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THE GULSTONIAN LECTURES
493 to record these expressions of gratitude on the part of students, which redound equally to the honour of both the teacher and the taught.
NAVAL ASSISTANT SURGEONs.—The
Vice-presidents,
following is
a
presented Parliament from the President, and Council of the Royal College of Surgeons
copy of the Petition
to
of England :’6 Showeth,-That the Court of Examiners of the said college
are required to examine into the qualifications of the assistantsurgeons of her Majesty’s navy on their promotion, and have found many who have neither improved nor effectually maintained their knowledge of the art and science of surgery. " That the President and Council deem it their duty to represent further to your right honourable House, that the cause invariably assigned for this deficiency is the want of such accommodation in the vessels of the navy as is compatible with the requirements of study, and they are indued to believe, from the inquiries which they have made, that the assistant-surgeons of the navy are placed under circumstances which are unsuited to the position and pursuits of members of a liberal profession. .. That the President and Council, under the impression that the regulations at present existing tend to diminish injuriously the efficiency of the surgical service, and to deter able surgeons from entering her Majesty’s navy, humbly pray your right honourable house to consider the grievances of which the assistant-surgeons of the royal navy complain. And your petitioners will ever pray.
JACKSONIAN PRIZE.-The President and Council to Mr. Peter Hinckes Bird, of Birmingham,
have just awarded
of the above prizes for the best Essay on Erysipelas, its Nature and Treatment; and the other to Mr. Henry Lee, Doverstreet, Piccadilly, for his Dissertation on the Causes, Consequences, and Treatment of Purulent Deposits. The former gentleman is a member of the College, his diploma bearing date May 19,1848. The latter is a fellow by examination. The prize, which is of twenty guineas, is accompanied by an honorary certificate.
BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. Anormal Nutrition in the Human Articular Cartilages, with Experimental Researches on the Lower Animals. By P. Redfern, M.D. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. Edinburgh : Sutherland & Knox. 8vo, pp. 86. A Few Words on Perinaaal Section, as recommended by Professor Syme for the Cure of Stricture of the Urethra. By F. B. Courtenay, M.R.C.S.E. Pamphlet. pp. 24. London: Bailliere. 1850. The General Malaria of London and the Peculiar Malaria of Pimlico Investigated, and the Means of their Economical PamRemoval Ascertained. Bv A. Ure, M.D., F.R.S., &c. phlet. pp. 39. London: Orr & Son. 1850. Extramural Burial. The Three Schemes. Pamphlet. pp. 36. London: E. Wilson. 1850. On Diseases of Menstruation and Ovarian Inflammation, in Connexion with Sterility, Pelvic Tumours, and Affections of the Womb. By Edward John Tilt, M.D. 12mo. pp. 250. London: John Churchill. 1850. Metropolitan Water Supply, Present and Future ; in Four Letters to the Daily News. By John Loude Tabberner. Pamphlet. pp. 58. London:Renshaw, 356, Strand. Hints on Infection. By T. S. Fletcher, M.R.C.S.L., &c. Pamphlet. pp. 30. London: Groombridge and Sons.
ROYAL COLLEGE
OF
PHYSICIANS.
one
HEALTH
OI’
LONDON
DURING THE
WEEK.-A
con-
THE
GULSTONIAN LECTURES WILL BE DELIVERED THIS SESSION
BY
siderable decrease is observed in the mortality of the week ending T. K. M.D., Saturday, April 6th. The total deaths registered in the metropolitan On April the 26th, May 1st & 3rd; and the districts, which in the previous week rose to 1124, were last week only 893, whereas the average derived from deaths in ten corresponding weeks of 1840-9, and raised in proportion to increased FIRST LECTURE WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE LANCET population, is 1001, and in the last three corresponding weeksOF SATURDAY, MAY THE FOURTH. namely, those of 1847-49, the deaths rose to about 1050 and upwards. In last week as compared with that immediately preceding, the deaths classed as having been caused by zymotic or TO CORRESPONDENTS. epidemic diseases are almost exactly of the same amount ; in this return there are 157, of which seven were from small-pox, THE communication of Mr. Cowan, (Greenock,) shall be inserted in the 15 from measles, 18 from scarlatina, 35 from hooping-cough, four next number of THE LANCET. from influenza, all of which diseases are at present less fatal than paper of Mr. Featherstonehaugh, (Newcastle-on-Tyne,) has been usual; there are also 37 from typhus, which is about the average, THE and shall be published at the earliest opportunity. received, and 13 from diarrhcea, six from remittent fever, five from rheumatic fever, (besides three from rheumatism,) and eight from Mr. W. T. Hiff, jun., will perceive that his communication is inserted at erysipelas, from which diseases the mortality is rather above the page 476. It was in type previous to the receipt of his note. average. But diseases of the respiratory organs still exhibit a To the Editor of THE LANCET.
