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THE SENATOR JAMES MOLESCHOTT.
1469 the traditions of THE LANCET. Mr. Mansell Moullin, in 1 ong adorn the hall of the institute in which he has writing on the diagnosis of prostatic enlargement, does not tcaught so indefatigably and so well. This proceeding Bwas followed by the presentation, through Professor Durante as clearly express his meaning as some of his readers would - desire, nor does he at all satisfy those who seek for novel oraand on the part of the Accademia Medica di Roma,
both. When the applause, often repeated, had subsided, Professor Toscani rose and in well-chosen language, in the name of the Faculty of Medicine, presented Professor Moleschott with a parchment signed by 400 brethren in science and teaching, at the same time handing over to him the bust and expressing the hope that it will
mightiest diplomatist
century,
Camillo Benso di Cavour, he was brought to Turin to throw in his lot with the Italian resurrection and to strengthen her gro wing energies on the scientific side. Able Ministers of State like Quintino Sella, who asked the Chamber of Deputies to grant-" di urgenza "-the Italian citizenship to the Dutch physiologist, or like de Sanctis, who, after the splendid results of that same physiologist’s teaching in the sub-
1470 transferred him to the University of Rome, vied with men of science and men of letters to make his residence and work in Italy ever more pleasant and more effective, till his citizenship in the land of his adoption was crowned by his having been made one of the Conscript Fathers of the Legislature. These and such-like details, familiar to the student of contemporary scientific history, Professor Moleschott referred to in exquisite Italian idiom, winning the mind and soul as well as the heart of his audience by the manifest care and success with which he had mastered their beautiful language and their noble literature, and confirming by the best of all title-deeds-those of intellectual and moral naturalisation-his right to say of himself, Civis Romanus Sum. " Seldom have I assisted at a more interesting, a more gratifying demonstration-not the least reassuring feature of which was the splendid physical and mental vigour of its hero, giving earnest of continued work in the laboratory and chair of physiology-for the advancement of medical science and for the rehabilitation of the profession in Italy. At the close of the proceedings the audience, one by one, saluted the "modesto soldato del progresso civile," as he termed himself, on its way out; while all through the day he continued to receive congratulations by telegraph from the chief medical schools of the peninsula, such as Turin, Modena and Bologna. Rome, Dec. 16th.
Alpine capital,
of small-pox. According to local newspaper reports the case advanced by the opposition against the scheme of thecommittee was a peculiarly weak one ; but inasmuch as Monsal is within the district of Newton Heath, an opportunity was afforded tothe discontents of that township to make it a grievance that all the small-pox in the city should be sent into their district, some of the representatives going the length of suggesting that each of the several townships of the city-some sixteen in number-should establish a separate hospital for infectious. disease in their own districts. It is more than probable that had the debate on the report been kept within reasonablelimits, the committee’s recommendation would have been confirmed. As it was, however, the discussion was prolonged’ until after dark, by which time a large portion of the Council had retired, so that when at length the division was taken the proposal of the committee was rejected by a bare majority, the whole matter being referred to the committee for "further consideration and report " some time in January next. From the report of the medical officer of health, which was circulated at the Council meeting, it appears that smallpox is still being treated at Monsall in a couple of pavilions The fear which are in close proximity to the fever wards. though is that infection may spread, as it almost assuredly will do, from the small-pox wards to the other portions of the hospital; in which case both the hospital authorities and the Corporation would incur very serious responsibility, especially since the danger of their present practice has been duly pointed out to them by their medical advisers.
MANCHESTER. (FROM
OUR OWN
Increase
TheUnemployed and Local Distress.
CORRESPONDENT.)
of Small-pox.
---
IT would appear that after all Manchester is not to escape without closer acquaintance with the scourge which has so long been prevalent in many of the neighbouring towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The weekly health return just issued by the Corporation indicates that within the last three weeks more than 40 fresh cases of small-pox have been reported in Manchester, and I hear from another source that on one occasion this week as many as 10 cases were sent to Monsall within a ’period of twenty-four hours. The distribution of small-pox infection seems to be very general ; it is by no means confined to one or two areas, but cases are cropping up, now in one district, now in another, so that a general feeling of uneasiness is beginning to prevail as to whether or not the disease is about to assume epidemic proportions throughout the city generally and thus to become unmanageable. At the monthly meeting of the Manchester Infirmary Board, held on the 19th inst., the subject of small-pox prevalence was specially referred to. Mr. Alfred Simpson, chairman of the Monsall Committee, in moving the adoption of the minutes, said he regretted to have to say that there had been for several weeks past a steady increase in the number of patients received at Monsall Hospital suffering from small-pox. At the present time there were 37 persons in hospital suffering from that The week before 12 were received, last week disease. the admissions were 15, and already this week several The gravity of the case others had been admitted. arose from the fact that 14 out of the 15 patients received last week came from widely separated districts of Man- , chester, from which it was evident that they would for some time to come have to provide for a distinct epidemic of small-pox. The permanent accommodation at Monsall, from present appearances, would very shortly be exhausted, and it would be necessary to resort to temporary accommodation for any considerable number of cases in excess of the number they now had there. He also added that he had heard with regret from the Hospital Medical Staff the opinion that the population of Manchester at the present time was not well protected from small-pox by vaccination and re-vaccination. Having regard to existing circumstances and to recent experiences in Warrington and elsewhere the action of the Council at their last meeting is greatly to be regretted. The Sanitary Committee, presumably at the instance of the medical officer of health, had carefully,elaborated a scheme for the erection of a small-pox hospital on vacant land adjacent to but quite isolated from the present fever hospital at Monsall. The committee presented a very full report giving the reasons which had led them to bring forward their scheme and urging the necessity which undoubtedly existed for promptitude in making provision for the proper isolation
There is no doubt that since the advent of somewhat severeweather there has been a good deal of distress in certain districts of the city, and this has been rendered more acute because of the cotton operatives’ strike, which unfortunately has not yet come to an end. Most of the boards of guardian& and local boards have held meetings to consider the question, but up to the present time there does not appear to have. occurred any unusual amount of destitution in consequence of the stoppage of out-door work. The return of comparatively mild weather during the last week has of course greatly improved the circumstances of that portion of the unemployed who are really desirous to obtain work. Dec.
