical suggestion. He proposes that a committee, consisting of the Bishop of Manchester, the Mayor, and ten leading citizens, should be asked to act as a court of reference, to hear the evidence on both sides, and thereupon issue a report to guide the trustees and the public at large in their judgment; because it is to be borne in mind that, whether the Infirmary be extended upon the pre-sent site, or whether the College proposal to erect a new hospital in Oxford-road be adopted, the final tribunal must be the public, as from them must come the funds to carry into effect either scheme. Influenza and Deaths of Public Men. The epidemic of influenza through which we are passing has apparently been much more fatal than in last year’s