"LARGE AND SMALL ASYLUMS."

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appointment of that gentleman to the post of Chief Sur-geon to the Metropolitan Police I have availed myself ofthe opportunity of a consultation in two instances only,although I have held the appointment of divisional sur-

geon for nearly thirty years. I think good would be doneif you were to suggest the necessity of having a dwelling,separate from the section house, set apart and distinct for thereception of patients who are likely to have any of the ex-anthematous diseases, &c., before such can be diagnosed andsent to the fever hospitals.

I am, Sir, yours obediently,Jan. 31st, 1883. DIVISIONAL SURGEON.

THE ALLEGED DEATH FROM VACCINATION.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SiR,-With reference to the above case-the death of achild born and vaccinated here, seven days old, by me, andupon which you commented last week--will you allow me Ito say a few words.The mother of the deceased stated that the child was an

eight months’ child, that it was a puny child, &c.; and herstatements appeared to have very considerably moulded theopinions of the medical gentlemen who gave evidence on thecase. As a matter of fact, the child had every appearanceof having been born at the full time ; it was a healthy child,and weighed seven pounds. On the day of the vaccination(seven days after birth) the child was perfectly healthy ;on the day of inspection (eight days afterwards) it was alsohealthy, as was also the vaccinated arm. The mother withher child took her discharge from here on that day; and forwhat took place between that time and the date of its deathI am not responsible.Perhaps if the conditions under which the child lived

when taken away from here, and also the mother’s care ofthe infant and of its arm, had been discovered, other causesof infantile mortality in illegitimate circles might haveappeared. I am, Sir, yours faithfully,

Jan. 27th, 1883.

W. M. DUNLOP,Resident Medical Officer, St. Pancras Workhouse.

ACTION OF POTASH ON ALBUMEN.To the Editor of THE LANCET.

SIR,-I am far from desirous of entering the arena of con-troversy. Still I would venture to submit to the notice of

your readers a few experiments on the action of a potassichydrate solution on ov-albumen. A solution of pure potassichydrate was prepared, the water employed for the purposebeing twice distilled, and absolutely free from ammonia.The solution was boiled for half an hour, filtered throughasbestos, and again boiled for an hour. It had a specificgravity of 1-5488.Experiment 1.-Some ov-albumen was treated with two

to three times its bulk of the potassic hydrate solution.Before heat was applied a small quantity was tested with asolution of lead acetate, with no appreciable result. To theremainder of the solution heat was applied, and it wasallowed to boil for two minutes. On being again testedwith the lead acetate solution a copious black precipitate oflead sulphide was thrown down. During the application ofthe heat a piece of lead paper, and a second piece of papermoistened with nitro-prusside of sodium, were placed in theneck of the flask, but the results were eutirely negative.Experiment 2.-Some ov-albumen was treated with about

ten times its bulk of the potassic hydrate solution. It wastested with a solution of lead acetate at various stages withthe results indicated :-(a) Cold. Result : No action. (b)At the moment of its registering 100° C. Result: A slightyellow discolouration, but no precipitate nor blackening ofthe solution. (c) After five minutes’ active boiling. Result :The solution became of a reddish-brown colour. (d) Afterten minutes’boiling. Result : A slight but definite precipi.tate of a reddish-brown colour. (e) After fifteen minutes’boiling. Result: A precipitate of a dark-brown colour.(f) After thirty minutes’ boiling. Result: A dense blackprecipitate proved to be lead sulphide. (g) After two hoursboiling. Result: Similar in all respects to what occurreèafter thirty minutes’ boiling.Throughout these experiments no traces either of sulphu

retted hydrogen or of ammonic sulphide were set free fromthe solution. The conclusions I submit are manifest :-

1. That by the action of a boiling solution of potassichydrate on ov-albumen an alkaline sulphide is formed.

2. That this alkaline sulphide is not ammonic sulphide.3. That with strong solutions of albumen the formation of

the sulphide takes place rapidly, but that with dilute solu-tions it occurs more or less slowly, according to the quantityof albumen present.

Lastly, I would notice that the series of tints observed inExperiment 2-viz., yellow, reddish-brown, black-corre-sponds to the tints observed when sulphuretted hydrogen isfirst passed through a dilute lead solution-i,e., during theshort interval that elapses before the black lead sulphidebecomes actually formed.

I am, Sir, your faithful servant,Mandeville-place, W., Jan. 24th, 1883. C. MEYMOTT TIDY.

To 6 Editor of THE LANCET.

Sm,-It is to be regretted that the controversy respectingthe action of potash on albumen has not been carried on ina more scientific spirit.In the case of egg albumen boiled with potash a sulphide

reaction is obtainable after a few minutes, whether the leadsolution be added at the same time as the potash or after-wards. In a short time, however, depending entirely on thestrength of the potash solution employed, it is impossible toget the sulphide reaction with a lead salt. We do not knowthe state of combination of the sulphur in albumen, but fromrecent conclusions by Loen and Bokorny it would seem not tobe very intimately connected with the albumen molecule, andprobably undergoes some change by the action of the potash.This change is not, as far as I can make out, due to oxida-tion to sulphate. It is certainly not due to volatilisation ofsulphur as ammonium sulphide; for the sulphur may befound afterwards on fully oxidising the alkaline solution bychlorine as sulphate. Mr. Blyth has surely made some mis-take respecting the volatility of ammonium sulphide in thepresence of free potash. Ammonia is certainly given off,but not a trace of sulphur escapes the potash, which couldscarcely a priori be expected. We know so little respectingthe constitution of albumen, either of animal or vegetableorigin, that further careful investigations of its behaviourunder the action of comparatively mild reagents are verydesirable. Assuming the sulphur to exist in albumen in thenatural state in the form of SH, it is not improbable thatby the action of potash in presence of air the sulphur wouldenter into more intimate combination, very probably as asulphone, Group SO, in which state it would not give areaction with lead salt. On oxidation it would, however,give sulphate, and on reduction with nascent hydrogen asulphide. And this reaction is given, as a matter of fact, by

’ the potash solution of albumen boiled in contact with airuntil it ceases to give the lead precipitate. On generating

I hydrogen y the addition of metallic zinc to the alkalinesolution, and afterwards acidulating the sulphide, reactionis again obtained.-I am, Sir, yours faithfully,

M. R. HODGKINSON.Normal School of Science and Royal School of Mines,

Science and Art Department, South Ken-sington, S.W., Jan. 24th, 1883.

"LARGE AND SMALL ASYLUMS."To the Editor of THE LANCET.

Sm,-I desire to protest against the very unkind thingsthat so frequently appear in THE LANCET against my branchof the profession. Such things as are said by the generalpublic about both the legal and medical professions, but whichin that case are always understood to have a sufficientlyhumorous element to remove their sting. But when appliedin such a leading professional organ as THE LANCET to anybranch of the profession, they can only admit of a seriousinterpretation. My interpretation is that your editorial earhas been unworthily secured by some one with a grudgeagainst us. The latest of these covert attacks is in an anno-tation in your last number on Large and Small Asylums, "where you say a large number of us are honestly (we are atleast honest) impressed with a notion that disease of thebrain causing mental derangement is always incurable, and