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curing the disease, but X ray plates showed a gradualabsorption of the graft in spite of extensive contactwith spinal bone and without any infection. Suchaseptic resorption of the inserted bone is not incon-sistent with surgical experience in other parts of thebody, but provided that the splint remains in positionlong enough for the lesion to become healed the methodmay yet prove of considerable value in certain cases.Mr. Rendle Short believes that, considering the slightrisks of the operation and its many advantages, thisshould be the routine treatment for all cases of tuber-culous disease of the spine, with certain reservations,but he has declined to operate in a case in whichthere were two tuberculous foci in the spine, in anothercase because several bones and joints were affected,and in a third because paraplegia was present. He alsonotes that in children under 12 the vertebral spines areso slender that it is difficult to split them properly.This objection holds good for the cervical region at

every age. The advantages claimed for this opera-tion are numerous and great. The period of completerecumbency in bed is reduced from 12 or 18 months totwo months; the subsequent period during which anapparatus or jacket must be worn is also considerablyshortened. And, most important of all, further increaseof the deformity is avoided. This operation seems tobe particularly suited for working-class patients, towhom the tediousness of more conservative treatmentis exceptionally trying. It is probably too early toestimate the proportion of failures to be expected fromthe procedure, but it appears that non-union of the grafthas seldom, if ever, been observed in the absence ofgross suppuration. In skilled hands the operation doesnot involve much shock or haemorrhage, and it isevidently one which promises to save many patientsfrom disfigurement.

BABY WEEK.

THE scientific tendency to search for and treat onlythe ultimate cause of such evils as racial degenerationhas led to the tracing of a vicious circle from the C 3adult backwards through the adolescent, the school-child, the infant and its mother, the pregnant woman, andindustrial conditions back once more to the young adult.Such continuous reference back leads no further in reformthan it does in committee unless a pause is made ateach definite stage reached and progress reported. It issatisfactory when the representatives of one section ofthe public conscience make a stand at one of thestations of the circle and announce their intentionof building up a strong edifice of public opinion ata particular point. Four years ago certain peopledecided that their energies should henceforth be devotedto the care of infants. Realising that endeavourcannot be kept at equal tension throughout the yearthey formed the National Baby Week Council, toconcentrate on an annual effort " to arouse the publicto a sense of the importance of infant life, to promoteright ideas and ideals regarding maternity and childwelfare, to further those methods of safeguardinginfant life already existing for its preservation." Thewelfare of the baby is the particular care of the NationalBaby Week Council, whose gala week is now beingcelebrated throughout the country. The fact that ababy’s health at birth depends much on that of its

mother, and its subsequent development largely on herinstructed care, is not ignored by the Council, neitherdoes it lose sight of the fact that a baby is not an endin itself, the chief function of a perfectly good babybeing to reach a sturdy maturity. Conferences arebeing held at Leeds, Manchester, Brighton, Bradford(July 6th), and Wrexham (July 7th), at which themedical speakers will include Dr. C. W. Saleeby, Dr.Eric Pritchard, Dr. H. W. Pooler, and Dr. J. J. Buchan.The subjects to be discussed are widows’ pensions, thehome and its substitutes, infant-welfare work, and thedecay of parenthood. There will also be propagandameetings, baby shows, fetes, and mothercraft exhibi-tions all over the country. There is perhaps no

organisation that appeals more to all sorts of men andwomen than this one, and the latter especially will

find congenial occupation combined with social servicein the promotion of a firm, plump, and cheerfulbabyhood. We have no doubt whatever as tOé.thesuccess of Baby Week.

THE SIGNIFICANCE OF YELLOW SPINALFLUID.

ACCORDING to Dr. Charles H. Nammack,l of NewYork, who discusses the various conditions in whicha yellow spinal fluid occurs, the complete Froin’ssyndrome consists in (1) a spinal fluid which coagulatesat once or upon standing; (2) a yellow coloration orxanthochromia ; (3) a marked increase in cells andalbumin. The coloration appears to be due to thepresence of blood pigments, especially bilirubin, andthe increased coagulability to an increase in fibrin. InDr. Nammack’s nine years’ work at the MeningitisDivision of the New York Health Department yellowspinal fluid was found in 96 out of 5801 cases, or inabout 1’6 per cent. After excluding 36 cases inwhich the diagnosis was never confirmed definitelyor there was a lack of sufficient data, thecases were as follows : Tuberculous meningitis, 40;poliomyelitis, 13; cerebral haemorrhage, 3 ; meningealhaemorrhage, 1; cord tumour, 1; pachymeningitis, 1;cerebro-spinal fever, 1. A complete Froin’s syn-drome was met with in only 6 instances-viz., 2 of

meningeal haemorrhage, 2 of tuberculous meningitis,and 2 of poliomyelitis-the rarity of the completesyndrome being attributed to the fact that acute orsubacute types of disease were almost exclusivelyseen. The amount of cerebro-spinal fluid withdrawn inthese cases varied from 3 c.cm. to 50 c.cm., and thecolour ranged from the faintest yellow to the deepestcanary. In the majority of cases the albumin andglobulin were considerably increased. Dr. Nammackconcludes that in acute or subacute conditions the

presence of yellow spinal fluid strongly suggeststhe diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis or polio-myelitis. -

THE MacAlister Testimonial Fund closes to-day(Saturday) and the testimonial to Sir John MacAlisterwill be presented, in the form of a cheque, at theannual meeting of the Royal Society of Medicine onWednesday, July 7th, at 4.30 P.M.

WE remind our readers of the Eleventh AnnualMeeting of the Oxford Ophthalmological Congress,which will take place on July 15th and 16th, in theUniversity Museum, Department of Human Anatomy.A detailed programme of the Congress will be found inour news column.

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MANCHESTER, in c’ommon with other provincialcentres, has difficulty in forming a nucleus for advancedgraduate work. The large influx of students augmentsthis difficulty. Some of the local hospitals, however,have held successful courses open to all qualified menwith the object especially of bringing recent work inconcise form before local practitioners. The course atthe Manchester Royal Infirmary, which began inOctober, 1919, was continued on successive Tuesdayafternoons and ended on June 29th. The members ofthe honorary staff of the hospital have each given oneor two lectures on subjects in which they were mostinterested, and which were most likely to be useful togeneral practitioners. The attendance has been goodand the course has apparently been appreciated. It isproposed to resume the work in October next.

1 The American Journal of Medical Sciences, April, 1920.

INDEX TO " THE LANCET," VOL. I., 1920.THE Index and Title-page to Vol. I., 1920, whichwas completed with the issue of June 26th, will

be published in THE LANCET of July 10th.