20tb,
1892. ______________
NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) The Newcastle
Royal Infirmary and its Management.
A CORRESPONDENCE of a somewhat acrimonious nature has been going on for some time as to the management of the Royal Infirmary. The fact is the infirmary has at present an advance balance of about f-2000, which to some minds would show that it is doing a very large amount of work, but others, acting the part of candid friends, are attacking its management by anonymous letters in our local papers. Now, I am not defending the management of the institution, but I do If the writers havesay that these letters are not fair. faults to find with the infirmary let them find it in an open way, declare themselves at the many opportunities presented at the Governors’ meeting or openly in the press and then we should know how much weight to attach to their opinions. Above all they should be sure of their facts. This. irresponsible letter-writing is calculated to injure a noble institution. It is, however, pleasant to see that one of our large coal companies has sent a donation of f-150 and others. have followed its example. Ambulance Work in the North. The annual meeting of the Middlesbrough centre of the; St. John Ambulance Association was held last week. The report showed that, owing to the trade depression in the district, less work had been done during the year than usualT still 258 members had attended a full course of instruction. During the eleven years that they had been working there had been 185 classes with about 5550 members, of whom 4534 had qualified for examination. Surgeon-Major Hutton, had also examined a class of seventy-seven at Wynyard Park, the seat of Lord Londonderry, the classes beingmostly composed of members of the household. Lady Londonderry and Lady Helen Stewart, amongst others, submitted themselves to examination and highly satisfied the examiner. At Darlington also the members of the Railway
both. When the applause, often repeated, had subsided, Professor Toscani rose and in well-chosen language, in the name of the Faculty of Medicine, presented Professor Moleschott with a parchment signed by 400 brethren in science and teaching, at the same time handing over to him the bust and expressing the hope that it will
mightiest diplomatist
century,
Camillo Benso di Cavour, he was brought to Turin to throw in his lot with the Italian resurrection and to strengthen her gro wing energies on the scientific side. Able Ministers of State like Quintino Sella, who asked the Chamber of Deputies to grant-" di urgenza "-the Italian citizenship to the Dutch physiologist, or like de Sanctis, who, after the splendid results of that same physiologist’s teaching in the sub-
1470 transferred him to the University of Rome, vied with men of science and men of letters to make his residence and work in Italy ever more pleasant and more effective, till his citizenship in the land of his adoption was crowned by his having been made one of the Conscript Fathers of the Legislature. These and such-like details, familiar to the student of contemporary scientific history, Professor Moleschott referred to in exquisite Italian idiom, winning the mind and soul as well as the heart of his audience by the manifest care and success with which he had mastered their beautiful language and their noble literature, and confirming by the best of all title-deeds-those of intellectual and moral naturalisation-his right to say of himself, Civis Romanus Sum. " Seldom have I assisted at a more interesting, a more gratifying demonstration-not the least reassuring feature of which was the splendid physical and mental vigour of its hero, giving earnest of continued work in the laboratory and chair of physiology-for the advancement of medical science and for the rehabilitation of the profession in Italy. At the close of the proceedings the audience, one by one, saluted the "modesto soldato del progresso civile," as he termed himself, on its way out; while all through the day he continued to receive congratulations by telegraph from the chief medical schools of the peninsula, such as Turin, Modena and Bologna. Rome, Dec. 16th.