CHAMBERS,
small increase on the average, though compared with the morclass in the previous week they show a reduction. Bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, and other complaints affecting the organs of respiration, (with the exception of hooping-cough and consumption,) number 174, the average being 164; their progress during the last six weeks may be traced in the following numbers—171, 182, 231, 252, 253, and 174. these fluctuations being nearly coincident with rise and fall of temperature. Phthisis (or consumption) was fatal to 108 persons last week, an unusually small number; the year 1843 affords the only example of a corresponding week in which the mortality from this disease was so low; the average is about 150. On the 6th of April, in the Marylebone workhouse, a widow died, whose age is reported to have been 103 years ; she sunk by " natural decay." On the 28th of March, in Ferry-street, Poplar, the daughter of a labourer, aged three years, died of privation, or, according to the return made by the coroner’s jury, from °° natural death accelerated by want." Two men and two women are registered as the victims of intemperance. In workhouses, 77 deaths were registered in the week, and in hospitals 58, of which 35 were in general hospitals, eight in naval and military, and eight in lunatic asylums. At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height of the barometer in the week was 29.425 in. The mean daily reading of the thermometer was highest on Sunday, when it was 54.40, and lowest on Saturday, when it was 46.20; the mean temperature of the week was 49.5°, or 5° higher than the average of the same week in seven years. The mean temperature was throughout the week higher than the average, and on Sunday was higher by 9.50, and on Monday by 8.5°.
tality of this
SIR,—My attention has only just been called to a letter amongst those "To Correspondents," in your publication of the 23rd ultimo, signed "Mem. R.C.S." I am the medical officer of the Sovereign Life Assurance Company therein referred to, and in justice to the office and myself, think it right to set the matter straight by stating the facts of the case. In May last I examined the patient in question, who then proposed to assure his life in the Sovereign Life Assurance Company, when I stated in my report, that I I feared he had been in the habit of drinking." Upon this, farther inquiries were made, and a satisfactory account was obtained of the man’s habits of life, and a policykvas effected. The gentleman who had innocently misled the office, hearing that the assured was dangerously ill with delirium tremens, called upon him, and finding there was not full confidence in the medical gentleman in attendance, who, I presume, was Mem. R.C.S., it was agreed that I should be sent for. Accordingly I was sent for by this gentleman, and referring to my having as the medical officer of the company previously examined him, requested me to take sole charge of the case. I said, if applied to as the officer of the company, I could not; when he assured me it was the wish of the family that I should attend. Before seeing the patient, however, to make quite sure, I ascertained from his wife such was her wish. Mem. R.C.S. having been duly apprized, I prescribed for the patient, and continued in attendance. However, in a few days, finding from (then to me) some unknown cause, the wife was not quite satisfied, and as the case was a dangerous one, I called in Dr. Watson, with her consent, and as she wished Mem. R.C.S. to be present, I at once desired him by all means to be sent for, and on his arrival a consultation The result was, Dr. Watson quite coincided with the treatment was held. I had adopted, and which was persisted in. The patient is quite restored, and has since expressed his gratitude to me for his recovery. This being a concise statement of the facts, I think you will agree with me there is no ground for censure upon the Sovereign Life Assurance Company, which has been one of the first to deal liberally with our profession, and that nothing less could have been done under the circumstances by Your obedient servant, F. G. JOHNSTON. Conduit-street. UNLESS Studeits states his questions more explicitly, we shall be of furnishing him with the information he wishes to obtain.
