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porttmce to the public interests, that the general practitionerswould be legally recdgnised, and placed in an independent poi-tion, prior to the passing of any Bill through Parliament for theregulation of medical practice in this country.We have the lionour to be, Sir, most respectfully, your very

obedient humble servants,JAMES BIRD, Hon. Sees.HENRY ANCLL, S

Office, 4, Hanover-square, Jan. 14,1845.

TO m R, PTtN3NGTON, ESQ.Whitehall, Jan. 27th, 1845.

SiR,—I have had under consideration the Memorial of thePresident and other Members of the Association of GeneralPractitioners in Medicine, Surgery, and Midwifery, instituted ata public meeting held at the Hanover-square Rooms, on Dec. 7th,1844, addressed to me, and signed by yourself as President, andseveral other gentlemen as members of the Provisional Committeeof the Association. The aim of the memorial is to induce me toadvise her Majesty to incorporate the general practitioners by"charter into an independent college, with a governing counciland power to frame by-laws, and provide for the future educationof the general practitioners, and to place them, as respects themanagement of their own affairs, in every respect on a footing ofequality with the existing Colleges of Physicians and Surgeons."

This subject was recently brought to my notice by a lettersigned by the Master of the Society of Apothecaries of the City ofLondon, expressing the opinion of the Society that " the desire foran independent organization of the general practitioners by anincorporation of a collegiate character, has been of late so

generally and unequivocally expressed at public meetings of thesepractitioners, and through other public channels, that the Societythink themselves warranted in believing that a very large propor-tion of the general practitioners of this country have declared theirwishes in favour of such an incorporation.’’

In answer to this letter, I directed the Master of the Society tobe informed that I was ready to receive any matured plan forincorporating a new body of general practitioners, but that beforeI could form an opinion, or even consider a project, all the detailsof the scheme must be laid before me, and the names of the lead-ing persons who promote it, and who are parties to the proposedorganization, must be declared.Your memorial does not sufficiently comply with either of these

requisite conditions.The names appended to it, although of great respectability, and

deserving of high consideration, belong exclusively to metro-

politan practitioners, and the subscribers do not profess to haveany authority to represent the wishes of their provincial brethren.The memorial neither explains the proposed organization of theintended corporation, nor furnishes the names of those to whomthe charter is to be granted, who, as is usual in such cases, wouldbe named as the first office-bearers in the corporation.As soon as you can supply these deficiencies, and satisfy me

that the expressed wish of your Association is felt also by a largenumber of country practitioners, I shall examine the draft of yourproposed charter with every disposition to promote the usefulnessand respectability of the important branch of the profession towhich you belong.

I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant,.

(Signed) JAMES GRAHAM.

Nothing has been omitted by THE PROVISIONAL COMMITTEEto place itself in a position to comply with the Home Secretary’swishes, but the attention of the general practitioners in the coun-try is most particularly directed to that part of the letter of SirJAMES GRAHAM which states that " the names of the leadingpersons who promote it-(the application for a charter)-andwho are parties to the proposed organization, must be declared."A note to the Honorary Secretaries, at the Office, No. 4,

Hanover-square, London, containing the name and address, infull, of individuals, is sufficient to secure the enrolment ; but-LOCAL SECRETARIES should be immediately nominated for all

the COUNTY TowNs, CITIES, and BOROUGHS, where such afunctionary is not already appointed.

By order of the Provisional Committee,JAMES BIRD I Hon. Sees.HENRY ANCELL, S

0&ce, No, 4, Hanover square, London,30th January, 1845.

ROYAL MEDICAL AND CHIRURGICAL SOCIETY.Tuesday, January 14, 1845.

THREE CASES OF HARD CIRCUMBCRYBED TUMOURS IN MUSCLE,DISAPPEARING UNDER THE INFLUENCE OF THE IODIDE 01!

FOTAssiuM.ňBy Tnos. TATUM, Esq. Surgeon to St. George’sHospital, and Lecturer on’Anatomy.

THE author relates three cases of tumours in the substance ofmuscle, supposed to be the effects of chronic inflammation, anddeposition of coagulable lymph between the fibres. In each ofthe patients the swellings were situated in the sterno-cleido-niastoideus muscle; and in one, a similar tumour afterwardsformed in the clavicular portion of the pectoralis major muscle,but which was distinguished by being a bony hardness, andapparently connected with the periosteum of the clavicle. Theauthor is of opinion, that had the progress of the disease not beeninterrupted early, ossific deposit would probably have taken placein the tumours, and the muscular structure would have been con-verted into bony tissue. He draws particular attention to- thedecided influence which the iodide of potassium had in removingthe tumours, and the inefficiency of various other remedies whichhad been previously tried. *

Mr. CaeSAR HAWKINS remarked, that in these cases the in-flammation was not always confined to the muscles, but some.times implicated the cellular tissue. In other cases, the musclesonly were affected.

Sir G. LEFEVRE, in reference to the use of iodine in thesecases, related an instance in which it was alleged, although therewas no absorption of the testicles, that there was complete loss ofvirile power, as the result of taking iodine for four or fivemonths, for secondary syphilis, in the form of iodide of potassium,ten grains three times a-day. He had heard of cases of absorptionof the mamma from the use of iodine, but never of the testicles.

Mr. C. HAWKiNS had never met with, or heard of, a casesimilar to the one related by the last speaker.

Mr. CURLING had never seen tumours like those described byMr. Tatum in the sterno-cleido-mastoid muscle. He had, however,seen induration resembling cartilage in the same muscle, abouttwo months after birth, by which the head was completely fixed.The induration had been removed, at the end of a few weeks, bythe simple use of mild liniments.

Mr. AcTON had seen iodine extensively used by M. Ricord,and had himself employed this medicine to some extent, but in nocase did he recollect any such effect as that alluded to by Sir G.Lefevre. Iodide of potassium was occasionally productive of

pain in the stomach, soon after it was taken; but this depended-on the administration of the dose in a small quantity of water.He (Mr. Acton) always gave it largely diluted. The other illeffect of this medicine was occasionally the production of ametallic taste in the mouth, and a spongy state of the gums, inwhich they were easily induced to bleed.

Mr. SNOw related a case of an infant a week old, in which atumour, with tenderness, arose in the course of the stemo-mastoid muscle, as the result of pushing the face on one sideviolently. The swelling remained a week or two, but subsidedunder the use of mild lotions and liniments.

MEDICAL SOCIETY OF LONDON.Monday, December 23, 1844.

DR. THEOPHILUS THOMPSON, PRESIDENT.

EFFECTS OF MILK DIET.

A COMMUNICATION was read from Mr. W. J. WARD, of Brighton,having reference to a late discussion by the fellows of theSociety, respecting the influence of milk as an article of diet, areport of which he had seen in THE LANCET. Three cases weredetailed, in which the writer was of opinion that the use of milkdiet had been of the most essential service. In the first case, thepatient, a female, was’ suffering from a sloughing bubo of thegroin, of a frightful character. Porter, wine, bark, and opium,internally, and all the local remedies usually resorted to in thesecases, were tried without effect; the’patient was rapidly sinking,but under the use of milk diet, and the application of a stale,beer-grounds poultice to the affected part, she rapidly recovered.In the second case, that also of a female, all the symptoms ofphthisis pulmonalis were materially mitigated by the use of milkdiet, and sanguine hopes were even entertained of a recovery,when the patient fell a victim to having indulged immoderatelyin the eating of " pumpkin pie." The third case was that of a

young lady, aged seventeen. She stated, that during the lastfifteen months she had not retained any food on her stomach formore than three or four hours consecutively. There was very