Alpine capital,
of small-pox. According to local newspaper reports the case advanced by the opposition against the scheme of thecommittee was a peculiarly weak one ; but inasmuch as Monsal is within the district of Newton Heath, an opportunity was afforded tothe discontents of that township to make it a grievance that all the small-pox in the city should be sent into their district, some of the representatives going the length of suggesting that each of the several townships of the city-some sixteen in number-should establish a separate hospital for infectious. disease in their own districts. It is more than probable that had the debate on the report been kept within reasonablelimits, the committee’s recommendation would have been confirmed. As it was, however, the discussion was prolonged’ until after dark, by which time a large portion of the Council had retired, so that when at length the division was taken the proposal of the committee was rejected by a bare majority, the whole matter being referred to the committee for "further consideration and report " some time in January next. From the report of the medical officer of health, which was circulated at the Council meeting, it appears that smallpox is still being treated at Monsall in a couple of pavilions The fear which are in close proximity to the fever wards. though is that infection may spread, as it almost assuredly will do, from the small-pox wards to the other portions of the hospital; in which case both the hospital authorities and the Corporation would incur very serious responsibility, especially since the danger of their present practice has been duly pointed out to them by their medical advisers.
MANCHESTER. (FROM
OUR OWN
Increase
TheUnemployed and Local Distress.
CORRESPONDENT.)
of Small-pox.
---
IT would appear that after all Manchester is not to escape without closer acquaintance with the scourge which has so long been prevalent in many of the neighbouring towns of Lancashire and Yorkshire. The weekly health return just issued by the Corporation indicates that within the last three weeks more than 40 fresh cases of small-pox have been reported in Manchester, and I hear from another source that on one occasion this week as many as 10 cases were sent to Monsall within a ’period of twenty-four hours. The distribution of small-pox infection seems to be very general ; it is by no means confined to one or two areas, but cases are cropping up, now in one district, now in another, so that a general feeling of uneasiness is beginning to prevail as to whether or not the disease is about to assume epidemic proportions throughout the city generally and thus to become unmanageable. At the monthly meeting of the Manchester Infirmary Board, held on the 19th inst., the subject of small-pox prevalence was specially referred to. Mr. Alfred Simpson, chairman of the Monsall Committee, in moving the adoption of the minutes, said he regretted to have to say that there had been for several weeks past a steady increase in the number of patients received at Monsall Hospital suffering from small-pox. At the present time there were 37 persons in hospital suffering from that The week before 12 were received, last week disease. the admissions were 15, and already this week several The gravity of the case others had been admitted. arose from the fact that 14 out of the 15 patients received last week came from widely separated districts of Man- , chester, from which it was evident that they would for some time to come have to provide for a distinct epidemic of small-pox. The permanent accommodation at Monsall, from present appearances, would very shortly be exhausted, and it would be necessary to resort to temporary accommodation for any considerable number of cases in excess of the number they now had there. He also added that he had heard with regret from the Hospital Medical Staff the opinion that the population of Manchester at the present time was not well protected from small-pox by vaccination and re-vaccination. Having regard to existing circumstances and to recent experiences in Warrington and elsewhere the action of the Council at their last meeting is greatly to be regretted. The Sanitary Committee, presumably at the instance of the medical officer of health, had carefully,elaborated a scheme for the erection of a small-pox hospital on vacant land adjacent to but quite isolated from the present fever hospital at Monsall. The committee presented a very full report giving the reasons which had led them to bring forward their scheme and urging the necessity which undoubtedly existed for promptitude in making provision for the proper isolation
There is no doubt that since the advent of somewhat severeweather there has been a good deal of distress in certain districts of the city, and this has been rendered more acute because of the cotton operatives’ strike, which unfortunately has not yet come to an end. Most of the boards of guardian& and local boards have held meetings to consider the question, but up to the present time there does not appear to have. occurred any unusual amount of destitution in consequence of the stoppage of out-door work. The return of comparatively mild weather during the last week has of course greatly improved the circumstances of that portion of the unemployed who are really desirous to obtain work. Dec.
20tb,
1892. ______________
NORTHERN COUNTIES NOTES. (FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) The Newcastle
Royal Infirmary and its Management.
A CORRESPONDENCE of a somewhat acrimonious nature has been going on for some time as to the management of the Royal Infirmary. The fact is the infirmary has at present an advance balance of about f-2000, which to some minds would show that it is doing a very large amount of work, but others, acting the part of candid friends, are attacking its management by anonymous letters in our local papers. Now, I am not defending the management of the institution, but I do If the writers havesay that these letters are not fair. faults to find with the infirmary let them find it in an open way, declare themselves at the many opportunities presented at the Governors’ meeting or openly in the press and then we should know how much weight to attach to their opinions. Above all they should be sure of their facts. This. irresponsible letter-writing is calculated to injure a noble institution. It is, however, pleasant to see that one of our large coal companies has sent a donation of f-150 and others. have followed its example. Ambulance Work in the North. The annual meeting of the Middlesbrough centre of the; St. John Ambulance Association was held last week. The report showed that, owing to the trade depression in the district, less work had been done during the year than usualT still 258 members had attended a full course of instruction. During the eleven years that they had been working there had been 185 classes with about 5550 members, of whom 4534 had qualified for examination. Surgeon-Major Hutton, had also examined a class of seventy-seven at Wynyard Park, the seat of Lord Londonderry, the classes beingmostly composed of members of the household. Lady Londonderry and Lady Helen Stewart, amongst others, submitted themselves to examination and highly satisfied the examiner. At Darlington also the members of the Railway