incapable
NAVAL ASSISTANT SURGEONs.—The
Vice-presidents,
following is
a
presented Parliament from the President, and Council of the Royal College of Surgeons
copy of the Petition
to
of England :’6 Showeth,-That the Court of Examiners of the said college
are required to examine into the qualifications of the assistantsurgeons of her Majesty’s navy on their promotion, and have found many who have neither improved nor effectually maintained their knowledge of the art and science of surgery. " That the President and Council deem it their duty to represent further to your right honourable House, that the cause invariably assigned for this deficiency is the want of such accommodation in the vessels of the navy as is compatible with the requirements of study, and they are indued to believe, from the inquiries which they have made, that the assistant-surgeons of the navy are placed under circumstances which are unsuited to the position and pursuits of members of a liberal profession. .. That the President and Council, under the impression that the regulations at present existing tend to diminish injuriously the efficiency of the surgical service, and to deter able surgeons from entering her Majesty’s navy, humbly pray your right honourable house to consider the grievances of which the assistant-surgeons of the royal navy complain. And your petitioners will ever pray.
JACKSONIAN PRIZE.-The President and Council to Mr. Peter Hinckes Bird, of Birmingham,
have just awarded
of the above prizes for the best Essay on Erysipelas, its Nature and Treatment; and the other to Mr. Henry Lee, Doverstreet, Piccadilly, for his Dissertation on the Causes, Consequences, and Treatment of Purulent Deposits. The former gentleman is a member of the College, his diploma bearing date May 19,1848. The latter is a fellow by examination. The prize, which is of twenty guineas, is accompanied by an honorary certificate.
BOOKS RECEIVED FOR REVIEW. Anormal Nutrition in the Human Articular Cartilages, with Experimental Researches on the Lower Animals. By P. Redfern, M.D. London: Simpkin, Marshall, & Co. Edinburgh : Sutherland & Knox. 8vo, pp. 86. A Few Words on Perinaaal Section, as recommended by Professor Syme for the Cure of Stricture of the Urethra. By F. B. Courtenay, M.R.C.S.E. Pamphlet. pp. 24. London: Bailliere. 1850. The General Malaria of London and the Peculiar Malaria of Pimlico Investigated, and the Means of their Economical PamRemoval Ascertained. Bv A. Ure, M.D., F.R.S., &c. phlet. pp. 39. London: Orr & Son. 1850. Extramural Burial. The Three Schemes. Pamphlet. pp. 36. London: E. Wilson. 1850. On Diseases of Menstruation and Ovarian Inflammation, in Connexion with Sterility, Pelvic Tumours, and Affections of the Womb. By Edward John Tilt, M.D. 12mo. pp. 250. London: John Churchill. 1850. Metropolitan Water Supply, Present and Future ; in Four Letters to the Daily News. By John Loude Tabberner. Pamphlet. pp. 58. London:Renshaw, 356, Strand. Hints on Infection. By T. S. Fletcher, M.R.C.S.L., &c. Pamphlet. pp. 30. London: Groombridge and Sons.
ROYAL COLLEGE
OF
PHYSICIANS.
one
HEALTH
OI’
LONDON
DURING THE
WEEK.-A
con-
THE
GULSTONIAN LECTURES WILL BE DELIVERED THIS SESSION
BY
siderable decrease is observed in the mortality of the week ending T. K. M.D., Saturday, April 6th. The total deaths registered in the metropolitan On April the 26th, May 1st & 3rd; and the districts, which in the previous week rose to 1124, were last week only 893, whereas the average derived from deaths in ten corresponding weeks of 1840-9, and raised in proportion to increased FIRST LECTURE WILL BE PUBLISHED IN THE LANCET population, is 1001, and in the last three corresponding weeksOF SATURDAY, MAY THE FOURTH. namely, those of 1847-49, the deaths rose to about 1050 and upwards. In last week as compared with that immediately preceding, the deaths classed as having been caused by zymotic or TO CORRESPONDENTS. epidemic diseases are almost exactly of the same amount ; in this return there are 157, of which seven were from small-pox, THE communication of Mr. Cowan, (Greenock,) shall be inserted in the 15 from measles, 18 from scarlatina, 35 from hooping-cough, four next number of THE LANCET. from influenza, all of which diseases are at present less fatal than paper of Mr. Featherstonehaugh, (Newcastle-on-Tyne,) has been usual; there are also 37 from typhus, which is about the average, THE and shall be published at the earliest opportunity. received, and 13 from diarrhcea, six from remittent fever, five from rheumatic fever, (besides three from rheumatism,) and eight from Mr. W. T. Hiff, jun., will perceive that his communication is inserted at erysipelas, from which diseases the mortality is rather above the page 476. It was in type previous to the receipt of his note. average. But diseases of the respiratory organs still exhibit a To the Editor of THE LANCET.
