THE GRESHAM UNIVERSITY COMMISSION.

668

appeal for the Italian rural labourer by showing how much the State, in conjuction with the local proprietors and capitalists, could effect for him, and how the result of such action and legislation would be seen in the development of economic and

frame regulations for administration of the grant, and it is only reasonable to suppose that one of the regulations should be that counties must show to the Secretary that their sanitary arrangements are fairly satisfactory before he admits them to a share in it. It is this regulation, framed by his predecessor acting under the advice of the Board of Supervision, that Sir George Trevelyan seems to have decided to abrogate, and his decision is certainly unfortunate.

social conditions which would make the pellagra impossible and the elaborate machinery organised to encounterit 1lJte qit(f,,ittit6 nerlligcn,ble. His Excellency Signor La Cava (Minister of Agriculture) replied for the Government and pledged his department to continue its subsidies for the essiecatol or furnaces for drying the maize and destroying the parasite THE GRESHAM UNIVERSITY COMMISSION. that renders it noxious as food, whilst also maintaining the of the Royal Commission appointed to THE cheap kitchens and the health stations, "aiding and pro- considerproceedings the charter proposed for the formation of a new moting, as it had hitherto done, the initiative of the in University London, to be called the Gresham University, private local charities." More important still, as an will immediately come to a close. Sir George Young and indication of policy, was his assurance that the Professor Ramsay of University College have been heard, and Government would place funds at the disposal of the Principal of King’s College, will be the last Dr. Wace, provincial committees in aid of the " earning power " of and witness, complete the evidence on behalf of the prothe labourer, and, with this view, had already taken steps rnoters of the Gresham Charter. We trust that the report of with the Lombard savings banks to furnish the subvention the Commissioners will be published as soon as possible. required. The "Opere Pie" (Italy’s ecluivalent for State charities), he further suggested, might possibly, by transPREVALENCE OF FEVER. formations in their working, be made to yield more substantial aid than hitherto to the agricultural poor, and he DURING the week ended March llth nearly 1100 cases concluded by reiterating the solicitude of the Government to of scarlet fever were reported in the chief towns of England. minimise in the meantime and ultimately to stamp out at its More than a third of these belonged to London. Liverpool, origin the pellagra, which costs Italy so much in men and Manchester, Sheffield, Swansea and Leicester contributed treasure. Altogether, the official reply was about as satis- most of the other cases. Some 300 cases of diphtheria factory as Signor Suardi-Gianforte could have looked for- were reported in the same time, the metropolis showing more the heavy strain on the country’s finances for the army than half of them. Manchester and Cardiff came next. and navy being considered. He accordingly accepted the Enteric fever prevailed most in London and Liverpool. It is Ministerial assurances with an expression of trust in their pleasing to learn that the mortality from scarlet fever in bona fides, of hope in their efficacy and of thanks for the London exhibits a distinct decline, and the number of fulness and cordiality with which they had been given. patients in the fever hospitals is much less than a month ago. The diphtheria mortality remains much the same, but is sti "AKINESIA ALGERA." above the average. U1DER this term :4iobiusldescribes an affection of the -

nervous system characterised by extreme pain upon motion, so that the patient is unable to make any movement whatever. The exact pathological condition which is the cause of this symptom is as yet unknown. It appears only to occur in neurotic individuals, especially in those who are in a bad state of health genewl1y and who are unable to fight against the weakness. The pain is sometimes directly associated with motion, but in other instances follows it, and is experienced not only in the parts of the body which have been moved, but also in other parts, and may finally lead to almost complete loss of motive power, so that the patient is practically paralysed. In addition to this pain, which is the most prominent symptom, other phenomena characteristic of neurasthenia may develop, but hysterical outbursts have not been observed. Mobius considers that this disturbance may be attributed to inherited degeneration of the nervous system ; that, as a rule, it follows upon mental strain in patients prone to neurasthenia; and that it must be regarded asa psychical affection. The condition must, however, be considered as more allied to hysteria than to hypochondriasis. --

A SCOTCH

PUBLIC

HEALTH

QUESTION.

glad to fee that by a question in Parliament Dr. Farquharson has called attention to the subject of our last week’s leading article, and that he proposes to take another opportunity of referring to it. The Secretary for Scotland gave a reply which cannot be regarded as satisfactory. He pointed out that under the Local Government Act county councils have power to permit their medical officers to engage in other work. That is not denied by anyone, but under the Local Taxation Act the Secretary for Scotland has power to WE

are

1

Deutsche Zeitschrift für Nervenheilkunde,

1892, p. 121.

HYSTERICAL RAPID RESPIRATION. Ix the last number of the Amerie2n Journal of the Medical science Dr. Weir -IIitchell has a paper dealing with this obscure and interesting affection. From his wide experience he is able to formulate a description of the symptoms associated with the condition. The breathing, he says, is largely upper costal, sometimes exclusively so, and the preservation of the relative share between that and the diaphragm is rare. As a rule it is superficial and without appearance o effort. Usually, also, in the early stage the patient is ignorant of the existence of the symptom, but when once the knowledge is acquired the respiration rate is increased by excitement, such as is induced by the mere approach of the nurse or medical attendant. As a rule, too, the symptom occurs only j just after sleep, and may be quite absent-indeed, usually is so-during sleep. Sometimes the symptom is the only distinct expression of hysteria or is not present unless the patient is emotionally excited ; he does not moreover think that the type of breathing is a possible voluntary product, whilst he regards the affection in males as distinctly rare. Several cases are related which bear out this description, and amongst them one in which there was a curious and anomalous eruption on the leg somewhat rupial in character, which at first appeared as a mass of pimples. These, during a state of trance, became confluent and formed a scab, an excellent illustration of which is given in the paper. The scab was removed, and under it there was found a greyish-white fibrinous material, from the surface of which oozed a little blood. The skin round the edges was thickened, hardened and hypermmic, and the area was very sensitive. Nothing else unusual was discovered in the patient’s condition except a marked contraction of the colour fields, a chart of which is given. Reference is also made to different forms of rapid respiration, and graphic records of the varieties of these