CHAMBERS,
small increase on the average, though compared with the morclass in the previous week they show a reduction. Bronchitis, pneumonia, asthma, and other complaints affecting the organs of respiration, (with the exception of hooping-cough and consumption,) number 174, the average being 164; their progress during the last six weeks may be traced in the following numbers—171, 182, 231, 252, 253, and 174. these fluctuations being nearly coincident with rise and fall of temperature. Phthisis (or consumption) was fatal to 108 persons last week, an unusually small number; the year 1843 affords the only example of a corresponding week in which the mortality from this disease was so low; the average is about 150. On the 6th of April, in the Marylebone workhouse, a widow died, whose age is reported to have been 103 years ; she sunk by " natural decay." On the 28th of March, in Ferry-street, Poplar, the daughter of a labourer, aged three years, died of privation, or, according to the return made by the coroner’s jury, from °° natural death accelerated by want." Two men and two women are registered as the victims of intemperance. In workhouses, 77 deaths were registered in the week, and in hospitals 58, of which 35 were in general hospitals, eight in naval and military, and eight in lunatic asylums. At the Royal Observatory, Greenwich, the mean height of the barometer in the week was 29.425 in. The mean daily reading of the thermometer was highest on Sunday, when it was 54.40, and lowest on Saturday, when it was 46.20; the mean temperature of the week was 49.5°, or 5° higher than the average of the same week in seven years. The mean temperature was throughout the week higher than the average, and on Sunday was higher by 9.50, and on Monday by 8.5°.
tality of this
SIR,—My attention has only just been called to a letter amongst those "To Correspondents," in your publication of the 23rd ultimo, signed "Mem. R.C.S." I am the medical officer of the Sovereign Life Assurance Company therein referred to, and in justice to the office and myself, think it right to set the matter straight by stating the facts of the case. In May last I examined the patient in question, who then proposed to assure his life in the Sovereign Life Assurance Company, when I stated in my report, that I I feared he had been in the habit of drinking." Upon this, farther inquiries were made, and a satisfactory account was obtained of the man’s habits of life, and a policykvas effected. The gentleman who had innocently misled the office, hearing that the assured was dangerously ill with delirium tremens, called upon him, and finding there was not full confidence in the medical gentleman in attendance, who, I presume, was Mem. R.C.S., it was agreed that I should be sent for. Accordingly I was sent for by this gentleman, and referring to my having as the medical officer of the company previously examined him, requested me to take sole charge of the case. I said, if applied to as the officer of the company, I could not; when he assured me it was the wish of the family that I should attend. Before seeing the patient, however, to make quite sure, I ascertained from his wife such was her wish. Mem. R.C.S. having been duly apprized, I prescribed for the patient, and continued in attendance. However, in a few days, finding from (then to me) some unknown cause, the wife was not quite satisfied, and as the case was a dangerous one, I called in Dr. Watson, with her consent, and as she wished Mem. R.C.S. to be present, I at once desired him by all means to be sent for, and on his arrival a consultation The result was, Dr. Watson quite coincided with the treatment was held. I had adopted, and which was persisted in. The patient is quite restored, and has since expressed his gratitude to me for his recovery. This being a concise statement of the facts, I think you will agree with me there is no ground for censure upon the Sovereign Life Assurance Company, which has been one of the first to deal liberally with our profession, and that nothing less could have been done under the circumstances by Your obedient servant, F. G. JOHNSTON. Conduit-street. UNLESS Studeits states his questions more explicitly, we shall be of furnishing him with the information he wishes to obtain.
incapable